Filibustering in the 19th century: Questionable incursions into foreign territory

William Walker

Filibusterism, together with lynchings, property taxes, squatters rights, legal excesses and their questionable application, slavery and the historic rights protected under the annexation treaties that were signed, produced a profound sense of disillusionments among U.S. Hispanics in the second half of the 19th century. It was difficult for them to believe that a country as civilized as the United States, with a Constitution based on the rule of law, justice and the right to self-determination for all people, could support mercenary actions and the existence of soldiers of fortune who shrewdly made their way into countries weakened after their struggle for independence and used aggression and violence under the pretense of resolving the internal strife that sometimes existed.

Mexico and the rest of the Western Hemisphere were subject to these self-interested bullies, driven by their thirst for power. Sometimes these intruders based their actions with almost religious fervor on the concepts of “Manifest Destiny” and its political offspring, the Monroe Doctrine. Others sought glory for themselves and acted out of a sense of adventure for adventure’s sake, not unlike their countrymen who, enticed by the smell of gold, had conquered the West.

William Walker, Henry A. Crabb, Rasey Biven, Charles Frederick Henningsen, W.L. Crittenden, Joseph C. Morehead, Gaston Rousset de Bourlbon, Byron Cole, and Narciso López were among those who swarmed through the recently acquired territories of northern Mexico (in other words, the southwestern part of the U.S.) and the southern part of the United States. Northern Mexico-Baja California, Sonora, Chihuahua, Tamaulipas, Nuevo León, and many other parts of Mexico and many Central and South American countries and colonies were “visited” during the early years of their independence by these rather bizarre personages.

Francisco P. Ramírez and many other U.S. Hispanic intellectuals made it their business to expose the true interests and intent of these marauders and the connections they had with Democratic, Whig and Know-Nothings officials. The text that follows, together with many others published on the editorial page of newspapers such as El Clamor Público in Los Angeles and L’Phare, La Crónica and El Eco del Pacífico in San Francisco, were able to shed an amazing amount of light on the true intentions of these mercenary vagabonds who sold their might to the highest bidder. But what most surprised U.S. Hispanics was the permissive attitude of the U.S. government.

El Clamor Público, quoting the London Morning Post said: “The government of the United States is the anomaly of the century. As seen by other European countries, it can scarcely call itself a government because it is not the supreme authority throughout the vast territory that it claims to govern. It cannot prevent its subjects from committing acts of aggression against other States with which it has peaceful relations. It is not capable of punishing those who contravene its laws, and it has no power to enforce the laws … We are talking here about how filibusters are organized in the United States of America. They first tried to take over Canada, then Texas, then other parts of Mexico, and finally Cuba. Now Nicaragua is the focus of their greed and ambition. We have even heard that in some parts of the U.S., an incursion into Ireland is being explored.” (April 19, 1856). (Retranslation from the Spanish version published in El Clamor Público.)

Here is the full Editorial published in El Clamor Público, Los Angeles, California, September 11, 1858.

The name Walker, reviled by Central Americans and relegated to oblivion ever since Paulding captured him and prevented him from using his villainy to overwhelm these vulnerable people a second time, has turned up in the press once again, and as always, his name is linked to pirate-like behaviour. No one is surprised, of course, because there are certain men who are so possessed by an idea, no matter how outrageous or criminal it might be, that they become identified with that idea to such an extent that the two become inseparable. So, who could pronounce the name Walker without immediately thinking of filibusterism and the terrible havoc that in its name has been wrought in Central America?

But yes, thanks to the impudence of that adventurer, we have become accustomed to seeing his name all over the bloody pages of the history of Central America. Even though the passage of time and the sheer number of acts that have been committed have somewhat diminished the horror that his deeds at first inspired, and even if necessity has obliged victims to accept the impunity of this aggressor with resignation, it is still highly repugnant that this name, the name of a pirate, is often found side by side with the names of high government officials in the United States.

Because it is true that Walker and his cronies crop up in the press from time to time with information about the meetings they have had with members of the current Administration in which they have discussed, as equals, the future of Spanish America. At present, virtually all newspapers are reporting a letter that Walker sent to the Mobile Register, and without wanting to give this missive more merit than it deserves, we have decided to offer a summary of the most important points of the letter so that our readers can decide for themselves.

Walker says that when he was in New Orleans last October preparing to return to Nicaragua, he met with General Henningsen, recently arrived from Washington and claiming to have had several meetings with the Secretary of War, who told him that President Buchanan had decided to oppose any incursion into Nicaragua as his main concern was to acquire Cuba during his administration. The Secretary also told the General that if the filibusters wanted to focus their attention on Mexico, the government would support them because it would thus be easy to provoke a war between Mexico and Spain, making it possible for the former to take Cuba. The Secretary assured Henningsen that there would be no lack of resources for such an enterprise. When Henningsen asked just what those resources would be, the Secretary said the he could not provide any details without consulting with his superiors. At their next meeting, the Secretary said he could not add anything more at that time, but that support would be forthcoming should the enterprise be undertaken. Henningsen told Walker that the Secretary of War had authorized him to inform Walker and another friend who lived in New Orleans of what had transpired in Washington. Walker tells us that this revelation shocked him greatly and that he was almost tempted to think that the government was nothing acting in good faith.

Such is the nature of the letter that Walker has just published. Whether its contents are true or not, we cannot say, but it does seem strange that Washington has remained silent on this matter rather than refuting the assertion that the Cabinet is participating in pirate-like undertakings. The Washington correspondent of a New York daily writes that the Secretary of War never told Henningsen anything that would justify their relationship, and that perhaps the fact that Henningsen is a foreigner led to his misunderstanding of what was said, or perhaps he even invented the whole thing for his own purposes. That is probably it, because there will always be men like Henningsen and Walker who are welcomed in the hallways of the Capitol, share ideas with the members of the Cabinet, discuss with them the fortunes that should befall other countries, and then make revelations whenever they so desire … revelations that may be figments of their own imagination, but that are put forth as truth, scandalizing men of honor and good sense.

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