Battle of Las Cruces (1928)

Second Battle of Las Cruces
	Part of the Occupation of Nicaragua, Banana Wars
	; A plan of the battle by Merton Richal.
Date	1 January 1928
Location	Las Cruces Hill, Nicaragua
Result	American-Nicaraguan victory
Belligerents
United States; Nicaragua	Sandinistas
Commanders and leaders
Lt. Merton A. Richal	Col. Francisco Estrada
Strength
174 marines & national guard; 1 field gun; 1 mortar; 2 biplanes	400 guerrillas
Casualties and losses
8 killed; 31 wounded	20 killed

The Second Battle of Las Cruces, or the New Year's Day Battle, was a major engagement during the American occupation of Nicaragua. It was fought on 1 January 1928, during an expedition to destroy a Sandinista fortress. A column of United States Marines and Nicaraguan National Guardsmen were attacked by a superior force of rebels entrenched on Las Cruises Hill and, after a long battle, the Americans and Nicaraguans routed the Sandinistas and captured their positions.^[1]^[3]

^ ^a ^b Nalty, pg. 21
^ Cite error: The named reference Musicant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Sweetman, pg. 137

[Nalty,_pg._21-1] Nalty, pg. 21

[Musicant-2] Cite error: The named reference Musicant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] Sweetman, pg. 137

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