General Miguel Miramón, in control of the military junta, had moved to attack the Constitutional forces of Benito Juarez at Vera Cruz on the coast. Two junta ships, Miramón and Marques de la Habana, arrived in Vera Cruz Bay from Cuba to support the siege. U.S. Navy ships, under orders to prevent this, fought and took both ships in an afternoon engagement with bloodshed on both sides. The captured vessels were sent to New Orleans. (By John Osborne)