[dropcap]A[/dropcap] small company of Texas rebels rode out of Goliad on Oct. 24, 1835 with orders to attack the government garrison at Fort Lipantitlan.

As conceived by Capt. Philip Dimitt during the early days of the independence uprising, the Lipantitlan Expedition had two important objectives: the rescue of a couple of rebel prisoners and the destruction of the strategic fortification on the Nueces River. And by “destruction” Dimitt made it crystal clear to Ira Westover that he me...