Note XIX-49 — Chapter XIX · DEMOCRATIC INSTITUTIONS IN SALVADOR. 1865-1885.

According to a Guat. account, an error was committed in not bombarding the Salv. stronghold, Casa Blanca. Barrios at 8 a. m. of the 2d led the assault on the N. E. side of the fortification with the Jiron brigade of Jalapas, which on that day behaved cowardly. Shortly after the assault, a little past 9, Barrios was mortally wounded, and forthwith removed. The Jalapas gave way, divulging to other troops the death of the president. Thus it came to pass that the first who saw Barrios fall were the first to take to flight, followed by men of several other brigades. To avert a disaster, the troops operating on the N. side were recalled. The firing ceased on both sides at 4:30, and the retreat to the Magdalena began at 6:30, the Salvadorans not pursuing. The same authority claimed that if the firing had been kept up an hour longer, the Guatemalans would have won the day, several bodies of troops having abandoned the town, and the supply of ammunition in the place being already scanty. He asserts that the Guat. loss in all the fights was in killed, besides the president, and his son Gen. Venancio Barrios, colonels A. Jiron, V. Bonilla Cruz, Urbano Sanchez, Major Gonzalez, a few other officers, and 200 rank and file. Campaña de la Union Cent. Am., in La Estrella de Pan., May 30, 1885.