James Fannin
| James Walker Fannin, Jr. | |
|---|---|
James Fannin
|
|
| Born | 1804/1805 Georgia, U.S. |
| Died | March 27, 1836 Fort Defiance, Republic of Texas |
| Allegiance |
 Republic of Texas
|
| Service/branch |
Texan Army
|
| Years of service | 1834–1836 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Commands held |
Battle of Gonzales |
Battle of Gonzales
Battle of Coleto Creek
Alamo Campaign
James Walker Fannin, Jr. (1804/1805 – March 27, 1836) was a 19th-century U.S. military figure in the Texas Army and leader during the Texas Revolution of 1835–36. After being outnumbered and surrendering to Mexican forces at the Battle of Coleto Creek, Colonel Fannin and nearly all his 344 men were executed soon afterward at Goliad, Texas, under Santa Anna's orders for all rebels to be executed.
He was memorialized in several place names, including a military training camp and a major city street of Houston.
Different sources give his year of birth as either 1804 or 1805.
He was born in Georgia to Isham Fannin, a veteran of the War of 1812. His mother's last name was Walker. Although she was not married to his father, it was the Walker family who raised him. His ancestors, who spelled the family name Fanning, lived in America during the Revolutionary War, a family with divided loyalties during the conflict. Isham's father James W. Fannin dropped the "g" from the family name and settled in Georgia.
Fannin enrolled in the United States Military Academy at West Point on July 1, 1819. He resigned November 20, 1821, from the school. Although he seems to have been academically deficient, and was often tardy or absent from classes, he had received a letter from a cousin urging his immediate return to Georgia to attend to ailing grandparents.
He married Minerva Fort. Their daughter, Missouri Pinckney, was born on July 17, 1829. A second daughter, Minerva, nicknamed Eliza, was born mentally ill in 1832. While living in Columbus, Georgia, he enlisted in the militia and worked as a merchant. In Muscogee County, he was a member of the Temperance Society and served as a short time as a judge. By 1832, Fannin was involved in the (illegal) business of transporting slaves from Cuba.
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