The Sun.
London, England, 1848-04-29 00:00:00

SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 29

THE EXPEDITION

AGAINST

SAN JUAN DE NICARAGUA.
OFFICIAL DISPATCHES.
(From the Gazette of last night.)
Admiralty, April 28, 1848.-
Dispatches, of which the following are extracts or
copies, have bean received at this office :—.
• (No. 45.), - -•
" Vindictive, at Jamaica, March 54`1848.'
" Sir—With referencato my letter, No. 42, of the Ist
instant; reporting the departure of her hisjesti's ships
Alarm and Vixen for Blewsfields. to consult' with hd.i
Majesty's Consul-General and Agent, as to the best
means of obtaining redress from. the 'Nicaraguan Go-
vernment for the insults and outrages therein mentioned,
and to obtain the release of two British subjects, carried
~it' from San. Juan by Colonel Sales, of the Nicaraguan
army, I have the honour to transmit herewith, to be laid
-
before the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty. a copy
tfdaa diPyaterbec' dated the 21st February, which I have
this) received from Captain G. G. Loch, of the
Alarm, reporting that the ships arrived at Blewfields -on
the sth of that month, and Mr. Walker having been em•
'barked, according to his request, they proceeded on the
7th for San Juan, where they arrived on the following
day.
As the nearest,Nicaragtian settlement was at Sera-
journey, Captain; Locli,".aecompanieci .133 c
'paqui, about thirty miles up the river, which from the
strength of the current and various.rapids, is generally
own boat, proceeded to that place Rugg
With a force of 260 men in twelve boats„ and after a most,
fatiguing pull of seventy-two hoots, anchored on the'
his
s-re that the melancholy death of Mr. Walker
he was unfortunately drowned whilst attempt.-
diav;e the life of a friend who had accompanied him
ea four
Walker 4,
uiinrt gwd jaoan:sleh the ll th near the spot;
ioinncgchuitribesoat, and had fallen overboard in the night. They
both lost their lives.
On the morning of the 12th the expedition got
under weigh, and proceeded towards the fort, where it
had been ascertained that Colonel Salas was command
ing nifieer. On nearing it, Captain Loch and Com-
mander Ryder pushed ahead in their. gigs, in order to
state the object, of her Majesty's forces beii g in the
river ; but no sooner were they seen than they were
fired at,, both by cannon and small arms. As this act
effectually prevented any peaceahla arrangements, boats
were at once brought up, and after an hour and a half's
pull against the. rapid tide to reach thq landing place,
during which the crews were exposed to a very heavy
ft-I'e from t-fahiadei of 'the
.riyer,, they effected they,
ohjeet;atid ii,rietitttgu rtronlis fled at. once, when
Captain Loch totally destroyed,the fort, and threw all-
the arms into the river-
" The loss on our side amounted to two . killed, and
one officer and 12 seamen, marines, and soldiers wounded,
a list of which is inclosed.
" I have to express my admiration of the great
gallantry, zeal, and periaverance displayed by Captain
Loch and the officers and men of both services employed
under his orders on the occasion —I
(Signed) oF. W. AUSTEN, Vice-Admiral.

" To -the Secretary of the Admiralty."
" Fort Saint Carlos, Nicaragua, Feb. 21, 1848.
" Sir,—ln pursuance.of your instructions, and in ac-
cordance with the wishes of her Majesty's late agent
and Coniul-teneral, Mr. Walker, I haie the honour to
acquaint you that ' I proceeded up the 'river San' Juan
de Nicaragua, in command of her Majesty'icombined
forces, consisting' of 260 officers and men, contained in
twelve boats of ner Majesty's ships Alartn and Vixen,
and captured the post ofßerapaqiii, after a Sharp action
of one hour and forty minutes:CU:ea' loss of trio killed
and thirteen wounded.
" The pbst is situated On a point•projecting into the
river very abruptly to the height of '5O feet, is protected
in the rear by a dense forest, and in front by an *betas.
formed of large trees felled, with their heads and
branches reaching into the river. It was only to be
approached by heading a rapid current of nearly live
knots an hour in order to pass the tort and toedescend
t‘avards * steep and narrow landing-place above 'the
stockaded, batteries. • •
040 n Friday, the 12th instant; Conutiander Ryder snd
myself (who were in advance in our gigsy hove insight
of Serapaqui, situated at the head of a' straight reach of
about a mile and a half long. No sooner did my boat
appear, that she was fired upon by two guns, which
effectually precluded the possibility of any peaceful ar-
rangement.
"I therefore waited to reconnoitre until the •heaiy
,boats arrived, when I led them up the rieer.' A spare
pinnace, .comnianded • by Lieutenant,JohnitOn, 'of. her
tlajessy's Alarm, containing some of her Majesty!ii
3Sth Regiment ; 'the Ahura's` barge, commanded 'by
Lieutenant Lieutenant Ridge, and First Lieutenant Boyle, of the
Royal- Marines, with a part of his detachment, and the
Vixen's port paddle-box boat, with the head 'qurterg of
the detachment of that regiment, commanded by 'Captain
Smith, owing to their fast pulling, took .the -lead 'after
the gigs, and:on we went, but the current was so t;tiong
that one hour .and forty minutes elapsed before we were
enabled to pass the batteries sufficiently high to droo
down to the landing place previously mentioned, by
which time nearly all the boats were up. I . then gave
the order to land, which they did with an English cheer,
and inaen minutes our flag was hoisted on the fort. •
" After a chase of thirty minutes into the thick woods,
I ordered the recal to be sounded, destroyed the stock-
ades, spiked the guns, broke their trunnions and threw
them into the river, together with muskets, ammunition;
and, after embarking the force, set fire to the defences.-
" I wac unable to ascertain accurately the loss of the
• enemy, owing to 'the density of the cover into which they
retreated; tstenty,—however, were 'found dead, and, I
have reason' to believe that about double the: ntiniber
were ; wounded. Their force consisted of about 20(1
soldiers, beeidessome boatmen, pressed by Colonel Sales
into his service.

Nine prisoners were captured, amongst them two
wounded officers; these. I sent to ' the ship ; the re-
mainder I have distributed amongst the boats to act as
pilots.
" The defences of the post consisted of six angular
stockaded entrenchinents, formed of very tough timber,
eight feet high "and four feet thick, one side of each
stockade looking across.the river, and the other down
the eiach.. The principal stockade commanded the
landing-place, in which one of the guns was mounted at
the time.
" It was with great satisfaction that I saw the cool
and steady behaviour of the men, under the trying cir-
kstouasytre position, itionA,nd
it
cir-
cumstances of crowded boats, exposed to a hot
.fite,
from both sides of the river, from unseen' Marksmen,
without the possibility of effectually returning it, While
in owing to the current
runningalm almost
ae at
is astonishing to
me that a greatdr lOis did not oecur,'as the boats were
- riddled with shot, and nearly halrthe oats'broken.
" To distinguith one brave officer from another, when
all did their duty, is a difficult task; but I may remark,
o a minir
that I found Captain Smith, commanding the. detach-
ment of her Mejeaty's 38th Regiment, by my side on
landing; Commander Ryder, at the head, of his division,
close by me; Lieutenants Johnston and Ridge, of the
Alarm, leading their :nen in gallant style; and. First
Lieutenant Boyle, Royal Marines, of the same
,ship,
leading his detachment as my guard. and showing an
example which his marines could not but follow.
" Mr. Martin, paymaster and purser of the Alarm,
accompanied use in my gig, and was of the greatest value '
and assistance. Besides these officers, I beg to recorry
mend to your favourable notice Mr. Collins, paymaster
and purser of her Majesty's ship Vixen, who was a
volunteer in the head quarter-port paddle-box boat; ifie
Honourable M. A. Nloreton, mate of the Alarm, who
commanded the pinnace, and did good execution; Mr.
Tyler, mate of the same ship; Mr. N. E. B. Tumour,
midshipman of the Vixen, who was-badly wounded; and
I beg to mention a-seaman of the Vixen, named -in the
margin,* who captured the colours.—l have, &c.,
(Signed) "GRANITTELE G: LOCH. -
It S. Alatm, -and Senior Officer; &e.
" P.Sc^Comroander'A. Ryder has brought wider our-
notice the zeal and gallantry- 'of Mr. F. A. Dewdney,
midshipman of her Majesty's ship Vixen, commanding.
the S. P. B. boat.
tsl beg also to mention the zeal and activity of Lieut.
Scott, First of the Vixen, in forwarding the advance of
the launches over the rapids, and his exertions in push-
ing 'on the slow boats of tke force.
" Vice-Admiral Sir Francia W. Austen, K.C.8.,
Commander-in-Chief, Sac. &c."
A LIST OF BOATS AND THE NUMBER OF MEN ON THE
RIVER' SAN JUAN DS NICARAGUA EXPEDITION.