The Tampico Affair began as a minor incident involving United States Navy sailors and the Mexican Federal Army loyal to Mexican dictator General Victoriano Huerta.[1] On April 9, 1914, nine sailors had come ashore to secure supplies and were detained by Mexican forces. Commanding Admiral Henry Mayo demanded that the US sailors be released, Mexico issue an apology, and raise and salute the US flag along with a 21 gun salute.[2] Mexico refused the demand. US President Woodrow Wilson backed the admiral's demand. The conflict escalated when the Americans took the port city of Veracruz, occupying it for more than six months. This contributed to the fall of Huerta, who resigned in July 1914. Since the US did not have diplomatic relations with Mexico following Huerta's seizure of power in 1913, the ABC powers (Argentina, Brazil, and Chile) offered to mediate the conflict, in the Niagara Falls peace conference, held in Canada. The American occupation of Veracruz resulted in widespread anti-American sentiment.
In the midst of the Mexican Revolution, General Victoriano Huerta became President of Mexico following a coup to oust the democratically-elected president, Francisco I. Madero. Opposition to Huerta grew from the forces of peasant leader Emiliano Zapata in the state of Morelos and the rapid advance of the Northern opposition Constitutionalists under the leadership of Governor of CoahuilaVenustiano Carranza. By March 26, 1914, Carranza's forces were 10mi (16km) from the prosperous coastal oil town of Tampico, Tamaulipas. There was a large settlement of US citizens there due to the immense investment by US firms in the local oil industry[citation needed]. Several US Navy warships commanded by Rear AdmiralHenry T. Mayo were deployed off the coast for the stated purpose of protecting US citizens and property.[3]
By the spring of 1914, relations between the US and Mexico were strained. US PresidentWoodrow Wilson refused to recognize the presidency of Mexican General Victoriano Huerta, who came to power by a coup d'état, with rebel General Félix Díaz, a nephew of ex-President Porfirio Díaz, had signed the Embassy Pact with the approval of US Ambassador Henry Lane Wilson, who had since been removed by the president.[4][3]:36–37
During his State of the Union address on 2 Dec. 1913, Wilson stated, "There can be no certain prospect of peace in America until General Huerta has surrendered his usurped authority." In early 1914, Wilson lifted the arms embargo, which allowed the Constitutionalists to buy arms. With these moves, Wilson was moving closer to intervention.[5]
Mayo's Fifth Division of the Atlantic Fleet was in Tampico to protect American lives and interest. Ships at his disposal included the battleships Connecticut and Minnesota and cruisers Chester and Des Moines US interests included the Standard Oil refinery at Arbol Grande, other petroleum properties at Doña Cecilia, and associated American families and homes nearby. Although Tampico was besieged by Constitutionalist forces, relations between the US forces and Huerta's federal garrison remained amicable. Mayo's flagship, the gunboatDolphin, honored a request of the Mexican government and fired a 21-gun salute to the Mexican flag three times on 2 April.[6] This was in commemoration of the capture of Puebla from the French in 1867 by General Porfirio Díaz. Additionally, sailors from the US gunboat and two cruisers, anchored off Tampico in the Pánuco River, went ashore each day to play baseball.[3]
On 6 April, Constitutionalist rebel forces, under the command of Col. Emiliano J. Nafarrete, occupied La Barra, Doña Cecilia, and Arbol Grande. General Ignacio Morelos Zaragoza, Tamaulipas governor and commander of the Federal Army garrison, and nephew of the late Mexican military hero and Secretary of the Army and Navy Ignacio Zaragoza, sent his gunboat Veracruz to shell the rebel forces behind the oil tanks. Mayo sent a letter to both parties stating he would remain neutral, but to protect American lives and property, he would "take all necessary steps." Mayo then evacuated several Americans, but refused to land troops to protect the American-owned refinery. After additional rebel attacks on 7 and 8 April at the Iturbide Bridge, the foreign population sought refuge on the US Navy ships, the German cruiser SMSDresden, and British cruiser HMSHermione. Clarence Miller, US consul in Tampico, sent an urgent request for help in evacuating the American population within the city. Then, on the evening of 8 April, a marine courier for the US consulate was detained but soon released.[3]:14–18
Running short on gasoline for an auxiliary engine, Dolphin's Capt. Ralph Earle visited the US consulate on 9 April, where he arranged a purchase from a German civilian, Max Tyron. Capt. Earle was to arrange delivery from Tyron's dock. However, the dock was located in close proximity to the Iturbide Bridge.[3]:20
US battleships steaming toward Veracruz following the Tampico Affair. Inset: Appearing in the photograph (left to right): Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo, Commander of US forces during the Tampico Affair; Rear Admiral Frank F. Fletcher, who commanded the landing to seize Veracruz; Vice Admiral Charles J. Badger, Commander of US Atlantic Fleet in 1914.
Conflict
Capt. Earle ordered Ensign Charles C. Copp to take a whaleboat, and crew, to pick up coal from Tyron's dock. Though flying the US colors fore and aft, the US Navy sailors were unarmed and unable to speak Spanish. While loading the fuel, the sailors were surrounded by an armed squad of Zaragoza's soldiers. Two sailors, Coxswain G. H. Siefert and Seaman J. P. Harrington, were still on board the American whaleboat, but they too were taken at gunpoint. All were taken to Col. Ramón H. Hinojosa's headquarters. He released the Americans to continue reloading their gasoline, but they were not allowed to leave until permission was received from Zaragoza.[3]:21–23[6][7]
Max Tyron informed Capt. Earle and Admiral Mayo aboard the Dolphin, and Mayo ordered Earle to seek his men's release under strong protest. Earle, accompanied by Clarence Miller, met with Zaragoza who apologized, explaining his men were "evidently ignorant of the first laws of war." Within an hour of their arrest, the whaleboat had returned to Dolphin. Ensign Copp was faulted by Mayo for allowing his men to be taken from a US vessel. Mayo viewed the incident as an insult to US sovereignty, requiring reparation. Mayo had Commander William A. Moffett deliver a note to Zaragoza stating, "taking men from a boat flying the American flag is a hostile act, not to be excused." Mayo further demanded a "formal disavowal", that the responsible officer "receive severe punishment," and "that you hoist the American flag in a prominent position on shore and salute it with 21 guns, which salute will be duly returned by this ship."[3]:23–25
Morelos Zaragoza referred the matter to the Mexican Ministry of War in Mexico City. When Wilson heard of the matter from Secretary of State William Jennings Bryan, Wilson responded, "Mayo could not have done otherwise," and further, "...unless the guilty persons are promptly punished consequences of gravest sort might ensue..."[3]:32
Nelson O'Shaughnessy, the American Chargé d'Affaires ad interim in 1914
Nelson J. O'Shaughnessy, the US Chargé d'Affaires ad interim[8] in Mexico City, was informed of the incident by Roberto A. Esteva Ruiz, Mexico's Ministry of Foreign Relations, on 10 April. Ruiz requested that Mayo's demands be withdrawn, since Zaragoza had already made a verbal apology. Both O'Shaughnessy and Ruiz brought the matter to Huerta's attention, who also agreed that Mayo's ultimatum should be withdrawn. O'Shaughnessy then released the Mexican account to the Associated Press in Mexico, misstating that the arrested Americans involved were Marines, not sailors, and that they had been "paraded" through the streets of Tampico.[3]:38–40
On 12 April, Huerta stated, via Ruiz to O'Shaughnessy, that since Zaragoza had apologized and arrested Hinojosa, the US had "ample satisfaction." The Mexican government would not apologize further, nor salute the US flag. Huerta called these "humiliating terms...carrying courtesy to that point would be equivalent to accepting the sovereignty of a foreign state to the derogation of national dignity and decorum, which the president is disposed to have respected in any case." O'Shaughnessy told Ruiz that Wilson might need to "uphold our national dignity, even with armed force, if necessary."[3]:44–45
On 13 April, Wilson told reporters, "The salute will be fired." On 14 April, Wilson ordered the Atlantic Fleet, under the command of Vice Admiral Charles Johnston Badger, to Mexican waters. Huerta stated, "Is it a calamity? No. It is the best thing that could happen to us." On 15 April, Wilson stated regarding the Mexico situation, there had been "many cases...of the flouting of the rights of US citizens or the dignity of the government of the United States, and no attempt at either reparation or correction." On 16 April, Washington was notified that Huerta had agreed to a simultaneous salute, signifying "satisfaction with which the two countries see the happy end of a conflict which has at no time been really serious." Yet Wilson decided the US fleet would stay to prevent any ..."manifestations of ill-will and contempt for the United States which Huerta has exhibited in the past," and misunderstood Huerta's meaning of simultaneous. When simultaneous was finally understood, Wilson opposed the idea, and fleet orders remained the same. Huerta maintained he had done "everything he was obliged to do." On 18 April, Wilson stated he would see Congress, "with a view of taking such actions as may be necessary to enforce the respect due to the nation's flag," if Mexico did not fire the salute by the next day.[3]:48–51,53,60–62,65
Aftermath
President Woodrow Wilson addresses a Joint Session of Congress April 20, 1914USS Truxtun and Whipple at Mazatlan, April 26, 1914, keeping watch on Mexican gunboat Morales (two-funnel ship in background)
President Wilson sought Congressional approval for the use of armed forces on 20 April. In particular, Wilson advocated "taking Vera Cruz," to get rid of Huerta and his illegitimate authority. Wilson received Congressional approval that evening, and ordered landings at Veracruz, so as to seize the Custom house, and intercept an expected arms shipment for Huerta's forces.[5][9][10][3]:69–77
In the ensuing United States occupation of Veracruz, 19 Americans were killed and 72 wounded. Mexican losses were estimated at 150 to 170 soldiers killed and between 195 and 250 wounded. An unknown number of civilians were killed.[11][12] On the Pacific Coast of Mexico, US Naval units were monitoring the fight between Huerta's forces and the rebels while they protected US citizens and interests. In Ensenada, Baja California, US Consul Claude E. Guyant and 250 of his fellow citizens were forced to seek safety in the US consulate building, as Mexican authorities were powerless to control anti-American demonstrations that had erupted on April 23. Guyant cabled Washington, "Have taken refuge in consulate. Situation critical. Send warship immediately."[13] USS Cheyenne was sent from San Diego, California, to Ensenada with orders to protect US lives at any cost, including capturing the port if necessary. Iris, en route to Mazatlan, diverted course to Ensenada to assist Cheyenne. They were to evacuate Guyant and other Americans.[14][15] The welfare of approximately 50,000 US citizens living in Mexico was affected by the invasion of Veracruz. Refugee camps were set up in San Diego, Texas, and New Orleans to receive the Americans.[16][17] Ultimately, the US military transport ship USS Buford sailed from San Francisco in early May and made stops at numerous ports on the west coast of Mexico to pick up additional American refugees. USS Iris also picked up numerous American refugees during May, including Clement Edwards, the US consul at Acapulco.[18] By May 4, a total of 71 US Navy ships were operating in Mexican waters.[19]
In January 1917, Germany sent the so-called Zimmermann Telegram, which implied that a Mexican alliance with Germany against the US would result in Mexico regaining territory taken from it by the US in prior wars and that Germany's forthcoming unrestricted submarine warfare campaign would guarantee defeat of the British and French. The British interception of Zimmermann's telegram and the German unrestricted submarine warfare against US merchant ships soon afterward, were effectively both final justifications that President Wilson needed to request a declaration of war against Germany, in April 1917.[20]
Anti-American sentiment in Mexico from the Tampico incident was the chief reason that the Mexican government remained neutral in World War I.[21] Mexico refused to participate with the US military excursion in Europe and granted full guarantees to German companies for keeping their operations open, specifically in Mexico City.[22]
President Wilson considered another military invasion of Veracruz and Tampico in 1917–1918,[23][24] to take control of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, the shortest overland route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, and the Tampico oil fields.[24][25] The relatively new Mexican president, Venustiano Carranza, threatened to destroy the oil fields in case the Marines landed there.[26][27]
The Mexican Revolution was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history".It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its replacement by a revolutionary army, and the transformation of Mexican culture and government. The northern Constitutionalist faction prevailed on the battlefield and drafted the present-day Constitution of Mexico, which aimed to create a strong central government. Revolutionary generals held power from 1920 to 1940. The revolutionary conflict was primarily a civil war, but foreign powers, having important economic and strategic interests in Mexico, figured in the outcome of Mexico's power struggles; the U.S. involvement was particularly high. The conflict led to the deaths of around one million people, mostly non-combatants.
Tampico is a city and port in the southeastern part of the Mexican state of Tamaulipas. It is located on the north bank of the Pánuco River, about 10 kilometers (6 mi) inland from the Gulf of Mexico, and directly north of the state of Veracruz. Tampico is the fifth-largest city in Tamaulipas, with a population of 314,418 in the city proper and 929,174 in the metropolitan area.
José Victoriano Huerta Márquez was a general in the Mexican Federal Army and 39th President of Mexico, who came to power by coup against the democratically elected government of Francisco I. Madero with the aid of other Mexican generals and the U.S. Ambassador to Mexico. His violent seizure of power set off a new wave of armed conflict in the Mexican Revolution.
José Venustiano Carranza de la Garza, known as Venustiano Carranza, was a Mexican land owner and politician who served as President of Mexico from 1917 until his assassination in 1920, during the Mexican Revolution. He was previously Mexico's de facto head of state as Primer Jefe of the Constitutionalist faction from 1914 to 1917, and previously served as a senator and governor for Coahuila. He played the leading role in drafting the Constitution of 1917 and maintained Mexican neutrality in World War I.
USS Chester (CS-1/CL-1) of the United States Navy was the first scout cruiser (CS) built for the Navy. In 1920, she was reclassified as a light cruiser (CL). She was launched on 26 June 1907, by Bath Iron Works, Bath, Maine, sponsored by Miss D. W. Sproul, and commissioned on 25 April 1908. She was named in honor of Chester, Pennsylvania. In July 1928, long since decommissioned, her name was changed to USS York, in honor of York, Pennsylvania.
The Battle of Veracruz began with the occupation of the port city of Veracruz by the United States and lasted for seven months. The incident came in the midst of poor diplomatic relations between the United States and Mexico, and was related to the ongoing Mexican Revolution.
In the history of Mexico, the Plan of Guadalupe was a political manifesto which was proclaimed on March 26, 1913, by the Governor of Coahuila Venustiano Carranza in response to the reactionary coup d'etat and execution of President Francisco I. Madero, which had occurred during the Ten Tragic Days of February 1913. The manifesto was released from the Hacienda De Guadalupe, which is where the Plan derives its name, nearly a month after the assassination of Madero. The initial plan was limited in scope, denouncing Victoriano Huerta's usurpation of power and advocating the restoration of a constitutional government. In 1914, Carranza issued "Additions to the Plan of Guadalupe", which broadened its scope and "endowed la Revolución with its social and economic content." In 1916, he further revised the Plan now that the Constitutionalist Army was victorious and revolutionaries sought changes to the 1857 Constitution of Mexico. Carranza sought to set the terms of the constitutional convention.
The United States involvement in the Mexican Revolution was varied and seemingly contradictory, first supporting and then repudiating Mexican regimes during the period 1910–1920. For both economic and political reasons, the U.S. government generally supported those who occupied the seats of power, but could withhold official recognition. The U.S. supported the regime of Porfirio Díaz after initially withholding recognition since he came to power by coup. In 1909, Díaz and U.S. President Taft met in Ciudad Juárez, across the border from El Paso, Texas. Prior to Woodrow Wilson's inauguration on March 4, 1913, the U.S. Government focused on just warning the Mexican military that decisive action from the U.S. military would take place if lives and property of U.S. nationals living in the country were endangered. President William Howard Taft sent more troops to the US-Mexico border but did not allow them to intervene directly in the conflict, a move which Congress opposed. Twice during the Revolution, the U.S. sent troops into Mexico, to occupy Veracruz in 1914 and to northern Mexico in 1916 in a failed attempt to capture Pancho Villa. U.S. foreign policy toward Latin America was to assume the region was the sphere of influence of the U.S., articulated in the Monroe Doctrine. However the U.S. role in the Mexican Revolution has been exaggerated. It did not directly intervene in the Mexican Revolution in a sustained manner.
Events in the year 1914 in Mexico.
Manuel Peláez Gorrochotegui (1885–1959) Mexican military officer, noteworthy for his participation in the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1920.
Moraldiplomacy is a form of diplomacy proposed by President Woodrow Wilson in his 1912 United States presidential election. Moral diplomacy is the system in which support is given only to countries whose beliefs are analogous to that of the nation. This promotes the growth of the nation's ideals and damages nations with different ideologies. It was used by Woodrow Wilson to support countries with democratic governments and to economically injure non-democratic countries. He also hoped to increase the number of democratic nations, particularly in Latin America.
The Constitutionalists were a faction in the Mexican Revolution (1910–1920). They were formed in 1914 as a response to the assassination of Francisco Madero and Victoriano Huerta's coup d'etat. Also known as Carrancistas, taking that name from their leader, Venustiano Carranza the governor of Coahuila. The Constitutionalists played the leading role in defeating the Mexican Federal Army on the battlefield. Carranza, a centrist liberal attracted Mexicans across various political ideologies to the Constitutionalist cause. Constitutionalists consisted of mainly middle-class urbanites, liberals, and intellectuals who desired a democratic constitution under the guidelines "Mexico for Mexicans" and Mexican nationalism. Their support for democracy in Mexico, caught the attention of the United States who aided their cause. In 1914, the United States occupied Mexico's largest port in Veracruz in an attempt to starve Huerta's government of customs revenue. They crafted and enforced the Mexican Constitution of 1917 which remains in force today. Following the defeat of General Huerta, the Constitutionalists outmaneuvered their former revolutionary allies Emiliano Zapata and Pancho Villa becoming the victorious faction of the Mexican Revolution. However the Constitutionalists were divided amongst themselves and Carranza was assassinated in 1920. He was succeeded by General Álvaro Obregón who began enforcing the 1917 constitution and calming revolutionary tensions. His assassination and the subsequent power vacuum this created spurred his successor, Plutarco Elías Calles to create the National Revolutionary Party (PNR) which would hold uninterrupted political power in Mexico until 2000.
The Ypiranga Incident occurred on April 21, 1914, at the port of Veracruz in Mexico during the Mexican Revolution. Ypiranga was a German steamship that was commissioned to transport arms and munitions to the Mexican federal government under Victoriano Huerta. The United States had placed Mexico under an arms embargo to stifle the flow of weaponry to the war-torn state, then in the throes of civil war, forcing Huerta's government to look to Europe and Japan for armaments.
Mexico was a neutral country in World War I, which lasted from 1914 to 1918. The war broke out in Europe in August 1914 as the Mexican Revolution was in the midst of full-scale civil war between factions that had helped oust General Victoriano Huerta from the presidency earlier that year. The Constitutionalist Army of Venustiano Carranza under the generalship of Alvaro Obregón defeated the army of Pancho Villa in the Battle of Celaya in April 1915.
Zaragoza was a corvette of the Mexican Navy in commission from 1892 until 1926. Although designed as a ship of war, she spent most of her active career serving as a training ship.
General Jacinto Blas Treviño González was a Mexican military officer, noteworthy for his participation in the Mexican Revolution of 1910 to 1921.
The Mexican Border War, also known as the Border Campaign, refers to a series of military engagements which took place between the United States military and several Mexican factions in the Mexican–American border region of North America during the Mexican Revolution. It was the last major conflict fought on U.S. soil.
The Military Government of Veracruz was a provisional military government established during the American occupation of Veracruz in 1914 that lasted from April 21 to November 23.
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