Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

594 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
dred and twenty men who were formed into three companies. These
were then organized into a battalion, the officers of which were: Wil
liam A. Ward, major; William J. Mitchell, surgeon; David I. Holt,
quartermaster; and .Henderson Cozart, assistant quartermaster. The
captains were: W. A. 0. Wadsworth, James C. Winn and Uriah J.
Bullock
"After several engagements with the Mexicans, the battalion joined
the command of Colonel Fannin and formed a regiment by electing
Fannin colonel and Ward lieutenant-colonel. The regimet numbered
five hundred and was stationed at Fort Goliad. On March 13, 1836,
the original battalion, under Ward, was sent thirty miles to the relief
of Captain King who had thirty men protecting a number of families
.in the neighborhood of a church at the mission of Refugio, On the
arrival of the battalion, they found Captain King surrounded by a
large force of Mexicans who disappeared on discovering that he was re-
enforced. Afterwards, on leaving the mission, King, with his com
mand, was captured and killed.
"Re-enforced to the number of fourteen hundred men, the Mexicans
then intercepted Ward, who retired to the church. Breast-works were
made by the battalion of pews, grave-stones, fences and other things,
and the fire of the Mexicans was resisted for two days, Jwith a loss to
the enemy of one hundred and fifty men, and of only six to the Ameri
cans. But the ammunition of the battalion was exhausted on the third
day of the battle, when Colonel Ward was reluctantly forced to capitu
late, signing the regular articles according to the rules of war.
"It was stipulated that the battalion would be returned to the
United States in eight days. Colonel Fannin, in the meantime, sent
four different couriers to ascertain the cause of Ward's delay, each of
whom was captured and shot by the Mexicans. The latter were again
heavily re-enforced and advanced upon Fort Goliad. (See elsewhere
an account of the massacre of Fannin's men, a large percentage of
whom were Georgians.) Ward's battalion was included in this massa
cre, having been brought in as prisoners of war.
"From an old copy of the Galveston News the following account is
taken: 'The flag of the Lone Star which was first unfurled in.Texas
was borne by the Georgia battalion, commanded by the late .Lieutenant-
Colonel Ward, who, with almost his entire command was massacred at
Goliad, in the spring of 1836, in what is known as 'Fannin's Massacre,'
he being next in command to the lamented Colonel James W. Fannin.
The flag was presented to Colonel Ward's command as they passed
through Knoxville, Crawford County, Ga., by the beautiful Miss
Joanna E. Troutman. It was made of plain white silk, bearing an
azure star of five points. On one side was the inscription in rich but
chaste colors: 'Liberty or Death'; and, on the other, the patriotic Latin
motto: 'Ubi Libertas Habitat, ibi nostra patria est.' " *
"The flag was first unfurled at Velasco on January 8, 1836. It
floated to the breeze from the same liberty pole with the first flag of
'Where Liberty resides, there our country is."