The Mexicans took the Texians back to Goliad, where they were held as prisoners at Fort Defiance (Presidio La Bahia).
The Texians thought they would likely be set free in a few weeks.
Urrea departed Goliad, leaving Colonel José Nicolás de la Portilla in command.
Urrea wrote to Santa Anna to ask for clemency for the Texians.

Under a decree pressured by Santa Anna and passed by the Mexican Congress on December 30 of the previous year, armed foreigners taken in combat were to be treated as pirates and executed.
Urrea wrote in his diary that he "...wished to elude these orders as far as possible without compromising my personal responsibility."
Santa Anna responded to this entreaty by repeatedly ordering Urrea to comply with the law and execute the prisoners.
He also had a similar order sent directly to the "Officer Commanding the Post of Goliad".
This order was received by Portilla on March 26, who decided it was his duty to  comply despite receiving a countermanding order from Urrea later that same day.

The next day, Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Portilla had between 425 and 445 Texians marched out of Fort Defiance in three columns on the Bexar Road, San Patricio Road, and the Victoria Road, between two rows of Mexican soldiers; they were shot point blank, wounded survivors were clubbed and knifed to death.

Forty Texians were unable to walk.
Thirty-nine were killed inside the fort under the direction of Captain Carolino Huerta of the Tres Villas battalion, with Colonel Garay saving one, Jack Shackelford.
Fannin was the last to be executed, after seeing his men killed.
Aged 32, he was taken by Mexican soldiers to the courtyard in front of the chapel, blindfolded, and seated in a chair (due to his leg wound from the battle).
He made three requests: that his personal possessions be sent to his family, to be shot in the heart and not the face, and to be given a Christian burial.
The soldiers took his belongings, shot him in the face, and burned his body along with those of the other Texians who died that day.

The entire Texian force was killed, except for 28 men who feigned death and escaped.
Among these was Herman Ehrenberg, who later wrote an account of the massacre, William Lockhart Hunter, also of the New Orleans Greys, who would survive despite being bayoneted and clubbed with a musket, and four members of Shackelford's Red Rovers- Dillard Cooper, Zachariah S. Brooks, Wilson Simpson, and Isaac D. Hamilton, who would escape after days on the run.

Owing to the intervention of Francita Alavez (the "Angel of Goliad") and the courageous effort of Garay, 20 more men were spared to act as doctors, interpreters, or workers, including Shackelford.

Also spared were the 75 soldiers of Miller and the Nashville Battalion.
They were later marched to Matamoros.

Spared men were given white arm bands, and while wearing them could walk about freely.
They were advised not to take off the arm band, since Mexican troops were hunting for those few who had escaped from Coleto, Victoria, and the massacre itself.
The Mexicans took the Texians back to Goliad, where they were held as prisoners at Fort Defiance (Presidio La Bahia). The Texians thought they would likely be set free in a few weeks. Urrea departed Goliad, leaving Colonel José Nicolás de la Portilla in command. Urrea wrote to Santa Anna to ask for clemency for the Texians. 
Under a decree pressured by Santa Anna and passed by the Mexican Congress on December 30 of the previous year, armed foreigners taken in combat were to be treated as pirates and executed. Urrea wrote in his diary that he "...wished to elude these orders as far as possible without compromising my personal responsibility." Santa Anna responded to this entreaty by repeatedly ordering Urrea to comply with the law and execute the prisoners. He also had a similar order sent directly to the "Officer Commanding the Post of Goliad". This order was received by Portilla on March 26, who decided it was his duty to  comply despite receiving a countermanding order from Urrea later that same day.
The next day, Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, Portilla had between 425 and 445 Texians marched out of Fort Defiance in three columns on the Bexar Road, San Patricio Road, and the Victoria Road, between two rows of Mexican soldiers; they were shot point blank, wounded survivors were clubbed and knifed to death.
Forty Texians were unable to walk. Thirty-nine were killed inside the fort under the direction of Captain Carolino Huerta of the Tres Villas battalion, with Colonel Garay saving one, Jack Shackelford. Fannin was the last to be executed, after seeing his men killed. Aged 32, he was taken by Mexican soldiers to the courtyard in front of the chapel, blindfolded, and seated in a chair (due to his leg wound from the battle). He made three requests: that his personal possessions be sent to his family, to be shot in the heart and not the face, and to be given a Christian burial. The soldiers took his belongings, shot him in the face, and burned his body along with those of the other Texians who died that day.
The entire Texian force was killed, except for 28 men who feigned death and escaped. Among these was Herman Ehrenberg, who later wrote an account of the massacre, William Lockhart Hunter, also of the New Orleans Greys, who would survive despite being bayoneted and clubbed with a musket, and four members of Shackelford's Red Rovers- Dillard Cooper, Zachariah S. Brooks, Wilson Simpson, and Isaac D. Hamilton, who would escape after days on the run.
Owing to the intervention of Francita Alavez (the "Angel of Goliad") and the courageous effort of Garay, 20 more men were spared to act as doctors, interpreters, or workers, including Shackelford.
Also spared were the 75 soldiers of Miller and the Nashville Battalion. They were later marched to Matamoros.
Spared men were given white arm bands, and while wearing them could walk about freely. They were advised not to take off the arm band, since Mexican troops were hunting for those few who had escaped from Coleto, Victoria, and the massacre itself.
Goliad massacre