Today -100: April 16, 1914: An incident of no special importance

Pres. Wilson informs Congress of his plans for Mexico: seize Vera Cruz, Tampico and ports on the west coast; establish a “peaceful blockade”; the occupation and blockade to continue until Mexico punishes the colonel who arrested the crew of the Dolphin and a salute is fired. Wilson says the US has been “subjected to a systematic and studied series of insults” by Huerta.

Army and navy recruitment is going way up. Various people have offered to recruit Rough-Riders-type units of volunteers to invade Mexico, including Rice Means, the commander in chief of the Army of the Philippines, Cuba and Puerto Rico, and Texas state Rep. John Kirby. Kirby thinks he can do the job just with Texans, and that he can recruit up to 500,000 Texans, but warns that they wouldn’t be willing to give up Mexico once they’ve seized it: “It will have to be made an American territory in order that its inhabitants may learn modern civilization and enjoy peace and the benefits of Christian progress.”

Huerta issues a brief statement saying “The Tampico incident has no special importance.”

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