Central America
In November 1894, he moved to Puerto Cortes, Honduras. Again employed as a railroad engineer, he was captured by rebels at Laguna Trestle on April 14, 1897, and joined their cause. He defected to the government forces in 1899 and was appointed a Colonel and Chief of Police of Tegucigalpa by President Terencio Sierra, in May 1902. Defecting again in 1903, Christmas accepted a position as aide to rebel General Manuel Bonilla. When Bonilla became President of Honduras, he appointed Christmas a general. Perhaps to assert his toughness or to intimidate the natives, Christmas had been known to chew on glass.
Bonilla's abortive invasion of Nicaragua in 1907 led to his overthrow by General Miguel Dávila. Christmas was wounded in the fighting and exiled to Guatemala, where he reconnected with Bonilla. With financing by "El Amigo" Samuel Zemurray who, by overthrowing President Davila in favor of Bonilla, was trying to establish a business that would be competitive with United Fruit, Bonilla and Christmas led a failed revolution in 1910 against the artillery of the garrison at Tatumbla - two 42mm fieldpieces previously supplied to the government forces by Zemurray.
Read more about this topic: Lee Christmas
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