In March 1836, with General Jose de Urrea’s Mexican army advancing on his position,
In March 1836, with General Jose de Urrea’s Mexican army advancing on his position, Colonel James Fannin of the Texas Army made the fateful decision to abandon his fortified post at Fort Defiance and retreat. Encumbered by heavy artillery and baggage, Fannin’s greatly outnumbered force was soon overtaken by the Mexicans and surrounded. The battle that followed convinced Fannin that his situation was hopeless, and he opened surrender negotiations. After being led to believe his men would be paroled and deported, Fannin surrendered his army. Fannin’s defeat became the latest in a series of stinging Mexican victories over the Texas revolutionaries. Supreme Mexican commander General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana had no intention, however, of releasing Fannin and his men. The previous December he had caused the Mexican Congress to pass a law declaring that all captured “foreigners” were to be treated as pirates and executed. So, Santa Ana ordered de Urrea to put his prisoners to death....