As result of
Malietoa Laupepa's death,
Mata'afa Iosefo returned from exile and was elected to power by a council of Samoan
chiefs. In response, the British
Royal Navy and the
U.S. Navy landed forces at
Apia in support of Laupepa's son Malietoa Tanumafili I against the German-backed Mataafa. The first battle of the conflict involving the British and Americans was the
Siege of Apia; when the naval forces landed they occupied much of the city, Mataafan forces attacked, so British and U.S. warships in
Apia Harbour began bombarding enemy positions around the city. After the conflict, Mataafaite forces retreated to the stronghold of Vailele and thus began several U.S. and British expeditions into the dense jungle to find the chief's men. At the end of March, a joint expedition of British, U.S., and Samoan forces marched along the coast from Apia towards Vailele. Skirmishes were fought and two villages destroyed as the Samoan rebels retreated. On April 1, the expedition of 26 marines, 88 sailors and 136 Samoans left the coast for an attack on the landward side of Vailele, leaving the protection of naval gunfire support. The
cruisers ,
HMS Tauranga, and the
corvette HMS Royalist landed the sailors and marines,
Royalist was sent ahead of the expedition to bombard the two forts guarding Vailele plantation. The
Second Battle of Vailele on 1 April was a defeat for the expeditionary forces. They retreated back to Apia and reported their casualties to their commanders, who decided to plan for future operations in the area. On April 13, the British frontline was extended just south of Vailele, and that day the Matafaans attacked, but were repulsed. Another expedition later
fought again within Vailele. The rebels won again when they withstood a British-led attack on the two forts. The engagements occurred near the battlefield where Samoan rebels had
defeated German troops in 1888 during the
first civil war on the island. A statue of Ensign
John R. Monaghan was erected in
Spokane, Washington to commemorate the young officer's bravery. A
second battle in Apia took place on 25 April, when a small force of Samoans attacked a patrol of U.S. Marines, but were driven off without inflicting any casualties. The war eventually resulted, via the
Tripartite Convention of 1899, in the partition of the Samoan Islands into
American Samoa and
German Samoa. ==See also==