Vanderbilt joins issue--Titus outwitted--Siege of Rivas--Death in the
Falange--Desertion--Captain Fayssoux and Sir Robert McClure--Battle of
San Jorge--Allies assault Rivas--Famine and devotion--Commander Davis
as a peacemaker.
President Pierce had recognized the government of Rivas and Walker, as
a cheap concession to the friends of the filibusters in the United
States, for President Pierce was looking to a re-nomination in the
forthcoming convention. No party so weak but the average Presidential
candidate will scatter his bait before it. The nomination was not given
him, but it was too late to recall the friendly act. The recognition of
Walker's administration was, as we have seen, an accidental courtesy
which Mr. Marcy would not hesitate to retract if occasion offered. The
friends of Walker saw that to establish his power firmly he must be
aided liberally and without delay. The bonds of the republic were
accordingly offered for sale, and freely disposed of in many places.
Thousands of dollars were collected in the Southern cities and expended
in the purchase of munitions of war, and for the transportation of
recruits. Every steamer carried out large numbers of enlisted men and
consignments of war material. For the former, California could always
be relied on, but the latter had to be procured in "the States."
Vanderbilt saw a chance to revenge himself by cutting off the base of
supplies, and cast about him for an able tool.
He found willing instruments in the persons of Webster and Spencer, two
adventurers of daring character and questionable antecedents. Webster
drew up a plan of operations which met the approval of Vanderbilt, and
Spencer was entrusted with its execution. This Spencer was a man of
good family. His father had been Secretary of War. His brother was
hanged for mutiny at the yard-arm of the brig-of-war _Somers_ in 1842,
the only American officer who ever achieved that infamy. Spencer went
to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica, whence he set out, with one
hundred and twenty picked men, for the head waters of the River San
Carlos, which flows into the San Juan. Arrived there, they constructed
rafts and floated down to the mouth of the Serapiqui. There they
surprised a force of Americans, and continuing the descent to San Juan
del Norte, soon made themselves masters of the Transit Company's
steamers. With them and a reinforcement of eight hundred Costa Ricans,
commanded by a brother of President Mora, they speedily captured all
the fortified positions on the river and both of the lake steamers.
Lake and river being thus secured, it only remained for Mora to cross
the district of Chontales and effect a junction with the Allies at
Granada.
The enemy had effectually cut off Walker's communication with the
Atlantic States. California remained open to him just so long as the
agents of the line in San Francisco, whose friendship for him was, of
course, secondary to their self-interest, should consider it profitable
to continue running their steamers.
Vanderbilt had triumphed. We may anticipate events so far as to say
that President Mora's indebtedness to the Wall Street magnate taught
him respect for the absolute power of money. But ere many years his
confidence in another rich friend was repaid by treachery, which drove
him from power into exile, disgrace, and death. Eighteen days after the
execution of Walker at Trujillo, Juan Rafael Mora and General Cañas
perished by the fusilade, after an abortive attempt to regain their
lost power. It is recorded of the wealthy ingrate who had betrayed Mora
that he died not long after his victim, and of a strange
disease--ossification of the heart.
Many attempts to recover control of the lost river route were made
during the months of January, February, March, and April, 1857. Various
expeditions from New Orleans and New York landed at San Juan del Norte,
where eight British men-of-war were concentrated to watch the
operations. The interference of the latter, though annoying, was not
openly hostile, yet it was marked enough to affect seriously the
fortunes of the expeditions. The English commander incited desertion by
spreading among the men rumours of the terrible dangers they must risk
in attempting the passage of the river. Many Europeans were thereby
induced to claim British protection, which was gladly granted, though
the loss of such deserters may have been a questionable calamity. A
strong force, under the command of a certain Colonel Titus, a windy
"Border ruffian" from Kansas, succeeded in ascending the river as far
as Castillo Viejo, and were on the point of capturing that key to the
situation, when their leader weakly allowed himself to be hoodwinked
and befooled by its commandant. The latter, finding himself sore
pressed, begged for a twenty-four hours' truce before surrendering;
which being granted, he sent for reinforcements, and by the time the
truce had expired was prepared to laugh at the simplicity of his
antagonists.
The mistake was irreparable. Through the incompetence of Titus and
Lockridge, the key to Nicaragua was lost, perhaps for ever. With the
Transit route in his power, Walker could have brought a host of
recruits into the country and bidden defiance to all Spanish America.
Without it, the labour of years was wasted and the conqueror thrown on
the defensive. Knowing naught of the disasters which had befallen his
arms on the river, Walker waited and watched through the long weeks for
the relief which was never to come.
Towards the end of January the Allies had advanced to Obraje, nine
miles from Rivas, and soon occupied San Jorge, within a league of the
American outworks. Rivas, embowered in her orange groves and cocoa
palms, was slowly being encircled by the lines of the Allies, now
numbering some seven thousand. They held those points, in spite of
repeated attempts to dislodge them. Walker, not desiring to waste his
men's lives in useless attacks, contented himself with occasional
forays, while Henningsen prudently strengthened the fortifications and
was careful of his scanty ammunition. Aided by the resourceful Captain
Swingle, he cast round-shot from all sorts of old iron, and gathered
together the bronze and silver bells of the city to melt into cannon
balls.
The Transit road between San Juan del Sur and Virgin Bay still was
theirs, and nearly every steamer from San Francisco brought down a
little band of recruits whose arrival was hailed with joy. But the
advantages resulting from such additions to the garrisons were more
than offset by the losses from desertion and death. The latter had made
sad havoc in the ranks of the tried veterans. In February, Major Cal.
O'Neill died in a skirmish with the Allies. He was a favourite soldier
of the commander, having distinguished himself in almost every
engagement during the campaign. His brother was slain in the evacuation
of Granada, and the survivor had grown reckless of life thereafter. He
was only twenty-one years old at the time of his death, but the
Irishman's instinctive military bias and courage made up for the
inexperience of youth. Other brave officers fell during the next few
months, Conway, Higby, Dusenberry, and a score of veterans who were
the flower of the army. The surviving members of the Falange found
themselves surrounded by strange faces. The brave men died, and the
cravens deserted. Unfortunately the evil did not end with the loss of
worthless cowards; their example had a baneful effect upon good but
reckless men, who otherwise would have remained faithful. It was not in
weak human nature to content itself with scant rations of mule meat and
plantains, while snug treason flaunted itself across the picket lines,
boasting of rich fare and no duty. The hungry sentry was tempted by
the sight of his late comrades and taunted by the sound of a brass
band, which had deserted _en masse_ one night, and now drew from the
instruments bought with the money of the republic, seductive dancing
tunes and Servile melodies, instead of the loyal strains of the "Blue,
White, and Blue," which they had been hired to play. On his confused
mind, perchance, dawned the suspicion that the Nicaragua which he had
come thousands of miles to see and enjoy was to be found rather in
the fleshpots of the Allied army than in the hungry camp of the
filibusters. Small wonder if the poor fellow forgot his duty and
elected to follow the example before him.
Early in February the monotony of the siege was broken by the arrival
at San Juan del Sur of the American man-of-war _St. Mary's_, Commander
C. H. Davis. Promptly in her wake came the British steamer _Esk_,
Captain Sir Robert McClure. The two formidable ships lay not many cable
lengths apart in the harbour. The day after his arrival Sir Robert sent
a boat's crew aboard a small schooner lying near the shore to ask the
meaning of the ensign which she was flying at the masthead. It was a
handsome flag, composed of three horizontal stripes, blue, white, and
blue; in the middle stripe, which was twice the width of either of the
outer ones, was a five-pointed red star. The ensign was that of the new
republic of Nicaragua, and the vessel, as her commander, Fayssoux,
politely replied, was the Nicaraguan schooner-of-war _Granada_. Sir
Robert then ordered him to come on board the _Esk_, and bring his
commission with him; to which the plucky Louisianian, with the blood of
revolutionary ancestors boiling at the impertinence, replied that he
would do nothing of the kind; and when the English captain threatened a
broadside, the Nicaraguan commander beat to quarters--he had a score of
men--loaded his two six-pound carronades, and awaited destruction as
calmly as if he had the deck of a seventy-four under his feet. But Sir
Robert, either fearing to exceed his authority, or labouring under the
delusion that the _St. Mary's_ captain might not relish the idea of
seeing his fellow-countrymen annihilated before his eyes, softened the
demand into a request for a friendly visit, which Captain Fayssoux
thereupon paid him. A nobler motive may have actuated Sir Robert, for
he was a sailor, and had traditions of his country's honour, which it
were worth an American officer's commission to entertain. The latter
has never forgotten the awful example handed down from the early days
of Commodore Porter, who was court-martialed and forced out of the
service because he exacted an apology from some Spanish vagabonds who
had imprisoned an American officer visiting Porto Rico under a flag of
truce.
When Sir Robert went to Rivas, some days afterwards, to demand an
explanation of Fayssoux's conduct, he was met by Walker, at the outset
of the interview, with the stern inquiry: "I presume, sir, you have
come to apologize for the outrage offered to my flag and the commander
of the Nicaraguan schooner-of-war _Granada_." And the gallant sailor
actually forgot his wrath in his wonder, and made a suitable apology to
the wounded dignity of the chief of a thousand men and one schooner.
"If they had another schooner," said he, "I believe they would have
declared war on Great Britain." Had he known the mission of the _St.
Mary's_ at San Juan, he might have come to a different conclusion; for
the instructions of Commander Davis, which he faithfully obeyed,
directed him to aid the Allies in forcing Walker and his men to
capitulate. Why? Walker says, because Commodore Mervin, who had given
the orders, was a bosom friend of Secretary Marcy--a possibly
sufficient reason, since Marcy's power was absolute in the conduct of
the minor foreign relations. Davis says, because the interests of
humanity prompted him to save Walker in spite of himself--a reason
perhaps as good as the other. The reader must guess at the true motive,
as Blue-books do but fulfil their mission in confusing the truth.
The enemy receiving large reinforcements, was enabled to mass about two
thousand men at San Jorge, where they were a constant danger and
annoyance. Walker determined to dislodge them. On the 16th of March he
took personal command of four hundred men, and marched out to meet the
enemy, two thousand five hundred strong. Henningsen, with two
six-pounders, one twelve-pounder, and four mortars, went ahead to clear
the way. Swingle and the rest of the battery remained to guard Rivas;
and it was well that they did so, for a large force of Costa Ricans
made a determined assault as soon as Walker was out of sight, and were
not repulsed until after a fight of some hours' duration. They fell
back on the road to San Jorge, a couple of hundred of them taking up a
position behind the adobe walls of a planter's house, and there lying
in wait for the return of Walker and his command.
The latter arrived before daybreak at the suburbs of San Jorge and at
once opened a brisk fire on the town; but the enemy were on the alert,
and swarmed like angry bees out of their streets and lanes, pressing on
the battery and throwing out lines of skirmishers on either side, who
opened a galling fire on the American cavalry. Henningsen thereupon
threw a shower of grape and canister among the plantain fields on the
right and left, driving in the skirmishers, while Walker led the main
body of his men towards the centre of the town. The enemy contested
every inch of the ground, until driven to within three hundred yards of
the plaza, where their immense superiority of numbers and the shelter
afforded by the adobe walls and church towers gave them a position of
impregnable strength. Walker, nevertheless, called for forty volunteers
to storm the place. But fifteen responded, and with that handful he
charged boldly into the plaza, fighting with desperate but vain courage
against the tremendous odds. Two horses were killed under him, and a
spent ball struck him in the throat. His men were brave to madness, but
they were worn out with the long day's service, their ammunition was
running short, and Walker at last gave order to retire to Rivas. They
left the field on which they had fought from daybreak almost to sunset
in good order, Walker riding at the head of the column, and Henningsen
covering the rear with his guns. No opposition was made to their
departure, and not until the head of the column came abreast of the
planter's house at Cuatros Esquinas did they learn of the presence
there of the 200 Costa Ricans who had been repulsed by Swingle in the
morning.
As Walker and his staff rode by the dark and silent house, a blaze of
musketry lit up its front, not thirty yards away. Fortunately the
marksmen's aim was bad, and not over half a dozen saddles were emptied;
but the column was thrown into temporary confusion, and some of the men
fell back, while others stood panic-stricken, until another volley sent
them galloping in dismay. Walker, with the invincible calmness which
never deserted him, reined in his horse, drew his revolver and fired
its six shots into the house; then putting spurs to his steed, he rode
by, erect as if on parade, while the musket balls fell like hail around
him. A long-haired Californian, Major Dolan, who was riding behind him,
deliberately imitated his commander, emptying his pistol to the last
shot, and hurling the useless weapon at the house, with an imprecation,
as he dropped from his saddle, riddled with bullets. His clothing
caught in the trappings of his horse, and he was thus dragged out of
the _melée_, to survive and fight another day. The rest of the force
ran the gauntlet as best they could. Many were killed in a vain attempt
to carry the house by storm. The rear guard with the artillery made a
detour, and losing their way, did not arrive at Rivas until the next
morning. To the poor marksmanship alone of the enemy can be charged the
small loss of the filibusters before San Jorge and in the ambuscade at
Cuatros Esquinas, the total number in killed and wounded being only
some sixty or seventy.
A week afterwards, the whole Allied force, led in by a deserter, made a
concerted attack on Rivas, at daybreak, from four different directions.
They were beaten off with dreadful slaughter, leaving six hundred dead
on the field. The attack was most serious on the north side of the
city, where a small battery was placed in a position to rake the
American lines. It was handled well and bravely by an Italian gunner
who, though exposed to a galling fire from the American sharpshooters,
continued to load and fire with the utmost deliberation, advancing his
piece a little nigher after each discharge. Henningsen, an adept in the
same branch of warfare, stood upon the parapet of the low wall, rolling
and smoking cigarettes, as he watched with admiration the actions of
his cool adversary, and directing the management of a small gun which
the American artillerymen were serving with less than their usual
skill. At last, losing patience with his men, he leaped into the
embrasure, and sighting the gun himself, threw a six-pound ball
straight into the enemy's piece, which it dismounted, killing four of
the gunners and wounding the Italian captain. The latter being made
prisoner, the hostile batteries ceased to annoy the besieged for some
time, until the gallant gunner, escaping from his captors, was enabled
to resume his duties.
In this assault the besieged suffered but a trifling loss, as the
shelter of the adobe walls ensured them safety against any force which
it was in the power of the enemy to bring forward. When the latter
pushed their barricades too close to the walls of Rivas, the besieged
fired hot shot into them and burned the swarming hordes out of their
nests. Mora cared nothing for the lives of his wretched conscripts,
whom he could afford to lose by hundreds, as long as the Americans fell
by dozens and were not reinforced, and while the Allies could cut off
supplies of food and ammunition from the beleaguered city.
Unfortunately for Walker, a more dangerous enemy than death or hunger
assailed Rivas. Desertion, which had begun with the weak-hearted new
men, gradually spread like a pestilence, until he hardly knew in whom
to trust. Whole companies deserted at a time; pickets abandoned their
posts; foraging parties sent out to collect food for the hungry
garrison never came back. As early as October, a company of rangers
sent into the Chontales district had deserted with their equipments, on
a wild attempt to reach the Atlantic by way of the Blewfields river.
They never reached the coast, for some French settlers whom they had
attempted to plunder fell upon them and slew them to a man.
Famine threatened Rivas. There was not an ounce of bread in the city;
the men were living on scanty rations of horse and mule meat, seasoned
with sugar in lieu of salt; the hospital was filled with wounded and
fever patients. Henningsen said jestingly that, rather than surrender,
they would devour the prisoners. Once it was whispered in the ranks
that Walker and Henningsen, in anticipation of a successful assault on
the town, had prepared a magazine with which to blow up the citadel in
the moment of defeat, and with it friend and foe together. The rumour
was a silly falsehood, but so much impression did it make upon some of
the hardier spirits that, as General Henningsen told the author, seven
of them came to him, each begging for the privilege of firing the
train. Walker was not reduced to any such straits; he had yet three
forlorn hopes; the arrival, by the San Juan river of Lockridge with
reinforcements; assistance from California, and, as a last resource,
flight to the north on board his schooner _Granada_. The first never
came, because Lockridge, defeated before Castillo Viejo, had given up
the hopeless task. The second failed when Morgan refused to co-operate
with his partner, Garrison, in continuing to run the steamers from San
Francisco. On the _Granada_, then, depended the only hope of retreat
with honour. Walker, however, did not as yet know that the first and
second hopes had failed him.
On the 10th of April, the Allies made another attack on the town, and
were again repulsed with even greater loss than on the previous
occasion. Commander Davis, who had been negotiating with the Allies,
sent word to Walker, on the 23rd of April, offering a safe convoy to
the women and children from Rivas to San Juan del Sur, an offer which
was thankfully accepted.
On being relieved of his non-combatants, Walker felt that no obstacle
now stood in the way of his evacuation of the city, whenever he deemed
it proper, and a safe withdrawal on board of the schooner. Fayssoux had
continued to keep a close watch on the enemy's movements in San Juan,
preventing them throwing up fortifications or doing anything which
should embarrass the occupation of the town by Walker. Commander Davis,
acting as a peace-maker between the belligerents, but finding his
office one of perilous delicacy for a raw diplomat, and being governed
apparently by secret instructions, which new orders from Washington
might nullify at any moment if he delayed too long, now brought matters
to an unexpected crisis, by demanding Walker's surrender to the United
States authorities. Such an astonishing demand had never before been
made by a subordinate naval officer upon the President of a friendly
government. It was indignantly and promptly rejected. Davis then
assured Walker of the truth of two rumours which had reached Rivas;
the first, that Lockridge had given up his attempt to retake the
Transit route; the second, that no more steamers were to come from San
Francisco. Accepting both statements, which were true, Walker replied
that he purposed holding the city as long as his supplies lasted,
after which he intended carrying his command on board the Nicaragua
schooner-of-war _Granada_, and removing whithersoever he pleased.
To which Davis responded, that it was his "unalterable and deliberate
intention" to take possession of the schooner before he sailed from San
Juan; that his instructions on that point were clear and imperative;
and nothing but a countermand of his orders should induce him to depart
from that intention. The enemy had previously made Fayssoux an offer of
five thousand dollars to surrender the schooner; but what could not be
won by force or bribe was more cheaply gained through the extraordinary
action of an officer holding the commission and authority of the United
States. Walker has been accused of ingratitude because he protested
against the interference of Commander Davis. It was said that the
United States had saved the filibusters from extermination; but there
was not a man in Rivas who did not spurn the spurious claim. Ungrateful
step-children, they had cherished a different ideal of a mother
country!