The Battle of Refugio took place around the old Spanish mission complex of Nuestra Senora del Refugio, on the Mission River in what is now Refugio County, a site that had functioned for decades as a mission and small colonial settlement before becoming a battleground. In March 1836, Texian forces under Captain Amon B. King, sent by James Fannin to help evacuate colonist families from the area, occupied the mission and were besieged there by Mexican troops under General Jose de Urrea. A relief column of roughly 120 Georgia volunteers led by Lieutenant Colonel William Ward reached the mission but a dispute in command between Ward and King prevented a coordinated defense or retreat. King's men were captured while trying to escape and were executed soon after; Ward's battalion, cut off from Victoria, eventually surrendered and most were killed in the Goliad Massacre alongside Fannin's command. The mission structure itself no longer stands as a functioning building, and the town of Refugio grew up near, not on top of, the original site. Today the location's role is entirely memorial: Texas historical markers in and around modern Refugio, including markers dedicated to King and his men, identify the mission grounds and battle site for visitors, and the town observes the episode as part of local Texas Revolution heritage tourism, with periodic commemorations tying the community to this Goliad Campaign tragedy.