In the dark days after the fall of the Alamo, on March 6, 1836, James Fannin, commander of the Texian garrison at Goliad, was frozen with indecision. He had fortified the mission grounds of La Bahia, but recent defeats at Refugio and San Antonio made the fort vulnerable to the advancing Mexican armies under General Jose de Urrea and Santa Anna. By the time word came from General Sam Houston, ordering the Texians under Fannin to fall back to Victoria, General Urrea’s troops were already approaching Goliad. Fannin finally ordered…
