The Battle of Refugio was fought from March 12–15, 1836, near Refugio, Texas. Mexican General José Urrea and 1,500 Centralista soldiers fought against Amon B. King and his 28 American volunteers and Lieutenant Colonel William Ward and his approximately 120 Americans. The battle, a part of the Goliad Campaign of the Texas Revolution, resulted in a Mexican victory and splintered Texan resistance.
Background
Under President Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Mexican government began to shift away from a federalist model to a more centralized government. His increasingly dictatorial policies, including the revocation of the Constitution of 1824 in early 1835, incited federalists throughout the nation to revolt. The Mexican army quickly put down revolts in the Mexican interior, including a brutal suppression of militias in Oaxaca and Zacatecas. Unrest continued in the Mexican state Coahuila y Tejas. The area that bordered the United States, known as Texas, was populated primarily by English-speaking settlers, known as Texians. In October, the Texians took up arms in what became known as the Texas Revolution. The following month, Texians declared themselves part of a state independent from Coahuila and created a provisional state government based on the principles of the Constitution of 1824. By the end of the year, all Mexican troops had been expelled from Texas.
Determined to quash the rebellion, Santa Anna began assembling a large force to restore order; by the end of 1835, his army numbered 6,019 soldiers. In late December, at his behest, the Mexican Congress passed the Tornel Decree, declaring that any foreigners fighting against Mexican troops "will be deemed pirates and dealt with as such, being citizens of no nation presently at war with the Republic and fighting under no recognized flag". In the early nineteenth century, captured pirates were executed immediately. The resolution thus gave the Mexican Army permission to take no prisoners in the war against the Texians. Santa Anna personally led the bulk of his troops inland to San Antonio de Béxar and ordered General José de Urrea to lead 550 troops [additional units would follow] along the Atascocita Road toward Goliad. Urrea's mission objectives were twofold. First, protect the Mexican Army's southern flank. Secondly, clear the Texas Gulf Coast and occupy the various ports. This operation would intercept and stop the ongoing flow of men and supplies, isolating the Texas rebellion. Although Urrea eventually achieved his objectives, delays and high casualties prevented the General and his men from giving General Santa Anna's main force important support. This operation and successful suppression of the rebellion along the Texas Gulf Coast have become known as the Goliad Campaign.
Prelude
Colonel James Fannin and his men had improved the fortifications at the old Presidio La Bahía and renamed it "Fort Defiance." News of the fate of Texians under Frank W. Johnson at the Battle of San Patricio and James Grant at the Battle of Agua Dulce (both captured in earlier fights) created confusion rather than stirring the volunteers gathered at Goliad into action.
On March 7, Lewis Ayers brought Fannin news from Refugio, a town 25 miles (40 km) south of Goliad. The week before, the Victoriana Guardes, a group of Tejanos who supported centralism, had ransacked the town. After destroying much property, the Guards, a militia under the command of Captain Carlos de la Garza, made camp just outside the town. Several pro-independence Anglo families, including Ayers' wife and children, remained in the Refugio area, afraid that if they stayed they would be captured by the Mexican army, but that if they left they would be harmed by de la Garza's men.
Fannin agreed to send troops to evacuate the settlers as soon as oxen and carts were available to assist with the transport. Three days later, the army's carts returned from Port Lavaca with supplies for the garrison. As soon as they were unloaded, Fannin called for volunteers to go to Refugio. On March 11, Captain Amon B. King led 28 men of his company and most of the carts to evacuate the settlers. They arrived that evening and camped for the night at Mission Nuestra Senora del Refugio, where some of the Anglo families had taken refuge. The Mexican Catholic Church had abandoned the mission some years earlier. The mission was a semi ruin. No priests or other church officials were stationed at the old mission. Irish immigrant settlers from the Refugio area had recently repaired the main building's roof, doors, and windows. They repaired pews and other interior furnishings and furniture. Although these repairs were crude and very basic, they made it possible to hold services when a priest could be found.
The following morning, King led his troops to the ranch of Esteban Lopez, where the family of Lewis Ayers was staying. King arrested six Tejanos he had heard were ransacking abandoned homes. After he learned that other Tejanos were plundering homes about 8 miles (13 km) south, King took half of his men on an unauthorized mission to pursue them. They rode into an ambush staged by a group of de la Garza's men and Karankawa Indians. The Texians extricated themselves from the fight and returned to the Lopez ranch. All of the families gathered there were then escorted to the mission in Refugio.
Elements of Urrea's advance cavalry arrived in Refugio shortly after King and the families returned to the mission. Mexican troops and de la Garza's Guards (approx. 100 total troops) surrounded the mission. King sent a messenger to Fannin, asking for reinforcements.
Earlier that day, Fannin had received notice that Mexican troops had taken the Alamo, killing all of the defenders.
Battle
Fannin dispatched Lt. Colonel William Ward, a fellow Georgian, an organizer, and former commander of the Georgia Battalion. This unit and a company commanded by Captain Peyton S. Wyatt, attached to the Georgia Battalion, would make up the balance of the relief column. The men departed in the early morning hours of the 13th of March. Fannin had decided to evacuate his position as soon as King and Ward returned. He ordered Ward to make all haste; avoid offensive contact with the Mexicans, gather the civilians, and return as soon as possible. To facilitate rapid movement, the Georgia Battalion carried only 36 rounds of ammunition per man as extended fighting was not expected. The column arrived in the early afternoon of the same day after a forced march over muddy roads. Ward found the mission under attack by some Mexican Cavalry and local Mexican militia. These forces retired after the Georgia Battalion fired one or two volleys.
Although successful in breaking up the siege on the 13th, the arrival of Ward at Refugio led to conflict over command with Captain King who insisted, as the first commander on the scene, he should be in charge of the combined force, even though Lt. Colonel Ward was his regimental executive officer and outranked him. Ward insisted, after a short rest, the Georgia Battalion, King's Company should gather up the civilians and evacuate the Refugio Mission, returning to Goliad. King refused and stated he was taking his men to attack a ranch believed to be providing support for Captain Carlos de la Garza and the Mexican militias forces. The tense confrontation resulted in a stand-off. King departed with his men and a few of the members of the Georgia Battalion (primarily from Wyatt's Company). The possibility of plunder and revenge was just too powerful for some. King and his men departed the mission in the early morning hours of the 14th. The failure of the King to accept the orders directly from Fannin would have great ramifications for Fannin's entire command.
After King departed, more of Urrea's troops continued arriving and slowly, again, fully invested in the mission. Sometime, late on the 13th or early morning hours of the 14th, a party of men under Captain Wyatt left the mission on patrol. They found a small group of Mexicans, probably militia, asleep and attacked, driving them away and killing 20-25 of the enemy. Early on the morning of the 14th, after King had departed, the Georgians heard firing in the distance. Thinking King may need assistance, Ward ordered two companies of the Georgia Battalion to form ranks and slowly move forward. The formation of 50-60 men halted after only 100 to 200 yards. To their front, the Georgians found a large formation of regular Mexican Army and were forced to return to the mission. Soon after, a water party from the mission came under fire but was successful in bringing a large quantity of water back to the mission. As the Mexican Army maneuvered around the mission, Ward's men, under sporadic fire, attempted to further fortify the Refugio Mission complex. Ward assigned his 2nd company (Bullock's Company, (Captain U. J Bullock was absent. suffering from a case of measles, he had been left on the Texas coast and was never reunited with his company)), First Sergent Francis Marion Hunt of Macon Georgia commanding, to a low rock wall, part of an animal corral, to the east of the Mission building. This was necessary to cover the approach to the mission as the low wall blocked the view of the approaches to the mission. The rest of the Georgia Battalion manned windows and dug some loopholes in the church's walls. For the most part, due to their ammunition shortage, the men did not return the Mexican fire.
Before King advanced far, he found a far stronger Mexican military presence in the area and was forced to halt and find concealment in a wooded area approximately 2 miles from the mission. Before long, Mexican local militia under the command of Carlos de la Garza discovered the small Texian force and firing broke out. Sometime later, King's command heard gunfire in the direction of the mission. The Mexican militia force had been content to engage the Texian force at some distance and the fire had been ineffective. King and his force began to move in the direction of the mission using cover and partial concealment of the terrain trees. But again, the company was forced to halt as units of the regular Mexican Army joined the attack. King's force, behind trees and rocks, made an effective defense for a time, causing severe losses to the enemy finally running out of ammunition. Mexican accounts state a wounded King and his men surrendered to Garza's militia. They were turned over to regular Mexican forces and executed near the Refugio mission on the 15th or early on 16 March 1836. King's men were left where they fell.