Tomorrow is Battle of San Jacinto Day in Nicaragua.
It commemorates an important military victory that took place on this day in 1856. This holiday is always followed by Nicaragua Independence Day on September 15th, creating a two-day break.
William Walker was an American who organized private military expeditions into Latin America. He wanted to establish English-speaking colonies under his control. Walker and his followers were known as “filibusters”. Taking advantage of a civil war in Nicaragua, Walker and a modest force of 38 troops, conquered the key city of Granada and took control of the country in April 1956. His rule was even recognized as legitimate by the then U.S. President, Franklin Pierce.
The Battle of San Jacinto took place on the September 14th 1856 in Hacienda San Jacinto, Managua, Nicaragua between 160 soldiers of the Legitimist Septemtrion Army led by Colonel José Dolores Estrada versus 300 of Walker’s filibusters. The filibusters were defeated by Colonel Estrada after four hours of combat.
While the victory did not defeat Walker, it was the first significant victory for the legitimists and would prove to be the beginning of the end of the reign of the usurper. A coalition of Central American armies finally ousted Walker from power in May 1857. He was arrested and repatriated to the U.S.
Andrés Castro knocking down a filibuster invader in the Battle of San Jacinto during the War of 1856 in Nicaragua. Image by Luis Vergara Ahumada
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Today is the birthday, in 1942, of Randy Jones, from American disco group The Village People. They had the hit singles ‘Macho Man’, ‘In the Navy’, ‘Go West and the 1978 US No.2 hit ‘YMCA’. He was the ‘cowboy’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CS9OO0S5w2k
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