Rover incident The Rover Incident ( 羅發號事件 ) occurred on March 12 , 1867 when the American merchant ship " Rover " , en route from Shantou to Yingkou shipwrecked off the coast of Taiwan . The ship struck a coral reef called Qixingyan ( 七星岩 ) near Oluanpi and drifted into the area of Kenting . The American sailors were killed by Taiwanese Aborigines in revenge for earlier killings of Kaolut tribe members by foreigners . Subsequently , the U . S . military decided to send a military expedition against the tribe members responsible . American Reaction . Following the wreck of the United States ship and killing of the surviving crew by aborigines , the American Consul to 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 . 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 . " 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 ( 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 . The landing of one hundred and eighty - one officers , sailors , and marines provided with four days ' rations and water was made on June 13 under Commander George E . Belknap of the , accompanied by Lieutenant Commander Alexander Slidell MacKenzie , fleet lieutenant as second in command . In the terrible heat , surrounded by aborigines in ambush , the Marines and sailors fought desperately until they could fight no longer . MacKenzie was killed in the action on 13 June 1867 after receiving a mortal wound to his chest from enemy fire . 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 : The Rover incident plays a critical role on USA military history in terms of shaping US Marine Corps ' " rules of encounter " in " Small Wars " . Upon return to south China , Le Gendre managed to persuade the governor general in Foochow to send a military force to southern Taiwan . The force , significantly smaller than the 400 to 500 soldiers recommended by Le Gendre , was dispatched on 25 July 1867 . Le Gendre then personally requested a gunboat from Admiral Bell , which he was denied , and eventually managed to commission the Volunteer . He embarked for Formosa on 4 September 1867 , telling his superiors that " I am going there as a mere spectator . . . . I have no jurisdiction over the Chinese forces . " Le Gendre quickly assumed de facto command of the mission from General Liu in the course of a long and difficult march into deep aboriginal lands in southern Taiwan ( some of which required extensive road construction ) . Then , with the aid of William A . Pickering and James Horn , Le Gendre negotiated an effective treaty guaranteeing the safety of shipwrecked American and European sailors with Tauketok ( ) , the chief of 18 aboriginal tribes in the area when the Rover had gone ashore . Influence . Following the Rover Incident in 1867 , another shipwreck triggered the Mudan Incident which subsequently was the justification for the Empire of Japan to invade and occupy a part of Taiwan . In addition , the Qing court established the Hengchun lighthouse ( now Oluanpi lighthouse ) for the protection of the Taiwan Strait and vessels transiting the Bashi Channel .