The Second Battle of Rivas occurred on 11 April 1856 between Costa Rican militia under General Juan Rafael Mora Porras and the Nicaraguan forces of American mercenary William Walker. The lesser known First Battle of Rivas took place on the 29 June 1855 between Walker's forces and the forces of the Chamorro government of Nicaragua.
1858 interpretation by Elbert Price in his book "The Battle Roll"
Scene in the Battle of Rivas, Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper
Juan Santamaria - The Burning of the Inn (1896), painting by Costa Rican artist Enrique Echandi
William Walker (filibuster)
William Walker was an American physician, lawyer, journalist, and mercenary. In the era of the expansion of the United States, driven by the doctrine of "manifest destiny", Walker organized unauthorized military expeditions into Mexico and Central America with the intention of establishing slaveholding colonies. Such an enterprise was known at the time as "filibustering".
William Walker (filibuster)
President Walker's house in Granada, Nicaragua. On October 12, 1856, during the siege of Granada, Guatemalan officer José Víctor Zavala ran under heavy fire to capture Walker's flag and bring it back to the Central American coalition army trenches shouting "Filibuster bullets don't kill!". Zavala survived this adventure unscathed.
William Walker's grave in the Old Trujillo Cemetery, Trujillo, Colón, Honduras
The Costa Rica National Monument represents the five united Central American nations carrying weapons and William Walker fleeing.
