Marines In Battle With Nicaraguans.

New York Times 100 years ago today, September 21, 1912:
Serious Encounter with Main Rebel Army Believed to Have Taken Place at Masaya.
ADMIRAL COMMANDS HIS MEN
Gives Opposing Force 24 Hours to Clear the Way — Had Refused to Move When Last Cable Was Sent.Special to The New York Times.
    WASHINGTON, Sept. 20.— That Nicaraguan rebels under Gen. Zeledon have had an armed clash, and perhaps a pitched battle, with the American naval forces near Masaya, half way between Managua and Granada, is indicated in a delayed cablegram from Rear Admiral Southerland, dated at Managua at 11 P.M. on Tuesday.
    Reports from the scene are meagre and officials here have no definite idea of what has happened or how severe the encounter have been.
    Rear Admiral Southerland is on the field, probably with more than 2,000 marines and bluejackets and if plans have not miscarried, he has cleared the route of the National Railway of opposing rebels by this time, and relieved the starving city of Granada, which the revolutionists have held for several weeks.
    Tuesday's cable, which arrived to-day, reported that American bluejackets and marines were fired upon as they attempted to open the railway.
    Delayed reports yesterday said the Granada relief party had been fired upon Sunday; that Major Smedley D. Butler, the officer in command of the battalion, had halted and sent to Managua for reinforcements, and that Admiral Southerland had gone to the rescue with two companies of marines and a detachment of sailors.
    Whether or not there was more firing from the rebels before the additional American forces arrived is not known, but it is possible that the brush referred to in the dispatch received to-day was the one that took place Sunday.

Gave Rebels 24 Hours.
    Upon his arrival at Masaya Admiral Southerland sent word to Gen. Zeledon, the rebel commander, that he purposed to open the railroad to Granada and keep it open, and that he would give the rebels just twenty-four hours to clear the front.
    While Zeledon hesitated, Gen. Mena, ex-Secretary of War and the principal leader in the revolution, came northward from Granada with another large force of rebels and joined him. After a consultation they sent a formal defiance to Admiral Sutherland, announcing their purpose to oppose his advance.
    It is not known exactly how many sailors or marines composed the Admiral's force at that time. At any rate, in view of the large number of rebela in his front and unwilling to run the risk of even temporary defeat, the Admiral called for reinforcements from Managua, where, it is believed, 500 sailors and marines were available, so as to make sure of overpowering any opposition the rebels might offer. This was the situation when the last cablegram was sent from Managua three days ago.
    Official reports to the State Department rarely include such severe language as those which are now issued dealing with the conditions in Granada, which, it is said, "are worse than those which existed in the Congo and in the Putumayo."
    The rebels, with unparalleled ferocity, are said to have turned upon helpless non-combatants, even women and children, and their warfare is characterised by a return to absolute "barbarism.
    The Minister of Finance, Pedro Rafael Cuadra, and his brother, Carlos, have besought the United States to aid their brothers, who are now in the clutches of Mena at Granada. They informed Mr. Weitzel that, though their brothers had never held office, they had been imprisoned, starved for days at a time, fed only when they paid exorbitant prices, and threatened with death the moment a move was made to capture Granada. The wife of tile Finance Minister, they said, is now being hunted through the country around Granada, and she will be treated in the same way, if captured.