Falklands_Expedition
Falklands Expedition
US Naval action
The Falklands Expedition (Spanish: Ataque del USS Lexington a Puerto Soledad) occurred in late 1831 when the United States Navy warship USS Lexington was dispatched to investigate the seizure of three whalers at the settlement of Puerto Luis (contradicting the Monroe Doctrine) founded in the ruins of the former Spanish penal colony of Puerto Soledad by Luis Vernet. Vernet had sought to control sealing in the islands and seized the ships alleging they had violated his regulations controlling sealing in the islands (US sealers did not recognise his authority and had ignored them). Finding one of the ships being outfitted with guns, Captain Duncan had entered of Puerto Soledad on December 28, 1831, under French Flag Captain Duncan invited Vernet's second and who had more authority in the colony at that time, Matthew Brisbane and Enrique Metealf, as an official courtesy visit. He gave the invitation to a lieutenant who had approached in a boat while they were strolling along the beach. They later learned that it was a United States warship arriving to demand reparations for captured schooners.
When they boarded they were arrested. Then, he captured the small schooner Águila, landed his forces and detained those who were considered captors of the American ships, looted the facilities and warehouses, occupied the main buildings, stole the hides, tools and personal belongings of the inhabitants (including suitcases and clothes), disabled the fortifications and artillery defenses, nailed the cannons, destroyed the weapons and burned the gunpowder. He also lowered the Argentine flag[1]
Seized six of the senior officers in the settlement on charges of piracy. The damage done to the settlement is disputed. Duncan reports spiking the guns of the settlement and a powder store. Vernet was to later claim his settlement was ransacked. The ship sought to recover the kidnapped schooners. The act was supported by the American ambassador in Buenos Aires, who unilaterally declared that the Malvinas were an "area free of any administrative power" (res nullius). On the islands, Duncan declared them this way on January 21, 1832, as a last measure before abandoning Puerto Soledad.
The settlers complained of the conditions they were living in and asserted that Vernet had misled them. Duncan offered passage to the mainland and the majority of settlers chose to leave, leaving behind a small party. In late 1832, Argentine warships challenged American sealers in the area again, prompting the US consul to consider a second punitive expedition with orders to sink the Argentine ship ARA Sarandi. This prompted the British to reassert sovereignty over the islands. Historically, the Argentine government has disputed the rights to the islands with the United Kingdom and it culminated in the Falklands War of 1982.[2]