Ralph Wranker

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Diana and I had been discussing a visit to Goliad for a while. Her ancestors come from the area, Goliad and Yorktown. On June 18, 1999, we packed up the Tahoe and headed north to Goliad.

Goliad is about an hour and a half drive from Corpus Christi. We also decided to take the back roads, so we could see the area away from the Interstate and major highways. It was well worth the drive to see small Texas towns.

We entered Goliad from the west on highway 59, turned south on highway 77A and headed for our first stop, the grave site of Col. Fannin and his men

The grave site of Col. Fannin and 341 of his men. They were massacred on March 27, 1836 (Palm Sunday) under direct orders of Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna .

Colonel James W. Fannin was one of the wounded individuals from the battle of Coleto Creek a week earlier. He was helped out of the chapel where the prisoners and wounded had been held for a week and placed on a bench or chair. He gave a Mexican officer his watch and other valuables he had in his possession. He requested that his possessions be given to his wife and the Mexican officer said that he would comply with his request. Fannin requested that he not be shot in the head, and the officer agreed to that also. A scarf was placed over his eyes, and then at point blank range, he was shot in the head. His body feel into a dry ditch, known as the watering place, or water gate, near the northwest bastion.

It should be noted that not all of the Mexicans followed Santa Anna's orders to kill Fannin's men. They risked their own lives to save what few people they could.

When the shooting ended, 302 men were dead and about 28 escaped Fannin and 39 other men who were wounded at the battle of Coleto Creek the week before the massacre were killed inside the presidio, bringing the total killed to 342.

The history of the grave site is interesting, as it was almost lost forever.

A Grave Site Almost Lost (From the SONS OF DEWITT COLONY TEXAS)

After the massacre at Goliad, the Texan troops at Victoria on learning of the defeat of Fannin's troops quickly withdrew to join the scattered Texas bands at Gonzales and on the Colorado and Brazos Rivers, where they were eventually joined by most of the escapees. They were closely followed by the Mexican Army, but not before some of them joined Houston at San Jacinto. In that battle the rallying call of the Texans was: "Remember Goliad, "Remember the Alamo". After the victory at San Jacinto and the capture of the butcher of Fannin's men, Santa Anna, by the Texans, a member of the Mexican army, General Filisola was put in command of the defeated Mexican Army and began the famous "Filisola's Retreat" to Mexico, in accordance with the treaty between Houston and Santa Anna.

General Filisola came by Goliad, but did not dare enter it, as he feared the tempers of the few---very few---remaining men there. He was escorted on the retreat by the Texan army under Gen. Thomas J. Rusk, who established his headquarters at Victoria, while he pushed on to Goliad to see that Filisola did not stop there. This was about June 3rd, 1836.

Here the ghastly remains of the massacred men of Fannin's Command were found in the partially covered trenches where they had been dumped and burned. Some bones, gnawed by coyotes and dogs were on top of the ground. General Rusk immediately gave orders for a formal military burial of the bones. Rusk issued the following order for the military funeral:

ARMY ORDER: June 3, 1836 A general parade of the army will take place tomorrow morning half past 3 O'clock A.M., The funeral is ordered at 9 O'clock A.M. Sherman will take command and conduct the procession in the following order: First Artillery, 2nd. Music, 3rd Maj. Morehou's Command, 4th 6 company officers---6 company officers, 5 Mourners. Those of Fannin's command who were in the army & who have so miraculously escaped will attend as mourners, 6. commander in Chief & Staff, 7. Medical Staff, 8. 2nd Regt. comd. by Majr. Wells, 9. 1st Regnt. Comd. by Lieut. Col. Summerville, 10. Regulars Comd. by Lieut Col. Millard, Major Poe will order a minute gun fired from the fort, commencing with the time the procession moves until it arrives at the grave. Majr. Morehouses' Comd. will fire 3 rounds of Blank Cartridges at the grave. Signed Thos J. Rusk Brigr. Gn Com. On reaching the grave General Rusk delivered a short, but feeling and eloquent address.

"FELLOW SOLDIERS: In the order of Providence we are this day called upon to pay the last sad offices of respect to the remains of the noble and heroic band, who, battling for our sacred rights, have fallen beneath the ruthless hand of a tyrant. Their chivalrous conduct entitles them to the heartfelt gratitude of the people of Texas. Without any further interest in the country than that which all noble hearts feel at the bare mention of liberty, they rallied to our standard. Relinquishing the ease, peace, and comforts of their homes, leaving behind them all they held dear, their mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives, they subjected themselves to fatigue and privation, and nobly threw themselves between the people of Texas and the legions of Santa Anna. There, unaided by re-enforcement's and far from help and hope, they battled bravely with the minions of a tyrant, ten to one. Surrounded in the open prairie by this fearful odds, cut off from provisions and even water, they were induced, under the sacred promise of receiving the treatment usual to prisoners of war, to surrender. They were marched back, and for a week treated with the utmost inhumanity and barbarity. They were marched out of yonder fort under the pretense of getting provisions, and it was not until the firing of musketry did the shrieks of the dying, that they were satisfied of their approaching fate. Some endeavored to make their escape, but they were pursued by the ruthless cavalry and most of them cut down with their swords. A small number of them stand by the grave-a bare remnant of that noble band. Our tribute of respect is due to them; it is due to the mothers, sisters, and wives who weep their untimely end, that we should mingle our tears with theirs. In that mass of remains and fragments of bones, many a mother might see her son, many a sister her brother, and many a wife her own beloved and affectionate husband. But we have a consolation- yet to offer them: their murderers sank in death on the prairies of San Jacinto, under the appalling words, "Remember La Bahia." Many a tender and affectionate woman will remember, with tearful eye, "La Bahia." But we have another consolation to offer. It is, that while liberty has a habitation and a name, their chivalrous deeds will be handed down upon the bright pages of history. We can still offer another consolation: Santa Anna, the mock hero, the black-hearted murderer, is within our grasp. Yea, and there he must remain, tortured with the keen pain of corroding conscience. He must oft remember La Bahia, and while the names of those whom he murdered shall soar to the highest pinnacle of fame, his shall sink down into the lowest depths of infamy and disgrace."

A map of the town tract of Goliad was made in 1857, from data furnished by Dr. Barnard, and is on file in the County clerk's office of Goliad County. It indicates certain spots where Fannin's men were buried by Rusk's Texans. Dr. Barnard is believed to have had first hand information as to the actual site of the burial. For many years this place remained unmarked and unprotected, until the very location was almost forgotten-almost, but not quite.

One old citizen of Goliad, Mr. George Von Dohlen, who was a prominent merchant there in 1858, remembered the spot had been pointed out to him by some people who lived in La Bahia in 1836, as the location of the trench. He gathered up rocks and piled them on the place pointed out, to keep the cattle and animals from tramping on it, he said. Seventy two years later, this pile of rocks interested a group of Boy Scouts and their leader in 1930 when they found a few bone fragments that had been dug up there by rodents or armadillos, and reported their find to their families.

But two years before, in 1928, Judge J. A. White, Mr. W. E. Fowler, and Mayor Joseph Wearden, believing the evidence of the rock pile and bones, bought for the County of Goliad two acres of land from Manuel Cabrera, a descendant of early La Bahia natives. Again, on New Years Day, a party of Goliad citizens visited the place, and, on investigating, found fragments of charred bones and teeth which a dentist, a member of the group, pronounced as undoubtedly human remains. This aroused interest in suitably marking the grave, and when Texas celebrated its centennial of liberty in 1936, the state erected the pink granite monument there and landscaped the grounds. In the spring, the park surrounding it is massed with a solid sod of beautiful blue bonnets, the state flower.

Presidio La Bahia (Fort On The Bay) And Mission Espiritu Santo

Presidio La Bahia was first established in 1721. It was established on the banks of Gracitas Creek near present day Lavaca Bay. The fort was built on the remains of the ill-fated French Fort St. Louis, built by La Salle. It was a direct response to the encroachment by the French in the Spanish Province of Texas. This location proved unsuitable and in 1726 it was abandoned and the fort relocated to an inland position near Mission Valley, above present day Victoria. In 1749, the Presidio was relocated once again to its present location.

The Royal Presidio La Bahia, though an inland frontier fort, became the only fort responsible for the defense of the coastal area and eastern province of Texas after the abandonment of the Presidios at Los Adaes and Orcoquisac.

Soldiers from Presidio La Bahia assisted the Spanish army in fighting the British along the Gulf Coast during the American Revolution. This action gives Goliad the distinction of being one of the only communities west of the Mississippi River to have participated in the American Revolution.

Photo above; taken from the southwest bastion of Presidio La Bahia, looking north. The building nearest the camera is the officer's quarters. Our Lady Of Loreto Chapel bell tower is in the distance.

On October 9, 1835 a group of Texas citizens, lead by Capt. George Collinsorth entered Goliad and attacked the Mexican garrison stationed at the Presidio and were successful in taking possession of the fort. This action followed the incident at Gonzales, Texas, one week earlier. From here the Texans marched out in a detachment and captured Fort Lipantitlan, near the Nueces River on November 5, thereby cutting off the last remaining line of Mexican communication from San Antonio to Matamoros.

On December 20, 1835, a group of 92 men, including Texian Captain Philip Dimitt and members of his volunteer company from some of Texas' Irish settlements, met in Our Lady of Loreto Chapel at Presidio La Bahia and declared themselves independent from Mexico. On the chapel altar, they signed a document that predated the official Texas Declaration of Independence by more than two months.

In proper revolutionary fashion, they flew their own flag, which depicted a bloody arm holding a sword. It was supposed to represent that they would rather sever their own arm than continue to live under the rule of the Mexican dictator Santa Anna.

The alter and fresco in Chapel of Our Lady of Loreto. The fresco was completed in 1946 by the "Michelangelo of South Texas", Corpus Christi artist Antonio Garcia.

It was on an alter in December 20, 1835 that the first Texas Declaration of Independence was signed by a group of 92 men, including Texian Captain Philip Dimitt and members of his volunteer company.

View inside of Our Lady of Loreto Chapel. This chapel was already over 100 years old when the signing of the first Texas Declaration of Independence and massacre took place. Fannin's men were held inside the chapel, until they were marched out and killed a one week later, on Palm Sunday.

I assume this is an altar dedicated to the nine flags that have flown over this fort. Yes, that's right, nine flags. Presidio La Bahia also played a part in the American Revolution.

Spain declared war on Great Britain in June 1779. To feed Spanish soldiers, some 9,000 head of cattle were rounded up between 1779 and 1782 from ranches of missions and individuals in the San Antonio River valley, and were trailed to Nacogdoches and into Louisiana. The Presidio served as an assembly point, and some soldiers, along with other soldiers from other forts, provided escorts for the cattle.

The statue of the Virgin Mary occupies a niche about the entrance to Our Lady of Loreto Chapel. Lincoln Borglum (famed with his father, Gutzon, for Mount Rushmore) sculpted the figure in 1968.

The area immediately surrounding Presidio La Bahia was once the main town, it was named La Bahia. Around 1830, the town was re-established across the San Antonio River, and it was named Goliad. Before the revolution, Goliad was the fastest growing town in Texas. After the revolution, people lost interest in the area, presumably because of the battles that were fought in the area and the resulting high numbers in loss of life.

Mission Espiritu Santo

After our visit to the Presidio La Bahia and Fannin's grave site, we drove across the San Antonio River to Mission Espiritu Santo. This mission was partially restored in the 1930's. It includes a church, granary, and workshop. This is a state park, and includes a nature trail, museum, remnants of original walls, campground, and Indian quarters. It's a very interesting and pretty area to visit. However, we were hungry and it was time to drive into the town square of Goliad and get something to eat.

Our visit to Goliad was extremely interesting, and we will return. Our next visit will include a visit to the Coleto Creek battle field, where Fannin's men were captured. I also want to learn more about the town of La Bahia, and about the town of Goliad.

La Bahia Haunted?

I received the following e-mail message from Mike Thompson of Red Oak, Texas. Interesting.

"Dear Mr Wranker.....I enjoyed your site on the fort and gained further knowledge that was heretofore unknown. Are you aware that the place is EXTREMELY haunted? I will never forget my visit in the summer of 1972. It scared the hell outa me. I heard a baby crying and strange church music while sitting in the bell tower above the church. Saw a lady in black walk across the parade ground and enter the church, but no one was there. I saw a priest in a brown garment with a hood and several Mexicans on the grounds as well. They were not dressed for the times. Needless to say I cleared out ASAP!!!!! Have you heard of others seeing and hearing these things before??? Please contact me at your convenience.....Thank You.....Mike W Thompson...Red Oak, Texas"

I asked if I could post his story on this page. Here was his response and some additional information:

"Ok to post on your web site Ralph...my haunting experience...I knew I was not crazy when I read of similar experiences in the book..."Ghosts Along The Texas Coast," by Docia Williams........I did write the fort a letter several years ago but never received a response,,,,,,Mike Thompson"

So if your interested, check out Ghosts Along The Texas Coast, I think I will.

Here's a LINK that shows some strange photos taken at La Bahia. You be the judge.