The Formosa Expedition (Chinese: 美國福爾摩沙遠征), or the Taiwan Expedition of 1867, was a punitive expedition launched by the United States against Formosa. The expedition was undertaken in retaliation for the Rover incident, in which the Rover, an American bark, had been wrecked and its crew massacred by aboriginal Paiwan warriors in March 1867. A United States Navy and Marine company landed in southern Formosa and attempted to advance into the native village. The natives deployed a significant amount of guerrilla warfare, which they ambushed, skirmished, disengaged and retreated repeatedly. Eventually, the Marines ceased their pursuit when their commander was killed and retreated back to their ship due to fatigue and heat exhaustion, with the Formosans dispersing and retreating back into the j