The Charge Up Coyotepe
2-4 OCTOBER 1912
THE CHARGE UP COYOTEPE
The US Marines had been in Nicaragua off and on since December 1909, each time to quell civil unrest and prop-up conservative pro-American governments. In this latest foray, the administration of Adolfo Díaz had fallen under attack from separate factions led by his Minister of War, General Luís Mena, and a rebel military officer, General Benjamin Zeledón. Like most Nicaraguan revolts, innocent peasants were brutalized as much as was political stability threatened. COL Joseph “Uncle Joe” Pendleton’s 1200 Marines quieted key coastal cities and the capital of Managua in the summer of 1912. Then a detachment of 400 led by MAJ Smedley Darlington Butler was sent by train packed with Red Cross supplies to the last holdout of General Mena, the town of Granada.
Straddling the railroad on the way were opposing hills upon which General Zeledón had entrenched his rebels and light artillery. The smaller Barranca Hill rose 250 feet above the railroad, while opposing Coyotepe’s steep slopes doubled that height. Once Granada had been secured (and Mena captured), Butler turned his attention to Zeledón’s rebels on these hills. Earthworks ringed with barbed wire and machine guns atop both hills sheltered 2000 rebels. On the evening of 2 October, Butler’s men moved into position at the base of the hills. Their light artillery kept rebel heads down through the following day until the arrival of Pendleton’s main force that evening.
Morning fog this day filled the valleys but spared the two hilltops. It shrouded the American formations, MAJ William N. McKelvy’s 1st Battalion in the center, flanked on the right by a battalion of bluejackets from the cruiser CALIFORNIA (ACR-6). To the left stood Butler’s Marines and a company of sailors from ANNAPOLIS (PG-10). At 0515 the assault stepped off. About 20 paces from the first line of barbed wire, a shot rang out from the top of the hill. The Americans opened at heads popping up over Coyotepe’s trenches. Enemy fire was intense but poorly aimed. In alternating rushes, the sailor and Marine companies cut through the barbed wire and forged up the hill. At the last line of wire one Marine calmly stood against the fury to cut a path, only to be struck dead as he finished his task. A bayonet charge covered the last stretch to the crest of Coyotepe. At this, the rebels broke and ran. The Marines next turned the enemy guns on Barranca and quickly cleared that hilltop. The entire affair was over in 40 minutes. Seven Marines and sailors lay dead, 14 wounded, and 60 rebels had been killed. General Zeledón was apparently shot by his own men as he tried to escape. With the occupation of the town of León later in October, rebel resistance was temporarily quelled.
Watch for more “Today in Naval History” 10 OCT 22
CAPT James Bloom, Ret.
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ADDITIONAL NOTES: Adolfo Díaz was re-elected in the subsequent balloting, and the Marines were withdrawn in November. Their respite would be short-lived, for they would return to Nicaragua several times in the following decades.
