A Skirmish in Nicaragua (Problem III)

Historical Map Problem

Written by Lieutenant Harold D. Harris, USMC, this exercise appeared in Volume XI (January 1936) of the Infantry School Mailing List and Volume 21, Number 11 (November 1938) of The Leatherneck.

This is the third problem in the exercise. If you have not done so already, you will probably want to begin at the beginning.

Historical Solution to Problem II

The patrol moved into the defile with the first squad under a corporal forming the advance guard, the second squad herding the animals, and the third protecting the rear. The sergeant commanded the second squad and the gunnery sergeant the rear guard. Apparently no provision was made for flank protection. About four-thirty in the afternoon the lieutenant, seeing the defile opening out, rode to the head of the column. When he arrived at C [marked on the map] he looked across the cornfield and there, deceptively close, was Darali. He looked back at his weary, straggling column, and then, mindful of the fatigue of his men, decided to move through the cornfield, taking the mounted messenger and corpsman with him, and arrange for food and billeting at the ranch.

Accordingly he called to the corporal of the advance-guard squad what he was going to do. Then he trotted off again, and as he entered the cornfield a woman waved a greeting from the little house called Bromaderos. He has hardly gone 200 yards when he is suddenly astounded to hear machine gun and rifle fire break out in his rear, accompanied by several heavy explosions.

Whirling about to ascertain the cause, he and the two with him come under fire. The corpsman's mount is hit. All three hastily dismount, take cover, and crawl to the edge of the cornfield. The lieutenant calls to the men with him, "Stay here, I'll try to get across to the patrol—if I make it, you follow."

He makes a dash but does not cover a dozen yards before he is the target for a dozen riflemen. His hat is struck and sails back to the cornfield—it is suicide to go farther-he dives back for the cover of the cornfield.

The lieutenant knew that his patrol was badly shot up, for he had seen several bodies of Marines lying in the trail. He believed that he had run into Sandino's main force. If so, help was required and that quickly, even though it would soon be dark.

Therefore he directed his mounted messenger to try to get out unobserved, then ride to Condega for help. The messenger by good luck caught his horse. The lieutenant saw him ride across the ridge to the south and out of sight, apparently unseen by the Sandinistas. While this messenger is riding for help the leaderless patrol back on the trail is hard pressed.

Problem III

The men of the advance guard had felt that the day's work was practically over when they heard the lieutenant call to their corporal. Almost at their bivouac, they had relaxed their vigilance, gathered in a group, and proceeded merrily along the way. The second squad herding the animals had become greatly elongated in spite of the efforts of the sergeant to keep them closed up. (Possibly the mules did not feel cooperative.) Their day had been a long one, too.

The third squad, under the gunnery sergeant, had for some unknown reason lagged well back of the pack train. With the patrol in this shape hell breaks loose. A machine gun opens up from behind the stone wall. Six men of the advance-guard squad are killed outright, the other two, wounded, manage to crawl to cover off the trail. One of these is the automatic rifleman.

Simultaneously the center squad with the animals receives heavy rifle fire from the heights on either flank. Large cowhide bombs are thrown down on the animals. These bombs explode with a terrific force, and while they cause no casualties, stampede the animals. The stampeding herd carries away one automatic rifle and one rifle of the second squad, for two of the men had strapped their weapons to the pack animals.

The third squad sees and hears the commotion and firing, and withdraws to cover off the trail, apparently unobserved by the bandits. Under the command of the gunnery sergeant, it remains in comparative safety in the bush. As soon as the first shock of the sudden attack wears off the sergeant with the second squad sets about rallying the survivors. He works cautiously along the north side of the trail, and finds the automatic rifleman of the advance-guard squad near D [marked on the map].

The automatic rifleman, though wounded, is frantically striving to fire his weapon, for he has a most favorable target - a group of twenty bandits clustered about the bodies of the six Marines of the first squad, stripping them of weapons and other articles that met their fancy. But the automatic rifle fails to fire.

You are the sergeant. What do you do?

The next step in this exercise is the presentation of the historical solution, a link to which can be found below. If you wish to reap full benefit from this decision-forcing case, please refrain from reading the historical solution until you have come to a decision.

A Skirmish in Nicaragua (Conclusion)

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