| Ivory Coast expedition | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theAfrican Slave Trade Patrol and theBlockade of Africa | |||||||
 Veterans of the expedition on boardSaratoga in 1842. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United States | Bereby | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Matthew C. Perry | Ben Crack-O † | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Land: 50marines 150sailors Sea: 1frigate 2sloops-of-war 1brigantine | unknown | ||||||
TheIvory Coast expedition, or theLiberia expedition, was a naval operation in 1842, launched by theUnited States against theWest AfricanBereby people. After the attacks on the merchant shipsMary Carver andEdward Barley, theAmerican Congress approved apunitive expedition to the area and placedCommodoreMatthew C. Perry in command. The expedition was successful in exacting redress by destroying the fortified town ofLittle Bereby and by killing the chief responsible for the attacks on American shipping.[1]
The expedition to theIvory Coast began on June 6, 1842, when Commodore Perry hoisted sail atNew York City in the 22-gunsloop-of-warSaratoga. AtPorto Grande, in theCape Verde Islands, Perry later transferred his flag to the 38-gunfrigateMacedonian, which participated in the operation along with the 16-gun sloopDecatur and the 10-gunbrigantinePorpoise. All of the ships, exceptPorpoise, had aMarine Detachment aboard. FromCape Verde the Americans headed toward the coast, their mission being to supportLiberia, an Americancolony forfreedmen, in suppressing theslave trade and thepiratical tribes in the region. This meant conducting an investigation of theMary Carver andEdward Barley incidents. Perry arrived off the West African coast nearSinoe in mid-November and his first objective was to gain proof regarding the piracy in that area. Accordingly, the commodore disguisedPorpoise as a merchantman and sent her in to shore. Almost immediatelywar-canoes appeared and tried to take control of the ship, butCommander Stellwagen was able to get away without firing a shot. Sinoe was selected as a base, partly because the Sinoe tribe was suspected of treachery as well as the Bereby tribe.[2]
It was around this time that thePorpoise left the expedition for duty elsewhere. Early in the morning of November 29, a party of seventy-five marines and sailors landed at Sinoe where Perry had a meeting, or palaver, withGovernorJoseph Jenkins Roberts of Liberia and his staff as well as the "twenty kings" to discuss the earlier incidents. During the palaver the African leaders claimed that the American sailors were the "aggressors" and that the Sinoes attacked in defense of themselves. Either way Commodore Perry ordered that the native's villages be burned. Three prisoners were also sent toMonrovia and the landing party then returned to their ships, taking Governor Roberts with them. By December 1, the three navy vessels were offBlue Barra where another landing took place to escort Perry for another meeting with African authorities. The party returned later that night after dispersing gifts as a sign of friendship. The shore party made another landing atSetra Koo on December 5 for the meeting with a "principal chief". Again the meeting was successful, so Perry sailed forCape Palmas the same night and anchored off the town ofCaval on December 7 where another palaver was held with the African ChiefBen Crack-O who was the overallking of the tribes in the area.[3]
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The landing at Caval was a tense one though there was no fighting. Perry stationedsentries at the gates of the royalkraal to help with escape should it be necessary. Crack-O denied that his people had done anything wrong, so he touched his ears and his tongue, with his sword, as a gesture of truthfulness. Governor Roberts asked Crack-O if he would attend the "Great Palaver" at Little Bereby and he accepted. Next Perry sailed his squadron for Little Bereby on December 11 and arrived on December 14 and landed his fifty marines and 150 sailors. The meeting was held in a house about fifty yards from the kraal gates, during which Roberts began discussing with Crack-O theMary Carver and theEdward Barley affairs. It was apparent that the king was not telling the truth, so Commodore Perry stepped closer to Crack-O to advise him to stop lying and a scuffle ensued. The chief attempted to drag Perry to hisspear, but the commodore threw off his attacker, who then left the house as fast as he could. But before getting out the door, a marinesergeant opened fire with his musket and hit the king while two others bayoneted him. Simultaneously the native interpreter ran out of the house and skirmishing erupted between the American sentries and some Bereby riflemen.[4]
Now that hostilities had begun, Perry ordered his men to burn the town, and, after carrying out the objective, the expedition was returning to their ships when ambushed by native warriors in the woods. Another skirmish resulted and the marines and sailors charged towards the Africans and routed them. The three American warships also opened fire and helped silence the enemy, and a few war-canoes were captured as well. When the battle was over, many of the Africans were killed or wounded though the Americans suffered no casualties. Perry then sailed down the coast and the following morning he detected another Bereby settlement. The marines and sailors were again landed and they destroyed seven villages by burning them and inflicted serious losses upon the natives themselves, without suffering any casualties. After this mission the commodore decided that the Bereby people had been punished enough, so he ended the expedition and proceeded on with other duties. Chief Crack-O's body was buried at sea and his spear was taken as a prize by Perry. Pieces ofMary Carver and her flag were also found at the kraal, evidence that the Bereby were responsible for the attack.[5]
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.