The Big List Of US Combat EVERYWHERE

Journal perfessor multigeek's Journal: The Big List Of US Combat EVERYWHERE 13

Journal by perfessor multigeek on Tuesday March 07, 2006 @01:31PM

I'm in the last phases of finally getting to a real version 1.0 of my chronology of U.S. military history. I plan to have it done before I next leave for Portland around April 10th. Sorry if the bolding is a bit screwed up. I had to strip out all of my formatting tags and (silly me) I thought I could just reduce it all down to plain and bold and still have it work. Search ad replace ain't always as good as I'd like. Also /. balked at the whole beast going in at once. I'll figure out how to fit the rest in tonight.

So, since you're all such a well informed and, uh, feisty bunch, I'm posting my current rough here to see what you say. Yeah, I know that the Revolutionary, Barbary, Civil and Vietnam (Indochina) Wars are all barely started. Yeah, WWII is even worse. It's a working draft.

Anybody who comes up with a really good suggestion gets a case of the beer of their choice.

Have fun.

-Rustin

Reed&Wright's Combat Chronology.

This chronology lists hundreds of times that the United States military has gone into combat. We have gone over every time a U.S. soldier has stood with hand on trigger and orders to shoot if opposed. Guard duty in "enemy" countries are included. Hurricane relief efforts are not.

Rebel Uprisings
-For decades before 1776, colonists rise up in periodic rebellion, repeatedly defeating small forces of British soldiers and controlling massive stretches of land, as well as courthouses, tax collection, and armories for years at a time. Many also serve as soldiers in the various Frenh-Indian Wars, gaining military experience and a pretty dismal view of life under close British rule.

American Revolutionary War
1775 to 1783 : The United Colonies, Caribbean, and British Coast
Originally hoping to find a compromise, quickly realizing that this will be as total a war as the respective forces can manage, The War of American Independence changes the world, showing for the first time in the modern world that a group of rebels can hold off a great empire and then successfully declare themselves independent.
With fronts reaching well into territory held by others, from contested Indian lands to Spanish Florida, to Canada, the war is intermittent but bloody.
-1775: Bermuda - U.S. ships seize New Providence island, headquarters of the British forces in the Caribbean. They seize supplies and arms, including cannon, that prove crucial to early battles of the Revolutionary War. Later in the war they go back and do it again.>
1775: - riots graduate to combat as the rebels organize under the Continental Congress and formally create a military.
After several confrontations are resolved without bloodshed, the battle of Lexington and Concord 1775: First large scale combat of rebels against British troops, including the siege of Boston
1776: Crossing of Delaware River-Christmas 1776-Washington captures Trenton on December 26th
1777: Princeton-Washington defeated Brits on January 3, 1777.
Saratoga-British Burgoyne was defeated and surrendered on October 17.
Oriskany-British St. Leger was defeated on August 6.
France recognizes the 13 colonies. An alliance with France in 1778.
1778: Brits capture Savannah on December 29, 1778.
1779-Spain joins American Revolution vs. England. September 23,-Benedict Arnold’s plot to surrender West Point to the Brits was revealed.
1780:
1781: British Cornwallis surrenders on October 19 in Virginia.
1782:
1783: Treaty of Paris signed-September 3rd.-

Quasi-War with France
-1779 to 1802: Caribbean and Atlantic
-As a result of the ongoing Napoleonic Wars, France declares that all shipping worldwide must declare its allegiance to France or be declared pro-British and subject to seizure. France then seizes all U.S. ships in French ports, sells their cargoes, and begins to attack American vessels wherever they find them. The U.S., having disbanded its navy at the end of the Revolutionary War, has no way to fight back, thereby resulting in the first Congressional debates about defense funding and the creation of the Constitution-class warships.
To everybody’s amazement, U.S. ships proceed to engage and frequently defeat French vessels, both merchant and military, winning scores of naval battles and seizing over 80 vessels before the French apologize, pay damages, release the ships they hold, and back down.

1786: United States
-Shay’s Rebellion
Fundamentally a fight about what the U.S. government would be, pitting U.S. troops against anarchists and other libertarians, this rebellion has attained a repute disproportionate to its size.

1794: United States
-Whiskey Rebellion
-Considered by many the final confrontation between believers in a loose confederacy and backers of a strong federal government, this series of pitched battles, mostly in the Pennsylvania hills, is led personally at some points by George Washington and involves as large a uniformed U.S. military force as the War of Independence. This rebellion got its name from local fury at new taxes on whiskey, which, for backwoods folk, served less as drink than as currency. After all, carrying a grain crop out to market from the deep hills was ruinously expensive; converted to mash and sold by the jar, the same crop was transportable, storable, and more valuable.

First Barbary War
1801 to 1805 : Algeria, Libya, Tunisia, Morocco
See our note on piracy.
-Since the days of the late Roman Empire several city states along the coast of North Africa had demanded that all shipping passing their land must pay them heavy, or even exorbitant duties. All major trading nations reached accommodations with each local ruler, paying tribute directly to each and everybody in authority.
After the Revolutionary War, U.S. ships are subjected to raiding, including not only cargo, but also entire ships being seized and crews held for ransom, or, in some cases, sold into slavery. U.S. diplomats, amateurs all, try and fail to figure out who and how to pay in the every-shifting regional mix of brothers, viziers, and “people with influence at court”, in the process spending millions of dollars and never long achieving protection anywhere for U.S. ships or even the return of hostages.
Finally, using the experience not only of combat with France and England, but just as importantly, a hundred and fifty years of smuggling past British patrols, U.S. forces go to war with Libya.
TK

1806 to 1810: Gulf of Mexico
-Various combat actions are carried out against privateers, including one platoon crossing the Rio Grande, where they are captured and later released.
In colonial days people spoke of “the Floridas” since the territory was considered so fragmented. Under first Spanish and then briefly French rule, what is now Florida, as well as the area around New Orleans, and what is now southern Georgia, was a patchwork of fiercely-held Seminole territory, settlements of Europeans, enclaves of fugitive former slaves, and pirate bases. No area on the east coast saw so much combat or had it last so long.

1810: Florida
-U.S. troops occupied Spanish territory from the Mississippi to the Pearl River.

1812: Florida
-Amelia Island and other territory occupied by order of President Madison. Later irregularities by troops caused Madison to disavow their actions.

War of 1812
-With the United Kingdom having never entirely accepted the separation of the United States, and the U.S. at war with British-supported and having territorial aspirations on the lucrative resources available in Canada, periods of cool interspersed with small acts of hostility finally became full-fledged war in 1812. Officially, with the end of the Napoleonic wars, the U.K. ended impressment from American ships, the ostensible reason for the war in the first place, though a great deal of time was actually spent in the U.S.-U.K. negotiations on agreements on arming of and trade with Indian tribes.

1813: Florida
-Mobile Bay seized by U.S. troops, thus advancing to the territory sought in the 1810 fighting.

1813-14: Marquesas Islands
As a part of the War of 1812 a small squadron of ships of ships was sent to patrol the Chesapeake Bay and oppose British vessels where they found them. Their orders said that if they missed their rendezvous they were authorized to go further in search of opponents. So they did -- much, much further. In fact, all the way to Asia. So they pretty much went from Maryland to Delaware by way of Indonesia.
After much hard voyaging, they stopped at the Marquesas to finally recuperate and rebuild their ships, working well with one local society but staving off periodic attacks from another by beaching one of their ships for use as a fort. Most of the naval group then left to pursue and attack British shipping. Holding their ground for about a year and briefly declaring the island to be American territory, the remaining sailors were eventually reduced to a force of seven men, who made their desperate way 2,500 miles to present-day Hawaii, where they were seized by British forces.

1813, 1814: Chile
-Sea battles between British and American forces off the Valparaiso coast result in the eventual defeat of U.S. forces.

1814: Florida
-Hostilities between natives and U.S. troops worsen.

1814-25: Gulf of Mexico
-Assorted incidents between pirates and U.S. ships (both merchanters and military).

1815: Algeria
-A fleet attacked Algiers and then carried out a show of force at Tripoli - both local governments capitulated and paid indemnities for earlier actions.
In other words, while the U.S. was busy with the War of 1812 the pirates of the Barbary Coast stopped keeping the terms of their treaty and went back to stealing and pillaging. So once things settled down the U.S. sent a force to *ahem* remind them of their promise.

Note: Seminoles: Every time that you see incidents of U.S. actions versus the Seminoles you should keep in mind that the Seminoles had long since provided refuge for runaway slaves, not only allowing them to stay, but intermarrying and bringing them into the culture. If you look at images of the Seminole leaders of this time and later a good many of them look considerably more like Kofi Annan than Geronimo.
This being the case, the fierce and bitter fighting, endorsed by the federal government, was in a very real sense, a United States military effort to preserve slavery, as well as a continuing effort to seize rich farmland then in Indian lands.
-See our note on Indian wars.

1816: Florida
-U.S. soldiers attacked and destroyed Nicholl’s Fort, known as Negro Fort, on grounds that it had served as a base for raiders.

1816 to 1818: Florida
-First Seminole War
-A full-scale war including the only naval attack by Indian tribes against a U.S. military force. A force of 3,000 U.S. soldiers marched into Spanish territory, Amelia Island, Pensacola -See our note on Indian wars.

Note: Beginning of west coast activity Russia had ships going as far south as present-day California while Spanish ships went as far north as Washington. Local Indians dealt with both. Our childhood tales of Lewis and Clarke raised us on the false premise that they were the first “civilized” people ever to voyage out west. In truth, once out of the interior, their trips had a lot more in common with Marco Polo then they did Neil Armstrong.

1818: Oregon
-The U.S.S. Ontario sailed to the base of the Columbia River, contesting Russian and Spanish claims to the region.

1822 to 1824: Cuba
-The U.S. navy repeatedly lands on the northwest coast in pursuit of pirates . Just in 1823, actions occurred on April 8th and 13th as well as October 23rd and 24th.

1824: Puerto Rico
-U.S. forces land at Fajardo, where a force of 200 men attacked the town to reach pirates and force an apology from the town for having insulted U.S. officers.

1825: Cuba
-U.S. and British forces land together at Sagua LaGrande to capture pirates .

1827: Greece
-In October and November, the U.S. landed forces on several Greek islands in pursuit of pirates.

1831 to 1832: Falkland Islands
-Repeated landings during an investigation of the capture of three U.S. sealing ships in the area.

1832: Sumatra
-Four days of assaults to punish the town of Quallah Battoo for their support of pirates.

1833: Argentina
-A force landed at Buenos Aires to protect U.S. interests during civil disorder.

1835 to 1842: Florida
Second Seminole War
-Five thousand Seminoles, fighting from the protection of the deep swamps and with the support of many non-Seminole locals, fight off the U.S. Army, Marines, and Navy. This battle is noteworthy for such unique ventures as the only naval assault by an Indian force against U.S. troops. Eventually the U.S. forces break the tribe and three thousand Seminoles are forcibly moved to Oklahoma, enduring terrible conditions as they create their own Trail of Tears. Many refuse to surrender and move to Mexico, where they remain for generations but eventually mostly emigrate back to the United States. The U.S. spends over forty million dollars on this war, which played a large role in American perception of Indian resistance at the time.
-See our note on Indian wars.

1835 to 1836: Peru
-Marines are posted in Callao and Lima to protect U.S. interests during a period of civil disorder.

1836: Mexico
-U.S. forces occupy disputed territory around Nacodoches during the Texas War of Independence, with orders to attack south in the event of any Indian attack

1838 and 1839: Sumatra
-More attacks on Quallah Battoo and Mukki in retaliation for local pirate activity.

1839 to 1842: U.S.-Canada Border
-From the days of the War of Independence on, questions remain about the location of the U.S.-Canada border. In 1839, debates gets hot on both sides and the Maine government raises money to pay for ten thousand troops to hold the line. The British start to post redcoats on their side while the U.S. sends federal troops backed by Congressional approval. Things don’t settle down until the Webster-Asburton Treaty is signed in London, settling the eastern section of the border once and for all. (The western border dispute, over cosovereignty with the British Empire over the Oregon Territory, is settled at last in 1846, with the Oregon Treaty. This territorial squabble gave rise to James K. Polk’s campaign slogan “54-40 or Fight!” in 1844.)

1840: Fiji Islands
-Retaliation for attacks on U.S. exploring and surveying parties.

1841: Pacific Islands
-Landing and assault to avenge the killing of a U.S. sailor by locals; this incident followed a landing on Upola Island, Samoa.

1842: Mexico
-A squadron patrolling the California coast occupies first Monterey and then San Diego, in each case in the mistaken belief of an ongoing war.

1843: China
-Marines and sailors land after a conflict at the Canton trading post.

NOTE: Chinese combat: From this period forward we see repeated brief landings, postings, and “retaliation”. This is in large part due to two accelerating phenomena -- the rapid increase of American trade, and a steady influx of missionaries. Seeing locals as “degenerate heathens” and religious institutions such as temples, ceremonies, and monks as “pernicious servants of Satan”, missionaries regularly assault priests, break up funerals and weddings, burn down temples, and bludgeon locals who are considered “insolent.” When this activity exists side by side with American traders actively encouraging the opium trade, it is not difficult to see how American citizens frequently get themselves into situations requiring the U.S. Marines to prevent their death by mob assault, if not summary execution by local authorities.
Over the next hundred and ten years our soldiers, in particular our Marines, who are almost always vastly outnumbered and trekking deep into territory unknown to them, compile, by the standards of the time and place, a record of honor, stalwartness, and bravery. Unfortunately the citizens and officials they are defending do not.

1844: Mexico
-U.S. forces used to bulwark Texas against Mexico. Irregularities of the action later lead to a Senate inquiry.

1845: Vietnam
-On a regional goodwill tour, the U.S.S. Constitution stops in Da Nang, loading supplies and meeting with local rulers. The captain, informed of an imprisoned French missionary bishop, demands his release, shelling Da Nang, taking three local mandarins hostage, and sending troops into the city. The government stands firm and when Vietnamese troops arrive, holding the high ground around Da Nang harbor and pointing heavy guns at the lone American warship, the mandarins are released and the Constitution sails off.
Years later the U.S. government apologizes and pays reparations. Meanwhile the bishop’s efforts are the key to the French government’s decision to undermine and eventually overthrow the Vietnamese government, creating the harshly exploitative regime of French Indochina, whose ruthless behavior eventually leaves us back there defending the French after World War II.

First U.S.-Mexican War
1846 to 1848
-From the founding days of the United States on, there was always debate about how far U.S. boundaries should extend and how aggressively these boundaries should be moved. In fact, (former Senator and Vice-President) Aaron Burr’s real offense, in the eyes of many of his contemporaries, was his role in an attempt to create another nation along the borders of “Spanish Florida”.
When the United States government declares Texas independent of Mexico, supporting a claim that Mexico considers utterly invalid, war is inevitable. Over the next year, both the U.S. and Mexico move forces into position, staking out claims to not just Texas, but all of what is now California, New Mexico, Nevada, and, in fact, much of the American southwest.

1849: Greece
-After extensive attempts at negotiations, a naval force rescues Martin Koszta, a naturalized American seized by Austrians for political crimes.

1851: Johanns Island
-An attack in retaliation for the imprisonment of a U.S. ship’s captain.

1852 to 1853: Argentina
-A Marine presence is maintained in Buenos Aires during a period of civil disorder.

1853 and 1854: Japan
Admiral Perry’s mission
-Long held off and limited to absolute minimal interactions, the U.S. becomes ever more determined to open Japan to Western ships, not only for trade but to get coaling stations for the new formidable but voracious steam ships. Admiral Perry’s show of force followed by negotiations includes building not only a telegraph system but an entire small railroad to show the court both our military might and the advantages of our trade. The Shogun eventually concedes but it will take decades of shows of force and military action to turn this treaty to reality.

1854: China
-Presence in various locations during civil disorder for about two months.
July, 1854: Nicaragua
-San Juan del Norte razed to avenge an insult to the U.S. Minister to Nicaragua.
1855: China
-Troops posted during civil disorder in Shanghai as well as multiple encounters with pirates near Hong Kong.
1855: Fiji Islands
-Troops land seeking reparations for attacks on U.S. citizens.

1855: Uruguay
-Forces are posted in Montevideo during civil disorder.

1856: Panama
-Forces are posted during another civil disturbance.

1856: China
-Marines are posted for two months at Canton during civil disturbance as well as retaliation for an attack on a U.S. vessel.

1857: Nicaragua
-U.S. Navy and Marines protect the retreat of William Walker, the Vanderbilt-backed, would-be absolute ruler of Nicaragua. Later U.S. forces intercept Walker’s second attempt.

1857 to 1858: U.S. Territories
Utah (“Deseret”) Occupation
See our note on occupations.
-After years of mutual disregard and growing U.S. rhetorical belligerence, U.S. troops occupy the territory claimed by the Mormons as their sovereign nation of Deseret. Many Mormons retreat out of Salt Lake City and other centralized areas, destroying their own farms as they retreat, leaving U.S. troops occupying mile after mile of abandoned, smoking ruins. The U.S. enforces laws against polygamy and other “blasphemies”, U.S. and Mormon forces each engage in occasional small raids, and after a year the Mormons concede conditional defeat and U.S. troops withdraw.

1858: Uruguay
-Marines are posted in Montevideo during civil unrest.

1858: Fiji Islands
-Troops land and attack in retaliation for the deaths of two U.S. citizens.

1859: Mexico
-200 U.S. troops cross into Mexico in pursuit of Cortina, an outlaw.

1859: Paraguay
-A show of force to get redress for a U.S. survey vessel attacked in 1855.

1859: China
-One month posting near Shanghai during a civil disturbance.

1860: Zaire
-An anti-slave trader patrol seizes several ships.

1860: Angola
-A brief posting at Kissembo during civil disturbance.

1860: Colombia
-Postings at the Bay of Panama during a revolution.

The Civil War
-(Sometimes called The War Between The States)
1861-1865: United States, U.S. territories, and along shipping lanes worldwide
-Long foreshadowed, in 1861 the southeastern U.S. states declared themselves no longer a part of the nation. This set off the most lethal conflict ever to occur on American soil.
While fought primarily on U.S. territory, the sea battles of the Civil War stretched all over the world, exhibiting the truly cosmopolitan nature of U.S. interests.

1862: United States
-Sioux (Santee) Uprising (Minnesota)
-See our note on Indian wars.
After decades of yielding and agreeing to ever more extreme treaty terms and the hunting out of their remaining lands, the Sioux, near starvation, rose up in lightning-fast rebellion, themselves slaughtering settlers all across their territory. Settlers fought back and U.S. troops moved in. For a few weeks Sioux fighters aggressively attacked farms, columns of soldiers, and several forts. At first Indian forces won battle after battle but soon government forces overwhelmed them. The entire war had lasted forty-one days.
303 Indians were sentenced to death in the following procedings, in trials lasting from one to fifteen minutes. President Lincoln stepped in and only 38 were actually executed.

1863, 1864: Japan
-Retaliation at Simonoseki for forts and ships having fired upon a U.S. vessel, then a further show of force so that the Prince of Nagato would allow the usage of the Shimonoseki Straits by Western vessels as specified in earlier treaties.

1864: United States
-Sand Creek Massacre
-See our note on Indian wars.
About one hundred Cheyenne families camped near a U.S. fort during extended negotiations are massacred by eight hundred troops, killing everybody they can, mutilating as they go. Perhaps a fifth of the Indians escape. The rest die.
The commander of the attack becomes a local hero, giving speeches at which he shows off trophies, including pubic hairs of Sand Creek dead. He is stripped of rank, forced to resign from the cavalry, and summoned to testify before a congressional commission that declares the attack planned, unmerited, and unjustified. However nobody is ever charged with any crimes. The massacre and its aftermath would serve for decades among native tribes as justification for war.

1865: Colombia
-A posting during a period of civil violence.

1866: China
-An action in retaliation for an attack on the U.S. consul at Newchwang and as a “protective force” during unrest. Forces land three times this year, at Chwang, Tung Chou Foo, and Shanghai.

1866: Mexico
-100 troops cross the border to obtain the surrender of Matamoras (an outlaw). This act was later repudiated by the U.S. government and an apology tendered.

1867: Nicaragua
-U.S. forces occupy the cities of Managua and Leon.

1867: Taiwan
-A attack in retaliation for the suspected killing of the crew of a U.S. ship.

1868: Japan
-Extensive postings during the revolution that raised the emperor over the Shogun, creating the Meiji power structure later to rise to nationalistic heights in the overrunning of much of Asia during World War II.

1868: Uruguay
-A posting during a civil disturbance.

1868: Colombia
-Posting at Aspinwall during civil disturbances after the death of the Colombian President.

1870: Mexico
See our note on piracy.
-U.S. forces travel 40 miles inland along Rio Tecapan in pursuit of and assault on outlaw ship Forward.

1870: Hawaii
-Troops are sent in to reach the local U.S. consulate to ensure the lowering of the flag to half-mast after the refusal of the local consul to do so.

1871: Korea
-Korean Expedition
Eleven years after the crew of the merchant ship General Sherman was seized and killed for trespassing, a squadron was sent. Landing under fire, 684 U.S. soldiers marched inland, taking 5 coastal forts and seizing arms and supplies, sustaining 3 U.S. deaths, and causing 243 Korean.

1873 to 1896: Mexico
-Numerous border crossings are made in both directions in pursuit of outlaws. These actions are legitimized by both sides after a 1882 treaty.

1873: Colombia
-Several postings at the Bay of Panama during civil disturbances.

1874: Hawaii
-A posting to protect U.S. interests during the coronation of the king.

1876: Mexico
-A very brief posting to maintain control of the town of Matamoras.

1877: United States
-Nez Perce War a.k.a. Chief Joseph’s War
-See our note on Indian wars.
After gold is found on Nez Perce lands, the U.S. yet again “renegotiates”. A number of bands, led by the twenty-three year old Chief Joseph, declare that they were not aware of the latest treaty talks, were not represented there and are not bound by the new terms. When told to comply anyway they take up arms and soon resolve to travel to possible allies and, men, women, children, and all, engage in a 1,300 mile journey, fighting periodic battles with intercepting forces of cavalry and civilian volunteers.
They do remarkably well but thirty miles south of the Canadian border they are caught by surprise and decimated by an assault by the combined forces of the several cavalry troops. Promised the chance to return to near his homelands, Joseph surrenders, citing the risk the tribe's vulnurable position, and they spend the rest of the century in exile, first at Leavenworth, Kansas, then in dry eastern Washington, only a few hundred miles from their lush former territory.

1877: United States
-Federal troops combat strikers against railroad companies and attempt to quell associated riots. The first combat, in Pittsburgh, leaves 26 demonstrators dead.

1882: Egypt
-A posting (primarily at Alexandria) during civil disturbances and warfare between Egyptians and the British Empire.

1885: Panama
-Extensive military presence throughout the country to guard valuables in transit across Panama and on Panama Canal Co. grounds during civil disturbances.

1888: Korea
-A posting in Seoul during an expected period of unrest.

1888 to 1889: Samoa
-A four month posting during a civil disturbance and to counter a potential German seizure. Tensions rise and U.S., German, and British fleets increase in both size and beligerance until a hurricane comes and destroys all three fleets, leaving only one German and one British ship afloat. This disaster brings all sides to their senses and, hence to the treaty table.

1888: Haiti
-An action to force the Haitian government to free a U.S. ship seized for violation of an ongoing blockade.

1889: Hawaii
-A posting during a revolution as forces hoping to preserve Hawaii’s autonomy battle forces, funded and supplied by large growers, backing a more commercial orientation and more U.S.-looking government.

1890: Argentina
-A naval force lands at Buenos Aires to protect the consulate.

1891: Chile
-Forces land at Valparaiso during civil disturbance surrounding a United States ship Baltimore.

1891: Haiti
-Posting to protect U.S. interests at Navassa Island, a source of guano used as fertilizer.

1891: Hawaii
-Marines land to support the “provisional government” under control of Sanford Dole (yes, of Dole Fruit), fronting for a coalition of American and British agricultural interests angry at the “uncooperative” attitude of the Hawaiian monarchy - an action later repudiated by the U.S. government.

1891: Bering Seas
-Three U.S. warships with sizable Marine detachments patrol the region to prevent seal poaching by ships from several countries, most notably Britain.

1892: United States
-Johnson County War
Conflicts between an alliance of large cattle ranches and various independents, rustlers, and “troublemakers&rdquo builds until a three day battle between the outlaws and a three hundred man army is broken up by the arrival of the 6th Cavalry, sent to intervene by President Harrison.

1894 to 1895: China
-Marines land at Tientsin and advance all the way to Beijing under light fire during the Sino-Japanese War. A naval ship is beached and used as a fort at Newchwang.

1894: Nicaragua
-A posting in Corinto during civil disturbances.

1894: United States
-Troops occupy Chicago as the city collapes into near anarchy, working with local police and militias of irregulars during rioting surrounding the Pullman railroad strike.

1894 to 1896: Korea
-Marines are posted at the U.S. legation for the duration of unrest surrounding the Sino-Japanese War.

1894: United States
-Marine and Army troops guard the Southern Pacific Railroad during a strike.

1894: Nicaragua
-U.S. forces land at Bluefields (a strategic port) during a civil disturbance.

1895: Colombia
-Troops land to protect U.S. interests at Bocas del Toro during an attack by outlaws.

1898: Nicaragua
-A posting during civil disturbances at San Juan del Sur.

Spanish-American War
1898-1902: Cuba, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Philippines
See our note on occupations.
-Seeking to flex new military might, eager to fulfill its “Manifest Destiny” of bringing modern Christian democratic principles to the world, the U.S is eager for an excuse to attack the remaining territories of a Spanish Empire many Americans had long considered to be decadent, slothful, not to mention Popish,” and fully in need of a strong, firm American hand up. Several years of increasing rebellion within the Spanish territories raise the level of Congressional debate about what form U.S. involvement should take.
When the U.S.S. Maine explodes while anchored in Spanish waters (for reasons still unproven, though current evidence suggests a coal explosion) the U.S. promptly declares war and sets out to correct what is seen as a long-standing and eminently fixable problem.

1898: Cuba
-The U.S. has considerable trouble taking Cuba, losing more troops to disease then combat. This part of the Spanish American War is best known as the site of charge of The Rough Riders, Teddy Roosevelt’s famed collection of heroes and oddballs. More recent analysis suggests that much of the record of this invasion was grossly distorted, including the Rough Riders’ charge.

1898: Puerto Rico
-Taken by American forces and a U.S. protectorate ever since.

1900 to 1916: Philippines
-Philippine Campaigns
-Promising to back Philippine independence during the Spanish American War, the U.S. reneged after Spain’s defeat, provoking fierce resistance and widespread U.S. opposition. Over 70,000 U.S. troops endured intense jungle combat, mostly in Muslim Mindanao, which did not taper off until 1916, and continued with flare-ups until the 1930’s.

1898 to 1899: China
-Four months of postings at the legation in Beijing and at the consulate at Tientsin during a power struggle between the Dowager Empress and her son.

1899: Nicaragua
-Soldiers posted at San Juan del Norte and later at Bluefields (a key coastal area) during civil disturbances connected to an uprising led by General Juan Reyes.

1899: Samoa
-Posting during a civil disturbance due to a struggle over the throne.

1901: China
-Troops move in during a period of unrest.

1901 and 1902: Colombia
-Postings at Bocas del Toro, with the U.S. military used as armed guards for two months on all trains crossing the Isthmus, and other postings during a civil war.

1903 - 1904: Ethiopia
-A force of twenty-five Marines act as a guard and escort for the Consul during treaty negotiations.

1903 - 1914: Panama
See our note on occupations.
-Ostensibly to protect U.S. concerns during the war of independence from Colombia, U.S. troops also serve as support for Panamanian forces, preventing any significant actions by the Colombian military. With the entire independence movement coordinated from the White House and a declaration of independence and constitution both written in Washington D.C., little attempt is made to portray the action as anything but a seizure of the region by the U.S. after decades of failed negotiations relating to the building of the Panama Canal.
Years later the U.S., under President Wilson, eventually pays a twenty-five million dollar compensatory claim, but, of course, keeps the canal.

1903: Dominican Republic
-Posting during a civil disturbance.

1903: Honduras
-Postings to create protected zones at the U.S. consulate and steamship wharf.

1903: Syria
-Posting during a civil disturbance.

1904: Algeria
-Show of force to obtain the release of a U.S. citizen held by local outlaws.

1904: Dominican Republic
-Postings at Puerto Plata, Sosua, and Santo Domingo City during civil disturbances.

1904 to 1905: Korea
-A twenty-three month posting at the U.S. legation at Seoul during the Russo-Japanese War.

1906 to 1909: Cuba
See our note on occupations.
-A major U.S. intervention and three year occupation following local civil disturbances.

1907: Honduras
-Three months of postings throughout the country during a war between Honduras and Nicaragua.

1910: Nicaragua
-A reconnaissance mission to Corinto during the civil war, later postings at Bluefields.

1911: China
-Brief postings at the Hankow consulate, Shanghai cable stations, and assorted other locations as the nationalist revolution begins.

1912: Honduras
-U.S. troops land during and after the civil war to prevent the seizure of a U.S.-owned railroad by the government. Troops pull out when the action is disapproved by the U.S. government

1912 - 1941: China
-U.S. forces are maintained at numerous points during the Kuomintang-Imperial and Sino-Japanese hostilities. With a peak strength of over 5,700 soldiers and 44 vessels, major postings included the route from Beijing to the sea, Beijing itself, and treaty ports. In several cases U.S. forces take fire from Japanese aircraft and troops.
Various factions vied for legitimacy from the populace, determined in large part by effective opposition to “treaty ports”. Meanwhile the US decided they were willing to negotiate the treaties, but only once one had emerged and was stable.

1912: Panama
-U.S. troops oversee a local election, including troops on the stand during the later swearing-in.

1912: Cuba
See our note on occupations.
-When a revolution sweeps the country, U.S. Marines move in and garrison twenty-six towns around Guantanamo and Santiago, as well as serving as railroad guards. Postings in Oriente and Havana complete the steps to restore order. All Marines are withdrawn within three months as the area quiets down.

1912 to 1925: Nicaragua
See our note on occupations.
-Troops are posted during an uprising. A small part of the U.S. force remains until 1925 in periodic combat (including air sorties and regular use of artillery) against the forces of General Sandino.

1912: Turkey
-A brief posting at Constantinople during the Balkan War.

1913: Mexico
-Marines land at Ciaris Estero to cover evacuation of U.S. citizens and others from a civil disturbance in Yaqui Valley.

1914: Haiti
-A posting during a civil disturbance.

1914 - 1917: Mexico
-Extended hostilities along the U.S.-Mexico border are set off by the overthrow of the government by General Huerta, whose regime the U.S. refuses to recognize. Combat includes raiding by Pancho Villa, U.S. capture of Vera Cruz, and a march by Pershing well into Mexico.

1914: Dominican Republic
-U.S. naval vessels fire on local forces to halt the bombardment of Puerto Plata and maintain Santo Domingo as a neutral zone.

1914: United States
-A seven month coal mine strike in Ludlow, Colorado had included small pitched battles between strikers blockading the mine and state troops. On April 20th, militia and company-paid irregulars assault the striker’s camp, killing 33. After ten days of widespread fighting, federal troops move in and enforce order.

1915 to 1934: Haiti
See our note on occupations.
-When violence again swells up, putting U.S. citizens as well as U.S. owned businesses at risk, the U.S. military moves in in force, occupying the country, and reorganizing it to a considerable degree. Reducing the local government to a puppet status, the U.S. does not withdraw until President Roosevelt’s Good Neighbor Policy declares a less hands-on approach.
In the years of the occupation, U.S. troops fight an increasingly organized resistance with expeditions out into the hills, during which U.S. forces and forces of locals under U.S. command engage in banditry, summary execution without trial, and looting. Later court inquiries disavow the actions but allow the primary U.S. commanding officer to remain on active duty.

World War One
1918: Belgium, France, Germany, Italy
See our note on occupations.
-Starting as the “War to End War”, the pomp and glory of the vast new armies was quickly eviscerated and dropped into blood-soaked trench mud. In a time when guns could reach far but troops could not, the combat soon ground down into a war of sheer bloody-minded refusal to give in as hundreds of thousands of soldiers at a time were torn to pieces across lengthy, ever-shifting front lines.

The U.S. came in late in the war, initially active only as a naval force protecting convoys, then bringing fresh but undertrained troops who first joined existing battle lines and eventually helped lead the advance against German forces. The only combat on American soil occurs when a German sub lays mines along the coast of Long Island, one of which sinks the cruiser San Diego, killing six.
With the war over, U.S. troops occupy parts of Germany, an occupation that did not entirely end until 1923.
1918 to 1920: Panama
-Troops act as a stabilizing force at Chiriqui during rioting and disorder linked to local elections.

1918 to 1920: Russia
-Opposing the communist Russian revolution
-Following the Bolshevik takeover in Russia, U.S. troops joined English, French, and others in fighting Red forces, both through direct combat and in support of Czarist, Kerenskyite and other indigenous factions. Combat initiated from bases at Archangel (past Finland) & Vladivostok (north of Japan), pressing in from the Northern regions of both the Atlantic and Pacific borders of Russia. With over 11,000 U.S. soldiers, U.S. combat actions continued for over 2 years.

1919: Dalmatia
-Troops act as a neutral force during unrest at Trau between Italians and Serbs

1919: Honduras
-Marines posted at neutral zone during an uprising.

1919: Turkey
-Marines serve as a guard at the U.S. consulate during the Greek occupation of Constantinople.

1920: Guatemala
-Forces are landed to protect the U.S. legation and trade-related assets such as the telegraph cable station during civil disturbances.

1920: United States
-In a far larger repeat of the Ludlow violence, West Virginia miners and company men engage in ever more deadly confrontations including over a hundred small skirmishes and several battles, peaking in the four day Battle of Blair Mountain, as thousands of rebels face off against 1,300 militia and irregulars. 2,100 federal troops move in and the rebels fade back into the hills.

1932: United States
-As the Great Depression worsens, protests by the unemployed occasionally turn violent, but the military plays no role until troops led by Douglas MacArthur and including a unit led by George Patton, attacked an encampment of 20,000 WW I veterans demonstrating for early payment of the Bonus previously promised to them by Congress.

-NOTE: The Phony War - -During this period, though Germany had declared their intent to conquer Europe and establish a thousand year racialist empire and reduce much of Europe to client states, in fact they had merged with Austria, seized Poland, and then stopped. For most of two years the nations of northern Europe crouched behind their defenses and waited, debating more and more about whether or not war would even come. All while the Soviet Russians were waging a brutally violent war with the Finns and the Italians continued their gruesome fighting in Ethiopia.
In Asia, the situation looked much the same, as the Japanese, having declared their intent to create a massive thousand year empire, waged a nightmarish campaign in China, occasionally threatening and very occasionally shooting at U.S. troops who might be in the way.

1940: Antigua, Bahamas, Bermuda, British Guiana, Jamaica, Newfoundland, St. Lucia, Trinidad
-Troops are posted at air and naval bases, known as lend-lease bases, transferred to U.S. hands from Great Britain. One issue is possible assault of U.S. territories being mounted from Vichy-controlled French Caribbean territory.

1941: Greenland
-Taken under U.S. protection against possible Axis attack, keeping it from being used as a forward base by the Nazis.

1941: Iceland
-A sizable force, including 4,000 Marines scheduled for Pacific combat, are sent here to protect against Axis attack.

1941: Germany
-Starting in July, U.S. warships convoyed merchant ships in European shipping lanes, first firing on German subs in September.

1941: Dutch Guiana
-Occupied by U.S. troops, by agreement with the Netherlands government in exile. The U.S. also worked with Brazil to protect the aluminum ore supply from the Suriname mines.

World War Two
-The largest, deadliest, and broadest period of open combat in the history in the world, World War Two was the first truly worldwide conflict, stretching from the North Sea to some of the smallest islands of the Pacific.
While the Pacific and Atlantic campaigns are thought of as events far from our shores, in truth the Japanese seized and held a large chunk of the Alaskan islands for much of the war, defeating U.S. troops to take them and defeating more to hold them. In fact, warfare did reach the forty-eight states, including waves of balloon-mounted bombs dropped into Washington and Oregon states by the Japanese. Only a flawless maintenance of secrecy kept the Japanese from discovering that their bombs were reaching U.S. soil.
A major aspect of the war was the frequent and gruesomely brutal use of amphibious assaults. Wading ashore from unstable, pitching landing craft, frequently in foul weather, in the face of massive enemy fire, U.S. troops took heavily defended positions and then fought their way, a yard at a time, across innumerable Pacific islands and up the beaches of Normandy.
Technology defines every stage as fortified bunkers are assaulted with compact explosives and flame throwers while both sides use radios to swiftly coordinate strikes at any vulnerable spot. As deadly as trench warfare, as unforgiving as Vietnam, called “the meat grinder” by many, it was also the only effective way found to take back territory held not county by county but nation by nation.
1932-1940:-Germany, hit hard by a worldwide depression and demoralized by both defeat in World War I and the punitive terms of their loss, comes under the grip of the Nazi Party, and under Nazi control remilitarizes. The new regime, through a series of astounding pressure plays, manages to take over parts of Poland, then Czechosovakia,
Japan's hypernationalist regime, having taken Taiwan way back in 1895, defeated the Russian Navy in 1904, taken Korea in 1905, and gained control of several Pacific islands, begins a bloody advance into Manchuria in 1931, then China by 1937. By 1938 they have taken Shanghai, Beijing, and Nanjing and announced their intention to conquer all of Asia.
1941:-On December 7th Japan attacks Pearl Harbor, crippling the U.S. Pacific Fleet, and swiftly overruns every U.S. base east of Midway, taking all China bases, the Philippines, and pretty much the entire Pacific island region north of Australia. Through May of 1942, Japanese forces advance and advance and advance again. But on May 4th U.S. and Japanese fleets
1942:- With the war in the Pacific centering on “island-hopping”, the U.S. fights its way closer to the Japanese home islands, with each battle meant to take ground for the airfields and bases needed for the next advance.
1943:-
1944:-Among the actions in Asia, our Marines have considerable success training rebels in Japanese-held territory to fight the Japanese. A particular success is a former academic called Ho Chi Minh.

Normandy Invasion:- U.S., British, and Canadian troops wade ashore
1945:-
Aftermath:-With the war over, the United States emerged as the world’s strongest military power, a condition never truly matched in the sixty years since. As the war drew to a close, enormous attention was paid by the U.S., Soviets, and remaining European powers to who would advance where, not just on grounds of military advantage, but to determine who would control what territory when the war ended. This played a key role in the monumental decision to use nuclear weapons in Japan, thereby not only preventing a land invasion but forestalling a massive imminent Soviet invasion.

1945 to 1947: China
-Fifty thousand additional Marines are sent to bolster the sixty thousand man existing U.S. force in North China as they assist in demobilization and repatriation of Japanese forces and providing extensive support for various non-Communist factions, primarily those under Chiang-Kai Shek, in the fast reigniting civil war. Repatriation is surprisingly peaceful but otherwise the venture is a humiliating failure as Nationalist forces are driven back and back by the canny, persistant, and locally-supported communists.

-NOTE: -1945 to 1989 Cold War Actions: Europe and Russia
While thought of as a period of war by proxy between the NATO Powers (The U.S., England, France, etc.) and the communist bloc (the Soviet Union, China, and their dependencies and satellites) occasionally open combat would occur, or at the least shots would be fired. Best known of these was the continual efforts of Soviets to shoot down U.S. surveillance planes, with the bringing down of Gary Powers’s U2 being the best known. Occasionally shots would be fired across various East-West borders, which resulted in casualties and, rarely, deaths.

1945-47: Italy
-In the poverty and turmoil of post-war conditions, the local communist party, with some help from Russia, seeks to get elected as or simply take over the possible government. The U.S. takes a very active hand in preventing this, including covert actions.

1945-48: Germany
See our note on occupations.
-Though it later settled into the serene peace we now know, the occupation of Germany initially involved periodic violent skirmishes with resistant groups of fascists and others. It took years for the new structures to take hold and prosperity to begin to return.

1945-48: Japan
See our note on occupations.
-As in Germany, the first months of the occupation saw periodic acts of resistance. U.S. forces quickly allied themselves with a number of nationalist factions, working with those factions, later the core of the Yakuza, to impose order in populated areas, obviating the need for “mopping up” in all but the most remote areas.

1946 to 1949: Greece
-United States troops and intelligence take an active role in the Greek civil war, seeking to prevent the establishment of a communist government - the first example of Truman’s “Containment Doctrine”

1946: Philippines
-After the withdrawal of Japanese troops, there was a period of considerable reshuffling of powers. Our troops strongly backed the right wing factions who eventually created the totalitarian regime of Ferdinand Marcos.

1948 - 1949: Germany
The Berlin Airlift
-When Soviet forces seal off Berlin, Western nations create an unprecedented air supply system, bringing in food, medicine, and everything else needed to keep the city running. Operating on short, improvised runways with heavy loads and terrible weather, pilots risk death with every load, with thirty-one U.S., thirty-nine British, and five German pilots dying.

1950: Latvia
-A U.S. Navy privateer airplane flies from Wiesbaden, West Germany, to spy over the Soviet Union with ten people on board. Soviet reconnaissance spots the plane over Latvia and shoots it down.

1950: Puerto Rico
-Jayuya Uprising
See our note on occupations.
-Expecting a crackdown, nationalist forces strike first, seizing a police station. Fighting spreads quickly across the island. Local forces declare martial law and attack Nationalist strongholds but it takes U.S. troops to suppress the rebellion.

Korean War
1950 - 1953: Korea and China
-Responding initially to internal fighting and going in under the United Nations flag, almost six million U.S. soldiers are involved in a bloody yard-by-yard campaign fought mostly against Chinese troops. Pitting relatively small numbers of formidable U.S. soldiers against “human wave” attacks by literally millions of North Korean and Chinese, the UN forces at first are overwhelmed, losing ground until most of the country is in communist hands.
Fought under brutal conditions of cold, lack of supplies, and endless waves of hand-to-hand fighting, this may have been the most nightmarish war for its combatants, communist or Western, since World War I.
The tide turns with the second landing at Incheon (also spelled Inchon), as U.S. forces press back to the Demilitarized Zone and establish the separate nation of South Korea. At the DMZ, intermittent sniping across boundaries continues to result in periodic casualties and deaths right up to today.

1951 - 1956: Latvia
-The U.S. for the first time drops armed agents into a Soviet bloc country with the express mission of undermining the government. Due to intelligence failures, the agents are expected by the Soviets who track them down or lure them in, swiftly killing all of them. Only after five years of failures do the U.S. and Britain determine that their entire intelligence network in Latvia is dead or subverted and shut the project down.

1952: China
-Two U.S. agents are shot down while attempting to retrieve another agent. One is a POW until 1971, the other until 1973.

1953: Nicaragua
-A protective force is posted during yet another civil disorder.

1954: Southeast Asian Islands
-As the posturing between the Maoist government and the United States continues, periodically each side comes right to the edge of open conflict. In a rare case of actual combat, Chinese aircraft fire on U.S. planes searching for survivors of a passenger plane shot down by the Chinese two days earlier. The U.S. craft return fire and down both Chinese planes.

1954: Guatemala
-In May the U.S. Navy stops the Dutch ship Alfhem and forces it to Florida to search it for arms - this was in truth retaliation for the Alfhem having just delivered heavy guns and machine guns to the Guatemalan government the week before. In June the CIA begins small-scale bombing raids in support of a CIA-backed “revolution”.
A CIA pilot is shot down and has to crash land in Mexico. Another U.S. plane bombs and sinks the British freighter Springfjord, for which the U.S. eventually pays 1.5 million dollars to Lloyds as an apology.

1956: China
- A U.S. military reconnaissance plane is shot down by the Chinese while flying over international waters.

1956: Suez Crisis
-When the battle over the Suez breaks out, pitting Middle Eastern hopes of self-determination against the forces of the fast-fading British Empire, U.S. forces move in and evacuate over two thousand Americans from Egypt, Syria, and Israel.

1957-58: Indonesia
-When PEMESTA forces plan a revolution to overthrow their socialist government, the CIA funds and organizes an air force and army, providing transport planes, 15 B 26 bombers w/ 50 caliber guns, 300-400 mercenaries (from the U.S., Taiwan, and the Philippines) and help with logistics. All of this is backed by two U.S. Navy destroyers & several submarines.

1957: China Coast, Quemoy and Matsu
-Chinese forces start to subject the Nationalist-held islands of Quemoy and Matsu to artillery barrages. Eisenhower treats this as a major test of U.S. anti-Communist (resolve and sends the Seventh Fleet to interpose, providing a six carrier battle group that has orders to attack with force to defend any further action against the islands. The Mao government ceases the attacks.

1958: Lebanon
-As the factionalism that will eventually destroy Lebanon first breaks down into civil war and surrounding countries threaten to invade, the local government seeks and gets U.S. assistance. Moving in with three Marine battalions, an airborne brigade, a strike group, and three carriers providing close support, the U.S. creates a show of force that stops the civil war and buys some more years of peace.

The War in Indochina
(Including the Vietnam War and warfare in Laos, Cambodia, and the surrounding region)
(1959-1975)
See our note on occupations.
-Starting with a small-scale and utterly secret war in Laos, the U.S. moved into Indochina gradually, expanding time and again the fight to prevent communist forces from seizing the area.
Until the shocking defeat of elite French forces at Dien Bien Phu, the focus continued to be on support of the French. After that, training and support of forces of the South Vietnamese regime. U.S. soldiers do not take a significant combat role until
Combat does not end in Laos until TK, in Cambodia until 1974, in Vietnam until 1975.

1960: Zaire
-Joseph Mobutu launches a coup backed by the United States government. U.S. military forces provide key assistance.

1960: Guatemala
-A rebellion by the local military is suppressed by Camp Trax (Bay of Pigs trainees) troops backed up by a U.S. helicopter carrier, 5 destroyers, Amphibious Squadron 10, and 2000 U.S. Marines.

1961 - 1963: Cuba
-After the totalitarian Batista regime was overthrown, U.S. forces, mostly by proxy, attempted to set off a counterrevolution, most notably with the famously fumbled Bay Of Pigs landings. These actions faded down to periodic harassment as it became clear that a direct military assault was not considered a viable option.
With the discovery of Soviet nuclear missiles being based in Cuba, the U.S. demands the removal of the missiles and institutes a blockade. This blockade continues until June of the next year.

1964: Panama
See our note on occupations.
-Massive riots cross over into the Canal Zone as Panamanians protest U.S. dominance of the area -- later negotiations set the stage for the eventual transfer of the Canal Zone to Panama.

1965 - 1966: The Dominican Republic
See our note on occupations.
-U.S. forces invade and seize control during “civil disturbance”, in reality preventing an election expected to result in victories by leftist candidates. These occupation forces are later reenforced because of claims that locals are Communist-dominated.

1965: Laos
-First bombing is done to protect reconnaissance flights.

1967: Congo
-Three transport planes provide logistics support to the local government during a period of increased unrest.

1967: Israel
-Intelligence ship U.S.S. Liberty is attacked by off the Gaza coast by Israeli gunboats and aircraft on the fourth day of the Six-Day War, killing 34 Americans and injuring 171 others. The reasons are disputed to this day.

1968: North Korea
-North Korea troops attack and seize the intelligence ship U.S.S. Pueblo, holding the crew for over a year and torturing some. To this day the Pueblo is held by the North Koreans as a museum of “anti-imperialist warfare”.

1969: North Korea
-North Korea shoots down a U.S. Navy surveillance plane, killing all 31 crewmen aboard.

1970 - 1975: Cambodia
-As an adjunct to the Vietnam war, comprehensive military activities, eventually to include saturation bombing, spread to include most of the country, leaving a ruined society unable to defend itself from the Khmer Rouge.

1974: Cyprus
-The U.S. Navy evacuates U.S. citizens during Greek-Turkish Cypriot hostilities.

1974 - 1977: Korea
-Increased hostilities along the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) with frequent shots fired across the border, including two soldiers shot while attempting to cut down a tree (‘76), which then resulted in an increase in U.S. forces.

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