Millard Fillmore's Bay of Pigs
Before there was ever the Bay of Pigs, there was an earlier incident of a failed US invasion of Cuba. It took place in August of 1851 on the watch of President Millard Fillmore.
In 1851, following the Compromise of 1850, many southerners were eager to expand the territory in which slavery was lawful. Many of the territories in which the potential for expansion of the institution of slavery were no longer an option because of the Compromise, so southerners with an eye to expansion of slavery looked to the Caribbean. A Venezuelan named Narciso López gathered a small force of Americans, with the intention of launching an invasion of Cuba.
President Fillmore tried to block the proposed invasion, but he was nevertheless unsuccessful. In August 1851, López once departed for Cuba from New Orleans with several hundred men, mostly southern pro-slavery Americans. His "invasion force" arrived in Cuba and López took one half of his expedition to march inland. The other half, commanded by Colonel William Crittenden (a former US Army lieutenant), remained on the northern coast to protect supplies. The local support which López had counted on did not materialize in spite of his appeals. He found himself outnumbered and surrounded by Spanish forces. López and many men were captured. Crittenden's forces shared the same fate. The Spanish executed most of the prisoners, sending others to work in mining labor camps. Those executed included many Americans, Colonel Crittenden, and Lopez himself.
The execution of López and his soldiers caused outrage in both the northern and southern United States. Many who did not support the expedition found the Spanish treatment of military prisoners brutal. The strongest reaction occurred in New Orleans, where a mob attacked the Spanish consulate. Faced with the inability of slavery to move southward, many Southerners turned away from expansion and talked instead of secession.
The incident caused political embarrassment for Fillmore because southerners felt he should have supported the invasion, while northerners were upset at his apology to the Spanish. The French and British dispatched warships to the region in response.
In spite of all of this, Fillmore believed that control of Cuba, in his words, "might be almost essential to our safety."
In 1851, following the Compromise of 1850, many southerners were eager to expand the territory in which slavery was lawful. Many of the territories in which the potential for expansion of the institution of slavery were no longer an option because of the Compromise, so southerners with an eye to expansion of slavery looked to the Caribbean. A Venezuelan named Narciso López gathered a small force of Americans, with the intention of launching an invasion of Cuba.
President Fillmore tried to block the proposed invasion, but he was nevertheless unsuccessful. In August 1851, López once departed for Cuba from New Orleans with several hundred men, mostly southern pro-slavery Americans. His "invasion force" arrived in Cuba and López took one half of his expedition to march inland. The other half, commanded by Colonel William Crittenden (a former US Army lieutenant), remained on the northern coast to protect supplies. The local support which López had counted on did not materialize in spite of his appeals. He found himself outnumbered and surrounded by Spanish forces. López and many men were captured. Crittenden's forces shared the same fate. The Spanish executed most of the prisoners, sending others to work in mining labor camps. Those executed included many Americans, Colonel Crittenden, and Lopez himself.
The execution of López and his soldiers caused outrage in both the northern and southern United States. Many who did not support the expedition found the Spanish treatment of military prisoners brutal. The strongest reaction occurred in New Orleans, where a mob attacked the Spanish consulate. Faced with the inability of slavery to move southward, many Southerners turned away from expansion and talked instead of secession.
The incident caused political embarrassment for Fillmore because southerners felt he should have supported the invasion, while northerners were upset at his apology to the Spanish. The French and British dispatched warships to the region in response.
In spite of all of this, Fillmore believed that control of Cuba, in his words, "might be almost essential to our safety."