William Walker's Wars: How One Man's Private American Army Tried to Conquer Mexico, Nicaragua, and Honduras

by Scott Martelle

In the decade before the onset of the Civil War, groups of Americans engaged in a series of longshot—and illegal—forays into Mexico, Cuba, and other Central American countries in hopes of taking them over. These efforts became known as filibustering , and their goal was to seize territory to create new independent fiefdoms, which would ultimately be annexed by the still-growing United States. Most failed miserably.

William Walker was the outlier. Short, slender, and soft-spoken with no military background—he trained as a doctor before becoming a lawyer and then a newspaper editor—Walker was an unlikely leader of rough-hewn men and adventurers. But in 1856 he managed to install himself as president of Nicaragua. Neighboring governments saw Walker as a risk to the region and worked together to drive him out—efforts aided, incongruously, by the United States’ original tycoon, Cornelius Vanderbilt.

William Walker’s Wars is a story of greedy dreams and ambitions, the fate of nations and personal fortunes, and the dark side of Manifest Destiny, for among Walker’s many goals was to build his own empire based on slavery. This little-remembered story from US history is a cautionary tale for all who dream of empire.

Genres: History, Biography, The United States Of America, Audiobook, American History

312 pages, Hardcover

First published November 6, 2018

About the author

A veteran journalist and former member of the Los Angeles Times editorial board, Martelle also writes books primarily about overlooked people and events from history. His newest, though, takes a broader look at a seminal year in American history: 1932: FDR, Hoover, and the Dawn of a New America.

Martelle's journalism and book reviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Washington Post, Sierra Magazine, Los Angeles magazine, Orange Coast magazine and other outlets.

Reviews

[Jean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the story of the 19th century adventurer William Walker. Walker was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He graduated Summa Cum Laude from the University of Nashville at age 14. He graduated medicine from the University of Pennsylvania at age 19. He studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh, the University of Heidelberg and at the Sorbonne. While in France he also studied the sciences at the French Institute of Science. He then went to New Orleans to study law. He stayed and practice law briefly; then was off to San Francisco where he studied journalism. He got restless and went off to Central America where he created his own country and declared himself the ruler.

The book is well written and researched. Much of the book deals with Walker’s various wars and escapades in Central America and Mexico. I had come across Walker in other books I have read such as the biography of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt’s shipping company had continuous problems with Walker. The book read more like a novel than a non-fiction. Martelle’s writing style made history most exciting. If you would like to learn a bit of Central American history, this book would be an interesting read.

I read this as an audiobook downloaded from Audible. The book is twelve hours and seven minutes. David Colacci does a great job reading the book. Colacci is an award-winning audiobook narrator and one of my favorite narrators.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unlike his eerily familiar and sofa-bound counterparts in our time, William Walker had no compunctions about ballsily going to the wall to "make America great". Likely unfamiliar to many, Walker was a lawyer and newspaperman (two of our most dubious career tracks) who took it upon himself to try and attack Mexico and parts of Central America in the mid-19th century and set up either new slave-owning parts of the US or vague new empires with Walker at its head.
Walker, perhaps mentally deranged, failed and failed horribly, which goes to show.
Martelle's account covers Walker's career and then failed attempts at American Greatness using a ragtag army of other similarly disturbed opportunists and crazy racists, illustrating how unwise it might be for power to devolve upon someone with questionable goals as well as wits. It's a concise and fine read, soaking up all the obligatory zaniness you can imagine and laying it all out for you in all its counter-intuitive glory. Probably works well as a cautionary tale as well.

[Ethan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A well-researched and clearly composed biography about a footnote figure in American history. Walker could modestly be described as a “terrestrial pirate”, but I believe most contemporary readers would sway toward a description of “delusional white supremacist American drifter with a Napoleonic dream.”
The story often hangs precariously between mind-numbingly boring and utterly fascinating, and the author did a great job of keeping the tale flowing without being trapped by the mundane. The book itself is a continual exercise in self-actualization. In the end I concluded that Walker, like so many other historical footnotes, was a supremely unextraordinary man living in the wrong period of time so as to make him seem more extraordinary.
For a non-fiction work, this book is above average. I would be shocked if it makes the best-seller list, but the subject is interesting enough that I would certainly recommend it to any history buff.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Christ, what an asshole

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having recently visited Costa Rica, we visited the national monument in San Jose, a statue which depicts the defeat of renegade American 'fillibuster' Willam Walker by the combined forces of five Central American countries, led by Costa Rican President Juanito Mora. Our guide recounted with pride the role played by Costa Rican forces in the eventual defeat of the self-proclaimed 'President of Nicaragua'.
However, having now read Scott Martelle's biography of the deluded Walker, I have to say that the patriotic story of Costa Rican centrality to his downfall is, perhaps a little overblown!
The book tells of how Walker drifted from practicing law to practicing medicine to editing regional newspapers until he decided to gather manpower and head to Mexico in an, occasionally laughably, under-trained and under equipped attempt to seize Baja California as a launch pad for further land grabs in the region. It's a tale of hubris and arrogance and the author does well to navigate successfully through the disparate threads that hold this complicated story together.
Having often loved to listen to the late-lamented Joe Strummer's lovely soundtrack album to the 'Walker' movie, it's great to finally have a clear understanding of the events and an appreciation of Walker's cynical opportunism (particularly regarding the subject of slavery and the slave trade itself) which reminds me a lot of the character fault in many 21st century politicians, particularly the Johnsons and Trumps of this world.
A well recommended read!

[Miles Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good work useful for educated laymen and scholars alike looking for a serviceable work on William Walker's filibustering expeditions. This book also doubles as a biography and military history as well. Its well-written and fast-paced. Enjoyable and I learned a few things I didn't know.

[Drtaxsacto · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the middle part of the 19th Century America had a bunch of odd political movements including one by a man born in Nashville named William Walker, born in 1824. HIs early life was exceptional by the time he was a late teenager he had graduated from the University of Nashville with a Legal and then a Medical Degree. He got bored with that and then began a newspaper career in several venues in the US as a publisher. By the time he was 19 he "invaded" Guaymas in Mexico and then led a series of efforts to create a republic in Nicaragua which would support slavery. He raised money in the US in New York and New Orleans and San Francisco and ultimately led a series of rag tag volunteers on a series of military adventures - both supporting one side in Nicaragua and then the other. The instability in Central America allowed Walker to sell his "army" to one side in the civil war.

By all accounts he was a lousy military strategist and most of his "troops" were untrained ruffians. But he was able to keep coming back.

The US Government had something called the Neutrality Act which prohibited American Citizens from engaging in these kinds of activities in countries in the Western Hemisphere but he persisted. He was consistently defeated by US and British, and Honduran forces. But the American presidency at the time was so weak that he was able to repeatedly go back after a defeat, raise a force and return.

Ultimately he was captured by the British, turned over to the Hondurans and executed in 1860.

Walker, by all accounts, except for his academic record, was an unimpressive figure - but for a period of about a decade he created disruptions in Central America.

Martel's book at times can be tedious but the ultimate history is compelling. For me this is an odd part of our history. But it is also an interesting one.

[Tanya Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this book was very interesting. Honestly, I had never heard about William Walker and these events in Central American in the nineteenth century until I read a book about Commodore Vanderbilt. So crazy. To think that a private citizen here in the United States would travel to Nicaragua in the 1850s with a bunch of filibusters and declare himself president...it seems absurd, but it happened, and it wasn't the first place that he tried to establish his own empire, either. It's a thoroughly entertaining read (if you like nineteenth-century history as much as I do at least lol).

[Richard Luck · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even more engrossing second time around.

[Gayla Bassham · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the future, if you find yourself suffering from imposter syndrome, just remind yourself that if William Walker can attempt to singlehandedly colonize a continent for his own ends you can certainly give that presentation you're dreading. The nerve of this guy boggles the mind -- he was as delusional and hubristic, and as determined to put his own personal goals ahead of the good of entire countries full of people, as a certain recent president I can think of.

As a book, this is only so-so -- it's competently written but the pacing feels like a hundred-yard dash. I would have preferred a few dozen more pages that offered more context and analysis, and truth be told I could have done with slightly shorter battle descriptions (there I may be in the minority). If GoodReads permitted I would give it three and a half stars, but I am rounding down -- perhaps unfairly punishing the author for the behavior of his subject but here we are.

[L. Stephen Wolfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Before visiting Costa Rica and Nicaragua in the spring of 2021, I had never heard of William Walker or the filibuster movement in which he was a significant actor. But Nicaraguans in Antigua, the historic capital, know Walker very well. His men burned most of the city in 1857. Only 14 buildings survived. US schools teach nothing about the filibusters whose actions were an important prelude to the US Civil War.

Martell's biography is recent and apparently relies on a lot of original correspondence from Walker and his associates that still survives. Martell writes clearly, but he is not a great biographer. He is too sanctimonious and judgemental for my taste. But he did answer my questions about who Walker was and how many crazy things he did. He seems less interesting in understanding what motivated Walker to commit his heinous acts, but perhaps nobody could solve that riddle.

[Candida · Rating 4 out of 5]

How did this crazy piece of history get swept under the rug and never mentioned in a text book? You could make a crazy jaw dropping mini series about this. William Walker is a gutsy crazy man that took Manifest Destiny a little too far and invaded south of the United States over and over...like a crazy amount of times in an effort to conquer as much he could. It's just about the most interesting story in US history.

[Christa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting since I didn't know anything about this. No wonder central America has issues with the United States, with this in our history. It is interesting that it is pretty much white washed from regular history classes coming up through the US education system. So I learned a lot and got historical context which is always important. It took me while to make my way through the book. Mainly because I had other more interesting audiobooks drawing my attention.

[Shane Kiely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story of a man who’s not that well know today (except in Central America). Well written though there are instances where there’s a focus on minutiae that did cause my attention to wander slightly. Worth reading overall, a solid insight into the man himself & an interesting overview of the era.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short biography of the most famous Filibuster of the 19th century. Good details on his life in San Francisco, and campaigns in Nicaragua and death in Honduras; not as much detail on his earlier attempts to seize Baja Mexico or Sonora.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad general overview of Walker's career. Learned a few things that I didnt know about him.

[Candace · Rating 3 out of 5]

So he's the reason Nicaragua is the way it is!! Ugh!!

[Cola · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you don’t know about William Walker...or if you care about Central America, add this to your knowledge bank!

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

it’s William Walker’s world we’re just living in it

[Dan McCarthy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting history of Fillibustering! The gall of Walker is wild!

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never heard of Walker. This was a fascinating biography that i believe would make a great biopic.

The author's writing was very entertaining as well.

[Kathryn Doyle · Rating 4 out of 5]

now THIS is what i'm talking about

[Chris S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Check out the film by Alex Cox 'Walker' (1987).

[Cameron Barham]

“Walker had seen himself as a protector of the people; the people viewed him as something else entirely. A pirate. An invader. An opportunist who, given the chance, would enslave them.”, p. 265

[Jim Blessing · Rating 1 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this was not an interesting read.

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating history. It is fact heavy. So, you can get bogged down.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an excellent book. I couldn't stop reading it. I want this to be a movie, about how this one man ripped apart Central America for his desire to control it.