The moment Francita Alavez heard the nightmarish news on the evening of Mar. 26, 1836, she sprang into swift but secret action. The brave wife of a Mexican officer would not stand idly by while her countrymen killed the defenseless detainees at Goliad.
The Tampico prisoners served as guinea pigs for Santa Anna’s get-tough policy toward meddlesome foreigners. A number of Americans were among the 28 followers of Gen. Jose Antonio Mexia tried for piracy and put to death on Dec. 14, 1835. Encouraged by the ho-hum reaction from the United States, the tyrant issued his infamous no-quarter decree that his puppet congress made the law of the land two weeks later.
Gen. Jose de Urrea, commander of the eastern army sweeping north up the Texas coast, believed the summary slaughter of prisoners was unconscionable overkill. But he had to do something with the Texans taken at San Patricio on Feb. 27, 1836, and Santa Anna demanded their immediate annihilation. A last-minute appeal from an Irish priest gave him a good excuse for letting the rebels live, and he shipped them off to Matamoros.