The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1856-05-17
CHARACTER OF WALKER AND HIS ARMY.
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! San Juan del Norte, April 10, '56.
In consequence of the general upheavine
of the American population of Nicaragua, (o
the civic order,) your correspondent was one
of large party who made this place Their
city of refuge.
Gen. Walker bears no resemblance what.
ever to any portrait of him that has hitherto
appeared. He is five feet nine inches high
about lis pounds weight, of slight frame,
hair almost red, no whiskers, high cheek
bones, dull eye, and a small forehead.
He generally dresses in blue uniform
| frock coat, but just now his clothing consists
| ofa blue flannel shirt, black pants boots,
kossuth hat, with red ribbon, sword and
belt. Should a stranger see him in q crowd,
even of his own privates, without his sword,
he would pass him as the most common of
his fellows in appearance. My first impress
sion on seeing him was that he was a gro
Gerry keeper from one Of the pooer localities of
the Sixth Ward. He is reputed to be a
man of varied talent-a lawyer-a doctor,
and preacher-but Walker was his name
in all these professions. He is said also to
be good journalist and a master of the
French, Spanish, and English languages.
am disposed to think that he has only a
speaking knowledge-and that not very good
-.zof any Of them. lie, however, possesses
common sense enough to say very little, and
that little with caution. His brother Norval
is the very opposite in the latter respect
When he is not drinking he is talking and
when he is not talking he is drinking He held
the Office of captain till reduced to the ranks
a fewdays ago for perpetual drunkenness. He
is rowdy of the most approved order, and is
said to have shared the fortunes of his broth
er to very large extent. lam informed
that the jailor's books of Nashville, Louis
vile and New Orleans about the year 1888
have such names as William and Norval
Walker recorded on their. face. Notwith-
standing their peculiar position in this land,
they are both said to be strong Know Moth
ings, and Norval damns everything foreign
or Of foreign extraction, particularly the
Dutch Norval is a fair specimen of all the
officers of what is called high grade, from
Captain upwards. every posit;ea, civil ana
military, is filed by a view Orleans thief,
Sing Sing apprentice, or broken dwn Cal
ifornia gambler; and to learn the individual
history of any one, or all of the officers of
the staff, you have to ask one of themselves
to drink. Sing Sing furnishes a postmaster,
and the calabOose records of New Orleans
VIII give you Tic Iiduc VI Guc pOTt.
Under such circumstances, the native pop
they ever did like Walker, now, at least de-
test him and all Americans. The brutalities
of this ruffianly horde, in beating and kick
ing native men, whom they press into the
service without pay, their seizing and con-
fiscating every thing they find a man in pos
session OF, be he Chimeroster or Democrat,
| rich or poor, their frauds and impositions
have all tended to shorten their time in Cen
trail America.
Besides, the imposition practiced ON the
| men brought from the States, who are told
that they will get $25 per month, and be
found in food, clothing and arms. The fact
is, no man ever yet drew one dollar of his
pay, or can get it to draw. The clothing
given to one-half the army is blue marine
shirt, and this limited supply came by the
last steamer. The feeding consists of all they
can steal, and the arms Of flint guns, in bad
order.
When Schlesinger was sent off with 28O
men to conquer Costa Rica, he was sent
without one pound of provisions to support
them, or one cent to buy provisions. The
recruits landed in Granada on Sunday morn
ing, and without any drill or inspection, they
were marched off the following Tuesday for
Costa Rica, and for seventeen days they
never saw bread. The country through
which they passed was deserted, and they
had to live on nuts, fruits, and whatever
live stock they could pick up. Then, when
they came to an engagement, they found
their guns without fints, their powder wet
their balls too small for the barrel; and en-
deavoring to discharge their pieces by the
aid of lighted cigars, they fed in confusion
After that defeat, how many of these poor
fellows who were fortunate enough to re-
| turn, even naked as they were, would like q
few days to rest and recruit their lost
strength! But no; the night they reached
Virgin Bay, with lacerated bodies and bruised
I feet, in nakedness and hunger, after seven
teen days marching through an almost i'm
passible country, have seen these men cal
led up for duty. 49,
/ Of9OO men now said to be under Walker't
7 command, who came from the States, 85e
would desert if they could get out of tht
country. This general bad treatment is sale
4 to drive the soldiery into acts of lcentious
4 r:ess against the virtue of the native female
population, for which their is no justification
i The morality of the entire army may b.
; Judged of from the fact that New Yorl
speculator obtained his commission as Cap
tain for supplying Gen. Walker with nev
housekeeper-the said captain F.. hayin
two under his protection. y a,l3 ea..
/ e. The Secretary of the o. S. Trea
i sury has issued notice to the effect tina
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