Battle of Guayacanas
This article includes a list of references, related reading, or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (April 2018) |
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (April 2018) |
Battle of Guayacanas | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Part of the Banana Wars | |||||||
| |||||||
Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Dominican Republic | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Holland Smith Joseph A. Glowin | Desiderio Arias | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
800 marines 2+ machine guns | 80 militia | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
2 killed 7 wounded | 27 killed |
The Battle of Guayacanas was fought on July 3, 1916 between Dominican rebels and the United States during the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic. Joseph A. Glowin, a corporal, was awarded the Purple Heart for his bravery during the action.
Battle
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 (Medal of Honour).
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 a medal 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.
References
- Langley, Lester D. (1983), The Banana Wars: An Inner History of American Empire, 1900-1934, Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, ISBN 0-8131-1496-9