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1836 Mexicans execute defenders of Goliad

http://www.historychannel.com/tdih/tdih.jsp?category=oldwest&month=10272955&day=10272992
http://tinyurl.com/rha2c

In a disastrous setback for the Texans resisting Santa Anna's
dictatorial regime, the Mexican army defeats and executes 417 Texas
revolutionaries at Goliad.

Long accustomed to enjoying considerable autonomy from their Mexican
rulers, many Anglo Texan settlers reacted with alarm when Antonio Lopez
de Santa Anna proclaimed himself dictator of Mexico in 1835. Santa Anna
immediately imposed martial law and attempted to disarm the Texans.
Yet, this move merely fed the flames of Texan resistance.

In November 1853, Texan leaders proclaimed their resistance to Santa
Anna's dictatorship, though they stopped short of calling for
independence. The next month, the Texans managed to defeat 800 Mexican
soldiers stationed in San Antonio. However, the rebel leaders remained
deeply divided over what to do next, making them vulnerable to Santa
Anna's ruthless determination to suppress dissension.

While the Texas rebels dallied, Santa Anna moved decisively. In
mid-February he led a massive Mexican army across the Rio Grande, and
after a 13-day siege of the Alamo, crushed the rebels in San Antonio.
Meanwhile, to the south, Santa Ann's chief lieutenant, General Urrea,
moved to destroy another faction of the rebel army attempting to defend
the town of Goliad.

Disagreements among the Texans had led to a division of the rebel
forces. James W. Fannin was left with only slightly more than 300
Texans to protect Goliad, a position the rebels needed in order to
maintain their supply routes to the Gulf Coast. As Urrea's much larger
1400-man army approached, Fannin acted with indecision, wondering if he
should go to the aid of the besieged men at the Alamo.

Belatedly, Fannin attempted to fall back from the approaching Mexican
army, but his retreat order came too late. On March 19, Urrea
surrounded the small column of rebel soldiers on an open prairie, where
they were trapped without food, water, or cover. After repulsing one
Mexican assault, Fannin realized there was no chance of escape. Rather
than see his force annihilated, Fannin surrendered.

Apparently, some among the Texans who surrendered believed they would
be treated as prisoners of war. Santa Anna, however, had clearly stated
several months before that he considered the rebels to be traitors who
would be given no quarter. In obedience to Santa Anna's orders, on this
day in 1836 Urrea ordered his men to open fire on Fannin and his
soldiers, along with about 100 other captured Texans. More than 400 men
were executed that day at Goliad.

Ironically, rather than serving to crush the Texas rebellion, the
Goliad Massacre helped inspire and unify the Texans. Now determined to
break completely from Mexico, the Texas revolutionaries began to yell
"Remember Goliad!" along with the more famous battle cry, "Remember the
Alamo!" Less than a month later, Texan forces under General Sam Houston
dealt a stunning blow to Santa Anna's army in the Battle of San
Jacinto, and Texas won its independence.