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The Grand Offensive
Against Sandino
1928 ~ 1929
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Success along the coast, unfortunately, did not mean triumph in the
interior. Frequent clashes occurred between rebel bands and Marine patrols.
It had become evident that Sandino had no intention of surrendering until he
had been driven from Chipote. D-Day for what was hoped would be the final
offensive against the rebels was set for 17 December. In all, some 200 troops
were earmarked for this expedition which was to be composed of two strong
combat patrols.<71>
Preparing for the grand offensive was not a simple task, for Sandino had
no intention of calling off the war while the Marines concentrated their
forces at Quilali. First of all, there was a troublesome rebel column
drifting around the countryside near Telpaneca. After marching by the light
of a bright tropical moon, a Marine-Guardia patrol, led by 2d Lieutenant
Wilburt S. Brown, located the enemy in a farmhouse near El Portero. Four of
the enemy were killed.<72>
Another source of trouble was the area around Somoto. On 11 December, in
a driving rainstorm, eight Marines, led by Corporal George Lukshides, collided
with a handful of rebels, some of them mounted, on the outskirts of San
Isabel. One of the enemy toppled dead from his saddle, and others may have
been wounded. The patrol emerged intact from the brief action.<73>
These minor clashes merely served to emphasize the need to destroy El
Chipote; but the expedition did not get underway until 19 December, when one
patrol, under Captain Richard Livingston, cleared Jinotega for Quilali and
Chipote and another, under Guardia 1st Lieutenant Merton A. Richal, left
Telpaneca for the same objectives. The location of Sandino's hideout no longer
was a secret. O'Shea and Gould had scouted the general area; and on 23
November, Major Ross E. Rowell had flown over the mountain, led bombing and
strafing runs, and pinpointed the enemy entrenchments. The preliminaries were
over; ahead lay a grim fight to the finish.
Livingston was to join Richal in Quilali. South of the town, the trail
winds its way along the lower slopes of a steep, thickly wooded ridge. On the
left is the Jicaro River. Livingston had marched to a point on this trail
about 1,500 yards south of Quilali when, on 30 December, the rebels struck.
No attempt was made to rush the trapped column, and after 80 minutes of
heavy firing, they retired. Two Marine planes then appeared overhead to
strafe possible routes of enemy withdrawal; but it was too late, for Sandino's
horde of 200 or more, vanished completely. The enemy, fighting under superb
discipline from cunningly concealed positions, had killed five Marines and two
members of the Guardia. Twenty-three Leathernecks and two of the Nicaraguan
contingent were wounded.
In the meantime, the Richal patrol was fairing no better. The other
column, just 22 miles beyond Telpaneca, was ambushed by some 50 bandits. This
proved to be mere harassment; for after about 20 minutes, the enemy withdrew.
One Marine was seriously wounded. It is unlikely that Sandino's party
suffered any casualties.
This brush with the rebels was a taste of the battle that was to come.
On New Year's Day, 1928, the column was strung out along the San
Albino-Quilali trail about six miles northwest of the latter town. The point
was at the base of the Las Cruces Hill and the rear guard near an unnamed
rise, when 1st Sergeant Thomas G. Bruce, a 1st Lieutenant of the Guardia, saw
something move on the slopes of Las Cruces. Before he could draw his pistols,
dynamite bombs burst amid the column as machine-gun bullets ricocheted off the
trail. Bruce was killed at once. Demoralized by his death, the point fell
back in the face of an enemy charge. Although the Marines' machine gun
jammed, a Stokes mortar and a 37mm gun were brought to bear on the hillside.
Richal himself was wounded at this critical instant, but Gunnery Sergeant
Edward G. Brown was able to organize an attack up Las Cruces. Pounded by
mortar shells, their breastworks shattered by the light gun, the rebels fell
back. Once the crest was in their hands, the Marines settled downs to wait
reinforcements.
Help was not long in coming. First, there was an air strike a few
moments after the hill had been captured. The planes strafed the surrounding
woods, but they alone could not clear a route of advance to Quilali. That
task fell to a reinforced rifle platoon, led by 2d Lieutenant A. T. Hunt,
which had left Quilali earlier in the day to aid Richal in case of ambush.
Alerted to the state of affairs at Las Cruoes by a reconnaissance plane, Hunt
pushed on to reach the beleaguered patrol at 1415.
That night, the Marines on Las Cruces remained in their defensive
positions. After an early morning air-drop of water and of nails for the
building of stretchers, they started toward Quilali. The combined patrols
reached the town without drawing enemy fire.<74>
Next, the Sandinistas laid siege to Quilali. Approximately 30 wounded,
some of them in desperate need of further medical attention, were in the town.
There was neither time nor men to organize a relief column. Worse yet, there
was no airstrip at Quilali. It was vital, however, that medicine be flown in
and casualties evacuated; so 1st Lieutenant Christian F. Schilt volunteered
for the mission.
At Quilali, the embattled Marines leveled walls to lengthen the main
street for a landing field. Schilt's plane, a Vought O2U-1 "Corsair," had
been re-equipped with wheels from a DeHavilland aircraft and had no brakes.
Each time he touched down on the makeshift runway. Marines ran forward to
seize hold of the wings and, with their added weight, slow the rolling plane.
In spite of this mechanical failing, enemy fire, and low-hanging clouds,
Schilt was able to touch down safely on the rugged roadway. On 6, 7, and 8
January 1928, the lieutenant made a total of ten flights into Qualali,
carrying a total of 1,400 pounds of medicine and supplies. In all, 18 wounded
were flown to Ocotal. Of these, three would certainly have died had they not
received prompt medical attention. Lieutenant Schilt was awarded the Medal of
Honor for these heroic accomplishments.<75>
The expedition against Chipote was a failure. By 10 January, Richal's
and Livingston's patrols were on their way back to San Albino. Yet, the
picture was not entirely black; for on 8 January, a patrol operating from
Telpaneca had overwhelmed still another rebel detachment. Commanded by a
Honduran, Alejandro Ferrera, the Sandinistas spotted the 20 Marines and 10
Guardia as Lieutenant J. H. Satterfield was leading them toward the enemy
camp. Fortunately, Satterfield, a veteran of other guerrilla actions, was too
clever to stumble blindly into a trap. Leaving the trail, he maneuvered to
force Ferrera's men to disclose their positions. His tactics succeeded, and
most of the rebels fled under concentrated fire of the maneuver elements The
rest were driven into the underbrush when Satterfield's base of fire came into
action. Because surprise had been lost, no prisoners were taken, but the
rebels had to abandon some arms and ammunition as well as a large amount of
food. Five of the enemy were killed in this encounter.<76>
The image of Chipote, nevertheless, still haunted the Brigade commander
Originally, ground forces, with the support of aviation, were to play the
major role in eliminating Sandino's stronghold. Now, the drama was recast
with Marine fliers in the starring role. Aggressive patrolling was to force
the enemy to concentrate at the mountain redoubt; when the proper moment
arrived, planes would try to bomb him into submission.
On 14 January, while a strong patrol, under Major Archibald Young, was
moving relentlessly down the trail from San Albino, Major Ross E. Rowell
launched the blow designed to demolish the crude fortress.
Several hundred rebels were clustered atop El Chipote when the four-plane
flight led by Major Rowell appeared overhead. Two planes pounced upon the
northern half of the mountain, while the other struck to the south. This was
no repetition of the Ocotal "cakewalk," for Sandino had learned at last the
rudiments of antiaircraft defense. A hail of rifle and machine-gun fire
greeted the attackers as Howell's plane whined low over the stronghold.
Engine trouble forced Rowell to break off the action after he had dropped
his two bombs and fired only 200 rounds of machine-gun ammunition. The other
pilots continued to press home the attack. In all, 2,800 rounds of
machine-gun ammunition ripped into the hilltop, while four 50-pound demolition
and eighteen 17-pound fragmentation bombs burst along Sandino's horde. Still
another weapon employed by the Leathernecks was the white phosphorous hand
grenade. A dozen of these were tossed over the side by the
gunner-observers.<77>
Major Young's patrol began probing the heights of Chipote on 20 January.
Although aerial patrols had reported Chipote to be deserted, the ground troops
did encounter some opposition. These outposts were quickly overcome, but the
major chose to move cautiously, a wise decision in the light of past events.
On 26 January, the patrol had reached the crest. Although a quantity of
supplies were captured, Sandino and his main body had escaped.<78>
Reinforcements in the form of the 11th Marine Regiment began arriving at
Porinto, on 15 January 1928, and on the following day, Brigadier General Logan
Feland resumed command of the brigade. The troublesome border states were
incorporated into the Northern Area, a special military zone under the command
of Colonel Robert H. Dunlap. His task was to locate and destroy the rebel and
outlaw bands which had been scattered by the attack on Chipote.<79>
During January, Marine patrols from San Albino continued to comb the area
around Chipote, but they found no trace of Sandino. The towns of Yali and San
Rafael del Norte, both favorite haunts of the rebel leader, were garrisoned
during the first week of February; but even this did not provoke an attack.
A pack train guarded by Marines was returning empty from Yali to Esteli
on the afternoon of 27 February. One hundred yards west of the tiny village
of Bromaderos, a dozen bullets cracked over the head of 1st Lieutenant Edward
F. O'Day, the officer in charge. The 35 Marines and their mule drivers took
cover. Easing to the left of the trail, they worked their way to the crest of
a small ridge. From this excellent position, they managed to break up two
enemy attacks, neither of which was well planned or aggressively executed.
While O'Day's column was being attacked, a powerful combat patrol was
moving toward Yali. Captain William K. MacNulty had 88 Marines under his
command, a sufficient force to accomplish his mission of suppressing rebel
activity along the route to Yali. At dawn of 28 February, reinforcements
reached the beleaguered O'Day. Although MacNulty's patrol had suffered no
casualties, three were killed and ten wounded in the other group. Two more
were to die before they could be evacuated. Enemy losses were placed at 10
dead and 30 wounded.<80>
Following the action at Bromaderos, there was a lull in ground
operations; but Marine aviators continued to press the offensive. Late in the
morning of 18 March, two planes were fired upon while circling low over the
town of Murra on a reconnaissance mission.
On the following day, a two-plane patrol was fired upon from a house one-
half mile northeast of Murra. Bombs and machine-gun fire silenced this
hostile outpost, but as the biplanes swung to the south of the town, they were
fired upon once more. Two bands of rebels were located, strafed, and bombed;
but the action was broken off when Captain Francis E. Pierce, an aerial
observer, was shot through the foot. Certain that the officer was in danger of
bleeding to death, Gunner Michael Wodarczyk led the flight to Ocotal, where
Pierce was given medical aid.
Throughout the afternoon, Marine planes shuttled back and forth over the
town. At least nine separate rebel groups were bombed or strafed. On the
following morning, careful aerial reconnaissance could find no signs of
hostile activities. The number killed could not be determined; but as the
scouting planes banked over the outskirts of Murra, the noise of their motors
sent a startled flock of vultures soaring skyward.<81>
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