José Dolores Estrada Vado (1792–1869) is a

Nicaraguan Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America after Guatemala and ...

national hero famed for defeating a detachment of

William Walker William Walker may refer to: Arts * William Walker (engraver) (1791–1867), mezzotint engraver of portrait of Robert Burns * William Sidney Walker (1795–1846), English Shakespearean critic * William Walker (composer) (1809–1875), American Bap ...

's filibuster army at Hacienda San Jacinto in 1856. Estrada was born in

Nandaime Nandaime is a town and a municipality in the Granada department of Nicaragua. Nandaime is a small town in the southwestern part of the country. It is located on the Panamerican highway which crosses the Pacific area of Nicaragua, at a distance ...

on March 16, 1792, the son of Timoteo Estrada and Gertrudis Vado Lugo. He adopted a military career, and slowly rose through the ranks. On September 14, 1856, he commanded as colonel a Nicaraguan force of 120 to 160 men that repulsed a force (put at 300 men in Nicaraguan accounts) led by Walker's friend Byron Cole at Hacienda San Jacinto. He died in

Managua Managua () is the capital city, capital and largest city of Nicaragua, and one of the List of largest cities in Central America, largest cities in Central America. Located on the shores of Lake Managua, the city had an estimated population of 1, ...

on August 12, 1869. In 1999, his remains were exhumed on the 130th anniversary of his death, in a ceremony attended by President

Arnoldo Alemán José Arnoldo Alemán Lacayo (born 23 January 1946) is a Nicaraguan politician who served as the 56th president of Nicaragua from 10 January 1997 to 10 January 2002. In 2003, he was convicted of corruption and sentenced to a 20-year prison term; ...

, army chief

Joaquín Cuadra Joaquín Cuadra Lacayo (born April 11, 1951 in Managua) a scion of Nicaragua's elite, joined the rebel Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN) in late 1972. After their victory in 1979, he became army chief of staff. Biography Cuadra studi ...

, Cardinal Miguel Obando, and other dignitaries, in preparation for returning them to his birthplace, Nandaime. Estrada and his victory at San Jacinto are commemorated on the Nicaraguan five hundred-cordoba note, and the date is a national holiday. He had an involvement with the independence being the general giving the orders to the man with higher fame Andrez Castro in an attempt to overtake Hacienda San Jacinto as a part of Granada. He is the subject of the eponymous poem by Ernesto Cardenal.

References

1792 births 1869 deaths People from Granada Department Nicaraguan military personnel National Heroines and Heroes of Nicaragua People from New Spain {{Nicaragua-bio-stub