Combat· U.S. Exploring Expedition (Wilkes)
Battle of Malolo Island
The bloodiest episode of the whole Wilkes expedition.
While surveying off Malolo, a party under Lieutenant Underwood went ashore to trade for provisions, and after a tense, fruitless negotiation the islanders attacked. The boats reached the beach too late: Lieutenant Underwood and Midshipman Wilkes Henry, a nephew of the commander, lay dead, and a seaman was badly wounded, the officers' bodies recovered just before they could be carried off. The killings demanded retribution. A force of about seventy officers, seamen, and Marines under Lieutenant Ringgold landed and stormed the stockaded village of Sualib, while Wilkes himself led boats to cut off escape by sea. The defenders, men and women alike, fought hard before the village was carried and burned, with a chief and many islanders killed. Several Americans were wounded, one severely. The two dead were Navy officers; the Marines suffered no fatalities.
Record no. 317