GUATEMALA. 



411 



dictatorship that he had usurped, and ordered 

 the mobilization of the Guatemalan forces. On 

 July 17, before there was any declaration of war, 

 the steamer " Colima " of the Pacific Mail line, 

 was stopped at the port of San Jose de Guate- 

 mala, and arms and ammunition that had been 

 shipped from San Francisco to Salvador were 

 seized as contraband by the Guatemalan Govern- 

 ment, on the ground that carrying munitions 

 was a violation of the contract between the Gov- 

 ernment and the American steamship company. 

 Gen. Gregorio Solares was appointed commander- 

 in-chief of the forces on the* frontier. The Sal- 

 vadorian troops were concentrated on the Rio 

 Paz, which forms the boundary, almost as quickly 

 as the Guatemalan army of Gen. Fuentes, which 

 encamped near Chalchuapa. An aide-de-camp 

 was sent to the Salvadorian commander, Gen. 

 Ezeta, brother of the President, with an ultima- 

 tum demanding his consent to the ratification of 

 the proposed union of the five republics, and a 

 meeting of representatives of those states, at 

 Tegucigalpa, on Aug. 20. Gen. Ezeta replied 

 that Salvador was a sovereign state and knew 

 how to act without foreign intervention. Gen. 

 Barillas then ordered a part of his troops to cross 

 the frontier without a formal declaration of war, 

 to assist the rebels against Ezeta. Owing to the 

 internecine struggle in Salvador, effective resist- 

 ance was not anticipated. It was even hoped 

 that a military demonstration on the frontier 

 would be sufficient to enable Ezeta's enemies 

 to overthrow him. The aid of Honduras was 

 counted upon, and declarations of adhesion to 

 the union were issued by persons pretending to 

 represent Costa Rica and Nicaragua. The men 

 who held the power in the latter countries sym- 

 pathized rather with Ezeta's party, and were de- 

 termined, if possible, to remain neutral. Ezeta 

 developed unexpected strength, and was able to 

 mass on the border a considerable body of the 

 most soldierly and best-disciplined troops in 

 Central America, while Barillas, whose despotic 

 rule and reputed dishonesty have made him 

 many enemies in Guatemala, was afraid to de- 

 ploy his best troops against Ezeta, being equally 

 threatened with risings in the rear. On July 1*7 

 Gen. Villavicensio, commanding a force com- 

 posed of Salvadorian rebels, his countrymen, 

 and Guatemalan troops, who were sent across 

 the border to his aid, was beaten. Gen. Fuen- 

 tes then crossed the river and intrenched him- 

 self on Salvadorian territory. On July 18 the 

 Guatemalan troops, estimated at 9,000, were 

 driven from their position with heavy loss, leav- 

 ing a part of their artillery and ammunition. 

 President Bogran, of Honduras, proclaimed an 

 alliance with Guatemala, and permitted Gen. 

 Rivas, a Salvadorian officer, who had been sum- 

 moned to fight against Guatemala, to raise 2,000 

 mercenaries for the invasion of Salvador. About 

 the same time Gen. Barrundia, a Guatemalan ex- 

 ile, entered the northern district of Guatemala 

 from Mexico for the purpose of raising the 

 standard of revolt against Barillas. On July 

 20 persons claiming to represent the wishes o'f 

 the people of all the republics issued a manifesto 

 from the capital of Guatemala, calling upon 

 Gen. Ezeta to relinquish the presidency of Sal- 

 vador and restore the legal order. The Salvador 

 insurgents and their Guatemalan allies were de- 



feated in a third sanguinary engagement, and 

 driven from their intrenched position, abandon- 

 ing their guns. Gen. Ezeta's army followed 

 them into Guatemalan territory, and Gen. Baril- 

 las, who claimed to have committed no act of 

 hostility hitherto, on July 23 formally declared 

 war in a proclamation, stating that he had lo- 

 cated troops on the frontier for the purpose of 

 preserving peace and order, which were threat- 

 ened by the disturbed condition of Salvador, and 

 that the forces of Salvador had invaded the na- 

 tional territory, notwithstanding his protesta- 

 tions of peace and efforts to maintain it, and in 

 different ways had unjustly provoked the people 

 of Guatemala. Severe engagements were fought 

 at Atescatempa, Coatepegue, and Chingo, in 

 which the Guatemalans sustained the heaviest 

 losses. They became demoralized, being dissatis- 

 fied with the new officers who were placed over 

 them, and at Coco they were routed, leaving 

 their artillery on the field. The losses on both 

 sides already amounted to more than 1,000 men. 

 One Salvadorian column, under Gen. Martinez, 

 defeated Gen. Solares and advanced on Jutiapa, 

 while Gen. Antonio Ezeta invaded the Depart- 

 ment of Chiquimula, driving back the force of 

 Gen. Teller, after having returned to San Salva- 

 dor and defeated Gen. Rivas, who had seized the 

 artillery barracks. Gen. Bogran, the President 

 of Honduras, was suspected of a plan to invade 

 Salvador in support of the movement of Rivas ; 

 but when that was crushed and the Guatemalan 

 dictator was seen to be unable to concentrate a 

 force sufficient to withstand the victorious ad- 

 vance of the Salvador columns, he followed the 

 example of the rulers of Nicaragua and Costa 

 Rica, and on Aug. 4, on receiving an assurance 

 that Gen. Ezeta would convene a Constitutional 

 Congress at -the earliest possible date to elect a 

 permanent President, issued a proclamation rec- 

 ognizing Ezeta as Provisional President of Salva- 

 dor. The Costa Rican Congress voted to defer 

 the final consideration of the union compact of 

 the Central American states that was signed at 

 San Salvador in October, 1889, until the month 

 of September, 1891. President Bogran sent 

 notes to the presidents of the other republics 

 suggesting the advisability of postponing the 

 consideration of the treaty of union till after 

 the hostilities between Salvador and Guatemala 

 were ended. President Sacasa, of Costa Rica, 

 and President Rodriguez, of Nicaragua, approved 

 the postponement, informing him that at the in- 

 tended meeting of delegates in Tegucigalpa, on 

 Aug. 20, the representatives of their Govern- 

 ments would be instructed against discussing a 

 treaty of union. 



On Aug. 1 Gen. Santiago Contreras, with 1,800 

 men, surprised the Guatemalan artillery corps, 

 numbering about the same, which was command- 

 ed by Col. Barrera, Gen. Cayetano Sanchez having 

 been recalled to fortify the capital. The attack 

 was made in the night, and resulted in the rout 

 of the artillerymen, who left 11 guns in the ene- 

 my's hands and 400 dead on the field. The Guate- 

 malans being re-enforced by additional troops, 

 Gen. Contreras intrenched himself at Santa Bar- 

 bara, within 40 miles of the capital of Guatemala. 

 A new revolution broke out in the eastern part of 

 Guatemala, headed by Gen Alfonso Irungaray, 

 the son of a general who was banished by Barfl- 



