In going aboard the Vesta Walker had put out the report that he intended

to leave for Honduras since the Provisional Government would render him

no assistance in the expedition to the Meridional Department, and General

Cabañas had written letters inviting the Falange to Honduras. In fact,

the President of the latter State was beginning to be hard pressed by the

invaders from Guatemala; and in some of his letters to Castellon he had

inquired whether some of the Americans could not be sent to Comayagua

in return for the aid rendered to the Provisional Government of Leon

the previous year. Walker, however, had little idea of getting farther

off rather than nearer to the Transit: still less did he intend, if he

could prevent it, to have the Americans divided up into squads, and thus

trifled away for the use of chiefs of contending factions. In his letters

to Castellon he spoke of going to Honduras; and the former, despairing

almost of keeping the Falange in the Occidental Department, rather

favored the plan, sending copies of extracts from letters Cabañas had

written on the subject.

The Falange, with all its baggage and ammunition having been put aboard

the Vesta, Valle, who had recently performed the duties of commandant

as well as sub-prefect for the district of Chinandega, began to recruit

his force. He placed on his staff D. Bruno Von Natzmer (afterward Col.

Natzmer) who, in his new capacity, was of great service to Valle as

well as to the Americans. The people immediately began to talk about

Chélon’s recruiting; and rumors were soon rife of a revolution against

the government at Leon. In fact, Valle wished to pronounce and establish

a new provisional government; for he had been used to such proceedings

for the last twenty-five years, and felt at home in them. But Walker

dissuaded him from the idea; and at length got him to march his force

to Realejo, and thence to send it aboard of the Vesta. Von Natzmer, who

wished Walker to go to Honduras and was doubtful of the enterprise in the

Meridional Department, rode up to Leon and let the Director know what was

going on. Castellon, in great alarm, wrote to Valle, now entreating him

as his old friend, then commanding him as a superior his subordinate,

to desist from joining Walker. But Chélon was now aboard the Vesta; his

course was decided, and the Director could not turn him from his purpose.

Von Natzmer, on his return to Chinandega, was put in arrest by Walker;

but he had acted with good motives, though from mistaken views, and being

soon after released he showed himself first, a worthy soldier, and after,

one of the best officers in Nicaragua.

Valle brought down from Chinandega between one hundred and sixty and

one hundred and seventy men; but while the commissary stores were being

taking aboard the brig numbers died of cholera and several deserted when

sent ashore at Point Ycaco to keep the vessel from being overcrowded

while in port. Just before the Vesta sailed a courier came down with

letters from Castellon, informing Walker that there had been an action

between Muñoz and Guardiola, at Sauce; that the Democrats had won the

day, after several hours’ fighting, but that Muñoz had died of a wound

received in the battle. The loss of the Democrats had, however, been

heavy, and the Director, uneasy lest the Legitimists, though defeated,

might move toward Leon, when they heard of the death of Muñoz, was

anxious to keep all the force he could in the Occidental Department.

Again he urged Walker to return to Leon, and now, Muñoz being out of the

way, all would be well. But the Vesta was ready for sea, and the order

was given to weigh anchor, Morton being again in charge of the vessel.

And, as the brig was overcrowded, a ketch of Punta Arenas, having a

German supercargo aboard, was employed to convey a part of the force

bound for the Meridional Department.

The expedition sailed on the 23d of August, and the ketch was ordered

to sail for San Juan del Sur. Scarcely had the Vesta passed the mouth

of the harbor before she saw the schooner San José making for the port,

her decks being apparently filled with men. The schooner passed close

to the brig, and some aboard of the latter recognized Mendez among the

passengers of the San José. Walker ordered the Vesta to be put about, and

leaving her near the mouth of the harbor, he, with Valle, took a small

boat and endeavored to overhaul the schooner as she sailed slowly up

toward the river; but they were unable to reach her until some minutes

after she had come to anchor. On boarding the schooner it was ascertained

she was from Punta Arenas, and that Ramirez, who had come passenger,

had already taken a boat and started for the town, fearing to meet the

Americans after his conduct at Rivas. Chélon easily persuaded Mendez

to go aboard the Vesta, but, as they had to wait for the ebb tide, it

was nearly dark when they started for the brig. As they passed down

the harbor, Valle insisted on saying good-bye once more to his two

daughters, whom he had brought as far as Point Ycaco. The girls, with a

younger brother, got into the boat with their father, and went with him

some distance down the harbor, the old man promising them presents from

Granada when he returned, and the girls as gay as if their parent was

going out with a hunting party. The old revolutionist took his eldest

son (not more than fifteen) with him, and telling the younger to take

care of his sisters, he embraced them as composedly as if he expected to

meet them at breakfast the next morning, and saying adieu again and again

as he put off for the Vesta, left them, to pass through many a scene of

peril and danger before again meeting them.

After getting to sea the cholera was less severe among the troops, and

few died between the time of leaving Realejo and the arrival of the brig

at San Juan del Sur. The passage was long, and it was the 29th of August

before the Vesta made the port. Two Americans seeing her outside brought

Walker the intelligence that all the Legitimist troops had left San Juan

as soon as the well-known brig hove in sight. The ketch had not arrived,

nor had she been seen by the Vesta for several days. Some uneasiness

was felt on her account, but the calms and contrary winds which had

prevailed and the slow sailing of the craft were sufficient to explain

her non-appearance. Soon after dark the Vesta dropped anchor in the port,

but it was determined not to land the forces until the next morning.

A short time after the brig came to anchor Walker ascertained that

Parker H. French had just arrived in the town from Granada, and was

there waiting the next steamer for San Francisco. French had started for

California in 1849, but, being engaged in some doubtful transactions in

Texas, on his way to the Pacific, his name had ever since been suggestive

of unfairness and dishonesty. In California he had been a member of

the Legislature, and afterward established a short-lived journal at

Sacramento. During the time Walker was trying to get men at San Francisco

to go to Nicaragua French had met him and professed to have great

influence with C. K. Garrison, the agent of the Accessory Transit Company

in California. French’s character presented no obstacle to an intimacy of

the sort he alleged between himself and Garrison, and French told Walker

he had spoken to Garrison in reference to the proposed expedition and

its bearing on the Transit Company. Certainly Garrison did nothing to

aid the departure of the Vesta from San Francisco, but French intimated

that after the sailing of a first party for Nicaragua he would himself

follow, and would manage to interest Garrison in the enterprise. Nothing

was heard from French until it was reported through the country that the

Legitimist government was about to secure the services of a “coto”—one

armed man—whose skill as an artillerist was amazing; for French had

brought with him from San Francisco a mulatto servant to be used as the

vehicle for communicating the most astonishing stories as to his master’s

skill, bravery and general attainments. At his own desire French was

brought aboard the Vesta under arrest. He strove to impress Walker with

the idea that he had gone to Granada to observe the strength and defences

of the place, and he then proceeded to state what he had observed. Of

course Walker attached no importance to his statements, nor did he ever

care to examine minutely the real motives of French in going there. The

motives of such men are generally so tangled that he who attempts to

unravel them is poorly paid for his trouble.

The next morning the force, together with all the stores, were landed,

and the Democrats had scarcely taken possession of the town before the

steamer from California appeared off the harbor. It was a glad sight

for the Falange, inasmuch as it suggested the fact that they were now

in communication with the friends of youth and manhood, and that there

would now be an opportunity to swell their numbers from the passengers

crossing the Isthmus. Some difficulty occurred at first in regard to

the conveyance of the passengers across the Isthmus, as the contractor

seemed afraid to venture to town with his mules and carriages; but soon

they were all sent to Virgin Bay, and the town settled to its usual quiet

condition. About midnight the ketch appeared, and the troops aboard of

her were immediately landed. The full force of the command then amounted

to near fifty Americans, and one hundred and twenty natives. A number

of the latter were on the sick list, and the prevailing disease was the

colerin, which generally carried the patient off in two or three days.

The enemy was reported to have five or six hundred men—some said eight

hundred, but this was an exaggeration—at Rivas, and in a day or two it

was known Guardiola had arrived to take the command. Flying from Sauce

after his defeat there, the Legitimist General had hurried to Granada,

entering that city with a single attendant. Brooding over his ill-luck in

the north, and anxious for a chance to regain his lost fame, he leaped

at the opportunity of going to Rivas in order, as he said, to sweep the

“filibusters” into the sea. He marched from Granada with some two hundred

select soldiers, expecting to make them the nucleus of a force to be

organized after his arrival at Rivas. With him marched several officers,

reputed to be of skill and courage, and desirous of more active service

than was to be had under Corral. French’s mulatto man, Tom, who was sent

over to Virgin Bay on some errand for his master, reported on his return

that Guardiola had come down with a thousand men, and would march at once

on San Juan del Sur; but this story was like that of his master being

able to hit a man every shot with a twenty-four pounder at the distance

of a mile.

By the morning of the 2d of September, the passengers from the Atlantic

side had arrived, and were aboard the steamer ready to sail. French

returned to San Francisco with authority to raise and bring down

seventy-five men for the service of the Provisional Government. Anderson,

who had been wounded at Rivas, also went up on the steamer, hoping,

by change of air, to recover his health and the use of his leg. The

Vesta sailed for Punta Arenas the same day the steamer left; and on the

afternoon of the 2d, the port had a solitary look. On shore, however,

the town wore an aspect of activity. Pack-mules and carts were being

collected for a march, and the soldiers in all the quarters were busy

preparing for a movement which, it was supposed, might bring them nearer

to the enemy.

Owing to the delays of some native officers, it was past midnight before

the force was ready to march. The column was formed with the Falange in

front, and the command of Valle in the rear, the baggage and ammunition

of the Americans being in their charge; while the ammunition of the

natives, they having no baggage, was under a guard from their own body.

The night was fine and pleasant, the road good, and the spirits of the

command high. At the Half-way house a halt was ordered, and the owner

of the establishment brought water to the door, the soldiers not being

allowed to enter as there was liquor within. The keeper of this house

was, perforce, a model trimmer. He was an American; but having witnessed

various political changes since his residence on the Isthmus, and his

place being often visited the same day by scouting parties belonging to

adverse parties, he had acquired the habits of a man born in the midst

of revolutions. He had in perfection all the little arts by which a

man manages to maintain his neutrality though constantly surrounded by

circumstances tending to endanger it.

About daybreak the report of a gun was heard in the direction of Rivas;

but not much attention was given to it at the time. The march was

uninterrupted, and the force reached Virgin Bay about nine o’clock in

the morning. A few moments after Walker halted and took quarters in the

village, a well-authenticated report was brought to him that Guardiola

had marched from Rivas with a strong force the previous afternoon; but

the same report stated that he had returned to the town. The pickets

were posted; quarters were assigned the several companies, and all

prepared for a hearty breakfast after their bracing night march.

Breakfast was just over, and some of the men had already spread their

blankets for sleep, when a fire of musketry was heard in the direction

of the picket on the transit road. Then the picket of natives was seen

retiring slowly and in excellent order, firing, as it fell back with

coolness and entire regularity. The conduct of this picket, checking

as it did momentarily, the advance of the whole body of the enemy, was

admirable; and it gave the Falange time to get ready for the reception

of the attack. The picket reached the main body without loss, and they

had scarcely got to the first houses of the village before the enemy was

seen in large numbers, pressing forward rapidly along the sides of the

Transit, and to the right and left of the road, through the thick wood

which skirts its edges.

On the right of Virgin Bay, as you stand with your back to the Lake and

your face toward the Pacific, is a rising ground, offering advantages

to an enemy attacking the place; on the left, the ground is level,

though somewhat interrupted by ditches, and covered with fences made of

upright stakes, affording defence for a force within the village. Near

the lake the ground falls at once to the beach by a steep declivity,

thus forming a sort of bank for the protection of riflemen. The building

of the Accessory Transit Company, a large wooden storehouse surrounded

with palisades, stands on the edge of the village next the lake, and to

the left of the road. A small, trifling wharf then ran a few yards from

the end of the Transit into the lake; but it afforded little advantage

either for embarking or disembarking. Thus the democratic force stood

with its back to the lake, and in a few moments its front and flank were

simultaneously threatened by the enemy. It thus became necessary to fight

well or be cut to pieces; none, not even the natives under Valle, hoping

or expecting any quarter at the hands of Guardiola.

Walker’s first object was to prevent the enemy from gaining the high

ground on his right flank, and for this purpose he placed some twenty

of the Falange along the slope under cover of the weeds and bushes and

of a few small huts scattered irregularly on that side of the village.

This detachment advanced toward the enemy, creeping cautiously along, and

firing only when it could do so to advantage. At first the Legitimists

came on quite boldly; but when they got within thirty or forty yards of

the Americans their hearts seemed to fail them. The defiant air of the

Americans, shouting at the same time they fired with deadly accuracy,

appeared to appal their assailants; and the officers of the Legitimists,

marked by their black coats, and many being mounted, were seen freely

using their riding whips and the backs of their swords in order to drive

the soldiers to the use of the bayonet. But these efforts had little

effect, and Walker seeing the enemy checked on the right, turned his

attention to the other flank, which was being vigorously assailed.

Valle and Luzarraga, with the native force, had steadily resisted the

advance of the Legitimists by the centre on the transit road. At one

time the Granadinos had nearly got to a charge against the Leoneses,

and one or two of the latter actually received bayonet thrusts from the

former; but the Democrats showing a firm front, the enemy retired, thrown

into some confusion and disorder by a fire from the houses on the edge of

the village. But it was on the left flank that the Legitimists pressed

their opponents the hardest. They appeared to aim at securing a position

on the beach, and also at gaining possession of the Accessory Transit

Company’s house, whence they might assail the rear of the Democrats.

Markham, with some fifteen of the Falange, was pouring a well-directed

fire from behind the fences and palisades on the left of the village,

and a few others were deployed at irregular intervals along the beach to

prevent a lodgment there by the enemy. At one time the Legitimists had

got within thirty or thirty-five yards of the Company’s buildings, but

Gray and several others charging with revolvers had driven them back;

then Markham pressed forward toward the wood, skirting the left of the

village, and the enemy showed signs of giving way, not only in that

direction but on all sides. Soon the firing grew feebler and feebler;

Chélon was seen coming in from the transit road with the ox-carts

carrying the enemy’s ammunition; and then a loud shout from the whole

democratic force announced that the day had been won by them.

Walker’s loss was trifling, and, considering the duration of the action,

its heat, and the close distances at which the firing was done, almost

inexplicable, unless on the supposition that the Central Americans fight

better far off than near. None of the Falange were killed, though

several were wounded. Small was shot through the chest, besides being hit

in more than one place elsewhere; Benj. Williamson had a painful hurt

in the groin; Capt. Doubleday was struck in the side; and Walker was

struck in the throat by a spent ball, which knocked him to the ground

for a moment, while the letters of Castellon, in his coat pocket, were

cut to pieces. The only wound apparently fatal was that of Small, and he

recovered in a few weeks; while Williamson’s wound, seemingly trifling,

kept him in bed for months. The native Democrats had two killed and

three wounded. The loss of the enemy was large. Upward of sixty dead

were found on the field; and subsequent reports stated that over a

hundred wounded—many of whom died of their wounds—reached Rivas, whither

Guardiola retired, almost unattended, after the action.

When the wounded prisoners were examined, it was ascertained that

Guardiola had marched from Rivas the afternoon of the 2d, with about six

hundred chosen troops of the Legitimist army. He had camped over night

at Jocote, a farm-house, distant about half a league from the Half-way

house. His plan was to attack the Americans soon after daylight, at

San Juan del Sur, expecting to find them there. But on arriving at the

Half-way house he found, probably from the servants of the establishment,

as well as by the signs on the road, that Walker had just passed toward

Virgin Bay. Immediately facing about, he followed the Democratic

force—probably not more than four or five miles in their rear. He had

with him a six-pounder, with which he expected to drive the Democrats

from the houses; but on arriving at Virgin Bay, he was unable to use

the piece, through some defect in the carriage. Finding he could not

use his gun, he decided to attack at once with the bayonet. Rations of

aguardiente were distributed to the troops, and the order was given to

charge. But either the quantity of liquor was insufficient, or it may

have been too great, or it began to die out before the soldiers got close

to their adversaries. The empty demijohns which were picked up on the

road after the action looked like huge cannon-balls that had missed their

mark.

The people of the village were quite relieved when they saw Guardiola

driven back to Rivas. When the firing commenced the women and children

had sought refuge in the Company’s house; and the agent, Mr. Cortlandt

Cushing, had so arranged the trunks and boxes stored in the building

as to protect the inmates from the fire of the enemy. Although very

much frightened, the women and even the children maintained a silence

which might be the result of revolutionary training. After the danger

had passed, however, their tongues were unloosed, and the squalling of

babies, mixed up with the shrill tones of the mothers, soon brought even

the smooth-tempered agent into the open air. Fortunately, none of the

poor people were hurt; and after it became very certain the enemy did not

intend to return, they withdrew to their several houses, engaging with as

much calmness as if no war existed, in the daily round of their domestic

joys and domestic cares.

The troops, both American and native, being fatigued by the night-march

as well as by the excitement of the action, Mr. Cushing undertook

to have the dead of the enemy buried. In the meantime the wounded

Legitimists were brought in and carefully tended, the surgeon of the

Falange dressing their wounds as carefully as if they had been Democrats.

This surprised the people of the village much; and the poor fellows, who

expected to be shot, were exceedingly grateful for the attentions they

received. Details of the Leoneses were sent into the neighboring wood to

gather up the muskets thrown away by the retreating foe; and more than

a hundred and fifty of these were collected. Later in the day Valle and

Mendez, with such Americans as were able to get horses, scouted the roads

for several miles round, to see if any of the Legitimists yet lurked in

the neighborhood; but no signs of the enemy were found, and they seemed

to have disappeared as suddenly as they had appeared.

Walker’s object in marching to Virgin Bay had not been to occupy the

place, but to prevent the enemy, as well as the people of the Department,

from supposing he intended to remain entirely on the defensive, by

keeping his force shut up at San Juan del Sur. His own force would

acquire confidence by seeing its ability to pass through the country

without the fear of an attack from the enemy; and he had scarcely hoped

for so fortunate a circumstance as the march of Guardiola to Virgin Bay.

The action of the 3d of September secured the Democrats for a time from

being troubled by the Legitimists, and gave them time to gather up the

friends they had in the Meridional Department. On the afternoon of the

4th, therefore, Walker marched back to San Juan, carrying with him his

wounded, and the arms and ammunition taken from the enemy. Early the

next morning the column was seen pouring over the hill back of San Juan,

and in a short time the whole force was again quartered within the town.

Despatches were immediately sent to the Provisional Director informing

him of the incidents at Virgin Bay, and requesting, if possible, new

supplies of men and provisions, with a view to offensive operations. The

bearer of despatches arrived in Leon just in time to see the Director

die. Within an hour after the official news of the victory reached the

capital, Castellon breathed his last, yielding to the fatal cholera which

was then slaying so many scores of his countrymen and adherents. He had

fulfilled his task—an important one it was—of introducing a new element

into Central American society; and his amiable spirit—the body worn out,

probably, by the toils and troubles ill-suited to his gentle nature,

and offering an easy prey to the fearful pestilence—had gone forth to

give an account of the deeds done in the flesh. Much as his friends and

neighbors loved and respected him, their estimate of his character will

rise yet higher if they live long enough to see in maturity the fruits of

the policy he inaugurated. Leon deeply mourned his death, and time will

yet develop the fact that, soft as his nature seemed, he was destined to

have a far wider, and a far deeper, and a far more enduring effect on

the fate of Nicaragua, than was left by his stern, unyielding rival, Don

Fruto Chamorro, who preceded him only a few months—but how fruitful—to

the grave.

The despatches to Castellon were answered by the new Provisional

Director, D. Nasario Escoto, who succeeded to the office in virtue

of being the Senator of the Republic designated for the place by

the constitution of 1838. The Senator-Director warmly thanked the

expeditionary force, native and American, for the services it had

rendered, and he further wrote that the Provisional Government would use

all diligence to forward supplies from Realejo to San Juan del Sur. The

cholera, according to Don Nasario, was making much havoc about Leon,

and hence it was difficult to command labor, much less men for military

service. Besides this Walker wanted only volunteers from the natives,

and refused the forced levies by which the ranks of all factions, and

parties, and governments, are generally filled in Central America. The

Director promised to send only these, and stated the circumstances to

account for the fewness of the number.

In the meanwhile the little force at San Juan del Sur was swelling its

numbers from another source. Soon after the news of the action at Virgin

Bay spread through the country, the men of San Jorge—always democratic in

their feelings and now irritated by the arbitrary acts of the Legitimists

at Rivas—began to come with the red ribbon on their hats, asking to

receive arms and be admitted into the democratic ranks. Those, too, who

had fled to Guanacaste when the Granada Government got possession of

the Meridional Department, now returned and joined Walker with the hope

of once more getting back to their families and friends. Among these

last were Dr. Cole, an American, who had married some years previously

into a family residing near Rivas, and the three Cantons, Tranquillino,

Clemente, and Daniel. Soon, also, Don Maximo Espinosa—who had been hid

in the neighborhood of his plantation since the 29th of June—made

his appearance, and then came his son-in-law, Don Ramon Umaña. After

Espinosa’s arrival at San Juan del Sur he was charged with organizing the

civil administration of the Department in virtue of the authority given

him by the Provisional Government in the month of June previous.

Nor were deserters from the enemy’s ranks wanting. Almost every day the

men from Rivas, forced into the service by the Legitimists would manage

to escape from the barricades, and come down to San Juan del Sur to

report the numbers and situation of the enemy, and even to take up arms

to avenge the injuries they had sustained. As Walker would not permit

the native democratic officers to follow their old habit of impressment,

the people from the neighboring farms, men as well as women, came in

daily with their supplies of fruits and provisions for the soldiers. It

was difficult at first to check this inveterate habit of catching a man

and tying him up with a musket in his hand to make a soldier of him, but

seeing the good effects of the policy the officers afterward desisted

from a practice which seemed to have become almost a second nature to

them.

Soon after returning from Virgin Bay Walker had, in order to raise means

for the support of his troops, resorted to a military contribution on the

principal traders doing business at San Juan del Sur. Among others, John

Priest, the United States consul, who kept an inn and drinking-house,

was assessed at the same rate as others of his calling. Priest refused

to pay, on the ground that he was a foreign consul, showing thereby

an intelligence more akin to his inn-keeping than to his consular

character. He talked largely about having an American man-of-war brought

into port for the purpose of enabling him to sell grog quietly to

soldiers and sailors without being obliged to pay taxes for the support

of a government which could not claim him as a citizen. But as he had on

a former occasion complained loudly at the outrages said to have been

practised on his person and property by the Legitimists, but had, when

the United States sent a sloop-of-war to inquire into his grievances,

made the commander of the ship appear very ridiculous by demanding

compensation for Priest, when the latter had really signed a paper fully

exonerating the Chamorro government, the consular inn-keeper’s threats

carried little weight with them. For his contumacy, he found a native

guard placed in his house, with orders not to permit any one to pass in

or out until the assessment was paid. Not many hours elapsed before the

inn-keeper forgot his consular dignity, and came forward with the money

to pay the contribution.

There were, in fact, few sources of revenue at San Juan. Most of the

lots in the town are held by the occupants at a monthly rent, to be

paid to the State; and in addition to this there were the customs and

the monopoly of the sale of beef. These revenues, small as they were,

could not be honestly collected through means of native functionaries.

One of the Leoneses, acting as collector, was caught taking bribes from

a merchant for smuggling; and the complaints against Mendez for killing

cattle and selling beef in fraud of the revenue were almost daily. The

habit of cheating the State, prevailing in all parts of Central America,

leads to the maladministration which produces revolution; and the habit

of revolution in turn reacts and increases the disposition of officers

to make as much as possible for themselves at the public expense, since

the tenure of their offices must, necessarily, be short. It is difficult

to say which is cause and which effect; and it may be that they are both

common effects of a radically bad social organization. Nor can reforms

in revenue, either as to the method of raising or of collecting it, be

well attempted in the midst of war. The taxes to which the people are

accustomed, being those most readily collected, must be resorted to in

times when the demand for money is urgent.

Walker soon had evidences that the Legitimists found the question of

revenue as difficult as did the Democrats. Near the 20th of September the

steamer Sierra Nevada arrived at San Juan, having on board D. Guadalupe

Saënz, who had been sent to California for the purpose of raising means

to aid the government at Granada. Don Guadalupe seeing the red ribbons

on shore did not venture to land, but a detail was sent to the steamer

and searched the vessel thoroughly without, however, being able to find

the Commissioner of Estrada. His papers, less fortunate than his person,

fell into the hands of the Democrats, and showed that he had sold to

one Body of California some brazil-wood belonging to Mariano Salazar,

but then in the possession of the Legitimists, and that he had made a

contract with the same Body for the establishment of a mint in Nicaragua.

The private papers of Don Guadalupe also disclosed that while acting

for the Government he had not failed to take care of himself; and they

proved that Body had probably made good bargains, as his partner in the

contracts was no less a person than Commissioner Saënz himself. The

diary, too, kept by Don Guadalupe, revealed the singular sensation he

had when he first tasted a sherry cobbler, and recorded his deliberate

opinion as to the superiority of such a beverage over the taste of

Nicaragua.

The Sierra Nevada was not able to get coal at San Juan, and had to go to

Realejo for that purpose. It was consequently some days after her arrival

before she got off for San Francisco. A few recruits for the Falange were

obtained from the passengers for California; and they, together with some

residents of the Isthmus, who enrolled themselves in the body, swelled

its numbers to nearly sixty effective men. The strength of Valle’s

force, in spite of losses from cholera, reached over two hundred. In the

meantime the Legitimists had been recovering from the effects of Virgin

Bay. Guardiola, made more moody than ever by his late defeats, was not

sorry to yield the command to Corral, who came from Granada with a view

of directing the operations against the Democrats in person. With more

amenity of manner than the Hondureño, the legitimist commander-in-chief,

was able to conciliate many the other had repelled; but he lacked

decision and was more fertile in perceiving difficulties than in defying

or overcoming them. Not having been defeated like Guardiola—for his

skill consisted rather in avoiding action than in bringing the enemy to

blows—he was better suited to restore order to the disorganized troops

he found at Rivas, and to infuse spirit into the adherents of his party

residing in the department.

There were constant reports coming to San Juan of Corral’s intention

to advance against the democratic force. But the rainy season made the

roads difficult to pass, and swelled the water-courses so bodies of men

could not cross them with ease, unless having more facilities than are

to be found in Central American armies. A report, however, that Corral

had actually marched, coming with some probabilities of truth, induced

Walker to march out to meet him, and, if possible, bring him to action

unexpectedly. A day or two, therefore, after the steamer sailed, the

Falange, accompanied by Valle’s command, was marched late at night to the

hill, a little over a league distant from San Juan, on the transit road;

and on the side of the hill next to Virgin Bay the whole force was placed

in ambush to await the approach of Corral. The night was dark and dismal,

the rain falling now slowly and like a heavy mist, then rapidly and in

drops nearly as big as a revolver bullet; but the men stood to their

places, sheltering themselves under the large trees which cover the sides

of the hill, and being careful to keep their cartridge-boxes dry, drawing

them, for this purpose, to the front part of the belt, and bending over

so as to protect the precious powder with their bodies. Such situations

have their excitements and pleasures as well as their discomforts; and

although, when the morning came, and no enemy appeared, the force looked

wet and weather-beaten, it marched at a brisk and cheerful pace to the

Half-way house, where a ration of liquor made the men as fresh and lively

as if they had passed the night in a palace.

Hearing no tidings of the enemy from mine host at the Half-way house, who

always ran off to another subject when the news was asked or talked of,

Walker determined to continue his march to Virgin Bay. There he heard

that Corral had actually left Rivas with nearly his whole force; but on

reaching the river Lajas, the Legitimist general hearing the Democrats

had marched from San Juan, and fearing they might attack the chief

town of the Department while it was comparatively undefended, hastily

counter-marched and withdrew within his barricades. Thus Walker, by the

march to Virgin Bay, ascertained that he had only to leave San Juan del

Sur, apparently for Rivas, in order to paralyze any advance movement his

opponent might make. Besides this, however, he obtained other useful

information which hereafter materially affected the operations against

the enemy. The day he reached Virgin Bay he intercepted despatches and

letters from the _Mayor General_—literally Major General, but really

performing the duties of Adjutant General—of the Legitimist army, D.

Fernando Chamorro, to Corral; and they disclosed to the democratic

officer the destitute condition of the government at Granada and its

inability to assist its commander-in-chief at Rivas with more men.

The letters also indicated that Granada itself was almost entirely

undefended; that the spirit of its people was drooping: and that the

chiefs of the party began to despair of maintaining the war much longer

if vigorously pressed by the democratic forces.

After reading these letters and despatches, Walker sent them to Corral

with a note stating that he had taken the liberty to read them, thus

making the Legitimist general feel that his condition and prospects were

not unknown to his adversary. Walker also intimated in the note that

the country needed repose, both parties, so far as the native forces

were concerned, having nearly exhausted themselves in the long struggle.

To this note Walker soon received a reply acknowledging the receipt of

the letters and despatches from Granada, and within Corral’s answer was

a small slip of paper containing some cabalistic signs the democratic

colonel did not understand. Supposing these signs to be masonic—for it

was known Corral was a mason—Walker showed them to Captain Hornsby,

who, although a mason, seemed ignorant of their meaning. Then they were

shown to De Brissot, who, according to Hornsby’s statements, was of high

standing in the mystic order. De Brissot said the signs were masonic,

and that Corral desired by them to know whether he could communicate

confidentially with Walker. Here the correspondence ended; and it had

served the purpose of showing that Corral was not indisposed for peace

even in the then condition of affairs.

Remaining only a few hours at Virgin Bay, Walker returned with his whole

force to San Juan del Sur. Even had the condition of the roads allowed

a march to Rivas, he did not have sufficient strength for an attack on

that place. Besides this, his views were now directed elsewhere; and the

reports he received almost daily from Granada confirmed the statements

of the despatches he had intercepted. A musician by the name of Acevedo,

imprisoned at Granada for being a democrat, escaped to San Juan and gave

a full account of the state of affairs there, saying, among other things,

that there were more than a hundred democrats working in the streets with

balls and chains about their legs.

On the morning of the 3d of October the steamer Cortes from San Francisco

came into port, and soon the news spread that Colonel Charles Gilman,

one of the companions of Walker in Lower California, was aboard with

some thirty-five men. In a short time they were all ashore, each of

them carrying a rifle, and being well supplied with ammunition. Gilman

was a man of strong mind, with all the sentiments of a soldier, and

having a good store of military knowledge. He had lost a leg in Lower

California, and the wound from which he suffered long and cruelly before

the amputation of the limb, having kept him abed for many months, his

intellect seemed to have ripened rapidly during his confinement. With

him were also several others of excellent capacity. Captain George R.

Davidson, who had served in the Kentucky Regiment during the Mexican war,

was one of the company; as were also Captain A. S. Brewster, afterward

Major; John P. Waters, afterward Colonel Waters, and John M. Baldwin,

afterward Major Baldwin. They had scarcely landed ere they were sent on

service, being ordered to guard the specie train across the transit road

to Virgin Bay.

The Falange, now numbering nearly a hundred men, was at once organized

into three companies, and called a battalion. Captain Hornsby was placed

in command of it with the rank of colonel, and Colonel Gilman was

appointed lieutenant-colonel. The three captains were Markham, Brewster,

and Davidson. Lieutenant George R. Caston was made adjutant, and Captain

William Williamson, quartermaster. While, however, the Americans were

thus gaining strength in Nicaragua, they also suffered some losses.

Captain Doubleday, who had served for some time under Jerez, and had

diligently performed the duties of commissary of war under Walker, asked

and obtained leave to return to the United States. Industrious and exact

in the performance of his duties, and having from his long residence in

the country a knowledge of the language and manners of the people, he was

much missed after his departure. He left at this time because having,

without invitation, stated to Walker his opinion about certain movements

being made, the commander remarked, that “when his commissary’s opinion

was required it would be asked for.” At the time the remark was made,

it was of the first necessity for the force to feel that it had but one

head. Captain Doubleday afterward returned to the country and engaged in

its service with credit to himself and benefit to the cause.

The same day Colonel Gilman with his comrades arrived at San Juan, a

small vessel came in from Realejo, having on board a democratic officer,

Ubaldo Herrera, with some thirty-five Leoneses. These, with the recruits

who had been daily dropping in to fill the places of those cut off by

disease, raised the force under Valle to upward of two hundred and fifty

men. It became necessary, at the same time, to get rid of Mendez. His

offences were daily; and his cruelty to his men, together with his petty

peculations, destructive of discipline and order, made it expedient to

send him to Leon. He went away telling Walker he would learn that the

Nicaraguans were to be governed only with silver in one hand and the whip

in the other.

Besides the increase of numbers about this time, the democratic force was

somewhat strengthened by a small brass two-pounder brought from Leon,

and a new iron six-pounder obtained from Captain Reed of the clipper

ship Queen of the Pacific, then in port with a cargo of coal. Some days

were passed in mounting the six-pounder, and preparing ammunition for

it; and during this period, the organization and discipline of the whole

force were being improved. Finally all was ready for a march, and on the

morning of the 11th Walker moved with his whole force to Virgin Bay, and

arrived there a little after dark of the same day.

Chapter Fourth.

GRANADA, OCTOBER THIRTEENTH, 1855.

It was expected that the steamer La Virgen, belonging to the Accessory

Transit Company, would arrive at Virgin Bay the evening of the 11th,

and the democratic force had scarcely got into quarters before it was

announced that she was in sight. A sentry had been previously posted

near the wharf with orders to prevent any boat from leaving the village

without permission; and as soon as the steamer appeared, Colonel Hornsby

was ordered to go aboard when she cast anchor and take possession of

her. He executed the order without Capt. Joseph N. Scott, who was on

the Virgen, knowing his object until he had accomplished it. Both Mr.

Cushing, the agent of the company, and Capt. Scott, protested against the

use of the vessel for military purposes, as well as against the forcible

possession. Mr. Cushing said he had the assurance of the United States

Government, that it considered these vessels of the Accessory Transit

Company American property, under the American flag; but he had been

in the diplomatic service of the United States, and was too familiar

with the first principles of public law, to imagine that persons acting

under the authority of Nicaragua would regard any such interpretation

of her rights of sovereignty. The Accessory Transit Company was a

creature of the government of Nicaragua; and its vessels were by the

very terms of its charter under the Nicaraguan flag. Even, however, had

the property been that of a neutral, and not of a subject, it would have

been permissible to use it temporarily for the purpose of transporting

troops. It is not at all true, as has been sometimes asserted, that

the steamer was there by concert between Walker and the agent of the

company; on the contrary, the latter had always resisted the idea of

permitting the vessels of the corporation to be used in any manner by the

belligerents, and the former, to disarm Mr. Cushing of any suspicions he

might entertain, had always protested that he knew of no way in which the

steamers could aid the objects he had in view.

From the time the steamers appeared the camp was doubly guarded, and

no one was allowed to leave the village. Thus the enemy was kept in

ignorance of the fact, that the Virgen was in the possession of the

democratic force. The next day preparations were made for embarking the

whole command aboard the steamer; and by four or half-past four in the

afternoon, the last boat-full of men was alongside. Soon the order was

given to weigh anchor, and the prow of the steamer was turned toward

Granada. When the natives saw whither the force was moving, their joy

was extravagant. It became necessary, however, to keep them quiet, and

as much concealed as possible, in order not to attract attention from

the shore, as the scouts of the enemy could be plainly perceived at

intervals along the beach. On approaching Granada the lights on the

steamer were extinguished, the canvas curtains were let down from the

roof of the upper deck, and the boat was kept off from the fort, so as

not to be seen by the sentries stationed there.

Near ten o’clock at night the steamer was anchored near the shore, about

three miles to the north of Granada. A line was made fast to a large

tree on the beach, and the disembarkation was effected by pulling an

iron launch from the steamer by means of the cable fastened ashore. It

was about three o’clock in the morning when the last body of men landed;

and the horses which had been brought up for the use of Valle and Gilman

made a great noise at the last trip of the launch. No doubt the noise

appeared greater than it was to those who were anxious to keep their

movements quiet and secret. After all had landed, the column was formed

with some difficulty owing to the darkness of the night, the thickness of

the forest trees, and the entire ignorance of the officers and soldiers

in regard to the nature of the ground. At last the order to march was

given, the Falange in front, the native force in the rear. Ubaldo

Herrera, a native of Granada, undertook to act as the guide. While it

was dark the march was perplexed and difficult; but as soon as day broke

Herrera seemed to know precisely where he was, and in a few minutes the

column reached the road running from the city to Los Cocos. One or two

market-people whom he met informed Walker that all was quiet in the city,

nobody expecting an attack, or apprehending the approach of an enemy.

The Democrats had got to within half a mile of the town, and the first

rays of the rising sun had begun to warm the eastern heavens, when

suddenly all the bells of the city were heard ringing a quick and joyful

peal. Some of the Americans thought the bells were a signal of alarm,

and that their tone showed confidence on the part of the enemy, as if

welcoming an attack. But the ringing was really to celebrate a triumph

Martinez had over the Democrats at Pueblo Nuevo, two days previously.

The bells were yet pealing, when the advanced guard of the Falange

reached the first huts on the outskirts of the town. Then the Americans

seeing, from the startled air of the people in the suburbs, that the

Legitimists were completely taken by surprise, threw off their coats

and dropped their blankets, rushing forward with a shout to gain the

first barricades. The gaunt form of Hornsby in the van served as a sort

of guide for those behind. On they pressed, and the first shots of the

enemy were from the old convent of San Francisco; but these were few and

straggling, and scarcely checked for a moment the impetuous march of the

Falange. A shout from the advance announces that the Plaza is won, and

the last few shots were fired from the gallery of the government house

as Walker entered the square. Then the streets leading from the Plaza

were searched in vain for the flying enemy. In fact, the Legitimist force

in the town had been trifling, and the encounter between it and the

Democrats could scarcely be dignified with the name of an action. Two or

three of the Legitimists were killed, and a drummer-boy under Valle was

the whole loss of the Democrats. As Norris, the drummer of the Falange

afterward said, when asking to be excused from serving as drum-major,

“In every battle scene you see a drummer-boy lying dead by the side of

his drum.”

When the Democrats entered the town all the doors and windows were

closed and the several national flags were flying from the houses of

the foreign residents—a flag being a very useful piece of furniture to

foreigners of equivocal character and doubtful nationality in Central

American countries. As soon, however, as the confusion of the collision

was over, the houses and doors began to be cautiously opened. The house

of the American Minister was about the first to unclose its portals; and

its saloon and chamber and court yard presented a curious spectacle.

Eighty or a hundred women and children were huddled together seeking

safety under the folds of the American flag. There was the gentle dame

who thought the Democrats were all robbers and murderers because they

made war on the old aristocracy of the land and the humble servant-girl

who imagined the Leoneses would kill her because her father or brother

had followed the fortunes of his legitimist master rather than take up

arms in defence of the rights of his class. In their fancies a filibuster

was a sort of centaur with far more of the beast than of the man in his

nature; and their surprise was great to hear the Americans speak mildly

and conduct themselves quietly after the noise of the fray was over.

Walker had gone for a moment to the house of the Minister in order to

answer some of the demands made on his attention there and was returning

thence across the Plaza toward the Government House, when he saw several

of the native soldiers heavily laden with merchandise trotting hastily

along the opposite side of the square. On approaching them they did not

halt until ordered, nor did they seem to imagine they were doing aught

to anger their chief. It was clear from their manner that they thought

the town was to be given up for sack. But Walker, placing his sword at

the breast of one of them, called the guard and ordered the offenders

to be arrested and the goods restored to their owners. The order was

immediately given to the Falange to remain under arms in order to protect

the property of the citizens. There were some murmurs among the native

soldiers, especially among those who had themselves suffered either in

their property or their persons or in those of their families; but the

co-operation of Valle was soon obtained and the disorders were to a great

extent arrested.

But on another point Valle was less yielding. In the course of the

morning D. Dionisio Chamorro and D. _Toribio_ Jerez had presented

themselves to Walker under the assurance of their persons being

respected, and they had been consigned to the charge of M. Bernard, a

French subject, in whose house they resided and with whom they were

connected by marriage. As the two well-known legitimists were passing

the streets on their way home they caught the eye of Valle, and the old

democrat immediately ordered them to follow him to Walker’s quarters.

By the time Chélon arrived at the quarters he was in a sort of frenzy

rhapsodizing about his losses, the death of his brother, the death of his

friends, and the cruelties of the Legitimists, and declaiming against all

who showed mercy to the hateful Granadinos. A little brandy for which

he had a keen relish, no doubt added fuel to the flame of his feelings

and inspired some of the eloquence which rolled rapidly from his lips.

In vain Walker tried to soothe his irritation; soft words seemed oil

to the fire of his passion. Then changing his tone Walker assumed the

language of authority, reminded Chélon that he was his superior and that

any disobedience of orders would be summarily punished. Dismissing the

legitimists to their house under the escort of Americans, he informed

Valle that any one interfering with their persons would do so at his

peril. The fierce old democrat retired muttering something about the

Granadian bullet in his leg; but he got over his wrath, and in the

evening was as ready as ever for a serenade or a charge, according as the

circumstances called for one or the other.

A prisoner of consideration was made in the person of D. Mateo Mayorga,

the secretary of relations under Estrada. He was placed on his parole in

the house of the American Minister. Other leading legitimists presented

themselves in the course of the day, and were put under the protection of

the American rifles.

Nearly a hundred prisoners were released from their chains by the capture

of Granada. They had been arrested for political offences, and some of

them were under sentence of death. Among them were D. Cleto Mayorga,

son-in-law of D. Patricio Rivas and cousin of D. Mateo Mayorga, the

Minister of Relations; an American by the name of Bailey, confined, as he

said, on suspicion of favoring the democratic cause; and a youth by the

name of Tejada, brother to D. Rafael Tejada, commissioner under Estrada

to settle the differences between the Republic and the Accessory Transit

Company. All these prisoners asked for arms and were incorporated into

the democratic forces, so that before the night of the 13th the aggregate

of the troops occupying Granada amounted to near four hundred and fifty

men.

A short time after entering the city, on the morning of the 13th, Walker

met, on the Plaza, D. Carlos Thomas, a foreign merchant, long resident

in the place, and D. Fermin Ferrer, a landholder of Chontales, but who

resided at Granada, and was familiar with the routine of public business.

Ferrer was appointed prefect, and entered immediately on the discharge

of his duties. Thomas rendered much service to Walker, by his knowledge

of men and things in Granada; and among other functions he performed was

that of writer of proclamations. He spoke and wrote English, French,

and Spanish, with equal facility, and probably equal elegance, his

English being, however, more Johnsonese than idiomatic, and his French

and Spanish being probably tinged with the same fault. The swell of

his sentences was perfectly Ciceronian, when, with a glass or two of

brandy in his head, he began to dilate on the grandeur of the present

crisis in Nicaragua; and the exuberance of his feelings overflowed in a

proclamation he wrote out for Walker, and had published, somewhat to the

annoyance of the latter, when he saw his signature appended in print to

an address teeming with the rhetoric which characterizes Spanish-American

productions. The proclamation, however, though offensive to taste, did

some good; for the purport of it was, that protection would be given to

all interests, and that none need refuse to return to their homes through

fear of political persecution.

For a short time after entering the city, Walker took up his quarters at

the house of a woman of middle age, called generally, by the people, Niña

Yrena. Her family name was Irish, and she was probably the descendant

of an Irish officer in the Spanish service, sent to the colonies before

the independence. A quick and minute observer, with all the gravity and

apparent indifference of the native race, she had rendered much service

to the legitimist party in days past; and even the stern nature of Fruto

Chamorro owned her sway, and yielded to her influence, when all others

failed to move him. The private relations which it is said, and probably

with truth, existed between her and D. Narciso Espinosa, a leading man

among the Legitimists, enabled her to breathe her spirit into the party

after the death of Chamorro had taken away the unity it before possessed.

The Niña was fertile in resources for sending intelligence to her

friends; and hence the headquarters of the force occupying Granada were

soon fixed at the government house on the Plaza.

The 14th was Sunday, and at the eight o’clock mass Walker, with a number

of other officers, attended, the curate of the city, Father Vigil,

preaching a sermon, in which he exhorted to peace, moderation, and the

putting away of revolutionary passions. Sketching rapidly the history

of Nicaragua, since her independence, he dwelt on the miseries which

had flowed from the civil license of the period, and pointed out the

necessity to the country of a force strong enough to curb the political

passions which had hitherto rent asunder families, and friends, and

neighborhoods. None could object to the good Father’s sentiments,

and the effect of his sermon on the people was excellent and decided.

Nor were Father Vigil’s labors in the cause of peace confined to the

pulpit; he warmly co-operated with Walker in his efforts to make such an

arrangement between parties as would put an end to the civil war; and

the thorough knowledge of men and things he had, from long practice of

the duties of parish priest at Granada, made his counsel valuable in the

negotiations which followed the 13th of October.

The chief object Walker had in view, when he marched on Granada was, by

securing the main depots of the enemy, to place himself in a position

to make the best terms possible with Corral for the advantage of the

democratic party, and especially for the policy Castellon adopted, of

introducing an American element into Nicaraguan society. Corral had

already shown Walker that he was not unwilling to treat for terms;

but, of course, it was more advantageous for the latter to treat at

Granada than on the Transit, though the possession of the Transit was

intrinsically more important to the Americans than the occupation of a

town forty or fifty miles from the line of travel across the Isthmus.

Hence he did not contemplate, at first, the permanent occupation,

regarding his possession of the place merely as a means of getting good

terms from Corral, in case a treaty could be negotiated.

Accordingly, as soon as order was established, steps were taken for

communicating with Corral. The municipal authorities met and requested

Walker to take the Presidency of the Republic. This he declined,

suggesting, however, that if Corral were placed in the Executive, after

proper terms were agreed on between the contending parties, he would

undertake, as commander-in-chief, to maintain order within the State. On

the part, then, of the town, commissioners were appointed, the principal

being D. Hilario Selva and D. Rosario Vivas, to go to Rivas and urge on

Corral the expediency of an arrangement between the two parties which

divided the Republic. At the same time these commissioners proceeded by

land, D. Juan Ruiz, Minister of War, under Estrada, and Hon. Mr. Wheeler,

the American Minister, would go by the steamer to San Jorge with a view

of placing the same subject before Corral. Mr. Wheeler was urged to this

course by the Legitimists themselves. The families of the town insisted

that he should go with Ruiz, supposing the weight of his position might

influence Corral to treat with Walker, and thus get rid of the hated

Leoneses.

Mr. Wheeler accordingly took the steamer, and in company with D. Juan

Ruiz proceeded to Rivas. When he arrived there he found that Corral had

marched north on the afternoon of the 14th; and D. Florencio Xatruch,

the friend and comrade of Guardiola, was in command of the Legitimist

troops in the Meridional Department. The Minister and his secretary

were kept under guard by Xatruch for two days, and they only made good

their escape—for so it may be called—by the spirit and resolution of Mr.

Wheeler. After his arrival at Virgin Bay, on his return from Rivas, the

minister received a note from Corral, dated at his headquarters, the

17th of October, informing Mr. Wheeler that he would not be responsible

for his personal safety, and that he had communicated an account of his

conduct to Mr. Marcy, the Secretary of State, and to the New-York papers.

The Minister returned to Granada without seeing Corral, and D. Juan Ruiz

failing to keep his parole, tied to Costa Rica.

Selva, Vivas, and the other commissioners who went by land toward Rivas,

met Corral, on his march northward, near Nandaime. From that place they

sent a communication to Walker, saying that it was impossible to get

Corral to treat on any terms; but the next morning Walker got a note from

the Legitimist commander, complaining of some Democrats firing on a party

of his troops while commissioners were in his camp asking for peace.

As no cessation of hostilities had been agreed on, or even proposed as

preliminary to the negotiations, the note of Corral showed his anxiety to

keep up a correspondence and suggested the inference that he was desirous

of an arrangement with Walker. The reply of the democratic commander

was to the effect that no armistice having been agreed to, he should

continue to carry on the war as vigorously as possible. Though the reply

called for no answer, the Legitimist general wrote to say that Walker

could scarcely expect any peace to be made on the principles held and

enunciated by the native Democrats in his camp. To this, of course, no

reply was made, and the negotiations ceased until other events brought

them to a speedy and a favorable termination.

On the 17th of October the steamer Uncle Sam arrived at San Juan del

Sur, having on board Col. Birkett D. Fry, Parker H. French, and about

sixty other Americans for the service of the Provisional Government.

They were all armed with rifles and well supplied with ammunition. On

landing they were organized in two companies commanded respectively by

Capt. S. C. Asten and Capt. Chas. Turnbull. Edward J. Sanders acted as

major, and French had, without authority, promised the rank of colonel to

Fry. A brass six-pounder, with some ammunition for it, was obtained from

the steamer; and then a most irregular march, considering the presence

of the enemy at Rivas, was made across the Transit to Virgin Bay. There

they found the steamer waiting to convey the California passengers to the

Toro Rapids. French urged Fry to take the steamer, the passengers being

also aboard, and proceed to San Carlos with a view of taking that place

from the enemy. It was a most foolish if not criminal act, to take the

passengers on the boat destined for such an expedition, and no benefit

could be expected to result from an undertaking commenced under such

circumstances. On arriving opposite San Carlos the works appeared too

strong for their force; it was suddenly discovered that the supply of

caps was insufficient, and the Virgin was wisely put about and steamed

over to Granada. Fry’s recruits were landed, and the passengers for the

Atlantic States returned to Virgin Bay.

The existing circumstances made it necessary to overlook the acts of Fry

and French. At the conduct of the latter Walker was not much surprised;

but he had been led by the opinions of others to expect from Fry a more

discreet and regular course. The reputation of the latter, as a soldier,

had been gained by service in the Voltigeur Regiment during the Mexican

war; and the friends of the Nicaraguan cause in California had considered

him a valuable accession to the enterprise. Amiable in manner and

honorable in sentiment, he had many qualities to conciliate esteem; but

a lack of firmness and decision made him too often yield to the evil and

inconsiderate suggestions of others. As he had left California under the

impression that he was to receive the rank of colonel, it was given to

him; and at the same time Sanders, who had much more energy of character,

was made major. French was made commissary of war, with the hope that his

industry might be useful in the office, while, being under the control of

another, his imprudence, to say nothing of more serious defects, might be

prevented from doing harm.

After the passengers from California returned to Virgin Bay from Granada,

and while they were waiting at the former place for an opportunity to

pass down the river to San Juan del Norte, a body of soldiers from Rivas

entered the village, and firing indiscriminately, killed three of the

passengers (American citizens), and wounded several others, rifling at

the same time the pockets of those who were killed. The house of the

Accessory Transit Company was broken into and plundered; and the agent,

Mr. Cushing, was taken a prisoner to Rivas, whence he was released only

after the payment of a fine of two thousand dollars.

Nor were the passengers from New-York less unfortunate than those from

California. The Legitimist commandant at San Carlos fired a twenty-four

pound shot into the steamer as she passed from the river to the lake,

killing a woman and her infant, and taking away the foot of another

child. In such a state of affairs it was foolish, of course, to attempt

to pass into the river with the California passengers. They, therefore,

returned to Granada until some means might be found for passing safely to

San Juan del Norte; and at the same time news was brought to Walker of

the events of Virgin Bay and on the lake.

Such conduct on the part of officers, acting under color of the

Legitimist government, called for retaliation and punishment in order to

prevent its recurrence. Accordingly, early on the morning of the 22d, and

soon after the news of the murders at Virgin Bay and on the lake reached

Granada, Walker ordered D. Mateo Mayorga to be shot on the main Plaza.

Mayorga was a member of the cabinet of Estrada, and was, therefore,

morally responsible for the outrages and barbarities practised by those

holding a military commission from the Legitimist authorities. He was

executed soon after the order was given to the officer of the day, Ubaldo

Herrera, and a file of Leoneses were detailed for the duty. All the

native democratic officers approved the act, and they then remarked the

Americans would hereafter learn that their mercy to the Legitimists was

injustice to themselves.

In the meantime, Corral had reached Masaya and was there behind

barricades with a large proportion of the Legitimist strength; while

Martinez, who had driven the Democrats from Pueblo Nuevo, on the 11th of

the month, falling back on Managua after the surprise of Granada, was

again assailed by an irregular body of Leoneses under General Mateo

Pineda and Mariano Mendez. This was the position of affairs when, on the

morning of the 22d, D. Pedro Rouhaud, a French subject long resident at

Granada, went to Masaya, in order to inform Corral of Mayorga’s execution

and the causes for it, and also to say that all the Legitimist families

of the city would be held as hostages for the future good conduct of

Estrada’s officers toward American women and children, and toward

non-combatants generally. This message naturally produced a deep effect,

not only on Corral but on all the officers at Masaya, since most of them

had families or relatives then in Granada. Accordingly it was resolved

that Corral should go to Walker’s camp with full powers to treat for

peace, and D. Pedro Rouhaud returned late on the evening of the 22d with

the gratifying intelligence.

Col. Fry, with a mounted escort of Americans, was immediately ordered to

the neighborhood of Masaya, to meet the Legitimist general, and accompany

him to Granada. A little after nine o’clock on the morning of the 23d, it

was announced that Corral, with the escort, had reached the powder-house,

just outside of the city, on the Masaya road; and Walker, with a number

of the democratic officers, rode out to meet him. The commanders of the

two forces, after saluting each other, rode side by side through the main

street leading to the Plaza. As they passed, the doors and windows of the

houses were filled with women and children, dressed in the bright colors

affected by the people of the country, and smiling through tears at the

prospect of peace. On the Plaza the whole democratic force was drawn up

to receive the commanding-general of the Legitimists; and arms were put

into the hands of many of the California passengers, and they were drawn

up in as good array as possible, to impress Corral with an idea of the

American strength of the democratic army. Then the two commanders retired

to the government house, in order to open negotiations.

Corral produced his authority from Estrada, empowering him

_omnimodamente_—in all respects—to treat for the Legitimist government

without the necessity for ratification, thus beforehand making his acts

the acts of the government. Walker had no powers from the government

whose commission he held; and Corral treated with him simply as colonel

commanding the forces occupying Granada—it being understood that, in case

a treaty was agreed on, it should be sent to Leon for ratification. The

Legitimist general seemed disposed to take the lead in the negotiation,

and Walker permitted him to develop freely the terms he desired, saying

little by way either of objection or amendment. After some consultation,

the outlines of a treaty were agreed on, and Corral undertook to draw it

up for signature.

The treaty, therefore, as signed, was nearly altogether the work of

Corral. By it peace was established between the contending parties,

and a Provisional Government was established, with D. Patricio Rivas

as executive, for the space of fourteen months, unless an election was

previously called. Walker was to be placed in command of the army, and

all officers of both sides were to retain their respective ranks and

rates of pay. All debts contracted during the war, by either party, were

to become debts of the Republic; and to provide for the liquidation of

these claims, a Minister of Public Credit was to be added to the usual

Cabinet officers. At Corral’s suggestion, the Americans were to be

retained in the military service of the State; and the only clause in

the treaty inserted at Walker’s instance, without a previous suggestion

from Corral, was that by which the articles of the Constitution of

1838, concerning naturalization, were to remain the law of the land.

All badges of previous parties were to be thrown aside, and the troops

of the Republic were to wear a blue ribbon with the device, “Nicaragua

Independiente.” The foreigners, principally French, who had been in the

Legitimist service, were to remain in the army or not, at their choice;

and the contracts made with them as to pay and lands, as well as those

made with the Americans by Castellon, became obligations of the State.

Martinez was to remain in command at Managua, and Xatruch at Rivas.

On the afternoon of the 23d, Corral and Walker were together, at the

house of a merchant of the city, when news came that a steamer was in

sight, apparently from San Carlos. The Americans, as well as the native

Democrats, were suspicious of bad faith, and apprehended an attack might

be made on them while the enemy was appearing to treat. These suspicions

turned out to be groundless, as the vessel was the Central America, which

had come from Toro Rapids with the news that the Legitimist garrisons at

San Carlos and at Castillo had disappeared, thus leaving the river open

for the safe passage of those going to the Atlantic side. Thus the props

of the Legitimists seemed to crumble and give way under the influence of

the loss of Granada.

The treaty having been signed Corral at once returned to Mayasa, with

the understanding that he would enter Granada at a time to be hereafter

agreed upon between himself and Walker. The Transit passengers then in

Granada left the same day, and Capt. Joseph N. Scott carried to Don

Patricio Rivas the news of events at Granada, and the offer to bring him

immediately to the capital by the Company’s steamer. Valle and Ferrer

were despatched to Leon with the treaty, and with the request from Walker

that the democratic force be withdrawn from the attack on Managua.

In the meantime, means had been provided for setting the Provisional

Government in motion as soon as Rivas arrived. Among the passengers by

the Cortes, arriving on the 3d of October, was Mr. C. J. Macdonald, a

Scotchman, who had been for some time resident in California. He was

introduced to Walker by Col. Gilman, with the assurance from the latter

that he possessed the confidence of Garrison, the agent of the Accessory

Transit Company at San Francisco. Macdonald was at Granada when the

treaty was signed, and proposed to advance twenty thousand dollars of the

treasure in transit from California to New York on the faith of the new

government. French, being Commissary of War, brought the proposition to

Walker, and the latter refused to take advantage of it without knowing

Macdonald’s authority to act. Accordingly a power from C. K. Garrison to

Macdonald, vaguely drawn, but still constituting him a general agent in

Nicaragua, was shown, and, after asking Gilman particularly about the

relations between Macdonald and Garrison in California, so as to be able

to interpret the power fully, Walker acceded to the proposition. The bars

were landed from the steamer under protest from Scott, and Macdonald

drew on Charles Morgan in New-York for the value of them. Obligations

were given by the Commissary of War pledging the State to repayment with

interest, and securing the debt by pledging dues from the Accessory

Transit Company. It may be worth while to state that the drafts of

Macdonald on Morgan were duly honored.

This amount was of signal service at the time, for the governments of

both Leon and Granada were then entirely without means. Soon after the

Democrats occupied Granada, a contribution had been levied by the prefect

on the Department, but little had been collected under it. The treasurer

of the Fund of Public Instruction should, according to all accounts, have

had some thousands of the public moneys in his possession; when, however,

he was called on to produce the fund with a view of placing it, for a

time, in the general fund, he paid over to the Treasurer of State only

a few hundred dollars. To show the utter destitution of the Legitimists

it is only necessary to state that the day after the treaty was signed,

Corral drew on Walker for five hundred dollars to pay the daily expenses

of the force at Masaya and Managua.

A day or two after the treaty was signed a general order was read

forbidding the use of the red ribbon, and commanding the democratic

force in Granada to mount the blue ribbon, with the device “Nicaragua

Independiente.” There were loud murmurs on the part of the Leoneses when

the order was published, and some of them absolutely refused to take

the red ribbon from their hats. Several were punished before the order

could be enforced, and afterward some of the ardent Democrats would tie

a narrow piece of red about their musket barrels. It is possible that

Corral had some of the same difficulties in substituting the blue for

the white; but the Legitimists were far more orderly and submissive to

authority than were the Democrats.

On the 28th it was agreed between the two commanders that Corral and

his troops should, on the next day, enter Granada. At an early hour the

hum of preparation was heard in the city, and about eleven o’clock it

was announced that the Legitimists were on the edge of the town. The

democratic force, American as well as native, was drawn up in line of

battle on the western side of the Plaza, and Corral marched in by the

street from the Masaya road. Thus, in case of any hostile movement—and

there were many suspicions of such—on the part of the Legitimists, the

Democrats would have been able to act with advantage from the public

square down the streets leading to it. The accidental discharge of a

single musket or rifle would have led to serious consequences, for each

party was suspicious of the good faith of the other. Fortunately no

disagreeable or untoward incident occurred. The two commanders approached

each other near the centre of the square, and, after embracing,

dismounted, walking arm in arm to the church on the east side of the

Plaza. Attended by numerous officers, both Legitimist and Democratic,

they were met at the door of the church by Father Vigil and conducted

toward the high altar. A Te Deum was sung, and then Corral and Walker

passed from the church to the government house, on the opposite side of

the square. The troops marched from the Plaza toward the several quarters

assigned them, with orders to the officers to keep the soldiers out of

the streets and away from the liquor-shops during the day, so that no

affray might arise to disturb the general peace of the city.

D. Patricio Rivas having arrived on the 30th, it was decided that his

inauguration should take place immediately. The Cabildo was the scene of

the ceremony, and a table was prepared within the railing which separates

the raised portion of the public chamber from the part occupied by the

people. A crucifix with an open copy of the Gospels was placed on one end

of the table, and Father Vigil took his seat to put in form the procés

verbal recording the installation. The formal record being completed,

D. Patricio Rivas knelt on a cushion before the crucifix swearing to

observe the treaty of the 23d of October, and to perform the duties of

Provisional President in accordance with its stipulations. Then Corral,

by a slight gesture, intimated to Walker that they both were to take

an oath on the occasion. No agreement of the sort had been made on the

subject, and it is possible that Corral had no sinister purpose in thus

attempting to take Walker by surprise. But the American did not appear to

hesitate. Kneeling in the same manner with the President, he swore on the

Holy Gospels to observe, and cause to be observed, the treaty of the 23d,

and Corral took the same oath, the form of it being prepared in his own

handwriting. After the oath had been taken and recorded, all retired to

their several quarters, Corral and the President abiding together at that

time.

In fact, for two or three days Corral seemed to have the new executive in

his keeping. The afternoon of the 29th he clearly thought the Legitimists

had gained the advantage over the Leoneses; for passing by the house of

Niña Yrena, who stood at the door to ask the general what he thought of

the turn affairs had taken, he replied in the language of the cock-pit,

“We have beaten them (the Democrats) with their own cock.” The Niña shook

her head incredulously, but Corral was in high spirits, and would not

listen to her doubts.

Rivas had been collector of customs for the port of San Juan del Norte,

resident at Castillo, or San Carlos, under the Legitimist government; and

although moderate in his political opinions, was naturally disposed to

take part with the Granadinos against the Leoneses. Corral was forthwith

made minister of war and also minister general; and nothing was said to

Walker about the formation of a Cabinet. On the 30th, a decree from the

ministry appointed Walker commander-in-chief; and the minister intimated

to him that it would be necessary to take an oath of office. When Corral,

on the morning of the 31st, invited Walker to the executive chamber in

order to administer the oath, he remarked that it was a mere form, but in

accordance with usage. Although Walker had been educated a Protestant, he

had no objections to kneeling before the crucifix—the symbol of salvation

to all Christians—and if the Legitimist expected to gain a point by the

refusal of the American to take the oath, he was, as in the case the day

before, disappointed.

On the 31st, Jerez, with a number of the leading citizens of Leon arrived

at Granada, bearing the news of the ratification of the treaty by the

Provisional Director, D. Nasario Escoto and his cabinet. At the same

time Walker received decrees of the government at Leon, issued some

days previously, promoting him first, to the rank of brigadier-general,

then to the rank of general of division. The appearance of the Leoneses

evidently annoyed Corral; and he had not expected so ready a ratification

of the treaty. Their presence was, on the contrary, very acceptable to

the new commander-in-chief; for there were previously no native Democrats

at Granada, sufficiently familiar with public business to take part in

the administration.

Carlos Thomas had been much worried by the course of the new President

before the arrival of Jerez and the Democrats. He had signified to Don

Patricio that matters would go badly if he continued to remain entirely

in the hands of Corral. The brother of Don Carlos also, D. Emilio Thomas,

a man of excellent sense, and of most honorable character, perceived the

error of Rivas in trusting implicitly to the counsels of the minister

of war, and did what he could to change the course affairs seemed to be

taking. The President saw that it would be necessary for him to rely on

some others than Corral, if he expected to bring the Democrats to the

support of his administration; and, therefore, he came to consult with

Walker in reference to the formation of a cabinet.

As the Legitimists were represented in the cabinet by their former

commander-in-chief, it was only fair that the Democrats should insist on

the appointment of Jerez to the Ministry of Relations. Walker suggested

this; but when it was mentioned to Corral, he evinced the most bitter

opposition to the proposal. He thought it would be impossible for himself

and Doctor Jerez—as he insisted on calling the general, D. Maximo—to act

together in the same cabinet. The principles of Jerez were, according to

his opinion, disorganizing and destructive of all civil society. The name

of D. Buenaventura Selva was also mentioned; but he was, if possible,

more unpalatable, than Jerez. To D. Fermin Ferrer, as Minister of Public

Credit, no serious objection was made; and as French was ambitious of

a seat in the cabinet, it was agreed in the struggle between the two

parties, that he should be appointed Minister of Hacienda. The main

difficulty was concerning the Minister of Relations; and Rivas, seeing

Walker insist on the appointment of Jerez, finally overcame or silenced

the objections of Corral, and the cabinet was completed with the name of

the chief of the Leoneses.

The government, then, of President Rivas being fully organized, under the

treaty of the 23d, by the appointment of Jerez, Minister of Relations,

Corral, Minister of War, Ferrer, Minister of Public Credit, and French,

Minister of Hacienda, the first step was to establish the army on a peace

footing. With this view all the natives in Granada who desired discharges

obtained them. The desire of the soldiers to go to their homes was

universal, the military service being distasteful to most of them. On the

4th of November the Legitimist troops who had marched in from Masaya were

entirely disbanded, and not many of the native Democrats remained in the

service. Thus one of the first results of the treaty was to release more

than fifteen hundred men from the ranks of the army, sending them forth

to supply the demand for labor then existing generally throughout the

State.

The Americans thus remained the chief military defence of the government,

and all parties looked to them for the maintenance of peace and order.

It was through their instrumentality that the treaty was made; not

a treaty, as has been often said, made by two military chiefs, but

sanctioned and ratified by two contending governments representing the

parties into which the whole people of the country was divided. The act

of the twenty-third of October was, therefore, in the fullest sense of

the word, the act of the sovereignty of Nicaragua; and therefore no party

had the right to say that the Americans were domiciliated in the State

and engaged in its military service without its consent. The contract of

Castellon was acknowledged by the Legitimist authorities as the contract

of the Republic. Both Democrats and Legitimists expressed gratitude for

the services the Americans had already rendered; and the new Provisional

Government, whose orders were now recognized and obeyed throughout the

whole State, looked to them as its tower of strength and bulwark of

defence.

But in the midst of the general joy for peace there suddenly arose a

voice to disturb the public repose. On the morning of the 5th of November

Valle brought to Walker a package of letters which had been given him by

a courier Martinez despatched from Managua to the Honduras frontier. The

courier, it seems, was a democrat who had been imprisoned at Managua,

as he alleged, for political offences; and Martinez had given him his

liberty in order that he might carry the letters intrusted to him as

far as Yuscaran. After getting away from Managua, however, the democrat

suspecting there was something wrong in the package of papers given

him, turned his steps toward Granada, and on arriving there delivered

the letters to Valle. Walker found one of the letters addressed, in

the handwriting of Corral, to D. Pedro Xatruch at Tegucigalpa, and

another in the same handwriting to the Señora D. Ana Arbizu also at

Tegucigalpa. Another of the letters was addressed to the same Doña Ana in

the handwriting of Martinez; and as the Señora Arbizu was known to be a

friend of Guardiola, the letters were opened and the two from Corral were

sufficient to amaze any one who had heard him a few days before solemnly

swear to observe the treaty of the twenty-third.

The letter addressed to D. Pedro Xatruch read as follows:—“Friend Don

Pedro: We are badly, badly, badly off. Remember your friends. They have

left me what I have on, and I hope for your aid. Your friend, P. Corral.”

That addressed to the Señora Arbizu was marked “private,” and read:

“Granada, November 1st, 1855. General D. Santos Guardiola: My Esteemed

Friend: It is necessary that you write to friends to advise them of the

danger we are in, and that they work actively. If they delay two months

there will not then be time. Think of us and of your offers. I salute

your lady; and commend your friend who truly esteems you and kisses your

hand, P. Corral. Nicaragua is lost; lost Honduras, San Salvador and

Guatemala, if they let this get body. Let them come quickly if they would

meet auxiliaries.”

In order to fully understand these letters it is necessary to remember

that just after the treaty was signed Guardiola and D. Pedro Xatruch had

left Masaya for Honduras, by way of Segovia, they having there heard

of the entrance of Lopez into Comayagua on the morning of the 14th of

October, and of the flight of Cabañas to San Salvador. The letter of

Corral to Guardiola shows that the latter had made offers of assistance

and letters from D. Florencio Xatruch, contained in the same package

placed in Valle’s hands and forwarded by Martinez, showed his desire to

return with his brother and friend to Honduras, but that he had been

detained at the urgent entreaties of Legitimist comrades. Hence the

insertion by Corral in the treaty of the clause leaving Managua in the

hands of Martinez and Rivas in the hands of Xatruch. And the plot was

clearly against the Americans; for the “if they let this get body” could

refer to none else.

As soon as Walker read these letters the guard was strengthened, and

orders were given to let none pass out of the town. Officers were sent

to the houses of the principal Legitimists, requesting their presence

at Walker’s quarters, and the President and members of the Cabinet were

invited to attend at the same place. When all had assembled the letters

of Corral were produced, and the commander-in-chief charged him with

treason, by inviting the enemies of the State to invade Nicaragua,

and conspiring with them for the purpose of overturning the existing

government. The minister of war admitted that he wrote the letters;

most of those present knew his handwriting, and every one saw their

genuineness. All appeared surprised at the contents of them, none more

so than D. Patricio Rivas; and a general stupefaction appeared to

pervade the Legitimists. Among the Democrats there was an expression of

suppressed pleasure, and the energy of Jerez was especially observed. He

suggested at once that Martinez should be ordered to Granada, and a new

commandant be appointed for Managua. Accordingly the orders were made out

by himself, Pascual Fonseca, the sub-prefect, being put in command of the

troops in place of Martinez. The latter, however, had in the meanwhile

heard of events at Granada, and taking a boat, with a few followers, he

crossed the lake to Segovia, thence flying to Honduras.

The leading Legitimists at Granada were placed under guard; and charges

were made out against Corral for treason and conspiracy to overturn the

government of the Republic. A court martial was ordered to try him, on

the charges and specifications: for there was no existing civil tribunal

before which to arraign him, and besides, being a military officer, he

could, according to the laws of the country, be called on to answer only

in the military forum. The court consisted of Americans, for there were

few other officers of the army in Granada; and Corral, far from objecting

to the court, preferred the naturalized to the native Nicaraguans as his

judges. Colonel Hornsby was president of the court; Colonel Fry, judge

advocate; and French acted as the counsel for the prisoner. D. Carlos

Thomas was sworn as interpreter of the court.

The court martial met on the 6th, and the testimony was short but

conclusive. The accused scarcely denied the charges; he asked only for

mercy. The condition of his family was brought before the court, in

order, if possible, to enlist its sympathy. The prisoner was found guilty

on all the charges and specifications, and the sentence was “Death by

shooting”; but the court unanimously recommended him to the mercy of the

commander-in-chief.

The general-in-chief, however, considered that in this case mercy to

one would be injustice to many. Walker had solemnly sworn, with bended

knee and on the Holy Evangelists, to observe and have observed the

treaty of the twenty-third of October; and he was responsible before the

world, and especially to the Americans in Nicaragua—as well as before

the throne of Heaven—for the faithful observance of his oath. How could

the treaty continue to have the force of law if the first violation of

it—and that too by the very man who had signed it—was permitted to pass

unpunished? As an act of right and justice, none could reasonably impugn

the sentence of the court, and Walker considered the question of policy

as clear and unequivocal as the question of justice. Not only did duty

to the Americans in Nicaragua demand the execution of the sentence, but

it was politic and humane to make their enemies feel that there was a

power in the State capable and resolved to punish any offences against

their interests. Mercy to Corral would have been an invitation to all

the Legitimists to engage in like conspiracies, and would have involved

them in future difficulties, which many of them managed to escape. It was

after such reflections as these that Walker determined to approve the

sentence of the court, and Corral was, accordingly, ordered to be shot at

midday on the eighth of November.

As soon as the sentence was published, the sympathy of the people for

the prisoner was everywhere shown. His mild and gentle demeanor had

conciliated the friendship of those among whom he had long lived; and

without the stern manner of Chamorro, he had won more the affection of

his party. Father Vigil, after ministering to the spiritual wants of the

unhappy man, asked that the rigor of the sentence might be relaxed in

his behalf; but he soon saw that the mind of the general-in-chief was

fixed, and desisted from efforts clearly useless. Then the night before

the fatal day the daughters of Corral, accompanied by many of the women

of the city, came with sobs and anguish and tears to attempt what the

priest had failed to accomplish. But he who looks only at present grief,

nor sees in the distance the thousand-fold sorrow a misplaced mercy may

create, is little suited for the duties of public office; and hard as it

was to resist such entreaties as the daughters of the prisoner pressed,

Walker promised them to consider the pleas they had urged, and closed the

painful interview as soon as kind feeling permitted.

The next day the hour of execution was postponed from 12 M. to 2 P.M.,

and at the appointed hour the sentence was executed under the direction

of Colonel Gilman, the officer of the day.

The remaining Legitimists who had been placed under guard for a short

time were released, with the exception of D. Narciso Espinosa. There

was some vague and uncertain evidence as to his complicity in the plot

to introduce foreign troops into the State for the subversion of the

government; but it was not sufficient to justify serious proceedings

against him. In the then condition of affairs, however, it was judged

well for him to leave the Republic, and he was accordingly sent to

New-York by one of the steamers of the Accessory Transit Company. His

conduct in the United States was such as might be expected of a man

without principle and without shame.

The Ministry of War made vacant by the arrest of Corral was filled by D.

Buenaventura Selva, who had held the same office under the government of

Castellon. Although a native of Granada, and having numerous connections

there, he was among the most decided of the democrats. The family of

which he was a member was large, and much divided in its political

affinities. Don Hilario was a moderate Legitimist; and one of the sisters

married to Narciso Espinosa, was among the bitterest and most violent

of the same party. Several of the other sons, Pedro Ygenio, Domingo,

Raymundo, and Gregorio, were Democrats; and the mother of them all, while

not very decided between the native parties, was firm in her friendship

for the Americans, and devoted in her attentions to the sick or such as

needed her assistance. The divisions of this family are but one instance

out of the many produced by the unhappy wars of Nicaragua; and too often

political parties were used for the purpose of gratifying family feuds

and domestic hatreds.

On the 10th of November the government of Rivas was recognized by the

American Minister. The Minister was escorted from the Legation to the

Executive Chamber, and as he passed the President’s guard, arms were

presented, and the march beat. The chamber was filled with officers

both native and American, and Mr. Wheeler, after being presented to the

President, delivered an address congratulating the country on the peace

just secured for it. D. Patricio Rivas made a suitable reply, saying that

the relations between the United States and Nicaragua were now of more

importance than ever, “since the Republic counts on new and powerful

elements of liberty and order which cause us to conceive well-founded

hopes that the country will march with a firm step in the path of

progress toward the greatness offered it by its free institutions and

natural advantages.”

With the reception of Mr. Wheeler the administration of Rivas may be

said to have fairly commenced; and the course of events might have been

very different if the federal administration at Washington had frankly

approved the conduct of its representative. But let us not murmur at the

Providence which works out its own ends by its own means.

Chapter Fifth.

THE ADMINISTRATION OF RIVAS.

In tracing the introduction of the American element into Nicaraguan

society, it has hitherto been convenient to follow events in the order

of time. As the facts become more complex it will be requisite to group

them so that their relative relations may be distinctly seen, and thus

the policy of the Rivas administration may appear with the unity it

really possessed. The domestic policy of the government first claims

our attention: for its foreign relations were the consequences of the

internal changes it aimed to effect. Thus, too, we may clearly perceive

the cause of the war which afterward raged in Nicaragua.

From the outset the Provisional President aimed to heal the civil

discords, which had heretofore divided not only districts but even

families. With this view appointments to the principal offices were made

indifferently from both of the old parties, and the Legitimists were, in

spite of the Corral conspiracy, invited to share with the Democrats in

the duties of government. Rivas was himself moderate in his political

opinions and was much disposed to place in office men of the same stamp.

He was also honest and, therefore, desired the co-operation of all

“hombres de bien,” good men, in the Republic. Hence his gratification

when he was able to secure for the service of the State such men as D.

José, Maria Hurtado, who occupied the place of prefect of the Meridional

Department. His aversion to the dishonest Democrats, such as Trinidad

Salazar, forced on him by the Leonese element in his cabinet, was strong,

and it was with reluctance that he consented to appoint such men to

responsible offices.

The authorities of the Church zealously co-operated with the civil

power to allay the passions which had so long divided the State, and

the servants of Christ did not fail in their public as in their private

ministrations, to inculcate the doctrines of peace and good-will

characteristic of their faith. Soon after the inauguration of the new

government, the vicar-general, Father José Hilario Herdocia, wrote from

Leon, the seat of the See of Nicaragua, congratulating Walker on the

success of his efforts to secure peace; and the general-in-chief, in

his reply, was careful to deny the charge of irreligion the enemies of

the Americans had brought against them. “It is very acceptable,” so the

general wrote, “for me to hear that the authority of the Church will be

used in favor of the existing government. Without the aid of religious

sentiments and religious teachers there can be no good government;

for the fear of God is the foundation of all social and political

organization.... In God I put my trust for the success of the cause in

which I am embarked and for the maintenance of the principles I advocate.

Without his aid all human efforts are unavailing, but with his divine

assistance a few may triumph over a legion.” The bishopric of the

diocese being vacant, the vicar-general was the highest ecclesiastical

authority of the State, and during all the trials through which the

Republic passed, Father Herdocia worthily and faithfully performed the

duties of his holy office. Had the good father been able to influence by

his conduct all the priests within his diocese, the dissensions of the

country would have been speedily cured. But, unfortunately in Nicaragua

as elsewhere the tonsure does not always destroy the earthly passions

of the mortal; and the emblematic crown of thorns may be worn by those

possessed of little of the spirit of humility which adorned the Holy

Redeemer.

To secure internal order, however, Rivas did not rely so much on the

efforts of the civil and ecclesiastical authorities to extinguish the

party passions of the past, as on the speedy increase of the American

element in the government of the Republic. Therefore one of his earliest

decrees was that of colonization. By this decree each adult immigrating

to the State was entitled to two hundred and fifty acres from the public

lands, and after six months’ residence on it might secure a title for

the same. A family was entitled to a hundred additional acres, and all

personal effects, furniture, agricultural implements, seeds, plants, and

domestic animals, were permitted to pass in free of duty. A director

of colonization, Mr. Joseph W. Fabens, was appointed to carry out the

objects of the decree, and to collect seeds and plants for the use of

immigrants. The decree was published the 23d of November, 1855.

As a means of diffusing information concerning the natural resources

and advantages of Nicaragua, no less than as a chronicle of current

events, the newspaper called “El Nicaraguense” had been established at

Granada soon after the signature of the treaty of peace. It was printed

with types found in the town at the time of its capture, and one half

of the paper was published in English, the other half in Spanish. To

collect such knowledge of the country as might be useful to immigrants,

commissioners were sent into different parts of the Republic, and their

reports were duly published. First, George H. Campbell, formerly of

Calaveras county, California, explored a portion of Chontales. Then a

Saxon, Max Sonnenstern, visited not only Chontales, but other districts,

and his reports were full of useful facts. These surveys were made under

the direction of the general-in-chief, and the expenses of them were paid

almost entirely from the chest of the commissary of war. In fact, for

some time, there was no other fund from which to defray the civil no less

than the military expenses of the State.

But in addition to these acts, by which it was expected to introduce

American colonists into Nicaragua, a decree was also published

authorizing the general-in-chief to increase the American element of the

army. Under the contract of Castellon, dated in the July previous, Walker

was empowered to raise three hundred men for the military service of the

State; and early in December Jerez drew up the decree fixing the pay and

emoluments of those enlisted by the general. Before this the question has

probably suggested itself as to the means by which Americans had been

already brought to Granada; and the answer to this involves the policy

which was pursued in reference to the Accessory Transit Company. As the

course the Rivas government pursued toward this corporation has been much

misrepresented and censured, it is necessary to narrate fully the facts

as they occurred, and to explain clearly the causes for the revocation

of the company’s charter. It will then be seen that this important act

of the Rivas administration was vital to its safety and welfare, no less

than just toward a corporation which had abused the privileges granted to

it.

Before leaving San Francisco Walker had tried to ascertain the wishes

of the Transit Company concerning the introduction of Americans into

Nicaragua. It was generally said that the company was indebted to the

Republic in a large amount, and Walker hoped to secure its co-operation

by proposing an advantageous mode of settling this debt. But the agent

of the company in California stated that his principals had instructed

him to have nothing to do with such enterprises as he supposed Walker

to contemplate. The company, however, did not practise that neutrality

between the contending parties in Nicaragua, its instructions to the

California agent seemed to inculcate. In July, 1855, they sent from

New-York to Castillo a company of armed men, organized militarily for the

purpose, as was alleged, of protecting their property on the Isthmus.

These men were mostly Europeans—Poles, French, Germans, and Italians.

A brother of Walker happened to be aboard of the steamer which carried

these men from New-York to San Juan del Norte, and saw them, a few days

after leaving the former display, the uniform provided for their use in

Nicaragua. After remaining several weeks at Castillo, most of these men

were engaged by D. Patricio Rivas at San Carlos for the service of the

Legitimist government, and were a part of the force under Corral during

the months of September and October.

These men, gathered from all nations and professing to be nothing but

pure mercenaries, using their arms for no higher purpose than the

pay they got, were intended for the special object of protecting the

property of the company from one H. L. Kinney, who, it was said, aimed

at punishing the corporation for the wrongs he fancied he had received

at its hands. Kinney had been engaged in trade on the frontier between

Texas and Mexico, and had been suspected by many Texans, during the

days of independence, of giving information to their enemies for the

privilege of trading beyond the Rio Grande. He had acquired that sort of

knowledge and experience of human nature derived from the exercise of

the mule-trade, and having succeeded in making money, by bargaining for

horses and cattle, he fancied himself capable of establishing an American

colony on the Musquito shore. Alleging that he had an interest in the

Shepard and Haley grant from the Musquito chief, he went to Washington

for the purpose of interesting influential persons in his colonization

schemes. Through the instrumentality of one Phillips, a Washington

correspondent for newspapers, he made the acquaintance of Sidney Webster,

the private secretary of the President; and Webster becoming interested

in Kinney’s projects, it was surmised that Mr. Pierce and the government

would be favorable to them. It was also reported—but with how much

truth it is almost impossible from the character of the witnesses to

determine—that the Accessory Transit Company engaged to co-operate with

Kinney. But the United States Government, willingly or unwillingly, was

led by the remonstrances of Marcoleta, the representative of Nicaragua

at Washington, to take steps against the Kinney movement. Then, too, the

Accessory Transit Company pronounced against the colonial projector, and

Kinney, breathing fire against the traitors, as he called them, escaped

to San Juan del Norte with an inconsiderable body of followers. Hence

the pretext for the mercenaries who finally fell into the ranks of the

Legitimists.

In the month of June, Estrada had appointed D. Gabriel Lacayo and D.

Rafael Tejada commissioners, to proceed to New-York, and to treat with

the company concerning its liabilities to the State, and Castellon soon

afterward notified the corporation that he would consider null and

void any settlement made with these commissioners. In July, Castellon

appointed Colonel Walker commissioner to negotiate and arrange with

the company, and that officer showed his credentials to the agent,

Mr. Cushing, a few hours after the action at Virgin Bay on the 3d of

September. Mr. Cushing, as he said, notified the company of Walker’s

powers, but nothing was ever attempted to be arranged under this

authority. During September and October, while the democratic forces

occupied the Transit, their relations with the agents and servants of the

company were of the most friendly character.

When Colonel Gilman arrived at San Juan del Sur he gave Walker to

understand that there was a struggle in the company itself, between

rivals parties aiming to get the control of it. The impression made on

Walker was that the agents in New-York and San Francisco were acting

together to depress the market price of the stock, so as to buy in and

get the majority of the shares. The advance by Macdonald, however,

indicated another plan on the part of Garrison and Morgan. With the

conviction that Garrison might be brought to co-operate largely in the

policy of introducing the American element into Nicaragua, Walker wrote

to an intimate friend, A. P. Crittenden, of San Francisco, saying that

any arrangements he might make to get five hundred men into the country

would be fully approved. This letter was written immediately after the

signature of the treaty of peace; the necessity for more Americans in

Nicaragua was urgent, and Walker had entire faith in Crittenden’s honor

and discretion.

Meanwhile the president of the company in New-York was, early in the

month of November, peremptorily notified, under a clause of the charter,

to appoint commissioners to settle the matters in controversy with the

government. To the notification given by the Minister of Hacienda the

company replied, enclosing an opinion of the counsel of the corporation,

Joseph L. White. The opinion maintained that the matter had passed from

the hands of the company, by the appointment of two commissioners to

treat with Tejada and Lacayo, although the powers of these latter had

been formally revoked, and the four, even if properly appointed, had not,

as the charter required, appointed a fifth to complete the commission.

The answer of the president of the company was a mere evasion; and

while this official correspondence went on, White, who was the leading

mind of the corporation, was writing letters to the agent, Mr. Cushing,

threatening the authorities unless they settled with the company on its

own terms.

On the 17th of December, 1855, Edmund Randolph, accompanied by W. R.

Garrison, a son of C. K. Garrison, and by Macdonald, arrived at San Juan

del Sur, and soon afterward reached the headquarters of the army at

Granada. The friendship between Randolph, Crittenden, and Walker, was of

a character not to be expressed by words; but the existence of such a

sentiment between these three is essential for an understanding of the

perfect confidence which marked their acts in reference to the Transit.

And to the noblest qualities of the heart, Randolph and Crittenden added

the loftiest attributes of the intellect. To those who have heard the

former at the bar, it will not be deemed the voice of friendship alone

speaking, when it is said that his legal talents are such as would adorn

courts when learning, and logic, and eloquence, were more appropriate to

the profession than they appear to be in these latter days. And they who

have studied the legislation of California—not the evanescent laws born

of party passion or impure interest, but those which mould society, and

form its habits—can best appreciate the capacity, and the patient labor

of Parker Crittenden.

After reaching Granada, Randolph informed Walker that he and Crittenden

had carefully examined the charter of the Accessory Transit Company, and

were both clear and decided in the opinion that it had been forfeited.

Then he stated what the lawyers would call the points of the case; and

they were almost too clear for argument. As they are fully stated in the

decree whereby the charter of the Transit Company, and of the Atlantic

and Pacific Ship Canal Company were revoked, they will properly appear

when the publication of that decree is narrated. Suffice it to say, at

present, that after due reflection Walker was entirely satisfied as

to the views of Randolph and Crittenden. At the same time Walker was

informed that under his letter Crittenden had agreed with Garrison to

obtain a new transit charter from the government of Nicaragua, and with

this view Randolph had come to Granada. In virtue of this agreement of

Crittenden with Garrison, more than a hundred Americans for the service

of the Republic came down with Randolph on the steamer Sierra Nevada; and

it was promised that as many as possible should be hereafter brought from

California; Garrison advancing to the State the price of their passages.

Up to that time nearly all the Americans in Nicaragua had come from

California, and a very large proportion of them had been brought thither

at the expense of Garrison. The immigration into the country by persons

paying their own passage was small; for at that time little was known

in the United States of the natural advantages of Nicaragua. It was

necessary to get at once a number of persons capable of bearing arms into

the State; and none were more urgent in this policy, or more anxious

when the steamer arrived to hear how many passengers were for Nicaragua,

than the Provisional President and the members of his cabinet. Internal

order as well as freedom from foreign invasion depended, in their eyes,

entirely on the rapid arrival of some hundreds of Americans.

It will thus appear that the agreement of Crittenden with Garrison was

the means, and at that time, the only means, for carrying out the policy

vital to the Rivas administration. True, neither the President nor the

cabinet knew of the means whereby their objects were accomplished; and

it was in fact highly necessary to the success of the measures that

they should be known by as few persons as possible. After Randolph and

Walker had agreed on the terms of a new transit grant, a copy was sent

up to Garrison at San Francisco, Macdonald being the bearer of it. W. R.

Garrison went to New-York for the purpose of informing Charles Morgan

of the arrangements which had been, and were about to be made; while

Randolph remained in Granada to await the return of these parties.

Nothing was said to Rivas of the new transit contract, Walker and

Randolph had drawn up and agreed to.

At length Macdonald arrived again from San Francisco, and W. R. Garrison

from New-York, and it was decided that the blow should be struck.

Randolph had been living at the house of Niña Yrena, and was in bad

health; therefore Walker went to his room in order that they might

draw up the decree of revocation. It was necessary, in an act of such

importance, to state clearly and fully the causes for it, so that it

might appear properly before the world. Hence the considerations of the

decree were drawn with no common care. As the Accessory Transit Company

held its charter for the sole purpose of facilitating the building of a

ship canal, the destruction of the Canal Company implied the destruction

of the Accessory Transit. Hence the decree recites the failure of the

Ship Canal Company to perform its agreements. The company had agreed to

contract a ship canal across Nicaragua, and it had not only failed to

commence the work but had declared it impracticable; it had agreed to

construct a railroad, or a rail and carriage road, in case the completion

of the canal was not possible, and it had done neither one nor the other;

it had agreed to pay the Republic annually ten thousand dollars, together

with ten per cent. of the net profits on any route it might establish

between the two oceans, and it had failed to pay these amounts, falsely

and fraudulently alleging that no profits were made and no commissions

due; and finally, it had been notified to appoint commissioners to

settle the matter in dispute between the State and the company, and

had expressly refused to comply with the demand. If failure to perform

its obligations, coupled with falsehood and fraud in its dealings with

the government, and accompanied by marked contempt of the sovereignty

from which it derived its existence, were insufficient to warrant the

revocation of the charter, there is small merit in law or its remedies.