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nTomorrownNicaragua and four other Central American nations will celebratentheir independence. But unlike Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, andnEl Salvador, Nicaraguans will start celebrating today!
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nAndnthat’s because another patriotic victory occurred on September 14,n1856, coincidentally the day before Independence Day.
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Atnthe time, there was a struggle for power between two groups ofnNicaraguans, and the fighting was threatening the existence of thencountry. One faction invited a mercenary army to get involved—whichnmeans they brought in soldiers from foreign lands who were notnfighting for home and family, but instead for money. This particularnmercenary army was mostly made up of men from the United States! Thenleader of the mercenaries was an American man named William Walker,nwho declared himself president of Nicaragua in 1855. n
Atnthe time, there was a struggle for power between two groups ofnNicaraguans, and the fighting was threatening the existence of thencountry. One faction invited a mercenary army to get involved—whichnmeans they brought in soldiers from foreign lands who were notnfighting for home and family, but instead for money. This particularnmercenary army was mostly made up of men from the United States! Thenleader of the mercenaries was an American man named William Walker,nwho declared himself president of Nicaragua in 1855. nn
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Apparently,nWalker wanted to either rule over Nicaragua and other CentralnAmerican nations in order to get them accepted as slave-owning statesnin the U.S.—or, if that didn’t work out, he wanted to keep onnruling over the land himself. Either way, Walker is considered anfilibuster. This isn’t the filibuster that is anllllooooooonnnnnnnggggg speech made in Congress in order to stall anbill or to block it from being voted on. The William Walker kind ofnfilibuster is a buccaneer, freebooter, or adventurer who takesnprivate military action in a foreign country. In other words, Americanwasn’t attacking Nicaragua, but an American sure was!
Apparently,nWalker wanted to either rule over Nicaragua and other CentralnAmerican nations in order to get them accepted as slave-owning statesnin the U.S.—or, if that didn’t work out, he wanted to keep onnruling over the land himself. Either way, Walker is considered anfilibuster. This isn’t the filibuster that is anllllooooooonnnnnnnggggg speech made in Congress in order to stall anbill or to block it from being voted on. The William Walker kind ofnfilibuster is a buccaneer, freebooter, or adventurer who takesnprivate military action in a foreign country. In other words, Americanwasn’t attacking Nicaragua, but an American sure was!n
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nAnsmall group of Nicaraguans was in charge of slowing down Walker andnhis men—even though the mercenary army was larger and had muchnnewer, better weapons. Things seemed grim for the Nicaraguans,nespecially when their guns jammed, but they fought bravely on, evennthrowing rocks at the enemy when their guns wouldn’t work. Whennthings looked especially bad, one of the Nicaraguans released somenhorses from an enclosure. Hearing the sound of galloping horses, thenmercenaries thought that cavalry reinforcements had arrived to fightnagainst them—and the mercenaries ran away, scared for their lives.
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nTodaynthe Nicaraguans celebrate this unlikely victory of a small, badlynequipped army against a larger, richer army. Happy San Jacinto Day!
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nTonlearn more about William Walker, check out this earlier post.nAnd to learn more about Nicaragua, check out this and this other earlier post.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversary of the completion of the first North American lighthouse
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nAnniversary of the completion of Handel’s Messiah
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