Killing Fannin

Remember Goliad! was as famous a rallying cry during the Texas Revolution as Remember the Alamo! Despite the disparity in casualties (Goliads were over twice those of the Alamo), relatively little is remembered about the grisly massacre of an estimated 490 Texan and American prisoners of war by order of Santa Anna on Palm Sunday, March 27, 1865. Killing Fannin is not only about the execution of the Texas commander at Goliad. It is a recounting of the decisions leading to his defeat by a superior Mexican army. Overriding Fannins death is the tragic, cruel massacre of his men, most of them volunteers from the US who cared enough for Texan independence that they fought and lost their lives for it. Remember Goliad!

Killing Davy Crockett attempts to answer basic questions concerning the death of the famous hunter, trapper, soldier, and politician. Crockettseveral times a member of the US Congress and foe of President Andrew Jacksonwas ultimately defeated for reelection to Congress and chose to throw his famous coonskin cap into the struggle for Texas independence. Killing Davy Crockett encompasses this homespun Tennessee heros early years, military, then political experiences, and his trip to beaconing Texes, as he called it. Davy entered the Alamo, an old Spanish mission turned into a makeshift fort, with a small group of marksman volunteers. They dedicated and lost their lives when the small garrison at the Alamo was besiegedthen assaultedby Mexican president and general-in-chief Antonio Lopez de Santa Annas large Mexican army. Did Davy lose his life in combat, or was he executed by the Mexicans? This work attempts to answer that question, which has long been debated among eminent Texas historians.

“KIA: Killed In the Alamo” highlights the struggle of three Alamo Colonels (Travis, Bowie and Crockett) to organize, sustain and lead the stubborn defenders of the Alamo who gave their lives fighting for an independent Texas. On March 6, 1836, Mexican General, (and President) Santa Ana directed his powerful army to not only assault the old Alamo and its Texas defenders, he ordered the immediate execution of any survivors. The defenders of the Alamo, mostly volunteers, came from eastern and southern United States, Ireland, England, Scotland, Germany, and Denmark as well as well as Texas. Sadly, the birthplaces of 48 of the 212 slain defenders are unknown. To honor their heroism and bravery, a roster of their names is at Chapter 14. Perhaps the highest accolade for these heroic defenders is that inscribed on the Cenotaph in San Antonio, Texas, next to the Alamo: “IN MEMORY OF THE HEROES WHO SACRIFICED THEIR LIVES AT THE ALAMO MARCH 6, 1836, IN THE DEFENSE OF TEXAS. THEY CHOSE NEVER TO SURRENDER NOR RETREAT; THESE BRAVE HEARTS, WITH FLAG STILL WAVING, PERISHED IN THE FLAMES OF NOBILITY THAT THEIR HIGH SACRIFICE MIGHT LEAD TO THE FOUNDING OF TEXAS.”

“Mayaguez and the Murder Ship” trace the marine exploits of First Mate, later Captain, Casey Flynn. Aboard the container ship Mayaguez, he was First Mate during the surprise capture of that vessel and crew by Cambodian communists in 1975. During the four days between their capture and release to the U.S. Navy, Flynn acted as calm intermediary with his crew’s communist captors. The Americans were fearful of being summarily shot, ransomed or tried before a Cambodian court, then imprisoned. Once U.S. aircraft appeared overhead firing and bombing, their captors became hysterical and unpredictable, making Flynn’s protection of his crew even more difficult. Promoted to captain for his performance on the Mayaguez, Flynn’s trials had just begun. His first command, an old oil tanker, was beset with problems: a dispirited crew, several of whom mysteriously and regularly disappeared. The anxious, short-handed, double-dutied crew labeled their vessel the “Murder Ship.” To help him solve the mysterious disappearances or murders, an inexperienced Security Officer (who happened to be the transport lines owner’s beautiful daughter) was added to assist Flynn in this his new command. What could possible go wrong on Casey’s maiden voyage of the “Murder Ship”?

Think public libraries are staid and quiet? Then welcome to the “Best Little Library in Texas” where restroom fires/accidents, a surprise birth upstairs, angry female demonstrators at the front door, even a study group pledged to kill people because of their DNA (and a subsequent murder) are almost routine. How do six committed librarians and one lonely Texas cowboy survive these dangers? Credit their high quotient of humor, affection for one another, teamwork and community service. The “Best Little Library” proves it’s not the quality of the book collections, it’s the individuals of the staff who make the library exceptional.

James Walker Fannin. Illegitimate son. Southern gentleman. Failed businessman. Devoted family man. Illegal slave trader. Courageous martyr. Tarnished hero of the revolution. But what is the rest of the story? Author Gary Brown brings to life a thorough and insightful analysis of this controversial and sometimes misunderstood historical figure, whom most remember as the commander who lost twice as many men as were killed at the Alamo and San Jacinto combined. Now the story can be completely examined with the help of all Fannin's known correspondence during the campaign at Goliad. Read and judge for yourself if history has been fair to James Walker Fannin.

True stories of sheriffs, marshals, rangers, and others in frontier law enforcement who fought to bring order to the lawless West—includes photos. Faced with ruthless criminals, trigger-happy gunslingers and assorted desperados, the lawmen of the Old West tried, and sometimes died, in their efforts to bring some semblance of order to their towns and communities. This book introduces more than thirty of them, from familiar names like Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson to lesser-known figures from Dallas Stoudenmire, John Selman, and Bass Reeves. Some at the time believed that former criminals would make the most effective lawmen. Consequently, notorious gunfighters might be employed as town marshals to bring law and order to some of the most lawless of towns. These lawmen had to deal with the likes of the Dalton Gang, the James Brothers, and the Rufus Buck Gang, who thought nothing of raping and murdering innocent people just for the hell of it. These outlaws would frequently hide in Indian Territory, where there was no law to extradite them. The only law outside of Indian Territory was that of Judge Isaac Parker, who administered the rules with an iron fist; the gallows at Fort Smith laid testament to his work. The requirements needed to be a peace officer in the Wild West were often determined only by the individual’s skill with a gun and their courage. At times judgment was needed with only seconds to spare, and that also meant there was the odd occasion where justice and law never quite meant the same thing. The expression ‘justice without law’ was never truer than in the formative years of the West—and this book tells that story.

Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, turned out to be the blackest day in the war of independence between Texas and Mexico. Colonel James Walker Fannin Jr. and his men were ruthlessly slaughtered at the Presidio La Bahia, near the town of Goliad. The order was given direct by General Santa Anna. The author describes the background leading up to the start of hostilities in October 1835, and the two Mexican armies who threatened to overrun the Texans, with the massacre at the Alamo on March 2 and then the attack on the Presidio La Bahia, which Fannin called Fort Defiance. A description of garrison life, and of the men under Fannin's command precedes the battle of Coleto Plains where Fannin's Texans without an adequate water supply and defenses, were surrounded by General Urrea's army and forced to surrender. One of more traumatic aspects of the battle and executions involved a group of young soldiers from Alabama, mostly from the same area, whose leader, Dr. Shackleford, was spared to minister to the sick and injured and was forced to witness the deaths of his protégées.