The US invasion you never heard of. US invasion of Drummonds Island

The US invasion of Drummonds Island was one of the many conflicts between the US Exploration expedition and native islanders in the Pacific.

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The USS Peacock was commanded by Lieutenant William L. Hudson, the commander of the United States Exploring Expedition. Wilkes had ordered Hudson to explore Drummond's Island. Hudson learned from a member of his crew that a merchant ship had wrecked on a reef off the island's northwest coast years before. Most of its crew were massacred, except for a woman and a child, who was supposed to still be alive. On April 6, the Peacock anchored off Utiroa on Drummond's Island. Hudson went ashore with a couple of Navy officers, as well as the Scientific Corps.

Initially, the natives were described as calm and peaceful; they led the Americans to their village center.

Utiroa was said to be where the massacre had taken place. Other than studying the flora and fauna of the island, Hudson wanted to inquire about the shipwreck and the stranded woman and child. The natives spoke nothing of the incident but parts of the vessel were found inside the village's huts, though most of the buildings were deemed off-limits.

The Americans returned to their ship after several hours but returned the next day. All was well until Hudson and his men were returning to their ship. They noticed that a member of the procession, was missing. A search was undertaken which came up empty. As the Americans were boarding, the natives tried to surround the sailors and marines. The natives threw rocks and waved their weapons as the boats shoved off. No one was harmed; and Hudson waited for reinforcements, which arrived the following day.

After it became apparent that the sailor would not return, Hudson attacked the town to administer punishment against the natives. About eighty marines and sailors under Lieutenant William M. Walker landed at daylight.

Around 700 Native warriors were dancing in the jungle near the beach and as the boats pulled in, Walker demanded they let the Seaman go. However, the demand was ignored and the natives entered the water and headed for the boats, forcing them to retreat a small distance. After this Walker turned his boats around and opened fire with a rocket at the mass of warriors. He then ordered his men to begin volley fire which devastated the natives and they retreated, with them back in the bush. The Americans landed.

The Natives were not gone for long. Many returned to defend their villages and they unsuccessfully skirmished with Americans for hours. When all the buildings of Utiroa were burned, Walker and his men moved on to another nearby village and destroyed it as well. They then tried to inquire about the shipwrecked survivors but again nothing was uncovered so Walker led his men back to the boats.

There were no American combat casualties, but the armed boats were damaged in some way during the action. Twelve islanders were killed in the fighting and others were wounded. Later during the expedition, the Peacock sank without loss of life in July 1841, while sailing into the mouth of the Columbia River.