5.4 KiB
| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1840 Fiji expedition | 10/13 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1840_Fiji_expedition | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T13:25:29.163462+00:00 | kb-cron |
=== The engagement at Sualib village === The ground force landed at 10 A.M. and divided up in to three groups as Wilkes had ordered. The groups were led by Lieutenants Ringgold, Robert Johnson and Andrew Murray, and included passed midshipman Henry Eld and Alfred Thomas Agate of the science corps. Ringgold gave a short speech and reminded the men to destroy everything except the women and children. The forces split up into different paths and destroyed farms along the way, before meeting up and surrounded the fort. The fort itself was circular, with a 12 foot wide by 6 feet deep ditch/dry moat which they used as a trench, and a ten foot tall coconut tree and whicker palisade on all sides. The natives had occupied the trench and the palisade edges, and together they either aimed their muskets outside of the trench through small holes in the palisade walls. A number of chiefs, recognizable by their white headdresses, commanded the warriors in between the trenches and stockade. The warriors began to shout obscenities at the oncoming attackers. The Americans fired a Congreve rocket and their muskets at the fort, and the Fijians quickly dashed into the fort. The enemy retreated, a portion of Johnson's division, without orders stormed the fort. The attack was spearheaded by Sinclair with a double barrel shotgun. When Sinclair entered the fort he quickly realized that it was a trap. The ditch which had been built outside of the palisades also extended into the interior and was occupied by a large number of natives. This included women armed with bows who fought with their men. Retreat for Sinclair and his advance was impractical and decidedly more dangerous than it was worth. The fort was purposefully built like a fish weir trap, with a wide opening, but a narrow avenue of escape. Sinclair got shot with an arrow in his lapel, but it only penetrated the fabric of his coat and not the skin. Sinclair's fortune did not stop at his lapel. The Americans began running up to the palisade and shooting into the village through the small holes the Fijians had previously been using. Musket fire and Congreve rockets poured into Sualib. Americans began trickling into the village, in twos, by a narrow bridge, through the gate, and into the fort following Sinclair's example. At one point Sinclair shot a chief with his pistol, which turned out to be the chief of Sualib. Several natives carried the chiefs limp body to a nearby hut. The battle crept on in a state of havoc for about 15–30 minutes before a Congreve rocket hit the top of a dry roof and caught fire. A native warrior got on to of the roof in an effort to remove the rocket before the fire spread, but he was shot down in a hail of bullets. The fire proliferated and began to engulf the village. The blaze forced the natives to flee the ditch and into American musket fire, which cut them down. The resulting spectacle was pure pandemonium. A translator attempted to shout that the women and children would be allowed to escape. Fire and gun smoke were everywhere, children were weeping, pigs were crying, the fire roared, the noise was ear splitting. The Americans cheered their success and then fell back to a coconut grove, as the village burned. After a half an hour to an hour, the fires had settled to an approachable state, the Americans reentered the village. They soon discovered, that based on the remaining native supplies, the natives had expected a lengthy engagement. The Americans found piles of hollowed out calabashes filled with water, burnt yams and charred pigs. Discarded muskets, spears, and clubs littered the floor of the ditch. The weapons were pilled up on a pyre and immolated. After searching the still standing huts, Underwood's bloody cap was discovered. Out of the bodies only four or five survived being burnt to ashes including a little girl and the chief of Sualib. The preservation of the chief's cadaver was soon ended, as with a streak of vengeance, the Americans threw his body into a burning house. Evidence of the horror that had occurred before was still present to the senses of the Americans. The treeline was pierced by misfired arrows. The smoke filled the nostrils of the sailors and marines which took on the smell of burnt human flesh, as it approached the heavens in an otherwise blue sky. It was in this setting that the otherwise exhausted combatants decided to rest and refresh themselves on coconuts to quench their thirst. While the men drank, it was discovered that the most significant injury among them was a sailor who suffered a solitary gash on the leg from an arrow.
=== The rendezvous of Ringgold and Wilkes === After the brief respite, the force divided into the marching lines to the nearby village of Arro and burned several houses and farms along the way. It was suspected that most of the surviving villagers were hiding somewhere in the hills. However, they did encounter one native on the way who was instantly bayonetted multiple times to death. Upon arriving there, they found that Arro had already been burned down by Wilkes and Alden. Adding the bayoneted man as a casualty and counting the lowest and highest estimate, approximately 58 to about 88 Fijians had been killed between Arro and Sualib.