Security· Late 19th Century Foreign Interventions
Haitian Republic steamer recovery
A small diplomatic crisis settled by the mere presence of force.
In December 1888 the American steamer Haitian Republic was seized by a Haitian warship amid the chronic disorders of that country, and the United States dispatched a naval force, the Galena and Yantic carrying a small body of Marines, to recover her. The mere appearance of the American ships and their readiness to land sufficed; the steamer was given up without a shot being fired. No casualties resulted. The episode was a tidy demonstration of the way American naval and Marine presence could resolve a minor incident through deterrence alone, the show of strength making the use of it unnecessary. It was one of the many small protective and diplomatic operations of the period in the troubled Caribbean republics, where American shipping and interests were forever running afoul of local upheavals, and the warships were forever being sent to set matters right.
Record no. 476