General Ignacio Zaragoza
Goliad, Goliad County, Texas
Marker Inscription
(January 14, 1829 - September 8, 1862) Nacio en este lugar cuando se llamaba "Bahia del Espiritu Santo." En 1855, al mando de un ejercito de voluntarios Mexicanos, contribuyo a la derrota del dictador Santa Anna. Siempre fue caudillo en la defensa de su patria, el 5 de mayo de 1862, durante la invasion de las fuerzas Francesas de Napoleon III y Maximiliano, en la Batalla de Puebla y al Mando de 4,000 soldados mal armados, derroto a 8,000 zuavos veteranos Franceses. Esta heroica victoria dio a Mexico su gran fiesta patriotica nacional "El Cinco de Mayo." Born on this site when it was called "Bahia del Espiritu Santo." In 1855, at the head of an army of Mexican volunteers, contributed to the defeat of dictator Santa Anna. Always a leader in the defense of his country, on May 5, 1862, during the invasion of the French forces of Napoleon III and Maximilian, in the Battle of Puebla, he led 4,000 poorly armed soldiers to defeat 8,000 veteran French zouaves. This heroic victory gave Mexico its great national patriotic anniversary, "El Cinco de Mayo."
Erected by Texas Historical Commission
The Story
Ignacio Zaragoza was born on this Goliad site in 1829, when the settlement was still known as Bahía del Espíritu Santo and the region belonged to Mexico. Rising as a soldier, he helped topple the dictator Santa Anna and, on May 5, 1862, led a poorly armed Mexican force to a stunning victory over veteran French troops at the Battle of Puebla. That triumph against Napoleon III's invasion gave Mexico the holiday of Cinco de Mayo.
Why it matters
That a hero of Mexican independence from French intervention was born on Texas soil underscores the deep, shared borderland heritage binding Texas and Mexico across the shifting line of the 19th century.
Own a business near here? Add it to the map.
Related people
- · Ignacio Zaragoza
- · Santa Anna
- · Napoleon III
- · Maximilian
Related events
- · Battle of Puebla
- · Cinco de Mayo
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
Presidio de Nuestra Senora de Loreto de la Bahia
Goliad, TX
Founded in 1722 and re-established at Goliad in 1749, the Presidio La Bahia is among the most storied Spanish forts in Texas, guarding the nearby Espiritu Santo Mission. Its walls rang through the age of revolution—filibustering expeditions under Gutierrez-Magee, James Long, and Henry Perry assailed it, and in 1835 ninety-two citizens signed Texas's first formal declaration of independence within it. In 1836 Colonel James Fannin and more than 340 men were held here and massacred on Palm Sunday, one of the darkest days of the Texas Revolution. A meticulous 1960s restoration uncovered nine layers of occupation.
Angel of Goliad
Goliad, TX
In the spring of 1836, as the Texas Revolution turned brutal, a woman remembered as Francisca Alavez moved among the Mexican army's prisoners performing quiet acts of mercy. She loosened cruel bindings, brought food and water, hid men, and pleaded for lives at Copano, Goliad and beyond—saving some of the very Texian captives marked for the Goliad Massacre, in which hundreds were shot on Santa Anna's orders. A survivor's memoir immortalized her as the 'Angel of Goliad.'
Grave of Colonel J. W. Fannin and His Men
Goliad, TX
After Col. James Walker Fannin's outnumbered Texas force surrendered following the Battle of Coleto in March 1836, Santa Anna ordered the prisoners held at Presidio La Bahía executed. On Palm Sunday, roughly 400 men were marched out and massacred and the wounded shot within the fort, with Fannin himself the last to die; a handful were spared by their medical skill or saved by the "Angel of Goliad," and about thirty escaped. Weeks later Gen. Thomas J. Rusk's army gathered the scattered remains and gave them a military burial here on June 3, 1836.
Santa Anna's Surrender Ratified
Goliad, TX
After Texas forces shattered Santa Anna's army at San Jacinto on April 21, 1836, the Mexican second-in-command, Gen. Vicente Filisola, marched his surviving troops southward toward Mexico. Texan couriers overtook him near Goliad, and at Mujerero Creek on May 26, 1836, Filisola and his fellow officers signed the ratification of peace with Texan representatives — a quiet creekside act that helped seal the outcome of the revolution.