Qualla: Battle of Veracruz (1838)

Battle of Veracruz (1838): Introduction

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. It started with pastries. In 1837, a French cook named Remontel, established in the Mexico City suburb of Tacubaya, had his shop ransacked by drunken Mexican soldiers. His complaint joined a stack of grievances from the 6,000 French citizens living in Mexico -- a decade of killings, expropriations, and forced loans that the Mexican government showed no interest in addressing. France demanded 600,000 pesos in compensation. Mexico refused. What followed was a naval confrontation that military observers had traveled from around the world to watch, and whose results stunned every one of them: a small French frigate squadron, armed with a new type of explosive shell, reduced the fortress of San Juan de Ulua to rubble in a single afternoon. The conflict became known, with a mix of mockery and accuracy, as the Pastry War.

Image: Unknown author | Public domain

Battle of Veracruz (1838): The Fortress That Could Not Fall

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Émile Vernet-Lecomte, Public domain. San Juan de Ulua sat on a reef about a kilometer from the city of Veracruz, guarding its harbor with 103 bronze and 83 iron cannons. The fortress had held off attackers for centuries -- it was the last Spanish stronghold to surrender during the Mexican War of Independence. No one...

Image: Émile Vernet-Lecomte | Public domain

Battle of Veracruz (1838): An Afternoon of Explosions

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Horace Vernet, Public domain. At 2:30 on November 27, the three frigates opened fire, followed by the bomb ketches. The corvette Creole, commanded by the 20-year-old Prince de Joinville -- third son of King Louis-Philippe -- requested permission to join the fight and took a position in front of the larger shi...

Image: Horace Vernet | Public domain

Battle of Veracruz (1838): The Raid and Santa Anna's Leg

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit «ВЭС». (СПб; 1912—1913)., Public domain. Mexico's government responded to the fall of San Juan de Ulua by declaring war, expelling all French citizens, and dispatching an army of 3,200 men under Generals Santa Anna and Mariano Arista to retake Veracruz. Baudin countered with a pre-dawn raid on December 5. Fifteen hundre...

Image: «ВЭС». (СПб; 1912—1913). | Public domain

Battle of Veracruz (1838): The World Takes Notice

Sun, 22 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Edmond Jurien de la Gravière, Public domain. Lord Wellington reportedly told Parliament that the fall of San Juan de Ulua was the only recorded instance of a strong fort overwhelmed entirely by a naval squadron. Admiral David Farragut, observing for the United States, filed a detailed report on the effects of the explosive ...

Image: Edmond Jurien de la Gravière | Public domain