GOLIAD

historic city, seat (1837) of Goliad county, southern Texas, U.S., near the San Antonio River, 85 mi (137 km) southeast of San Antonio. A Spanish mission, Nuestra Seora del Espritu Santo Zuiga (Our Lady of the Holy Spirit of Zuniga), and its protective fort, Presidio La Baha, were established there in 1749 on the site of an Aranama Indian village. The presidio was occupied briefly in 1812 by a filibustering American expedition, led by Augustus Magee, fighting for Mexico against Spain and again in 1821 by James Long's invading Mississippians. At the beginning of the Texas Revolution (December 1835), the presidio's Mexican garrison was overwhelmed by Texans led by George Collinsworth and Ben Milam, and on December 20 a preliminary "declaration of independence" was published there. A few weeks after the fall of the Alamo, a detachment of 330 American and Texan troops at Goliad under Col. James Fannin surrendered (March 20, 1836, after the Battle of Coleto Creek) to superior Mexican forces under Gen. Jos Urrea. Although Mexican law stipulated that foreign belligerents taken on Mexican soil be executed for piracy, Fannin surrendered with the understanding that his men would be treated as prisoners of war. Gen. Antonio Lpez de Santa Anna overruled the agreement, and the entire force was shot on March 27. "Remember Goliad" (along with "Remember the Alamo") became one of the two famed Texan revolutionary battle cries. A monument marks the burial site outside the walls of the well-preserved presidio, the officers quarters of which now serve as a museum. The nearby Mission Espritu Santo has been restored within Goliad State Historic Park. The name Goliad, in use since 1829, is supposedly an anagram of (H)idalgo, the Mexican patriot, but may also be derived from the biblical Goliath. Goliad is now a farming centre (cotton, grains, turkeys, and ranching) with oil and gas interests, but it is known chiefly as a monument to the Texas Revolution. Pop. (1990) 1,946.