The postwar argument between Army and Navy obscured shared responsibility. The Navy needed more bomb vessels capable of supporting troops in shallow water, rather than relying on ships of the line unsuited to close fort attack. The Army needed substantially more engineering and artillery expertise, and the expedition required greater medical capacity. Even Cathcart's survival probably could not have corrected a force whose specialist composition was poorly matched to a fortified objective.
Chapter · 2:20:38-2:23:33
The combined-operations lessons of Cartagena
Both services failed: the Navy lacked shallow-water bombardment support, while the Army lacked engineers, artillery officers, and an appropriate siege organization.