NICARAGUA. 



531 



for election drew near he saw that coeici\e 

 nil-nils were necessary to accomplUh Ids object. 

 In August, 1891, he arrested and exiled some of 

 i In- most prominent nn-ii in the country, in- 

 cluding Ex-President Zavala, and in a fight re- 

 sulting from his arbitrary prom-dings Jose" 

 and other well-known citizens wore killed. 

 These acts made him exceedingly unpopular, 

 hut he succeeded in being elected by the means 

 commonly used, drafting men opposed to him 

 into the army to deprive them of their votes and 

 releasing those who would vote for him, making 

 wholesale promises of patronage and contracts, 

 Inning up or suppressing newspapers, and 

 exiling the leaders of the opposition. After his 

 election the era of extravagance and jobbery 

 was begun. Railroad concessions were granted 

 merely to give employment to partisans. Con- 

 tracts were awarded to favorites and relatives 

 for all kinds of unnecessary work and supplies, 

 for example, to furnish wood to the national 

 railroad in quantities sufficient to last a score of 

 years. The treasury was soon depleted, and 

 then friends of the President were commissioned 

 to negotiate loans, the largest part of which 

 is said to have gone into their own pockets. 

 Finally the treasury became bankrupt and the 

 Government was unable to pay the railroad 

 and other employees. It obtained $400,000 

 from the Bank of Nicaragua, mortgaging the 

 national railroad for the loan and paying ex- 

 orbitant interest, expunging for the purpose the 

 clause in the bank's charter fixing a legal rate. 



The indignation roused by these proceedings 

 at last drove the leaders of the numerous parties 

 to unite for the overthrow of Sacaza. Joaquin 

 Zavala took the lead, having at his back a large 

 section of the Progressist Conservatives. With 

 these were leagued the Iglesieros or Clericals 

 and the Liberals under the leadership of Santos 

 Zelaya, both strong in Sacaza's own province. 

 In March the Government seized a large quantity 

 of arms that were secreted in the city of Leon 

 and arrested Ex-Minister Duarte and Col. 

 Anastacio Ortiz. The revolution begun in the 

 city of Grenada, the headquarters of the Pro- 

 gressists, where the barracks were seized by the 

 insurgents on April 28, 1893. Masaya was also 

 seized at the same time. In both places the 

 garrisons surrendered without resistance. This 

 was followed by the occupation of Matagalpa, 

 Rivas, Jinotepe, Chantelos, and San Juan del 

 Sur, and afterward of the forts on the San Juan 

 river and Greytown, the eastern entrance of the 

 Nicaragua Canal. The bishop, supported by the 

 best citizens of Leon and Chinandega, the only 

 departments that Sacaza still held, requested 

 him to resign and let the strife be ended by a 

 presidential election, but he refused decidedly. 

 The whole eastern and southern part of the 

 country had risen against the President, and his 

 troops surrendered everywhere without a blow, 

 while he was confined to the northwestern corner. 

 Senators and Deputies in the capital suspected 

 "! s\ mpathizing with the rebellion were thrown 

 into prison unless they sought an asylum in the 

 foreign legations and consulates. Ex-President 

 < '.-mlcnas found such an asylum after ec pin g 

 from prison. The troops that remained loyal 

 out of the army of 10,000 still outnumbered the 

 forces raised by the revolutionists; but Zavi-.la, 



having behind him the wealthy men, and b-ing 

 able to draw supplies from tin- principal part* 

 of the country, soon got his men into better 

 physical and moral condition than tin- spirit- 

 less forced levies on whom Sacaza had to de- 

 pend. The revolutionists organized a Pr</\i-- 

 lonal Government, of which Santiago Morales 

 was President, and Zavala, the real head, while 

 Eduardo Montrel was made commander-in- 

 ch icf. Sacaza withdrew his troops from Leon 

 and other points to the capital and raised a 

 forced loan of $600,000 to carry on the war. 

 The revolutionists seized the steamboats of the 

 Nicaragua Canal Company on Lake Nicaragua, 

 which enabled them to concentrate at Grenada, 

 whence they advanced upon the capital. To 

 supplement the rifles and cannon captured in 

 the Government forts by Gen. Gutierrez and 

 Col. Malaver, Gatling guns and other arms and 

 ammunition were obtained in New York and in- 

 troduced through Greytown and the San Juan 

 river. The armies confronted each other near 

 Masaya, where the revolutionists occupied strong 

 strategic positions. They had about 2,000 men, 

 with 2 Krupp cannon, 5 brass field pieces, and 

 some machine guns. The Government had over 

 3,000 men with 6 Krupp guns. Several unim- 

 portant engagements had been fought in which 

 the rebels were successful. President Sacaza 

 made himself more unpopular by treating 

 prisoners cruelly, while his adversaries uniformly 

 acted with humanity. They were unable to arm 

 more than a quarter of the volunteers who pre- 

 sented themselves, and were able thus to select 

 an army of the best material and hold back a re- 

 serve equal to the force that was in the field. 

 On May 19 the Government troops attacked the 

 intrenched position of the revolutionists at 

 Barranca. The battle was fought mainly with 

 artillery, and the Krupp guns of the Govern- 

 ment, though commanded by an experienced 

 French officer, were badly served, while the 

 rebel batterj', well posted on Coyetepe hill, made 

 terrible havoc, though firing only 60 shots to 

 240 from the other side. Supported by its 

 batteries, the Government column advanced 

 twice toward the position of the enemy, and was 

 twice broken ana forced to turn back by the 

 destructive raking fire of the rebel artillery. 

 The object of the Government was to gain 

 possession of Barranca pass, through which 

 the railroad runs and from which roads lead 

 to various parts of the eastern country. The 

 battle was renewed on May 20. After open- 

 ing with a cannonade, the Government troops. 

 1,300 strong, advanced courageously in the face 

 of an artillery fire and attempted to storm the 

 rebel position at Barranca pass, but were re- 

 pelled with heavy loss. Reforming, a detach- 

 ment, for a diversion, attacked the enemy on the 

 Tisna road, and later another concentrated at- 

 tack was delivered against the main position of 

 the revolutionists, which met with no better 

 success. By the middle of the afternoon the 

 victory of the revolutionists was complete and 

 the Government forces retreated in disorder, 

 having lost nearly half their miml>er by battle 

 and desertion. Tnere were 155 killed and W! 

 wounded, while the revolutionists lost only 12 

 killed and 8 wounded, most of them officers. 

 The Government had 2,500 troops in the battle 



