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United States occupation of Veracruz

United States occupation of Veracruz
Part of the Mexican Revolution

John H. Quick raises the American flag over Veracruz
DateApril 21, 1914 (US occupation of the waterfront) – November 23, 1914 (US withdrawal)
Location
Result

American victory[1][2]

Belligerents
 United States
Support:
 United Kingdom
 Mexico
Support:
 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]
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 edit

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 Great Powers to follow suit.[18] The situation escalated more when Wilson imposed an arms 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 Tampico, Tamaulipas.[21] The unarmed sailors were arrested when they entered a fuel loading station. The sailors were released, but the U.S. naval commander Henry T. Mayo demanded an apology and a 21-gun salute. The apology was provided, but not the salute. In the end, the tensions culminated in U.S. President Woodrow Wilson ordering the U.S. Navy to prepare for the occupation of the port of Veracruz. While awaiting authorization from the U.S. Congress to carry out such action, Wilson was alerted to a delivery of weapons for General Victoriano Huerta due to arrive in the port on April 21 aboard the German-registered cargo steamer SS Ypiranga. 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 by John Wesley De Kay, an American financier and businessman with large investments in Mexico, and a Russian arms dealer from Puebla, Leon Rasst, not the German government, as newspapers reported at the time.[22]

Part of the arms shipment to Mexico originated from the Remington Arms company in the United States. The arms and ammunition were to be shipped to Mexico via 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 edit

 
American ships at Veracruz, USS Mayflower in foreground.

On the morning of April 21, 1914, warships of the United States Atlantic Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Frank 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 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 edit

 
A 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 

 
The senior officers of the 1st Marine Brigade photographed at Veracruz in 1914: Front row, left to right: Lt. Col. Wendell C. Neville; Col. John A. Lejeune; Col. Littleton W. T. Waller, Commanding; and Maj. Smedley Butler.

At 8:35 PM, Capt. C.T. Vogelsang's San Francisco entered the harbor next to the Prairie and off loaded a landing party. At 3 AM, Commander William A. Moffett's Chester offloaded 2 companies of marines and a company of seamen. These were followed by men from the Minnesota and Hancock of Admiral Charles J. Badger'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]

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 Philadelphia, arrived on May 1 under the command of Colonel Littleton 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 U.S. withdrawal on November 23, which occurred after Argentina, Brazil, and Chile became involved. Known as the 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 edit

 
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. Argentina, Brazil and Chile, who at the time were negotiating the ABC pact,[35] a proposed economic and political treaty to prevent conflict in South America, held the Niagara Falls peace conference in Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada, on May 20 to avoid an all-out war over this incident and to prevent American hegemony over the region. A plan was formed in June for the US troops to withdraw from Veracruz after General Huerta surrendered the reins of his government to a new regime and Mexico assured the United States that it would receive no indemnity for its losses in the recent chaotic events.[36] Huerta soon afterwards left office and gave his government to Carranza. Carranza, who was still quite unhappy with US troops occupying Veracruz,[36] rejected the rest of the agreement.[36] In November 1914, after the Convention of Aguascalientes ended and Carranza failed to resolve his differences with revolutionary generals Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata, Carranza left office for a short period and handed control to 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 Veracruz and Tamaulipas. After leaving Mexico City, Carranza fled to the state of Veracruz,[37] made the city of 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 roll call of honor read by all branches of the Mexican Armed Forces in all military occasions, alongside the six Niños Héroes of the Military College (nowadays 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 edit

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 Woodrow Wilson considered another military invasion of Veracruz and Tampico in 1917–1918,[46][47] so as to take control of Tehuantepec Isthmus and Tampico oil fields,[47][48] but this time the new Mexican President Venustiano Carranza gave the order to destroy the oil fields in case the Marines tried to land there.[49] As a scholar[who?] once wrote: "Carranza may not have fulfilled the social goals of the revolution, but he kept the gringos out of Mexico City".[50][51]

See also edit

Bibliography edit

  • 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 edit

  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. ^ . 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. ^ Brack, Gene M. (April 1970). "Mexican Opinion, American Racism, and the War of 1846". The Western Historical Quarterly. 1 (2): 161–174. doi:10.2307/967858. 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. ^ BLAISDELL, LOWELL L. (1962). "Henry Lane Wilson and the Overthrow of Madero". The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly. 43 (2): 126–135. ISSN 0276-1742. JSTOR 42866819.
  18. ^ a b Katz, Friedrich (January 1, 1981). The Secret War in Mexico: Europe, the United States and the Mexican Revolution. University of Chicago Press. 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. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Quirk, Robert (1962). An Affair of Honor: Woodrow Wilson and the Occupation of Veracruz. University of Kentucky Press. pp. 85-94. 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. ^ Boot, Max (2003). The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power. New York: Basic Books. p. 152. ISBN 046500721X. 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. . 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. ^ Ulloa, Berta (January 1, 1979). Historia de la Revolución Mexicana, período 1914-1917: la encrucijada de 1915. Vol. 5 (1 ed.). El Colegio de México. doi:10.2307/j.ctv233mnj. ISBN 978-607-628-317-2. 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. . 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 edit

  • Mitchell Yockelson (1997). "The United States Armed Forces and the Mexican Punitive Expedition: Part 1". Prologue Magazine. 29.
  • Gallery, Daniel V. (1968) Eight Bells. Paperback Library.
  • Sweetman, Jack (1968). The Landing at Veracruz: 1914. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press.
  • Veterans Museum & Memorial Center (2003). . Retrieved December 28, 2005.
  • President Wilson's Speech in Response to the Tampico Incident, U.S. Department of State, Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs, 1914, pp. 474–476. October 19, 2004, at the Wayback Machine
  • The Tampico Affair and the Speech from Woodrow Wilson to the American People – from the PBS Special The Border, about life on the Mexico–United States border
  • von Feilitzsch, Heribert (2012). Felix A. Sommerfeld: Spymaster in Mexico, 1908 to 1914. Amissville, Virginia: Henselstone Verlag LLC. ISBN 9780985031701.
  • Sweetman, Jack (2014). "‘Take Veracruz at Once’", Naval History Volume 28, Number 2
  • Woodbury, Ronald G. “Wilson y La Intervención de Veracruz: Análisis Historiográfico.” Historia Mexicana 17#2 (1967), pp. 263–92, online in Spanish.

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

united, states, occupation, veracruz, other, uses, battle, veracruz, disambiguation, part, mexican, revolutionjohn, quick, raises, american, flag, over, veracruzdateapril, 1914, occupation, waterfront, november, 1914, withdrawal, locationveracruz, veracruz, me. For other uses see Battle of Veracruz disambiguation United States occupation of VeracruzPart of the Mexican RevolutionJohn H Quick raises the American flag over VeracruzDateApril 21 1914 US occupation of the waterfront November 23 1914 US withdrawal LocationVeracruz Veracruz MexicoResultAmerican victory 1 2 Veracruz occupied by the United States Mexican president Victoriano Huerta resigns 3 Venustiano Carranza becomes president 4 5 Belligerents United StatesSupport United Kingdom Mexico Support Germany ItalyCommanders and leadersFrank FletcherGustavo Maass Juan Esteban MoralesStrength7 battleships 2 light cruisers 1 auxiliary cruiserCasualties and losses21 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 Contents 1 Background 2 Initial landing 3 Battle of Veracruz 4 Aftermath 5 Political consequences 6 See also 7 Bibliography 8 Footnotes 9 External linksBackground editSee 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 Diaz 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 etat 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 Great Powers to follow suit 18 The situation escalated more when Wilson imposed an arms 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 Tampico Tamaulipas 21 The unarmed sailors were arrested when they entered a fuel loading station The sailors were released but the U S naval commander Henry T Mayo demanded an apology and a 21 gun salute The apology was provided but not the salute In the end the tensions culminated in U S President Woodrow Wilson ordering the U S Navy to prepare for the occupation of the port of Veracruz While awaiting authorization from the U S Congress to carry out such action Wilson was alerted to a delivery of weapons for General Victoriano Huerta due to arrive in the port on April 21 aboard the German registered cargo steamer SS Ypiranga 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 by John Wesley De Kay an American financier and businessman with large investments in Mexico and a Russian arms dealer from Puebla Leon Rasst not the German government as newspapers reported at the time 22 Part of the arms shipment to Mexico originated from the Remington Arms company in the United States The arms and ammunition were to be shipped to Mexico via 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 edit nbsp American ships at Veracruz USS Mayflower in foreground On the morning of April 21 1914 warships of the United States Atlantic Fleet under the command of Rear Admiral Frank 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 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 Tejeria 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 edit nbsp A 3 50 gun bombarding VeracruzThree 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 Ulua some of whom were political prisoners who were later attended to by the U S Navy 25 nbsp Damaged entrance to a high school adjacent to the Veracruz Naval AcademyAlthough most of the regular troops retreated with Maass to Tejeria 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 Emparan 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 nbsp The senior officers of the 1st Marine Brigade photographed at Veracruz in 1914 Front row left to right Lt Col Wendell C Neville Col John A Lejeune Col Littleton W T Waller Commanding and Maj Smedley Butler At 8 35 PM Capt C T Vogelsang s San Francisco entered the harbor next to the Prairie and off loaded a landing party At 3 AM Commander William A Moffett s Chester offloaded 2 companies of marines and a company of seamen These were followed by men from the Minnesota and Hancock of Admiral Charles J Badger 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 nbsp U S troops enter Veracruz in April 1914The 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 nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article Report of Action USS Chester Vera Cruz April 21 22 1914 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 Philadelphia arrived on May 1 under the command of Colonel Littleton 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 U S withdrawal on November 23 which occurred after Argentina Brazil and Chile became involved Known as the 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 edit nbsp Jose Azueta is considered a Mexican hero for his actions during the battleU 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 Argentina Brazil and Chile who at the time were negotiating the ABC pact 35 a proposed economic and political treaty to prevent conflict in South America held the Niagara Falls peace conference in Niagara Falls Ontario Canada on May 20 to avoid an all out war over this incident and to prevent American hegemony over the region A plan was formed in June for the US troops to withdraw from Veracruz after General Huerta surrendered the reins of his government to a new regime and Mexico assured the United States that it would receive no indemnity for its losses in the recent chaotic events 36 Huerta soon afterwards left office and gave his government to Carranza Carranza who was still quite unhappy with US troops occupying Veracruz 36 rejected the rest of the agreement 36 In November 1914 after the Convention of Aguascalientes ended and Carranza failed to resolve his differences with revolutionary generals Pancho Villa and Emiliano Zapata Carranza left office for a short period and handed control to Eulalio Gutierrez Ortiz nbsp 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 Veracruz and Tamaulipas After leaving Mexico City Carranza fled to the state of Veracruz 37 made the city of 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 roll call of honor read by all branches of the Mexican Armed Forces in all military occasions alongside the six Ninos Heroes of the Military College nowadays 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 editAs 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 Woodrow Wilson considered another military invasion of Veracruz and Tampico in 1917 1918 46 47 so as to take control of Tehuantepec Isthmus and Tampico oil fields 47 48 but this time the new Mexican President Venustiano Carranza gave the order to destroy the oil fields in case the Marines tried to land there 49 As a scholar who once wrote Carranza may not have fulfilled the social goals of the revolution but he kept the gringos out of Mexico City 50 51 See also edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to United States occupation of Veracruz Foreign interventions by the United States Mexican Revolution Tampico Affair Theodore C Lyster U S Army s Chief Health Officer in the conflict United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution Victoriano HuertaBibliography editBotte M Louis Magazine L Illustration article Les Americains 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 amp Company O Shaughnessy Edith 1916 A Diplomat s Wife in Mexico Harper amp Brothers Publishers Quirk Robert E 1967 An Affair of Honor Woodrow Wilson and the Occupation of Veracruz W W Norton amp Company Sweetman Jack 1968 The Landing at Veracruz 1914 Annapolis Md Naval Institute Press Footnotes edit a b The Landing at Veracruz 1914 by Jack Sweetman 1968 ch 6 p 58 a b Logbook of HMS Essex naval history net Retrieved November 30 2019 Huerta s Final Message to the Mexican Congress The Independent July 27 1914 Retrieved July 24 2012 Periodo historico 1910 1920 October 6 2007 Archived from the original on October 6 2007 Biography of Venustiano Carranza Revolutionary President of Mexico ThoughtCo Obituary of US Sailor Frank Nejedly 23 April 1914 The Milwaukee Sentinel May 3 1914 p 4 permanent dead link Humanities National Endowment for the May 9 1914 Middletown transcript volume Middletown Del 1868 current May 09 1914 Image 2 via chroniclingamerica loc gov Alejandro de Quesada The Hunt for Pancho Villa The Columbus Raid and Pershing s Punitive Expedition page 12 Osprey Publishing March 2012 Gaston Garcia Cantu 1996 Las invasiones norteamericanas en Mexico p 276 Fondo de Cultura Economica Mexico Alan McPherson 2013 Encyclopedia of U S Military Interventions in Latin America p 393 ABC CLIO USA Susan Vollmer 2007 Legends Leaders Legacies p 79 Biography amp Autobiography USA United States Occupation of Veracruz Summary Britannica www britannica com Retrieved November 28 2021 Brack Gene M April 1970 Mexican Opinion American Racism and the War of 1846 The Western Historical Quarterly 1 2 161 174 doi 10 2307 967858 JSTOR 967858 The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo National Archives August 15 2016 Retrieved November 18 2021 Katz Jamie Why Abraham Lincoln Was Revered in Mexico Smithsonian Magazine Retrieved November 18 2021 Porfirio Diaz Presidency amp Facts Britannica www britannica com Retrieved November 18 2021 BLAISDELL LOWELL L 1962 Henry Lane Wilson and the Overthrow of Madero The Southwestern Social Science Quarterly 43 2 126 135 ISSN 0276 1742 JSTOR 42866819 a b Katz Friedrich January 1 1981 The Secret War in Mexico Europe the United States and the Mexican Revolution University of Chicago Press ISBN 0226425894 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 Katz Friedrich January 1 1981 The Secert war in Mexico pages 167 169 TheBorder 1914 The Tampico Affair and the Speech from Woodrow Wilson PBS Retrieved November 27 2014 a b Heribert von Feilitzsch Felix A Sommerfeld Spymaster in Mexico 1908 to 1914 Henselstone Verlag Amissville VA 2012 pp 351ff a b c d e f g h i j Quirk Robert 1962 An Affair of Honor Woodrow Wilson and the Occupation of Veracruz University of Kentucky Press pp 85 94 ISBN 9780393003901 Jack Sweetman The Landing at Veracruz 1914 1968 p67 A Diplomat s Wife in Mexico by Edith O Shaughnessy 1916 Ch XXIV Boot Max 2003 The Savage Wars of Peace Small Wars and the Rise of American Power New York Basic Books p 152 ISBN 046500721X LCCN 2004695066 Parte de Novedades of commodore Manuel Azueta in Spanish PDF Owsley Frank L Jr Newton Wesley Phillip 1986 Eyes in the Skies Proceedings Supplement April United States Naval Institute 17 25 The Cincinnati Enquirer May 6 and May 12 1914 Kennedy Hickman Mexican Revolution Battle of Veracruz About Archived from the original on September 27 2011 Retrieved November 27 2014 William Manchester American Caesar Douglas MacArthur 1880 1964 Little Brown and Company 1978 pp 73 76 Ulloa Berta January 1 1979 Historia de la Revolucion Mexicana periodo 1914 1917 la encrucijada de 1915 Vol 5 1 ed El Colegio de Mexico doi 10 2307 j ctv233mnj ISBN 978 607 628 317 2 JSTOR j ctv233mnj CARRANZA VENUSTIANO Encyclopedia of Mexico History Society amp Culture Credo Reference search credoreference com Retrieved November 4 2021 The Taking of Zacatecas PDF unam mx Universidad National Autonoma de Mexico Retrieved November 4 2021 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 a b c d e The ABC Conference May June 1914 u s history com Retrieved November 27 2014 Kennedy Hickman Pancho Villa Mexican Revolutionary About Archived from the original on February 3 2017 Retrieved November 27 2014 Gallery p 118 Medal of Honor Recipients Veracruz 1914 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 amp gbpv 1 amp bsq 163 a b Michael Small 2009 The Forgotten Peace Mediation at Niagara Falls 1914 p 35 University of Ottawa Canada John Whiteclay Chambers amp Fred Anderson 1999 The Oxford Companion to American Military History p 432 Oxford University Press England Lee Stacy 2002 Mexico and the United States Volume 3 p 869 Marshall Cavendish USA Jurgen Buchenau 2004 Tools of Progress A German Merchant Family in Mexico City 1865 present p 82 UNM Press USA ZIMMERMAN TELEGRAM Historical Dictionary of International Intelligence Credo Reference search credoreference com Retrieved November 4 2021 Ernest Gruening 1968 Mexico and Its Heritage p 596 Greenwood Press USA a b Drew Philip Halevy 2000 Threats of Intervention U S Mexican Relations 1917 1923 p 41 iUniverse USA Lorenzo Meyer 1977 Mexico and the United States in the oil controversy 1917 1942 p 45 University of Texas Press USA 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 Lester D Langley 2001 The Banana Wars United States Intervention in the Caribbean 1898 1934 p 108 Rowman amp Littlefield Publishers USA 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 edit nbsp Wikisource has original text related to this article The Americans in Mexico 1914 Mitchell Yockelson 1997 The United States Armed Forces and the Mexican Punitive Expedition Part 1 Prologue Magazine 29 Gallery Daniel V 1968 Eight Bells Paperback Library Sweetman Jack 1968 The Landing at Veracruz 1914 Annapolis MD Naval Institute Press Veterans Museum amp Memorial Center 2003 Veterans Museum amp Memorial Center In Memoriam United States Interventions in Mexico 1914 1917 Retrieved December 28 2005 President Wilson s Speech in Response to the Tampico Incident U S Department of State Papers Relating to Foreign Affairs 1914 pp 474 476 Archived October 19 2004 at the Wayback Machine The Tampico Affair and the Speech from Woodrow Wilson to the American People from the PBS Special The Border about life on the Mexico United States border von Feilitzsch Heribert 2012 Felix A Sommerfeld Spymaster in Mexico 1908 to 1914 Amissville Virginia Henselstone Verlag LLC ISBN 9780985031701 Sweetman Jack 2014 Take Veracruz at Once Naval History Volume 28 Number 2 Woodbury Ronald G Wilson y La Intervencion de Veracruz Analisis Historiografico Historia Mexicana 17 2 1967 pp 263 92 online in Spanish 19 11 24 N 96 09 11 W 19 1900 N 96 1531 W 19 1900 96 1531 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title United States occupation of Veracruz amp oldid 1215447678, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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