中美宜昌大來喜事件是一個極具歷史意義的華洋衝突案件，具體反映出長江流域內戰頻繁、社會失序，以及兵匪四處為禍的普遍現象。衝突的地點發生在美國輪船上，中國軍人登船肇事，並公然毆打、槍傷美籍船長與眷屬。停泊在附近的美國軍艦隨即派兵登船戒護，並以處理現行犯的方式，當場將肇事的中國軍人予以拘捕扣留。就衝突事件而論，中國軍人違反美國使領與海軍的禁令，私自登上美輪，並肆意逞兇傷害美國公民，不但侵害到美國的條約特權，更有損其國家尊嚴；而海軍的介入，則勢必使得此一華洋衝突案件的情況更為複雜。尤有要者，事件衝突時間點，剛好在美、英、法、日四國海軍準備合作採取行動來積極處理長江航行安全問題之後，而美國海軍長江巡邏隊指揮官正是上述列強海軍合作的主要推動者，亟思以有效手段打擊影響長江流域航行安全的各種不穩定因素。所以，原先看似單純的華洋衝突案件，立刻升格為中美間的重大外交事件，雙方為了人犯移交與審判量刑等問題，在湖北、北京等地展開了密集的交涉。又因肇事軍人乃由美國海軍逮捕並扣留在軍艦上，因此後續的外交交涉又關係到美國海軍的態度及其介入的程度。回顧近代歷史，華洋衝突案件以及列強駐華海軍相對應的作為與砲艦外交，往往是形塑當時中外關係最重要的影響因子。第一次世界大戰之後，美國在列強對華事務上漸居主導地位，中美之間衝突案件的善後處理模式，也因此具有相當重要的指標意義。特別是案件處理過程中，美國海軍介入時展現的溫和或強勢作風，非但直接影響中國人對美國的複雜情感（親美、反美），也可能對其他列強產生帶頭效應，從而在本質上改變1920年代中外關係。其次，華洋衝突的善後處置，也與外交交涉與訴訟審判密切相關，但海軍的介入卻可能實質影響到外交交涉與訴訟審判的過程與結果。換言之，美國海軍介入的層次，並不侷限於直接動用砲艦等單純武力的施展，還包括間接去主導之後的外交交涉與訴訟審判。

SS Alice Dollar incident, an exact reflection of civil wars, social disorder and soldier-bandit outrages along Yangtze, was an important historical event between China and US in the 1920s. Chinese soldiers bet and injured Americans on the American ship, SS Alice Dollar at Ichang. This was a humiliation to the US sovereignty and respect. American sailors from a gunboat nearby got on board the steamer immediately, arrested the Chinese soldiers in flagrante delicto, and then kept them in custody on the gunboat. US Naval intervention made this incident more complicated. Furthermore, this incident occurred just after the four naval powers, US, Great Britain, Japan and France, planned working together to deal with the navigation security problem on Yangtze. American Commander, Yangtze Patrol, as the main initiator of the naval cooperation, tried every effective way to remove unstable elements on Yangtze. Thus, a seemingly simple conflict became a serious incident, and tense diplomatic negotiations about extradition and trial between US and China followed. Due to the fact that Chinese soldiers were kept on board American gunboat, the attitude and intervention of US Navy definitely would influence the result of the matter. On modern history, Sino-foreign conflicts and gunboat diplomacy brought by the Powers used to be one of the most important factors for shaping the relationship between China and foreign countries. After World War I, US took the lead on the Powers' policies toward China. The conflict-solving strategies and patterns between the US and China would be important models. Mild or hard line that the US Navy took in the interventions and negotiations would not only arouse the Chinese people's complex feeling to Americans, but also make other Powers following in the same way. Secondly, settlement of the disputes always involved delicate diplomatic negotiations and legal trials, but US Naval intervention would make the things different. In other words, besides conducting military demonstrations, US Navy might try to work on the diplomatic and legal affairs indirectly at the same time.