Ingham Incident

Ingham Incident
USRC Ingham while serving in the Texas Navy.
Date June 14, 1835; 181 years ago (1835-06-14) Location Gulf of Mexico, off Brazos Santiago, Texas Result United States victory
Belligerents
United States	Mexico
Commanders and leaders
Ezekiel Jones	Juan Calvi
Strength
1 schooner	1 schooner
Casualties and losses
none	none 1 schooner grounded

The Ingham Incident, or the Montezuma Affair, was a naval battle fought in 1835, the first between Mexico and the United States. The Mexican warship Montezuma patrolled the coast of Texas to prevent the smuggling of contraband into the territory. During the cruise, the Mexicans captured the American merchant ship Martha and later the Texan ship Columbia which led to a response by the Revenue Service cutter USRC Ingham. A bloodless engagement was fought on June 14, and ended when the Montezuma was purposely run aground to prevent capture.

The conflict began at Galveston on May 7 of 1835 before the outbreak of fighting between the Texans and the Mexicans. That day the Mexican Navy schooner Montezuma, under the command of Lieutenant Juan Calvi, seized the American schooner Martha for "customs violations" and because the passengers were not carrying passports, they were arrested and put in the brig. Two of the passengers, Thomas J. and Francis S. Early, were the sons of the former Governor Peter Early of Georgia. The brothers recalled that on previous encounters in Mexico the authorities did not ask for passports so they assumed they didn't need one. Ten days later Calvi captured the Texan ship Columbia for similar infractions. Both incidents sparked anger in Texas and a debate on whether the seizures were legal. The smuggling of contraband into Texas had become a major concern to the Mexicans by 1835, according to author William R. Wells II, most American and Texan ships were involved in the illegal trade and openly defiant of the Mexican laws against such activities. Mill equipment owned by Robert Wilson was part of the cargo aboard the Martha when she was taken. Wells sent a message about the outrage to Lieutenant Colonel William B. Travis.

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