| Conflict: | Filibuster War |
| Date: | 1 June 1855 – 5 May 1857 |
| Place: | Costa Rica
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| Result: | Central American alliance victory
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| Combatant1: | Filibusters Nicaraguan Liberals |
| Combatant2: | Allied Central American Army (Ejército Aliado Centroamericano)
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| Commander1: |
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| Commander2: | |
| Strength1: | 5,213 mercenaries (1855–1857) |
| Strength2: | 2,500 men (Costa Rica) 4,000 men (Ejército Aliado Centroamericano) |
| Casualties1: | 1,000 killed[3] |
| Casualties2: | 1,202 killed[4] 9,615 soldiers and civilians dead by cholera outbreak[5] |
The Filibuster War or Walker affair was a military conflict between filibustering multinational troops stationed in Nicaragua and a coalition of Central American armies. An American mercenary, William Walker, invaded Nicaragua in 1855 with a small private army. He seized control of the country by 1856, but was ousted the following year.
Nicaragua's independence from Spain, Mexico, and then from the United Provinces of Central America in 1838[6] did not free it from foreign interference.
The 1850s California Gold Rush created interest in the United States in finding a quicker route between the American east and west coasts. However, Great Britain had long been present on the coast of Nicaragua, which created tension between the two countries. The Clayton–Bulwer Treaty was signed in 1850, in which both sides "agreed that neither would claim exclusive power over a future canal in Central America nor gain exclusive control over any part of the region." Many Nicaraguans originally welcomed this treaty because of the potential financial benefits a canal could bring.
Following Nicaraguan independence from Spain, a conflict over power developed between the liberal party, based in León, and the conservative party, based in Granada.
In 1854, a civil war erupted in Nicaragua between the Legitimist Party (also called the 'Conservative party'), and the Democratic Party (also called the 'Liberal party'). The liberal elite of León was losing the struggle to unseat the conservative elite of Granada and turned for help to a San Francisco-based soldier of fortune named William Walker. Walker was known as an adventurer who sought to take control of Latin American countries with the purpose of making them a part of the United States.
To circumvent American neutrality laws, Walker obtained a contract from Democratic president Francisco Castellón to bring as many as three hundred "colonists" to Nicaragua. Walker sailed from San Francisco on 3 May 1855, with approximately 60 men. Upon landing, the force was reinforced by 170 locals and about 100 Americans.[7]
With Castellón's consent, Walker attacked the Legitimists in the town of Rivas, near the trans-isthmian route. He was driven off, but not without inflicting heavy casualties. On 4 September, during the Battle of La Virgen, Walker defeated the Legitimist army. On 13 October, he conquered the Legitimist capital of Granada and took effective control of the country. Initially, as commander of the army, Walker ruled Nicaragua through puppet President Patricio Rivas. U.S. President Franklin Pierce recognized Walker's regime as the legitimate government of Nicaragua on 20 May 1856.
Walker declared himself president, re-instituted slavery, and made English the official language.
Walker had scared his neighbors with talk of further military conquests in Central America. Juan Rafael Mora, President of Costa Rica, rejected Walker's diplomatic overtures and instead declared war on his regime. Walker sent Colonel Schlessinger to invade Costa Rica in a preemptive action, but his forces were defeated at the Battle of Santa Rosa in March 1856. In April 1856, Costa Rican troops penetrated into Nicaraguan territory and inflicted a defeat on Walker's men at the Second Battle of Rivas, in which Juan Santamaría, later to be recognized as one of Costa Rica's national heroes, sacrificed himself to burn down the place where the Filibusters were staying. Walker set himself up as President of Nicaragua, after conducting an uncontested election. He was inaugurated on 12 July 1856, and soon launched an Americanization program, reinstating slavery, declaring English an official language and reorganizing currency and fiscal policy to encourage immigration from the United States of America.
Meanwhile, government representatives from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala signed in the City of Guatemala a Treaty of Alliance on 18 July 1856, for "defense of its sovereignty and independence" also recognized Patricio Rivas as president of Nicaragua. Costa Rica could not attend at that time to the alliance because of the havoc that cholera disease had caused in their troops, but would resume actions later. Also, democratic and loyalist factions allied to Patricio Rivas, signed on 12 September, a "Providential Pact" declaring war against William Walker. On 14 September, Septentrión Army (as the allied army was called) forces managed the first victory of the patriotic Nicaraguans in the so-called Battle of San Jacinto.[8]
By the end of 1856, Walker ordered the destruction of Granada.
The Costa Rican government resumed action in late 1856, and developed plans to take over the San Juan River in order to cut Walker's supply of weapons and new recruits. Cornelius Vanderbilt sent one of his agents, Sylvanus Spencer, to collaborate with the Costa Rican army in order to recover the possession of the Transit Company he had lost to Walker. Spencer arrived to San Jose in November 1856 and was assigned to a company under Major Maximo Blanco to take over the steamers of the Transit Company. By January 1857, the Costa Rican army was in control of the San Juan River and all the steamers of the Transit Company.
Meanwhile, Walker was expelled from Granada by the rest of the allied armies. Some reinforcements under the command of Lockridge and Titus tried to recover the control of the River from the Costa Ricans, unsuccessfully. By April 1857, Walker had taken Rivas again, and the allies had laid siege to the city, in what became known as the Third Battle of Rivas.
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Honduras, and other Central American countries united to drive Walker out in 1857.[9] During this time, Granada was burned and thousands of Central Americans lost their lives. The final battle of what Nicaraguans called the "National War" (1856–1857) took place in the spring of 1857 in the town of Rivas, Nicaragua. Walker beat off the attacks, but the effort diminished the strength and morale of his forces and he soon succumbed.
The National War made for the cooperation between the Liberal and Conservative parties, which had brought Walker to Nicaragua. On 1 May 1857, Walker surrendered to Commander Charles Henry Davis of the United States Navy and was repatriated. Upon disembarking in New York City, he was greeted as a hero, but he alienated public opinion when he blamed his defeat on the U.S. Navy.
Nicaragua
Costa Rica
Honduras
Guatemala
El Salvador
United States