
Bruno von Natzmer (24 January 1831-9 June 1867) was a Prussian mercenary general and filibuster who served as Inspector General of the Nicaraguan Army from 1855 to 1857. He was one of William Walker's generals during the Filibuster War.
Biography[]
Bruno von Natzmer was born in Siedkow, Prussia (now Zytelkowo, Poland) in 1831, the son of a Pomeranian nobleman. He served as an ensign in the Prussian Army hussars as a young man, and he emigrated to Costa Rica in 1851 and became known as a thief and a depraved mercenary. In 1855, he fled to Nicaragua with his band of Prussian-Ecuadorian mercenaries, and the well-trained and multilingual Natzmer was welcomed into William Walker's filibuster army after being taken to them at San Juan del sur by Byron Cole. He served as Inspector General of the Nicaraguan Army under Walker, and he was also appointed military commander of Leon. After the defeat at the Second Battle of Rivas, Walker, Natzmer, and several other filibusters surrendered to the US Navy and were repatriated to the United States. In 1859, Natzmer was ordered to prepare for another expedition to Nicaragua, but he could not do so, as Walker had given him inadequate funds. He married the Nicaraguan woman Trinidad Torres de la Torre and settled in Houston, Texas with her, and he died in 1867.