On Palm Sunday, March 27, Generals Urrea and Filisola carry out the order received late in the week from Santa Ana. Their request for clemency has been denied and they are now faced with with a most reprehensible task, but being the soldiers they are they will obey the order. The Texans are marched out of the presidio under the pretense that they are headed for the bay to board waiting ships for home. Some distance from the presidio the firing begins. Only a few Texans escape as they all make a desperate break for cover. Back in the makeshift hospital, Texans who had been treated for their wounds for a week are shot in their beds.
There are, however, other survivors. One of Urrea's officers tells his wife, Francita Alavez, what was about to happen. She is horrified and appeals to her husband and several other officers to do something. This small band hides who they can without attracting suspicion and these also escape execution. Senora Alavez will become legendary as the Angel of Goliad.
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