The Battle of Fort Dipitié was fought on 24–25 October 1915 as part of the First Caco War during United States occupation of Haiti. United States Marines and rebel Haitians, known as Cacos, fought near the Grande Rivière du Nord which resulted in the destruction of Fort Dipitié, an outpost of Fort Capois.

Background

By 1915, Cacos insurgents had been disrupting Haitian politics for generations.[1] The Cacos descended from runaway slaves and lived in quasi-military tribes in the northern and central mountains of Haiti. They sustained themselves by banditry, but also acted as mercenaries in the employ of any revolutionary faction that wanted to threaten the National Palace, often changing sides abruptly to work for the highest bidder. The Cacos had threatened the Haitian government three times in 1914, prompting President Oreste Zamor to request military assistance from the United States.[2]

Battle

On 22 October 1915, Colonel Littleton Waller, commander of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, dispatched Major Smedley Butler on a reconnaissance mission with orders to make a large circular sweep around Fort Liberté, in the mountainous jungle of northeastern Haiti, to root out any Cacos insurgents. On 24 October, the force of 40 mounted Marines paid a Haitian guide to lead them to Fort Capois, a major Cacos stronghold. As the Marines forded the Grande Rivière du Nord in total darkness near Fort Capois, they were ambushed by some 400 Cacos with rifles and machetes.[1] Although the Marines managed to escape to high ground and set up a defensive perimeter, the horse carrying their only machine gun had been killed. Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Daly took it upon himself to retrieve the weapon from the river, as Butler recalled:

Aftermath

This action resulted in the capture and destruction of Fort Dipitié, with the Marines suffering only one man wounded. For their actions in battle, Upshur, Ostermann, and Daly received the Medal of Honor; the award was Daly's second, having earned his first in the Boxer Rebellion fifteen years prior.[4][5] Major Butler and his men returned to base at Cap-Haïtien, and in the next few weeks proceeded to capture Forts Capois, Selon, and Berthol before the decisive Battle of Fort Rivière, the engagement which ended the First Caco War.[6][7]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Langley, Lester (2002). The Banana Wars: United States Intervention in the Caribbean, 1898–1934. Lanham, Marlyand: SR Books. pp. 132–133. ISBN 978-0-8420-5047-0.
  2. 1 2 3 Musicant, Ivan (1990). The Banana Wars: A History of the United States Military Intervention in Latin America from the Spanish-American War to the Invasion of Panama. New York: MacMillan. pp. 160, 193–196. ISBN 0-02-588210-4.
  3. ↑ Thomas, Lowell (1933). Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of Smedley D. Butler. New York: Farrar & Rinehart. p. 194.
  4. ↑ Cerasini, Marc (2002). Heroes: U.S. Marine Corps Medal of Honor Winners. New York: Berkley. p. 95. ISBN 0-425-18159-6.
  5. ↑ "Haiti: US Navy Medal of Honor — Haitian Campaign, 1915". Navy Department Library. Archived from the original on 8 July 2010. Retrieved 15 July 2010.
  6. ↑ Schmidt, Hans (1998). Maverick Marine: General Smedley D. Butler and the Contradictions of American Military History. Lexington, Kentucky: University Press of Kentucky. pp. 80–81. ISBN 0-8131-0957-4.
  7. ↑ Cooney, David M. (1965). A Chronology of the U.S. Navy 1775–1965. New York: Franklin Watts. p. 220.

allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Dipitie