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photos  •  usna2  •  page 2
conservative troops, march 1927
 
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Photo USNA2-2.1.   Position in front line of Noguera Gómez's forces, late afternoon March 27.

A wonderfully candid, active & unstaged photograph.  The troops occupy high ground, looking down into the broad valley to the right.  Officers huddle, Major Bloor among them with cigarette in mouth and papers protruding from his breast pocket; the officer on the far left carries a wheel & contraption of some sort, maybe part of an artillery piece?   What looks like a young man dressed in an undershirt approaches the camp (seen between the standing officers), perhaps returning from bathing?, while other men sit in a circle eating & resting, presumably around a fire, as another approaches the circle with a pot or plate (or something of seeming interest) in hand.

Photo USNA2-2.2.   Stone breastworks at Noguera Gómez's position, late afternoon March 27.



An interesting shot of stone breastworks — piles of rocks to hide behind as you're shooting & being shot at — next to a thrown-up temporary thatch shelter.


Photo USNA2-2.3.   Stone breastworks at Noguera Gómez's position, late afternoon March 27.




In the foreground, and the purpose of the photo, a shallow hole & pile of rocks to hide behind — "breastworks", with a bag of some sort (of cartridges?) perched on its rim and a canteen tucked inside.  Behind it on the left lies a pile of brush and a pack of some sort, while in the background, perhaps captured unintentionally, are three of what look like ordinary foot-soldiers resting around a fire, with the haze-shrouded sun setting in the background.

Photo USNA2-2.4.   Stone breastworks at Noguera Gómez's position, late afternoon March 27.


Photo is over-exposed but offers another angle on the machine-gun emplacement, rustic stick-and-cowhide shelter, and breastworks of piled stones.

Photo USNA2-2.5.   Machine gun position of Noguera Gómez's forces, late afternoon March 27.




Another wonderful photograph (here the numbers assigned to the photos on this website begin to differ from the numbers in the photo album & index, because the album skips no. 13 and goes directly to no. 14).  The photo's point is to show the machine-gun emplacement.  It also shows the temporary shelter made of cowhides under which the emplacement sits, the machine gunner facing away from the camera, and six men in formation & at attention facing the camera.  The three men on the left especially look like ordinary foot-soldiers; the man on the far left is nearly barefoot, the man next to him gray and elderly.

Photo USNA2-2.6.   Machine gun position of Noguera Gómez's forces, late afternoon March 27.


Another marvelous photograph, with the machine-gun emplacement overlooking the valley below, the American advisor USMC Major Rodriguez (Ret.) consulting his notes, and four native soldiers standing at attention to the left.  The cropping immediately above offers a powerful depiction of presumtive white supremacy & Nicaraguan deference, with the nearly-barefoot (and probably illiterate) soldier standing in silent attention before the seated pencil-wielding American.  The croppings below offer compelling close-up views of the standing soldiers.



Photo USNA2-2.7.   Small field piece in position with forces of Noguera Gómez, late afternoon March 27.



 

Another candid view of soldiers in the machine-gun camp behind the breastworks, with a rude shelter in the background to the right; the three soldiers in the center background (immediately above) seem to be sharing a private joke of some kind, as the seated Nicaraguan officer looks up from his map, as the man to his right, resting on his rifle, lowers his eyes & looks inscrutably on.



Photo USNA2-2.8.   Camp of Noguera Gómez, late afternoon March 27.




Another marvelously candid view of soldiers in camp.  In the cropping immediately above, note the rude cowhide shelter from which personal belongings hang; and in the cropping above that, the men clustered around the fire pit, behind the piles of stones with the low ground to the right.

Photo USNA2-2.9.   General Noguera Gómez with Aides.




Figure immediately above is Gen. Noguera Gómez; all four men posing for the photo removed their hats before the shutter snapped, as is customary, posing in front of the rude thatched shelter at their camp and as other men looked on.  In the words of US Military Attaché Major Bloor, "General Alfredo Noguera Gomez; 40 years of age, well educated, has military training in the former Nicaraguan military academy; modest and retiring; has initiative, determination and good judgment and possesses above average military ability.  He is both a fighter and a leader."  (Bloor report, p. 7)

Photo USNA2-2.10.   General José María Mayorga with aides, morning of March 28.




General Mayorga with aides (second from left and in the two croppings immediately above).  "General Jose Maria Mayorga is about 40 years old.  He is an educated gentleman, a physician by profession and impressed me as an able man."  (Bloor report, p. 8)


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