Disaffection Reaches Panama, IF YOU ARË ARRANG ING FOR AN 209 EXCURSION to Taboga Island, or other points in Panama Bay, Write or Call on PINEL BROTHERS, No. 111 North Avenue, Panama. furnished by the deposing of Sanclemente. The strife that followed lasted three years, and according to official reports cost the lives of over 50,000 men. The information that had been coming to Panama, sometimes false, sometimes true, had the effect of stirring up a bitter political feeling which came out openly upon the landing of a revolutionary expedition from Nicaragua on the coast of Chiriqui in April, 1900. This expedition consisted of 110 men under the command of Generals Emiliano Herrera and Belisario Porras. With this small force they attacked and captured the garrison at David, the capital of Chiriqui Province, and then commenced a march on Panama. Gen. Herrera having a personal knowledge of the country and people through which he was passing succeeded in securing numerous recruits, so that at Bejuc, where he encountered the first serious opposition to his progress, he was able to defeat Gen. Lozada at the head of 650 men of the Colombian Line. The revolutionists continued their advance upon Panama and were practically unopposed until they arrived at Corozal, three miles from Panama. Here he was again met by the government troops who, after giving battle, retired to the city. By this time Gen. Herrera had under his command about 1500 men. Attack On Panama. Upon the withdrawal of the government troops, Gen. Herrera proceeded to occupy a position commanding the city of Panama. He then demanded through the foreign consuls the capitulation of the town without fighting in order to avert loss of life. The consular representatives labored earnestly to come to some understanding, but the negotiations which o cupied two days' time completely failed. In the meantime the government forces had been working day and night strengthening the defenses and preparing for the attack, while many of the townspeople took advantage of the temporary lull in hostilities by betaking themselves to a place of safety. Many took refuge on board the British cruiser "Leander" at anchor in the bay. His delay in pushing the attack subjected Gen. Herrera to severe criticism on the part of his subordinate officers who claimed that but for these dilatory tactics which enabled the government forces to form their plan of defense and dispose their men to the best advantage, the victory at Corozal could very easily have been duplicated at Panama. Looking at it from a purely humanitarian point of view however, Gen. Herrera's act appears commendable. The attack on the city commenced from three sides and continued day and nigh: for seventy-two hours, with only an occasional intermission to allow the removal of the wounded. This was effected in part by an ambulance corps of one hundred men from the "Leander" who voluntarily placed their services at the disposal of the authorities. The fighting was very fierce and at times hand to hand in the trenches and behind the barricades. The operations were principally confined to that part of the town known as Pueblo Nuevo, San Miguel and Caledonia, now directly overlooked by the Hotel Tivoli. On the second night of the battle the government troops were reinforced by the arrival of several hundred men of the Colombian Line from Colon, under the command of Gen. Sarria. He also brought word that still more troops were being despatched from Colon by the Governor of Panama. Gen. Campo Serrano. The above news coupled with the determined resistance offered by the government forces, and a shortage of ammunition discouraged the revolutionists, and at the termination of the three days' fighting, a truce was arranged. This resulted in the revolutionists accepting the offer of Gen. Alban, the military and civil chief of Panama, to surrender with honor and be placed on parole. The trenches and outskirts of the city presented a terrible sight after the battle. The streets and fields were strewn with the unburied dead, among them being some of the best of Panama's young men who had espoused the cause on both sides. From this date until the cessation of hostilities, the city of Panama, being used as the head military post of the Colombian government on the Isthmus for troops and supplies, was kept in comparative peace and quiet, although the ensuing two years witnessed continual fighting in other parts of the country. At one time the revolutionists were in possession of every important point and post, with the exception of the city of Panama. The United States Government at the request of the authorities at Bogota finally landed a force of marines to keep the transit open. Fighting was thereupon stopped along the line of the railroad, and to insure further the preservation of order, from three to four warships rode at anchor in the harbor. The Sinking of the "Lautaro" The Sinking of the "Lautaro". 213 The naval battle in the bay of Panama on January 20, 1902, which resulted in the sinking of the Colombian gunboat Lautaro, and the death of Gen. Carlos Alban, the government's chief military representative on the Isthmus, afforded one of the most interesting spectacles connected with the revolution. A few days previous to this engagement the Lautaro, a boat belonging to the Chilean steamship line, had been impressed into service by the government authorities without waiting for the consent of the head of affairs at Bogota. Guns were mounted and the boat otherwise put in readiness to go in search of the revolutionary vessel Padilla, and to relieve the garrison at Aguadulce which at that time was being hard pressed by the Liberals. On the night before the Lautaro met her fate, Gen. Alban with several of his officers went on board and discovered the Chilean crew had broken into the spirit room and were committing drunken excesses, one being the letting of all the fresh water out of the tanks. Finding it useless to try and discipline them, the general retired and was awakened in the morning with the information that a vessel was steaming into the harbor showing no distinctive colors. After passing inside of where the American cruiser, Philadelphia lay at anchor, the boat which proved to be the Padilla, opened a well-directed fire on the Lautaro dismounting one of its guns at the first shot, and killing Gen. Alban and several other men at the second fire. on In the meantime the small Colombian gunboat Chucuito with Gen. Esteban Huertas and Gen. H. O. Jeffries board came up from La Boca and steamed to within five hundred yards of the Padilla. The Chucuito immediately opened up with a light rapid-fire automatic gun which however, made no impression on the revolutionary steamer. The latter continued to hammer away at the Lautaro until the vessel caught fire and sank slowly out of sight |