The war in Nicaragua

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.