The Round Island Affair - 1849

The Round Island Affair - 1849. . Round Island is easily seen three miles south of the Pascagoula River entrance. In the summer of 1849 it was the site of an event which drew attendance by soldiers of fortune from all over the South and required intervention by the President of the United States to bring under control., Handbills had appeared calling for volunteers who would receive money and land in return for one year of service. Ostensibly this was to free Cuba from Spanish rule, but for many it was an opportunity for booty. This was one of several attempts by organizer Narciso Lopez, a Cuban, to obtain Cuban independence. , In response, 800 men gathered by August 7, 1849 on Round Island under a Col. White of Louisiana to await supplies and orders. President Zachary Taylor, who as Major General had been stationed in Pascagoula the year earlier, could not allow such unauthorized insurgency of another sovereign territory. Federal warships were dispatched to blockade Round Island, an event that made front page on national newspapers. The ships prevented arrival of rations, supplies, and transportation to the men on the island. After 6 weeks of drinking whiskey playing cards, dwindling rations, and being bit by mosquitoes, and one man killed in a fight, the would-be mercenaries disbanded and went home., Lopez was not so lucky. After three more attempts to invade and free Cuba he was caught by Spanish authorities and publicly garroted in Havana. In history circles these episodes are referred to as the Cuban filibusters; filibuster meaning an unauthorized take over, insurgency.