Bombardment of Greytown

Bombardment of Greytown
An illustration of USS Cyane bombarding Greytown
Date 13 July 1854 Location Greytown, Kingdom of Mosquitia Result American victory
Belligerents
United States	Kingdom of Mosquitia
Commanders and leaders
George N. Hollins	Unknown
Strength
1 sloop-of-war	None
Casualties and losses
None	None

The bombardment of Greytown, also known as the bombardment of San Juan del Norte, was a punitive expedition by the United States Navy against the town of Greytown in the Kingdom of Mosquitia. The USS Cyane, a sloop-of-war commanded by George N. Hollins, was sent by the United States Department of State to stop Greytown's town council from levying taxes and duties on visiting American ships. Hollins ordered a bombardment of Greytown after arriving there, which combined with U.S. Marines landing and setting fire to the town, completely destroyed it.

Prelude

Prior to the bombardment, the town council of Greytown in the Mosquito Coast had been attempting to charge taxes and duties on American ships which were using the town while travelling to California. Concomitantly, local attacks destroyed the headquarters of an American company in the Mosquito Coast and the United States Minister to Central America, Solon Borland, was assaulted and kidnapped from his consulate for allegedly preventing the arrest of a U.S. citizen charged with the death of a local resident.

Bombardment

The USS Cyane was dispatched by the United States Department of State to demand satisfaction. Hollins' instructions were vague, if not contradictory. There were no local authorities to fulfil the American demands, since all the members of Greytown Council had resigned right after the affair with Borland. Only the British consul protested when in the morning of 12 July, Hollins gave the town a 12-hour deadline to abide to the American request or be shelled by Cyane. The bombardment began the next morning at 9.30 am. The three-gun Royal Navy schooner HMS Bermuda was moored at harbour, commanded by Lieutenant W. D. Jolley, who only essayed a half-hearted complaint, dismissed by Hollins, whose ship carried 18 32-pounder guns and 4 24-pounder long guns. Jolley's justification for his lack of action was that the force under his command was "so totally inadequate against the Cyane, that I can only enter this my protest." Although the town was badly hit by Cyane's salvos, the massive fire was set up by a number of U.S. Marines who landed at the port. Despite widespread destruction, there were no casualties.

Aftermath

British involvement in the Crimean War, together with the firm opposition of Britain's merchant class to a war with the United States, prevented any further diplomatic or military reaction from Britain. Despite international outrage at the bombardment of the town, the United States refused to apologise for any damage or loss of life incurred, instead opting to avoid discussion of the incident until President Franklin Pierce finally gave an official position, six months later:

After giving a somewhat detailed and biased account of the bombardment, the president concluded that while it would have been more satisfactory if the Cyane's mission could have been consummated without the use of force, "the arrogant contumacy of the offenders rendered it impossible to avoid the alternative either to break up their establishment or to leave them impressed with the idea that they might persevere with impunity in a career of insolence and plunder."

Bibliography

• Folkman, D. (1972). The Nicaragua Route. University of Utah Press.
• Linder, Bruce, "Intertwined Heritage," Naval History magazine (October 2007) - The role of the USS Cyane in first laying claim to San Diego

 This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.