Lopez Expedition
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Filibusters | Captaincy General of Cuba | ||||||
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Narciso López } William Logan Crittenden Joaquín de Agüero | José Gutiérrez de la Concha |
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The Lopez Expedition (Spanish: Expedición López) of 1851 was an attempt led by Narciso López to invade and seize control of Cuba which was then part of the Spanish Empire. The force comprising 420 Cuban emigres and American volunteers landed in western Cuba, where the invaders were defeated and captured by the Spanish forces. López and many of the other prisoners were executed. It was part of a string of filibustering raids launched from American territory during the era, in violation of the Neutrality Act.[1]
Background
During the era of
The campaign to end Spanish rule in Cuba attracted support from a number of southern political figures who were later prominent
However, the new Whig administration renounced any plan to buy Cuba from Spain. Increasingly those who wished to acquire the island turned towards seizing Cuba by force. They received strong backing from
An initial expedition in 1849 assembled near
Expedition
López immediately began efforts to launch another attempt, gathering financing and fresh recruits. This time Quitman kept his distance from the plot. As before many of the recruits were veterans of the Mexican War, while a number of Hungarian exiles also enlisted.[9] López gave command of a regiment of American volunteers to William Logan Crittenden, a nephew of the Attorney General John J. Crittenden. López never clarified whether the ultimate goal of the expedition was to be Cuban independence or annexation by America, drawing supporters of both outcomes into his movement. Inspired by news of uprisings breaking out in Cuba, López hurried the preparations of his fresh invasion.[10] The expedition departed from New Orleans on 3 August 1851.
By the time the expedition landed at
The prisoners were taken to
Aftermath
In reaction mobs rioted in New Orleans, destroying the Spanish consulate and ransacking Spanish-owned shops.[14] Despite the inflamed public mood in the south, the administration of Millard Fillmore was embarrassed by the failure to prevent the expedition from sailing in the first place and confined itself to securing the release of remaining American prisoners still in Spanish hands.[15]
American attempts to acquire Cuba continued, set out in the
In 1854 southern socialite Lucy Pickens wrote a novel The Free Flag of Cuba which provided a romanticized account of the expedition.
References
Bibliography
- Burton, Orville Vernon & Burton, Georganne B. The Free Flag of Cuba: The Lost Novel of Lucy Holcombe Pickens. LSU Press, 2002.
- Chaffin, Tom. Fatal Glory: Narciso López and the First Clandestine U.S. War Against Cuba. University Press of Virginia, 1996.
- Caldwell, Robert Granville. The Lopez Expeditions to Cuba 1848–1851. Princeton University Press, 1915.
- May, Robert E. John A. Quitman: Old South Crusader. LSU Press, 1985.
- McPherson, James M. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. Oxford University Press, 2003.
- Thomas, Hugh. Cuba: A History. Penguin, 2013.