The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1909-12-24
BATTLE OF RAMA.
Victory OF Insurgent Army in
Nicaragua Complete.
Estrada Expects to March to
Managua UnOpposed.
ONLY 500 ESCAPED
Out of the Government Force of
5000 Men.
Women and Boys Found Fight
ing in Zelaya's Army.


details of the battle of Rama are
known. The victory of the insurgents
was as complete as has been claimed
by them. After two days of fighting the
fiercest that Central America has seen,
General Estrada on Tuesday wiped out
the enemy.
OF Zelayas army of 5000 men but
500 escaped. The killed and wounded on
both sides as before reported, num-
bered 600 and 1900 of the government
troops surrendered after a desperate
resistance. Three Hotchkiss and four
Maxim guns, 1000 rifles. and a million
rounds of ammunition were included in
the booty.
General Estrada processes to believe
posed.
Bluefields and the nighboring coun-
try are deiirious with joy. The victory
is said to have been won on the very
day scheduled for the Inaugural ton of
DR.. MadriZ as president of Nicaragua
in succession to Zelaya.
General Luis Mena is again here His
troops arrived on the scene of battle
when victory was in the balance and
turned the tide in favor of the insur-
gents.
At the request of United States Con-
sui Moffatt. Commander Shipley of the
United States cruiser Des Moines, sent
his hospital squad ashore, establishing
an 1nQep6nueQC nOSplldl WHERE ~ VI lIlC
wounded are receiving care. The Amer
lean medical men have been able to
give their services to all who were in
need of them.
Americans in the Fight.
Six Americans participated in the
battle, operating rapid fire guns. They
ESCAPED injury with the exception of
bullets in a leg.
The prisoners include General Con
zales and General Castrilio. General
Vasquez, who was returning to Rama
from Managua when hostilities began.
did not reach the scene during the
fighting. He was a few miles distant
when the government troops were rout-
ed and it is possible that some 500 men
escaped with him. After Zelaya,s
trenches had been shelled they were
taken by assault. In the trenches were
several women who preferred risking
their lives in the conflict to starvation
in camp.
These women were armed with
rifles and fought courageously One
of them was wounded and later
brought to .he hospital here. A large
proportion IF the prisoners were found
to be boys Under 6 years of age. They
accepted defeat as though it were very
welcome
General Gonzales. the vanquished
leader of .he government troops. to-
day shares the quarters of General
Estrada and is eating the iatter ra-
tions with great relish and smoking in
surgent tobacco as though he enjoy
ed it.
Second Days Fighting.
The second days fighting began at
o'clock in the morning. The first
days conflict had driven the enemy
back to the main Notifications at the
village of Recreo, where for three
weeks they have been stringing wires
and digging trenches.
The. country in that vicinity had
ben partially cleared of underbrush,
but it remains more like a jungle than
otherwise. The position of the govern
ment troops behind their embankments
and barbed wire proved Unexpectedly
strong.
1ieved they faced the oppressive rule
of Madriz or, as the only alternative
in the event of defeat the humiliation
of Intervention by the United States,
bore themselves with show of valor
that should ever relieve them from
the charge of being comic opera sol
diers. The hundred dead and the $50
wounded gave the surviving insurgents
something to think about.
Today widows and orphans may be
seen wandering about the streets
weeping. Yet no expression of regret
is heard. The PROFESSIONALS admit their
heavy losses and estimate those of the
enemy at about an equal amount.
Hand to Hand Conflicts.
General Chamarro. General Diaz
and General Matuty first faced the
enemy The tugs Pioneer and Blanca,
upon which were mounted Hctchkiss
guns half buried in sand. steamed up
i a creek tributary to the Mico river,
upon which the village of Recreo is
situated For hours they shelled the
village, the gunners maintaining great
accuracy. ZeIaya's troops frequently
left the trenches and. advancing
= !, x<rI, inn oio of in r
gents in hand to hand conflicts. These
dashes were followed in each instance
by a retreat to the trenches and a
forward movement by the PROFESSIONALS
who cut the wire entangIements with
their machettes. In these brushes
many were killed or wounded.
General Chamarro, who looks like a
typical North American regular troop
er. fought with frenzied vigor. Cen
eraI Diaz disdained, as did Chamarro,
to take to cover. Diaz walked erect
amid a hail of bullets, directing the
fire of his men who. however. he in
sisted should keep under cover when
ever possible.
When one soldier. enthused by the
example of his commander, fought on
his feet, Diaz turned his pistol upon
the man and commanded him to get
behind stump.
Chamarro, who has been fighting
| for twenty years, is idolized by his
men, He swore cheerfully when his
| troopers exposed themselves and good
naturedly pushed them behind the
cover of stumDs and tangled under
| brush Chamarro was in active COM
mand of the battle. Estrada having
merely laid out the general plan.
As the evening approached and the
enemy still resisted after repeated as
saults, the insurgents wavered from
physical exhaustion but their courage
never failed.
Mena's Timely Arrival.
But for the timely arrival of Gen
eral Mena it is quite possible that the