The Sun.
London, England, 1856-09-04 00:00:00

THE SUN, LON DON. THURSDA Y EV 111, -; ft SETT 14_1Mil -ER 4 tAS/1

ger, as commander, nor would he have had to retreat
from Rivas, leaving his dead and wounded on the field.
Tt is nonsense, in justification of the seizure of these
boat?, to say that Wm. Walker had made arrangements
with another set of men for another line of steamer=, and
that they disappointed him. Poor Richard has a pro-
verb, which, had he common sense, he vvoul.l have re•
membered—"A bird in the hand is worth two in the
bush."

Gen. Walker sent 240 men to take Liberia (Guana-
caste on the maps), a place which at that time no 1,000
men on the face of God's broad earth, of any nat;oo or
clime whatever, could possibly have subdued. The road
to it is a narrow mule path, in very few places more than
18 inc Lea wide, over elevated mountains and through
deep gorges, in which the sunshine seldom penetrates,
and when you ride your feet press painfully against the
abrupt sides of hills, which tower 20, 30, and even 61
feet on either hand. Between San Juan del Sur and
Liberia there are thousands of places where ten resolute
men could have checked effectually—no, literally crushed,
the entire army of Col. Schlessinger. The world is now
familiar with the shameful stampede of Santa Rosa. The
surprising party were surprised, and Col. Schlessin-
ger, the gallant Hungarian and friend of Kossutb, led
the van in the ignominious flight.
Walker must have been hopelessly crazy, and shame-
fully ignorant of the immense resources of the country.
As for Gen. Schlessinger, he was scarcely a day without
some insult being offered him by the soldiers—some
indignity by the officers ; the officers hated him ; the
privates despised him. And yet, knowing his personal
unpopularity, knowing that soldiers cannot fight unless
they have confidence in their commanding officer, Gen.
Walker, with that mulish obstinacy, which is one of his
predominant characteristics (and which his wily syco-
phants fancifully call Roman firmness), persisted in
placing him in command of the troops, although his sage
Mentor, Edmund Randolph, advised the contrary.
There is no necessity to say more on this head. The
stampede at Santa Rosa is a strong confirmation,
"strong al proofs of Holy Writ," that Col. Schlessinger
was both an imbecile and a coward, and the placing of
bim in c •mmand of the troops, contrary to the will of
the entire army, is evidence conclusive that Gen. Walker
is no judge of competency or character.
Lastly, why was the battle of Rivas lost ? That it was
lost is apparent from this fact —he went to take Rivas,
and he did not do it. If more evidence is wanting, we
adduce this damning proof—he left his dead and wounded
on the field, the former were buried by his enemies,
and the latter, at least as many as survived their wounds,
are now prisoners of war. We repeat the question—
Why was the battle lost ? For neglecting an elementary
rule of warfare—one which is urgently insisted upon by
every military writer from Xenophon down to Scott :
and that rule is, never to despise your enemy, but to
march against Lilliputians as if each man of them were
Goliath of Gath. Yet Walker sent his soldiers a dis
tance of 20 leagues, without sufficient food and ammu-
nition, to fight an army 2,000 strong. When several of
his officers urgently pressed on him the necessity of
taking more ammunition, he answered, " I think we
shall fire one or two rounds, and then take the place."
Yet the battle lasted 18 hours.

The memorialists proceed te state that since the 10th
of March, neither the officers nor privates of Walker's
army have received a cent per day ; that the former
have to go about daily with bags, haggling and quarrel-
ling for their rations ; that the motives which led
Walker to Nicaragua were merely mercenary. For
52,000 acres of land, Wm. Walker, like another roving
Dugald Dalgetty, sold his blood to the democratic party
of Nicaragua. Remember, reader, Walker was influenced
by no high, no elevated, no ennobling principle in thus
engaging in the politics of Central America—it was simply
a matter of dollars and cents. Had the Chamorro party
offered him,),-00,000 acres of land, he would, with far
greater faci.lty, have enlisted himself on their side. It
might'be asked if Walker were not a great man, how
could he collect 800 men around him ? On this it is ob•
served that the first few who were cajoled to go out were
shown that they were not enough to hold the country,
or to ..et out of it, and that, being "ali in the same
Jaoat,'''' they must keep up the humbug by sending to Ca-
lifornia'and the States the most wonderful reports, so as
to persuade others to join them. As for his soldiers,
though they dislike and despise him, self-preservation
keeps them from revolting. He has conducted the hum-
bug in comparative safety thus far. Their position is ex-
tremely critical. They are surrounded by enemies on
all sides, and, should they dethrone the " Little Acci-
dent," each captain of a company would be an aspirant
for the office of the dictatorial commonwealth.
They would then be an army of Kilkenny cats, and
each would destroy the other.
The memorial concludes as follows

" The underigned prisoners further say that they are
now prisoners through William Walker's criminal stu-
pidity and ignorance. That they were decoyed from
their comfortable homes in the States by splendid pro-
mises of gain and glory, not one of which has been or
can ever be complied with, and they earnestly beg and
implore the young and thouzhtless of the United States
not to suffer themselves (as 800 men have been) to be
deluded by promises, more unsubstantial than air, more
unreal than dreams.

JOIN C. M‘MAmoN, Desota County, Missouri.
JAMES GREY, England.
T. F. FORTISIEIER, Germany.
Wm. T. JOHNSON, New York, Drummer.
CHRISTIAN FECHT, Germany, Gunsmith.
JOHANN MANYER, Germany, late of N. Orleans.
JOHN T. DICK, New York.
Cansulate
Republic of Costa Rica."
I, the undersigned, do hereby certify that on the day
of the date hereof, before me personally appeared Johi
C. M‘Mahon, James Grey, T. F. Fortmeier, ‘Vm. T.
Johnson, Christian Fecht, Johann Man• er, and John T.
Dick, and severally acknowledged the foregoing to be
their signatures.

Given under my hand and seal of office at the port of
Punta Arenas, this 31st day of May, A.D., 185 g.
(Seal) MARQUIS L. HINE, U.S. Consul.
Es copia fiel del original remitido a este Ministerie.
bosj el Bello del Consul de los Estados thiidos en Punta
Arena.
CALVO.
San Jose, Junio 14, de 1856.