John Rees (Jack the Fifer) was born circa 1801 in Wales. He volunteered for service in Texas with the Second Company of the New Orleans Greys in 1835. He took part in the Siege of Béxar from December 5 through 10, 1835, and remained with his company when camp was established at Goliad the next month. In March 1836 a numerically superior Mexican force under Gen. José de Urrea accepted the surrender of the troops at Goliad from Col. James W. Fannin, Jr. Of approximately 400 prisoners of war, Rees was one of the twenty-eight who escaped the massacre ordered by Mexican president Antonio López de Santa Anna. He was recaptured but was released in April or May 1836, after the Mexican defeat at San Jacinto. He rejoined the army and took an honorable discharge on October 10.
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