New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1856-11-17

end m''e enuId re ,oars Of our horses which we're
"a f. s,he adjacent gardens. Men lay gazing on Ine
sisr,. and thinking, perhaps OF 'onc M al on'
- might also b.ve the same constellation IN viev,
W ,ssir reyeres were sud ienly dist rbed by the
S.chrce of piece Of ordnance IN the possession Of
NE enemy Every man was 90 hS e, N @u o
walker BE vas reclining on the ground IN 'front.' OF
ssre hou,e and while ~e were all "bobbing around
and dodglng the Mimic bullets he lay, undsturb7d,
9Th the most proyokng cOolness. Some OF us had
never been ,n a battle and amused ourselves or
probably afforded amUsemeet n Others, oy dexerlusy
snde, va, NJ TO afford no cbtrucOn u those mlsss
The Americans eucsmpod on both sides of the road
IN the center Of tie street where II suppose1 tne
snemy would FIRE their cannon there not any per-
sons allowed 10 remsn. The fire Of the enemy was
promptly returned, but ms some OF orr party hal ae
yanctd in order to take observations, close 70 .9e
position our ordered tO cease friDg ies t1ey
should wound some Of cur party. In 'act, one W
Capt Hoof-came very near falling by the hre Of Is s
friends he aoy anced so closelyso the enemy 'na, nc
was not distiDgushable from them and had Two ouos
through his hat by our rifemen. lbs a. rot
sbootps was kept no for two hours, but there wa nv
any Of the Americans killed. -Four were "ouuuo'' '
only Of whom IL dangerously So ..o,,,, cs,oe
PArtiet OF the range and lancers OF the enely "a
In contact several times and the latter were insan
reptsed with loss Once duriog nc p'gu. = II;b
lacers came up 70 the very door oi me ho' III ~;
a body of Americans were quartered anu hio 'I', q
nrs Not one American was touched, but several OF
he enemy were made to bite the dust. one
boy about II years Of age, who YVES WIN tno ''u
shof tho huOler of the FAUCETS HI '"7
,b;cb he fslt very proud. TIE peculiar win Tie OF the
h.i thew passed over us proclaimed that the enemy
vere also furnishe with large numbers OF ue MIME
Yif,s. &c .,o ,,,h ,bo b,,ue
heosn The American forces were stationed on an
sminepce The eneUy were seen IN large numbers al
a S;.t1Ice of about five hundred yards. They fired
upop ps with large gun, AID seemed M was too dark
~ Seermipe their motions accurately to be advancing
und.r the cover of IFS FIRE. bomb from one Of our
bowitzers was thrown with nice precision in their
midst. When the smoke cleared away there was Tot
one Of them in sight .
Onr men who had been some time standing in lines
were ordered TO advance. They moved on about lOO
ysrls. The howizers Continued to throw shells until
they got in sight OF the church IN the upper plaza Inc
Eirft ri 1es in sight Of The church-a shell
was thrown in the plaza and the word was given to
shmge. With three loud cheers aLd the widest en-
tbusasm, the Rifles down the slope, followed stead
y by the remainder Of the forces. The enemy unable
10 r.tst such vigorous attack fed in every direction
Company e, commanded by Capt. Doen had tie good
fortune TO be the first in. Two of The Generals aids
Mehon and Git, accompanied them. The church ana
the bOuses surrounding 1t were catered IN ihnu'e,
aid when Gist returned aud said General the plaza
l. taken loud shout Of triumph rent the air.
II seemed impossible to have thing better planned
or more nicely executed than this attack The soldiers
were all az seady as if they unconscious of the
presence Of an enemy. Gen. Walker moved steadily
on with the Rifles, and, with as much GOODNESS as If
conducting game of chess, directed the movements
OF bis men. The superior management OF this attack
will be appreciated, when state that not one man
was lost in gaining this strong point.
The solders were allowed time to get ready
Their breakfasts. Several beeves were slaughtered
An abundance of cheese eggs, tOrtas and bread were
found in the adjoining houses and in one place bread
was found in an oven which was just baked 1t APP
pesred from this that the enemy did not expect to be
obliged to leave their quarters quite 20 soon as they
did.
The taking of this plaza decided the fate of Masaya
We had now the advantage of good positions AID
vigorous assault of few minutes would have placed
the whole city hands. The soldiers ed
permission 10 charge directly to the large church in
the center of the large plaza, but Gen. Walker would
not permit them TO the risk of losing their lives
During the morning several prisoners were taken,
but they could not tell accurately the strength OF the
force that had been fighting with them They are SO
little acquainted with arithmetic that their ideas of
Numbers appear to be confined to muckO or p0c1 but
cOllatipg ali they said, came TO the conclusion that
there were somewhat over two thousand five hundred
men defending Masaya. The American forces
between nine ard ten hundred. We have not yet had
time to find out the exact number
In order TO make our position clear, 1t may be as
well TO state that there are three pazas III MasaJa two
small ones and one very large In the ENTER OF each
plaza Glands church, and, may be supposed, the
ed6ce in the largest plaza Is much the largest OF the
three. The three plazas and three churches are go
peary in straight line, that street running past the
ends OF the lesser churches would go through the mid
die of the larger church cannon ball fired out of the
center door of either side of the central church would
hit end of either of the smaller Ones. II will be ap-
aren't from this also, that guns planted at the small
churches would strike the center of the large church.
The distance from the large church TO the lower small
ore is about four hundred and severity yards; 10 the
upper small one-the which Gen. W aker no held
in posseston-is about eight hundred yards. There
are eight blocks of buildings between il and the large
plaza The blocks are about one hundred yards
square, and surrounded for the most part by thick
adobe walls.
All the streets 60 far could be ascertained at their
junctme with the large plaza, strongly banicaded.
The principal one-that leading from the church sc
20 bravey won in the morning-was defended by at
least one cannon. In the afternoon, when our men
got that they could see behind IT, they said there
were three. We had cannons and had only, in the
shape of heavy ordnance, two mountain no Srzers.
Unfortunately, the carriage OF of those broke by
the force of its rebound before the small plaza
had been taken In the morning IL may be as we'll TO
state here that the carriages upon which our no Szers
were mounted had been made with much haste, as
their proper mountiDgs lad not been sent with them
from New York where they were purchased. But
Lieut.. Farren who had charge of it, had rigged
ND in q short time that i. did much service during the
day. Before night the other one, under Capt Swartz
required slight repairs but il was at no time ell
TREY unfit for service.
After the mtn had eaten breakfast the sappers and
miners were get at work 10 cutting through the walls
% as 10 allow approach of howzer! 10 ward the
central plaza Thus by eating through the middle of
block the cannOns of the enemy were rendered en-
trely useless whereas we we're enabled TO throw our
shell into their midst in perfect security.
While one portion OF the sappers and miosrs were
cutting road through the block-Shich was
In straight line with and between the two
churches-for the howitzers, and the First Rihs
BattahCn, which accompanied it, another detach-
meht Of them engaged in opening way through
the buildings and yards the opposite side os the
street for the advance of the Infantry When all
things were ready the Rifles advanced in the way as
signed them, and the Second Light Infantry assumed
the offensive across the street. Both worked their
way steadily forward, driving the enemy fro house to
house nom block t. block, neither at any tme los ng
an inch Of the ground they had gained. Col. L. j.
Sanders and Lieut.. Col. Samuel Ashton, led on aud