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CAMPAÑA NACIONAL (FILIBUSTER WAR), Costa Rica. 1856-1857. Military payment certificate (152x109mm). Issued by the Comandancia General de Armas. Dated 7 November 1856. Folds, minor staining, slightly irregular edge. EF.
The 1850s saw the nation of Nicaragua fractured by civil war. The liberal Democratic Party, in it's attempt to oust the conservative Legitimists, found outside help in the form of the American adventurer William Walker. Arriving from San Francisco with a small company of men in May 1855, by September Walker's forces had subdued the Legitimists and captured the capital. Far from turning the country over to the liberals, Walker instead ruled the country through a puppet president. The filibuster soon declared himself president, following a rigged election, and embarked on an aggressive program of Americanization, making English the official language and re-introducing slavery.
Nicaragua's neighbors, particularly Costa Rica, would not abide this situation. In early 1856, forces under Hungarian-born Colonel Louis Schlessinger invaded, handing Walker's army several defeats. Though fighting would rage back and forth, the morale of the invaders waned. On 1 May 1857, William Walker surrendered – not to the Nicaraguans, not to the Costa Ricans, but to the United States Navy. He returned to a hero's welcome in New York.
The 1850s saw the nation of Nicaragua fractured by civil war. The liberal Democratic Party, in it's attempt to oust the conservative Legitimists, found outside help in the form of the American adventurer William Walker. Arriving from San Francisco with a small company of men in May 1855, by September Walker's forces had subdued the Legitimists and captured the capital. Far from turning the country over to the liberals, Walker instead ruled the country through a puppet president. The filibuster soon declared himself president, following a rigged election, and embarked on an aggressive program of Americanization, making English the official language and re-introducing slavery.
Nicaragua's neighbors, particularly Costa Rica, would not abide this situation. In early 1856, forces under Hungarian-born Colonel Louis Schlessinger invaded, handing Walker's army several defeats. Though fighting would rage back and forth, the morale of the invaders waned. On 1 May 1857, William Walker surrendered – not to the Nicaraguans, not to the Costa Ricans, but to the United States Navy. He returned to a hero's welcome in New York.