NAVAL DIPLOMACY (cont.)

When Master Commandant Uriah P. Levy approached the coast of Yucatan in USS VANDALIA, 20, in March 1839 it was uncertain the degree of intimidation he would discover to which American interests had been subjected.  As it turns out, the American consul, Jack Thomas, had none but disparaging comments about the local power-monger, a militaristic would-be despot who had managed to collect a following by focusing contempt and mistreatment upon “Yanquis.”  Thomas described this half-breed as well-armed but little more than a brigand, who used insult, blackmail, and extortion against American businessmen.

Levy approached the rotund, tobacco-chewing generalissimo, sternly, explaining he would accept the general’s apology for mistreatment of Americans and the return of monies extorted.  The amused general noted the paltry number of Americans in the Commandant’s company as compared to the size of his force and added that any monies had long ago been spent.  Levy retorted with the threat to close his warship and blast the town to pieces.  The fact that the bay was too shallow to accommodate the draft of VANDALAI was lost on the land-locked general, who now reconsidered his position.  He tentatively agreed to Levy’s requests, but only in exchange for two barrels of whiskey, an American salute to his forces, and a sharp-looking uniform from Levy’s seabag.   With an eye toward diplomacy, Levy agreed.

The following day the town witnessed a ceremony the likes of which were probably unique to that time and place.  Tumbledown Mexican militia, at whose head stood the general resplendent in one of Levy’s uniforms (devices removed), faced a sharp American color guard across the square.  After an exchange of pleasantries both flags were run up and salutes by both sides rendered.  A barrel of American whiskey was cracked open, and the participants enjoyed several days of guarded camaraderie.  A substantial portion of the disputed funds was located and returned.  Levy summarized his visit to the Secretary of the Navy concluding that, “any future visit of a national vessel of the U.S…. will be hailed with great joy and delight by all classes.”

It is often noted in modern times that Army and Air Force practice allows officers to execute only those actions specifically prescribed in their orders.  Historically however, Naval officers have often operated independently, at great distances, out of ready communication.  As such Naval tradition allows the latitude to employ a variety of means to accomplish a mission, except any specifically prohibited in written orders–a subtle, but significant, cultural difference.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  21 FEB 25

CAPT James Bloom, Ret

Fitzgerald, Donovan and Saul Saphire.  Navy Maverick:  Uriah Phillips Levy.  Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Co., 1963, pp. 153-55.

Minster, Christopher.  “The Pastry War.” ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023, thoughtco.com/the-pastry-war-mexico-vs-france-2136674, retrieved 1 February 2025.

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                                 LAST EVERGLADES EXPEDITION

After our acquisition of Florida from Spain in 1819, settlers came into increasing conflict with the Native Americans of Florida, collectively called Seminole Indians.  Conflicts over territory and over the sheltering of runaway slaves led to a series of Seminole wars and the decision in 1832 to re-locate the Seminoles to the Oklahoma Indian Territory.  The US Army was sent into southern Florida to round-up and deport the Seminoles.  These efforts met with mixed success, and when it was suspected that the Indians were obtaining weapons and supplies from Cuba, the US Navy was called upon.  By 1842, a “mosquito fleet” of small coastal schooners and canoes was in Florida service, under the command of LT John T. McLaughlin.  Ten years of Army persistence had pushed Seminole populations into decline.  Army COL William J. Worth, the overall area commander, estimated in February 1842 that only about 300 were left, most of whom were hiding in the impenetrable reaches of the Everglades swamp.  Worth asked that the Army suspend its Florida campaign.

Then, eager to demonstrate the value of the Navy, LT McLaughlin proposed that two Navy assault parties sweep the Everglades to clear these last holdouts.  LT John B. Marchand and a detachment of sailors from the schooners WAVE, 1; PHOENIX, 2; and VAN BUREN, 4, entered the Everglades from the southwest on this day.  Two days later another party from MADISON, 1, and JEFFERSON, led by LT John Rodgers, entered the swamp from the east.  Each party ran up streams and followed the trails they encountered in an effort to rout any remaining Seminoles.  For two months they lived in their canoes, slept at their thwarts, and hunted alligators, waterbirds, and the occasional fish that jumped into their canoes.  At times they had to drag their canoes through chest-high sawgrass–appropriately named for the wounds it inflicted!  They searched every stand of high ground, and on multiple occasions found Seminole encampments–always abandoned, usually only a day or so ahead of their arrival.  They even sighted native canoes in the distance on two occasions but were unable to overtake them.  It seemed as if the Seminoles were keeping one step ahead.  By the end of the two-month trek, the men were exhausted, hungry, and badly cut.  Most sustained wounds and infections that would fester for years in these days before antibiotics.

COL Worth’s opinion had proven correct, neither Navy party found any Seminoles.  The number of remaining Indians was indeed small enough, and the swamp large enough, that they simply faded into the environment.  Further operations were suspended, and to this day, the Seminoles still inhabit the Everglades.

Watch for more “Today in Naval History”  14-15 FEB 25

CAPT James Bloom, Ret.

Buker, George E.  Swamp Sailors:  Riverine Warfare in the Everglades, 1835-1842.  Gainesville, FL: Univ. Presses of Florida, 1975, pp. 127-32.

Mahon, John K.  History of the Second Seminole War, 1835-1842.  Gainesville, FL: Univ. of Florida Press, 1985, p. 304.

Preble, George Henry.  “A Canoe Expedition into the Everglades in 1842.”  Tequesta magazine, Vol 5, 1945, pp. 30-51.  AT: http://www.digitalcollections.fiu.edu/tequesta/files/1945/ 45_1_03.pdf, retrieved 20 December 2010.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:  (Later) MGEN William Worth was second in command to Zachary Taylor during the Mexican War of 1846-48.  He is the namesake of Fort Worth, Texas, as well as numerous counties and townships in the eastern and mid-western US.

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