The Battle of Guayacanas was fought on 3 July 1916 between Dominican rebels and the United States during the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic. The Dominicans dug trenches on two hills blocking passage to Santiago and kept up

single-shot Single-shot firearms are firearms that hold only a single round of ammunition, and must be reloaded manually after every shot. The history of firearms began with single-shot designs, then multi-barreled designs appeared, and eventually many cent ...

fire against the automatic weapons of the Americans before the Americans drove them off. Joseph A. Glowin, a corporal, was awarded the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor ...

for his bravery during the action.

Background

Triggered by concerns about possible

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use of the Dominican Republic as a base for attacks on the United States during World War I, the US Government began a military occupation and administration of that country in 1916. Poorly armed Dominican rebels tried to take on the US Marines occupying the Dominican Republic in conventional battles. The first battle occurred at "Las Trincheras" (the trenches), a defensive position that the Dominicans called "

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

." The Marines used field artillery to bomb the trenches, machine guns positioned behind the troops to suppress the rifle fire of the rebels, and then quick bayonet rushes to rout the rebels from the trenches. The Marines sustained five dead. They found no dead or weapons in the trenches but later discovered five rebel bodies in the nearby woods.

Battle

The Americans marched on Santiago City, a hotbed for the resistance. 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 the

. 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

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Guayacanas, Battle of Banana Wars Battles involving the Dominican Republic United States Marine Corps in the 20th century 20th century in the Dominican Republic Conflicts in 1916 Dominican Republic–United States military relations Military history of the Dominican Republic 1916 in the Dominican Republic Santiago de los Caballeros July 1916 events Battles and operations of the United States occupation of the Dominican Republic (1903–1924)

Background

Battle

See also

References

Bibliography