The Tampico Affair was set off when nine American sailors were arrested by the Mexican government
for entering off-limit areas in well.. Tampico as they tried to refuel. The sailors were released,
but the U.S. naval commander demanded an apology and a 21-gun salute for the action.
The apology was provided, but not the salute. In the end, the response from U.S. President
Woodrow Wilson ordered the U.S. Navy to prepare for the occupation of the port of Veracruz. While
awaiting authorization from Congress to carry out such an action, Wilson was alerted to a
delivery of weapons for Victoriano Huerta, who had taken control of Mexico the previous year after
a bloody coup, and the delivery was due to arrive in the port on April 21st aboard the German cargo
steamer SS Ypiranga. As a result, Wilson issued an immediate order to seize the port's customs office
and confiscate the weaponry. On the morning of April 21, 1914,
US warships under the command of Rear Admiral Frank Friday Fletcher, began preparations for the
seizure of the Veracruz waterfront, sending men ashore in an attempt to establish a foothold.
As the landing party moved towards Veracruz, a large crowd of Mexican
and American citizens gathered to watch the spectacle. The invaders encountered
no resistance and began marching toward their objectives along the main waterfront.
This initial show of force was enough to prompt the retreat of the Mexican forces which
were being led by General Gustavo Maass. In the face of this, Commodore Manuel Azueta encouraged
cadets of the Naval Academy to take up the defense of the port for themselves. 200 line soldiers of
the Mexican Army would remain behind to fight the invaders along with the citizens of Veracruz.
Although the landing had been nearly unopposed, Veracruz quickly became a
battleground. By midafternoon, the Americans had occupied the majority of the waterfront
and Admiral Fletcher called a general halt to the advance, initially hoping that a cease fire could
be arranged. That hope rapidly faded as he could find no one to bargain with and all Mexican troops
left in the city were instructed to remain on the defensive waiting for reinforcements.
On the night of 21, Fletcher decided that he had no choice but to occupy the entire city,
not just the waterfront. Five additional battleships and two cruisers had reached
Veracruz during the hours of darkness and they carried with them an additional 1,500 men,
all of whom landed ashore before sun-rise. At 07:45 the following morning, the advance
would begin. 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.
This attack was initially repulsed; and soon, the attack was renewed, with artillery support
from three warships in the harbor which pounded the academy with their long guns
for a few minutes, silencing all resistance. That afternoon, the First Advanced Base Regiment,
originally bound for Tampico, came ashore under the command of Colonel John A. Lejeune, and by
the afternoon, U.S. troops had secured the town square and were in complete control of Veracruz.
Some pockets of resistance continued to occur around the port,
mostly in the form of hit-and-run guerrilla tactics, but by the 24th all fighting had ceased.
Marines and soldiers continued to garrison the city until the U.S. withdrawal on November 23,
which occurred after Argentina, Brazil, and Chile were able to
settle the issues between the two nations at the Niagara Falls peace conference.
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.
While Huerta and Carranza officially objected to the occupation, neither was able to oppose
it effectively, being more preoccupied by events of the Mexican Revolution.
Huerta was eventually overthrown and Carranza's faction took power. The occupation, however,
brought the two countries to the brink of war and worsened U.S.-Mexican relations for many years.
The ABC Powers held the Niagara Falls peace conference on May 20
to avoid an all-out war over this incident. A plan was formed in June for the US troops to withdraw
from Veracruz after General Huerta surrendered to a new regime and Mexico assured the United
States that it would receive no indemnity for its losses in the recent events.
Huerta soon afterwards left office and gave his government to Carranza. Carranza, who was still
quite unhappy with US troops occupying Veracruz, rejected the rest of the agreement. 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 Ortiz. During this brief absence from power, however,
Carranza still controlled Veracruz and Tamaulipas. After leaving Mexico City, Carranza fled to
Veracruz, made the city of Cordoba the capital of his regime and agreed to accept the rest of
the terms of the Niagara Falls peace plan. The US troops would officially departed on November 23.
As an immediate reaction to the military invasion of Veracruz several anti-American revolts broke
out in Mexico, and other Central or South American nations. US citizens were expelled from Mexican
territory and they had to be accommodated in refugee camps at New Orleans, and San Diego.
Even the British government was privately irritated, because they had previously
agreed with Woodrow Wilson that the US would not invade Mexico without prior warning.