My partner Jerry Ehernberger and I arrived in San Antonio on Sunday and set aside Monday for a car trip to Goliad and Refugio. Our first stop was the Presidio La Bahia outside of Goliad. Its Director, Scott McMahon, was not available to meet us, but the receptionist was quite helpful. At the front desk I purchased “A Lady and A Lone Star Flag: The Story of Joanna Troutman” by Henry David Pope. (It gives the most informative telling of the story that I have read so far.) I was moved to stand in the chapel where some of Fannin and Ward’s men were held prisoner after their respective surrenders at Coleto and Dimmitt’s Landing. I was also moved walking through the gate in the Presidio wall through which the 400 prisoners were marched to the nearby site of the Goliad Massacre where the Monument to Fannin and His Men now stands. I will post Jerry’s photos in the Monuments tab of the website. We then had a tour of the Mission La Bahia by Jared Ramirez, its Interpretive Team Lead. Jared’s interest is in the Spanish mission movement in Texas and not on the Texas Revolution itself. Due to time restraints we did not visit the Fannin Battleground State Historic Site at Coleto. At Refugio we found the Monument to King’s Men, which has a text that includes the Georgia Battalion under Ward and the Battle of Refugio. We also visited the Our Lady of Refuge Catholic Church, built on the site of the original Mission Refugio. There is a historic maker there about the Battle of Refugio. Later in the week, as part of guided tours, we visited Mission Conception, Mission San Jose, and the Alamo.

The Georgia Battalion Project

Refugio, Goliad, and San Jacinto: The Georgia Battalion in the Texas Revolution 1835-1836