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27.11.20. Bellinger,
report of patrol, somoto.
UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS
Marine Detachment
Pueblo Nuevo, Nicaragua
20 November, 1927
From:
Second Lieutenant George H. Bellinger, U. S. Marine
Corps.
To:
The Area Commander, Ocotal, Nicaragua.
Subject:
Report of Patrol
1. I left Somoto with a patrol
of five men and one pack animal about 0900, Sunday, 20
November, 1927, enroute to Pueblo Nuevo. About two
leagues out of Somoto I came in view of a house situated
on a hill about 75 yards off to the right of the road.
Two men were sitting at the right corner of the front of
the house conversing. My attention was drawn to
their suspicious actions which caused me to order them
down to the road. One of the men passed something
to the other and then came on down. The other went
to the door of the house and handed something to the
woman inside. I had to call sharply two or three
times to that man before he finally came. Private
Arthur W. Rue and Private Howard C. Joyner accompanied
me to search the house while the other marines kept the
men on the road. We searched the house and found
three war type machettes and one other working machette.
I sent Private Rue out to search the back of the house
and he found two 38-caliber pistols hidden in the brush
close to the house. These pistols had four shells
in one of them and one shell in the other. We
continued our search in the brush and found nothing
more. The bandits' arms were properly and securely
tied behind their backs and I had the bandits placed in
front of the patrol under the care of Sergeant Frank B.
Patterson and Private Rue. The bandits were
several times warned to stop talking to each other, and
continued walking ahead. About a half league down
the road as the prisoners were rounding a bend they
suddenly tried to duck into the thick brush. I
heard Sergeant Patterson call to them to halt but they
did not pay any heed and so both Patterson and Rue fired
on and killed them. We put their bodies on the
side of the road in the brush and continued on.
2. At about 1700 two leagues
distant from Pueblo Nuevo we were suddenly surprised by
a native charging down on us waving a machette in a
menacing way. He had apparently been but recently
in a fight, for he was bloody about the neck and front
of his shirt and showed fresh scars on his neck and
face. We finally managed to stop him and get his
war-type machette away from him without anyone being cut
up. He had apparently been drinking guarra and
engaged in some kind of brawl along the road. His
neck had been cut in the back and was bleeding. We
had a hard time trying to procure his machette.
Private Rue had opened up his shirt and we saw the
blood. Before we could hardly say a word the
native wheeled about on his horse and commenced whipping
it vigorously. I thought he was a bandit and
wanted to bring him to Pueblo Nuevo. I called to
him to halt [ p. 2 ] but he whipped his
horse all the harder. I chased him for about 100
yards and was gaining on him when he suddenly swerved
his animal to the left into the bushes. I again
yelled to him to halt and struck his animal. The
native fell off and rushed back the other way, running
very fastly. Private Rue went into the bushes and
opened fire on him bringing him down. When we
found him his left arm had been badly mangled at the
elbow from the shots. At first he bled profusely.
We tried to do something for him but he fought us off.
He was hostile the entire return trip trying to run away
from us and acting pugnacious. The corpsman
dressed his wounds and he was then taken away by some
other natives.
3. I reported these contacts to
the Commanding Officer here upon my arrival at about
1820. Statements from other members of this patrol
will be forwarded upon the Patrol's return to Somoto.
/ s / George H. Bellinger
Pueblo Nuevo
9 p.m. 20 Nov 1927
Capt. R. W. Peard
Dear Sir,
Bellinger came in with his patrol bringing a native all
shot up. The chief of police said he knew the
fellow & said his name was Bicisitasion Gonzalez [Visitación
González], a good hombre but that he was drunk. I
think he was drunk when Belllinger shot him & had
probably had a fight previously as Bellinger said he was
all bloody. B. was all keyed up & I had to take
some time to get the details from him, hence the delay
in the detailed telegraphic report. I have just
now been able to get him to sit down and make out his
written report as I wanted it to get off with McDonald
tomorrow. Dunford patched the native up the best
he could but said it was hopeless. He was shot in
the side & left arm in addition to a machete cut on the
back of his head. Jose says he thinks the fellow
will live but I don't see how he can. Jose (native
guide) also says the reason the president of the
elections did not show up at Potrerillos was that the
police from Esteli had threatened him. I am having
Jose write you a letter telling you about it as I can
get only about one fourth of what he says. I am
also sending Gy. Sgt. Gordons report to you with a
statement from some natives at Potrerillos attached.
You said in your telegram to send reports direct to
Brig. Commander but I thot [thought] you would like to
see it them & they will go in just as
fast.
I expect
Paul from Condega about 10 p.m. tonight. He and
Sgt. Shacker will also have reports to send in. [
p. 2 ] In your letter you mention sending Cpl.
Faulkner and Pvt. Moore to Leon with the bull carts.
I received your telegram about Cpl. Faulkner and Pvt.
Voit but haven't heard anything before your letter about
a Pvt. Moore going in.
Bellinger
is having a hard time with his written report. I
just gave him a little Dewars White Label to calm him
down but I guess it will have to be typewritten in the
morning in order to be coherent.
Will
write more when Paul gets in.
Respectfully yours,
M. A. Richal
NA127/43A/3
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Summary & Notes |
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Very
revealing report. |
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•
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Events leading to deaths of the two men:
concrete example of how Marines routinely violated
patriarchal norms of rural society, disregarding &
violating local cultural precepts of male honor,
campesino autonomy, and religious beliefs
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Yelling at the men in a foreign language to issue
them orders and demands; two Marines enter a house
with a lone woman inside, with men tied up and
forced to remain outside their own house; responding
to the men's efforts to escape by killing them;
unsubstantiated allegation that these men were
"bandits"; leaving the men's corpses in the brush
along the side of the road instead of seeing to
their proper burial. |
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Description of the bloody man on the horse exemplary
of the zone's continuing political turmoil and
violence. |
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Report accompanied by letter from 1st Lt. Merton A. Richal to Captain R. W. Peard. |
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Less than six weeks later Richal wounded in action at Zapotillal
in NE Segovias. |
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Unknown whether wounded man on horse lived. |
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27.11.26. KEIMLING,
CONTACT WITH BANDITS, PATASTE.
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GUARDIA AND MARINE DETACHMENT
PATASTE, NICARAGUA.
26 November 1927.
From:
The Commanding Officer, G. N.
To:
The Division Commander, Ocotal, Nicaragua.
Subject:
Contact with bandits.
1.
Cleared 83 at 1600- 24 November 1927 with patrol of
seven mounted Marines. Formed junction with eight
mounted Guardias near Mal Paso. Proceeded to
patrol the frontier. Patrolled from Mojon going
north. At 1430- Nov. 25 1927 while near Laguna
Colorado, Nicaragua, which is one league south of Es
Pino [Espino], Nicaragua observed a number of shacks
with some armed natives on sentry post. One shack
had a large blue flag flying in front. Was told
that it was the camping place of a band of thirty
outlaws belonging to Anastacio Hernandez.
Approached within 100 yds. of the shacks when fired on.
Immediately attacked. Killed four bandits and
wounded several; the rest of the bandits fled towards
the frontier via a ravine. Was fired on from the
Honduranian side and returned the fire. Strafed
the shacks with rifle and hand grenades. Burned a
[---] outlaw's shacks. Captured one mare, one cow,
large quantity of corn, beans, etc. and ninety rounds of
Mauser ammunition.
2.
Private Frederico Blanco, G. N. # 205 and Private R. A.
Donnell, U.S.M.C. were both grazed by bullets.
Combined patrol fought with energy and determination,
and with increasing ferocity and aggressiveness.
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NA127/43A/3
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Summary & Notes |
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Another contact with a Conservative gang — in this
case a gang of 30 led by
Anastasio Hernández, identifiable by its blue flag. |
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Gang
defeated & dispersed. |
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27.12.06. Peard, bandit contact near el jÍcaro.
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OFFICE OF THE DIVISION COMMANDER
DIVISION OF NUEVA SEGOVIA
OCOTAL, NICARAGUA.
6 December 1927.
From:
The Division Commander.
To:
The Brigade Commander, Managua.
Subject:
Bandit contact on 5 Dec 1927, between Jicaro patrol and
bandit
group near Saban [Sabana] Grande.
1.
The following preliminary report has been compiled from
messages received to date from San Fernando and Jicaro,
but is not intended to replace written report of patrol
commander from Jicaro which will be forwarded as soon as
possible.
2.
At 0700 5 Dec. Lieut. Boyle, nineteen marines, one
guardia enlisted, one navy enlisted and eleven
bulllcarts cleared San Fernando for Jicaro. At
0800, a patrol of ten marines and ten guardia in charge
Sgt. Smith cleared Jicaro to meet bullcart train from
San Fernando.
3.
At 1110 on 5 Dec., before this Jicaro patrol had made a
junction with Boyles column, they were surrounded and
attacked by bandit group of about one hundred, near
Sabana Grande. They fought their way thru and
joined the bull-cart train. Cabo Marco Antonio
Fonseca, G.N., number 39, was killed, body had to be
abandoned but was recovered today and buried by bull
cart guard enroute to Jicaro at about 1200.
4.
Jicaro patrol reports thirty bandit casualties including
two Jefes, one of whom was speaking English throughout
the attack. One BAR [Browning Automatic Rifle] was
captured by bandits but the trigger guard was removed
before it was lost, and same was buried. No reason
for loss of this BAR is yet known.
5.
Raso Valentin Galeano, G.N. #5, who was originally
reported as killed in action, reported in to Jicaro
today unharmed.
6.
McDonald sent additional patrol up and joined Boyle at
0700 today and accompanied bullcarts to within seven
miles of Jicaro, when it returned and is safely back in
San Fernando.
7.
No other known casualties.
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NA127/43A/3
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Summary & Notes |
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Fight with EDSN, who dominated the entire zone around El Jícaro. |
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Care
taken by the Marines in recovering the body of the
dead Guardia soldier; effort to gain & retain
loyalty of native Guardia. |
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27.12.07.
Brown, Engagement with bandits at El Portrero.
Marine and Guardia Detachment.
Telpaneca, Nicaragua.
7 December, 1927.
From:
The Commanding Officer.
To:
The Brigade Commander, 2nd Brigade, Managua, Nic.
Via:
The Division Commander, Ocotal, Nicaragua.
Subject:
Engagement with a group of bandits at El Portrero, 6
December, 1927,
report on.
1.
A group of Sandinistas under command of one Teodor
Polanco entered the area of Telpaneca something over a
week ago and quartered itself somewhere in the district
of Santo Domingo. At the time, information as to
the exact whereabouts of this group was impossible to
obtain, for those who could have told would not.
Therefore, the undersigned hired three men through Don
Nicanor Espinosa, a citizen of this town who has
incurred the personal enmity of Sandino and who
therefore finds it in his interest to aid our forces in
all ways possible. These men definitely located
three bands within a radius of three leagues. The
one in Santa Domingo consisted of thirty men armed with
pistols, shotguns and machetes. All expenses
attendant upon this espionage service have been
personally defrayed by the undersigned.
2.
Plans were laid to attack those three bands in order,
beginning last Sunday night with the group at Santa
Domingo. Sunday afternoon, however, I learned from
one of my native scouts that a group of one hundred and
sixty men, well armed and mounted, had entered El
Portrero that day coming from the North. At this
time I believed it to be a concentration against this
post, and reported the situation to the Division
Commander.
3.
The following evening, Monday December 5th, I learned
that the large band had left early that morning going
toward Jicaro. The band of Teodor Polanco had
moved over from Santo Domingo to join the large band but
had missed them and taken up quarters at El Portrero.
4.
At 2:00 a.m., December 6th, the undersigned left
Telpaneca with a patrol of seven marines, three guardia
nacional and a native guide. We had moon-light
until about an hour before daybreak and made good time
on the trail. Even in the darkness before dawn we
pushed on and had arrived within five hundred yards of
the bandit position when daylight caught us. The
march discipline of the patrol, both marines and
guardia, was excellent, even in the hours of complete
darkness when the going over the mountain trails was
most difficult.
5.
The bandit position was found to be a ranch house on the
side of a hill, wooded above the house to the north.
Through a mistake of the guide we had approached from
the southeast. On the west and south sides of the
house there were no trace but a clearing in a radius of
three hundred yards. To the east the ground fell
away sharply to form a deep wooded ravine. The
house itself was a big one surrounded by a barbed wire
fence. A circumstance in our favor was the tall
rank grass in the clearing and a clump of bushes in the
southwest corner of the fence where the trail entered.
It was also just after daybreak and we were not
expected. [ p. 2 ]
6.
The patrol crawled up the trail in squad column until it
had gained a position in rear of the bushes mentioned
which sheltered them from observation of the house.
It then climbed up the hill to the house. So far
we had seen no men about the house but as we approached
we heard laughter. The undersigned, being in the
lead was the first to reach the wire fence. When I
did so I immediately saw and was seen by two men who at
first made no effort at all to run. It occurred to
me that I had come on a wild goose chase and that the
house was occupied by peaceful people. With that I
stood up and doing so brought in to view for the first
time a veranda along the west side of the house.
This was occupied by at least twenty men wearing red and
black hat bands, Sandino's colors. I was seen at
the same instant and all hands but the immediately [sic]
yelled "Los Marinos" and broke for the other side of the
house. I had a hand grenade in my hand but the
presence of two women and several children made it
impossible to throw it. I therefore raised my
pistol and killed the man who has shouted as he reached
the corner of the house. At this signal, as
prearranged the patrol deployed along two sides of the
fence and opened fire, rushed the house, and pursued
with fire the retreating enemy as they fled across the
ravine and up the hill.
7.
I allowed no further pursuit because there was an
additional group of some fifteen or twenty men who had
been sleeping on the East Veranda, and the patrol was
too small in number to risk scattering it. The
bandits began firing dynamite bombs on the West side of
the house, to scare us I suppose. The group
deployed on the other side of the ravine shot through
the shoulder a woman who was running up the hill behind
the men. When she screamed I noticed her and
ordered cease firing. The woman was not badly hurt
as she continued running holding her shoulder. At
this juncture a man in khaki with a cigar in his mouth
came running up the hill from the ravine. I
thought he was one of the patrol who had followed the
enemy without my seeing him. For the same reason
no one else fired on him until he stopped suddenly
within fifty yards and raised a dynamite bomb to the
cigar. At this two of the Guardia fired on him.
Private Kincannon turned a burst of Thompson Automatic
fire into him. The bomb dropped at his feet and
exploted [sic], hurting no one but himself.
He made a total of five killed; the wounded were
unknown. The patrol suffered no casualties.
After the bomb incident, no further hostilities ensued,
though the enemy continued to fire dynamite bombs all
day farther back in the hills. Probably to
discourage our following them.
8.
A search of the house discovered two loaded shotguns,
twenty machetes, a quantity of powder and shot, a red
and black banner with red letters T R stitched into the
black, several bottles of cususa, a large amount of food
stuffs and blankets, and a variety of odds and ends.
Four horses and a mule were also found in the clearing
around the house. The women who lived there said
they were the bandits' property. Papers were also
found identifying Polanco as Sandino's Jefe de reten for
Santo Domingo. None of the dead were identified.
9.
The patrol returned to Telpaneca arriving there at 10:45
a.m. without - - - -
WILBURT S. BROWN
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NA127/212/1
On Teodoro Polanco see
also:
S-DOCS
30.12.04, 31.02.03, 31.02.07, 31.04.24, 31.06.22,
31.12.28
IR-DOCS
30.02.28, 31.01.25, 31.06.01
PC-DOCS
30.12.04, 30.12.08, 31.01.25, 31.05.05
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Summary & Notes |
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Battle between combined Marine-GN patrol & EDSN
hideout in Telpaneca district. |
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Dramatic portrait of patrol's surprise assault and
ensuing firefight. |
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Teodoro
Polanco identified elsewhere in EDSN and Marine-GN documents, esp.
1930-31. |
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Revealing depictions of the physical landscape; women &
children; gendered Marine constructions of battle
and military engagement with civilians; and skirmish
itself. |
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27.12.07. Smith /
waterman, Report of Contact, El JÍcaro.
|
MARINE DETACHMENT
JICARO, NICARAGUA.
7 December, 1927.
For the Division Commander.
The following is a report of an
engagement with the bandit forces.
On
December 5th, I received verbal orders from Lt. Waterman
to proceed with ten marines and ten Guardia to meet the
bull cart train coming from San Fernando. About
200 yards past San Pedro ranch we were attacked by a
force of approximately 200. They allowed the point
to pass and hitting us first in the rear. We were
then surrounded on all sides, as we were in a valley.
The firing came from three hills on our front and sides.
One Guardia was killed in the road at first. We
were in a rather open place in the shape of a V.
Four rifles went bad and one automatic rifle jammed
which weakened us considerable. We fought there
for 1 hour and 25 minutes. We were then forced to
leave. We broke thru the lines and took a hill for
position. The fighting started at 11:10 a.m. and
ended at 12:35 p.m. We estimate their casualties
at 30 killed. We could not return for the dead
Guardia and had to go on and meet the train. On
our return we buried the Guardia. Our only
casualty was one killed.
Fred G. Smith.
Sgt., U.S.M.C.
MARINE DETACHMENT
JICARO, NICARAGUA
7 December, 1927.
From:
The Commanding Officer.
To:
The Commanding Officer, 2nd Brigade, Managua, Nicaragua.
Via:
Official Channels.
Subject:
Report of contact between the bandit forces of Sandino
and a patrol
from this post.
Enclosure: Report of
Sgt. Smith in charge of patrol.
1.
On the morning of 5 December, 1927, I sent a patrol of
ten Marines and ten Guardia in charge of Sgt. Smith to
meet a bull cart train coming from Ocotal.
2.
This patrol was attacked by a band of bandits at 11:10
a.m. The bandits were reported to me as being led
by Sandino himself. The natives that reported it
to me said that there were about 240 bandits present.
One of the Jefes spoke English very well and continually
used all kinds of expressions to say what he thought of
Marines. However this Jefe kept very well out of
sight. The bandits wore brown clothing and it
kept was difficult to distinguish them
from their surroundings. They were all well armed
with rifles and dynamite bombs.
3.
Private M. Brown was firing a Browning Automatic Rifle
but it became jammed and he was unable to put it back
into operation. He removed the trigger group, laid
down his rifle and picked up the rifle of the dead
Guardia which he had during the rest of the fighting.
Having moved around considerably during the fighting he
was not near his rifle and could not return to it after
the fighting was over. His belt was on the ground
near his rifle. Pvt. Brown buried his trigger
group.
4.
The following men were members of this patrol
Sgt. F. G. Smith
Cpl. Largaspado, Pompilio #157
Pvt. M. Brown
Pvt. Gutierrez, Victor M. #128
" K.
W. Coffman
" Marcos, Fonseca #39
" W.
C. Hunt
" Arguilero, Arnulfo
#121
" R.
E. Johnson
" Francisco, Sandoval
#396
" B.
M. Lanier
" Antonio, Gadea #407
" W.
L. McDaniels
" Galeano, Valentino
#5
" E.
R. Richards
" Andres, C. Chavarria
#338
" R.
L. Waldie
" Juan Davila S. #388
" R.
N. Wilson
" Exequiel Cuadra #2
H. C. WATERMAN
2nd Lieut. USMC
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NA127/113C/12
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Summary & Notes |
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EDSN
ambush against Marine-Guardia patrol (10 Marines, 10
Guardia, 240 rebels). |
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Patrol
reportedly suffered death of only one Guardia, its
only casualty. |
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Impossible to know
whether patrol actually killed 30. |
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Report
of Sgt. Smith (patrol leader) followed by report of
his CO 2nd Lt. H. C. Waterman. |
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Shows NE
Segovias, incl. El Jícaro district, firmly under EDSN
control. |
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27.12.11. Brown
(Satterfield), engagement with group of bandits at cuje.
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MARINE AND GUARDIA DETACHMENT,
TELPANECA, NICARAGUA.
11 December 1927.
From:
The Commanding Officer.
To:
The Brigade Commander
Subject:
Engagement with group of bandits at Cuje, 11 Dec., 1927.
1.
A group of some twenty-five bandits under one Candelario
Lopez was reliably reported by native scouts in vicinity
of Cuje, a little over a week ago. The bandits
moved to an unknown location in the direction of
Totogalpa last Tuesday, and were not again located until
December 10, when they were reported in the house of one
Perez in the area of Cuje. A group in this same
house was attacked by the undersigned on October 30 and
a number of men still here were members of that patrol
and acquainted with the trails.
2.
A combined patrol, 15 marines and 5 guardia, left
Telpaneca at 0045, December 11, under command of Lieut.
Satterfield, G.N.; there was a moon until daylight and
the patrol arrived at the bandit position at about 0430
without incident.
3.
The bandits were divided between a group of five houses
and a separate house some three hundred yards farther up
the ridge line. The patrol arrived from above
these houses and seven marines and one guardia with Cpl
Tucker in charge were left at the upper house, while Lt.
Satterfield continued down the ridge toward the other
houses with the remainder of the patrol.
4.
The upper house was set some two hundred yards off to
the right of the trail and Cpl. Tucker took his men into
a position in the clearing around the house flanking two
opposite sides of it at a range of about fifty yards.
He himself was on the right of it with a guardia, while
the remainder of the group was on a line with him over
to the left. The plan was for him to wait until
Lt. Satterfield opened fire on the lower houses before
attacking but circumstances forced an abandonment of
this plan.
5.
A sentinel was sleeping alongside the house in front of
Tucker with a dog sleeping at his feet. All
Tucker's dispositions had been made when the dog scented
danger and awoke the sentry by barking. For this
indescretion the dog was later killed. The sentry
woke and seized his shotgun. Tucker promptly
killed him and the war was on. There were some 25
bandits in this house alone and they immediately rushed
out to escape by the trail on the opposite side of the
house from the marines, but Cpl Tucker with considerable
presence of mind, threw a nad [hand] grenade over the
house into the trail which demolished one bandit and
drove them back into the line of fire of the marines
covering the other side of the house from Tucker.
Three more bandits were killed and three mortally
wounded by this rifle fire. Many more were less
seriously wounded as evidenced by trails of blood down
the side of the hill but the number is of course
unknown. The bandits scattered rapidly into the
underbrush and were pursued by fire as long as they
could be seen moving.
6.
In the meantime, Lt. Satterfield had continued down the
other position and had just entered the clearing where
the buildings were situated when the firing started
above him. His patrol was one hundred and fifty
yards from the house and visibility was poor on account
of a heavy mist. At the sound of firing, the
bandits rushed from these houses and began firing
aimlessely in the direction of the other house.
There were some thirty or forty bandits in this group,
with many rifles and shotguns. The patrol
immediately opened fire but could not get close with the
enemy as they immediately took to the underbrush.
This group unfortunately escaped with all their firearms
and reached their horses in a portrero at the foot of
the hill. None were observed killed here but an
unknown number of wounded is certain from bloody trails.
[ p. 2 ]
7.
Within ten minutes after the first shot there were no
more targets at which to fire, and the engagements was
finished. Three shotguns, two rifles, and ten
machettes were captured. All the houses were found
to be full of foodstuffs and ammunition. Since the
houses were a favorable rendezvous for bandits, all but
one were burned. The ammunition and foodstuffs
were destroyed in the fire. A large number of
turkeys, geese, ducks, pigs, calves and chickens were
found around the lower houses as well as two burros.
One of these bandit burros was wounded, the other was
captured to bring fourteen turkeys into Telpaneca for
Christmas dinner.
8.
The separate house was not demolished as one woman was
living there had been accidently killed and a small boy
wounded. These and the three wounded bandits were
left there with several other women who were found in
both houses.
9.
The patrol suffered no casualties. In all, the
bandits lost five killed, three mortally wounded and
many other wounded. None of the dead or wounded
were identified.
10.
After destroying the bandits' stores, the patrol began
its return journey to Telpaneca. About a mile and
a half from the scene of the fight, on the side of a
mountain, the patrol stopped to rest. Raso Pedro
Sabayos #208, GN, was stationed in the rear as a march
outpost. One of the bandits, who had evidently
followed the patrol with the intention of revenging
himself, suddenly appeared on the side of the hill above
the trail at a distance of about 100 yards aiming his
rifle. Sabayo immediately shot him. He fell
but rose again and started to run. Tucker and Pvt
Harris then shot him but he again got up and ran,
escaping with his rifle. The alertness and prompt
action of Raso Sabayos undoubtedly saved the life of at
least one of the patrol. It is recommened that his
action be brought to the attention of the chief of the
Guardia Nacional for appropriate commendation.
11.
The patrol reached Telpaneca at 1215 without further
incident.
12.
The entire patrol conducted itself in a most
satisfactory manner, especially since half of the
marines were new arrivals in this post who had no
previous experience in this part of the country.
According to the patrol leader, Lt. Satterfield, march
and fire discipline was excellent throughout. Cpl
Tucker is especially to be commended for his able and
efficient handling of the action described above.
In addition to the commandable [commendable] action
described above, Raso Sabayos had previously
distinguished himself in the action with Cpl Tucker by
his coolness under fire. He continued firing
steadily although he and Tucker were the only targets of
the two or three enemy firing from the house.
/ s / W. S. BROWN
NA127/212/1
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|
Summary & Notes |
| |
•
|
Steep ravines, caves, and inaccessibility of the Cuje
Valley, SE of Telpaneca, made it a favorite rebel
sanctuary from early on; remained so till the end.
|
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•
|
Successful Marine-GN dawn assault on EDSN hamlet in Cuje.
|
| |
•
|
Ten-minute firefight
shows Marine-GN superior weapons & tactics, EDSN
tendency to exercise inadequate vigilance around
their camps. |
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•
|
Report evidently based on oral report narrated to
Lt. Brown by patrol leader Lt. Satterfield and
written up by Brown. |
| |
•
|
Exceptionally detailed description of sounds,
sights, and events (the moonlit night, the barking
dog, the heavy mist). |
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•
|
After the fight: suicidal effort of lone rebel
to assault the column's rear. |
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•
|
Description of how lone rebel took two rifle shots,
got up and ran away; extraordinary physical
capacities of rebels a recurring pattern in these
documents; these were some very tough men. |
PC-Docs Master Inventory
(excel file) •
pc-docs master inventory
(list on pc-docs home)
27.12.11. keimling,
contact with bandits, pataste.
|
MARINE AND GUARDIA DETACHMENT
PATASTE, NICARAGUA.
11 December 1927
From:
The Commanding Officer.
To:
The Division Commander.
Subject:
Contact with bandits.
1.
At 0450 on 10 December, 1927, undersigned with 10
guardias cleared MAL PASO, to patrol the frontier.
Near ESPINO received information of bandit activity in
the direction of CORRAL FALSO. Undersigned with 2
guardias proceeded to locate bandit's hangout when near
CORRAL FALSO. Crept upon outlaws' camp unnoticed
as bandits were busy eating. Noticed 20 armed
bandits near 3 shacks. They had no sentry out.
Sent F. Blanco to get rest of patrol and deploy them for
the attack. Luis Huerta, GN, sneaked up to one of
the shacks and threw a hand grenade in same, killing two
bandits and seriously wounding three. Rest of the
patrol attacked, killing four more and wounding a number
who escaped thru the dense underbrush. Bandits
camp was of recent construction. Destroyed the
three shacks containing three old remingtons and some
Mauser ammunition. Captured one horse, saddle and
five machettes. No casualties among guardias.
H. S. KEIMLING.
NA127/212/1
On how hundreds of Remington
and Mauser rifles supplied to the Chamorro regime in 1921
ended up in the hands of leading Conservatives in the
Western Segovias, see my "The Vexatious Frontier Question,"
pp. 18-19, and for the original documents,
The Segovian Borderlands, 1919-1926, August 1921).
|
|
Summary & Notes |
| |
•
|
Lt. Keimling
relentlessly pursuing armed gangs in borderlands around El Espino.
|
| |
•
|
Old
Remingtons & Mauser ammunition suggest this a Conservative gang. |
PC-Docs Master Inventory
(excel file) •
pc-docs master inventory
(list on pc-docs home)
27.12.11. Harbaugh
(Martin), report of operations, somoto.
|
Marine Detachment, Somoto,
Nicaragua.
December 11, 1927.
From:
The Commanding Officer.
To:
The Brigade Commande.
Subject:
Report of Operations.
1.
On November [December] 9, 1927, at 2:00 a.m., a mounted
patrol consisting of nine enlisted Marines and a native
guide, in charge of Corporal Frederick F. Martin, U.S.
Marine Corps, left this post for Caucali and points west
of Somoto as far as Santa Rosa.
2.
On December 10, 1927, at about 10:10 a.m., the patrol
ran into a bandit band numbering about eight or ten men,
near a town called Macuelizo, about twenty miles north
of Somoto. The patrol attacked this band with the
result that three of said band were killed and three or
more badly wounded, the latter could not be definetely
ascertained due to the fact that the balance of band
together with those injured ducked into the woods which
are dense around thisarea, and altho the patrol chased
them they were unable to locate them. Two pistols,
one a caliber 38 and the other caliber 44 were captured,
also 4 war machettes. These pistols were not much
good, but the machettes were sharpened to a razor like
edge.
3.
The patrol proceeded to Santa Rosa and circled back to a
place called Parasitio, about three miles south of
Macuelizo, upon arrival there they saw several bandits
run from a shack, they were fired on by a patrol, and it
is believed that at least three were hit and badly
injured, they escaped into the thick woods in this
place.
4.
There were no casualties among the Marine force.
The patrol returned to Somoto at 0700, November 11,
1927, having been in the field practically without sleep
since November 9, 1927.
F. D. HARBAUGH
NA127/212/1
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Summary & Notes |
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•
|
Another successful Marine-GN surprise assault in
Western Segovian borderlands. |
| |
•
|
Conservatives? Sandinistas? Liberals?
Unknown. |
PC-Docs Master Inventory
(excel file) •
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27.12.15. Brown,
Engagement with bandits at portal.
|
U.S. MARINES and GUARDIA NACIONAL
DETACHMENT.
TELPANECA, NICARAGUA.
15 December 1927.
From:
The Commanding Officer.
To:
The Brigade Commander.
Via:
The Division Commander.
Subject:
Engagement with bandits at Portal, 14 December 1927.
1.
The presence of a large enemy reten in Portal was known
for some time. This group was reported as
occupying two rances [ranches] about 1,000 yards apart;
30 of them at the ranch QUIBUTO under the command of
Thomas Melgara [Tomás Melgara], about the sane number at
a smaller ranch under one Meliso Sanchez [Melecio
Sánzhez]. The distance to this place is well over
four leagues over most difficult mountain trails and it
was impossible to reach them in a night march. In
addition, these people expected us to attack them at
dawn as we have been in the habit of doing, and made it
a practice to stand by at an hour before dawn each day.
As long as the bandits stayed on the other side of
PERICON, I was disposed to leave them alone.
Sanchez, did move in this side of PERICON once, and was
attacked by Lt. Satterfield, GN, on November 10, 1927.
Over half his force was killed, wounded, or deserted him
and after that the reten stayed out of our ranch.
2.
On Sunday, December 11, however, I learned that Antonio
Galeano had joined Sanchez with another 25 men and that
he was bragging that more reinforcements were coming
from Sandino with the purpose of attacking TELPANECA.
I decided that we would have to attack him before the
enemy got any stronger.
3.
All day on Tuesday, December 13, men left TELPANECA in
ones and two so as to attract no attention from bandit
sympathizers here. These were assembled in a
thicket near our aviation field. At 1445, I joined
them with 2 guides and took the patrol, 20 marines, out
toward PERICON. We continued until night fell,
avoiding all houses near the trail and open places on
the trail where we were in danger of observation by
cutting trails thru the underbursh. We arrived a
little after 1800 at PERICON, which has been deserted
for some time, and hid in the church until midnight.
I am confident that no one knew were in the area at that
time.
4.
When the moon arose at midnight, the patrol went on to
PORTAL. Then, within 1,000 yards of the enemy
position, Pvt. Bush accidently fired his piece.
Nevertheless, we continued on, hoping that the bandits
had attached no significance to it.
5.
The bandit position was on a steep knoll to the right of
the trail. The trail crossed one knoll about 100
yards on our side of the position, dipped into a shallow
hollow past their position and crossed another knoll
less than a 100 yards beyond it. On the side from
which we approached and on the side facing the trail,
their house was hidden by a fringe of trees; on the
opposite side the terrain was bare. Back of the
house the ground fell away sharply into a deep wooded
ravine.
6.
We arrived in front of the position at about 0145.
I left Pvt. Handzlik with half the patrol covering the
bandit position from the first knoll, and went forward
crawling with the remainder of the patrol with the
intention of getting part of them on the other knoll
while I worked up the path to the house with two
bombers. The signal to fire was to be when I threw
in a hand grenade or discharged my pistol. [ p. 2
]
7.
As it happened the enemy were alert awaiting us, having
been warned by the shot. I was just abreast of the
house when they opened fire on us. The detail on
the hill behind me immediately opened fire over the
heads of us in the hollow. Under cover of this
fire I went up the path to the house with 5 men, to
within about 25 yards of the house. From there I
threw a hand grenade into the yard. It was a poor
throw as the grenade lit beside a blank wall of the
house and harmed no one. The bandits however,
ceased firing and ran back into the ravine in back of
the house. I yelled to Handzlik to cease firing
and it ceased immediately. I then rushed the house
and threw 2 grenades into the ravine while Pvt Krummel
raked it with automatic rifle fire. Several yells
rewarded our efforts but no fire was returned.
8.
A search of the house revealed several machettes and a
few dynamite bombs. Pursuit was impossible at
night even if I desired to do so, and we set out almost
immediately for TELPANECA. I was afraid of an
ambush on the trail by MELGARA or even the route group
if I wasted any time. However, the guide knew an
old unused trail thru the mountains and we thur [thus]
avoided any probability of ambush. The patrol
reached TELPANECA at 0800, December 14th. The
patrol suffered no casualties. Scouts sent into
the enemy area the 14th reported 1 bandit killed and 3
wounded. I consider this information reliable.
Melgara withdrew with his gang to San Juan.
Sanchez and Galeano went to San Andres on this side of
the Rio Coco about 5 leagues from here. The
concentration is therefore broken up for the moment.
9.
This was the hardest trail I have made from here
considering darkness, distance and bad trails.
Nevertheless I was very well satisfied with the conduct
of the patrol in general. The accidental discharge
was very regretable but might have possibly happened to
anyone. Part of the patrol, including Pvt. Bush
had never been on patrol before.
/ s / WILBERT S. BROWN
NA127/212/1
|
|
Summary & Notes |
| |
•
|
Another exceptionally detailed report from Lt.
Brown. |
| |
•
|
Rapid evolution of tactics on both sides:
Marines-GN try a new approach to surprise assault,
only to botch the carefully prepared effort by
accidental weapon discharge by unseasoned Marine
marching through moonlit forest. |
| |
•
|
Brown's sophisticated understanding of the local
political geography; his toleration of rebel
activity in some areas but not in others. |
| |
| |
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