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jaelieI had an awesome weekend. It started out with our World of Darkness "Girls' Game," run by my friend and co-worker Anne, with ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
finari, lolafae, tempest_sky and myself playing. It's always a hoot, even though I suck at puzzles. I need to type up my notes for our LJ community, heh. I'll also likely cross-post them to Matt's wolfhound website just for posterity. I dunno why I like taking notes, other than the fact that I usually forget what's going on, so they're a great reminder....
finari crashed over at our place Friday night, since we were planning on leaving for Goliad at 6am, which we did. We left at 6am, with Matt and I doing roughly two-hour driving shifts, with finari providing both navigation and extra conversation.
We arrived at Goliad State Park and the Mission Espíritu Santo at around noon. It is one of the oldest missions in the US (I think the one in New Orleans is a good 50 years older). It was established in the early 1700s by a bunch of Franciscan monks who strove to convert the local natives, and served the area for a good 100 years, teaching agriculture, crafts and medicine.
From the Mission we went to the Fannin Memorial monument, which was about one mile away, very close to the Presidio La Bahìa, which was the Spanish military outpost that protected the Mission Espíritu Santo.
The weather was absolutely beautiful for such a solemn memorial. The emerald grass in front of the monument was made greener by the pale gray of the clouds, and a soft drizzling rain fell on the random blue bonnets newly popping up. As we walked up to the monument, I remembered the heroes at the Alamo, and briefly compared them to the martyrs there at Goliad. I could not help but contrast my respect for the bravery of the men who died at the Alamo to my feeling of melancholy as I read the inscription on the pink granite.
ERECTED BY THE STATE OF TEXAS IN HONOR OF THE TEXAN SOLDIERS KILLED IN THE BATTLE OF COLETO MARCH NINETHEENTH 1836 UNDER COLONEL JAMES WALKER FANNIN WHO WERE BURIED ON THE BATTLEFIELD AND OF COLONEL FANNIN AND HIS MEN EXECUTED MARCH TWENTY SEVENTH 1836 BY ORDER OF GENERAL SANTA ANNA AND THEIR BODIES BURNED. BENEATH THIS MONUMENT REPOSE THEIR CHARRED REMAINS.
REMEMBER GOLIAD.
We stood there for a while, reading the names of the soldiers who served under Fannin whose death the monument was created to remember. After we were done, we drove over to the Presidio, which was about half a mile away, in clear view of the monument. The Presidio La Bahìa is still a part of the Catholic diocese, and we paid the small fee to enter the museum and walk around the site. The walls of the Presidio still stand, and although most of the structures inside have long since gone, a few structures do remain - the chapel and some buildings along two of the walls. The museum was in one of these structures, and had all kinds of interesting artifacts and information about the history of the Presidio, including of course information on the execution of Fannin and his men.
We left the Presidio and Goliad around 4pm, and arrived in San Antonio that evening. On the reference of the man at the front desk of our hotel, we ate at a local Tex-Mex restaurant. Mmm. In spite of the drizzling rain, we ate outdoors under an umbrella. The food was excellent and service good. We went back to our hotel and slept until the morning.
We got up at 5am and walked to the Alamo for their Dawn at the Alamo ceremony. It was still raining, and yet the ceremony was as beautiful as it was last year. Afterward, we went back to our hotel and took a nap. We got up around 9am, had breakfast and went back to the Alamo, which opened at 10am. We walked through the grounds, and the chapel, which has been reconstructed and dedicated to the men who died there, with all the known names listed.
After we finished there, we hit the road, arriving back home at around 5pm. We had a nice relaxed dinner withfinari and narkeys, then went to the kennel to pick up Taltos. We spent the rest of the evening watching the 2004 version of The Alamo, which was an ok movie that made too many compromises to the politically correct. Ah, well. I enjoyed it in spite of its wishy-washiness.
In all, an excellent, memorable weekend.
At the Alamo, one hundred and eighty seven men chose to hold that fort until either they were relieved from their post or they were killed by the five thousand Mexican soldiers who assaulted the fort. They held their position for thirteen days, every night enduring bombardment from the Mexican cannons. At 6am on the morning of March 6, 1836, the Mexicans made their push. The men in the fort repelled two advances, in spite of being desperately outnumbered. The Mexicans breached the walls on the third push, and all the men inside the fort were dead by sunrise.
They sold their lives dearly. One hundred and eighty seven Texans died at the Alamo, taking with them approximately one thousand six hundred Mexican soldiers.
Colonel Fannin and his men had left their fort at La Bahìa to join Houston when they were attacked by General Urrea. They held Urrea and his cavalry off in spite of being outnumbered and in a horrible position in an open field until the rain began and their powder got wet. Realizing that they could no longer fight, Colonel Fannin surrendered to General Urrea. Fannin and his four hundred men were escorted back to the Presidio and held there as prisoners.
On March 27, 1836, Palm Sunday, Captain Portilla under the orders of Santa Anna marched the prisoners out in three separate groups and shot them at extremely close range. Three hundred and forty two were executed, and twenty-eight escaped. The wounded prisoners who could not walk were executed in the courtyard of the Presidio. Colonel Fannin, realizing his death was near, made three requests of the executioner: that he not be shot in the face, that his belongings be delivered to his widow, and that he receive a Christian burial. Fannin was shot in the head, his effects were split among the soldiers and all the bodies of the prisoners were burned and remains left to the vultures and elements.
When news of the Alamo and Goliad reached Houston's army, they wanted to set out to confront Santa Anna to wreak immediate revenge. Luckily for the Texans, Houston was a little more farsighted and continued his retreat to the east. During the chase, Santa Anna split his troops, confident that when he reached the Texans, he could easily defeat them.
On April 21, 1836, at a field near the San Jacinto river, Houston surprised Santa Anna and his army during their siesta. At the end of the battle, Texan casualties numbered nine. Six hundred Mexican soldiers died brutally, and over seven hundred were captured, Santa Anna among the prisoners. He was uncovered by his men, who when they saw him exclaimed "El Presidente!"
Santa Anna was taken to Houston, who in exchange for his life, gave up all Mexican claims to Texas.
Remember the Alamo.
Remember Goliad.
finari, lolafae, tempest_sky and myself playing. It's always a hoot, even though I suck at puzzles. I need to type up my notes for our LJ community, heh. I'll also likely cross-post them to Matt's wolfhound website just for posterity. I dunno why I like taking notes, other than the fact that I usually forget what's going on, so they're a great reminder....finari crashed over at our place Friday night, since we were planning on leaving for Goliad at 6am, which we did. We left at 6am, with Matt and I doing roughly two-hour driving shifts, with finari providing both navigation and extra conversation. We arrived at Goliad State Park and the Mission Espíritu Santo at around noon. It is one of the oldest missions in the US (I think the one in New Orleans is a good 50 years older). It was established in the early 1700s by a bunch of Franciscan monks who strove to convert the local natives, and served the area for a good 100 years, teaching agriculture, crafts and medicine.
From the Mission we went to the Fannin Memorial monument, which was about one mile away, very close to the Presidio La Bahìa, which was the Spanish military outpost that protected the Mission Espíritu Santo.
The weather was absolutely beautiful for such a solemn memorial. The emerald grass in front of the monument was made greener by the pale gray of the clouds, and a soft drizzling rain fell on the random blue bonnets newly popping up. As we walked up to the monument, I remembered the heroes at the Alamo, and briefly compared them to the martyrs there at Goliad. I could not help but contrast my respect for the bravery of the men who died at the Alamo to my feeling of melancholy as I read the inscription on the pink granite.
REMEMBER GOLIAD.
We stood there for a while, reading the names of the soldiers who served under Fannin whose death the monument was created to remember. After we were done, we drove over to the Presidio, which was about half a mile away, in clear view of the monument. The Presidio La Bahìa is still a part of the Catholic diocese, and we paid the small fee to enter the museum and walk around the site. The walls of the Presidio still stand, and although most of the structures inside have long since gone, a few structures do remain - the chapel and some buildings along two of the walls. The museum was in one of these structures, and had all kinds of interesting artifacts and information about the history of the Presidio, including of course information on the execution of Fannin and his men.
We left the Presidio and Goliad around 4pm, and arrived in San Antonio that evening. On the reference of the man at the front desk of our hotel, we ate at a local Tex-Mex restaurant. Mmm. In spite of the drizzling rain, we ate outdoors under an umbrella. The food was excellent and service good. We went back to our hotel and slept until the morning.
We got up at 5am and walked to the Alamo for their Dawn at the Alamo ceremony. It was still raining, and yet the ceremony was as beautiful as it was last year. Afterward, we went back to our hotel and took a nap. We got up around 9am, had breakfast and went back to the Alamo, which opened at 10am. We walked through the grounds, and the chapel, which has been reconstructed and dedicated to the men who died there, with all the known names listed.
After we finished there, we hit the road, arriving back home at around 5pm. We had a nice relaxed dinner with
finari and narkeys, then went to the kennel to pick up Taltos. We spent the rest of the evening watching the 2004 version of The Alamo, which was an ok movie that made too many compromises to the politically correct. Ah, well. I enjoyed it in spite of its wishy-washiness.In all, an excellent, memorable weekend.
At the Alamo, one hundred and eighty seven men chose to hold that fort until either they were relieved from their post or they were killed by the five thousand Mexican soldiers who assaulted the fort. They held their position for thirteen days, every night enduring bombardment from the Mexican cannons. At 6am on the morning of March 6, 1836, the Mexicans made their push. The men in the fort repelled two advances, in spite of being desperately outnumbered. The Mexicans breached the walls on the third push, and all the men inside the fort were dead by sunrise.
They sold their lives dearly. One hundred and eighty seven Texans died at the Alamo, taking with them approximately one thousand six hundred Mexican soldiers.
Colonel Fannin and his men had left their fort at La Bahìa to join Houston when they were attacked by General Urrea. They held Urrea and his cavalry off in spite of being outnumbered and in a horrible position in an open field until the rain began and their powder got wet. Realizing that they could no longer fight, Colonel Fannin surrendered to General Urrea. Fannin and his four hundred men were escorted back to the Presidio and held there as prisoners.
On March 27, 1836, Palm Sunday, Captain Portilla under the orders of Santa Anna marched the prisoners out in three separate groups and shot them at extremely close range. Three hundred and forty two were executed, and twenty-eight escaped. The wounded prisoners who could not walk were executed in the courtyard of the Presidio. Colonel Fannin, realizing his death was near, made three requests of the executioner: that he not be shot in the face, that his belongings be delivered to his widow, and that he receive a Christian burial. Fannin was shot in the head, his effects were split among the soldiers and all the bodies of the prisoners were burned and remains left to the vultures and elements.
When news of the Alamo and Goliad reached Houston's army, they wanted to set out to confront Santa Anna to wreak immediate revenge. Luckily for the Texans, Houston was a little more farsighted and continued his retreat to the east. During the chase, Santa Anna split his troops, confident that when he reached the Texans, he could easily defeat them.
On April 21, 1836, at a field near the San Jacinto river, Houston surprised Santa Anna and his army during their siesta. At the end of the battle, Texan casualties numbered nine. Six hundred Mexican soldiers died brutally, and over seven hundred were captured, Santa Anna among the prisoners. He was uncovered by his men, who when they saw him exclaimed "El Presidente!"
Santa Anna was taken to Houston, who in exchange for his life, gave up all Mexican claims to Texas.
Remember the Alamo.
Remember Goliad.
