Remember Goliad?

[March 27, 2017]  If you’re an American, then you are familiar with the famous 1836 Battle of the Alamo where the Texan defenders refused to surrender to Mexican forces and were destroyed.  The rallying cry “Remember the Alamo” helped stir America and the world.  Yet there was another battle shortly thereafter the Alamo which also helped boost patriotism and a push to independence; the Battle at Goliad.

The Alamo (San Antonio) fell on March 6, 1836.  Mexican President General Antonio López de Santa Anna is striking back at the Texans who have resisted his attempts to rein them in from their independent nature.  A punitive expedition by Santa Anna now drives to overtake more Texans defending a critical logistics hub.

The rebel Texans however have remained divided on what they should do to defeat Santa Anna.    After the 13-day siege at the Alamo, Santa Anna sent his chief lieutenant, General Urrea to destroy another faction of the rebel army at Goliad; which is a key logistics crossroads for the rebels.  The divided rebels are greatly outnumbered so instead of being annihilated – like at the Alamo – its commander James W. Fannin surrenders his men.

Months prior Santa Anna had declared the Texan rebels to be traitors who would not be given quarter.¹  On this date, March 27, 1836, General Urrea ordered his men to execute more than 400 captured  Texans at the town of Goliad.  Like the Alamo, this tactical victory turned into a strategic problem for Mexico.  “Remember Goliad” became a rallying cry for total independence from Mexico.

Less than a month later on April 21, Santa Anna’s force was overwhelmingly defeated at the Battle of San Jacinto which fully secured Texas’ independence.  The next day Santa Anna himself was captured.  He was later exiled to Cuba.

An interesting side note is the Treaty of Velasco which Santa Anna signed along with interim Texas President David G. Burnet.  The intent was to end hostilities between the two belligerents and offer first steps toward official recognition of the breakaway republic of Texas.  However, the country of Mexico refused to recognize the treaty because Santa Anna signed it under duress as a prisoner.

Ten years later, the United States under President James K. Polk went to war with Mexico over the territory which is now Texas and New Mexico.  There was a significant anti-war sentiment in the U.S. at the time but the Senate overwhelmingly approved a declaration of war on May 13, 1846.

Santa Anna returned from exile for the purpose of helping negotiate a settlement between the two countries but instead he headed up the Mexican army again.  Unfortunately for him, the Mexican army was defeated and the U.S. Army occupied Mexico City, finally ending the decades-long struggle that left simmering resents on both sides.²

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1. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mexicans-execute-defenders-of-goliad
2. An excellent source on the Mexican-American War can be read here: https://www.britannica.com/event/Mexican-American-War