Second Sumatran expedition
Part of theSumatran expeditions
Sumatra; conflict between Americans and Malays occurred in the northwestern region of the island.
Date December 1838 – January 1839 Location Meukek,Aceh Sultanate Result American victory Malays cease attacks on American vessels
Belligerents
United States	Chiefdom of Quallah Battoo Chiefdom of Muckie
Commanders and leaders
George C. Read T.W. Wyman	Unknown
Strength
Land: 360marine infantry andsailors Sea: 2frigates	Severalproas Unknown number of land units
Casualties and losses
Unknown	5 Forts and the Village of Muckie destroyed Town of Quallah Battoo Bombarded Severalproas destroyed Unknown number of soldiers and civilians killed

TheSecond Sumatran expedition was apunitive expedition by theUnited StatesNavy against inhabitants of the island ofSumatra. AfterMalaywarriors orpirates had massacred the crew of the American merchant shipEclipse, an expedition of two American warships landed a force that defeated the Malays in two short engagements.

In August 1838, the American trading vesselEclipse was visiting the village of Terbangan, onSouth Aceh, when 24 Malays approached. The ship's second mate allowed the Malays to board after they relieved themselves of their weapons. A few moments later the Americans returned the Malays their weapons as a sign of friendship. The Malays, now rearmed with knives and other bladed weapons, attacked the crew. First they killed the second mate and then one by one the remaining men. Some of the Americansailors jumped overboard but the Malays hunted them down and killed them. This was the second of such incidents. The massacre of the crew of the merchant shipFriendship by Malays had given rise to thefirst Sumatran expedition in 1832. News of the massacre reachedCommodoreGeorge C. Read in December 1838 while he was sailing offCeylon in command of theEast India Squadron. Immediately Commodore Read in thefrigateColumbia set sail southeast for Sumatra, together with the frigateJohn Adams.Columbia andJohn Adams were in the process of circumnavigating the globe in conjunction with, though not part of, theUnited States Exploring Expedition of 1838 to 1842. Coincidentally, the expedition to Sumatra required no detour.Columbia held almost 500 men on average and mounted 50 guns during the expedition.John Adams carried about 220 men and officers with 30 guns.

The expedition arrived off southern Sumatra on 1 January 1839. The two American vessels first headed for Quallah Battoo. Once they had arrived, the two U.S. Navy vessels formed a line of battle just in range of five earth and wooden forts that protected the village and opened fire. Over an hour later all of the forts were destroyed or in shambles. The chief of the village surrendered and agreed never again to attack American ships. With this Commodore Read set sail for Labuhan TarokMuckie, the next American objective.Columbia andJohn Adams arrived off Muckie the following day. The Americans landed a force of 360 officers,marines and sailors, all under the command ofCommander T.W. Wyman of the Navy. Wyman's men attacked Muckie, whileColumbia andJohn Adams provided covering fire with theircannon. Although most of the inhabitants fled their village upon the outbreak of fighting, some of the Malay men attempted to resist the attack but were overwhelmed. Within a short time, Muckie was in flames. The landing party then returned to their ships and sailed away. The punitive expedition ended after the Muckie engagement, and Commodore Read continued his cruise around the world. The second Sumatran expedition achieved what the first expedition had not. Casualties are absent from records.

• General Sherman incident

3°35′35″N97°13′20″E / 3.5931°N 97.2221°E /3.5931; 97.2221

• Battles involving the United States
• Aceh
• Naval battles involving the United States
• Naval battles involving the Netherlands
• United States Marine Corps in the 18th and 19th centuries
• Military history of Indonesia
• Military history of the Netherlands
• History of Sumatra
• Punitive expeditions of the United States
• Punitive expeditions of the Netherlands
• Conflicts in 1838
• Conflicts in 1839
• 1838 in Southeast Asia
• 1839 in Southeast Asia
• 1838 in the Dutch East Indies
• 1839 in the Dutch East Indies
• December 1838
• January 1839
• Military history of the Indian Ocean

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from June 2020
• Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships
• Coordinates on Wikidata