Dillard Cooper (1814-1896) was an American farmer and

Texas Revolution The Texas Revolution (October 2, 1835 – April 21, 1836) was a rebellion of colonists from the United States and Tejanos (Hispanic Texans) against the Centralist Republic of Mexico, centralist government of Mexico in the Mexican state of ...

ary soldier who survived the Goliad massacre. Born in South Carolina, Cooper married his first wife, Lucinda, and moved first to

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

and then to Courtland,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

. In November 1835, Cooper joined Courtland doctor Jack Shackelford's Alabama Red Rovers, a

filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent a decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking ...

force raised to support Texas' effort to secede from

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Cooper remained in camp with the Rovers until December 12, 1835 when the unit set out for Texas, stopping first in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and arriving at Dimmit's Landing on

Lavaca Bay Lavaca Bay () is a northwestern extension of the Matagorda Bay system found mostly in Calhoun County, Texas, Calhoun County, Texas, United States. The ports of Port Lavaca, Texas, Port Lavaca and Point Comfort, Texas, Point Comfort have been esta ...

on January 19, 1836. From there, the Red Rovers joined

James Fannin James Walker Fannin Jr. (January 1, 1804– March 27, 1836) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Texian Army during the Texas Revolution. After being outnumbered and surrendering to the Mexican Army at the Battle o ...

's command and on March 19–20, fought in the

Battle of Coleto Creek The Battle of Coleto, also known as the Battle of Coleto Creek, the Battle of the Prairie, and the Batalla del Encinal del Perdido, was fought on March 19–20, 1836, during the Goliad campaign of the Texas Revolution. In February, General Jos ...

where Cooper suffered minor wounds. The

Texians Texians were Anglo-American immigrants to Mexican Texas and, later, citizens of the Republic of Texas. Today, the term is used to identify early Anglo settlers of Texas, especially those who supported the Texas Revolution. Mexican settlers of tha ...

had been caught on open prairie and, after Mexicans reinforcements arrived on the second day, were overwhelmed and forced to surrender. Mexican president

Antonio López de Santa Anna Antonio de Padua María Severino López de Santa Anna y Pérez de Lebrón (21 February 1794 – 21 June 1876),Callcott, Wilfred H., "Santa Anna, Antonio Lopez De,''Handbook of Texas Online'' Retrieved 18 April 2017. often known as Santa Anna, wa ...

had ordered General

José de Urrea José Cosme de Urrea y Elías González (full name) or simply José de Urrea (March 19, 1797 – August 1, 1849) was a Mexican general. He fought under General Antonio López de Santa Anna during the Texas Revolution. Urrea's forces were never d ...

to treat the rebellious Texians as pirates instead of soldiers and to have them executed in accordance with the law rather than kept as

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

. On March 27, Cooper survived the massacre of 425 men at Goliad, running away as the bodies of his companions fell. Cooper soon linked up with three other surviving members of Red Rovers, Zachariah S. Brooks, Wilson Simpson, and Isaac D. Hamilton. Cooper and the others traveled by night, narrowly avoiding detection and recapture, sometimes by only a few feet. After a two week journey, moving from one abandoned village to the next in search of food and forced to abandon Hamilton, due to his wounds, Cooper and the other two Red Rovers finally linked back up with Texian forces at the

Brazos River The Brazos River ( , ), called the ''Río de los Brazos de Dios'' (translated as "The River of the Arms of God") by early Spanish explorers, is the 14th-longest river in the United States at from its headwater source at the head of Blackwater ...

. Hamilton would ultimately survive after being recaptured and again escaping. Cooper was granted land by the

Republic of Texas The Republic of Texas (), or simply Texas, was a country in North America that existed for close to 10 years, from March 2, 1836, to February 19, 1846. Texas shared borders with Centralist Republic of Mexico, the Republic of the Rio Grande, an ...

for his service and farmed until his death. He married three times, was twice a widower, and fathered 5 children, all with his first wife. Cooper lived in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

and Hays Counties before finally moving to his son-in-law's farm in Llano County. At least one source claims that when he died in 1896, he was the last living survivor of the Goliad Massacre. The same source claims that near the end of his life Cooper was living on a "pitiful pension" of $150 a year from the state of Texas leaving him in poverty. Cooper is buried in the Llano City Cemetery in Llano, Texas. In 2008, the State of Texas installed a historical marker at his grave site.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cooper, Dillard People of the Texas Revolution 1814 births 1896 deaths People from South Carolina People from Llano County, Texas