Juan Santamaría Rodríguez (August 29, 1831 – April 11, 1856) was a drummer in the Costa Rican army, officially recognized as the national hero of his country for his actions in the 1856 Second Battle of Rivas, in the Filibuster War.

He died in the battle carrying a torch he used to light the enemy stronghold on fire, securing a victory for Costa Rica against American mercenary William Walker and his forces.

The war began when William Walker, a United States filibuster, or person engaged in unauthorized warfare against a foreign country, overthrew the government of Nicaragua in 1856 and attempted to conquer the other nations in Central America, including Costa Rica, in order to form a private slaveholding empire.

Costa Rican President Juan Rafael Mora Porras called upon the general population to take up arms and march north to Nicaragua to fight against the foreign invader.

[3] After routing a small contingent of Walker's soldiers at an hacienda called Santa Rosa, Guanacaste, the Costa Rican troops continued marching north and reached the city of Rivas, Nicaragua, on April 8, 1856.

Combat was fierce and the Costa Ricans were not able to drive out Walker's men, entrenched in a building near the town center, from which they commanded an advantageous firing position.

According to the traditional account, on April 11, Salvadoran General José María Cañas suggested that one of the soldiers advance towards the hostel with a torch and set it on fire.

At any rate, towards the end of the nineteenth century, Costa Rican intellectuals and politicians seized on the war against Walker and on the figure of Santamaría for nationalist purposes.

"Un Héroe Anónimo" was written about Santamaría's sacrifice and two other generals from the Filibuster War to inspire and mobilize the population of Costa Rica against the threat to their sovereignty.

This call to arms was repeated as the article was published in other official newspapers, and the President of Costa Rica at the time declared a new national steamship would bear the name The Juan Santamaría in the hero's honor.

However Costa Rican independence has become synonymous with Juan Santamaría, the Second Battle of Rivas and the Filibuster War, because this was the only time the country fought to remain a sovereign nation.

Coming from humble beginnings and remaining a low level soldier in the national campaign, Juan Santamaría became a hero who represents the everyday people of Costa Rica.

A document listing the names and causes of death for soldiers in the Costa Rican army, however, is one of the reasons some doubt the story of Juan Santamaría's actions in the Second Battle of Rivas.

This document written in 1858 by the chaplain of the Costa Rican army, Priest Rafael Francisco Calvo, listed a man named Juan Santamaría from Alajuela who died from cholera, a common deadly illness at the time.

Despite lacking proof of details, there is a strong and consistent oral tradition that Juan Santamaría existed, he was present at the Second Battle of Rivas, he was one of the people who participated in burning down the building, and he died in the act.