colonel in the Texas revolutionary army leader of the ill-fated expedition to Goliad
James Walker Fannin was probably born on January 1, 1804. His father was Dr. Isham Fannin, a Georgia planter. The boy, under the shadow of illegitimacy, was adopted by his maternal grandfather, James W. Walker, and was brought up on a plantation near Marion, Georgia.
On July 1, 1819, at the age of fourteen years and six months, and under the name of James F. Walker, he was admitted to West Point. He was evidently not especially devoted to his books, for when, as the result of an unfortunate quarrel with a fellow student, he ran away from West Point in November 1821, he stood sixtieth in a class of eighty-six.
Some years after his return to Georgia, he was married to Minerva Fort, by whom he had two daughters. In the autumn of 1834, when his children were two and four years old, and with the assistance of funds supplied by his friends, Fannin removed to Texas, where he settled at Velasco on the Brazos River From hints in his own letters and from the charges of his enemies, it appears that Fannin was interested in the slave-trade in Cuba. He had made at least one trip to the island, of which he said: “My last voyage from the island of Cuba (with 153) succeeded admirably. ” At the outbreak of the Revolution his property, which he offered to devote to the cause, consisted of thirty- six negro slaves, whose “native lingo, ” according to an unfriendly critic, yet betrayed their recent importation (quoted by Smith, post, p. 81). He had time for other things, however. As early as the winter of 1834-35, he was back in Mobile, trying to persuade an old army friend to aid the expected revolution. He was evidently a man of influence among his neighbors, and during the next summer he was active in the work of revolutionary committees. On October 2, 1835, at Gonzales, he participated in the first skirmish of the war, and on October 28, at the mission of Concepcion, he distinguished himself in a brilliant engagement. On December 10, he was appointed to secure supplies and volunteers in the region west of the Trinity River, a mission which he performed with energy and skill. During the lull which followed the capture of San Antonio, Fannin became one of the eager advocates of a plan to carry the war into the enemy’s country by seizing the Mexican port of Matamoras. The idea was bitterly opposed by Governor Smith and General Sam Houston; but the Council on January 7, 1836, appointed Fannin their agent, with dictatorial powers, to organize such an expedition. Smith, proving obdurate, was removed, and Houston withdrew for the time on a mission to the Indians, thus leaving Texas for several critical weeks without a responsible government. The chief reason for the calamities that followed, however, was the entirely unexpected energy of Santa Anna. On Febuary 8, Fannin had established himself with 420 American volunteers at Goliad, a strong defensive position on the south bank of the San Antonio River. Nine days later, while Fannin was writing eager letters for reinforcements and for definite orders, Urrea had secured Matamoras and was already marching north. When Fannin commenced his retreat on March 19, he was already too late. In the afternoon, at an unfavorable place in the open prairie, Fannin’s immediate force of 200 men was overtaken by Urrea’s advance. The next day, after fighting in which twenty-seven Americans were killed and many, including the commander, were severely wounded, Fannin surrendered. The terms of surrender contained the equivocal phrase: “All the detachment shall be treated as prisoners of war and placed at the disposal of the supreme government. ” Urrea probably intended to interpret the phrase humanely, but by direct orders from Santa Anna, on the morning of March 27, 1836, the prisoners who had been gathered together at Goliad were led out and shot. Three hundred and thirty were thus killed. Eighty-eight were spared for various reasons, and twenty-seven escaped. Fannin was the last to be executed.
Quotations:
Fannin was interested in the slave-trade in Cuba. He had made at least one trip to the island, of which he said : “My last voyage from the island of Cuba (with 153) succeeded admirably. ”
After fighting with Urrea in which twenty-seven Americans were killed and many, including the commander, were severely wounded, Fannin surrendered. The terms of surrender contained the equivocal phrase: “All the detachment shall be treated as prisoners of war and placed at the disposal of the supreme government. ”
he was active in the work of revolutionary committees
His cousin, Martha Fort, whom he visited in Philadelphia, described him as a gallant, handsome, sensitive lad.
He had made serious mistakes as a commander, but in a grave emergency he had proved himself a brave and generous man.
Some years after his return to Georgia, he was married to Minerva Fort, by whom he had two daughters.
Fannin’s wife survived him only one year.
