Combat
South America and Pacific Protective Operations
A thematic grouping of American naval operations mounted to protect American lives, property, and interests during periods of regional turmoil, in an age when the United States kept few diplomats abroad and relied on its warships to act in their place.
The category gathers several distinct episodes: the South Atlantic Squadron's landings at Buenos Aires during the Argentine civil strife of 1836; the capture by the USS Natchez of a Mexican brig-of-war off the Texas coast in 1837, amid the friction that preceded the annexation of Texas; and Commodore Thomas ap Catesby Jones's notorious seizure of Monterey, California, in October 1842, made on false reports that the United States and Mexico were at war. Marines aboard the squadrons furnished the landing parties for each. The Monterey affair caused a brief but sharp diplomatic crisis before the error was discovered and the port restored within a day and a half, and Jones was recalled.
Engagements in this conflict (5)
Record no. 313