| Battle of Veracruz | |||||||
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| Part of the Pastry War | |||||||
Bombing of San Juan de Ulloa by the French fleet, 27 November 1838. NMM |
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| Mexico | France | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Antonio López de Santa Anna Mariano Arista |
Charles Baudin Prince François |
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| Strength | |||||||
| 3,229 men, 1 fort |
Land: ~3,000 men Sea: unknown naval forces |
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The Battle of Veracruz, or the Battle of San Juan de Ulua, was a naval attack of the Pastry War in which French naval forces captured the citadel of San Juan de Ulúa and then occupied the city of Veracruz. Mexican forces were heavily outnumbered and retreated. It occurred from 27 November 1838 to 5 December 1838 and was the only major engagement of the war, after which, a peace treaty was signed, ending hostilities between France and Mexico.
In 1838 the French government resolved on an expedition against Mexico, sending a squadron under the command of contre-amiral Charles Baudin to blockade all Mexico's Atlantic ports from the Yucatán to the Río Grande, under the pretext of violence and theft against French merchants, including a pastry chef, hence the war's name.
The following August, a squadron was ordered out to blockade the ports to force the Mexicans to repay the damages caused. The prince de Joinville was put in command of the 24 gun corvette Créole and set out from Brest on 1 September with Baudin, commander of the squadron, which totalled 23 ships. Arriving off New Spain, for a month Baudin exhausted all ways to a peaceful settlement. This made it easy for the French fleet to defeat San Juan de Ulua, whose small garrison and obsolete artillery could not put up an effective resistance (27 November). French troops were landed on 4 December 1838 and took the port of Veracruz.
On 27 November 1838, la Gloire, Ephigénie, the bomb vessels Cyclope and Vulcain and the French flagship, the frigate Néréide all opened heavy fire on San Juan de Ulúa, a fort built of fragile coral rather than stone, endangering the garrison with its splinters. Badly defended by a small garrison with obsolete matériel, it overlooked the port and town of Veracruz.
During the battle a cannon ball landed in the poop deck where the admiral was standing, his staff having failed to convince him to leave it. The prince de Joinville also participated in this expedition. He had been unable to convince Baudin to give him command of the six attacking ships but, on the signal to begin the action, he asked the admiral to be allowed to join the expedition. The admiral allowed this and the Créole moved to bombard the fortifications of Ulúa, the bastion of Saint-Crispin and the eastern battery. It received many cannon balls in its side, one penetrating the prince's cabin and breaking his dish in pieces - the prince took off his hat and saluted the Mexicans.
It only took four hours to silence the Mexican guns, which ran out of gunpowder and ammunition. At 6pm the fort's firing stopped, the batteries were removed, the fortifications were demolished and the enemy asked to surrender. The next morning the garrison at San Juan de Ulúa, now in ruins, handed the fortress and town of Veracruz over to the French. Baudin allowed the Mexicans to leave 1,000 troops in the town to maintain order. The prince de Joinville had taken a considerable part in the action, showing much daring and skill in his attacks.
However, the Mexican government refused to surrender and the French admiral and troops once again had to fight - a boat carrying Baudin was riddled with bullets on 5 December and many sailors were killed. The conventions concluded between Baudin and the Mexicans were judged to have been violated and later on 5 December three columns were landed - the central one had a vanguard of 90 sailors from the Créole commanded by the prince de Joinville, aimed at the Môle gate. The column blew open the gate with bags of gunpowder and the prince de Joinville was the first to charge into the town, heading for the headquarters the Mexican generals Santa Anna and Arista. A sailor from the Créole captured Arista and the prince de Joinville then arrived and received Arista's sword. Santa Anna, however, managed to escape capture. The left column met the fiercest resistance in the outskirts of the town and the prince led his sailors to join it - he was already beginning to besiege a large barracks when Baudin ordered him to re-embark, since the desired objectives had been achieved.
These actions were a major defeat to the Mexicans and left Veracruz disarmed. Santa Anna finally managed to sign a peace treaty with France, satisfying French grievances.