Battle of Santa Rosa (1856)
The Battle of Santa Rosa ( Spanish : Batalla de Santa Rosa ) on March 20, 1856 was a skirmish between a battalion of William Walker's filibuster troops and a battalion of the Costa Rican national army on the Hacienda Santa Rosa in what is now the Costa Rican province of Guanacaste . The Flibustiere were defeated and fled demoralized back to Nicaragua .
Strategic situation
After William Walker had established a puppet government under President Patricio Rivas in Nicaragua , in which he acted as commander in chief of the armed forces, the Costa Rican President Juan Rafael Mora Porras decided to set up a national army and on March 11, 1856, declared war on the Flibustians.
Walker, who feared that the Costa Rican troops could interrupt the transcontinental route San Juan del Sur - Rivas - La Virgen , which is immensely important for the survival of his regime in Nicaragua (see Nicaragua Canal ), he dispatched Colonel Schlessinger with a battalion to Costa Rica, in order to disrupt the approach of the Costa Ricans as deep as possible in the enemy territory.
The armed forces
The multi-ethnic Flibustier battalion consisted of four companies of 70 men, which in turn were ethnically structured. Two companies under Captains Thorpe and Creighton consisted of North Americans and Irish , one company under Captain Prange of Germans , and another company under Captain Legeay of French . Commander of the battalion was Louis Schlessinger (actually Ludwig Schlesinger, * 1827 Großkanisza / Hungary , † approx. 1900 Guatemala ), who was entrusted with the command by Walker because he spoke English, French, Spanish and German .
The Costa Rican expedition army to Nicaragua consisted almost exclusively of militiamen and comprised a good 3500 men including a train of cavalry and two pieces of artillery . In order to ward off a feared incursion by Walker's troops in the port of Puntarenas , Colonel Baron Alexander von Bülow (born June 24, 1801 Dresden , † May 4, 1856 Liberia ) was dispatched to the port with 300 men. The army's vanguardia , a good 1000 men under the leadership of General José Joaquín Mora, a brother of the President, marched ahead of the army in the direction of Liberia .
The battle
-_Hacienda_of_Santa_Rosa,_Costa_Rica,_scene_of_Schlessinger%27s_defeat_(Mar._19_LCCN99614144.jpg)
Schlessinger's troops, allegedly poorly armed, undisciplined and without joint training, marched south from San Juan del Sur on March 16, 1856. The road conditions were catastrophic; in addition, the troops were weakened by the tropical temperatures at the height of summer. On March 20, around 1 p.m., the battalion arrived at the Santa Rosa hacienda, which is on the way to the Costa Rican capital, San José .
General Mora was evidently informed of the approach of the Flibustier troops through his intelligence . He formed four divisions from the vanguard: an attack column of 280 men, another of 200 men to cut off Schlessinger's retreat, and a reserve of 200 men and a platoon of cavalry to cover his own retreat if necessary.
Since Schlessinger had apparently neither carried out extensive reconnaissance nor set up enough guards, the battalion, which was billeted in the hacienda and its corrales, completely tired, was surprised by the attack by the Costa Rican troops. After Schlessinger's order to the German and French companies to take rear positions was interpreted by them as an order to withdraw, the defense collapsed suddenly and completely; after 15 minutes the battle was over.
consequences
On the side of the Costa Ricans, 4 officers and 15 soldiers died and 32 were wounded. Twenty-seven men died on the side of the Flibusti; "Many" of the wounded are said to have died while in retreat. (Soto, p. 59) 20 mercenaries were captured, tried in a court-martial in Liberia and sentenced to death by shooting; one defendant was pardoned by President Mora. The death sentences were carried out on March 25, 1856. Among the executed were 5 Germans, 5 Irish, 3 North Americans, 2 Greeks , 1 English, 1 French, 1 Italian and 1 Panamanian .
Schlessinger's troops returned to Nicaragua, partly without weapons and completely demolished. His officers accused him of incompetence and cowardice. He was brought before a court martial, charged with desertion and sentenced to death; however, the convict managed to escape. The German and French companies were disbanded and all mercenaries who did not speak the English language were released from the Flibustier army. (Walker, pp. 187, 195)
Culture of remembrance
The former hacienda is now the Museo Histórico Casona de Santa Rosa , which houses, among other things, a diorama of the battle.
literature
- Frederic Rosengarten, Jr .: Freebooters must! The Life and Death of William Walker, the Most Notorious Soldier of Fortune of the Nineteenth Century. Haverford House, Wayne, PA 1976, ISBN 0-910702-01-2 .
- Alejandro Bolaños Geyer: William Walker. El Predestinado. MISS, Saint Charles 1992, ISBN 1-877926-06-X .
- William Walker: The War in Nicaragua. ALA, Mobile 1860. (Reprint Tucson, The University of Arizona Press 1985, ISBN 0-8165-0882-8 , p. 315ff)
- Marco A. Soto V .: Guerra Nacional de Centroamérica. Editorial del Ministro de Educacion Publica, Ciudad Guatemala 1957.