Claim: After Mexico's declaration for the execution of Texian rebels, the Goliad massacre happened where Dillard Cooper was a survivor of, and was able to meet other survivors of the Red Rovers.
Evidence: Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna had ordered General José de Urrea to treat the rebellious Texians as pirates instead of soldiers and to have them executed in accordance with the law rather than kept as prisoners of war. On March 27, Cooper survived the massacre of 425 men at Goliad, running away as the bodies of his companions fell. The Goliad massacre was an event of the Texas Revolution that occurred on March 27, 1836, following the Battle of Coleto; 425–445 prisoners of war from the Texian Army of the Republic of Texas were killed by the Mexican Army in the town of Goliad, Texas. Cooper soon linked up with three other surviving members of Red Rovers, Zachariah S. Brooks, Wilson Simpson, and Isaac D. Hamilton.