On Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, fifteen year old, Benjamin Franklin Hughes was pulled from a group of Texas prisoners by an officer of the Mexican army. The prisoners, from James Walker Fannin's command at The Battle of Coleto, were unknowingly marching toward their executions. Hughes recalled years later that a young woman, Madame Captain Alavez (Francisca Panchita Alavez) spoke with General Urrea's wife moments before he was taken from the ranks. (Photo -Bronze statue of The Angel of Goliad - Francisca Panchita Alavez in Goliad, Texas. Sculpture by Che Rickman)
Hughes was not the first Texan whose life was spared by Francisca's heroic actions. First hand narratives reveal she was responsible for saving Dr. Joseph H. Barnard and Dr. Jack Shackelford at La Bahia and Rueben R. Brown at San Patricio. Dr. Barnard later wrote, "During the time of the massacre (La Bahia) she stood in the street, her hair floating, speaking wildly, and abusing the Mexican officers, especially José Nicolás de la Portilla She appeared almost frantic." Alavez is also credited with nursing wounded Texans at Copano, Goliad, and Matamoras.
Famed Spanish author, Elena Zamora O'Shea, a King Ranch schoolteacher (1902-1903) wrote of Francisca in her memoirs, "-she died on the King Ranch and is buried there in an unmarked grave . . ." One of the ranch workers, (Los Kineños) Matias Alvarez related to O'Shea that his father was Telesforo Alavez, whose sweetheart, Francisca followed him throughout his military assignments on the northern frontier. After his father's death, Matias worked on several jobs north of the Rio Grande finally setting at the King Ranch where he was accompanied by his mother, Francisca.
A descendent of The Angel of Goliad, Dr. Lauro Cavazos, was the first Hispanic to serve in the United States Cabinet as Secretary of Education . . . but that . . . well that's a whole 'nuther story . . .
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Copyright 2009 Mike Kearby
