DUANE
Duane's take
Here's how the official marker tells it — Dillard Cooper's story, just as it's recorded in Llano County. A South Carolina man who walked into one of the darkest chapters in Texas history and somehow walked back out. Now let me take you through it.
Cooper came to Texas in January of 1836, traveling with Captain John Shackelford's Red Rovers. They landed at Copano Bay and joined the command of Colonel James Fannin. Whatever they expected to find in Texas, what came next was not it.
On March 20th, Texian forces were defeated at the Battle of Coleto Creek. Cooper was wounded. And the wounded, along with hundreds of other soldiers, were taken prisoner at Goliad.
Now here's where you hold your breath. One week after that surrender, Mexican troops shot and killed more than three hundred of those prisoners. More than three hundred men.
Cooper was among a handful who escaped. Just a handful. Out of all those men, a handful made it out.
He and his companions then spent two weeks traveling — and they could only move at night, slipping through enemy lines, through abandoned settlements, trying to reach Texian forces. Two weeks of darkness and silence and not knowing what was around the next bend. They finally reached the Brazos River and the Texian forces waiting there.
After the war, Dillard Cooper built a life. He lived in Hays and Colorado counties before eventually settling in to farm with his stepson Samuel Stoudenmier in Llano and San Saba counties by 1878. He lived until 1896.
A man who had every reason not to make it — and did.
What the marker says
South Carolina native Dillard Cooper came to Texas in Jan. 1836 with Capt. John Shackelford's Red Rovers, landing at Copano Bay and joining Col. James Fannin's command. Following the Texians" defeat at the Battle of Coleto Creek on March 20, the wounded Cooper was among many soldiers taken prisoner at Goliad. One week later, Mexican troops shot and killed more than 300 prisoners; Cooper was among a handful who escaped. He and companions spent two weeks traveling at night through enemy lines and abandoned settlements to reach Texian forces at the Brazos River. Cooper lived in Hays and Colorado counties before moving to farm with his stepson Samuel Stoudenmier in Llano and San Saba counties by 1878. Cooper died in 1896. (2008)