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Show GENERAL HA IS PR 0 V I SGSTHATEG 1ST Revolutionary Leaders in Nicaragua Ni-caragua Prepare to Strike ' Decisive Blow. OUTFIT COMMANDERS OF GOVERNMENT TROOPS Estrada Himself 'Will Go to the, Front With Picked. ' Guard. ' . BLUE FIELDS, Feb. .11. Informa-tion Informa-tion received here today7 and which there is every reason to hcTi'ovo is reliable, re-liable, is..to the effect that General Mcna of tho revolutionary forces has taken the main body of his men, including those of General Zcledoii around Santa Clara bill and- reached Lamauga, which is two days' march from Acoyapa and three da.ys! march from General Chara-orro, Chara-orro, who is at Camalapa. i General Mcna' a week ago 'sent G'cu-oral G'cu-oral Zeledon with 200 men to Pervcnier, which is within eyesight of Santa Clara. This force, it is "reported, succeeded in deceiving General Vasquez in command com-mand of the government troops, iptp tho belief that. General Mcna was aboiit to . attack again. Meanwhile Mcna was circuiting the unprotected bills and being rejoined by a small squadron of Zeledon's men, -who secretly withdrew from Pervcnier without with-out the knowledge of the Madriz forces. Fair Sized Force. OfhVinls report that Chnmorro's force now: consists of 2000men, owing to his having received troops from Chontalcs, and' that others have tramped into the hills to join Menu. Chamorro still occupies the strong hill positions in the village of Coma la pa. while tho main body of the government troops, under General Fernando . TJivas, is at Mata, six miles from Comalapa. General Mcna said he contemplated a march nearer Acoyapa, where he would be in the rear of Vasquez and where he contemplated an immediate attack, thereby occupying the attention of this force 1 6 prevent its joining Rivas while Chamorro coineidenlally would attack liivas. , 2sews of these battles is expected daily. If the strategy is successful. General Mcna, with an inferior force, will have deprived Rivas of tho assistance as-sistance of 25 per cent of. his TorceE. which would- greatly lighten Chamorro Chamor-ro ;s task. General Menu's march to Lamanga was undertaken upon the receipt Of advices ad-vices ' from Acoyapa friends that the way for a detour Was clear. Estrada, revolutionary leader, is preparing pre-paring to go to Ihc front with a picked guard. DETAILED ACCOUNT OF RECENT FIGHTING M3LUEFIELDS. Nicaragua, Fb. 11. General Blaudon died as he hold, in.Jiis hand General Luis Mean's order to stand and' fight. A misinterpretation of this order by .mother is held by the Provisionals to be responsible for tho retreat of their troops following Ihcir repulse by the government forces at Santa Clara. The insurgents do not admit ad-mit defeat and dodare that the way to Managua is open to them. It is explained that General Mena had not expected to defeat the enemy with his small force, but planned to keep the government forces engaged, with the idea that the. enemy would draw rcinforcmcnts from Acoyapa, only ten miles distant, and so be nil-uble. nil-uble. to send au augmented a rm.v against Genpral ( baiuorro, in Ihc province of .Malagalpa. This purpose was effected, but tho plan did not work as expected. There was considerable confusion among tho insurgent officers and the advantage advan-tage of ihe subsequent situation was in doubt. Tt was explained, howeveiv that the Provisionals took Ihe heavier lire of the enemy with courage and acquitted ac-quitted themselves" well, so far as personal per-sonal bravery was concerned. A review of the details shows that tho campaign was well planned and energetically en-ergetically furthered. Whilo General Chamorro was operating in the province prov-ince of Matagalpa. wbero he has siuce occupied the capital, General Meua, with only loO men and no field guns, al-tacked al-tacked the enemy, 1500 strong and entrenched en-trenched at a hill commanding Las Ga-rilas. Ga-rilas. Uncertain of tho strength of the Provisionals, the enentv fell back, taking a stand at Santa Clara. Gen-"oral Gen-"oral Mena pursued. Fighting continued on Fobruary I! at long ran go and wilh no great damage- done. At 9 o'clock on the following morning Ihe Provisionals, Provi-sionals, made a desperate attack upon the fortified position of the enemy, being be-ing reiuforcod by tho timely arrival of General Blaudon with 200 men and one Maxim gun. Tbe enemy's position was in the form of a semi-elrcc. Tbe government troops bad been reinforced over niIit by "0U mep and two Maxim and two JfotcbKiss puns. Tbese guns wore well placed and. usbiK smokelesfi powder, could not bo located definitely by General Mena. General Gen-eral Menn's rlftht wing-, including Gordon's Gor-don's American sbarpsbooten?, took an exposed position wltbin the enemy's soml-circlc. wbile bis left wing was sent to t lie rear of the enemy al the helgbt of tbe steep bill. During the forenoon the fighting was chiefly hetween Mena's .left and Jbe enemy's right, tho latter repulsing re-pulsing every attack. General Conrad of t.lie provisionals commanded tlio Maxim gun, which wa.s posted !i an exposed position. po-sition. HOO yards ftroin one of tho enemy's Maxims and '-'OO yurds from tho other. Hack or the Insurgents' guns was n little, group, composed of General Blaudon. the members of hi staff and tho half dor.eu sunn of Conrad's? gun crew. Good Work by Gunuors. The enemy's nearest Maxim and one of the Ilotehklsp guns had a perfect range on Ibis little party and mowed down tho heavy vegetation by which the provisionals were partially concealed. It Is eons-.ldorad marvelous that Colonel Gabriel Ga-briel Conrad escaped Injury au long a.s he did. Two of Ids men were wounded early In tho fight, one being shot In the leg and U)e other in the arm. Guneral Blaudon constantly exposed himself as- lie Hcurched the position of the enemy with his binocular In an effort to locate their guns. At U o'clock iu the afternoon he received a bullet through the. brain. The fall of Blaudon was a great misfortune, mis-fortune, to tJic provisional:). He had Just received and rend orders from General Mona when this enemy's nearest Maxim, buying been moved further to t he left, Continuod on Pago Four GENERAL MEN A IS PROVING STRATEGIST Continued from Pago One began raking tho theretofore sheltered shel-tered spot. General Blandon's body was accompanied to the roar by Colonel Roche, who declared that Mcna had ordered or-dered Blandon to abandon the right wing and reinforce the left wing, which had been unnble to make any progress against tho government's position. Colonel Conrad dismounted tho gain and tho column began to move for a new position In plain sight of the enemy, en-emy, which quickly took advantngo of the situation. General Mcna saw the mistake, and galloping to the frdnt of the moving column, ordered It back to its original position, which it was Intended In-tended to hold at any cost. But the time lost was fatal. Those who readied their former position found the enemy with two Maxim guns at a distance of fifty and 100 yards, under cover, and pouring a murderous fire upon the position which the provisionals were attempting to reassume. Colonel Conrad directed his Maxim upon the nearest enemy, meanwhile receding re-ceding tho cross lire of the government's govern-ment's three Maxim gns. Conrad's chief assistant was shot through the arm and his ammunition tenders were wounded. Conrad was himself compelled to place cooling water on the gun Jacket and to adjust the ammunition belts unaided. His Nicaraguans behaved bravely, but were unable to reach the gun position In tho face of the hall of bullets. Conrad's chief assistant, though wounded, did not movo from the sldo of his chief and only showed his Injury when Conrad angrily demanded his assistance. as-sistance. A moment later a bullet tore through Conrad's abdomen, but pursued a downward course, cutting the flcah only. General Mcna. recognizing the cost of his -mistaken order, ordered a retreat. Four Nlcaraguan insurgents performed a brilliant exploit in saving Conrad's gun after their commander had staggered to the, rear. , The retreat to Moogan, ten miles distant, dis-tant, was conducted in perfect order, the enemy pursuing. The loss to the government troops Is not known hero, but It is believed to havo been considerable. Four of Gordon's : Americans were tho last to leave the position of attack. Had General Zeledon, with his four guns and 200 men. arrived. Mena undoubtedly would havo taken tho aggressive; but Zeledon being a day late. Mena attempted only to hold the enemy's attention, deceiving them as long as possible pos-sible as to tho size of his force and thus weakening the resistance to General Cha-morro Cha-morro and enabling him to capture Mata-galpa. Mata-galpa. The capture of Matagalpa Is of great advantage to the provisionals, who thus have been afforded a splendid base of ; supplies and also reinforcements, as Matagalpa.! and Jinolcga are strong conservative con-servative departments: |
