The reverse occurred on Friday, December 30th. Two hundred Marines
were marching with two hundred Nicaraguan National Guards when they were ambushed in a narrow defile. Englishmen whose memories go back to the Boer War will understand exactly what happened. The Americans could not see their enemy and were sniped with automatic rifles and machine guns. It is said that dynamite grenades were also thrown. The survivors who escaped from the defile were besieged at a place called Quilali, where they were relieved on Monday by other American -Marines and Nicaraguan National Guards. The relieving force discovered an unexpectedly high quality in the discipline and marks- manship of the Nicaraguan insurgents. The New York correspondent of the Times says that General Sandino, the insurgent leader, is reported to be living in an abandoned gold mine, where he is carefully protected. Again one is reminded of the Boer War and of all that we heard about the disinclination for fighting of the Boer leaders. Nevertheless they kept a war going which harassed the Empire for nearly three years. If General Sandino is not responsible for the merits of his insurgents it is certain that somebody must be.
Previous page
