few after their wives begged for their lives, and Mexican Colonel Juan José Holzinger insisted that all of the non-Americans be spared. By the end of the day on March 16, the bulk of Urrea's forces began marching to Goliad to corner Fannin. Still waiting for word from King and Ward, Fannin continued to delay his evacuation from Goliad. As they prepared to leave on March 18, Urrea's advance guard arrived. For the rest of the day, the two cavalries skirmished aimlessly, succeeding only in exhausting the Texian oxen, which had remained hitched to their wagons with no food or water throughout the day. The Texians began their retreat on March 19. The pace was unhurried, and after travelling only , the group stopped for an hour to rest and allow the oxen to graze. Urrea's troops caught up to the Texians later that afternoon, while Fannin and his force of about 300 men were crossing a prairie. Having learned from the fighting at Refugio, Urrea was determined that the Texians would not reach the cover of timber approximately ahead, along Coleto Creek. As Mexican forces surrounded them, the Texians formed a tight hollow square for defense. They repulsed three charges during this battle of Coleto, resulting in about nine Texians killed and 51 wounded, including Fannin. Urrea lost 50 men, with another 140 wounded. Texians had little food, no water, and declining supplies of ammunition, but voted to not try to break for the timber, as they would have had to leave the wounded behind. The following morning, March 20, Urrea paraded his men and his newly arrived artillery. Seeing the hopelessness of their situation, the Texians with Fannin surrendered. Mexican records show that the Texians surrendered at discretion; Texian accounts claim that Urrea promised the Texians would be treated as prisoners-of-war and granted passage to the United States. Two days later, a group of Urrea's men surrounded Ward and the last of his group less than from Victoria. Over Ward's vehement objections, his men voted to surrender, later recalling they were told they would be sent back to the United States. On Palm Sunday, March 27, Fannin, Ward, Westover, and their men were marched out of the presidio and shot. Mexican cavalry were stationed nearby to chase down any who tried to escape. Approximately 342 Texians died, and 27 either escaped or were spared by Mexican troops. Several