| Battle of Veracruz | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theMexican Revolution | |||||||
 Medal of Honor-winning U.S. MarineJohn H. Quick raises the American flag over Veracruz | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United StatesSupport:  United Kingdom |  MexicoSupport:  Germany Italy | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Frank Fletcher | Gustavo Maass Juan Esteban Morales | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 7 battleships 2 light cruisers 1 auxiliary cruiser | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 21 killed[6] 74 wounded 1 drowned[7] | 152–172 killed[8] 195–250 wounded[9][10][11] | ||||||
TheBattle of Veracruz[12] was a military conflict between theUnited States andMexico that took place in the Mexican port city ofVeracruz between April 21 to November 23, 1914.
The incident occurred in the midst of poordiplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States related to the ongoingMexican Revolution. It began with an occupation in response to theTampico Affair of April 9, 1914, where Mexican forces had detained nine American sailors, further worsened relations, and led to widespreadanti-Americanism in Mexico.
Mexico–United States relations had been strained by theMexican–American War (1846–1848). The expansionist policies of US PresidentJames K. Polk, combined with the Mexican government's desire to retain control of Texas and Upper California, led to the outbreak of military conflict between the United States and Mexico in 1846.[13] The decisive US victory led to Mexico ceding 55% of its territory to the United States[14] and a sense of animosity developing between the two nations.
Relations improved duringAbraham Lincoln's presidency. He provided military aid in the form of supplies for the Mexican government during theirwar against French occupation.[15]Porfirio Díaz, head of state of Mexico from 1876 to 1911, took advantage of this improvement and encouraged US investment in order to shore up Mexico's stagnant economy.[16] However, tensions re-emerged in 1911 after Diaz resigned, asHenry Lane Wilson, the US Ambassador to Mexico, worked to overthrow his successor,Francisco I. Madero, and replace him with GeneralVictoriano Huerta, whom Ambassador Wilson viewed as better for American interests.[17] The resulting coup d'état took place in February 1913 and was known asLa Decena Tragica.
After becoming president in March 1913, Woodrow Wilson withdrew US recognition from the government of Victoriano Huerta and began encouraging thegreat powers to follow suit.[18] The situation escalated more when Wilson imposed an armsembargo on Mexico in August 1913. A couple of months later, in October 1913, rebellions in the states of Chihuahua and Morelos led byPancho Villa andEmiliano Zapata broke out after Huerta declared victory in a blatantly fraudulent election.[19] The US subsequently supplied Villa with munitions in order to defeat Huerta.[20]
TheTampico Affair itself was set off when nine American sailors were arrested by the Mexican government for entering off-limit areas inTampico, Tamaulipas.[21] The unarmed sailors were arrested when they entered a fuel loading station. The sailors were released, but the US naval commanderHenry T. Mayo demanded an apology and a 21-gun salute. The apology was provided, but not the salute. In the end, the tensions culminated inUS PresidentWoodrow Wilson ordering theUS Navy to prepare for the occupation of the port ofVeracruz. While awaiting authorization from theUS Congress to carry out such action, Wilson was alerted to a delivery of weapons for GeneralVictoriano Huerta due to arrive in the port on April 21 aboard theGerman-registered cargo steamerSSYpiranga. As a result, Wilson issued an immediate order to seize the port's customs office and confiscate the weaponry. The weapons had actually been sourced byJohn Wesley De Kay, an American financier and businessman with large investments in Mexico, and a Russian arms dealer fromPuebla, Leon Rasst, not the German government, as newspapers reported at the time.[22]
Part of the arms shipment to Mexico originated from theRemington Arms company in the United States. The arms and ammunition were to be shipped to Mexico viaOdesa andHamburg to skirt the American arms embargo.[22] In Hamburg, De Kay added to the shipment. The landing of the arms was blocked at Veracruz, but they were discharged a few weeks later inPuerto Mexico, a port controlled by Huerta at the time.
On the morning of April 21, 1914, warships of theUnited States Atlantic Fleet under the command ofRear AdmiralFrank Friday Fletcher began preparations for the seizure of the Veracruz waterfront. Fletcher's orders were to "Seize custom house. Do not permit war supplies to be delivered to Huerta government or any other party." At 11:12 AM, consul William Canada watched from the roof of the American Consulate as the first boatload of Marines left theauxiliary vesselUSS Prairie.[1][2]Whaleboats carrying 502Marines from the2nd Advanced Base Regiment, 285 armed Navy sailors from thebattleshipUSS Florida, and a provisional battalion composed of the Marinedetachments fromFlorida and hersister shipUSS Utah also began landing operations. As planned earlier, American consul William W. Canada notified General Gustavo Maass that Americans were occupying the port and warned him to "cooperate with the naval forces in maintaining order." Maass, however, was not permitted by Mexico City to surrender the port.[23]
Maass ordered the Eighteenth Regiment, under the command of General Luis B. Becerril, to distribute rifles to the populace and to the prisoners in "La Galera" military prison, and then all to proceed to the dock area. Maass also ordered the Nineteenth Regiment, under the command of General Francisco A. Figueroa, to take up positions on Pier Number Four. Maass then radioed a dispatch to General Aurelio Blanquet, Minister of War in Mexico City, of the American invasion. Blanquet ordered Maass to not resist, but to retreat to Tejería, 10 kilometres (6 mi) inland. The landing party, under the command ofWilliam R. Rush reached Pier 4 at 11:20. A large crowd of Mexican and American citizens gathered to watch the spectacle. The American invaders, under the command of Marine Lt. Col.Wendell C. Neville, proceeded to their objectives without resistance. By 11:45, the rail terminal and cable station were occupied.[23]
Commodore Manuel Azueta encouraged cadets of theVeracruz Naval Academy to take up the defense of the port for themselves.[23]: 96–97
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Three Navy rifle companies were instructed to capture the customs house, post, and telegraph offices, while the Marines went for the railroad terminal, roundhouse, and yard, the cable office and the power plant.[24]
Arms were distributed to the population, who were largely untrained in the use ofbolt-action rifles like the German-madeMausers and had trouble finding the correct ammunition. In short, the defense of the city by its populace was hindered by the lack of central organization and a lack of adequate supplies. The defense of the city also included the release of the prisoners held at the "La Galera" military prison, not those atSan Juan de Ulúa (some of whom were political prisoners), who were later attended to by the US Navy.[25]
Although most of the regular troops retreated with Maass to Tejería, the liberated prisoners under the command of Lt. Col. Manuel Contreras, and some civilians, opposed the Americans as they made their way to thecustom house. At 11:57, the Mexicans fired upon the Americans as they reached the intersection of Independencia and Emparán. The navysignalman on top of the Terminal Hotel, Capt. Rush's headquarters, was the first American casualty, and by the end of the day, 4 Americans were dead and 20 wounded.[23]: 94–96
At 1:30 PM, theYpiranga was intercepted, and detained, before it could off load its cargo of weapons and ammunition.[23]: 98
On the night of April 21, Fletcher decided that he had no choice but to expand the initial operation to include the entire city, not just the waterfront.[26] At 8:00 AM the next day, he gave orders to take control of the entire city.[23]: 100
At 8:35 PM, Capt. C.T. Vogelsang'sSan Francisco entered the harbor next to thePrairie and off loaded a landing party. At 3 AM, CommanderWilliam A. Moffett'sChester offloaded 2 companies of marines and a company of seamen. These were followed by men from theMinnesota andHancock of AdmiralCharles J. Badger'sAtlantic Fleet, bringing the total American men ashore to more than 3,000.[23]: 99–100
At 07:45 April 22, the advance began. Theleathernecks adapted to street fighting, which was a novelty to them. The sailors were less adroit at this style of fighting. A regiment led by Navy Captain E. A. Anderson advanced on the Naval Academy in parade-ground formation, making his men easy targets for the partisans barricaded inside. The cadets previously occupying the building had left Veracruz the night before after suffering casualties.[27] This attack was initially repulsed; soon, the attack was renewed, with artillery support from three warships in the harbor,Prairie,San Francisco, andChester, that pounded the academy with their long guns for a few minutes, silencing all resistance.[23]: 101–102
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The city was secured by 11:00 AM, and by evening more than 6,000 troops were ashore.[23]: 102
That afternoon, the First Advanced Base Regiment, originally bound for Tampico, came ashore under the command ofColonelJohn A. Lejeune.
A small naval aviation detachment arrived aboardUSS Mississippi on April 24 under the command ofHenry C. Mustin. Two early aircraft assembled byGlenn Curtiss prior to formation of theCurtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company conductedaerial reconnaissance around Veracruz. This was the first operational use of naval aircraft and the first time US aviators of any service were the target of ground fire.[28]
On April 26, Fletcher declaredmartial law, and started turning the occupation over to the American army under the command of GeneralFrederick Funston.[23]: 104–105 Nineteen American sailors and Marines were killed.[29]
A third provisional regiment of Marines, assembled inPhiladelphia, arrived on May 1 under the command of ColonelLittleton W. T. Waller, who assumed overall command of the brigade, by that time numbering some 3,141 officers and men. By then, the sailors and Marines of the Fleet had returned to their ships and an Army brigade had landed.
Marines and soldiers continued to garrison the city until the US withdrawal on November 23, which occurred afterArgentina,Brazil, andChile became involved. Known as theABC powers, they were the most powerful and wealthy countries in South America at the time. They were able to settle the issues between the two nations at theNiagara Falls peace conference.[30]
As an immediate reaction to the military invasion of Veracruz several anti-US riots broke out in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Uruguay.[31] US citizens were expelled from Mexican territory and some had to be accommodated in refugee campuses at New Orleans, Texas City, and San Diego.[32] Even the British government was privately irritated, because they had previously agreed with Woodrow Wilson that the United States would not invade Mexico without prior warning.[31] The military invasion of Veracruz was also a decisive factor in favor of keepingMexico neutral in World War I.[33] Mexico refused to participate with the United States in its military excursion in Europe and guaranteed German companies they could keep their operations open, especially in Mexico City.[34] Nevertheless, the tension between the US and Mexico was great enough that theGerman governmentoffered to help Mexico reconquer territory lost to the US in the Mexican American war in exchange for Mexican soldiers to help Germany in World War I.[35] The Mexican government refused this offer.
US PresidentWoodrow Wilson considered another military invasion of Veracruz and Tampico in 1917–1918,[36][37] so as to take control ofTehuantepec Isthmus and Tampico oil fields,[37][38] but this time the new Mexican PresidentVenustiano Carranza gave the order to destroy the oil fields in case the Marines tried to land there.[39]
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19°11′24″N96°09′11″W / 19.1900°N 96.1531°W /19.1900; -96.1531
