Tycoon's War: How Cornelius Vanderbilt Invaded a Country to Overthrow America's Most Famous Military Adventurer

384 Pages·2008·3.79 MB·English

by  Stephen Dando-Collins

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TYCOON’S WAR
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T YCOON’S WAR
(cid:2)
How Cornelius Vanderbilt
Invaded a Country to Overthrow America’s
Most Famous Military Adventurer
STEPHEN DANDO-COLLINS
DA CAPO PRESS
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
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Copyright © 2008 by Stephen Dando-Collins
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the
publisher. Printed in the United States of America. For information, address Da Capo
Press, 11 Cambridge Center, Cambridge, MA 02142.
Set in 10.75 point Fairfield Light by the Perseus Books Group
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Dando-Collins, Stephen.
Tycoon’s war : how Cornelius Vanderbilt invaded a country to overthrow America’s
most famous military adventurer / Stephen Dando-Collins.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-306-81607-9
1. Nicaragua—History—Filibuster War, 1855–1860. 2. United States—Military
relations—Nicaragua. 3. Nicaragua—Military relations—United States. 4. Vanderbilt,
Cornelius, 1794–1877. 5. Businessmen—United States—Biography. 6. Compañía
Accesoria del Tránsito—History. 7. Nicaragua Canal (Nicaragua)—History. 8. Walker,
William, 1824–1860. 9. Filibusters—Nicaragua—Biography. 10. United States—
Foreign relations—1815–1861. I. Title.
F1526.27.D36 2008
972.85'044—dc22
2008014632
Published by Da Capo Press
A Member of the Perseus Books Group
www.dacapopress.com
Da Capo Press books are available at special discounts for bulk purchases in the United
States by corporations, institutions, and other organizations. For more information,
please contact the Special Markets Department at the Perseus Books Group,
2300 Chestnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia, PA 19103, or call [phone],
ext. 5000, or e-mail [email protected].
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CONTENTS
Acknowledgments, vii
Maps, viii
Introduction 1
1 Gun-Barrel Diplomacy 16
2 Down, but Not Out 29
3 Enter the Colonel 46
4 Landing Behind Enemy Lines 55
5 The Battle of Rivas 65
6 Victory at La Virgen 84
7 Walker’s Secret Plan 99
8 Taking Granada 108
9 The Walker Way 117
10 Closing In on the Prize 136
11 On a Collision Course 145
12 Blindsiding Vanderbilt 151
13 The Gathering Storm 162
14 Going to War with Walker 172
15 The Battle of Santa Rosa 179
16 Courts-Martial and Firing Squads 186
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vi Contents
17 A Killing or Two 193
18 The Second Battle of Rivas 205
19 President Walker 221
20 Battles on All Fronts 236
21 New Battlegrounds 250
22 Wheeling and Dealing 262
23 Here Was Granada 275
24 Closing Nicaragua’s Back Door 284
25 Operation San Juan 295
26 To the Victor, the Spoils 309
27 The Surrender 324
Epilogue 329
The Protagonists’Motives, 341
Bibliography, 343
Notes, 347
Index, 359
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
OVER THEYEARS THAT THIS book has come together, many people have provided
sincerely appreciated help and advice. I want to thank Clyde Prestowitz Jr., Pres-
ident of the Economic Strategy Institute, Washington, D.C., for advice on the
U.S. economy in the 1850s and 1860s. Also, Chris Morrison of the Historical Of-
fice of the U.S. Department of State, Washington, D.C., provided invaluable in-
formation on the U.S. State Department and its workings in the mid-nineteenth
century. My gratitude also goes to Dr. Erika Cox, Pathology Department, Launce-
ston General Hospital, in Tasmania, Australia, for advice on contagious diseases
common to Central America. And Marco A. Argotte, formerly of Chile, now of
Sydney, Australia, for translation assistance.
For their enthusiastic assistance with my on-the-ground research in
Nicaragua, I thank Juan Carlos Mendosa of Managua, Nicaragua, and Major John
Seldomridge (U.S. Army, retired) of Elisabethtown, Kentucky. And for path-finding
help on the Vanderbilt trail on Staten Island, the intrepid Robert and Alison
Simko of Lower Manhattan.
I especially want to thank Bob Pigeon, Executive Editor with Da Capo Press,
who has supported my ambitions for this book for a number of years, as I molded it
into the tale it has become, and his efficient assistant, Ashley St. Thomas. My New
York literary agent, Richard Curtis, the general of my campaigns in American,
Roman, British, Australian, and French historical territory, has never doubted the
importance of this book; without both his belief and his knowledgeable guidance, it
would never have seen the light of day.
And, as always, my thanks go to my wonderful wife, Louise. She has marched
at my side every step of the way on this book, in museums, libraries, and archives
and on battle sites in the United States, Central America, and elsewhere, then en-
couraged, assisted, and advised me as I worked through the drafts. What a lonely,
boring life it would be without my “Dona Louise.”
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