The American force had been sensibly diminished by the expedition to Santa Rosa, and after the return from that disastrous field the French and German companies were disbanded and all who could not speak English were discharged from the army. Thus, on the morning of the 9th, not more than five hundred and fifty men marched out of Granada toward Rivas. The men were, however, in good spirits and went at a brisk pace, so that early in the afternoon they were halted for dinner a league to the southward of Nandaime. Here they met Col. Machado, a Cuban, who had been left at Rivas with a few native troops when Walker marched the American force thence. The officer commanding at Rivas was José Bermudez, who remained and took service under Mora, but the rank and file of the native Nicaraguans forsaking Bermudez had followed Machado, and left Rivas some hours before the Costa Ricans entered. Thus was it generally in Nicaragua; the people adhered to the Americans; the _calzados_, those wearing shoes, deserted to the enemies of the Republic. After rest and dinner, the command strengthened by Machado’s men, marched to the Ochomogo, where it encamped for the night. Then it was ascertained that Mora had entered Rivas the day before with a large army, the woman, who brought the story, saying at least three thousand. But as the ideas of the people of the country about numbers are rather vague, not much confidence was put in the report. On the 10th, the march was slow and toilsome, owing to the heat of the day and to the long stretches of dry and dusty road without any shade to protect the men from the fierce tropical sun. During the morning a native from Rivas was taken, carrying proclamations from Mora to his Legitimist friends about Masaya, and, after some threats, much information was educed from the messenger concerning the position and strength of the enemy. As the force approached the Gil Gonzales, a body of rangers, under command of Capt. Waters, was sent on to the point where the main road to Rivas crosses the river, and there exchanged shots with an outpost of the enemy placed near Obraje. The main body of the Americans, however, left the high road half a league from the river, and taking a trail to the left struck the Gil Gonzales some distance below the point where Waters had encountered the enemy. About sunset Walker camped for the night on the south bank of the Gil Gonzales, and due silence was kept in order to prevent the enemy from perceiving his presence there.