400+ Texian POWs were marched out of their fort on Palm Sunday under the pretense of gathering supplies — then shot in the back. Their commander's final three requests were all ignored.
On March 27, 1836 — Palm Sunday — between 425 and 445 Texian prisoners were executed by Mexican forces at Goliad, Texas, weeks after surrendering at the Battle of Coleto. The men had been promised they'd be released within weeks.
Santa Anna ordered the executions under a decree classifying armed foreigners as pirates, punishable by death. General Urrea, who had captured the prisoners and believed the order unjust, appealed for clemency — and was overruled.
The prisoners were marched from the fort in three columns under the pretense of gathering wood and supplies, then forced to face away from the soldiers and shot at point-blank range. Wounded survivors were clubbed and stabbed to death.
Colonel James Fannin was executed last, after being forced to watch his men die. He made three final requests: that his belongings be sent to his family, that he be shot in the chest, and that he receive a Christian burial. The soldiers ignored all three — shooting him in the face and burning his body.
Twenty-eight prisoners survived by feigning death and escaping into the brush. A Mexican woman named Francita Alavez — later called the 'Angel of Goliad' — intervened personally to save approximately 20 more men from execution.
The massacre became a defining atrocity of the revolution. Walt Whitman immortalized it in 'Song of Myself,' and the battle cry 'Remember the Alamo! Remember Goliad!' drove Texians to victory at San Jacinto less than a month later.