Battle of Guayacanas | |||||||
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Part of the Banana Wars | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Dominican Republic | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Holland Smith Joseph A. Glowin |
Desiderio Arias | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
~800 marines | 80 militia | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 killed, 7 wounded | 27 dead |
The Battle of Guayacanas was an engagement between Dominican rebels, who wanted the Americans to leave their country, and the United States. Joseph A. Glowin, a corporal, was awarded the Purple Heart for his bravery during the action.
The Americans marched on Santiago City, a hotbed for the resistance. However, Colonel Pendelton's unit came under fire from Dominican soldiers and battle began. However, the Americans advancing on the Dominican positions did not record any injuries during the initial action. To aid the US Marines under fire, Cpl. Glowin fired his machine-gun and was only pulled out of battle when forced to, a brave action that decorated him with the USA's greatest military award. After his evacuation, Sergeant Roswell Winans brought up more machine-gun positions to fight off the enemy. This gave the Dominicans more targets to fire at. The captain in charge of the pit was killed and the others wounded. Winans was awarded an award as well, for firing a Colt machine-gun at the enemy even when it was jammed. Soon, two more gun positions were formed and the Dominicans fled. The 27th and 29th divisions gave chase and killed the enemy commander, routing the Dominican rebels.