HONDURAS. 



381 



Gracias, and, the opposition party at home 

 taking advantage of his absence to overthrow 

 his administration, a revolution broke out, and 

 Arias was appointed Provisional President, 

 with the new cabinet already mentioned. 

 Arias issued proclamations advocating peace, 

 inasmuch as the only object of the war was to 

 free the people of Honduras from the tyranny 

 of Medina. 



A convention was soon afterward called, for 

 the purpose of forming a new constitution. 



War commenced, and General Medina's 

 principal army was defeated at Comayagua, 

 on the 27th and 28th of May. It was thought 

 that the campaign was at an end, and General 

 Espinoza, who commanded the San-Salvador 

 contingent of the army, was preparing to re- 

 turn home, having sent forward his wounded 

 and part of his equipage as far as Lamani, 

 when news was brought to him that General 

 Medina was again in the field, and orders to re- 

 tain in Honduras the forces of his division until 

 the despotic administration of President Medina 

 was entirely destroyed. The Provisional Presi- 

 dent of Honduras then appointed General Es- 

 pinoza as commander-in-chief of the army of 

 Honduras, who, in consequence, gave orders 

 for the commencement of a new campaign 

 against Medina. The latter was then in Omoa, 

 where he had succeeded in getting up a force 

 composed of filibusters and negroes from the 

 islands of the bay, amounting to about 400 

 men, and had sent General Miranda to occupy 

 Santa Barbara, and unite with Chanona and 

 Araujo. General Espinoza, aware of all this, 

 waited until Medina should proceed into the 

 interior of the republic in order to cut off his 

 retreat. As soon as General Espinoza was in- 

 formed that Medina had left the Castle of 

 Omoa, and arrived at the Potrerillos, he sent 

 orders to his second in command, General 

 Juan Antonio Medina, who was with a part of 

 the division in Tegucigalpa, to form a union 

 with him. This having been accomplished, 

 General Juan Antonio Medina was directed to 

 take the road of Santa Cruz, and General 

 Espinoza, with the rest of the force, took 

 that of Santa Barbara by Siguatepeque. Af- 

 ter having made these movements from the 

 capital, General Espinoza encamped at Trini- 

 dad, some six leagues distant from where 

 Miranda had fortified himself. A few days 

 afterward, it was reported that General Me- 

 dinilla occupied Santa Cruz, after ex-Presi- 

 dent Jose M. Medina had left that town and 

 had gone, with his equipments, to Lake Yojoa, 

 where he embarked, and united his forces with 

 those of General Miranda in San Jose. Medi- 

 nilla continued his march toward the Castle of 

 Omoa, according to orders. About this time, 

 General Espinoza was informed by one of his 

 scouts that a contingent of recruits would pass 

 through Jesus de Otoro to join the forces of 

 ex-President Medina. He immediately sent 

 50 men in charge of some officers to intercept 

 that party. They had to pass through a forest, 



under a heavy rain, night and day, and arrived 

 at Jesus de Otoro only to find out that the re- 

 cruits had already passed, under the command 

 of an officer named Mejia. They at once pro- 

 ceeded to the town of San Rafael, where they 

 overtook the recruits, dispersed them, and 

 took possession of their mules, horses, arms, 

 etc. 



After some days of encampment in front of 

 the enemy's po'sition, General Espinoza being 

 informed that Medina and Miranda had left 

 San Jose, he immediately marched after them, 

 and took up his position on the heights of 

 Seguaca, about three leagues from Santa 

 Barbara, where the enemy had encamped. 

 While there, General Espinoza received a let- 

 ter, dated July 24th, from ex-President Medina, 

 advising him and the Provisional President of 

 Honduras, Setter Arias, 'that on the 16th in- 

 stant another Provisional Government had 

 been inaugurated by General Medinita in 

 Omoa, with Messrs. Gomez, Bogran, and Leiva, 

 as ministers ; also that Medinita had left with 

 three schooners to take possession of the port 

 of Trujillo, but would soon return. "If," adds 

 the ex-President, " you could have a conference 

 with me, perhaps we might avoid bringing on 

 this unhappy country so many evils, especially 

 with the assistance of Seflor Arias." The let- 

 ter further added : " Let it not be understood 

 by this that I have any idea of giving up my 

 authority. The people are flocking to my 

 standard." 



General Espinoza did not answer this note 

 the next day, regarding it as a military strata- 

 gem. He ordered two cannons to be fired 

 during the night, which brought to his aid the 

 forces of General Ororo and Marshal Solares. 

 Next day he refused the proposed conference, 

 and, in union with the forces of the two gen- 

 erals just mentioned, marched on the enemy. 

 After a short but fierce struggle of six hours, 

 the forces of the ex-President gave way. The 

 victors remained with two mitrailleuses, sixty 

 prisoners, rifles of different kinds, etc. The 

 pursuit was kept up with one hundred men 

 under General Castro. 



On the 7th of August General Espinoza was 

 apprised that the party he had sent out had 

 captured the ex-President, but that Gomez, 

 Medinilla, Arango, and Miranda, had escaped. 

 This report was, however, unfounded, for Me- 

 dilla gave himself up to Colonel Razcon, and 

 was sent to the capital of Guatemala. The 

 troops under the command of General Espi- 

 noza returned to Comayagua, and surrendered 

 all they had captured to the Provisional Gov- 

 ernment of Senor Arias. 



A Honduras journal, treating of this revolu- 

 tion, remarks that Medina had been too hasty 

 in taking his decision ; that he declared war 

 before he was prepared for it, and that he had 

 relied also upon receiving arms and aid from 

 Costa Rica, which republic left him entirely 

 unassisted when he most needed its help. 



The national independence was celebrated 



