Louis Botte

“ WHY THE AMERICANS DID NOT TAKE TAMPICO? 23 April Last night we expected an American attack on the city. Why hasn’t it taken place yet? Every day of delay will make the task more difficult. Three thousand rifles and cartridges have already been distributed to young volunteers who aren’t worried about the rebels but want to inflict death on all the Gringos. ”

“ All night long, we can hear the howling crowd go back and forth under our windows attacking the suspicious buildings, riddling the starry sky with bullets, and demanding to drink the blood of the perfidious “Gringos”, of which, fortunately, it finds not one. ”

“ One shell from the Chester reaches the house of the French Consul, goes through the walls and just misses killing Mme. Brouzet. Various shots reach the English cruiser Essex: that vessel’s purser is wounded in the foot. The Juares [sic: Juárez] monument, which served as shelter for three Mexican shooters is partly demolished. To chase off the defenders, the Americans breach the doors of houses and empty them of their inhabitants. Finally, at about 1700 hours, the three regiments meet at the Alameda, in front of the palace of the military government. Resistance is broken everywhere. ”

“ There resistance is formed. From each corner of the street, from each balcony, from each terrace, rifles fire and revolvers shoot. The American line scatters. Even though they return fire at 100 to 1, they must move slowly, step by step, taking the street house by house. Bullets hit them without their knowing who fired them. In the library light tower, an able shooter holds the column all by himself quite a while. The guns from the Prairie, 120s, have to demolish [sic] the building to stop him.
It takes an hour for the American sailors to reach the Customs House, less than 200 meters away. ”

“ While awaiting the imminent American attack, the foreigners expect riots and maybe a massacre. The consuls warn their nationals to get ready to embark on the war ships. The English and their baggage are already piling up on the wharf, awaiting the arrival of boats from their cruiser Hermione to take them off. Our Descartes has not yet been able to enter the river because it draws too much water; it is too late today for its launches to cross the bar. It will therefore be necessary that a foreign vessel, English or German, take in our colony for a few hours. ”

“ We abandon the meal to go up to the bridge. All the American torpedo boats, in succession, start their engines and then put out their lights. We listen closely to hear if canon fire or an explosion. But the distance is great and no sound reaches us. I think of Captain Aldrete, on the Zaragoza, who, at this very time, may be carrying out his final duty in blocking the mouth of the river with his dying vessel. ”

“ They yell at us to leave. But, just like the rebels at the Iturbide bridge the other day, we want to pay our bill. The staff doesn’t listen to us anymore but runs away flipping the switches and leaving us standing there in the dark. The care of those people is excessive: this time the popular indignation only costs the hotel one window. ”

“ A little later, the sailors from the Utah arrive to reinforce them, and together, they will be renewing the fight but not until the following morning.
While the second column takes the Customs House, the first is still held up at the corner of Cinco de Mayo street. Rifle shots are fired on them from Independence Street as well, where it is necessary to aim a canon. The Mexican shooters are very few: 100 or so men at most, but they remain very dispersed and unreachable. There are already many dead, but these are for the most part careless sightseers. ”

“ One can believe that it if had conducted a vigorous offense once the Americans had all landed and by their presence making gunfire from the ships impossible, it might have succeeded on that first day to throw the invaders back into the sea. ”

“ The Federal officers appear very surprised that the rebels should have lied as this had never happened before. The heat, heavy and humid, is overwhelming. Every effort is painful. I have been at Tampico for only two days but I already understand why the people here seem to sleep from morning to night. At around 1600 hours, when the temperature is just about bearable, Captain de Bertier meets me and we go out together.
We have barely gone ten steps when we meet a Mexican, of French origin, to whom we were introduced yesterday by our consul. ”

“ Only one shop, topped with an American flag, has been seriously damaged. The thousands of revolver shots fired by the protestors have wounded five or six persons. Those Americans still hiding in the town, e.g. the consul who sought refuge at the house of his English counterpart, head to the port under police protection. ”

“ The [Mexican] shooters scatter but passers-by, completely unaware of what is going on, or gawkers, are wounded or killed.
It is now 1120 hours. The “Marines” and the sailors from the Florida, united in three companies with two Colt machine guns and two field guns of 76mm, are in turn assembled into a column in front of the train station. To reduce the visibility of their white uniforms and maybe also to avoid being confused with the Mexican shooters, also dressed in white, the sailors have doused their clothing in ochre yellow dyes, from coffee grounds or potassium permanganate. ”

“ The most distant units follow the rail line. These different groups encounter little resistance... The 1st Regiment also divided into columns parallel to the sea, follows Morelos, Zaragoza, and Independence streets, where some shots are fired from all sides. The guns from Prairie, San Francisco, and Chester energetically support the Americans, who advance only step by step. ”

“ Funston] took command of the troops ashore whereas Admiral Fletcher, with all the sailors, re-embarked. Currently, there are in Vera Cruz 11,000-12,000 men, which is a lot to occupy the town but not enough to go to Mexico [i.e. Mexico City] .
A FORMIDABLE FLEET At Vera Cruz the Americans have concentrated all their naval forces of the Atlantic, under the command of Admiral Badger. He had raised his flag on the 27,000 ton battleship Arkansas. Vice-Admiral Fletcher, chief of the 1st Division, is still on the Florida. With him are the battleships North Dakota and Utah, all three of 21,000 tons. ”