Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – That morning, the sky of Salem City, Massachusetts, was still wrapped in winter fog. However, Charles Mosem Endicott, the 38-year-old captain, was already standing on the deck of the ship Friendship.

he is preparing to carry out an important mission. Not to the port of Europe, but to a very far place, namely Aceh. He will sail to half the world for a commodity that makes Europe crazy for centuries, namely pepper.

Aceh has been known as one of the world spice trade centers. the area at the end of Sumatra is often crowded with sailors from various directions. Starting from Britain, the Netherlands, France, Denmark, to Spain.

Though, for Endicott, shipping in early 1831 was not just a business. There are big challenges that must be faced.

Aceh is not part of the Dutch East Indies colony.He is an self-reliant kingdom. In fact, according to lee Kam Hing’s search inside The Sultanate of Aceh (1995), Aceh has an official relationship with the Ottoman Sultanate in Türkiye and the British Kingdom.

With that status, Aceh should not be treated carelessly by foreign nations, including by US traders such as Endicott.Not to mention, the waters of Aceh are also known as piracy. Local pirates frequently enough targeting foreign cargo.

However, all the worries did not dampen Endicott’s steps. He continued to cross-oceanic cruise. Long story short, after weeks, on February 7, 1831, Friendship finally arrived in Kuala Batu, one of the critically important ports in Aceh.

That day, Endicott with a small group of crew down to land to negotiate the massive purchases of pepper with local traders.However, when negotiations took place, disaster came suddenly.

A group of armed men from land and small boats approached Friendship. They boarded on the boat and attacked the remaining crew above brutally.

“In the attack, the first officer and two crew were killed. While others were captured. The ship was taken,” said Farish A. Noor in research “The Battle of Quallah Battoo in 1832″ (2014)

As soon as he found out his ship was attacked, Endicott promptly asked for assistance from foreign trading ships that sailed around the area. Together with them,Friendship successfully recharged. It’s just that, in damaged conditions and valuables worth US $ 50,000 disappeared.

“Other warships were immediately sent there to provide heavier punishment,” said Jackson.

The US President went berserk

In the shadow of many US people, shipping Friendship to Aceh will be a prosperous trading story. Though, that hope vanished.

on July 20 1831, Friendship finally arrived back at Salem. Not in a condition full of spices, but badly damaged. Captain Endicott immediately got off the ship and reported the attack incident in Aceh. In an instant, the city of salem was Geger.

Shortly thereafter, the official report reached the desk of President Andrew Jackson (1767-1845) in the White House. Upon reading the attack report accompanied by the killing of US citizens,Jackson immediately furious.

The US Navy on its official website revealed, the attack in Kuala Batu killed 17 people and injured 4 others. This fact made Jackson, who also served as the Supreme Commander of the armed Forces, could not remain silent.

According to Claude Berube inside On Wide Seas (2021),the 7th US President immediately ordered a counterattack by sending a warship USS Potomac along with 300 fully armed soldiers to Aceh.

“Other warships were immediately sent there to provide heavier punishment,” said Jackson.

With this decision, the US for the first time carried out an attack on Asia. This attack is also the only US direct military action to the area now called Indonesia, as the independence AS on July 4, 1776, right today 249 years ago.

A year later, USS potomac really launch an attack on Kuala Batu. Without warnings or negotiations, the cannon was made, the port was burned down, and the US Marine forces went down to the resistance. As a result, 450 Acehnese were reported dead. On the other hand,the US only lost two soldiers.

Only hundreds of years later it was revealed, local residents were not entirely guilty.Attack on Friendship triggered by frustration for the trade practise of previous US traders.

In Death on an empire (2011), historian robert Booth notes that US traders often reduce the dose when trading, thus harming the Aceh. When Friendship come, residents who had been suspicious for a long time had anger.