Naval Battle of Campeche

Part of Texas-Mexican Wars and Yucatan Rebellion

The Texan sloop-of-war Austin.

Date	April 30–May 16, 1843
Location	near Campeche, Mexico
Result	Texas and Yucatan tactical victory Mexican strategic victory

Belligerents

Republic of Texas

Republic of Yucatán

Mexico

Commanders and leaders

Edwin Ward Moore

James D. Boylan

Tomas Marin

Strength

1 sloop-of-war
1 brig
2 schooners
5 gunboats

3 steamers
2 brigs
2 schooners

Casualties and losses

7 killed
24 wounded

30 killed
55 wounded

The Naval Battle of Campeche took place on April 30, 1843, and May 16, 1843. The battle featured the most advanced warships of its day, including the Mexican steamer Guadalupe and the equally formidable Moctezuma which engaged a squadron of vessels from the Republic of Yucatan and the Republic of Texas. The latter force consisted of the Texas Navy flagship sloop-of-war Austin, commanded by Commodore Edwin Ward Moore, the brig Wharton, and several schooners and five gunboats from the Republic of Yucatán, commanded by former Texas Navy Captain James D. Boylan. Texas had declared its independence in 1836 but by 1843 Mexico had refused to recognize it. In Yucatán, a similar rebellion had begun and was fought off-and-on from 1836 to 1846. The battle ended in a combined Yucatecan and Texan victory. A scene from this battle is engraved on the cylinder of every Colt 1851 Navy and 1861 Navy revolver.

Commodore Edwin Ward Moore had been waging a campaign against Mexican interests in the Gulf and disrupting commerce, because it was thought the Mexican army was planning an amphibious assault on Texas in order to recapture the province. Moore could only fully refit and rearm his ships by expending his own funds when he put in at New Orleans. The government of Texas refused him more funds and Sam Houston ordered him back to Texas so the fleet could be sold. The fleet, upon being put up for auction in Galveston, was not sold at that time because the citizens of Galveston rioted, thereby preventing the auction. Moore disregarded Houston's orders, and allied himself with the government of the Republic of Yucatan, which was then under siege from the central Mexican government. Yucatan paid Texas $8,000 a month for the services of the Texas Navy. Moore, now fully funded, sailed to lift the Mexican naval blockade of the port of Campeche.

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