The ''Rover'' Incident ( or ) occurred on 12 March 1867 when the American merchant ship ''Rover'', captained by Joseph Hunt who was accompanied by his wife Mercy G. ''Beerman'' Hunt, and en route from

Swatow Shantou, alternately romanized as Swatow and sometimes known as Santow, is a prefecture-level city on the eastern coast of Guangdong, China, with a total population of 5,502,031 as of the 2020 census (5,391,028 in 2010) and an administrative ...

to Newchwang, was wrecked off the coast of

Formosa Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is an island country located in East Asia. The main island of Taiwan, formerly known in the Western political circles, press and literature as Formosa, makes up 99% of the land area of the territori ...

(Taiwan), then ruled by the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

. The ship struck a

coral reef A coral reef is an underwater ecosystem characterized by reef-building corals. Reefs are formed of Colony (biology), colonies of coral polyp (zoology), polyps held together by calcium carbonate. Most coral reefs are built from stony corals, wh ...

called Chihsingyen near

Oluanpi Cape Eluanbi or Oluanpi, also known by other names, is the southernmost point on the island of Taiwan. It is located in within the Hengchun Township in Pingtung County. Names ''Éluánbí'' is the pinyin romanization of the Mandarin pro ...

and drifted into the area of

Kenting Kenting National Park (), commonly known as Kenting (), is a national park located on the Hengchun Peninsula of Pingtung County, Taiwan, covering Hengchun, Checheng, and Manzhou Townships. Established on 1 January 1984, it is Taiwan's oldes ...

in modern-day

Hengchun Hengchun Township is a township located on the southern tip of the Hengchun Peninsula in Pingtung County, Taiwan. It is the southernmost township in Taiwan. Hengchun is also the only urban township in the southern part of Pingtung County. Hengch ...

Pingtung County Pingtung County is a county located in southern Taiwan. It has a warm tropical monsoon climate and is known for its agriculture and tourism. Kenting National Park, Taiwan's oldest national park, is located in the county. The county seat is Pi ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...

. Fourteen American sailors, including Hunt and his wife, were killed by

Taiwanese Aborigines Taiwanese may refer to: * Taiwanese language, another name for Taiwanese Hokkien * Something from or related to Taiwan ( Formosa) * Taiwanese aborigines, the indigenous people of Taiwan * Han Taiwanese, the Han people of Taiwan * Taiwanese peo ...

in revenge for earlier killings of Kaolut (Koalut/Ku-a-lut/etc) tribe members by foreigners. Subsequently, the U.S. military decided to send a military expedition against the tribe members responsible.

American reaction

Following the wreck of the United States ship and killing of the surviving crew by aborigines, the American Consul to

Amoy Xiamen ( , ; ), also known as Amoy (, from Hokkien pronunciation ), is a sub-provincial city in southeastern Fujian, People's Republic of China, beside the Taiwan Strait. It is divided into six districts: Huli, Siming, Jimei, Tong' ...

Charles William Le Gendre Charles William or Guillaum Joseph Émile Le Gendre (August 26, 1830– September 1, 1899) was a French-born American officer and diplomat who served as advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Empire of Japan from 1872 to 1875 and as advi ...

quickly traveled to

Foochow Fuzhou (; , Fuzhounese: Hokchew, ''Hók-ciŭ''), alternately romanized as Foochow, is the capital and one of the largest cities in Fujian province, China. Along with the many counties of Ningde, those of Fuzhou are considered to constitute t ...

, arriving on 2 April 1867, to persuade the governor generals of Fukien and

Chekiang Zhejiang ( or , ; , also romanized as Chekiang) is an eastern, coastal province of the People's Republic of China. Its capital and largest city is Hangzhou, and other notable cities include Ningbo and Wenzhou. Zhejiang is bordered by Ji ...

to intervene and put pressure on the Chinese authorities in

to resolve the issue. The governor general of Fukien gave Le Gendre permission to go to Taiwan himself and wrote him a letter of introduction to take to the prefect of Taiwan asking him to cooperate with Le Gendre; but the governor general also added that "if the consul takes measures to manage the case himself, please invite him not to do so, for these savages might give him more trouble that he thinks." Le Gendre commissioned the United States steamer , under the command of Captain John C. Febiger, in order to visit the scene of the wreck and to try (unsuccessfully) to get foreign officials in Taiwanfoo (capital of

Taiwan Prefecture Taiwan Prefecture or Taiwanfu was a prefecture of Taiwan during the Qing dynasty. The prefecture was established by the Qing government in 1684, after the island came under Qing dynasty rule in 1683 following its conquest of the Kingdom of Tungnin ...

, where he arrived on 18 April) to act. After a subsequent failed

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong beh ...

carried out by Rear Admiral Henry H. Bell of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, Le Gendre again returned to Formosa—this time without any reference to his superiors. While in Taiwan, he asserted United States consular authority, selected a deputy consul in north Taiwan, visited the

Keelung Keelung () or Jilong () (; Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī, POJ: '), officially known as Keelung City, is a major port Provincial city (Taiwan), city situated in the northeastern part of Taiwan. The city is a part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan a ...

mines, and gathered information from United States merchants. On June 19, one hundred and eighty-one officers, sailors, and marines provided with four days' rations and water landed in Taiwan under Commander George E. Belknap of the who was accompanied by Lieutenant Commander

Alexander Slidell MacKenzie Alexander Slidell Mackenzie (April 6, 1803 – September 13, 1848), born Alexander Slidell, was a United States Navy officer, famous for his 1842 decision to execute three suspected mutineers aboard a ship under his command in the Somers Mutin ...

, fleet lieutenant as second in command. In the terrible heat, it was "almost impossible to conduct operations in the middle of the day, and many of the party were attacked by sunstroke. The savages, who had taken up a position in the jungle behind rocks and other places invisible...kept up a heavy fire whenever their foes appeared." MacKenzie received a mortal wound to his chest from enemy fire. The American force was "compelled to withdraw in some confusion to the ships and soon departed from the island". The marines were under the command of Captain

James Forney James Forney (January 17, 1844 – February 2, 1921) was an American officer serving in the United States Marine Corps during the American Civil War. He was approved to receive the Marine Corps Brevet Medal for bravery but died before it could ...

, who submitted the following report to Commander Belknap, dated on board the flagship ''Hartford'', at sea, June 17: :"I have the honor herewith to submit a brief report of the part taken by the Marines on the 13th inst., on the island of Formosa. On the first landing, by your order, I took charge of twenty Marines, deploying them forward as skirmishers. A dense and almost impenetrable thicket of bush prevented the men from advancing very rapidly. I penetrated with them to a creek about half a mile from the beach without meeting any of the enemy, and was then recalled for further orders. You then instructed me to leave a sergeant and five men on the beach, and to advance with the main body, headed by yourself. In consequence of all further operations coming under your own observation, I have nothing further to report, except that the men behaved gallantly, and deserve credit for the manner in which they marched over such a rough and hilly country, and under such intense, scorching heat... The entire number of Marines on shore was forty-three, thirty-one of whom were from this ship, and twelve from the ." The ''Rover'' Incident played a critical role U.S. military history in terms of shaping the U.S. Marine Corps' "

rules of engagement Rules of engagement (ROE) are the internal rules or directives afforded military forces (including individuals) that define the circumstances, conditions, degree, and manner in which the use of force, or actions which might be construed as pro ...

" in "small wars."

Second visit

Upon return to South China, Le Gendre managed to persuade the Governor General in

to send a military force to Southern Taiwan. The force, significantly smaller than the 400 to 500 soldiers recommended by Le Gendre, was dispatched on 25 July 1867. Le Gendre then personally requested a gunboat from Admiral Bell, which he was denied, and eventually managed to commission the steamship ''Volunteer''. He embarked for Formosa on 4 September 1867 telling his superiors that "I am going there as a mere spectator.. . . I have no jurisdiction over the Chinese forces." Le Gendre quickly assumed ''de facto'' command of the mission from General Liu in the course of a long and difficult march into deep aboriginal lands in southern Taiwan (some of which required extensive road construction). Then, with the aid of

William A. Pickering William Alexander Pickering (9 June 1840 – 26 January 1907) was the first Protector appointed on 3 May 1877 by the British government to administer the Chinese Protectorate in colonial Singapore. He was the first European official in Singap ...

and James Horn, Le Gendre negotiated a Memorandum of the Understanding with Tauketok ( 南岬之盟) guaranteeing the safety of shipwrecked American and European sailors with Tok-a-Tok (1874), the chief of 18 Paiwan aboriginal tribes in the area when the ''Rover'' had gone ashore.

Influence

Following the ''Rover'' Incident in 1867, another shipwreck triggered the

Mudan Incident The Mudan incident of 1871 (、 Japanese: 宮古島島民遭難事件、 Japanese: 琉球漂流民殺害事件) was the massacre of 54 Ryukyuan sailors in Qing-era Taiwan who wandered into the central part of Taiwan after their ship shipwrec ...

which subsequently was the justification for the

Empire of Japan The also known as the Japanese Empire or Imperial Japan, was a historical nation-state and great power that existed from the Meiji Restoration in 1868 until the enactment of the post-World War II 1947 constitution and subsequent form ...

to invade and occupy a part of Taiwan in 1874, a decade later the French General

Jacques Duchesne General Jacques Charles René Achille Duchesne (3 March 1837 – 27 April 1918) was a 19th-century French military officer. He was born at Sens and entered Saint-Cyr in 1855, aged 18, and became a lieutenant in 1861. Career Duchesne fought in ...

defeated the Chinese up the Keelung River. In addition, the

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

court established the

lighthouse (1888; now Eluanbi Lighthouse) for the protection of the

Taiwan Strait The Taiwan Strait is a -wide strait separating the island of Taiwan and continental Asia. The strait is part of the South China Sea and connects to the East China Sea to the north. The narrowest part is wide. The Taiwan Strait is itself a ...

and vessels transiting the

Bashi Channel The Bashi Channel is a waterway between Y'Ami Island of the Philippines and Orchid Island of Taiwan. It is a part of the Luzon Strait in the Pacific Ocean. It is characterized by windy storms during the rainy period, June to December. The Bash ...

TV Mini Series from 2021

In 2021 Public Television Service (PTS) of Taiwan has released a ten part mini-series named ''Seqalu: Formosa 1867'' ('' 斯卡羅'') about the incident.
Seqalu: Formosa 1867 (TV Mini Series 2021)
',

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

''Seqalu'' refers to the name of a Paiwan- Puyuma nation that existed from 1600 to 1931.

Notes

References

Citations

Bibliography

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rover Incident Merchant ships of the United States Individual sailing vessels Shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Tall ships of the United States Maritime incidents in March 1867 1867 in Taiwan China–United States military relations Taiwan–United States military relations History of Taiwan Taiwanese aboriginal culture and history Combat incidents March 1867 events