Campeche shows how damage can defeat a blockade

The Mexican force possessed powerful steam warships, Paixhans shell guns, and British officers and sailors, giving it an apparent material advantage. Commodore Edwin Ward Moore nevertheless brought the Texan-Yucatecan force into an engagement that left both sides damaged and withdrawing. The action later appeared on the cylinders of Colt Navy and Army revolvers, a striking example of how a messy tactical draw became heroic public memory. Guadalupe and Montezuma could no longer sustain the blockade locally and had to leave for repair. The tactical draw therefore produced the operational result Texas needed without requiring the destruction of the superior ships.