Followers and supporters of William Walker's filibustering in Nicaragua

This is a list of participants in the Walker affair, an occupation of Nicaragua by American mercenary William Walker and his followers and supporters. It includes those who joined him in Nicaragua and those who supported the campaign from the United States.

William Walker

William Walker (May 8, 1824 – September 12, 1860) was an American physician, lawyer, journalist, and mercenary. After settling in California and motivated by an earlier filibustering project of Gaston de Raousset-Boulbon, Walker attempted in 1853–54 to take Baja California and Sonora, Mexico. He declared those territories to be an independent Republic of Sonora, but he was soon driven back to California by the Mexican forces. Walker then went to Nicaragua in 1855 as leader of a mercenary army employed by the Nicaraguan Democratic Party in its civil war against the Legitimists. He took control of the Nicaraguan government and in July 1856 set himself up as the country's president.

Walker's regime was recognized as the legitimate government of Nicaragua by US president Franklin Pierce and it initially enjoyed the support of some important sectors within Nicaraguan society. However, Walker antagonized the powerful Wall Street tycoon Cornelius Vanderbilt by expropriating Vanderbilt's Accessory Transit Company, which operated one of the main routes for the transport of passengers going from New York City to San Francisco. The British Empire saw Walker as a threat to its interests in the possible construction of a Nicaragua Canal. As ruler of Nicaragua, Walker re-legalized slavery, which had been abolished in 1824, albeit this measure was never enforced, and threatened the independence of neighboring Central American republics. A military coalition led by Costa Rica defeated Walker and forced him to resign the presidency of Nicaragua on May 1, 1857.

Walker then tried to re-launch his filibustering project and in 1860 he published a book, The War in Nicaragua, which cast his efforts to conquer Central America as tied to the geographical expansion of slavery. In that way, Walker sought to gain renewed support from pro-slavery forces in the Southern United States on the eve of the American Civil War. That same year Walker returned to Central America but was arrested by the Royal Navy, who handed him over to the Honduran government which executed him.

Edgar Vanover

Vanover fought with William Walker in Nicaragua. When Walker surrendered to the Costa Rican forces in 1857 Vanover came back to the U.S. with approximately 400 other filibusters.  He then moved to California, eventually settling in Golden, Colorado. He was unable to return to Missouri because he was wanted for a crime there. In September 1859, after a day of heavy drinking and making threats against the co-owners of his saloon, Vanover was hanged to death. He was hanged for a crime he had threatened to commit.

Frank Turk

Frank Turk, an attorney, was active in California politics. He served as president of the San Francisco Common Council. He embarked on the Sierra Nevada ship on October 20, 1855, to Nicaragua. The ship reached San Juan del Sur on November 1. Shortly after, he returned to California, departing again on December 5 on the same vessel. He arrived in Nicaragua on November 17.

Frank William Stewart

Frank William Stewart joined William Walker's army in February 1857. On March 7, he arrived in Nicaragua as part of the last company to come from California. Stewart was appointed captain of the Red Star Guard and became known as Captain Stewart. Even though he was a captain, Stewart later spoke out against the campaign, trying to share what he believed really happened in Nicaragua and clear up false ideas people had in the U.S.  Stewart recorded detailed recollections of the battle scenes and his personal interactions with William Walker, providing valuable insight into the campaign.

James Carson Jamison

James Carson Jamison was a soldier who served under William Walker, participating in his military campaigns in Nicaragua. He was born on September 30, 1830, in a pioneer home that was located about two and a half miles southeast of Paynesville in Pike County, Missouri. His father, John Carson Jamison, had migrated to Missouri from North Carolina during the early days of EuroAmerican settlement. In James' early years he worked as a miner in Georgetown, El Dorado County, in California, while waiting to join William Walker in Nicaragua. He received forty-four votes for the position of first lieutenant in Nicaragua from the others who were with him on the Sierra Nevada ship on their way to filibuster. He was later appointed by Walker to the company D of the first infantry.  Once he was back from Nicaragua he fought on the side of the Confederacy during the Civil War. He passed away on November 19, 1916, in Guthrie, Oklahoma, and was laid to rest in Clarksville.

Edward John Cage Kewen

Edward John Cage Kewen, born in 1825, was from Columbus, Mississippi. In 1855, Kewen, a close friend of Walker, joined the enterprise, taking on fiscal responsibilities in the Walker administration, traveling to the southern states to recruit men and funds for the Nicaraguan "adventure." Kewen later became a prominent criminal defense attorney and the proprietor of El Molino Viejo, an estate surrounding the old mill of Mission San Gabriel. He also made an unsuccessful bid for Congress, facing backlash for controversial remarks about local development projects. On November 26, Kewen, who had just turned 54, died at his old mill residence. The 1880 federal census mortality listing, recorded the cause of death as "Paralysis & Bronchial Consumption," attributed to strokes and tuberculosis.

Alexander Wake Holeman

Alexander Wake Holeman was born on February 20, 1827, in Frankfort, Kentucky, and died on October 19, 1887, in Louisville, Kentucky. Holeman was known as a professional filibuster and a soldier of fortune. He served in the Mexican-American War and was captured by the Mexican army near La Encarnación, Mexico, on January 21, 1847. He famously took two chances in a death lottery—one for himself and one for a friend he deemed less capable of facing the risk—before escaping captivity in July 1847.  He then served in Colonel Humphrey Marshall’s Regiment of Kentucky Riflemen, with whom he traveled to Cuba in 1851 to participate in the Lopez Rebellion and the Battle of Cardenas under General George Pickett. In 1855–56, he joined Walker in Nicaragua, and later commanded a Kentucky cavalry regiment on the Union side during the U.S. Civil War. He was a machinist and hotelkeeper before the Civil War and he enslaved 9 individuals during his time in Owen County, Kentucky in 1860. After the Civil War, he returned to Kentucky where he drew a pension for his participation in the Mexican-American War.

Alexander Parker Crittenden

Alexander Parker Crittenden was a follower and avid supporter of William Walker and his invasion of Nicaragua. In the 1850s Crittenden was a recruiter for the expedition while he simultaneously worked in California as a lawyer. Because of his status and wealth, Crittenden was a strong financial supporter of William Walker's invasion of Nicaragua. Although there is no record of his children fighting for Walker, Crittenden had many family members travel with and support his crusade. Alexander P. Crittenden did not die while fighting in Nicaragua for Walker; he was shot and killed by Laura Fair in front of his family on the docks of San Francisco in 1870. Fair, in a moment of temporary insanity—according to the courts—had shot Crittenden because during their seven-year affair he had led her to believe first that he was a widower and then that he would leave his wife, Clara, for her. The murder sparked a trial and a subsequent retrial that drew considerable public attention.

Volney R. Bristol

Volney R. Bristol was from Connecticut. It appears that he deserted from Walker's army to Costa Rica where he was forced to participate as an assistant engineer and then sued for damages. He was born on December 22, 1829, never married, and died in August 1887. He became a sergeant in the Connecticut Infantry Company I and was honorably discharged from the Infantry in 1863. He had one sister and two brothers.

Charles L. Mann

Charles L. Mann, a government official and Texas Ranger, was born around 1825 in Mississippi. In 1847, he was appointed as the interim adjutant general of Texas. He was a member of the Episcopal Church. He was also a member of the Sons of Temperance. Later on in 1857 he became a Texas Rangers Colonel, and joined William Walker's colonization of Nicaragua.

John Tabor

John Tabor was the publishing director of the El Nicaragüense newspaper in 1854. Tabor accompanied William Walker along with six of the original "immortals" aboard the steamship Fashion headed to Greytown, Nicaragua. Tabor often got into confrontations regarding his right to publish his paper in Central America. John Tabor, along with Owen Duffy, opened a law firm where they exclusively focused on claims that were made targeting the government. Tabor was influential during this time, given his role with El Nicaragüense.

Collier Clarence Hornsby

Collier Clarence Hornsby was born in Columbia, Mississippi. He was in the US Army before joining William Walker. After the military, Hornsby took part in the Nicaragua expedition with Walker in 1855. Hornsby only agreed to join Walker in taking over Nicaragua if he received the title as captain. By joining Walker early on, Hornsby is considered one of the "immortals." He married, had two children, and travelled with them. While traveling back to Nicaragua from New York, he used the name Collier Clarence Hornsby in order to not get caught by the County Prosecutor in New York. His real name was Charles Hornsby.

Martin P. Avery

Martin P. Avery was an American brigadier general and colonel born in New York in 1836. Avery was the adjutant of President Haye's regiment. He was a member of the Masonic lodge in Kansas. Avery was married but records show that he and his wife spent years without seeing each other. Avery was known as a walking skeleton, weighing only 48 pounds at the time of his death in 1882. Prior to his death, Avery spent time in Nicaragua as a filibuster.

Sumpter Willamson

Sumpter Williamson was born in Georgia in 1833. He was the second of four children born to Ethelbort and Sarah Williamson. His family lived in Talladega County, Alabama. On March 30, 1856, he was commissioned as second lieutenant of Company G in the First Battalion Riflemen in William Walker's invading army. Seven months later, on October 24, 1856, Walker promoted him to first lieutenant within the same battalion. He participated in the burning of the Nicaraguan colonial city of Granada. According to William Walker's memoirs, Sumpter had "unflinching courage and [a] jovial spirit". Back in the U.S. in 1862, Sumpter fought on the side of the Confederacy alongside former filibusters at the Battle of Roanoke Island in North Carolina. During the battle, he led Captain Lewis' Company, where he was wounded during the fighting.

Birkett D. Fry

Birkett Davenport Fry was born in 1822 in West Virginia. Attending two different military schools, Fry originally joined the Virginia Military Institute in 1840, but he resigned nearly a year later. He then enrolled at West Point Military School, where he also had to leave before graduating, dropping out due to his academic deficiency in math. Fry accompanied Walker on his journey to Nicaragua, originally serving as a colonel in Walker's army. While in Nicaragua, Fry eventually became a general, before returning home in 1859.

Lipscomb Norvell Walker

Younger brother of William Walker, Lipscomb Norvell Walker, fought as a volunteer from Tennessee in the Mexican American war. Lipscomb ended the war as a captain after moving up the ranks from second lieutenant. Lipscomb joined William in the conquest of Nicaragua but managed to disappoint with his embarrassing behavior, talking and drinking a lot. He eventually caught a fever during the conquest of the San Juan river and died shortly after near Havana, Cuba.

John David Walker

John David Walker was born into a family of enslavers in Georgia. He enlisted as a soldier and fought in the Mexican-American War at 21 years old, until he injured his legs on August 20, 1847, at the Battle of Churubusco. He then briefly went to Nicaragua with William Walker to filibuster. When he returned, he enlisted in the Confederate army in 1861, becoming major of the First Regiment Georgia Regulars on June 19, 1861, until February 6, 1862, where he was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. At the Second Battle of Manassas, he was shot in the leg, but refused amputation, dying of a gangrene infection on October 3, 1862, at the age of 37. It is unknown whether John David Walker had a wife or children, but he did have a brother who was a famous general in the Confederate army named William H T Walker who died only two years later.  

David Deadrick

David Deadrick was a young miner. Deadrick was a lower class citizen who worked in gold mines to make money. Due to bad fortune in the mines, in 1855 he would join William Walker in his exploration to explore Nicaragua. While exploring Nicaragua he would write a two part memoir under the name of Samuel Absalom. The title to his memoir, The Experience of Samuel Absalom, would contain the journey to Nicaragua and the relationship between American explorers and the Nicaraguan people.

Alexander C. Lawrence

Alexander C. Lawrence was an attorney. He owned a saloon in New York City from 1850 to 1857 where filibusters would hang out. The establishment was called the St. Charles' Saloon and it was located at the corner of Broadway and Leonard Streets. In August 1856 Lawrence was working as the General Emigrant Agent for the William Walker administration in Nicaragua. Lawrence's Emigrant office was located on Broadway Street in New York City.

Harry Maury

Harry Maury fought in the Mexican American War. He then became an attorney. In 1858 William Walker hired him as Captain of the Susan ship which carried more than a hundred filibusters. Once in Nicaragua Maury joined the filibuster movement as a soldier. After his time in Nicaragua, Maury fought on the side of the Confederacy during the Civil War and was promoted to General.

Jane Cazneau

Jane Maria Eliza McManus (1807), later known as Jane Cazneau, was a prominent writer covering international relations and U.S. involvement abroad. As a pioneering woman in journalism, she became one of the earliest American journalists to report from enemy-controlled areas during the US-Mexico War. Known for promoting Manifest Destiny, she backed William Walker and his filibuster campaigns in Central America. Cazneau supported expansionist political movements and filibuster wars through her extensive contributions to newspapers, journals, and other publications. She is often called the "Mistress of Manifest Destiny." Cazneau sought out financial opportunities outside the U.S. and invested in a silver mine in Chontales, Nicaragua. She drowned at sea in 1878.

Jack Harris

Born in Connecticut in 1834, Jack Harris left his home to go to sea at 12 years old, later joining William Walker in 1856. As a member of William Walker's Nicaragua Expedition, Jack Harris served under the filibuster for a brief time before being rescued from a firing squad by Walker himself. After spending about four years with William Walker, Harris joined the San Antonio police force; he then served in the Civil War for the Confederacy under the Second Texas Cavalry. After the war, Jack Harris rejoined the police force in San Antonio during the Reconstruction period until 1872 when he opened a saloon at the corner of Soledad and West Commerce on Main Plaza. His saloon, named Jack Harris Vaudeville Theater and Saloon, became very popular, especially in the gambling world. One night in 1880, a former friend of Jack Harris became banned from the saloon after losing heavily and threatening the place. The threatening party, Ben Thompson, who was a known gunman, gambler, and saloon owner in Austin, Texas, returned to San Antonio on July 11, 1882, as the new City Marshal of Austin. A face-off occurred at the Jack Harris Vaudeville Theater and Saloon as Harris waited to confront Thompson and his threats of shutting down the saloon. An argument arose that ultimately ended with Harris's death after Thompson shot him in the Vaudeville Theater. Jack Harris was unmarried at the time of his death, passing as a very influential member of his community with strong connections to the political authorities of the area, a fact heavily supported by the 47 carriages in the procession of his funeral on July 12, 1882. Ben Thompson obtained a "not guilty" verdict in the delayed trial on January 16, 1883.

Ellen Oldmixon Sully

Ellen Oldmixon Sully was born on January 16, 1816, and died in 1896. She was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Sully and Sarah Annis. She married John Hill Wheeler on November 8, 1838, and they had two children, Charles Sully Wheeler (1839–1916) and Levi Woodbury Wheeler. Their two children had a half sibling from John Hill Wheeler's previous marriage to Mary Elizabeth Brown. Oldmixon Sully joined her husband's voyage to Nicaragua and spent three years there with her family in support of William Walker; her husband was the U.S. minister to Walker's government.

Ira Munson

Ira Munson joined William Walker in his invasion of Nicaragua in 1855. Walker named him Second Sargeant. Munson was also one of Walker's "Immortals". He was later a captain in the 126th New York Infantry Division in 1862. Munson fought in the Civil War on the side of the Union. He was taken as a prisoner of war and died from battle wounds on May 14, 1864.

Thomas Grosvenor Adkins and Mary Walker Adkins

Mary Walker Adkins (sometimes spelled Atkins) was the first wife of Thomas Grosvenor Adkins, a famous military musician born in England. She was also born in England and had a son who died in the U.S. Civil War. She accompanied her husband to Nicaragua. There, she and Mrs. Morris created the filibuster flag for William Walker's invading army. That flag resembled the Nicaraguan flag but replaced the triangle with five volcanoes in the middle with a red star.

Pierre Soulé

Pierre Soulé strongly advocated for William Walker's filibuster campaigns. He supported Walker's campaigns through persuasive speeches, political support, and by raising half a million dollars. He was able to raise money for Walker by speaking to a crowd in New Orleans where he requested funds for weapons and supplies. Soulé also worked as a lawyer working to defend Walker's efforts in Nicaragua. He visited Nicaragua to support Walker. There he was seen in private conferences with Walker. According to Walker, he played an important role in Nicaragua partly due to his ability to speak Spanish fluently. Some argue that Soulé played a role in convincing Walker to reinstate enslavement in Nicaragua and that Soulé was looking forward to growing cotton in Nicaragua.

Charles D. Bonsall

Charles D. Bonsall was born in Mississippi and died on June 2, 1856, in Granada, Nicaragua. He graduated with honors from the College of New Jersey (Princeton University) and later attended the University of Virginia Law School. After his graduation he became an editor of the Vicksburg Sentinel in Mississippi, which eventually merged into The Sun. Around 1851, The Sun was sold to Bonsall and a business partner who later sold his part to John M. Jewell, converting the firm into “Bonsall & Jewell.” In 1853 Bonsall was working as a defense attorney in Vicksburg, Mississippi as part of the firm Bonsall and Irions. Bonsall was a member of the American Whig Society. Before his trip to Nicaragua he was involved in local politics and wrote a letter to Jefferson Davis, the Confederate leader from Mississippi, on August 16, 1856.

Chatham Roberdeau Wheat

Chatham Roberdeau Wheat, sometimes referred to as "Bob", was born in Alexandria, Virginia, on April 9, 1826. Wheat's father was an Episcopalian Clergyman, and his mother was the granddaughter of General Roberdeau, who was among the first leaders of the troops in Pennsylvania during the Revolutionary War.  Wheat spent his youth in New Orleans, after his family moved away from Virginia. In 1842 Wheat moved to Tennessee with his family to study at the University of Nashville, and received his bachelor's degree in 1846. Wheat fought in Mexico and later supported the Confederacy. He seems to have not written about his time in Nicaragua. He left New York for Nicaragua in late 1856.

Henry T. Titus

Henry Titus was a freemason, mercenary, and founder of Titusville. Titus led an expedition to Cuba (1850) and was accompanied by Lt. Col. Theodore O’Hara and about 120 men when he set sail. In 1856, Titus moved to Bleeding Kansas, joining pro-slavery forces. Titus worked with William Walker in Nicaragua in 1857. Titus fought in the final battle of Rivas and the San Juan River campaign. William Walker wrote in his memoirs that Titus was a traitor because of his abandonment of the Fillibuster Camp. Titus came close to sparking an international conflict between the United States and Great Britain when he was arrested in Nicaragua for allegedly threatening a British naval officer and making disparaging remarks about the queen of England.

Henry S. Ervay

Originally from New York, Henry Schley Ervay eventually established himself in Texas. During his time as mayor of Dallas from 1870 to 1872, he opted to go to jail rather than complying with the Reconstructionists’ orders. In the 1850s he joined William Walker in his invasion of Nicaragua. Approximately two hundred of Walker's followers landed at Fort Truxillo, Honduras, and one of their squads was commanded by Ervay. In a battle with Central Americans, Ervay sustained nine wounds. He survived, in spite of his injured limbs. He eventually went back to the U.S. and spent time in the city of New Orleans. In the fall of 1863, Ervay joined the Confederate army and was appointed assistant quartermaster with the rank of colonel. Once Ervay settled in California, he became part of San Diego County's Royal Arch Masons.

Lewis Miles Hobbs Washington

Lewis Miles Hobbs Washington was a writer who served in the Texas war against Mexico. He was a colonel in his military career. Lewis was part of the Lockridge filibuster expedition in Nicaragua in the 1850s. In 1857, Lewis was shot on the foot. While recovering from his wound he was captured and killed by Costa Rican forces, at age 43.

Julius DeBrissot

Julius DeBrissot was originally from New Orleans. He was a Mason. In January 1855, DeBrissot was on his way to the Galapagos when he was convinced by Henry Crabb, Thomas F. Fisher, and Collier Clarence Hornsby to stay in Nicaragua. DeBrissot was one of the fifty-eight filibusters that went with Walker on his expedition to Nicaragua on the Vesta that landed in El Realejo on June 16, 1855. DeBrissot took part in the First Battle of Rivas on June 29, 1855, where he was wounded.

William Alexander Rhea

William Alexander Rhea was born in 1838 in Tennessee. At 19, he attended a school in Tennessee called the Blout Academy. After his time at the Blout Academy Rhea, his brother, and his father relocated to Texas. While in Texas, Rhea and his brother opened a mill specializing in corn and wheat production. Rhea joined William Walker in Nicaragua as a First Lieutenant in 1856. At the beginning of the Civil War, Rhea enlisted in the Confederate army and became captain. After the war, Rhea had a stint as a politician in McKinney County Texas, and married Ella Foote in July 1868, at age 35. Rhea passed away on September 30 in his home at the age of 73 due to complications related to old age.

Charles Wilkins Webber

Charles Wilkins Webber was a well-known author.  He married in Boston in 1849.  His wife was his artistic collaborator, and together they worked on his first book titled, “The Hunter Naturalist,” which was published in 1851. He and his wife joined William Walker in Nicaragua.  Webber fought in a battle in Masaya, Nicaragua.  He had the intention of returning to the U.S. with his wife after that battle but was not heard from again.

Joseph Lewis Vital Bogy

Joseph Lewis Vital Bogy was born in 1838 in St Genevieve, Missouri. He married Eliza Kimbel in 1860, and had two children, Julia Bogy and Lewis Vital Bogy. In 1855, he was arrested and imprisoned by the Mexican government in La Paz, California, presumably for his actions involving William Walker's filibuster expedition. His father, the U.S. Senator Lewis Vital Bogy, would attempt to sue the Mexican government for $50,000 regarding his son's imprisonment, albeit unsuccessfully. He joined William Walker and engaged in his filibuster movement in 1855, where he attempted to forcibly take over Nicaragua. He died near Lima, Peru, in 1907.

Thomas Francis Bayard

Thomas Francis Bayard (October 29, 1828 – September 28, 1898) was an attorney. Bayard abandoned his studies and joined Walker. After Bayard decide come back due to pressure from his dad, Bayard studied law. Bayard steadily started climbing the political ladder. He was appointed the U.S. District Attorney for Delaware. Fifteen years later, he was elected Senator from Delaware. He later became Secretary of State and after completing term of office, served as the U.S. Ambassador to Great Britain. He returned to the United States in 1897 with failing health and retired from public life and died the following year.

Jane Cazneau

In the 19th century, Jane Maria Eliza McManus (1807), later known as Jane Cazneau, was a prominent writer covering international relations and U.S. involvement abroad. As a pioneering woman in journalism, she became one of the earliest American journalists to report from enemy-controlled areas during the US-Mexico War. Known for promoting Manifest Destiny, she backed William Walker and his filibuster campaigns in Central America. Cazneau supported expansionist political movements and filibuster wars through her extensive contributions to newspapers, journals, and other publications. She is often called the “Mistress of Manifest Destiny.” Cazneau sought out financial opportunities outside the U.S. and invested in a silver mine in Chontales, Nicaragua. She drowned at sea in 1878.

D. Barney Woolfe

For the earlier "filibusters," D. Barney Woolfe was in control. When Second Lieutenant H. C. Hall left the service and traveled to the United States, D. Barney Woolfe was promoted to Second Lieutenant. In San Francisco, he had served for many years as the California Supreme Court Commission secretary. Lieutenant Woolfe spent the majority of his year as the effective and well-liked post-adjutant of Granada. The Second Lieutenant Woolfe, D. Barney, was promoted to First Lieutenant Infantry Company D, First Light. Barney Woolfe, now the first lieutenant killed Second Lieutenant Kruger.

George F. Alden

George F Alden was born on October 1, 1829. Alden studied law in New York and was elected to the member of Assembly. George F. Alden was appointed by President Rivas to assess the debts owed to Nicaragua after General Walker revoked company charters. The commissioners seized all associated property, including ships and facilities. This further escalated tensions with Commodore Vanderbilt as well as drawing criticism from American newspapers.

Henry Alonzo Maltby

Henry Alonzo Maltby, a journalist and former mayor of Corpus Christi, Texas, joined General William Walker's filibuster expedition to Nicaragua in 1857. Maltby gathered and commanded a company of recruits from Texas to support Walker's attempt to control Nicaragua. His role was part of Walker's campaign, which aimed to dominate the region but faced resistance from Nicaraguans. Maltby helped Walker by leading a group of soldiers from Texas. After his involvement in Nicaragua, Maltby returned to Texas, where he resumed his career in publishing.

Peter S. Veeder

Peeter S. Veeder was a captain in the Nicaraguan/American Army. He was one of the followers off filibuster William Walker, helping him take control of Nicaragua in the mid-1850s. Veeder was one of 16 that fought in the Battle of Rivas on April 11, 1856. He was said to have displayed great heroism and pulled many wounded men out of the battle. During the battle, Veeder was hit my many bullets but miraculously was unharmed. Veeder had had pervious run-ins with the law as on September 14, 1854, a scuffle took place between Veeder and James Campbell resulting in the later being shot dead; Peter was consequently arrested.

Charles Bledsoe

Charles Bledsoe, born in 1822 near Lexington, Kentucky, moved at a young age to Missouri. Bledsoe retold his story 82 years later to The San Antonio Daily Express. He recalled to have served under General Zachary Taylor in the Mexican-American War. Bledsoe claimed that he had fought in the Battle of the Alamo, narrowly escaping death. Some time later, Bledsoe joined a filibustering expedition to Nicaragua. After 18 months in Nicaragua, he returned to the U.S. serving in the Union army under General Rosencrans and Blunt. Despite Bledsoe's many stories, there is a lack of evidence to show the validity of his claims.

Asa Collinsworth Hill

Asa Collinsworth Hill was born near Hillsboro Georgia in November, 1826. Before volunteering in General William Walker's Nicaraguan army in 1856, he worked as a secretary to United States Senator Sam Houston in 1846, enlisted in the Mexican War and worked as a hospital steward in Coahuila Mexico, and led a spy company in the battle of Piedra Pinta until late 1848. In 1849, He married his wife, Mary Chapman, and had two sons with her. In 1856, after recruiting men and raising money for William Walker's army, Hill left from New Orleans and arrived in Punta Arenas where he took on the roles of an administrative assistant to Colonel Samuel A. Lockridge. Hill was injured when the boiler of the steamer J. N. Scott blew up on a retreat down the San Juan River after an attempted but failed assault of Fort Castillo. Hill became a member of the Texas State Police in 1870, and spent his career advancing from first lieutenant to colonel. From 1904 to 1907, Hill traveled throughout Texas gathering information to create a history of Texas but he never finished. Asa Collinsworth Hill died on October 9, 1913, and was buried at his son's ranch.

Archibald Wynns

Archibald Wynns, an attorney and politician, was born on December 25, 1807, in Henry County, Tennessee. On January 12, 1836, he married Martha Elizabeth Edmunds, and together, they had four boys and four girls. Archibald began practicing law in Houston in 1837 and played a key role in founding Houston’s First Methodist Church, established in 1839. In 1841 and 1842, Wynns served as Harris County’s representative in the House of the Sixth Congress of the Republic of Texas. Three years later, Wynns actively participated in Houston's local efforts to secure annexation by the United States. In 1855, Wynns embarked on a ship to San Francisco to join the California gold rush. While in California, he developed an interest in the exploits of adventurer and filibuster William Walker. Wynns participated in Walker's final expedition in Central America but succumbed to an illness contracted during his journey back on August 21, 1859.