| Tampico Affair | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
| United States | Mexico | ||||||
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| 9 sailors | ~10 infantry | ||||||
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The Tampico Affair started off as a minor incident involving U.S. sailors and Mexican land forces loyal to General Victoriano Huerta during the guerra de las facciones phase of the Mexican Revolution. The misunderstanding occurred on April 9, 1914, but would fully transpire into the breakdown of diplomatic relations between the two countries, and the occupation of the port city of Veracruz for over six months.
In midst of the Mexican Revolution, de facto head of state Victoriano Huerta struggled to hold his power and territory intact from the challenges of Emiliano Zapata in the south and the fast advance of the opposition Constitutionalists of Venustiano Carranza in the north. By March 26, 1914, Carranza's forces were 10 mi (16 km) from the prosperous oil town of Tampico, Tamaulipas. There was a considerable concentration of U.S. citizens in the area due to the immense investment of American firms in the local oil industry. Several American warships commanded by Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo settled in the area with the pretext of protecting American citizens and property.
As Tampico was laid siege by Constitutionalist forces, relations between U.S. forces and Huerta's federal garrison remained amicable. The American naval force—with only the gunboat Dolphin, due to the navigational constraints of the shallow harbor entrance—presented a 21-gun salute to the Mexican flag three times on April 2, 1914 to pay tribute to the celebrated occupation of Puebla in 1867 by Mexican General Porfirio Díaz in the last phases of the French intervention in Mexico.
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The United States Navy frequently used boats to deliver messages and ferry fleeing civilians, depleting fuel supplies. The commander of the Dolphin arranged for a pickup of oil from a warehouse on April 9 near a tense defensive position at Iturbide Bridge. The defenders of the bridge anticipated an attack based on the two consecutive days of skirmishes that had immediately preceded. Nine U.S. sailors on a whaleboat flying the U.S. flag were dispatched to the warehouse along a canal. Based on the sailors' account, seven of them moved the cans of fuel to the boat while two remained on the vessel. Mexican federal soldiers were alerted to the activity and confronted the American sailors. Neither side was able to speak the other's language, which left the sailors immobile in the face of commands from the soldiers. The Mexicans raised rifles against the Americans, including the sailors still on the boat, and ushered the men to the nearby Mexican regimental headquarters.
The commander of American forces in the area, Rear Admiral Henry T. Mayo, demanded a formal apology from Huerta's government. The commander in the Tampico area complied with this and gave a written apology; however, he did not follow the demands that Mexico raise the U.S. flag on its soil and provide a 21-gun salute. U.S. President Woodrow Wilson asked Congress for permission for an armed invasion of the area. Although this request was granted two days later, the United States occupation of Veracruz had begun.
Eventually, the U.S. turned to the ABC countries—Argentina, Brazil, and Chile—to help mediate the dispute.