Battle of Telpaneca

Battle of Telpaneca
Part of theOccupation of Nicaragua,Banana Wars
Men of the 5th Marines garrisoning a Nicaraguan village.
Date 19 September 1927 Location Telpaneca,Nicaragua Result American-Nicaraguan victory
Belligerents
United States Nicaragua	Sandinistas
Commanders and leaders
Herbert S. Keimling	Gen. Salgado
Strength
21 marines 25 national guard	200 guerrillas
Casualties and losses
2 killed 1 wounded	25 killed 50 wounded

TheBattle of Telpanecawas an engagement fought during theUnited StatesoccupationofNicaraguain 1927.

At about 1:00 am on the 19 September a force of around 200 rebel troops, loyal toAugusto César Sandino,attacked the smallgarrisonofTelpanecaunder the command ofMarineFirst LieutenantHerbert S. Keimling. Keimling's garrison included twenty men of the5th Marinesand a force of twenty-five Nicaraguan National Guardsmen. The first sound of the fight occurred when a rebel soldier tossed animprovised explosiveat the marinebarracksbut it exploded without hurting anyone and only served to alert the sleeping garrison. Not long after the bombing the rebels opened up with rifle fire while the garrison was still dressing themselves. The rebels then charged the barracks under cover offogbut were beaten back by accurate fire. At that point the battle was a skirmish in which both sides engaged at a further range until about 2:30 am when the fog began to lift. The rebels then began collecting their dead and wounded and within another half-hour the fighting had ceased. Keimling estimated the loss of the enemy to be twenty-five killed and twice as many wounded while sustaining one marine killed in action, a second who died of wounds and one Nicaraguan guard who was seriously wounded.

Sandino lost one of his "generals" with the death of Salgado, and this latest defeat in a string of defeats, forced Sandino to adopt a guerrilla war.

See also

• Banana Wars
• Chesty Puller