Goliad

Goliad, historic city, seat (1837) of Goliad county, southern Texas, U.S., near the San Antonio River, 85 miles (137 km) southeast of San Antonio and 80 miles (129 km) north of Corpus Christi.

A Spanish mission, Nuestra Señora del Espíritu Santo Zúñiga (Spanish: “Our Lady of the Holy Spirit of Zúñiga”), and its protective fort, Presidio La Bahía, were established there in 1749 on the site of village inhabitated by the Aranama people. 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 some 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. José 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. Mexican Pres. Antonio López de Santa Anna, who was commanding the Mexican forces in Texas, overruled the agreement, and about 400 troops under Fannin’s command (including some who had been captured in other encounters) were shot on March 27, 1836, which was Palm Sunday. Although not as famous as the Battle of the Alamo, the execution of Fannin’s troops at Goliad—known as the Goliad Massacre—crystallized public opinion in the United States and contributed to a war frenzy against Mexico. 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 Espíritu Santo has been restored within Goliad State Park and Historic Site.

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The name Goliad, in use since 1829, is said to be an anagram of (H)idalgo, for Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, the Mexican priest who led a revolt against Spanish rule in 1810, but some suggest that the name may be derived from the biblical Goliath. The city is now a farming center (cotton, grains, turkeys, and ranching) with oil and gas interests, but it is known chiefly as a monument to the Texas Revolution. Tornadoes in 1902 and 1942 destroyed much of the original city. Pop. (2010) 1,908; (2020) 1,612.