ODTAA: A novel

by John Masefield

Carlotta was put to death at about the moment of Hi’s arrest by the Pituba officer, before he was taken to Ribote.

On the fate of Don Manuel and his army, or what happened on the day of the battle.

When Hi saw the White army near Anselmo, it was moving from its bivouac towards Santa Barbara, expecting to fight that morning. It was delayed in its march by Pituba skirmishers, so that it did not come into position above Santa Clara until after three in the afternoon.

Don Manuel had expected that a part of the Federal army, the San Jacinto Horse, and the battalion of Independents, would declare for him, and either join him or help him. Their officers were known to be Whites and their men were hostile to Lopez. Unfortunately, Colonel Velarte, of the Horse, who was a friend of Hermengildo de Bazan, the White leader, disliked Don Manuel and refused to help him. The Colonel of the Independents felt that the Whites would be ruined if he did not help Don Manuel, but would not help unless he were given the command. While affairs were in this state, the day before the battle, Don Livio disarmed both these battalions and put their officers under arrest, so that the Whites were not helped by any Federal troops.

When the battle began, Don Manuel had with him between six and seven hundred horsemen, armed in various ways, undisciplined, without artillery, and almost without ammunition. The Federal troops opposed to him numbered about four thousand, including the Meruel and Pituba regiments of horse, three battalions of Eastern foot and two batteries of horse artillery.

The battle proper began when Don Manuel’s men came on to the little ridge above Santa Clara church. At that point they came under shell-fire from the batteries, which had been registered upon the ground during the morning. As Don Manuel saw that his only chance was to charge the guns, he charged. His men got into trip wire laid before the guns, and were shot down there by the foot soldiers or routed by the lancers. Some fifty or sixty of the Encinitas men followed Don Manuel to the right of the field, broke through a squad of Meruel horse, made a dash for the city, entered the southern gate, and summoned the fortress to surrender.

Here, through the wit of Don Livio, they were ambushed and driven on to the water-front, where they fought till they were lost. The last of them made a stand about the green boat or lighter which Hi had seen on the morning of his setting out with Rosa. When their last cartridges were gone, they took to the water and were killed in the bay.

Don Manuel, because he took to the water after the others, when the light was worse, contrived to reach the English barque Venturer, whose Captain (Gary) received him and brought him to safety. Some five weeks after the battle, he landed in the United States.

Of his army, it is thought that about one-half escaped alive from the battle, and that of these perhaps a third were killed in the pursuit or in the proscriptions which followed. The Federal loss is not known, as the returns were falsified. It is thought that the Reds lost many men in the skirmishing, both before and after the battle.

The battlefield, which was then mainly race ground and market gardens, is now covered by the suburb of Santa Clara. It is a couple of miles from Medinas, on the northern road from the city; at a little distance the ridge (now covered with houses) which was the White position, may still be seen.