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'{{Expand Spanish|Ataque del USS Lexington a Puerto Soledad|date=January 2015}} {{operational plan |name =Falklands Expedition |image =[[File:Puerto-Soledad.PNG|250px]] |caption =''A map of historic Puerto Soledad.'' |scope = |planned = |planned_by = |objective = Investigate reports of [[piracy]] |executed =December 1831 |executed_by ={{flag|United States}} |outcome = Evacuation of [[Argentina|Argentine]] colonists from the [[Falkland Islands]] |casualties = }} The '''Falklands Expedition''' occurred in late 1831 when the [[United States]] [[US Navy|Navy]] warship [[USS Lexington (1825)|USS ''Lexington'']], under [[Silas Duncan]], was dispatched to investigate the seizure of two [[whaler]]s at the small [[Argentina|Argentine]] [[colony]] of [[Puerto Soledad]]. Falklands governor Vernet had seized an American ship, ''Harriet'', for violating the colony's claim on local seal hunting grounds. John Davison, master of ''Harriet'', was sent to Buenos Aires for trial but later managed to board the ''Lexington'' and persuade Duncan to set off for the Falklands.<ref name="Wollenberg2000">{{cite book|last=Wollenberg|first=Ken|title=The Bottom of the Map|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HQOLAAAAQBAJ&pg=PT43|date=18 July 2000|publisher=Xlibris Corporation|isbn=978-1-4535-6575-9|pages=43–}}</ref> Accounts vary as to the actions of ''Lexington'' at Puerto Soledad. By some accounts, the sloop bombarded the colony before landing.<ref name="Wollenberg2000"/> Once ashore, American forces recovered property and crewmembers from the seized ships and spiked the colony's guns, and arrested the governor and several other colonists.<ref name="Boot2014">{{cite book|last=Boot|first=Max|title=The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YX7ODQAAQBAJ&pg=PA46|date=11 March 2014|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-465-06493-9|pages=46–}}</ref> Settlers suffering from [[famine]] were evacuated in the ''Lexington'' to the mainland. The Argentine colony was then abandoned which left the islands unsettled and open for [[United Kingdom|British]] [[Reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (1833)|acquisition]]. Historically, the Argentine government has disputed the rights to the islands with the [[United Kingdom]] and it culminated in the [[Falklands War]] of 1982.<ref>[http://www.ussduncan.org/silas_page13.htm Silas Duncan and the Falklands' Incident]</ref> ==See also== *[[Brazil Squadron]] *[[Capture of Port Egmont]] *[[Reassertion of British sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (1833)]] ==References== {{reflist}} [[Category:Maritime incidents in December 1831|Falklands]] [[Category:United States Navy in the 19th century]] [[Category:History of the Falkland Islands]] [[Category:Punitive expeditions of the United States]]'