Battle of Coleto The Battle of Coleto , also known as the Battle of Coleto Creek , the Battle of the Prairie , and the Batalla del encinal del Perdido , was fought on March 19 and 20 , 1836 , during the Goliad campaign of the Texas Revolution . In February , General José de Urrea led a branch of the Mexican army up the Gulf Coast of Mexican Texas toward Goliad , where a large contingent of soldiers from the Texian Army were garrisoned under Colonel James W . Fannin . Simultaneously , Mexican president Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna led a larger force into the Texan interior , where on March 6 his troops won the Battle of the Alamo . After learning of the Alamo ' s defeat , Texian general Sam Houston ordered Fannin to retreat from Goliad and join the rest of the army in Victoria . On March 19 , Fannin led his men on a leisurely retreat from Goliad . Mexican troops surrounded the Texians later in the day , before Fannin could reach the shelter of a grove of timber at Coleto Creek , some away . Texans formed a square in the middle of the prairie and attempted to defend their position . Although Mexican troops launched three separate attacks against the square , they could not penetrate the Texian position . As night fell , Mexican sharpshooters were able to wound and kill more Texans . With little water to give to the wounded or to cool their artillery , the Texians felt they were unable to withstand further fighting . On the morning of March 20 , the Texians surrendered . Urrea attempted to secure honorable terms for his Texan prisoners . However , Santa Anna had received authorization from the Mexican Congress to treat all captured Texian troops as pirates rather than prisoners - of - war . Against Urrea ' s pleadings , all of the Texians were sentenced to death . A few Texians escaped the Goliad Massacre on March 27 , but most were killed . Background . Colonel James Fannin was the commander of the Texan troops at Fort Defiance in late 1835 and early 1836 . During the siege of the Alamo in February 1836 he attempted a march of 100 miles to relieve the Texan forces at the Alamo but due to poor preparation for the journey and word that general Urrea ' s Mexican forces were approaching Goliad , he turned back . After the Alamo fell to Santa Anna ' s forces the Texians received orders from General Sam Houston to fall back to Victoria . Fannin therefore abandoned the fort but proceeded without adequate supplies and without haste on his retreat . Prelude . By 09 : 00 on March 19 they began their retreat from Goliad , during a period of heavy fog . The Texan force included the San Antonio Greys , the Red Rovers , the Mustangs commanded by Burr H . Duval , a militia from Refugio commanded by Hugh McDonald Frazer , Texan regular soldiers commanded by Ira Westover , and the Mobile Greys . Nine heavy artillery pieces with different calibers were ordered by Fannin to be taken by the Texans , along with 1000 muskets , but he neglected to ensure that a good amount of food and water was transported . Carts loaded with heavy equipment were being pulled by hungry and tired oxen . Urrea did not realize the Texians had left until 11 : 00 . The two hour lead was removed , when a Texan cart crossing the San Antonio River broke , a cannon had to be brought out of the river , and Fannin ordered that the oxen be allowed to graze for a period of time after the Texans had proceeded about a mile past Manahuilla Creek , resulting in the retreat being stopped . John Shackelford , Burr H . Duval , and Ira Westover opposed Fannin ' s decision to allow the oxen to graze , arguing that they should continue their retreat until they reached the protection of the Coleto Creek timber . Shackelford would state that Fannin argued that the Mexican army against them was poor , and that Urrea would not follow them . In an effort to catch Fannin ' s troops Urrea left his artillery , and some of his men , in Goliad . He began his pursuit with , according to Mexican sources , 80 cavalrymen and 360 infantrymen . Mexican mounted scouts determined the location of the Texans , and reported the size of the force , which Urrea concluded was smaller than he originally thought . As a result , he ordered 100 of his soldiers to go back to Goliad to help secure Presidio La Bahía . He also ordered the artillery he left in Goliad to be brought to him , and that the artillery would be escorted by some of the soldiers he was sending back . Meanwhile , Albert C . Horton ' s 30 cavalrymen were serving as advance guards , and were positioned to cover all sides of the Texan force . The rear guard was not alert , and did not detect the Mexican cavalry that was approaching the Texians . Shortly after they resumed their march another Texan cart broke down , and its cargo had to be transferred to another one , delaying the retreat again . Shortly after , Fannin had sent Horton to scout the Coleto Creek timber that was in sight , then the Mexican cavalry overtook Fannin ' s Texians . As the Texans tried to get to high ground 400 to 500 yards away from the position they were in when the cavalry overtook them , the ammunition cart broke . Battle . The Texan soldiers formed a square against the Mexicans . The high grass of the prairie meant the Texan view of the Mexicans was impaired . The Texians had little water . Each Texian soldier received three to four muskets . The square was three ranks deep . The front line contained the San Antonio Greys and Red Rovers , whilst Duval ' s Mustangs and Frazer ' s Refugio militia formed part of the rear line . The left flank was covered by Westover ' s regulars , whilst the right was protected by the Mobile Greys . In the corners of the square , the artillery had been positioned . Fannin stood in the rear of the right flank . In addition , a number of sharpshooters were deployed around Abel Morgan ' s hospital wagon , which could no longer be moved after the ox that was moving it was killed by Mexican fire . The Mexican soldiers then attacked the square . The left of the Texian square was confronted by the rifle companies under Morales , and the right was assaulted by the grenadiers and part of the San Luis Battalion . The Mexican formations involved in this attack on the right of the square was under the personal supervision of Urrea . The Jiménez Battalion under Col . Mariano Salas fought the front , and Col . Gabriel Núñez ' s cavalry was ordered against the rear of the square . By sunset , when Urrea ordered the Mexicans to cease any more major attacks against the square due to a lack of Mexican ammunition , the majority of the action of 19 March was over . The Mexicans had assaulted the square three times . Making effective use of their bayonets , multiple muskets , and nine cannons , the Texians had prevented the Mexicans each time from breaking the square . Urrea said that he was impressed with the fact that the Texians had managed to maintain the square against the three charges , and he was also impressed with the Texian weapon fire . Dr . Joseph H . Barnard , a Texian , recorded that by sunset seven Texians had been killed . He also recorded that sixty Texians , including Fannin , had been wounded . Forty of the sixty had been wounded several times . After sunset , Urrea ordered Mexican sharpshooters to be positioned in the tall grass around the square , and that they fire at the Texians . Before Texian sharpshooters were able to remove the threat posed by the Mexican sharpshooters , by firing at the flash caused by the Mexican guns , the Mexican sharpshooters were able to inflict more Texian casualties . As a result of all the fighting that occurred on 19 March , the Texians had suffered at least ten dead and sixty wounded , whilst the Mexicans suffered an unspecified high amount of casualties . The fighting of 19 March had not demoralised the Texian soldiers . They were encouraged by the thought that Horton would succeed in getting Texian reinforcements from Guadalupe Victoria to Fannin . However , Horton had not been able to break through the Mexican defences . During the day ' s fighting the Texian soldiers that were retreating to Guadalupe Victoria after the earlier battle of Refugio were close enough to Fannin to hear gunfire . However , they were exhausted and hungry , and did not move to the square . Urrea stationed three detachments of Mexican troops around the square , to prevent the Texians in the square from escaping , and during the night Mexican false bugle call s were sounded to keep the Texians alert . The Texians ' lack of water , and the inability to light fires in the square , meant the wounded Texians could not be treated . The pain being experienced by the wounded resulted in the general decrease in morale amongst the Texian soldiers during the night . The poor weather during the night further lessened the morale of the soldiers . The lack of water also meant that the artillery could not be used effectively the next day , because water was needed to cool and clean the cannons . The fighting of 19 March had also left many Texian artillerists casualties , and ammunition for the cannons was low . All these factors contributed to the conclusion by Fannin and other officers during the night that they could not sustain another day of fighting . An idea for the Texians to escape to a more defendable position under cover of darkness , before Urrea received reinforcements , was rejected because it was decided that those who were too injured to escape , which included friends and relatives of unwounded Texians , should not be left behind . It was therefore decided that the Texians should attempt to make another stand from their current position the next day . As a result , during the night , the Texians dug trenches and erected barricades of carts and dead animals . Urrea , meanwhile , had been reinforced with munitions , fresh troops , and two or three artillery pieces from Goliad . He positioned the Mexican artillery on the slopes overlooking the Texian square . At 06 : 15 on March 20 , the Mexicans were grouped for battle . After one or two rounds were fired by Mexican artillery Fannin and his officers re - iterated their conclusion that the Texians could not take another day ' s fighting , and decided to seek honorable terms for surrender . They drafted terms of surrender , which included statements that the Texian wounded would be treated , that they would be gain all the protection expected as prisoners of war , and that they would be paroled to the United States of America . However , Santa Anna had stated earlier that any Texian can only be allowed to surrender unconditionally . As a result , Urrea could not guarantee that all the terms would be followed by Santa Anna . He stated that he would talk to Santa Anna on behalf of the terms of surrender presented by the Texians . The document of surrender was signed by Benjamin C . Wallace , Joseph M . Chadwick , and Fannin . As a result of the signing , the battle of Coleto ended . Aftermath . Those Texians that could walk were sent to Goliad , under Mexican escort . It would take until about March 23 until those Texians that could not walk were transported to Goliad . During that time , Mexican physicians were told that wounded Mexicans were a priority to treat , as opposed to the wounded Texians . Fannin arrived in Goliad on March 22 . Urrea , meanwhile , had moved onto Guadalupe Victoria , from where he wrote to Santa Anna a letter recommending that the Texian prisoners should be treated with clemency . However , Santa Anna did not follow Urrea ' s recommendation , instead ordering the Mexican commander Jose Nicolas de la Portilla at Goliad to execute the Texian prisoners . On Palm Sunday , March 27 , 1836 , Fannin and about 340 other Texian prisoners were shot by Mexican soldiers . The execution became known as the Goliad Massacre . The Battle of Coleto was significant because it showed that Texian troops involved in the battle , despite being relatively untrained , were able to stand up to the Mexican troops against them and obey their commanders . The battle was primarily lost because Fannin did not act decisively enough to ensure success and he underestimated the quality of the Mexican force against him . It also illustrated that Fannin was reluctant to co - ordinate his actions with other Texian forces , a trait that was common amongst many Texian commanders .