The Ashland union. [volume] (Ashland, Ashland County, Ohio) 1854-1868, 1856-12-24

| Walker intended to establish his gov
ernment. Granada was given te the
flames. Property to an enormous ex-
tent was consumed, much of it owned
By foreigners, whose governments will
doubtless seek indemnity. For some
days the troops under H~ennigsen gave
themselves up to the widest debauchery.
Plumber, drunkenness, and all sorts Of
excuses were the order of the day. Sub
ordination was lost sight Of, and no sort
Of control was exercised over the men.
Henuigsen was totally powerless in his
attempts to bring them to their duty.
The consequences which were to have
been expected followed before any of the
munitions of war could be transported
from Granada to Virgin Bay, the allied
forces beseiged the plaza where the
troops were garrisoned. The seige was
still going on when the Tennessee left
The beseigers had succeeded after an
obstinate struggle, in taking the fort be-
tween the lake aud the city, only one
man of its t% enty-eight or thirty defen-
ders survives to tell the tale. In the
plaza, or in a suburban church which
escaped the flames, were Hennigsen and
his men shut up and surrendered. There
seemed to be no resource left but an
unconditional surrender or humiliation.
The next steamer from San Juan will
probably bring us news of their fate.
TERRIBLE sUFFERINos AND PROBABLE MAS
sAeRE OF THE SICK AND WOUNDED AT
oMETEPE. y
Before carrying out this 6endish pro-
ject of burning Granada, Walker had
embarked his sick, wounded and women,
and placed them-under. the charge of
some sixty menx-on the island of One
tepe. Thisis an island of some extern.
in Lake Nicaragua, lying nearly oppo-
site Virgin Bay. The terrible news
has tr~ansnirad, that the natives, who are
all terribly exasperated against Walker,
had arisen and massacred these unfor-
tunate people. Whether this is true to
its fullest extent is still a matter of
doubt. The island is inhabited primer
pally by Indians. When the sick and
wounded were landed there, all the In
dams fed, save a few, who were retain
ed to act as nurses. There we're nc pro-
visions, no beds, and no medicines pro-
vided for them. Several of the patients
we're for days without food. The lar
ger part of the sick and wounded lay ON
the beach all night. The next day all
of them were distributed among the huts,
or taken into the church of the village
converted into a hospital - except
some thirty who lay out in the rain.
Two died on the steamer, and on the
beech. The village was filled with the
sick and wounded, the and chill
dren.. An effort was made by the Com
mandant of the place, who arrived the
next day, to separate the healthy from
the sick. There were about sixty men
able to bear arms. The entire work of
feeding, landing, quarteriug, burying
the dead, &C., was performed by some
twelve men, among whom Captain Bal
dwin was conspicuous for his humanity
and activity. During the first five days
thirty.six died. Then one night the en-
envy crept into the village and surprised
the Americans. Some twenty persons
escaped in three boats. Whether the
rest were slaughtered or merely made
prisoners of war was not known to n
certainty. Those who escaped in the
boats suffered dreadful hardships. There
was only one woman among them, Mrs.
Atkins, wife of one of the musicians.
All the American women in Nicaragua,
were on this island with their children
perhaps forty in humber. Col. Skier
rett, Col. Thompson, Gen. Fry, and a
number of other officers were on the
leland. but there was no organized mill
tary force. The landing, the subsequent
suffering of the sick aud wounded. with
only miserable reed huts to shelter them,
and no provisions for the sick but, beef
and plantains, tho deaths, the promiscu-
GUS burying of men, women and children
in n common hole. and the subsequent
night attacks and probable massacre or
captivity of three hundred persons, of
all ranks and ages, and of both sexes,
all conspire to form one of the most
dreadful pictuers of war.