William Walker the man who would conquer Nicaragua Part 3 Winning Nicaragua

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
My name is Eric Gasco and you're listening to the
Distorted History podcast, and prom I can't give you many names,
and you're a blunder. Hey, look I'm reasoning. I'm got

(00:24):
to by Sarah. A long struggle for freedom, it really
is a revolution. Welcome back to Distorted History, where we
once again return to the life of William Walker, a
man who grew up and a deeply religious family before

(00:46):
going on to study both medicine and the law, achieving
degrees in both. Marker however, following his mother's death to
whatever mysterious ailment she had suffered from for much of
her life, would never pursue medicine as a career, while
he would only periodically practice law, potentially finding their career uninteresting,
instead seemingly finding the position of an editor of a
freesol newspaper far more stimulating, with free soil in this

(01:10):
context being the political belief that slavery should be bought
from moving into new American territories, meaning that while Walker
wasn't fall on antislavory, he does seem to have very
much been against its expansion for a time. Then, this
seemed to be the path that William Walker's life was
destined to go down, that is, until the woman he loved,
Ellen Martin, perished as a part of a cholera epidemic

(01:32):
in New Orleans in eighteen forty nine. As following Ellen's
untimely death, Walker repoortedly changed. The once serious, quiet, gentle
and kind man who seemly had a certain level of
respect for heroic deeds, seemed to become obsessed with them,
while also suffering from what those who knew him would
describe as bouts of paranoia. The now changed William Walker

(01:52):
then headed out west to California, which was in the
midst of the Gold rug While thereafter serving for a
time as the editor of another free Solme newspaper, Walker
would seemly become obsessed with the idea of taking over
the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California, claiming as
motivation the regular Apache raids that the people of Sonora
were being subjected to. According to Walker, then he was

(02:14):
just going there to do what the Mexican government was
supposedly refusing to do, which was protecting their people. Although
the region's rich mineral deposits were also likely a major factor. Regardless,
Walker would head South with a small contingent of fellow filibusters,
with the intention of creating what he would turn the
Republic of Laura California out of the Mexican states of

(02:34):
Baja California and Sonora, a republic in which William Walker
himself would be the president by his own decree. Walker's invasion, however,
would fail spectacularly without ever actually facing organized resistance from
the Mexican government itself. Yet, for as disastrous as his
whole campaign had been, William Walker was not dissuaded from

(02:54):
the idea of undertaking another filibuster expedition when presented with
the opportunity, as he treated his Mexican failure as something
which he can learn from, with that lesson apparently not
being don't do this, as he would jump at the
chance to lead a force of filibusters into Nicaragua. Yet,
before we get into Walker's involvement in the ongoing Nicaraguan
Civil War, first, like always, I want to acknowledge my

(03:17):
sources for this series, which include Michael Gobat's Empire by Invitation,
William Walker in Manifest Destiny in Central America, Frederick Rosengarden's
Freebooters Must Die, The Life and death of William Walker,
the most notorious filibuster of the nineteenth century, Stephen Dando
Kansas Tycoons War, how Cornelius Vanderbilt invaded a country to

(03:37):
overthrow America's most famous military adventurer. And Robert E. May's
manifest Destiny's Underworld, filimbustering in and of Bellum America. And
like always, these and any other sources that I use
will be listened on this podcast Blue Sky Covey pages plus.
For anyone who doesn't want to be bothered skipping through commercials,
there is always an ad free feet available at patreon
dot com Slash Distorted History. And with all that being said,

(04:01):
let's begin. Walker, after his fail campaign in Mexico, returned
to San Francisco, where he found employment working as the
editor for Byron Cole's Free Soil newspaper, The Commercial Advisor.
As Walker would find in the twenty five year old
former resident of Maine a man of similar ideas, as
in addition of being a supporter of free soil policy,
both men were ardent believers at the US should continue

(04:24):
to expand its borders, with the most logical path forward
being to the south. So with Mexico, proven to not
be so receptive to their plans, and with the news
coming out of Nicaragua about the civil war there, these
two men shifted their focus further south. Cole then was
a major voice in helping to inspire Walker's interest in
the Central American country. Indeed, Cole had seen the beauty

(04:46):
and potential of Nicaragua firsthand, having come to California via
journey across the country on Cornelius Feranderbilt Successory Transit Company
and steamboat line. Now, Cole had only spent a short
amount of time in Nicaragua during his crossing, but he
had been seriously impressed by what he had seen during
his time there. After all, the country was in prime
position to play host to a canal that would not

(05:07):
only quicken travel between the East and West coast of
the US, but would also make travel between Europe and
Asia easier. Plus, he had also found the land itself
to be exceedingly beautiful, verdant, and pleasant in terms of
its climate. Additionally, a Coal was also convinced that the
country was prime for the stabilizing and civilizing hand that
American control would bring. After all, the country's population of

(05:29):
two hundred and fifty thousand had been pretty thoroughly ravaged
through a combination of disease and repeated revolutions, events which
left it so women outnumbered men by ratio of three
to two plus. Especially concerning for Wet Americans was the
fact that half of the population was some combination of
Spanish and Indian. Additionally, a full third of the population
were pure blooded indigenous people, and another seven percent of

(05:51):
the population was black, all of which meant that only
ten percent of the country was white, which to white
Americans like Colon Walker, meant the country could use the
trust in guiding hand of white men like themselves. Meanwhile,
speaking on the repeated revolutions that regularly affected Nicaragua, between
eighteen forty seven and eighteen fifty five, there had been
at least thirteen different heads of the government there, with

(06:14):
the latest dust of being the result of conservative Jose
Fruto Chamorro being elected as the country Supreme Director in
eighteen fifty three, a title which he subsequently changed to
president in eighteen fifty four, to go along with a
significant increase in his own powers and an extension of
his term in office from two years to four a
move that, as you might expect, and not exactly set
well with the opposition Liberal Democratical Party and its leader,

(06:37):
Francisco Castellian. Chamorrow, however, reacted to this pushback by claiming
that castelli Jon was attempting to organize a treason his uprising,
and thus had the opposition leader exiled, a move which
then resulted in exactly the kind of revolution that Chamorro
claimed that castelli Jon was trying to ferment. This, then,
was the situation that Byron Call discovered upon traveling to

(06:58):
Nicaragua in eighteen fifty four. Now, ostensibly he was there
to establish a U. S. Seller colony in the country,
meaning he was looking to gain permission to purchase and
expansive land which could then be used to set up
a community of American immigrants, an idea that, as we
saw last time, would have been attracted to the people
and officials of Nicaragua, who looked fearably upon Americans at

(07:19):
this time, as they viewed the United States, at least
its non safe holding parts, as a kind of idealized state.
During his time in Nicaragua, however, Cole could not help
but take an interest in the ongoing civil war that
was taking place there, Seeing an opportunity and wanting to
help out, Cole would approach the leaders of the Liberal
Democratical Party. He would then offer to provide them with

(07:39):
three hundred filibusters to help them fight their work against
the Conservative Legitimista Party, and in exchange, the filibusters would
be granted a large swath atlant to settle upon once
the conflict was over. With this proposal made, Cole then
returned to San Francisco to speak with his friend and
experienced philibuster William Walker about this plan. Now, Walker was
very much interested in under taking another filibuster mission. However,

(08:02):
he would advise Cole to make some alterations to their
contract before agreeing to lead said expedition. Namely, he wanted
goal to eliminate any mention of military intervention in their contract.
Doing so likely in the hope of trying to avoid
any kind of interference from the American government, who, after all,
had attempted to prosecute him for violating federal neutrality laws

(08:23):
following his failed adventures in Mexico plos. Walker also blamed
federal interference had forced in the leave early and lead
behind a number of his men, for being a primary
reason why his Mexican expedition had failed to this end.
Instead of directly asking for military aid, the Liberal Democratic
Party promised three hundred quote unquote calmness, not just the
right to cultivate land in their country, but to also

(08:45):
bear arms. Basically, then, the Liberal democratical leaders were asking
for a force of three hundred armed men to help
ouse conservative legitimistas from power, with these men being paid
in land for their service. Yet while they were making
sure to go over their proverbial asses, exactly how much
Colon Walker had to worry about government interference when he
came to a mission to Nicaragua is seemingly questionable, as

(09:08):
when Walker quit his job as editor of Cole's newspaper
so as to dedicate himself full time to fining a
second filibuster expedition. US officials in California actually seemed to
be fairly supportive. Indeed, the commanding general of the Pacific Division,
one Major General John E. Wool, would shank Walker's hand
as he promised to not interfere with his Nicaragua enterprise
while also wishing he would be filibuster luck in his endeavor.

(09:32):
So with essentially an invitation from the opposition party in
Nicaragua to come with an armed force of Fugian men
and a tacit promise from US officials in California do
not interfere with his expedition. William Walker's next task was
to try and raise the funds necessary to carry out
such an expedition. As it turns out, though, Walker was
not extremely successful in this venture, as while he would

(09:54):
get a few donations here and there, it was far
from enough. Meanwhile, Walker's habit of finding himself involved in
duels craped ump once again, as this time he found
himself standing across from one whim Carter. Now, what led
to this particular duel we don't know. What we do
know is that once again Walker would miss with his
first shot, while his opponent was far more successful as

(10:15):
he struck the would be filibuster in his foot, a
blow that not only took Walker down, ending the dual
ranked then and there, but also the layedst expedition while
he recovered from his wound. Indeed, this injury in the
general lack of funds with the laying Walker's departure for
two months. Finally, though, in May eighteen fifty five, Walker
in fifty eight men mall short of the promised three

(10:36):
hundred would depart from San Francisco bound for Nicaragua. As
he did so, though, they were once again forced to
leave surreptitiously, despite having the task the support of local
officials to undertake this mission to Nicaragua. The issue this time, though,
wasn't a fact that they were about to undertake an
unsanctioned military expedition, but instead the fact that Walker was
in debt for the supplies he had purchased for the expedition.

(10:59):
San Francisco then forbade the ship from leaving port until
the debt was paid. To this end, he ordered his
deputy sheriff to spend the nine on board walker ship
to ensure that it did not depart. Walker, however, despite
happingest plans seemingly spoiled, was surprisingly courteous toward the man
assigned to watch over him. He even invited the deputy
to share a drink with him in the ship's cabin.

(11:20):
Once they were inside, however, Walker would inform the other
man that he was now his prisoner, adding as he
did that quote, there sir, are cigars and champagne, and
there are handcuffs and irons. Pray, take your choice. Given
these options, the deputy chose to enjoy the champagne while
the ship sailed out of port. Then, once you were
safely beyond the control of the sheriff, the deputy was

(11:40):
sent back ashore, safe and sound, if maybe a little
more tipsy than when he left. As for the fifty
men who remained on the ship, who came to be
known as William Walker's immortals, they consisted of your typical
collection of filled miners, drifters, and criminals. However, there were
also among the ranks of military veterans like CC Hornsby
and Frank Anderson, who would serve with distinction during the
Mexican American War. Then there were men who were experienced

(12:03):
filibusters like Achilles Kawan, who had taken part in Urcisso
Lopez' his Cuba campaign, and Timothy Crocker, who had actually
been a part of waukerson Nora campaign and had inexplicably
signed on for more. Meanwhile, in addition to this more
experienced cast of characters, also coming along for the ride
was an Irish immigrant, a man from Chili who had
sow on his fortune in the California goldfields, a young

(12:23):
Hawaiian man and a sixty three year old African American cook.
These men were the men that William Walker was taking
on his mission to end the Nicaraguan Civil War and
defeat the Legitimistas and their armies. First things first, though,
they still had to actually reach their destination. However, since
Walker had not raised enough funds to actually pay for
a crew for this journey, this meant that the soldiers

(12:44):
had to take on that responsibility as well. Yet, despite
these less than ideal circumstances, and some soord traveled due
to their inexperience, Walker and his men would still arrive
safely at the port of Corinto in Nicaragua on the
sixteenth of June, where they were met by soldiers of
the Nicaraguan Democratic Party, at which point it became fairly
clear why the heads of the party had been so

(13:04):
eager to accept Byron Cole's offer for filibusters from America,
as Walker's men were both taller and better equipped than
their nicer Rockuan counterparts, as the filibusters you see were
typically dressed in final shirts, gotten trousers, and studying minor boots,
while they were armed with some combinational rifles, revolvers and
bone knives, all of which stood in star contrast to
the tattered rags, bare feet in old muskets worn and

(13:27):
carried by the nicer roguin soldiers. Given this visible distinction
between the two groups, it's not entirely surprising that the
American filibusters looked down upon their new allies, who, it
has to be said, had not had an easy time
of it while winning. For their allies to late arrival,
as the war had not exactly been going their way
for some time. There was, after all a reason why

(13:47):
the democratical leaders were so eager for their help. The Americans, however,
had more immediate concerns, as it were said to be
a bit rambunctious and in need of letting off some
steam after being at sea for a month and a half. Walker,
though majored a warnous men that anyone called looting, molesting
a lady, or desecrating a local church would be executed
by a firing squad. So, after apparently passing a night

(14:10):
without such incidents, the following day they headed further inland
toward Lyon, the capital of the Liberal DEMOCRATICO Party, where upon,
arriving they were met by cheering crowds, a distinct change
from how Walker had been greeted during his expedition to Sonora. Now,
some of this was because, unlike in Mexico, Walker was
not showing up uninvited to take local leaders captive and

(14:30):
name himself the new authority in the land. Mostly, though,
this was down to the fact that, as previously mentioned,
things had not been going wealthy Nicaraguan liberals and any
help whatsoever was gravely needed. The fighting had been incredibly brutal,
with civilians and prisoners alike being killed regularly. Women were
also being raped, and entire towns were not infrequently destroyed.

(14:52):
Most recently, the Democratic Whos had attempted to lay siege
to the Legitimistic capital city of Grenada, but that planet
failed spectacu ularly. In fact, even though concerned with strongman
Jose Fruit Tremour had recently died, the Legitimista's military strength
had not waned. Instead, if anything, it seemed like they
might be growing stronger as they increased their conscription efforts

(15:13):
in the territories that they controlled, thereby growing their army
even larger than it already was and effectively making it
so it felt like the Liberals were being threatened on
all sides. In fat Francisco Castellion, the leader of the
Liberal Democraticos, feared that he and his allies were facing extermination,
which was why he greeted the arrival Walker and his
men so warmly. Now it should be noted, though, that

(15:34):
the longer Walker was in Nicaragua, the more it became
obvious that the largest amount of his support came from
the most radical wing of the Liberal Party, people who Castellion,
the head of the party, considered to be a quote
mob of reckless men. These were, of course, the members
of the party who had the support of the country's
lower classes, so called radicals like Marianno Menendez, whose very

(15:55):
name was a quote terror to the aristocrats of Nicaragua.
Walker's most powerful radical ally, however, was Jose Mariveller, who
would help to lead the uprising of Nicaragua's lower classes
in the late eighteen forties revolution against the country's elite. Now,
Vallier had lost a leg during the recently failed Siege
of Granada, However, this did not stop him from continuing

(16:16):
to have the supportive groups who were struggling for political,
social and racial equality and from the indigenous people who
were intent on defending their autonomy. Ultimately, Vallier was a
radical because he wanted to put an end to the
privileges of the aristocracy and their cruel treatment of the poor.
This included putting an end to the various property and
income requirements to participate in elections that were enacted so

(16:38):
as to ensure that most male Nikerwaguans were not allowed
to vote. Vallier then saw an ally in Walker's He
believed that they were both fighting for quote unquote true democracy.
Such allegiances were enough to cause the leaders of the
Democratical Party to worry. This was especially true of the
head of the Liberals Army, General Jose Trinidad Munnos, who
had fought against the peasant uprisings in the late eighteen forties,

(17:01):
meaning he had actively fought against Valier and his allies
in that earlier conflict. Additionally, General Munos was worried that
these American filibusters were being granted a bit too much freedom,
and thus he wanted to split them up and divide
them amongst his units so as to better control them. Meanwhile,
for his part, Walker upon meaning the general was reportedly
not exactly impressed, especially when Munyas, without being prompted, started

(17:25):
to share his opinions on American generals Winfield Scott and
Zachary Taylor, during which time, according to Walker, Munus displayed
his quote ignorance in every sentence. Now, how much weight
you want to give that opinion? Considering that Walker himself
wasn't exactly an expert on military matters, I'll leave to
you regardless, defanded the matter was at. Following this meeting,
Walker made it clear to the Liberal leadership that for

(17:47):
the sole thing to work out, he and his men
were not going to be serving under the command of
General Munno's, a demand that Walker could make because reality
was the democratical leaders, for all their worries and doubts
about him and those he allied with, had little choice
but to put their faith in the American mercenaries, and
so Walker was assigned the rank of colonel and his
troops were dubbed the Flange Americana or the American Failings,

(18:10):
in addition of being officially made citizens of Nicaragua. Now,
Walker's plan for winning the civil war involves seizing control
of the transit road through Nicaragua, meaning the road that
was used by foreigners like himself when traveling from the
Caribbean coast to the Pacific and vice versa. As such
a move would achieve multiple goals. First, it would mean
they could seize the gold shipments that regularly traveled upon

(18:32):
the road, money that could then be given to the
cash tracked liberal government in Lyon. Additionally, Walker hoped to
gain recruits from those traveling upon this road, and then
with this expanded force attacked they conserved as stronghold of
Granada for Walker. Then the first step in this plan
was seasoned the town of Rivas, which was strategically located
near the road. Walker then hoped that by capturing Rivas,

(18:53):
he would be able to gain control over that stretch
of the all important transit road. To achieve this, Walker
in the fifty men of his American failings and an
additional one hundred and ten Nicaraguan troops under the command
of one Colonel Ramirez, sent off heading south out of Lyon.
During their travels both by boat and on foot, Walker
could not help a beast don by the natural, verdant

(19:14):
beauty of Nicaragua with its abundant, exotic and colorful wildlife.
Mango trees and banana plants, a natural paradise that stood
in stark contrast of the equally stunning abject poverty that
he and his men witnessed in the local villages that
they passed regardless of Pon arriving at Rivas, it became
embuntantly clear that, despite their best efforts to stay unnoticed
on their journey, the legitimate Mista forces had some degree

(19:37):
of warning, as he had set up a number of
wooden barricades around the town. Meanwhile, reports from inside the
city handed that additional forces had actually been sent in
to reforce these defenses as they expected the newly arrived
Americans to show up in the region, meaning they had
lost the element of surprise. Despite this, Walker decided to
push ahead. His plan to take riv Us, though was

(19:58):
not exactly the most inventive or even likely the most
military sound, as he ordered his men to just push
their attack headlong into the center of town, with the
hope being they could reach it and breach the defenses
in the process before the garrison could organize a response.
Walker's Americans then were to lead the way under the
command of two of their captains, while the Nicaraguan troops

(20:18):
were to follow close behind and protect their flanks. Once
the order was given, then Walker's American failings charged forward
with loud shouts and battle cries. Now, during these initial
moments of the battle, it seemed like Walker's plan might
actually work, as his men closed with the defenders so
rapidly the Legitimistis canons missed as their shots landed behind
the charging filibusters, who were then able to breach this

(20:40):
first line of defense before the artillery could be reloaded.
The defenders were then sent running as the Americans pressed on.
Yet as they neared the center of town, the resistance
began to stiffen. Walker then, as his men got bogged down,
looked to call on the Nicaraguan troops to break this stalemate. However,
only a handful of men actually answered his call, as apparently,

(21:01):
while the Americans were charging forward at the first sun
of resistance from the Legitimista defenders, the majority of the
Democratical forces turned and fled into the nearby woods. Now,
the reason why the Democratical troops retreated is not truly known. Walker,
though believed that he knew the cause, as he claimed
that they had been ordered to do so by the
jealous General Mundo's, who he believed was afraid that if

(21:24):
Walker were to succeed, he would replace Munnus as he
had of the liberal Democratical military forces. Now, the retreating
troops were led by a colonel who Charles Doubleday, one
of the Philiposters who had already been in the country
participating in the Civil War prior to Walker's arrival, was
familiar with, having seen him in action during the failed
Siege of Grenada. Doubleday had notably not at all been

(21:45):
impressed by the colonel during that clash, and so it's
possible that the colonel was the sole reason for the
Democratical retreat. However, the fact of the matter was the
colonel question was also known to be a quote unquote
tool of Munno's. Plus, Walker was also on this a
suspecsion that Mundus was the one responsible for a word
reaching the conservative Legitimista forces about their planned attack on Revas.

(22:07):
Than all being said, one of his own filibusters would
suggest that Walker could have quote shown more regard for
and reliance on our native troops. Plus, as we saw
in the aftermath of his failed Sonora campaign, Walker was
not above blaming others for his own failings, regardless the
fact that the matter was Without the support of the
democratical troops, the Americans were left on their own to

(22:28):
conduct brutal door to door fighting over the course of
several hours. Yet, despite this valiant effort, their now seriously
undermanned frontal assault would fail and in the process cost
Walker two of his best officers and thirteen other American filibusters.
This included the injured men that were forced to leave behind,
who were then subsequently burned to death on a pyre
by the Legitimista forces upon fighting and capturing them. Now,

(22:52):
at the end of the day, realistically, Walker and his
men never really stood a chance. Ass's fifty eight filibusters
were outnumbered something like eat one by the Conservative defenders.
That being said, reports had it that their foes had
actually lost ten times as many men as the Americans,
which can likely be explained by the fact that the
Americans were armed with modern rifles and cult revolvers in

(23:13):
contrast to the antiquated and muskets that their foes were using.
Stone the fact of the matter was things had once
again gone disastrously wrong for William Walker, so he and
his men now retreated after having to take part in
a desperate breakout attempt just to escape the trap they
had put themselves into. They were aided in this, howver,
by the fact that the Legitimeista defenders, due to the

(23:34):
sheer amount of bullets being fired in rapid succession by
the Americans, were convinced that they were facing far more
men than they actually were, which again was result of
the more advanced weapons that Walker and his men had
brought with them Stone. The fact of the matter was
Walker's attempt to seize a town of rivas had edited
in failure, and he was now forced to return to Leon,
lucky to have escaped with his life and the lives

(23:55):
of some of his men. In July eighteen fifty five,

(24:28):
Walker's friend from San Francisco, Byron Cole, the man whose
newspaper he had worked for, the man who had helped
to inspire this mission to Nicaragua in the first place,
and the man who had secured Walker's filibuster contract with
the Democraticos, would may get another trip to Nicaragua. When
he did. Cole brought with me a German aristocrat and
former Prussian Army officer named Bran von Netzmer Now. Nasper

(24:49):
was quite familiar with the region, as he had been
a part of a German colonization society that had settled
in Costa Rica. The Connie, however, only lasted for a
few years before it failed completely, at which point Natsimer
joined the Coasta Reagan Army, where he would command a
fort on the country's northern border. The German aristocrat, however,
would flee the country in eighteen fifty five so as

(25:10):
to avoid a trial for having allegedly embezzled money from
his troops. It was at this point that Natzmer encountered
Byron Cole, who in turn introduced the Prussian army officer
to his friend William Walker. The two seemingly hit it off,
as Walker quickly came to consider the German aristocrat to
be his right hand man, which only made sense as
he was immensely qualified, far more qualified than Walker was,

(25:32):
between his Prussian military training, his years of experience in
the region, and the fact that he could speak Spanish, French,
and English, although to be fair, Walker was said to
be similarly fluent, a fact that some accounts suggest that
he purposely kept under rapsmen dealing with certain locals in
the hopes that they would underestimate him and say something
in their native tongue, thinking that he could not understand them. Crucially, though,

(25:55):
Natsimer's presence also served to soften Walker's image, if not
as overall approach to this city, as you see, the
way the Germans handled their colonization and quote unquote civilizing
efforts in this region were somewhat surprisingly more inclusive in
nature than the American Manifest Destiny. Which is not to
say that I'm surprised that the whole Manifest Destiny thing
was terrible. Instead, It's more a bit surprised in the

(26:17):
find that the Germans, being the cool and inclusive ones. Regardless,
Nazimer served to make Walker in his approach more appealing
to the people of Nicaragua, which in turn bron Walker
even closer to Hoose Marivalier and his more populous lower
class revolutionaries, with Vayer coming to Walker's aid with troops
of his own after the incident at Rivas, where Walker's
filibusters were abandoned by the Democratical forces Abtrail, which Walker

(26:40):
blamed on head Democratico General Munos, even going so far
as to accuse him of treason for allegedly giving the
order to abandon him and his men in their assault
on Rivas. Walker and Munnos would then continue to argue
and make accusations of one another, all the while also
demanding that the head of the Liberal democraticos Castadion removed
their rival from a position of power. The head of

(27:00):
the Liberal government, however, would essentially refuse to take his
side in this infighting. That being said, he would grant
Walker another contract which authorized the recruitment of an additional
three hundred Americans, with each man being paid one hundred
dollars a month for their service, a contract which notably
gave Walker the power to settle all complaints between the
Nicaragua government and the Accessory Transit Company, a clause unlikely

(27:22):
had to do with Walker's continued plans to seizee transit Road,
but would ultimately come to play an outsized role in
our tail. In the meantime, however, Walker's issues with Munnos
would soon be resolved when the general was killed in
a battle near the Liberal capital of Lyon, a situation
that only Maine Walker even more important to the Liberal
democratical cause. Meanwhile, during this period of jocking for position

(27:45):
with Munnos, two of Walker's filibusters would quit and leave
Nicaragua altogether, a moon that said a lot about the
current state of morale among his men and also served
to damage it even further. So to try and rally
his men and prevent future desertions, Walker would give a
speech in which he talked about how their goal was
to regenerate Latin America, by which he meant bringing American

(28:06):
values in democracy not just to Nicaragua, but to all
of Central and South America. A cause and in the
minds of his filibusters, made them better than just a
bunch of mercenaries, as they weren't just here for their
own benefit. They were here to better the lives of
everyone who lived in this part of the world. So,
with his men rallied and the problem of General Moon
Neills resolved, William Walker then turned his attention back to

(28:28):
his plans to win the civil war, namely his idea
of seizing control of the transit road that ran through
the country. This time, though, instead of making another attempt
to seize the city of Rivas, Walker instead looked to
take over Virgin Bay, the harbor on Lake Nicaragua that
was controlled by the so called Accessory Transit Company, a
depot which, much like the Transit Company, had been established

(28:48):
by Cornelie's fan to build himself. Joining Walker in this
effort would be fifty American filibusters and some one hundred
and twenty Nicaraguan soldiers under Jose Maria Valier's command. Now,
the actual capture of the harbor seems to have been
done without much issue. However, holding it would be a
different story, as while they had found virtually no resistance
upon first arriving at Virgin Bay, only thirty December eighteen

(29:11):
fifty five, Walker's one hundred and seventy men would be
attacked by six hundred men under the command of one
General CentOS Giardiola, who had initially been dispatched from the
legitimistic capital of Gananda to defend Rivas. As their assumption
had been that Walker would make another attempt to seize
the city in order to gain control of the transit road,
they were then surprised to learn that instead of attacking

(29:33):
Revas once again, Walker had instead size transit company outpost
at Virgin Bay, in which point General Giardiola took six
hundred of his best men and sent off, hoping the
crushty troublesome American filibuster once and for all. Now, this
was a serious threat to Walker and his men, as,
in addition of being outnumbered by more than three to one,
Giardiola was also an experienced commander who had fought in

(29:54):
various revolutions, counter revolutions and wars in the region. As
Giardiola was not even Nicaraguan, but in need of off Hodors,
who was serving in the legitimis to army because he
was a right wing conservative himself. Even more importantly, though,
was the fat that Giardiola was proud of his reputation
of being the Butcher off Hondoras, a title he had
earned for not taking enemy prisoners but instead burning and

(30:17):
bayonetting them, which was especially bad news for Walker and
his men, who, with the lake at their backs, had
no place to run to should things turn against them,
something that certainly seemed likely given that they were completely
taken by surprise by the Butcher and his men. Indeed,
Walker's men would only realize that they were under attack
when they spotted a white puff of smoke rise up
by the town that they were occupying, which was when

(30:39):
they first spotted the large number of enemy troops coming
from over a nearby hill. The thing was, with both
flight and surrendered taken off the table, Walker's men had
only one option left, which was to fight with them
in mind. The Butcher's forces would first encounter Vaga and
his men, who, while overwhelmed and surprised by this unexpected attack,
still managed to make a good show of themselves as

(31:01):
they conducted a controlled retreat, pulling back in a carefully
controlled fashion as they periodically pause to reload and fire
upon the incoming troops. Meanwhile, the Americans, who had been
resting in the various buildings in town, rushed outside at
these sounds of fighting. The filibusters then picked up whatever
weapons they could lay their hands on and joined vay
A's men as they pulled back in the town. In

(31:21):
the resulting class, the Legitimista forces would lose some sixty men,
while Walker and his allies suffered virtually no losses, success
which again was largely due to these superior weapons the
Americans were using and the fact that they and their
allies were volunteers, which stood in star contrast to the
average soldiery in both the Legitimista and democratical armies who
were typically conscripted into service, meaning that both governments would

(31:44):
typically just sweep up any young men they could fight
and then force them to join their armies, where they
were then typically abuse and bullied by the officers and sergeants.
As such, they weren't exactly the most eager or dedicated
soldiers Walkers fit. The filibusters, in contrasts had all chosen
them be there, and were thus much more willing participants
in this fighting, as were Vaye's one hundred and twenty men,

(32:05):
who again more than held their own during this battle.
Va yer U s was a popular and charismanic figure
who would ride through towns recruiting men, while also speaking
of the generous Americans who had come to aid them
in obtaining democracy, which was a starkly different narrative than
the one being presented by the Legitimistas, who portrayed the
Americans as only coming to lute their country, rape their women,

(32:26):
and destroy cathoicism. Walker then would understandably be impressed by
Vayer and his men, who more often than not, were,
unlike their leader, veterans who had fought against the elite
as a part of the rebellion in the late eighteen forties. Indeed,
the actions of Vaye and his men here, in contrast
to the Democratic as soldiers abandoning Walker and his filibusters
and mvas, was a big reason why they won this

(32:47):
battle and sent the Butcher and his army running. Recognizing
this fact, when writing back to the liberal capital of
Lyon following this victory, Walker would assist that any men
sent to join him in the future had to be
willing volunteers, as he had seen firsthanded at this point
the quality or lack thereof, of the average conscripted soldier
on both sides. Meanwhile, in direct contrast to his foe,

(33:09):
the Butcher, Walker was insistent that wounded soldiers from both
sides receive medical treatment, behavior which was unusual in the
Central American wars of that era. Even more notable, however,
was the fact that this resounding victory at Virgin Harbor
was critically important for multiple reasons, as not only did
Walker now have control over the transit road like he wanted.
One of equal importance was to fact that the news

(33:31):
of Walker's exploits and his stunning victory over the Butcher
of Honduras would be covered extensively all throughout the United States,
which certainly helped with Walker's recruiting efforts, as he was
no longer this seemingly crazed or delusional figure with nothing
but a series of losses on his record. Indeed, following
this victory over a proven foe, additional filibusters would arrive
from San Francisco under the command of one Charles Gilman,

(33:54):
who had previously served under Walker during a Sonorian expedition
and even lost a leg during that campaign, which you
would think would be enough to not want to get
involved with this guy or his schemes again. So the
fact that Gelman would we only get in broad with
Walker given these circumstances then speaks to the idea that Walker,
despite his appearances and some kind of strange charisma about him, regardless,

(34:15):
the rival of Gilman and his new recruits would bring
Walker's ranks of American filibusters up to two hundred and fifty. Meanwhile,
also during this time, the head of Nicaragua's Liberal Democratic
go government, Francisco Castellion, would perish as a result of
the colera epidemic which had struck Leon, thereby leaving their
cause without a clear cut leader, in also giving Walker
even more freedom and authority to conduct this war as

(34:37):
he saw fit. Like, for example, following through with his
plan to capture the Legitimista capital of Grenada, a plan
that seemed more pousible now than ever before. Has not
only had Walker seize control of the transit road as
he wanted, but he would soon receive intelligence which suggested
that the time to strike was now. As you see,
a man who been held prisoner by the conservative Legitimistas

(34:59):
and Granada had following Walker's victory at Virgin Harbor, been
offered his freedom and two thousand pesos if he agreed
to go to Walker's headquarters and assassinate him. The prisoner,
though unsurprisingly, felt no loyalty to the people who had
held him captive, so, once freed from prison, instead of
killing the American filibuster leader, he instead brought news that Granada,

(35:20):
the Legitimistic capital, had been left extremely vulnerable, as most
of their troops had been sent to the city of
Rivas to defend it from Walker, information that would be
confirmed by various documents of Walker and his allies captured.
With this information in hand, and with no one to
really answer to. At this point, Walker began making preparations
to attack the vulnerable and undermanned enemy capital. To do so,

(35:42):
he massed his largest force yet, as in addition to
the three hundred and fifty local Nicaraguan volunteer troops led
by the likes of Vallier, he would also have one
hundred and fifty filibusters, some of whom haven't actually been
recruited from the travelers making their way along the transit
route through the country. This, after all, was reason why
Walker wanted to claim it in the first place, as

(36:03):
he hoped to use it to find more potential volunteers
for his cause, a recruiting pitch, which, by the way,
was now much more effective now that he wasn't seen
as just a loon on a doom crusade, but a
man who had won an impressive victory. It was and
with these five hundred troops that Walker would board a
Transit Company steamer on the twelfth of October eighteen fifty five,
a steamer that would then take them within striking distance

(36:24):
of the enemy capital and hopefully the conclusion of this
brutal civil war. As they did so, though one man
not accompany Walker on this mission was the aforementioned Charles Doubleday,
a filibuster who had already been involved in the fighting
before Walker's arrival, and who had fought alongside him in
the Battle of Rivas, A man who, since joining Walker's
filibuster army, had kind of become Walker's number two man,

(36:47):
or at least that sound Doubleday saw himself, which is
why he felt it was his place to object to
Walker's audacious plan. This, however, did not sit well with Walker,
who was always quite string and insistent of his authority.
Kokayusi was not one who was exactly welcoming to advice,
and more importantly, he always expected his orders to be
obeyed without question, and so once double Day dared to

(37:09):
question his orders in public, he was dismissed from the
filibuster force. As for the men he did burn with them,
they did everything they could to maintain the element of surprise,
as his plan really only worked if Krenada remained largely undefended.
So the transit company ship sells solely, its engines barely
running to keep things as silent as possible, while the
men on board crouched down low and kept quiet to

(37:31):
avoid notice. They sailed like this for six hours under
the cover of darkness, with all the lights on board doused,
in an effort to ensure that war did not get out.
That in our military force was heading in the direction
of the legitimistic capital. Indeed, they had even gone so
far as to leave an attachment of soldiers behind the
docks where they had departed from to ensure that order
their travel would not get out. Now, the fact that

(37:53):
Walker and his men were utilizing a Transit Company vessel
to carry out their daring assault to capture the enemy
capital led to specking lie that Walker and the Transit
Company had been in bed together this entire time. The
thing was appearances were deceiving, as, instead of being willingly
farried by the Transit company captain, Walker actually seized the
vessel in question over the protests of the ship's captain,

(38:14):
who insisted that the vessel was technically American property and
was thus under the protection of the American flag, an
argument that Walker disagreed with, given that the steamer actively
flew the Nicaraguan flag and operated in Nicaraguan motors, which
Walker claim meant that he, as a representative of the
Nicaraguan government could seize the ship in case of emergency,

(38:35):
which this was. Meanwhile, the walthy men who operated transit
companies like the Accessory Transit Company or ATC generally did
not like filibusters, as they were seen as troublemakers and
marauders who, more than anything else, were likely to just
cause chaos that would make operating their lucrative businesses more difficult.
That being said, local transit company agents, who were all

(38:56):
US citizens, despite their boss's opinion, more often than not
wanted to help Walker after he had seize control of
the transit road. Yet, regardless of how willing their aid
was or not, Walker in his five hundred men would
arrive in the wee hours of the morning just northern Granada,
apparently without having alerted the Legitimista forces. Once they were
all on shore, then they would set off round about

(39:16):
three a m. As they started marching toward Granada with
Walker's American filibusters leading the way, and very much seemed
then like no one in the city expected a thing. However,
as they neared Granada, after the sun had risen over
the horizon, they heard these sounds of church bells all
across the city start bringing out a sound, which Walker
and his men naturally feared meant they had been spotted,

(39:36):
and this was the city's way of raising the alarm.
As it turned out, though this cacophony had nothing to
do with them. Instead, the bells were being run in
celebration of one of the legitimate Mista armies winning a
battle in northern Nicaragua two days earlier. Indeed, as Walker's
men reached the city that had long been the nation's capital,
a city with some twenty five thousand residents and a

(39:57):
city that was often described as the most beautiful metropolis
in Central America, there was no son of military activity
beside their own approach. The closest they came across, as
a near Granada, were some barricades manned by a few
scattered troops who were time and again called completely unaware
as the Americans charged forward, screaming. The Granada defenders, then
every time this happened, simply fled, abandoning the defenses without incident.

(40:21):
When all was said undone, Walker and his men would
capture the city center, with the only casualties being two
Legitimista soldiers and one of Walker's drummer boys, with the
drummer boy in question potentially being hit by a bullet
that had been aimed for Walker, as he had been
struck down when standing near the American commander. Which is
all to say that with just five hundred men, William
Walker had captured the enemy capital with minimal bloodshed in

(40:44):
under ten minutes, which was quite defeat. That being said,
it wasn't a complete victory, as new legitimistic President Jose
Maria Estrada would escape the city. However, many other members
of his Conservative party were captured by Walker and his men. Indeed,
wants it became clear that Walker was now the man
in charge of Granada, local Conservative leaders would approach him now.

(41:07):
Walker's close ally, Jose Marie Vallier, who had spent years
finding these individuals, very much, wanted to have all the
opposition leaders killed. Walker, however, was insistent that they simply
should be held captive, because if he started executing opposition
leaders now, then none of the others who were still
running around free would ever be willing to negotiate with him.

(41:27):
That was not to say, however, that these individuals would
be free to do as they pleased. Indeed, among those
captured by Walker and his men were the families of
senior officers and the Legitimista army, who were then held
hostage under the threat of death should the officers in
question refuse to surrender, a threat that was shown to
be very real when Walker ordered the execution of Legitimista

(41:48):
foreign minister Matteomi Orga by firing squad in Granada's main plaza,
essentially as punishment for the acts of Legitimista troops, namely
for a pair of attacks on transit company holdings ahead
resulted in the death and wounding of civilian passengers of
the transit line. The first attack had occurred at Virgin Bay,
where several passengers who had likely been mistaken for filibusters

(42:08):
were wounded and a transit company employee was taken hostage. Then,
the following day, steamship carrying a different group of passengers
in the region of the rebuilt Grey Town came under
artillery fire from a Legitimis del fort. A twenty four
pound cannonball then struck the ship, killing an American mother
and her infant child who she had been nursing. Incidents which,
by the way, only further increased William Walker's fame in

(42:30):
the US as the American public was outraged by this
kind of barbaric conduct against civilians who, notably, prior to this,
had been treated as neutral parties in the ongoing civil war.
The American press then presented Walker as this enlightened American
who was trying to bring civilization to the wild, barbaric
people Nicaragua. It was and in response to these attacks

(42:51):
on civilians that Walker had Mattao may Orga executed by
firing squad, which proved to be an effective measure as
a number of legitimies to army officers surrendered and signed
off on a peace treaty, effectively ending the civil war
so as to prevent any further repressals. Meanwhile, Walker didn't
seem to have much issue with the residents of captured Grenada,

(43:11):
as he had prohibited his men from looting, pillaging, and raping,
rules which Vallier agreed to enforce, while explaining to his
ally that this was not how things were typically done
in Nicaragua. Indeed, whenever the Legitimistas had captured a liberal city,
they had freely looted and tormented the local populace. In fact,
many of Vaye's men, who had lost friends and family

(43:31):
to the Conservative forces, very much wanted to seek bloody
revenge now that the shoe was on the other foot. Vaye, though,
would agree to follow and enforce Walker's command, which gained
Walker and his filibuster some measure of support from the
local populace, who had fully expected the worst when their
city had been captured, not just by enemy forces, bought
by foreigners as well. Indeed, Walker even proved to be

(43:53):
good to his word when one of his own filipbusters,
Patrick Jordan, of New York, got drunk one night and
went on a shooting spree in the streets of Granada,
in which he ultimately killed a local boy. Walker then
had responded immediately, as he had Jordan court martialed and
sentenced to death by firing squad. In doing so, he
made an example of Jordan while also showing that the
laws applied to everyone. Jordan, meanwhile, further helped Walker's cause when,

(44:17):
before his execution he warned his fellow filibusters against the
evils of hard liquor while not protesting his fate. In fact,
he would even admit to the justice of his death
sentence stating that he hoped it would prove to be
an example to the others. Meanwhile, at the same time,
Walker also appeased his allies, as he had something like
one hundred political prisoners who had been held in the

(44:37):
Granada jail set free. It was then likely due to
his military successes, the fact that he had effectively ended
the civil war, and the way in which he'd handled
himself since capturing Granada that led a group of Nicaraguan
citizens to approach the filibuster leader with the offer of
making him the provisional president of the country. After all,
the general lack of bloodshed following his capture of Granada

(44:59):
lent significant way to his claims, and he simply wanted
to bring peace and reconciliation to the divided nation. Walker, however,
would decline to offer, although he would suggest that he'd
be willing to accept the position of the commander in
chief of the Nicaragua Army. While the news of Walker's

(45:47):
stunning victory was plastered on the front pages and newspapers
all across the United States, stories which were trade Walker
and as men as national heroes and living proof of
the capabilities of American citizens. Back in Nicaragua, a new
guvern was being formed in the wake of the conclusion
of their civil war. This was to be a transitional
unity government assembled out of members of both sides in

(46:07):
the war, which was then to lead the country until
such a time that proper elections could be held. To
lead this new government, with Walker declining the position, moderate
member of the Legitimista party, Patricio Rivas, was named the
provisional president. Also receiving a prominent role in the new
government would be distinguished Legitimista General Ponciano Corral. Now General

(46:28):
Corral had previously been assigned the responsibility of protecting Granada,
but had been dispatched to defend the city of Rivas
in the belief that Walker intended to attack there again,
a move which had left the city largely undefended, thus
allowing General Walker's takeover. However, this had also left General
Corral and his forces very much intact. It had been
important then that he agreed to the peace treaty that

(46:50):
ended the war, which he seemingly did after being promised
a prominent position in the resulting provisional government, a position
that proved to be Minister of War, which is all
to Sime, saying that the Legitimista has held two very
powerful positions in this new government, while on the other
side of things, Liberal Democratic General Maximo Hares would be
named the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the man who

(47:12):
essentially ended the war, William Walker, was given his preferred
title of Commander in Chief of the Nicaraguan Army. This
new Unity government would officially be inaugurated in Granada's main church,
where the ceremony was overseen by Catholic priests Padrea Agustin Vhil,
a ceremony which the Protestant William Walker notably took pardon
as he recognized that he needed the support of the

(47:33):
Catholic Church if he was going to accomplish anything while
in Nicaragua now, this period in time is typically portrayed
as Walker ruling through a puppet in President Rivas, which
may be a bit of an overstatement, although it is
said to Rivas was not exactly considered to be a
political heavyweight. Meanwhile, Walker did make sure to qually consolidate
power for himself in this new government while also making

(47:54):
himself more popular among the countries poor through one singular move.
As you see as he knew how to the nicaragua
An army, Walker convinced both the Democraticos and the Legitimistas
to disband their respective armies, and at which freed many
a poor resident of the country who had been forced
against their will to join these armies. Meanwhile, the one
military force outside of his own filibusters that was not

(48:15):
disbanded in all of this was the one led by
Walker's ally, Jose Marie, as, after all, his men were
volunteers and thus exempt from this ruling. This then meant
that the poor people Nicaragua were very appreciative of William
Walker for putting an ant to their force conscription, all
the while ensuring that the lone military force that still
existed in the country was loyal to him. Meanwhile, Walker

(48:39):
also reached back into his own history in the newspaper business,
as he started publishing his own weekly propaganda paper. To
do so, he made use of the offices and printing
press of a legitimist of paper that he had shut
down following the attacks on transit company of passengers following
his capture of Grenada. Walker's paper then focused primarily only
beauty of Nicaragua and the bright future that lay ahead

(49:01):
of the country, while also making sure to promote William
Walker as a quote regenerator and a quote ray eyed
man of destiny who was an alley of the poor
and oppressed, and who had been welcomed with open arms
by the pupil Nicaragua. Now in star contrast to William Walker,
who was seemingly consolidating his power within the new government
and among the people Nicaragua, was General Corral, the former

(49:24):
legitimistic general turned Minister of Moore, who now found himself
more or less without any real power, what with Walker
being the actual head of the Nicaragua military and making
so those who remained were loyal to him, a situation
which was particularly vexing considering that Corral had initially believed
that he would be able to use Walker against the
Liberal Democraticos who had hired him in the first place.

(49:47):
This was because he believed that the relatively small, slightly
built men with thinning hair, a pencil thin mustache, and
draftcos would be easy to manipulate and control. Plasi also
believed that the fact that there were both Freemasons would
make Walker more tree crossing of him and thus easier
to influence an impression that Walker, if anything, had seemingly
cultivated as he had allowed Corral to guide and take

(50:08):
control of the peace negotiations that had officially ended the war.
General Corral at the time then had seen the American
as little more than a mintleman and simply the commander
who happened to be in charge of the unit that
had captured Granada. Indeed, Corral had been so proud of
the peace treaty and so sure that it meant victory
for the Legitimistas, that he would brag to a friend quote,
we have been them with their own game cock, by

(50:31):
which he meant Walker, who he believed had virtually handed
the entire country over to the Conservatives on a silver platter. Yet,
as Corral came to realize the depth of his mistake,
he began secretly reaching out to the governments of Al Salvador, Honduras,
and Guatemala, encouraging them to invade Nicaragua so as to
kick out William Maker and his filibusters, who he described
as being a threat to all of Central America. The

(50:53):
thing was, Corral wasn't quite as circumspect as he should
have been, as he would hands that letters to a messenger,
who was none exis exactly a fan of the conservative Legitimistas.
As a result, Walker soon found himself in possession of
the incriminating documents. With this evidence in hand, Walker then
called for a cabinet meeting in which he presented the
documents in question to President Rivas and the others, thereby

(51:15):
leaving Corral, who would showed up oblivious to the fact
that his scheming had been revealed, no other choice but
to admit that he had written them. Walker then encouraged
President Rivas to arrest Corral and charge him with treason
and conspiracy to overthrow the government. Now, according to Walker,
Corral requested to be tried by a court martial consisting
of American officers, as he apparently did not trust his
fellow Nicaraguans. How true that is I can't say, but

(51:37):
unlikely did not make much of a difference, as Corral's
defense was basically than while he was solely responsible, he
wasn't a traitor. He was simply trying to save his country. Yet,
regardless of whether he actually believed that his acts were
saving his country. The fact in the matter was just
a few weeks before this, Corral had sworn his allegiance
to the new government, and here he was seemingly looking

(51:58):
to tear it down with the help of other Crees.
The former general was then found guilty and sentenced to
death by Willill Walker, even though the court officially recommended mercy.
This led to the events of the eighth and November,
where the fifty one year old general would be executed
by a firing squad consisting of Walker's filibusters while the
people of Granada watched on. Now, to be clear, this

(52:18):
was a somewhat risky move on Walker's part, as General
Corral was a fairly popular figure, especially in Granada. As
you see, even though Corral had married into an aristocratic
family and lived in a mansion in the city, while
also owning a profitable cacoum plantation just outside of Granada's voters,
the General was still beloved by the lower classes in
the region. This was because not only was Corral not white,

(52:39):
but he also came from humble origins. Indeed, his father
had once been enslaved. Corral then had grown up poor
and thus seemed to understand the average person in Nicaragua
far better than many others of his rank and prominence. Indeed,
Corral was even known to partake in the popular cultural
activities of the people in Nicaragua, something that was far
from typical of the elites, who see to have their

(53:00):
own separate culture and traditions. It was and this connection
that led the residents of the city of all classes
to beg Walker to spare the general's life. The filibuster, however,
remained firm, as he insisted that if he spared Corral,
that would only encourage other conservatives to pursue similar conspiracies
against the new government. Plus, you have to remember that
the main target of Corral's proposed alliance with the foreign

(53:23):
powers he was communicating with had been Walker himself and
its filibusters. Corral then was not only a threat to
the new government, but to Walker's ambitions and even to
his very life. Still, though, Walker very much risked creating
a martyr out of General Corral by going through with
this execution. Indeed, once Walker's firing squad was finished, a
massive vocals who had turned out to bear witness to

(53:44):
the execution surged forward and gathered around the corps. Many
of these individuals were women who proceeded to cut off
little locks of the now dead general's heir or dip
kerchiefs or some other piece of clothing into his blood,
items that would now serve as mementoes or relics. The
thing was, though, despite this turnout, and despite these acts
of mourning, the fact that the matter was, the people

(54:05):
had not risen up to prevent the execution, something which
was seen as a sign among the still defined sections
of the Legitimistas. Because that the people would not rise
up in the fence of the Popular General Corral, they
realistically then stood little chance of organizing them against the filibusters.
Many then opted to go into exile. Additionally, through this execution,

(54:25):
Walker further solidified his position within the government, as his
primary rival had now been permanently removed. This move also
served to further cement his tis to the liberals who
had brought him into the country in the first place,
but who may have questioned the number of Legitimistas he'd
allowed to take prominent positions in the new government. Meanwhile,
a number of local conservative leaders in Granada, sensing which

(54:46):
way the wind was blowing, also made the strategic move
to ally themselves with the ascendant American Among those who
aligned themselves with Walker was Augustine Vehil, the leaning Catholic
priest in Granada, who, despite serving any conservative stronghold, was
actually pretty liberal in his actual beliefs. V Hill then
saw Walker's ending of the Civil War and the promise
of modernization as good things. In this Walker was very

(55:09):
much benefiting on the perception that America was this kind
of idealized state. V Hill then saw Walker and his
men as civilizers, which is why he would call will
O Walker nicker Wagua's quote guardian angel. V hill support
was especially important because the acceptance into his church in particular,
gave Walker access to summon nicker Rockua's wealthiest men, who

(55:29):
for their part, saw Walker's being potentially beneficial to their
dreams of having a canal constructed. Indeed, v Hill would
suggest to them that Walker could play a Vinyl role
in gaining the support of the US for just such
a project, which again was crucial for the kind of
ambitious and profitable future of Nicaragua that they envisioned, a
vision of the feature that was seemingly reinforced as he knew.

(55:51):
Garment started an ambitious public works program to rebuild and
improve the war ravaged country, a project that certainly made
Walker in his filibusters looked like the quote unk quote
civilizers that they claimed to be. Yet, while the leads
weren't as some degree embracing Walker, as they saw in
him a path to a rich future and increased ties
to the United States, the fact that the matter was

(56:11):
at this point, Walker's main source of power came from
Vallier and other more radical, non elite leaders. Indeed, when
Walker learned that some liberal oligarchs and Lyon were making
plans against him, he had Valier put an end to
their plot with the help of Leon's lower classes. Then
Mosus was accomplished. Walker had Vayer named the prefect of Segovia,
a region where legitimist leaders were actively trying to turn

(56:33):
the indigenous people against the new Revst government, once again
illustrating just how much Walker relied upon these more radical
leaders who put their trust in him. Also during his time,
in addition to maintaining the peace and securing his own
place of power, Walker championed efforts to increase immigration from
the United States. Indeed, he would convince President Rivos to
create the Nicaraguan Emigration Company, a government owned outfit that

(56:56):
would manage the conization process for incoming immigrants, and organization
that would be run at Walker's suggestion by Joseph W. Fabins,
an American businessmen residing in Grenada. With the Emigration Company
now in place, migration agents set up shop in San Francisco,
New Orleans, and New York, with their New York and
New Orleans headquarters being especially important as they attracted families

(57:16):
from the Northeast and Midwest respectively to help attract prospective immigrants.
Per President Rivas's decree, each American who signed up through
their official agents would receive two hundred and fifty acres
of land for free. Additionally, this effort would also be
helped out by the transit route running through Nicaragua, or,
more precisely, the hundreds of US travelers who crossed over

(57:37):
in every two weeks, as even if they themselves did
not opt to stay, they still run with them word
of Nicaragua's beauty and Walker's efforts there, both of which
seemed to capture the imagination of many Americans as Nicaragua
came to be seen as a tropical paradise of untapped potential.
This campaign was so successful, in fact, that the new
York Herald would report that over five thousand men were

(57:59):
bound for Nicaragua. These weren't just more filibusters, though, as
Instead the paper would describe these individuals as quote men
with families and young men who seek not the excitement
of war, but a settlement in life and a homestead.
They go to Nicaragua instead of Kansas, or Wisconsin or
Iowa simply because they believe they can do better there.
Traveling to Central America then suddenly seemed to be just

(58:21):
as normal as heading west to settle and start over there. Indeed,
per shipping records, by eighteen fifty seven, some twelve thousand
US residents had made the trip down to Nicaragua now,
and doing so, many seemed more intent on colonizing the
area than trying to integrate into the existing culture and community,
which was in no small part because they thought they
were on a mission and had a responsibility to quote

(58:43):
americanize the garden of the world. As one woman from
Iowa would put it. So, while some of these colonists
would want to set up farms, others sort to start
businesses like clothing or hardware stores, barbershops, boarding houses, pharmacies, gambling, parlors, hotels,
Dodgers' offices, and even a Dagario type photo studio. Meanwhile,
among the Americans make in this journey were missionaries, temperance activists, abolitionists,

(59:07):
and European socialists who saw in Walker's someone whose actions
and goals aligned with their own. Indeed, among those who
made the journey to Nicaragua was New York labor activist
George Wilkes, who advocated ideas like prison reform and supported
land redistribution to aid the urban poorer. Then the re
abolitionists like twenty four year old Clayborne Rower and Captain
John's Side of New York, who emigrated to Nicaragua with

(59:29):
his wife and two children. Meanwhile, a number of European
radicals and veterans of failed European revolutions would head down
to join Walker's ranks, believing that he was there not
to ensav or destroy the people in Nicaragua, but to
instead spread freedom and republicanism, by which I mean the
form of government, not the political party. While all this
was happening, it seemed like Walker's position was further secured

(59:51):
when the United States recognized the transitional government under President Rivas.
This recognition was thanked to the actions of American Ambassador
to Nicaragua, John H. Wheeler, a lawyer from South Carolina, who,
after meeting with Walker personally, had become quite the admirer
of the filibuster, doing so in no small part because
Wheeler was of the belief that Walker quote had only

(01:00:11):
contempt for the Spaniards in those mongrel races who occupied
with indolence and semibarbaronism, one of the finest and most
productive regions on the continent. Indeed, if you needed any
more proof of what kind of person the slave owner was,
Wheeler will later write in his memoirs, quote, the race
of Central Americans have conclusively proved to all observant minds
that they are incapable of self government. Obviously, then, a

(01:00:35):
man who held such beliefs readily saw Walker as the
unquestioned leader in the country and a savior figure of sorts.
Wheeler's zeal was so great that he made the proclamation
officially recognizing the new Revus government of Nicaragua without actually
consulting his superiors, namely the Secretary of State William Marcy, who,
as it turned out, was not a big fan of
not being consulted on such important matters, especially when it

(01:00:58):
came to recognizing an on allae elected government. Plus, and
also has to be said that Secretary of State Marcy,
who was also a former Governor of New York, was
not exactly a fan of Walker, who he characterized as
a quote monomaniac, buccaneer, robber, and pirate, with a monomaniac
being a psychological designation in those days for someone who
was obsessed with a singular thing, a topic which I

(01:01:21):
believe I discussed more fully in my series on Elizabeth Packard,
a woman falsely institutionalized by her husband basically for daring
to disagree with him. Regardless, it would be due to
with Secretary of State's pushback that President Pierce would force
Ambassador Wheeler to retract his recognition of the Rivas government. Then,
on the eighth of December eighteen fifty five, as if
to hammer this point home, President Franklin Pierce would issue

(01:01:43):
an official proclamation against filibustering, all of which came as
a bit of a surprise to the other countries in
Central America who were under the impression prior to this
than Walker and its filibusters had been operating with the
full support of the US government, which was especially notable
because Walker's ac execution of General Corral was seen by
the governments of the other Central American countries as confirmation

(01:02:05):
of the now deceased General's worries about the danger that
Walker and his filibusters represented for the entire region, and
not just Nicaragua. Among those now reassessing what to do
with William Walker was Honduras, a country under the control
of a conservative, legitimistic government. In other words, when aligned
with the forces at Walker at helme to overthrow in Nicaragua. Meanwhile,

(01:02:26):
the mood over all in Al Salvador was also predominantly
anti Walker. However, the country that would move first against
the filibuster, now that it was obvious that they did not,
in fact have the backing of the US government was
Nicaragua's southern neighbor, the richest country in Central America, Costa Rica,
which now looked to remove the troublesome, perplexing, and dangerous
Walker from the regional equation. Leading the way was Costa

(01:02:48):
Rica's President Juan Rafael Mora, who, about a month after
the new Nicaraguan government was put in place, declared that
the Filibusters were a threat to his country, and thus
he was determined to rid the region of the quote
scums of all people. President more than News the official
government newspaper, to agitate against Walker, while he and the
Bishop of San Jose actively looked to stir up coast

(01:03:10):
to Riga's Catholic population by giving speeches warning about the
dangers of the Protestant Philibusters. Additionally, Costa Ricad also become
home to a number of Nicaragua's legend Amistas who had
fled following Walker's victory. All these people then saw the
Filibusters as a threat to all of Central America, a
threat that was only growing, as it very much seemed

(01:03:30):
that the Filibuster's ranks were growing quite rapidly thanks to
Walker's colonization efforts, as at least some of those making
the journey down to Nicaragua did so by promising to
join the Filibuster forces. This build up then certainly made
it look like Walker had designs on taking over all
of Central America. Yet, despite the apparent overwhelming threat that
the Filibusters presented, President Moore did not call for an

(01:03:53):
immediate attack. Instead, he waited until after the coffee harvest,
which lasted from November to March, with President Mora finally
formally declaring war on the twentieth of February eighteen fifty six,
and which point he sent into motionist country's forces a
twenty five hundred militiamen, most of whom being peasants and
urban artisans, an army which was armed with the three

(01:04:13):
thousand muskets that had been provided to them by the British,
who had a vested interest in seeing William Walker overthrown,
as they wanted to at the very least make sure
that the US did not gain sole control over Central
America and the anticipated canal crossing it. Also, it should
be noted that Mora, in addition of being worried about
the threat of Walker and his felibusters, also had a

(01:04:34):
long standing border dispute with Nicaragua. As a result, he
did not exactly like the idea of a strong government
in Nicaragua, especially since he had designs on seasonal transit
road for Costa Rica so that his country would be
the one that benefited from the proposed canal plaus Additionally,
Mora was a conservative and thus opposed in Nicaragua's Liberal Party,

(01:04:55):
which had defeated his Legitimista allies. However, before Costa Rica
could launch their invasion, Walker, in response to their declaration
of war, would send two hundred and fifty filibusters south
across the border to quote guard against any surprise on
the line of American travel across the Isthmus. Leading his
troops would be Colonel Lewis Sussenger, who had primarily been

(01:05:15):
chosen for this role because he had recently been sent
down to Costa Rica as an ambassador of sorts in
an attempt to avoid this conflict. Walker then figured that
Sussenger's familiarity with the region would serve him well on
this mission. Unfortunately, Sussnger was not exactly a great commander. Indeed,
his troops actively resented him for, among other things, forcing
them to march through the mid day heat instead of

(01:05:37):
waiting for the cool of night to travel. Additionally, Sussenger
also made the mistake of allowing his men to vault
a cross drooms by using their rifles like poles, which
introduced moisture into the firearms. The colonel then further compounded
his mistakes when, upon reaching Costa Rica, he allowed his
men to rest at a deserted hacienda that he believed
to be so easily defensible that he did not bother

(01:06:00):
gotting the region or posting guards. As a result, Sussager
and his men were completely caught off guardwin during their siesta,
a force of coastal Reacan soldiers arrived and started firing
upon them. The colonel then apparently gave the order of
there they are to his men before running off. They
started the battle, while the French and German troops, who
constituted a significant amount of their force, proved to be

(01:06:21):
just as effective as their commander, as they were quickly overwhelmed,
at which point they reportedly threw down their arms and
fled as well. Some American troops, mean while, reportedly held
on a bit longer. However, even if their allies had
now run off, they still would have been significantly outnumbered
by the five hundred coaster Reacan soldiers descending upon them,
so it wasn't long before they all fled as well,

(01:06:44):
with the whole clash lasting something like fourteen minutes, during
which time fifty nine a Sassenger's men were killed, while
another eighteen were taken prisoner, which is all to say
the Filibusters were fairly easily defeated, with these revivors of
this clash returning to Nicaragua and a quot nunng quote
pitiful state, an outcome that proved to be a serious
blow to the morale of Walker's men, who responded by

(01:07:07):
drowning their roes in so much alcohol that some ended
up blind, drunk, and thus ill fit for battle. In
some cases, this even resulted in duels taking place among
some of the men, with Walker himself having to persley
put a stop to one such duel between two of
his officers by having the two men in question informed
that they may continue with their duel. However, they needed
to know that Walker was going to have the survivor shot,

(01:07:30):
which was enough of a threat to force both men
to back down. Meanwhile, this defeat also served to to
mystify the Filibusters in the eyes of the inexperienced Costa
Rican conscripts, who were now more ready than ever before
to see them cast out of Central America. President Morris's brother,
General Jose Mora, would then lean their forces into Nicaragua.

(01:07:50):
In doing so, he seemed to take a page at
a William Walker's own playbook as they took over the
town of Rivas and by extension, the Transit Road, before
turning their focus onto Granada, where Walker had a master's
remaining troops, a force which it has to be said,
was significantly smaller than the one he had a massed
at the start of this conflict. As an addition to
the losses they had suffered in battle, more than a
few also fled the country altogether, often to return home

(01:08:13):
to the US rather than participate in this war. The
Coast Rican Army, then, as they prepared for their eventual
assault on Grenada, were confident in their ultimate victory, a
belief rooted in their successes so far, and because they
assumed that, unlike the elites who had sided with Walker,
the majority of Nicawuagua's people would join them in casting
out Walker and his filibusters, who they saw as being

(01:08:34):
nothing more than godless conquisadors. There were then surprised when
much of the Nicriwaguan population did not in fact rally
to their cause, with some even actively attacking the invading
Coast Reacans, while an additional five hundred Democratic troops also
marched to join Walker and his filibusters in Granada, the
Coaster Reacans and were taken aback that they were not
being treated as liberators and that many were seemingly supportive

(01:08:56):
of the new government and of Walker. Some of this
was because us Walker and the new government were seen
more positively than they expected than the Bee, as Walker
at this moment was not seen so much as a
foreign invader who had taken over their country, but instead
as a well meaning outsider who had come and helped
them stop their civil war. Plus, there was also the
fear among the local populace that the Coast Reagans would

(01:09:18):
punish them for collaborating with the Filibusters. Meanwhile, the Coaster
Reacans also misjudged how much they themselves were not liked,
especially following their own past attempts to see see San
Juan River, which was a crucial part of the transit
route and Nicaragua's Plan Canal. The invasion then seemed to
ground to a halt after they captured Rivas, as not
only were they not receiving the aid they expected from

(01:09:40):
the people Nicaragua, but even their own people back at
home weren't super behind this war, not because they supported Walker,
mind you, but simply because it was incredibly expensive. Plus
they also saw President Moore as being reckless by opting
not to wait for assistance from Guatemala and Al Salvador.
The Coaster Reacans end for as successful as they were
or when initially dealing with Walker and his filibusters, would

(01:10:02):
soon suffer a complete reversal of fate. Their problem seemed
to have started when William Walker, despite suffering from a
bout of yellow fever, led a force of five hundred
men to attack Revas, which, mind you, was occupied by
some three thousand Coast Reagan soldiers. This resulted in some
fierce fighting in which Walker would lose about a fourth
of his troops at the same time, though it is

(01:10:23):
believed that the Coast of Reagans lost even more men
in this fighting, although their exact losses are very much
unclear due to what would happen next. For the time being, though,
the fact of the matter was Walker and his surviving
soldiers were forced to pull back, largely because they'd run
through much of the ammunition they had brought with them.
The thing was, while the Coast Reagans might have held
the field at the end of the day, they would

(01:10:44):
reportedly seal their own fates when they contemptuously through the
bodies of these same filibusters and Nicaraguan soldiers and dwells
instead of giving them proper burials, a malicious act of
disrespect there would prove to be devastating, as it is
believed that this is what caused me mess outbreak of
cholera that then swept through the Coasta Reagan ranks, with
this believed to have been and especially bad strain of

(01:11:06):
the disease cholera you see, which primarily results from tated
water supplies, causes violent diarrhea, excessive vomiting, severe abdominal pain,
intense thirst, and cramps throughout the body, which can take
on a blue or purple hue while the skin gets
dry and wrinkled. If untreated, cholera can cause death within
forty eight hours and has been known to have a

(01:11:27):
fatality rate as high as fifty percent during epidemics, with
this one reportedly killing some five hundred Coast to Reagan
troops fairly quickly, which then forced General Mora to retrade
back to Coasta Rica, a turn of events that only
serve to solidify the new garment in Nicaragua, and even
more importantly, Walker's place within the country, as he had

(01:11:48):
not only managed to withstand this invasion, but in doing so,
he had significantly weakened their enemies. As you see, not
only was the coast Reagan Army decimated by this disease,
but the retreating troops brought the cholera with them. It
then quickly turned into an epidemic which claimly lies to
ten percent of Costa Rica's population, as out of a
population of one hundred and twelve thousand, some ten thousand

(01:12:10):
would perish from this cholera epidemic, a situation which notably
fuelled some anti government sentiment within Costa Rica, as now
the costly war that their government had rushed into and
brought back a literal plague. Some in Costa Rica even
saw this plague as a punishment from God for their invasion,
or alternatively, it was proof of Walker's demonic powers. Additionally,

(01:12:30):
this failed invasion also effectively sabotage Coasta Rica's relationship with
the other countries of Central America, who had been willing
to partner with them to cast Walkaran as filibusters out
before Costa Rica just decided to go and do it
on their own. Plus, given the response that the invasion
had received from the people in Nicaragua po one of
Central America's most influential newspapers, Alcamercio of Lima, Peru, the

(01:12:53):
fear now was the people in Nicaragua believed that Walker
and his filibusters were quote universal patriots who had come
to Nicoroau what to civilize and moralize it, which only
made Walker that much harder to remove and thus that
much more dangerous to the entire region. Mean also, wasn't
just the people in Nicaragua that they had to worry about, either,
as the Coasta Rican army had been forced to leave

(01:13:14):
behind a number of their men who were too sick
to join the retreat. Now, the normal custom among the
Central American militaries at the time would have seen these
soldiers executed. Indeed, of the eighteen men who had been
captured by the Coast of Reagans after Sassenger's defeat, fifteen
would be executed by firing squad. Unlike his foes, though,
Walker would order his surgeons to care for the sick

(01:13:35):
Coasta Reacans and at which won him praise in the
US and England. While also confusing the residents in Icaragua's
neighboring countries as this was not the act of the
evil villain bent on killing all non white Catholics living
in Central America that he had typically been portrayed as. Meanwhile,
back in America, while Walker's reputation had dimmed at the
start of this invasion due to the military defeat suffered

(01:13:56):
at the hands of the Coasta Rican Army, these some
turn around in theirs, though, resulted in another reassessment, with
some now going so far as to suggest that Walkran
actually learned the Coastareacan army in with the express purpose
of infecting them with cholera. Some then called him a
genius as more flogged down to Nicaragua, effectively replenishing the
ranks of his filibusters as he more than replaced those

(01:14:18):
he had lost in the fighting. Speaking on the opinion
of Walker in America, initially, critics saw him as basically
a thug who was hurting the image of the United
States on the world stage with this illegal invasion, while
supporters claimed he was just helping to spread democracy. Now
it has to be said that wlaw Southerners applauded any
potential expansion of the US as it presented the opportunity

(01:14:39):
to spread their quote unquote peculiar institution, and thus were
generally supportive of Walker's deeds in Central America, Walker himself
had made no pro savery acts or statements at this time.
In fact, his history was, if not anti slavery, at
the very least anti expansion of their peculiar institution. Indeed,
Walker multiple times had expressed his border the free Soul position,

(01:15:01):
where new American territories would be free and not slaveholding. Plus,
despite claims that his army of filibusters was composed primarily
of pro slavery Southerners, that was in fact not true. Instead,
only about a third of his known soldiers actually came
from slave holding states. Indeed, just as many of Walker's
philibusters were European immigrants, typically Irish and Germans, who were

(01:15:23):
looking to escape from the rise of the know Nothing
Party in the United States. Additionally, while Walker's soldiers were
predominantly white, there were a few African Americans, Native Americans,
and some who were potentially Mexican Americans in their ranks
as well. Indeed, one of Walker's highest ranking officers was
a man of mixed blood from Jamaica named Carlos Thomas.

(01:15:43):
Then there was Francisco Aguero Estrata of Cuba, a fifty
year old journalist who would become the Spanish editor of
Walker's propaganda paper. Notably, at the core of Estratas beliefs
was anti racism. Indeed, he had long shipping citizenship rights
for men of all races, including the slaved of Cuba,
a position which had caused Estrata to be critical of
Narcisso Lopez, for his refusing the aid of free blacks,

(01:16:06):
would attempted to join as filibuster ranks. Estrada then was
absolutely convinced that Walker's ought to make goal for Nicaragua
involved creating a land where non whites would have these
same rights as whites. Estrada also wasn't alone and believed
that Walker had lofty and progressive goals. In fact, one
of the primary pro Walker publications produced in the US

(01:16:27):
was written by one William Mulls, who was a part
of a famously abolitionist Boston family in the same vein.
A number of pro Walker rallies that were held in
the US would feature abolitionists who'd spend time in Nicaragua
following Walker's rise to power, individuals who could thus attest
to the fact that there had been no efforts to
expand slavery into that country. One such individual was Sarah Pellant,

(01:16:50):
the first woman to apply to Harvard University, with apply
being the critical word here, as she would be really
rejected by Harvard's president simply because she was a woman.
Sarah is also notable for wearing bloomers instead of traditional dresses,
a supreme actor rebellion in those days. Additionally, she was
also among those who argued for the use of arms
to liberate feted as slaves who had been captured in

(01:17:12):
northern States. In other words, she advocated for armed resistance
when slave catchers attempted to bring runaway slaves back to
their quote unquote masters, a stance which martyrs particularly radical,
and if you want more information on such efforts, see
my series on the Christiana Riot. Sarah would also, over
the years work with prominent anti savory activists, including Frederick

(01:17:32):
Douglass among others, most doubly for her purposes here though,
As to fact that Sarah had spent two months in
Nicaragua before leaving due to the impending coast a Reacan invasion.
It was at this point, then, upon returning to the States,
that she started giving speeches around the US, saying that
Walker and his men were there to spread democracy and
to Americanize Central America. She then described Walker not as

(01:17:54):
a pro slavery soldier, but as a free soil warrior
who had been invited there by the people of Nicaragua. Yet,
while the likes of Sarah Pellett were willing to vouch
for William Walker, it also has to be said that
there were abolitionists who also very much feared that Walker
was an agent for the slave power, if for no
other reason than his actions could lead to the annexation

(01:18:14):
of Cuba and various other Central American territories, which could
then be turned into slave states. Which is all to
say that if Walker were tubes some are down the
line all of a sudden do something like declear slavery
now legal Nicaragua, it would be quite the heel turn
and a surprise to many who had supported him and
his deeds. I'm pretty sure that's what you call foreshadowing.

(01:18:34):
In the meantime, though, Walker seemed to enjoy pretty significant
and wide ranging support in the United States, doing so
despite the fact that the American government had so far
refused to recognize the new Nicaraguan government that Walker had
helped to create. It was then somewhat surprising when President
Franklin Peers, whose Attorney general had previously called Walker a
quote monomaniac, buccaneer, robert and pirate seemingly out of nowhere

(01:18:58):
in May eighteen fifty s six, suddenly recognized the interim
Nicaraguan government and even went so far as to walcom
it's envoy, the influential Catholic priests Padre Gustin Vhil into
the White House. Now, this was, as you've probably guessed,
a purely political move on Pierce's part, as his Democratic
Party had suffered a series of crushing the feeds in
the eighteen fifty four and fifty five elections, which left

(01:19:21):
him facing a hard road to winning the party's nomination
again in the upcoming Democratic National convention that year. His
recognition of Walker's regime then was simply moved to a
psy Democrat voters, who in general were supportive of the
idea of continued expansion. Pierson was looking to a peace
The types of individuals who read and agreed with the
papers in the US then actively claimed that Walker and

(01:19:43):
his men had the right to seize foreign Land's quote
against the will of their owner, a position that may
sound extreme, but the fact of the matter was even
non Democrat papers at the time were hesitant to go
hard against Walker and his men due to the general
and widespread support they enjoyed, which they made the country's politicians,
even those who were against such expansion, arefraid to speak

(01:20:04):
out against him. Plas and he lead up to Vehill's arrival,
a series of circumstances in Central America had further tipped
the bounds towards supporting Walker. To begin with, messages between
the British and the Coast of Rican government revealed that
England had actively been trying to sell them weapons prior
to their invasion of Nicaragua, which was bad enough, But
then a British warship actually stopped a U S steamship

(01:20:26):
bound for Nicaragua in an attempt to prevent more filibusters
from heading down there, a singular event that was not
repeated in any form or fashion, but one which the
US papers made out to be part of an ongoing
war conducted by the old world monarchies against democracy, doing
so in spite of the fact that the current government
in Nicaragua had in no way been chosen by any

(01:20:48):
form of election. Additionally, there were also incidents involving coast
to Reacan troops during their invasion of Nicaragua, during which
they attacked some Americans traveling through the country, killing, among others,
for women and an in Then there was the ride
in Panama that was a result of four American travelers
getting drunk and starting a fight, a fight that then
eventually spiraled into a riot that fed on rivers at

(01:21:09):
The American travelers were pro Walker philibusters who were now
targeting Panama. This riot then resulted in the deaths of
two residents of Panama and some fifteen foreign travelers, incidents
which to the American public seemed to indicate that the
US government was not properly protecting their citizens who were
passing through these countries, thereby making Walker's control of Nicaragua

(01:21:30):
all that much more appealing, as they felt they could
trust him to keep American safe. Regardless, President Pierce's choice
to officially recognize the transitional government in Nicaragua had two
main effects. First, and served to provide a serious boost
for Walker's efforts to attract more Americans to emigrate down
to Nicaragua, as he now seemed to officially have the
government seal of approval on the flip side, though, this

(01:21:52):
move alarmed both the European and Latin American countries as
they saw this proof that the US was determined to
conquer the Western hemisphere. Given these developments, Walker was no
longer looked at as a lunatic with no actual governmental support. Instead,
he was now seen as a representative of the United
States and its true aims, with many seeing America's public

(01:22:12):
supporter of Walker's filibuster activities as evidence that they lost
all sensible rally and justice due to their insatiable lust
for more land. Indeed, this was something that critics of
Pierce's act would point out, with one American paper warning
that recognitional Walker's government was quote liable to be construed
as sanction of the spirit of wild and lawless adventure

(01:22:32):
that has already given us a bad name with the
peaceful part of the world. Even some members of the
US military saw Pierce's embrace of the new Nicaraguan government
as a mistake, as it made the US a bit
of a road nation for endorsing such a lawful pirate
like activity, as he was seemingly giving the residents of
the US free reign to go out and wage war
against any country, regardless of whether they were friend or foe. Indeed,

(01:22:55):
Lord Claardon, Great Britain's Foreign Minister, would declare quote that
national pirates is every day becoming a more formidable nuisance,
and there is no country which will not, in its turn,
be exposed to American insolence and encroachment unless the commercial
and dollar making classes there were made to feel that
their government will end by turning all mankind against them,

(01:23:15):
and there will be a universal lead to compel them
to observe the usages of civilized nations. Yet, while this
official recognition unquestionably affecting the United States standing on the
world stage, the American public was, of anything now even
more enamored and obsessed with William Walker and his actions.
In fact, there were even theater productions dedicated to him

(01:23:35):
and his adventures. This included the musical entitled Decaragua or
General Walker's Victories, a show which, in addition to reportedly
featuring some pretty prominent racist themes portrayed William Walker as
he quote gray eyed Man of Destiny. The musical was
also purported the show costa Rica's attempted quote war of extermination,

(01:23:56):
as well as the heroics of Walker and his men,
who were said to be the living in bodyment of
the quote hope of freedom as Walker's regime per This
play at least was dedicated to, among other things, women's rights,
a show which would be staged throughout the United States,
while songs were also written and performed about Walker in
his quote Sons of Freedom Meanwhon. During his time in America,

(01:24:19):
paj Vehill would meet with various liberal reformers like Elizabeth
Oaksmith and the aforementioned Sarah Pellett, women who were both
radical suffragists, abolitionists, and temperance advocates. All the while liberal
papers and magazines in the US would praise Walker for
spreading liberty and progress, again just illustrating how fully Walker
was embraced by radicals, progressives, and opponents of slavery, who

(01:24:41):
all saw him as being on their side. In fact,
Senator James Doolittle of Wisconsin and former Congressman Cassius Clay
from Kentucky would both support Walker's Nicaraguan government as a
part of their efforts to abolish slavery in the US.
As you see, their belief was white Americans would never
agree to abolish slavery if it men living side by
side with a bunch of newly freed black people. Therefore,

(01:25:03):
they proposed that the US should create a colony in
Central America where African Americans could move to, with the
idea being that once such a safety valve of sorts
was in place, they would be able to convince the
American public to agree to abolish slavery, something which they
likely never would have suggested had they believed that Walker
would ever do something like legalized slavery in Nicaragua. Oh hey,

(01:25:24):
there's a foreshadowing again. Meanwhile, backing Nicaragua, while it has
to be sent at William Walker's filibuster, army, whose ranks
had grown through the colonizing efforts, was to some degree
the power behind the throne that allowed Walker to maintain
his position. There is, however, evidence that suggests that Walker's
Nicaragua was very much a functioning state which was run
by Nicaragua officials with Nicaragua staffs Now Walker would definitely

(01:25:48):
attempt to recruit clerks and alike from Washington, individuals who
were familiar with the way the United States federal government
was run so as to bring their experience to Nicaragua.
As in Walker's opinion, while the men running the government
departments were often quote good accountants and businessmen, he believed
they could make the system run much more efficiently. By
and large, though, these States agencies were run by local Nicaraguans,

(01:26:11):
and even in the cases where the agencies had an
American in charge, they were often still dependent upon the
locals working with them. Meanwhile, the Walker administration was also
surprisingly successful, as the leaders of rural communities, including the
indigenous people of those lands, seemed to trusted Walker would
at least listen to their concerns, unlike other administrations had
in the past. It was and through the help of

(01:26:33):
a number of Nicaraguans and the indigenous people of the region,
the Walker's government was actually able to function beyond his
stronghold of Granada. It very much seemed then that Walker
hadn't gone to Nicaragua just to conquer and roll through
pure strength of arms. He actually seemed interested in running
a proper government and improving the lives of the people
living there, something which Walker's propaganda paper very much wanted

(01:26:54):
to press home, as it looked to separate Walker and
as filibusters from the Spanish concuisidors of centuries, as, according
to the paper, the Spanish had quote never thought to
enrich and beautify the country of their adoption by any
broad and liberal system of agriculture and manufacture. In contrast
to the conquisa or, the paper would claim that Walker
had come at the invitation of the people in Nicaragua

(01:27:15):
to help them develop their country's natural riches. Indeed, one
of Walker's government's primary goals was developing Nicaragua's coffee industry,
as they be lead it would become the region's main
agricultural export. In doing so, they looked to follow the
example of Costa Rica, which had already become the richest
country in the region, largely due to its own coffee production. Additionally,

(01:27:37):
they also wanted to encourage the growth of basic foodstuffs
like rice, corn, wheat, and beans, so as to feed
their burgeoning immigrant population. The government's first major project, however,
would involve building a new market in the heart of Granada,
which was a part of their efforts to modernize Nicaragua's
urban centers, an effort that saw Walker actively trying to
recruit quote unquote scientific men from the US in Europe,

(01:27:59):
ultimately badging to attract some engineers and surgeons to come
and aid their efforts. The interim government, which Walker very
much had a large say in, also from early on,
sought to rebuild various towns across the country that had
been destroyed during their civil war. Additionally, they also wanted
to rebuild roads which connect to some of their major
population centers, plus or plans to construct an aqueduct to

(01:28:20):
deliver fresh spring water to Granada to put an end
to their regular water shortage issues. Their greatest plants, however,
involved modernizing the nation's transportation system to make trans within
Nicaragua quicker and easier. This included constructing the long talked
about Canal, a plan that would shift somewhat in eighteen
fifty six, as it was decided that it would be

(01:28:40):
cheaper and easier to construct a railroad across the Isthmus,
which would provide faster transportation than ships traversing the canal.
To be clear, though, while Walker very much seemed intent
on quote unquote modernizing Nicaragua. It's not like the country
was exactly underdeveloped. After all, its export economy had grown
in leaps and bounds in recent years as locals had

(01:29:01):
taken advantage of the gold Rush as they not only
profited off the Americans traveling through their country, but they'd
also sold to the actually underdeveloped and unprepared California court
in other necessary supplies. Plus, it's not like the people
of Nicaragua were resistant in any way to the idea
of modernization. They were, after all, very much on board
with the idea of the Canal project and what it

(01:29:23):
would mean for their country and their economy. Walker and
his ambitious plans to improve and modernize that Garagua then
found a welcoming audience, as they very much seemed to
indicate that he wasn't some simple wannabe conqueror who was
just there to subjugate its people and stripp the region
of its wealth. The main problem, though, was for his
ambitious and potentially beneficial as these projects promised to be,

(01:29:44):
the Nicaraguan government didn't exactly have the funds to follow
through with them, as any one of these projects would
have been extremely expensive, which it has to be noted,
was in addition to the increased money they were spending
on their new expensive army, something that was a problem
because Nicaragua government, in part due to its reason civil
war and little to no money to speak of. Now. Granted,

(01:30:06):
they were able to increase the revenue somewhat just by
reforming the task collection system so that tax collectors were
no longer just keeping most of the money for themselves,
but still, that was really just a drop in the
proverbial bucket compared to what was needed for Walker's ambitious plans.
It was then, this need for more money and the
desire to bring more American connis to Nicaragua to aid

(01:30:27):
in his modernization efforts that would lead William Walker to
make a deal that would ultimately result in his own downfall,
as the deal in question would make Walker himself the
enemy of the second richest man in the United States,
a man whose wealth was only matched by his vindictiveness. However,
the story on that deal, its many consequences, and so
much more, will have to for now remain a story

(01:30:50):
for another time. Thank you for listening to Distorted History.
If you would like to help out, please rate and
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(01:31:10):
bucks a month, you will gain access to the special
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that information regardless. Once again, thank you for listening and
until next time,

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William Walker the man who would conquer Nicaragua Part 3 Winning Nicaragua

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