American History Tellers - Encore: The Walker Affair | The Last Filibuster | 3

Episode Date: October 5, 2022

When he escaped Nicaragua in 1857, American William Walker was a failed despot responsible for the death of thousands of people and the destabilization of Central America. But he returned to New Orleans with fanfare, greeted by cheering crowds and parades. Soon Walker vowed to return to Central America to take back control of his empire. But his final, daring invasion would end in disaster. This series was originally released as a Wondery+ exclusive.Listen ad free with Wondery+. Join Wondery+ for exclusives, binges, early access, and ad free listening. Available in the Wondery App. https://wondery.app.link/historytellersSupport us by supporting our sponsors!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge new seasons of American History Tellers early and ad-free right now. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Imagine it's May 1857. You're a captain in the U.S. Navy aboard your ship, the St. Mary's, a three-masted sloop of war. A few hours ago, you left the harbor at San Juan del Sur in Nicaragua, transporting 17 prisoners of war, Americans who attempted to overthrow the Nicaraguan government. Now you're heading below deck to pay a visit to their leader, William Walker. You find him in his quarters, finishing the last of some salted beef and boiled potatoes.

The only greeting you get from him is a grunt between mouthfuls. Well, looks like you're enjoying your supper, General Walker. I hear you and your men were reduced to eating your horses during the siege. Walker ignores you. He swallows one last bite and dabs the corners of his mouth with a handkerchief. Then he finally speaks. Where are you taking us, Captain? My orders are to take you and your officers to Panama. From there, my men will take you across the Isthmus to a steamship bound for New Orleans. After that, you're not my problem anymore. New Orleans? That's good. I'll get a hero's welcome there. No, I wouldn't count on it.

The American papers have been reporting your many defeats for some time. I think you'll arrive disgraced. Probably arrested as soon as you step onto American soil. But Walker just gives a sly smile. In truth, many newspapers have been reporting falsified accounts of Walker's victories, lifted from Walker's propaganda-filled Nicaraguan newspaper. You don't want to tell him that, but Walker seems to already know it. Captain, I don't think you know much about American newspapers, and even less about the American people, especially the people of the South. They know our cause here is a righteous

one, a battle between the pure white race and the mixed Indians and Hispanics of Central America. It's the white man's destiny. Oh. Well, if that's true, why did you lose? Lose? No, we fought them to a standstill, despite being outnumbered ten to one. You sigh and shake your head. You knew from the moment you first met Walker that he had an ego bigger than your ship. Now you're beginning to think he's delusional, too. General, if it weren't for the intervention of the U.S. Navy, you'd be dead.

I saw the condition of your forces at Revis. Your men were starving. More than half were wounded, incapable of fighting. You should be thanking me for saving your life. Walker doesn't answer. He turns away and looks out the porthole at the sun setting over the Pacific. That's all for now, Captain. Please have one of your men tell me

when we're approaching Panama. I'd like to wash and shave before we land. You're stunned. You want to remind Walker that you're his captor, not his servant, but decide instead not to say anything. There's no point arguing with a man like him. The way you see him, Walker's a criminal. He violated the treaties of the United States and the sovereignty of the free nation of Nicaragua, all for his own personal glory. But you worry that he may be right about one thing. Your country is growing more deeply divided than ever over slavery. There's even talk of a civil war.

Walker's crusade in Central America has found plenty of supporters in the slave-holding South. Now you're under orders to deliver him right into the heart of it. You'll follow those orders, but hope that when Walker returns to America, he's punished for his crimes. And for new ones, get 90 seconds to pitch to an audience of potential customers. If the audience liked the product, it gets them in front of our panel of experts. Gwyneth Paltrow. Anthony Anderson. Tabitha Brown. Tony Hawk.

Oh my God. Buy it now. Stream free on Freebie and Prime Video. I'm Sachi Cole. And I'm Sarah Hagee. And we're the hosts of Scamfluencers, a weekly podcast from Wondery that takes you along the twists and turns of the

most infamous scams of all time, the impact on victims, and what's left once the facade falls away. Follow Scamfluencers on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. From Wondery, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American History Tellers. Our history, your story. During his two years in Nicaragua, William Walker had gone from foreign mercenary to commander of the military and eventually to the office of president. But his rule quickly devolved into a brutal dictatorship. In May of 1857, Allied Central American forces drove Walker out of Nicaragua and into the care of the U.S. Navy, which ferried him back to the United States. Walker's failed attempt to turn Nicaragua into his own private republic caused thousands of deaths, destabilized the entire region,

and fueled fierce anti-American sentiment. And yet, it would not be long before he began planning his return. As the U.S. hurtled toward civil war, Walker made one last desperate attempt to launch an unauthorized mercenary invasion of Central America. His goal was to reclaim his office as president of Nicaragua and bring Southern-style slavery to the region. But this time, Central America would be ready for him. This is Episode 3, The Last Filibuster. In May of 1857, William Walker left Central America in disgrace. The people of every country on the Isthmus had united to oust him. His army had been decimated.

According to records kept by his own officers, of the more than 2,500 men that had enlisted in Walker's army, about a thousand had been killed in battles or by disease. Among the dead were two of Walker's own brothers, as well as many of his closest advisors. Another 700 men had deserted. Walker returned to the United States in the custody of the U.S. Navy on a steamboat named Empire City. And yet, despite the death and defeat he left behind, he was greeted as a returning hero. Many Americans admired Walker as a maverick, a coniclast, an emblem of manifest destiny. His popularity in the South was also strongly tied to his support for bringing slavery to Nicaragua. As his attempts to preserve and

expand slavery in Central America were more widely publicized, his fame as a champion of the South's peculiar institution grew. Arriving in New Orleans, as his steamboat chugged past Canal Street, cheering onlookers mobbed the waterway and chanted his name. As he disembarked, the ship's captain swatted away well-wishers as Walker struggled to make it through the throngs of fans. Later that day, Walker appeared on the second-floor balcony of his hotel as hundreds of supporters waited for him to address the crowd. He told those gathered, Shortly after his triumphant return to New Orleans, Walker headed to Washington, D.C. to meet with President James Buchanan.

Walker told the president, in no uncertain terms, that he intended to return to Nicaragua to finish what he started. He claimed that his army actually had been close to victory. Had the U.S. Navy not thwarted his plans by blocking the arrival of new recruits, he was sure his men would have gone on to win the war. Buchanan was a notoriously stone-faced executive and did not offer Walker a clear response. Walker, always a man to see things his way, took Buchanan's ambiguity as a tacit approval of his plan,

and he left the White House thinking he had the support of the president. After his meeting with President Buchanan, Walker traveled to New York City, where his carriage was again swarmed with well-wishers. A few days later, on June 28th, the last of Walker's followers made their way back to the United States from Nicaragua. There were about 140 of them, mostly soldiers, but some women and children as well. When Walker surrendered to the U.S. Navy, they had been ferried on another ship to Panama, where they were left stranded penniless for weeks. By the time another U.S. Navy vessel arrived to take them to New York, many had been stricken ill by a measles outbreak. Reporters from the New York Herald describe the condition of Walker's abandoned colonists in gruesome detail. Many of them are scarcely able

to move. Some have lost their legs, others arms, others again have great festers, swollen wounds, gangrene. The article described them as emaciated from the months-long siege that had nearly starved them, and their clothes reduced to dirty rags. The families streaming into the U.S. were a stark reminder of the heavy toll that Walker's ambitions took on his supporters. But their accounts were often drowned out by the widespread enthusiasm

that followed Walker on his tour of the country. Imagine it's June 1857, and after the worst year of your life, you're finally back in America, in New York City. You were a settler in William Walker's Nicaragua, one of the few women to join his cause. Your brother persuaded you to come along, calling it a revolution. But what you found was nothing like that. Now your brother's dead, killed in a gunfight in the jungle, and you're broke and starving. But after a two-month journey, at least you're back on American soil. Now you just have to find your way back to Tennessee. As you shuffle along the docks of lower Manhattan, wondering where to go from here,

a man approaches you. Ma'am? Ma'am, you're from Walker's Expedition, right? You just stare at the man blankly, unsure if he's a friend or foe. He gives you a tentative smile and pulls a notebook from his pocket. Can I ask you a few questions? I'm a reporter from the New York Herald. Oh, no, sir. I'd rather not talk about it. Look, maybe I can help. Answer a couple of questions and I'll help buy some clothes and food. Maybe find you someplace to stay. Oh, okay. But don't use my name. I don't want my family to know it got so bad for me.

The reporter takes out a pencil and begins scribbling furiously on his notepad. So where did you come from? Well, most recently, Panama. Before that, Rivas in Nicaragua. I was one of the lucky ones who didn't get measles or cholera. Walker just left us. We had no money. We weren't sure if the locals were going to help us or kill us. It was hell. And what of the battles of Walker's great victories? We lost battle after battle. Many of his soldiers just fled.

But man, William Walker is a national hero. Wasn't it exciting down there in Nicaragua? Fighting alongside him for freedom? Exciting? No. Every single day in that disease-infested jungle was the worst day of my life. I wouldn't wish it on my most hated enemy. Okay.

Well, that's good for me. Thank you. And here, as promised. The reporter reaches into his pocket and fishes out some change. It's not much. Maybe enough to get you some bread and a night at a flop house. But you gratefully accept it. Thank you.

I'm just glad to be home. Tell you, if I never hear the name William Walker again, I'll be happy. Ah, well, here's some advice then. Don't read the newspapers tomorrow. Every one of his followers I've interviewed has said the same things you did. But my editor wants a puff piece. People love the guy. Lord knows why.

The reporter turns, leaving you behind. You look at the coins in your hand. It's time to find some food, maybe a roof for the night ahead. Then, God willing, safe passage back to home. A few of Walker's followers from Nicaragua still believed in his cause, but most had dropped their support after their grueling experience. One sergeant in the filibuster army told reporters that General Walker was a rascal. His men were brave and faithful to him, but he always exposed them unnecessarily.

He deserted his followers without taking a single step which might help them or alleviate their sufferings. Another soldier, who had lost an arm in battle, told reporters that Walker was a tyrant who deserved to be hanged. Ignoring such criticisms, Walker proceeded on a speaking tour around the South to raise funds for a fresh expedition to Central America. He told his audiences, Too much good blood has been shed upon that soil to permit it to remain under the control of the degenerate race who have lorded over it for centuries. That blood will rise. When he went to Nicaragua the first time,

he did so with an invitation from leaders of Nicaragua's Liberal Party, who asked them to help their side in a civil war. This time, there was no such invitation. But in his speeches, Walker made his intentions clear. He was going to invade again and take control of the region to exploit its people and resources. With the debate over slavery raging in the U.S., Walker directly tied his efforts to protecting and expanding slavery. He told his audiences throughout the South that his new expedition would be their last chance to spread slavery to Central America.

As a result, many Southerners enthusiastically threw their support behind Walker and pledged money to his cause. Leaders in Central America watched Walker's moves warily, especially Juan Mora, president of Costa Rica. His brother Jose had led the armed forces that broke the back of the Walker regime in Nicaragua. Now, Mora lobbied President Buchanan for U.S. naval protection from another impending Walker invasion. President Buchanan wanted stability in Central America above all else. Only then could American industrialist Cornelius Vanderbilt complete his plan to build a canal across Nicaragua, a plan that Walker's presence had disrupted. Buchanan was also bound by a treaty

with Britain to refrain from colonizing Central America. So if Walker attempted another invasion, under the terms of this treaty, the United States could be held responsible, even if he acted without authorization. For the U.S. government, Walker was a liability. President Buchanan directed the military to keep a close eye on Walker and thwart his inevitable plans to return to Central America. But somehow, in November of 1857, Walker and about 270 of his followers managed to slip past authorities in the port of Mobile, Alabama, on a steamboat bound for Nicaragua. Once there, they snuck ashore and seized some buildings belonging to Vanderbilt's Accessory Transit Company.

The U.S. Navy responded by sending warships and a detachment of 350 sailors and marines. After a tense standoff that lasted nearly two weeks, Walker once again surrendered. But despite this latest setback, Walker remained undaunted. For the second time, he was charged with violating the Neutrality Act for invading a foreign country with which the U.S. was at peace. The trial, in June of 1858, ended in a hung jury. The government, recognizing that Walker's popularity made a conviction unlikely, declined to seek a retrial and dropped its charges. Walker was free again to plot yet another invasion. Over the course of the next several months, Walker was foiled again and again in increasingly desperate plans to return to Central America. Two emissaries

sent in December were shipwrecked. The following year, Walker sent supporters to Panama and instructed them to sneak north into Nicaragua, but they were caught and deported. After so many attempted invasions, Walker found the political and military obstacles that surrounded Central America to be virtually insurmountable. So Walker decided to lay low in his hometown of Nashville and write his memoirs. Written in the third person, entitled The War in Nicaragua,

the 430-page account was rife with self-aggrandizing propaganda that placed him at the head of a grand revolution for the glory of the American South. It ended with an exhortation to his followers. By the bones of the moldering dead at Rivas and Granada, I adjure you to never abandon the cause of Nicaragua. Let it be your waking and sleeping thought to devise means of a return. In 1859, Great Britain announced plans to return some of its Central American colonial territories to Honduras.

A treaty with the U.S. had made them strategically unimportant, and the vast British Empire had other colonies to protect. Among the territories to be returned was a small island group in the Caribbean called the Bay Islands. But a handful of wealthy British landowners there opposed the transfer, fearing the Honduran government would not honor their property rights. In April of 1860, they came to William Walker seeking help. Walker offered the British Bay Islanders a step-by-step guide on how to incite a revolt and claim the islands as independent from Honduras. He also offered to lead the revolution himself. But unbeknownst to the Bay Islanders, Walker's scheme didn't end there. His ultimate

goal was still Nicaragua, the country of which he still considered himself president. He would use the Bay Islands as the base for his next invasion. Nearly three years had passed since Walker last set foot in Nicaragua. He had spent those years justifying his past actions and burnishing his legacy. He had sung his own praises on speaking tours, at fundraisers, and in his melodramatic memoirs. By now, Walker was more convinced than ever that it was his divinely ordained destiny to return to Nicaragua and to reconquer it. Now streaming. Welcome to Buy It Now, the show where aspiring entrepreneurs get the opportunity of a lifetime. I wouldn't be chasing it if I didn't believe that the world needs this product.

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Criminal Attorney on the Wondery app or wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen to Criminal Attorney early and ad-free right now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. After three years away from Central America, William Walker was finally about to return. But this time, his target wasn't Nicaragua. Not at first. His invasion would begin in the Bay Islands of Honduras, Nicaragua's neighbor to the north. To avoid detection, Walker sent his men in small groups via fruit trade ships. They began settling in with their allies, the British colonialists, on Ruitan, the largest of the Bay Islands. The plan was to wait until British forces had left the island and the Union Jack was replaced by the Honduran flag, officially transferring the

former British colony back to Honduras. Then Walker himself would arrive with a larger force of men, rally his troops, and claim the islands as an independent nation. The first of Walker's men arrived quietly on Ruitan in April of 1860, as Walker remained waiting in the United States. But Walker was never very good at keeping his plans secret, and word of his latest venture soon got out. The British and Honduran governments agreed to delay the transfer of the Bay Islands so they could work together to thwart Walker's

scheme. Walker's actual intentions went well beyond his supposed liberation of the Bay Islands. He planned on using Ruitan as a launching point for another invasion of Nicaragua, at which point he would reclaim his rightful place as president and resume his nation-by-nation conquest of Central America. But the British and Hondurans were one step ahead of him. When Walker arrived at the Bay Islands in June, assuming the transfer had already happened, he was surprised to see British Navy ships in the harbor at Ruitan. Walker's ship was forced to hide at sea just out of sight of port. In the placid waters of the Caribbean, his men passed the time by playing cards and cursing the hot, windless air, waiting for their opportunity to strike. As he so often did, Walker decided to change tactics on the fly.

Instead of inciting a revolution on Ruitan, Walker announced that they would attack a bigger prize, the nearby port of Trujillo on the Honduran mainland. Walker presented the plan to his men aboard the ship and asked them to vote with their feet on whether or not they would follow him into battle. Almost to a man, they stepped forward in support of his invasion, waving their hats and shouting hurrah for Honduras. So on August 5, 1860, under bright moonlight, Walker and 91 men disembarked from their ship on the white sand beaches near Trujillo and headed toward the stone-clad armaments of its proudest structure, the Fortaleza de Santa Barbara, the oldest Spanish fort in the New World. Each of Walker's men had one rifle and 40 rounds of ammunition. Walker himself carried a Toledo

sword, a symbol of the Roman legions and Spanish empire alike, which he pointed forward towards the fort as his men splashed ashore. As Walker's battalion reached sight of Trujillo, the sound of a single cannon firing indicated that they had been spotted. The element of surprise had long been Walker's favorite battle tactic, but it had been lost. Within minutes, scores of villagers descended on the town's central plaza, armed with whatever was readily at hand—firearms, machetes, knives, even sticks. The Honduran army manned the fort,

with its twelve-foot-thick stone walls topped with scores of cannons. The town stood at the ready. Undeterred, Walker sent a contingent of men charging directly at the fort to draw attention and distract the Honduran forces. Then he and the remainder of his forces ran to a side gate. Improbably, the plan worked, and soon Walker's invaders came rushing into the fort. The Honduran soldiers abandoned their cannon posts and fled, followed by the townspeople. And just like that, Trujillo and the Fortaleza de Santa Barbara had fallen. Six of Walker's men had been killed in battle, another four injured. With barely 80 men left, Walker knew he couldn't hold the town for long.

So the single ship in his command was sent back to New Orleans to gather more recruits. As he waited for reinforcements, Walker called on his training as a doctor to tend to his injured men. He gave us the kindest and most considerate care and attention, one later said. While the rest of his men looted Trujillo, Walker issued a proclamation to the people of Honduras, stating his intention was not to conquer the whole country, but only to intervene on behalf of the British colonialists of the Bay Islands. Neither the Hondurans nor the British were willing to tolerate Walker any longer. While the Honduran army quickly gathered a force of nearly a thousand men,

a British navy vessel, under the command of Captain Norwell Salmon, anchored just offshore. Salmon implored Walker to quit the city and lay down his arms, or face certain death. Seemingly out of options, Walker asked for a delay of 24 hours to make arrangements for his men's departure. But Walker was up to his old tricks. That night, while Salmon waited for the next day's agreed-upon surrender, Walker and his

men snuck out of Trujillo and escaped into the jungle. The next morning, Salmon looked through his spyglass at the battlements of the Fortaleza and saw that they were deserted. Walker, he realized, had given him the slip. But Walker and his men didn't make it very far in the jungle. Slowed by the intense heat and unforgiving terrain, they were beset almost immediately with sickness and fatigue. Traveling along the Rio Negro, Walker's men were now pursued not only by salmon and the British Navy, but also by a Honduran schooner holding 200 soldiers. Still, even with his men on the verge of collapse, Walker refused to concede.

But eventually, after nine days in the sweltering jungle with no food or fresh water, they could trek no further. When British forces finally intercepted them, they were a sorry sight. Imagine it's August 1860. You're a British Marine, part of a small expedition being sent up the Rio Negro to look for William Walker and his men. Sweat pours down your face as you and your fellow oarsmen row against the current.

You hate this jungle. You hate this heat. But finally you reach your destination, a small wooden trading post with a little dock jutting out into the water. From two men you encountered further down the river, you know Walker commandeered this place last night. But today, there's no sign of him or his men. You turn to the Marine next to you, keeping your voice low. Where are they? Did those men lie to us, you think?

Could be. Or could be they saw us coming and moved on. I don't like this. It's too quiet. Feels like a trap. Keep your rifle at the ready. Your leader, Captain Salmon, orders you and nine other marines to accompany him and General Alvarez, a leader from the Honduran army, up a mud path and into the jungle.

Soon you come upon another structure, a little wooden cabin half covered with vines. Sitting on its front porch is a small blonde man in a tattered military uniform, his face shiny with sweat. Your fellow Marine raises his rifle. That's Walker himself. I've seen his picture in the newspapers. Hold your fire, the captain hasn't given any order to shoot. Besides, it doesn't look like he has much fight left in him. Maybe not, but where are his men? This is a trap. Just to be safe, you and your fellow Marines drop to one knee, rifles raised, forming a defensive circle around Captain Salmon and General Alvarez. After a moment of tense

silence, Walker staggers to his feet, looking almost too weak to stand. You relax a little, but keep your rifle at the ready. That's the look of a man ready to surrender. Yeah, I think you may be right. Captain Salmon approaches the cabin, and he and Walker exchange a few words. Then Walker waves his arm. At that signal, his men come crawling out of their hiding places in the jungle and behind the house, with their hands raised in surrender. Their fellow marine lowers his rifle when he sees what condition they're in. Oh my god, have you ever seen a sorrier-looking bunch? No.

Yuck. They should have surrendered a trio like men instead of running like cowards. It turns out that this is no trap. Half of Walker's remaining men can barely walk. They're sweaty with fever, covered in scratches and sores from clawing their way through the dense jungle. You walk up to the one nearest you, who's using a rifle as a crutch. Lay down your arms in the name of the queen, unless you'd rather we leave you to the Hondurans. The man does as he's told, and the others toss down their rifles as well. As you march the ones who can still walk

back down to the river, you steal a look at their leader. Walker stares straight ahead, expressionless, as if he's already accepted his fate. By the time the British caught up with them, Walker's men were ailing, wounded, and demoralized. Walker was out of options. Still, he would only agree to surrender after repeatedly confirming that he was surrendering to the British and not the Hondurans. Walker could not handle the embarrassment of capitulating to men he viewed as an inferior race. Captain Salmon assured him, saying, yes, you surrender to me as a British officer. In return for their surrender, Walker and his men were promised passage back to the United States under the protection of the American flag. To a man,

Walker's force threw down their weapons and surrendered. But at the last minute, Walker refused to go. He insisted that as president of Nicaragua, he was a Nicaraguan citizen and declined to be taken captive by the British Navy. So while Salmon sent Walker's men on a ship back to the States, he brought Walker back to Trujillo, where he informed the filibuster that he would now be placed into the custody of the Honduran authorities to be dealt with according to their laws. At this point, Walker tried to protest.

He reminded Captain Salmon that he had told Walker he was surrendering to the British. But that was before Walker had tried to claim Nicaraguan citizenship. If he refused to renounce his ties to Nicaragua, Salmon explained, then the matter was out of his hands. In the fort his men had captured just days earlier, Walker was placed in chains and confined in a dark cell to await yet another trial on charges of piracy, robbery, and filibustering. But now, for the first time, he would not be tried on American soil before an American jury. This time, the people deciding his fate were Central Americans.

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Join Wondery Plus and The Wondery App, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. During his brief trial in Trujillo on charges of filibustering, William Walker defended himself as he always did, by distorting the truth to fit his agenda. Walker insisted that he never intended to invade Honduras, but was only there to protect the British inhabitants of the Bay Islands from overreach by the Honduran government. He said that he had no quarrel with Hondurans,

and his invasion of Trujillo was only collateral damage in his quest to return to Nicaragua, where he still claimed to be president. Walker also dismissed the charge of filibustering, as he argued it was only illegal in the United States and not in Honduras. But unlike Walker's previous trials in the United States, this time there were no adoring crowds or fawning press to help sway a jury. There was only a Honduran military judge who declared Walker guilty and sentenced him to death. On the night before his scheduled execution, September 11, 1860, Walker sat in his cell with a priest who offered him prayers and a chance for a final confession. Apart from that, he was all alone. All his other men had abandoned him, evacuated

aboard U.S. Navy vessels. He was a president without a country, a despot without an army. At long last, seven years after he started his filibustering career by invading Mexico, William Walker's luck had run out. As the morning sun rose, Walker was unshackled and led by a column of 70 Honduran soldiers out of the fort and through the streets of Trujillo. As the grim parade worked its way towards some abandoned barracks on the outskirts of town, people leaned out from their balconies, jeering and shouting insults at the failed dictator. At the barracks, a crowd of soldiers and townspeople surrounded Walker as he stood

handcuffed against a stone wall. An officer read his death sentence while two priests stood on either side of him, murmuring last rites. Then four riflemen stepped forward. With his final words, Walker said he meant no harm to the Honduran people and that everything he had done was for the good of mankind. He said he did not fear death and would face it with determination.

But as his speech rambled on, the commanding officer grew impatient and gave the it with determination. But as his speech rambled on, the commanding officer grew impatient and gave the order to fire. Shots rang out even as he was still speaking. Walker's body fell to the ground twitching, where the officer ordered the rifleman to shoot it again. Then the officer walked up to Walker's bleeding body, pulled out a revolver,

and shot him in the face at point-blank range. William Walker, the gray-eyed man of destiny, was dead, and the final bullet ensured that his body would never be recognized. After the final shot, the onlookers erupted in cheers. Walker's body was stripped naked and buried in the sand where it lay. He was 36 years old. Walker's death ended the bloody campaign of violence he had waged in Central America. But back in North America, another war was brewing. One fought over the same ideals of white supremacy Walker had espoused, and one many of his war-weary followers would find themselves

dragged into. Imagine it's October, 1860, in New Orleans. Your son went to go fight in William Walker's last invasion, and you don't know if he made it back alive. You're waiting at the port for a steamer to come in with Walker's surviving followers, hoping your son will be among them. As men disembark one by one, grim-faced and haggard, you wait. Your anxiety grows, almost to panic, until at last you see your son's face. His eyes meet yours, and he flashes you a relieved smile. You run to greet him. Oh, I never thought I'd see you again. After what happened to Walker, I thought they might

execute you too. Yeah, there were times I thought the same thing. But the British got to us first before the Hondurans could slaughter us. I'm so glad to see you. How's father? He's gone to your uncle's farm in Missouri. They say everyone in the border states are to prepare for a civil war. If Abraham Lincoln gets elected, he'll try to free the slaves, they say. All hell is going to break loose. A civil war? I just made it back from one war. I'm not going to fight in another. There may be no choice. You know what abolition would do to us. Ma, we don't even own slaves. Your father says that all those free blacks will drive down wages and cause us nothing but trouble. So we all must fight, or it'll be the end of the South. Your son's always

been a good Southern boy. That's why he said he signed up with Walker in the first place, to spread slavery and Southern values to Central America. But now he's frowning, shakes his head. Nah, seems no matter where I go, there's a war being fought over one man trying to enslave another. I used to think that was a cause worth fighting for, Mom. I'm not so sure.

Son, if Lincoln frees the slaves, the South will leave the Union. You know that, right? And if that happens, there's only one side for us to fight on. But let's go home. We can deal with that tomorrow. And soon, we'll put you on a stagecoach to Missouri. You can join your uncle and your father. They need you up there.

You put your arms around your son's broad shoulders as you lead him away from the port. You hold him close, but you can see that he's changed. He's not the bright-eyed adventurer he was when he left to fight in William Walker's army. You just hope he has enough strength in him left to fight for the South, his home, when the time comes. By the time William Walker met his death in September of 1860, the United States was slipping irrevocably towards civil war. Two months later, Abraham Lincoln, who opposed further expansion of slavery into U.S. territories, was elected President of the United States, accelerating the political rifts that would lead to the secession of the southern states and the formation of the Confederacy. Had Walker managed to hold on to power in Nicaragua, it's possible that the Central

American nation would have become the 12th Confederate state. But instead, after Walker's death, conservatives and liberals in Nicaragua joined forces to form a unified government, one that lasted until 1909, when the U.S. backed an attempted coup and eventually sent in troops to occupy the country. Nicaragua would remain under U.S. control until 1933. But by the time American forces invaded Nicaragua, it was no longer the site of a canal project. President Teddy Roosevelt chose to move the canal to Panama, securing the land through a military intervention he undertook without congressional approval. He would later gloat, I took the isthmus, started the canal, and then left Congress not to debate the canal, but to debate me.

In 1914, the Panama Canal opened, transforming the global economy and helping make the U.S. a superpower. As the Panama Canal opened its locks for the first time, Cornelius Vanderbilt had been dead for nearly half a century. The Nicaraguan government had revoked his canal-building charter and dissolved his accessory transit company. But he had made an even greater fortune in railroads. At the time of his death, he was estimated to be worth $100 million, about $2.5 billion in today's money. Despite his failures, William Walker got closer to seizing real power than any other filibuster in the era of Manifest Destiny. During his lifetime, he captured the imagination of the American public and was celebrated as a shining example of American exceptionalism in the North and South alike. But after his death, William Walker's legacy faded.

In 1906, a popular U.S. writer dismissed him, saying the name of William Walker conveys absolutely nothing to Americans. But in Central America, they have not forgotten William Walker. His invasion and brutal rule remain deeply etched in the national memories of Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Much of the region still celebrates his defeat with annual holidays. An airport in Costa Rica is named after Juan Santamaria, the drummer boy who became a national hero when he died fighting Walker. All across the region, national monuments stand at many of the sites where Walker's army met defeat. In the century and a half since Walker's

death, the United States has continued to intervene in Central America. After World War II, the region became a front line in the Cold War as the U.S. fought proxy wars against the spread of communism in Guatemala, Nicaragua, and El Salvador. For many Central Americans, Walker's bitter legacy of imperialism lingered on in the form of U.S.-backed dictators like Nicaragua's Anastasio Somoza and Panama's Manuel Noriega. As for Walker himself, his body still lies in Trujillo, Honduras. Some years after his execution, it was exhumed and moved to the city's old cemetery, where a simple stone marker stands behind rusty iron fencing. The name on the stone is misspelled, William Walker.

The inscription below simply reads, Fusilado, Spanish for killed by firing squad. From Wondery, this is the third and final episode of The Walker Affair from American History Tellers. In our next season, in the late 1600s and early 1700s, the coast of North America became a hotbed of piracy. At first, pirates like Thomas Too and William Kidd were often welcomed as smugglers of plundered goods that helped the growth of New York, Rhode Island, and other English colonies. But when a pirate called Blackbeard came along, terrorizing the coasts, the colonies had to fight back. If you like American history tellers, you can binge all episodes early and ad-free right

now by joining Wondery Plus in the Wondery app or on Apple Podcasts. Prime members can listen ad-free on Amazon Music. And before you go, tell us about yourself by filling out a short survey at wondery.com slash survey. If you'd like to learn more about William Walker, we recommend the book William Walker's Wars by Scott Martell. American History Tellers is hosted,

edited, and produced by me, Lindsey Graham for Airship. Audio editing by Molly Bach. Sound design by Derek Behrens. Music by Lindsey Graham. This episode is written by Jamal Khawaja, edited by Dorian Marina. Our managing producer is Tanja Digpen.

Our coordinating producer is Matt Gant. And our senior producer is Andy Herman. Executive producers are Jenny Lauer Beckman and Marsha Louis for Wondery. In November 1991, media tycoon Robert Maxwell mysteriously vanished from his luxury yacht in the Canary Islands. But it wasn't just his body that would come to the surface in the days that followed. It soon emerged that Robert's business was on the brink of collapse, and behind his facade of wealth and success was a litany of bad investments, mounting debt, and multi-million dollar fraud. Hi, I'm Lindsey Graham, the host of Wondery Show Business Movers. We tell the true stories of business leaders who risked it all,

the critical moments that define their journey, and the ideas that transform the way we live our lives. In our latest series, a young refugee fleeing the Nazis arrives in Britain determined to make something of his life. Taking the name Robert Maxwell, he builds a publishing and newspaper empire that spans the globe. But ambition eventually curdles into desperation, and Robert's determination to succeed turns into a willingness to do anything to get ahead.

Follow Business Movers wherever you get your podcasts. You can listen ad-free on the Amazon Music or Wondery app.