Template:Nineteenth century Asia/Pacific conflicts involving the United States
The Johanna Expedition was a naval operation that occurred in February of 1851 after the siezure of the American merchant ship Maria and her captain at Johanna Island. The United States Navy sent a sloop-of-war to free her captain, who was still being held on the island, and to demand compensation for the incident. When SultanSelim of Johanna refused, the Americans briefly bombarded the island's fortifications.[2][3]
Expedition
In August 1850, the whaler named Maria, of New Bedford, Massachusetts, under a captain named Moores, was one of many American ships that used Johanna city as a port for resupplying before heading back out to sea. While doing so, the captain and his crew were siezed by the Johannans and the ship was captured. When word reached American naval forces, conducting anti-slavery operations off Africa, Captain William Pearson, of the sixteen gun sloop USS Dale proceeded to Johanna. It was February 6, 1851 when the Dale arrived off of the small island of around eighteen square miles. The place was defended by a fort at one side of Johanna and a blockhouse on the other. First Captain Pearson warned the British naval forces and civilians in the area of his intentions and then he told the same to American merchantmen on Johanna. After this, Pearson demanded from the Sultan that Moores and his ship be released and that $20,000 be payed. Unfortunately for Johanna, payment was impossible as the coffers on the island were nearly empty. The Sultan had to disregard Captain Pearson's demand of so much money and first offerred $500 in cash and another $500 worth of bullocks and trinkets. Captain Pearson refused and he moored his ship directly in front of the port, 100 yards from the beach, with eight guns facing towards the fortifications.[4]
A vintage French map of Johanna which is also known as Anjouan.
The natives of the island became alarmed so Sultan Selim offerred $5,000 in cash, cattle, trinkets and whatever he could find. Pearson never expected to recieve a full $20,000 so he gave himself twenty-four hours to decide while the sultan gathered his resources. The Americans also warned the Johannans that if they made any war like actions, or failed to evacuate the women and children during the twenty-four hor period, the deal would be void and the Dale would immediately begin a bombardment. However, the Johannans soon after revealed their intentions of ignoring the demands of Captain Pearson when they marched a large body of soldiers into the town. So accordingly, at 9:00 am on August 6, 1851, USS Dale's 12-pound and 32-pound cannons were opened up on the enemy but only after firing only six shots, a white flag was was raised over the Johannan fort. USS Dale then ceased her attack and Selim issued another letter to the captain stating that he wished very much that the bombardment would stop. Because Captain Pearson was not sure about whether to resume the engagement or not, he sent a Lieutenant Reginald Fairfax, in a launch with marines, to inquire about what the white flag was for and if they were ready to pay. When Fairfax reached the Johannans, he asked them about the flag and said that if it was not removed, the Dale would fire anyway.[5]
The natives apparently refused to take the flag down so the Americans eventually resumed their fire on the fort before redirecting their fire at the blockhouse. Pearson ordered his men to make sure their shots were well aimed as he did not want any stray rounds to land within the civilian areas. Due to this, only the military structures recieved damaged. After expending a total of thirty-nine shot and shell from eight guns, over the course of about an hour, the Dale ceased firing again and sent Lieutenant Fairfax back to shore. Shortly thereafter, the lieutenant returned with Captain Moores and $1,000 from the sultan. Selim offerred to surrender the town, give away all of his houses, slaves, cattle and money to try and stop the attack, he also said he was very sorry for the capture of the Maria and would not do anything like it again. Hoping to avoid bloodshed, Captain Moores accepted the aggreement and signed a treaty that put America among the island's most favored tarding partners.[6][7]
Aftermath
The Americans suffered no casualties in the engagement it is unknown if any of the Johannans were hurt. USS Dale and her crew successfully extracted redress for the imprisonment of Captain Moores in America's first combat operations in the Indian Ocean, or East Africa. Captain Pearson remained off the island for a few more weeks, but no further fighting occurred. In late August, Pearson easily suppressed a mutiny aboard the American whaler Paulina off Johanna with his detatchment of twenty-seven marines and some sailors. The mutineers were taken off the ship and placed in confinement. Captain Charles R. Cutler, master of the American barkDolphin was at Johanna at the time and later he submitted a detailed account of the engagement to the New York Times.[8][9]
United States
William Pearson