Bombardment of San Juan del Norte

The Bombardment of San Juan del Norte or the Bombardment of Greytown was a naval engagement initiated by the United States sloop-of-war USS Cyane against the town of San Juan del Norte, Nicaragua, which was completely destroyed.

The July 13, 1854 attack was in response to attempts by the independent government of Greytown to charge taxes and duties on the ships that were using it as a port to access Commodore Vanderbilt's Nicaragua Route to California. Other reasons were for attacks attributed to Nicaraguan rebels, damaging American property and in one case, attacking an American consulate within Nicaragua. Despite international outrage at the bombardment of the town, the United States refused to apologize for any damage or loss of life incurred, instead opting to avoid discussion of the incident until President Pierce finally gave an official position, six months later:

"After giving a somewhat detailed and biased account of the bombardment, the president concluded that while it would have been more satisfactory if the Cyane's mission could have been consummated without the use of force, 'the arrogant contumacy of the offenders rendered it impossible to avoid the alternative either to break up their establishment or to leave them impressed with the idea that they might persevere with impunity in a career or insolence and plunder.'"