Combat· South America and Pacific Protective Operations
Paraguay Expedition
A massive show of force to extract redress from an inland republic.
In 1855 a Paraguayan battery had fired on the surveying steamer USS Water Witch on the Paraguay River, killing a helmsman, and the United States demanded an apology and indemnity. When satisfaction was slow in coming, Commodore William Shubrick was sent with an extraordinary squadron, some nineteen vessels, the largest American naval force assembled to that time, which ascended the Paraguay River deep into the continent in a deliberate display of power. The expedition carried the usual complement of Marines, who stood ready as landing parties should force be required. In the event none was: confronted with the squadron, Paraguay's President Carlos Antonio López yielded to the American demands, and the matter was settled without a shot. No casualties resulted. It was the largest American naval deployment between the Mexican War and the Civil War.
Record no. 376