It becomes,
therefore, a common object with the naturalized Nicaraguans, and
with the people of the Bay Islands, to place in the government of
Honduras those who will yield the rights lawfully required in the
two states. Thus, the Nicaraguans will secure a return to their
adopted country, and the Bay Islanders will obtain full guarantees
from the sovereignty under which they are to be placed by the
treaty of November 28, 1859. To obtain, however, the object at
which we aim, we do not make war against the people of Honduras,
but only against a government which stands in the way of the
interests, not only of Honduras, but of all Central America. The
people of Honduras may therefore rely on all the protection they
may require for their rights, both of person and property.
"WILLIAM WALKER."
To capture the town of Trujillo, on the mainland, was the work of but
half an hour, only a few of the assailants being injured. Walker
received a slight wound in the face. Scarcely had the town been
occupied when a British war-steamer, the _Icarus_, appeared on the
scene. Captain Salmon, her commander, immediately notified Walker that
the British Government held a mortgage against the revenues of the
port, as security for certain claims, and that he intended to protect
the interests of his Government by taking possession of the town.
Walker replied that he had made Trujillo a free port, and consequently
could not entertain any claims for revenues which no longer existed.
The captain refused to recognize any change in the government of
Honduras, and sent a peremptory demand for surrender, promising, in
case of compliance, to carry the prisoners back to the United States,
and threatening to open fire on the town if it were not given up.
Meanwhile General Alvarez, with 700 soldiers, was preparing to make an
assault by land. Thus hemmed in, Walker determined to evacuate
Trujillo, which he did the following night, retreating down the coast
with only eighty-eight men. In their haste they were compelled to leave
behind all their heavy baggage and accoutrements, carrying only thirty
rounds of ammunition each; the rest they destroyed at Trujillo. When
the British landed next morning they were only in time to protect the
sick and wounded in the hospital from the ferocious Hondurians. The
_Icarus_ immediately took Alvarez and a strong force on board and
steamed down the coast in pursuit.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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