The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-12-25
Nicaraguans Prove They Are
 No Comic Qpara Soldiers
ZELAYAS ARMY WIPED OUT
General Chamorro Makes Strong At tack Upon the Enemy and Aided by General Mena's Timely
 Arrival Wins Victory.

l iic uetdIls ol lne pattle OI Kama are now known. The victory of the insur- gents was as complete as has been re- ported by them
 After Two days of fighting. the fercest fight that Central America has ever seen, General Estrada on Tuesday wiped out the enemy. Of Zelaya's army of 3Oo0 men only 50o escaped The killed and wounded on both sides. as before reported. num- bered 6O0, and 1900 of the government troops surrendered after a desperate re- sistance. Three Hotehkiss and Maxim guns, 2ooo rifles and 100000 rounds of ammunition were included in the booty.
 General Estrada professes to believe that his march to Managua will be un- opposed
 Bluefields and the neighboring country are delirious with joy. The victory is said to nave been won on the very day scheduled for the inauguration of pr. Madriz as President of Nicaragua in suc- oession to zelaya.
 Gen. Luise 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 insurgents
 At the request of United States Consul Moffat. Commander Shipley of the United States Cruiser Des Moines sent his hos pital squad ashore, establishing an inde- pendent hospital. where 40 of the wounded are receiving care.
 The American medical men have been able to give their service to all who were in need of them.
 Americans in Battle.
 Six Americans participated in the bat tie. operating rapid fire guns They es- caped injury with the exception of one named Bashford. who received three bull lets in one of his legs.
 The prisoners included General Con gales and General Castrillo General Vas quez. 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 govern ment troops were routed and it is pos slble that some 800 men escaped with him.
 After Zelayas trenches had been shelled they were taken by assault. In the trenches were several women who pre- ferred risking their lives in the conflict to starvation in camp. These women were armed with rifles and fought eourageous- ly. A large proportion of the prisoners were found to be boys under 1s years of age. They accepted defeat as though 1t was very welcome.
 General Gonzales. the vanouished lead CT of the government troops, today shares the quarters of General Estrada, and is eating the latter's rations with great relish and smoking insurgent tobacco as though he enjoyed it.
 Second Days Battle.
 The second days fighting began at 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 had been stringing wires and digging trenches. The country in that vicinity had been partially cleared of underbrush, but it remained more like a jungle than oth- erwise. The position of the government troops behind their embankments and barbed wire proved unexpectedly strong However, the provisionals, who believed that they faced the oppressive rule of Madriz, or as the only alternative in the event of defeat, the humiliation of inter vention by the United States, bore them selves with show of valor that should ever relieve them from the charge of be- ing comic opera soldiers. Indeed there was nothing comic in the fighting and the 100 dead and the 160 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 provisionals admit their heavy losses, and estimate those of the army at about an equal number.
 General Chamorro, General Diaz and General Matuty first faced the enemy The tugs Pioneer and Blanca, upon which were mounted Hotchkiss guns. and half buried in sand, steamed up a creek tributary to the Mico river, upon which the village of Recreo is situated For hours they shelled the village, the gun ners maintaining great accuracy Zelaya's troops frequently left the trenches and ad- vancing through the jungles met the in- surgents in hand to hand conflicts These dashes were followed in each instance by a retreat to the trenches and forward movement by the provisionals, who cut the wire entanglements with their ma chetas. In these brushes many were killed or wounded
 Chamorro Is Fighter. General Chamorro. who looks like a typical North American regular trooper,
 
 using a pistol and invariably killing his man outright. General Diaz disdained. as did Chamorro, to take to cover Diaz walked erect amid a hail of bullets, di- rected the fire of his men, who, however. he insisted should keep under cover when ever possible When one soldier. en- unused by the example of his comman der fought on his feet, Diaz turned his | pistol upon the man and commanded him | to get behind a stump. The soldier was momentarily perplexed as he saw Diaz l constantly exposed to the enemy's fire. | There was farce about the slzirm- l ishes, and the conduct of both leaders and men, who knew for what they were fight | ing and that death for many was immi- | n nt, was worthy of the greatest admira- | tion
 General Chamorro, who has been l fisi ,in.s for 20 years, is idolized by his men,. He swore cheerfully when his l troopers exposed themselves and good noturedly pushed them behind the cover | of stumps and tangled underbrush. Chamorro was in active command of 1 the battle, Estrada having merely laid l out the general plan. As the evening approached and the enemy still re sisted after repeated assaults, the in surgents wavered from physical ex-' 1 haustion, but their courage never failed.
 Tide of Battle Turned. But for the timely arrival of General Mena it is quite possible that the out come of the battle would have been wholly different Indeed at one time the position of the insurgents was des- perate ChaInorro and DisM had moved