United States occupation of Veracruz

Coordinates: 19°11′24″N 96°09′11″W / 19.1900°N 96.1531°W / 19.1900; -96.1531
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Battle of Veracruz (disambiguation).

United States occupation of Veracruz
Part of the
Veracruz, Veracruz, Mexico
Result

American victory[1][2]

Belligerents  United States
Support:
 United Kingdom  Mexico
Support:
 Germany
 ItalyCommanders and leaders Frank Fletcher Gustavo Maass
Juan Esteban MoralesStrength 7 battleships
2 light cruisers
1 auxiliary cruiserCasualties and losses 21 killed[6]
74 wounded
1 drowned[7] 302–322 killed[8]
195–250 wounded[9][10][11]


The United States occupation of Veracruz (April 21 to November 23, 1914)[12] began with the Battle of Veracruz and lasted for seven months. The incident came in the midst of poor diplomatic relations between Mexico and the United States, and was related to the ongoing Mexican Revolution.

The occupation was a response to the Tampico Affair of April 9, 1914, where Mexican forces had detained nine American sailors. The occupation further worsened relations, and led to widespread anti-Americanism in Mexico.

Background

See also: Ypiranga incident

US-Mexico relations were strained by the Mexican-American war. The expansionist policies of U.S. president James 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 US 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.

US-Mexico relations improved during Abraham Lincoln's presidency. He provided military aid in the form of supplies for the Mexican government during their war 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, as Henry Lane Wilson, the US Ambassador to Mexico, worked to overthrow his successor, Francisco I. Madero, and replace him with General Victoriano Huerta, whom Ambassador Wilson viewed as better for American interests.[17] The resulting coup d'état took place in February 1913 and was known as La Decena Tragica.

After becoming president in March 1913, Woodrow Wilson withdrew U.S. recognition from the government of Victoriano Huerta and began encouraging the

embargo on Mexico in August 1913. A couple of months later, In October 1913, rebellions in the states of Chihuahua and Morelos led by Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata broke out after Huerta declared victory in a blatantly fraudulent election.[19] The U.S. subsequently supplied Villa with munitions in order to defeat Huerta.[20]

The Tampico Affair itself was set off when nine American sailors were arrested by the Mexican government for entering off-limit areas in

Puebla, Leon Rasst, not the German government, as newspapers reported at the time.[22]

Part of the arms shipment to Mexico originated from the

Odessa and Hamburg 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 in Puerto Mexico
, a port controlled by Huerta at the time.

Initial landing

American ships at Veracruz, USS Mayflower in foreground.

On the morning of April 21, 1914, warships of the

auxiliary vessel USS Prairie.[1][2] Whaleboats carrying 502 Marines from the 2nd Advanced Base Regiment, 285 armed Navy sailors from the battleship USS Florida, and a provisional battalion composed of the Marine detachments from Florida and her sister ship USS 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 of William 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 [es] encouraged cadets of the Veracruz Naval Academy to take up the defense of the port for themselves.[23]: 96–97 

Battle of Veracruz

3″/50 gun
bombarding Veracruz

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 of Mausers 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 at San Juan de Ulúa (some of whom were political prisoners), who were later attended to by the U.S. Navy.[25]

Damaged entrance to a high school adjacent to the Veracruz Naval Academy

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 the custom house. At 11:57, the Mexicans fired upon the Americans as they reached the intersection of Independencia and Emparán. The navy signalman 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, the Ypiranga 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 

Littleton W. T. Waller, Commanding; and Maj. Smedley Butler
.

At 8:35 PM, Capt. C.T. Vogelsang's

Atlantic Fleet, bringing the total American men ashore to more than 3000.[23]
: 99–100 

At 07:45 April 22, the advance began. The leathernecks 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, and Chester, that pounded the academy with their long guns for a few minutes, silencing all resistance.[23]: 101–102 

U.S. troops enter Veracruz in April 1914

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 of Colonel John A. Lejeune.

A small naval aviation detachment arrived aboard USS Mississippi on April 24 under the command of Henry C. Mustin. Two early aircraft assembled by Glenn Curtiss prior to formation of the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company conducted aerial reconnaissance around Veracruz. This was the first operational use of naval aircraft and the first time U.S. aviators of any service were the target of ground fire.[28]

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

On April 26, Fletcher declared martial law, and started turning the occupation over to the American army under the command of General Frederick Funston.[23]: 104–105  Nineteen American sailors and Marines were killed.[29]

A third provisional regiment of Marines, assembled in

ABC 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 the Niagara Falls peace conference.[30]

Aftermath

José Azueta is considered a Mexican hero for his actions during the battle

U.S. Army Brigadier General Frederick Funston was placed in control of the administration of the port. Assigned to his staff as an intelligence officer was a young Captain Douglas MacArthur.[31]

Huerta was not able to respond to the US invasion due to his preoccupation with the Mexican revolution. He had to contend with numerous revolts across his country, the most notable of which were led in Chihuahua by Villa and in the state of Morelos by Emiliano Zapata.[32] Venustiano Carranza, previously an ally of the federal government, also revolted against Huerta in Coahuila, the state where he was formerly governor.[33] These rebellions eventually culminated in the Battle of Zacatecas[34] on the 24th of June, 1914, where the Federal army lost 5,000 soldiers.[18] The result was instrumental in bringing about Huerta's resignation.

The occupation still brought the two countries to the brink of war and worsened U.S.-Mexican relations for many years.

Eulalio Gutiérrez Ortiz
.

"Defensores de Veracruz en 1914" Memorial in Mexico City. This monument celebrates the Mexican defenders of Veracruz.

During this brief absence from power, however, Carranza still controlled

Cordoba the capital of his regime and agreed to accept the rest of the terms of Niagara Falls peace plan. The US troops officially departed on November 23.[36] Despite their previous spat, diplomatic ties between the US and the Carranza regime greatly extended,[clarification needed] following the departure of US troops from Veracruz,.[36]

After the fighting ended, U.S.

Secretary of the Navy Josephus Daniels ordered that fifty-six Medals of Honor be awarded to participants in this action, the most for any single action before or since. This amount was half as many as had been awarded for the Spanish–American War, and close to half the number that would be awarded during World War I and the Korean War. A critic claimed that the excess medals were awarded by lot.[38][39] Major Smedley Butler, a recipient of one of the nine Medals of Honor awarded to Marines, later tried to return it, being incensed at this "unutterable foul perversion of Our Country's greatest gift"[citation needed][40]
and claiming he had done nothing heroic. The Department of the Navy told him to not only keep it, but wear it.

The controversy surrounding the Veracruz Medals of Honor led to stricter standards for the awarding of the Medal of Honor and the establishment of lower ranking medals to recognize a wider range of accomplishments.

Mexico's Naval Lt. Azueta and a Naval Military School cadet, Cadet Midshipman Virgilio Uribe, who died during the fighting, are now part of the

Heroic Military Academy) who died in defense of the nation during the Battle of Chapultepec on September 13, 1847. As a result of the brave defense put up by the Naval School cadets and faculty, it has now become the Heroic Naval Military School of Mexico
in their honor by virtue of a congressional resolution in 1949.

Political consequences

As an immediate reaction to the military invasion of Veracruz several anti-U.S riots broke out in Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Uruguay.[41] U.S. citizens were expelled from Mexican territory and some had to be accommodated in refugee campuses at New Orleans, Texas City, and San Diego.[42] 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.[41] The military invasion of Veracruz was also a decisive factor in favor of keeping Mexico neutral in World War I.[43] 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.[44] Nevertheless, the tension between the US and Mexico was great enough that the German government offered 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.[45] The Mexican government refused this offer.

U.S. President

gringos out of Mexico City".[50][51]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States occupation of Veracruz.

Bibliography

  • Botte, M. Louis. Magazine L'Illustration, artícle "Les Américains au Mexique", 13 Juin 1914. (See Wikisource)
  • Eisenhower, John S.D. (1993), Intervention! The United States and the Mexican Revolution, 1913–1917, New York: W. W. Norton & Company
  • O'Shaughnessy, Edith, (1916), A Diplomat's Wife in Mexico, Harper & Brothers Publishers
  • Quirk, Robert E. (1967). An Affair of Honor: Woodrow Wilson and the Occupation of Veracruz, W. W. Norton & Company.
  • Sweetman, Jack (1968). The Landing at Veracruz: 1914. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b The Landing at Veracruz: 1914, by Jack Sweetman, 1968, ch. 6, p. 58
  2. ^ a b "Logbook of HMS Essex". naval-history.net. Retrieved November 30, 2019.
  3. ^ "Huerta's Final Message to the Mexican Congress". The Independent. July 27, 1914. Retrieved July 24, 2012.
  4. ^ "Periodo histórico 1910-1920". October 6, 2007. Archived from the original on October 6, 2007.
  5. ^ "Biography of Venustiano Carranza, Revolutionary President of Mexico". ThoughtCo.
  6. ^ "Obituary of US Sailor Frank Nejedly 23 April 1914 "The Milwaukee Sentinel May 3, 1914" .p.4".[permanent dead link]
  7. ^ Humanities, National Endowment for the (May 9, 1914). "Middletown transcript. [volume] (Middletown, Del.) 1868-current, May 09, 1914, Image 2" – via chroniclingamerica.loc.gov.
  8. ^ Alejandro de Quesada, "The Hunt for Pancho Villa: The Columbus Raid and Pershing’s Punitive Expedition", page 12. Osprey Publishing, March 2012.
  9. ^ Gastón García Cantú (1996) Las invasiones norteamericanas en México, p. 276, Fondo de Cultura Económica, México.
  10. ^ Alan McPherson (2013) Encyclopedia of U.S. Military Interventions in Latin America, p. 393, ABC-CLIO, USA.
  11. ^ Susan Vollmer (2007) Legends, Leaders, Legacies, p. 79, Biography & Autobiography, USA.
  12. ^ "United States Occupation of Veracruz | Summary | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved November 28, 2021.
  13. JSTOR 967858
    .
  14. ^ "The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo". National Archives. August 15, 2016. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  15. ^ Katz, Jamie. "Why Abraham Lincoln Was Revered in Mexico". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  16. ^ "Porfirio Diaz | Presidency & Facts | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved November 18, 2021.
  17. JSTOR 42866819
    .
  18. ^
    ISBN 0226425894
    .
  19. ^ Service, Bain News; American, New York; Powers, Thomas E.; Carpenter, Frank; Carpenter, Frances; Johnson, Merle De Vore. "Victoriano Huerta as President - The Mexican Revolution and the United States | Exhibitions - Library of Congress". www.loc.gov. Retrieved October 22, 2021.
  20. ^ Katz, Friedrich (January 1, 1981). "The Secert war in Mexico (pages 167-169)".
  21. ^ "TheBorder - 1914 The Tampico Affair and the Speech from Woodrow Wilson". PBS. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  22. ^ a b Heribert von Feilitzsch, Felix A. Sommerfeld: Spymaster in Mexico, 1908 to 1914, Henselstone Verlag, Amissville, VA 2012, pp. 351ff
  23. ^
    ISBN 9780393003901
    .
  24. ^ Jack Sweetman, “The Landing at Veracruz: 1914” 1968, p67
  25. ^ A Diplomat's Wife in Mexico, by Edith O'Shaughnessy, 1916, Ch. XXIV
  26. LCCN 2004695066
    .
  27. ^ ""Parte de Novedades" of commodore Manuel Azueta (in Spanish)" (PDF).
  28. ^ Owsley, Frank L. Jr.; Newton, Wesley Phillip (1986). "Eyes in the Skies". Proceedings. Supplement (April). United States Naval Institute: 17–25.
  29. ^ The Cincinnati Enquirer, May 6 and May 12, 1914
  30. ^ Kennedy Hickman. "Mexican Revolution Battle of Veracruz". About. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  31. ^ William Manchester. American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880–1964, Little, Brown and Company, 1978, pp. 73–76
  32. JSTOR j.ctv233mnj
    .
  33. ^ "CARRANZA, VENUSTIANO | Encyclopedia of Mexico: History, Society & Culture - Credo Reference". search.credoreference.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  34. ^ "The Taking of Zacatecas" (PDF). unam.mx. Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  35. ^ "ABC Pact (Alliance between Argentina, Brazil and Chile) | International Encyclopedia of the First World War (WW1)". encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  36. ^ a b c d e "The ABC Conference (May-June 1914)". u-s-history.com. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  37. ^ Kennedy Hickman. "Pancho Villa: Mexican Revolutionary". About. Archived from the original on February 3, 2017. Retrieved November 27, 2014.
  38. ^ Gallery, p. 118
  39. ^ "Medal of Honor Recipients Veracruz 1914".
  40. ^ Butler, S. D. (1992). General Smedley Darlington Butler: The letters of a leatherneck, 1898-1931 [eBook edition, p. 163]. Praeger. https://www.google.com/books/edition/General_Smedley_Darlington_Butler/iweky34VbOcC?hl=en&gbpv=1&bsq=163
  41. ^ a b Michael Small (2009) The Forgotten Peace: Mediation at Niagara Falls, 1914, p. 35, University of Ottawa, Canada.
  42. ^ John Whiteclay Chambers & Fred Anderson (1999) The Oxford Companion to American Military History, p. 432, Oxford University Press, England.
  43. ^ Lee Stacy (2002) Mexico and the United States, Volume 3, p. 869, Marshall Cavendish, USA.
  44. ^ Jürgen Buchenau (2004) Tools of Progress: A German Merchant Family in Mexico City, 1865-present, p. 82, UNM Press, USA.
  45. ^ "ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM | Historical Dictionary of International Intelligence - Credo Reference". search.credoreference.com. Retrieved November 4, 2021.
  46. ^ Ernest Gruening (1968) Mexico and Its Heritage, p. 596, Greenwood Press, USA.
  47. ^ a b Drew Philip Halevy (2000) Threats of Intervention: U. S.-Mexican Relations, 1917-1923, p. 41, iUniverse, USA.
  48. ^ Lorenzo Meyer (1977) Mexico and the United States in the oil controversy, 1917-1942, p. 45, University of Texas Press, USA
  49. ^ Stephen Haber, Noel Maurer, Armando Razo (2003) The Politics of Property Rights: Political Instability, Credible Commitments, and Economic Growth in Mexico, 1876-1929, p. 201, Cambridge University Press, UK.
  50. ^ Lester D. Langley (2001) The Banana Wars: United States Intervention in the Caribbean, 1898-1934, p. 108, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, USA.
  51. ^ Thomas Paterson, John Garry Clifford, Kenneth J. Hagan (1999) American Foreign Relations: A History since 1895, p. 51, Houghton Mifflin College Division, USA.

External links

Wikisource has original text related to this article:

19°11′24″N 96°09′11″W / 19.1900°N 96.1531°W / 19.1900; -96.1531

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