US Marines, Miskitos and the Hunt for Sandino: the Río Coco Patrol in 1928

In: Journal of Latin American studies, Volume 21, Issue 1-2, p. 311-342

Abstract

Among historians of the US Marine Corps, Major-General Merritt A. ('Red Mike') Edson's Río Coco Patrol is well known.1His expedition up Nicaragua's Coco River in 1928 represented a significant step forward in what the US military would later call 'riverine' operations. The mission also made the career of a young officer who would lead one of the Raider Battalions in the Second World War and receive the Medal of Honor for his participation in the campaign to capture Guadalcanal.