Combat· Sumatra Expeditions
Bombardment of Quallah Battoo (Second Expedition)
A second American visit to Sumatra after the Malays of Quallah Battoo resumed preying on American shipping.
Commodore George C. Read brought a stronger force, the frigate USS Columbia and the corvette USS John Adams under Commander Thomas Wyman, to demand redress. When the local authorities failed to satisfy him, Read ordered the bombardment to begin: the John Adams opened on the armed native boats in the river and then on the forts, the Columbia joining in, while the Marine guards of both ships stood to their stations. The cannonade killed one of the principal chiefs and battered the town's defenses. The display of force was enough; rather than land, Read accepted the chiefs' submission when they came aboard to sue for terms. The episode showed that a single sharp lesson in 1832 had not lasted, and that the United States would return to enforce the safety of its commerce.
Podcast episodes on Sumatra Expeditions
Record no. 300