|
The Rover Incident () occurred on March 12, 1867 when the American merchant ship ''Rover'', en route from Shantou to Newchwang〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Papers Past — Timaru Herald — 10 July 1867 — WRECK OF THE BARQUE ROVER. )〕 shipwrecked off the coast of Formosa (Taiwan under Qing rule). The ship struck a coral reef called Qixingyan (七星岩) near Oluanpi and drifted into the area of Kenting.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Jeff's Taiwan: Taiwan's Southern Cape (恆春半島) )〕 The American sailors were killed by Taiwanese Aborigines 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.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Taiwan Panorama Magazine | Taiwan-- A History in Maps )〕 ==American Reaction== (詳細はAmoy Charles William Le Gendre quickly traveled to Foochow, arriving on 2 April 1867, to persuade the governor generals of Fukien and Chekiang to intervene and put pressure on the Chinese authorities in Taiwan to resolve the issue.〔Yen 1965, pp. 126-127; Carrington, George Williams, Foreigners in Formosa 1841–1874 (San Francisco: Chinese Materials Center, 1978), p. 153; Dictionary of American Biography, p. 146; The Far East (1877): 88.〕 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 adding 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."〔U.S., National Archives, Record Group 59, "Consular despatches, Amoy," vol. 3 (microfilm no. 100, roll 3), enclosure, "Intendant of Circuit of Foochow to the Prefect of Formosa," translation from the USNA and USDC; as quoted in Yen 1965, p. 127.〕 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, where he arrived on 18 April) to act. After a subsequent failed punitive expedition carried out by Rear Admiral Henry H. Bell of the United States Navy, 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 mines, and gathered information from United States merchants.〔Carrington 1978, pp. 154, 159; Dictionary of American biography, p. 146; The Far East (1877): 88.〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=THE PIRATES OF FORMOSA. - Official Reports of the Engagement of the United States Naval Forces with the Savages of the Isle. - Front Page - NYTimes.com )〕 The landing of one hundred and eighty-one officers, sailors, and marines provided with four days' rations and water was made on June 19, under Commander George E. Belknap of the , accompanied by Lieutenant Commander Alexander Slidell MacKenzie, 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, 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 plays a critical role on USA military history in terms of shaping US Marine Corps' "rules of encounter" in "Small Wars".〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Targeted Outrage: The “Rover” Incident in Taiwan and the Making of US Marine Corps Small Wars Doctrine )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rover incident」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|