James Fannin was a man of high ambition but tragic hesitation. If you look at the Texas Revolution, everyone talks about the Alamo. It’s the legend. But the Battle of Coleto Creek is where the tactical reality of the war actually hit the fan. It wasn’t a glorious last stand atop a mission wall; it was a gritty, desperate struggle in an open prairie where a commander’s inability to move fast enough led hundreds of men straight into a trap.
General José de Urrea was moving like a ghost through the coastal plains. He wasn’t like Santa Anna, who preferred the blunt force of a massive frontal assault. Urrea was a cavalryman. He was fast. He was efficient. While Fannin was sitting in Goliad, hesitating over whether to reinforce the Alamo or retreat to Victoria, Urrea was busy gobbling up smaller Texian detachments at San Patricio and Refugio. By the time Fannin finally decided to move, the clock had already run out.
The Fatal Delay at Goliad
Fannin had over 400 men at Presidio La Bahía. On paper, this was the largest organized force in the Texian Army. But they weren't exactly "army" material in the professional sense. Most were volunteers from the United States—the New Orleans Greys, the Red Rovers—men who had come for adventure but lacked the discipline of a standing military.
Sam Houston had sent orders to retreat. He knew the Mexican Army was too large to fight in the open. Fannin waited. He waited for Ward’s troops to return from Refugio. He waited because he didn't want to leave his heavy cannons behind. It sounds like a small detail, doesn't it? Cannons. But those heavy brass guns slowed the retreat to a crawl. They got stuck in the mud. They exhausted the oxen. Honestly, those cannons were probably the heaviest weights around Fannin's neck.
When they finally cleared out of Goliad on March 19, 1836, they didn't get far. Fannin stopped to graze the oxen. You've got to wonder what he was thinking. They were in an open prairie, barely six miles from the woods of Coleto Creek, and he stopped. His officers, guys like Shakelford, were nervous. They knew the Mexican cavalry was nearby. But Fannin insisted the men and animals needed rest. That rest became a death sentence.
Surrounded on the Prairie
Suddenly, Urrea’s cavalry appeared. They didn't just appear; they swarmed. Fannin tried to reach the timberline of Coleto Creek, but the Mexican forces cut him off. The Texians were caught in a "depression" in the prairie, about six feet below the surrounding terrain. It sounds like a decent defensive position, but it was a natural kill box.
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The Battle of Coleto Creek began in earnest that afternoon. The Texians formed a square. They had their cannons now, and they used them, but they had no water. That's the part that gets lost in the history books sometimes. The physical misery. It was unseasonably hot. The men were parched. The wounded were screaming for water, and there was none to be had.
Urrea’s men attacked three times. Each time, the Texian sharpshooters—many of whom were expert hunters from the American South—picked off the Mexican officers. The Mexican infantry, mostly conscripts, took heavy losses. But Urrea had the one thing Fannin didn't: reinforcements. As night fell, the Texians were trapped in a circle of campfires. They spent the night digging shallow trenches and using dead horses and wagons as breastworks. It was a gruesome, hollowed-out existence.
The Myth of the "Honorable" Surrender
By morning, Urrea had received more troops and, crucially, more artillery. When the Mexican cannons opened up on the Texian square, the game was up. Fannin had a choice: die in the hole or try to negotiate.
This is where the history gets controversial. Fannin went out to meet Urrea. He wanted a "surrender as prisoners of war" under the norms of civilized warfare. Urrea, following Santa Anna’s "Tornel Decree," knew that all foreigners caught arms-in-hand were to be treated as pirates and executed. However, Urrea didn't want a bloodbath. He wrote in his diary that he didn't want to butcher these men.
The Texians believed they were surrendering with the promise that they would be paroled and sent back to the United States. They signed a document. But the Spanish version of the document—the one that actually mattered—stated they were surrendering "at the discretion of the Supreme Government." Basically, they were at the mercy of Santa Anna. And Santa Anna had no mercy.
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The Road to Goliad and the Final Toll
The men were marched back to Goliad. They were hopeful. They sang songs. They thought the war was over for them. They spent a week in the old presidio, cramped and hungry but alive. Then came Palm Sunday.
You likely know the rest—the Goliad Massacre. But the Battle of Coleto Creek is the necessary context for that horror. Without the tactical failure on the prairie, the massacre never happens. Fannin’s indecision wasn't just a "mistake" in a vacuum; it was a cascading series of delays that allowed a superior mobile force to pin down a static one.
Historians like Stephen Hardin and Hobart Huson have spent years dissecting Fannin’s psyche. Was he incompetent? Maybe not. He was a West Point dropout who understood the theory of war but lacked the instinct for it. He couldn't make the hard call to ditch the cannons and save the men. He chose the "proper" military retreat over the "necessary" one.
Why This Battle Changes How You See Texas History
Most people think of the Texas Revolution as a series of heroic wins leading to San Jacinto. It wasn't. It was a mess. Coleto Creek shows us that the Texians were often their own worst enemies. They argued. They ignored orders. They underestimated their opponents.
Urrea was a brilliant commander. We should give him credit. He managed to outmaneuver a force that had superior firepower (those cannons) by using speed and psychological pressure. He knew Fannin was stuck, and he just waited for the right moment to squeeze.
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Tactical Takeaways from Coleto Creek
If you’re a history buff or just someone interested in how leadership fails, there are some pretty glaring lessons here:
- Mobility is Life: Fannin prioritized equipment (cannons) over movement. In a retreat, if you aren't moving, you're a target.
- The "Hollow Square" is a Trap: While the square formation was great for fending off cavalry, it made the Texians a stationary target for the Mexican artillery that arrived the next morning.
- Intelligence Matters: Fannin had no idea how close Urrea actually was. He lacked effective scouting, whereas Urrea’s scouts were watching Fannin’s every move from the moment he left Goliad.
How to Visit the Site Today
If you want to see where this went down, you need to head to the Fannin Battleground State Historic Site near Victoria, Texas. It’s a quiet place now. You can see the monument marking the spot where the square was formed. Standing in that "depression" in the land gives you a chilling perspective. You realize how exposed they were. You can see how the tree line—the safety they never reached—was just tantalizingly out of reach.
Check the Texas Historical Commission website before you go for current hours. They’ve done a great job with the interpretive signage. Also, make sure to visit the Presidio La Bahía in Goliad afterward. Seeing where they started and where they ended up makes the tragedy of the Battle of Coleto Creek feel much more real.
The real insight here? Don't just study the winners. San Jacinto was a fluke in many ways. If you want to understand the grit and the failure of the Texas Revolution, you have to look at the prairie at Coleto Creek. It's a reminder that in war, the person who hesitates doesn't just lose the battle—they lose the men they were supposed to protect.
To truly grasp the scale of the conflict, map out the distance between Goliad and Victoria on your phone. See how short that trip is. Then imagine taking two days to do it while an army is chasing you. That’s the real story of Fannin’s command.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Read Primary Sources: Look up the translated diaries of General José de Urrea. It provides a much-needed perspective from the Mexican side that is often omitted in Texas classrooms.
- Visit the Site: Map out a trip to the Fannin Battleground State Historic Site. Bring plenty of water—it helps you empathize with what the men felt during that dry night in the square.
- Cross-Reference: Compare Fannin’s retreat with the "Runaway Scrape." Seeing how civilians moved faster than Fannin's soldiers explains a lot about the panic of 1836.