In the 19th century, Nicaragua

Nicaragua

Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American American isthmus, bordered by Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. The country is situated between 11 and 14 degrees north of the Equator in the Northern Hemisphere, which places it entirely within the tropics. The Pacific Ocean...

 was beset by political problems, which William Walker, an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 with a tendency to slavery

Slavery

Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...

, took advantage of. He believed in "Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny

Manifest Destiny was the 19th century American belief that the United States was destined to expand across the continent. It was used by Democrat-Republicans in the 1840s to justify the war with Mexico; the concept was denounced by Whigs, and fell into disuse after the mid-19th century.Advocates of...

". Walker offered his help in Nicaragua to try to solve their problems, thereby establishing himself in the country, but his real intentions were to conquer the five provinces of Central America

Central America

Central America is the central geographic region of the Americas. It is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. When considered part of the unified continental model, it is considered a subcontinent...

 "Five or none".
In Costa Rica

Costa Rica

Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....

, Juan Rafael Mora Porras

Juan Rafael Mora Porras

Juan Rafael Mora Porras was President of Costa Rica from 1849 to 1859.He first assumed the presidency following José María Castro's resignation and was subsequently reelected in 1853 and 1859....

, the President

President

A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...

, guessed the intentions of Walker and on 27 February 1856 declared war

War

War is a state of organized, armed, and often prolonged conflict carried on between states, nations, or other parties typified by extreme aggression, social disruption, and usually high mortality. War should be understood as an actual, intentional and widespread armed conflict between political...

 on Nicaragua and called all Costa Ricans to join forces and fight, a call that was heeded. They began the march on 4 March from San José

San José Province

San José is a province of Costa Rica. It is located in the central part of the country, and borders the provinces of Alajuela, Heredia, Cartago, Limón and Puntarenas. The provincial capital is San José. The province covers an area of 4,965.9 km²...

 to the northern border, led by the president, arriving in Liberia on 12 March, where they joined the battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit of around 300–1,200 soldiers usually consisting of between two and seven companies and typically commanded by either a Lieutenant Colonel or a Colonel...

 organized there (Moracia Battalion), under the leadership of José María Cañas

José María Cañas

José María Cañas Escamilla was a Costa Rican military figure, born in Suchitoto, El Salvador.He moved to Costa Rica in 1842 along with General Francisco Morazán, where he married Guadalupe Mora Porras, sister of President Juan Rafael Mora Porras.He was named Secretary of War during the Mora Porras...

.
When the filibusters

Filibuster (military)

A filibuster, or freebooter, is someone who engages in an unauthorized military expedition into a foreign country to foment or support a revolution...

 of the Nicaraguan movement realized what was happening in Costa Rica, they sent troops, under the leadership of colonel Schlessinger

Schlessinger

Schlessinger is a German surname meaning "from Silesia" and may refer to:* Schlessinger Media, educational video distributorPeople* Andrew Schlessinger, founder of Schlessinger Media, a division of Library Video Company...

, which entered Costa Rica through the road that joined Nicaragua with Liberia and which passed by the Hacienda Santa Rosa, where they arrived on 19 March. The Costa Ricans, meanwhile, began the walk to Santa Rosa and on 20 March at 4 o'clock, armed with rifle

Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

s, sabre

Sabre

The sabre or saber is a kind of backsword that usually has a curved, single-edged blade and a rather large hand guard, covering the knuckles of the hand as well as the thumb and forefinger...

s, and bayonet

Bayonet

A bayonet is a knife, dagger, sword, or spike-shaped weapon designed to fit in, on, over or underneath the muzzle of a rifle, musket or similar weapon, effectively turning the gun into a spear...

s, began the attack, surrounded the troublemakers that had stationed themselves in the casona and in the corrals, and fourteen minutes later the Costa Ricans won the battle

Battle

Generally, a battle is a conceptual component in the hierarchy of combat in warfare between two or more armed forces, or combatants. In a battle, each combatant will seek to defeat the others, with defeat determined by the conditions of a military campaign...

.

The Santa Rosa's Casona, one of the few historical sites, was burned down in May 2001 and later re-built.