Bombing of Greytown
During the bombing of Greytown on July 13, 1854, the Nicaraguan town of Greytown (Spanish: San Juan del Norte ) was completely destroyed by shelling from the US warship USS Cyane . The reason for the bombing was the arrest of a US citizen. It is the first bombing of an unfortified coastal city that has been clearly condemned internationally as an atrocity of war.
background
The city of Greytown (now San Juan de Nicaragua) with around 500 inhabitants was on one of the most important trade routes between the Atlantic and Pacific. Numerous English and American traders, among others, had settled in the city.
On March 15, 1854, the ship Routh sailing under the American flag rammed a Nicaraguan canoe on the Río San Juan , which sank and a Nicaraguan was killed. Greytown police arrested the captain of the US ship, while one of the guests on board the Routh , US Ambassador Solon Borland , opposed it. An angry crowd injured Solon Borland. The US government demanded a generously calculated compensation of 24,000 USD . In the event that the requirement is not met within 24 hours, Greytown was threatened with destruction. On July 13, 1854, the USS Cyane shelled Greytown and completely destroyed about 80 houses. The commander of the US warship, Commander Hollins, dispatched marines ashore after the bombardment to set fire to the houses that had not been destroyed. There were no deaths from the bombardment, as the city residents had previously fled to the surrounding forests.
Reactions to the bombing
The commander of the British warship HMS Bermuda , also lying in the Bay of Greytown, protested against the bombardment and warned the commander of the American warship, Commander Hollins, in writing that the inhabitants of Greytown were defenseless against the bombardment. He called the bombing a procedure " without precedent among civilized nations " (unprecedented between civilized states). Commander Hollins, on the other hand, pointed out that the approach to the city was appropriate, as the city had features of a pirate's nest. The US press reacted in a similar way to the British commander, condemning the bombing as the wanton destruction of a defenseless city. Foreign governments reacted in a similar way, sending some very sharp protest notes to the US government. The US President Franklin Pierce therefore commented in detail on the incident in his annual address on December 4, but defended the attack by calling Greytown an aggressive pirate's nest.
A codification under international law that unfortified cities should not be bombed only came about during the Brussels Conference of 1874 . The reason was not the bombing of Greytown, but the bombing of Valparaíso by the Spanish navy.
supporting documents
literature
- Jan Martin Lemnitzer: War atrocities at sea in the 19th century . In Sönke Neitzel & Daniel Hohrath (eds.): War atrocities: The delimitation of violence in armed conflicts from the Middle Ages to the 20th century , Schöningh, Paderborn 2008, ISBN 978-3-506-76375-4 .
Single receipts
- ↑ Lemnitzer, p. 79
- ↑ Ficha del Municipio San Juan del Norte (PDF; 21 kB)
- ↑ New York Times, August 2, 1854 DESTRUCTION OF SAN JUAN The President of the United States, in reply to resolutions heretofore adopted by both Houses ( Memento of the original from March 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ New York Times, September 15, 1860, THE GREYTOWN BOMBARDMENT ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. RESPONSIBILITY OF NAVY OFFICERS.pdf ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Lemnitzer, p. 80
- ↑ Lemnitz, p. 79
- ↑ Lemnitzer, p. 84
