Our Lady of Loreto Chapel is part of Presidio la Bahia. The presidio was founded, along with Mission Espiritu Santo de Zuniga in 1722 on the site of LaSalle's Ft. St. Louis, near today's Port Lavaca. The Presidio was moved in 1749, along with the mission, to the present site near Goliad.
The presidio, and this chapel in particular, played important roles in the Texas war for independence from Mexico. Col Fannin and a major force of Texans occupied the presidio in March, 1836, with an eye to using it as a fortress. However, he decided to retreat toward Victoria. Before going far, however, he was overtaken and defeated by a Mexican army.
The prisoners were marched back to the presidio, and those who were not wounded were confined in this chapel for a week, with limited food and water, and no room to lie down. There were two to three hundren men, and the chapel is not large. At the end of the week, they were marched out and shot.