The Hawaiian gazette. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1865-1918, 1894-08-21
HARD FIGHTING BY NAVAL FORCES
Dealings With the Hermit King
dom for Ten Nesrs-Nonoczey and
PAic< Fired on by Korean Batteries.

nv 10 Tue AlA0CANS> u 'CSNS-A
civilization. il is necessary 10 go bsck
to the yesr 1866. At thst time hores
wss the Hermit Kingdom" in more
than nsme. The present king had
sscsnded the throne couple OF
wears before, but being mere boy
the government was wholly in the
hands Of his regent father. who was
s bitter hster both Of foreigners snd
of change. Some French missionar-
les, who hsd brsved the lsw Of the
country snd boldly advanced into
the nstive cities, were horribly
msssscred in 1866, snd French ex-
petition sent 20 ehsstise the horesns
ssesnded the Seoul River snd stack
81 several forts. but lost so heavily
that the expedition ssiled away with
out having accomplished the end
simed at, snd having left the Korean
soldiers with the impression that the
foreigner could not fight, and thst
the Korean wss invincible.
Tzz GENERAL szERxAS MASSACRE.
In the same year SD American
schooner. the General Sherman.
chartered BIZ 3 British trader, sailed
for China on an experimental voyage
Of trade sDd discovery. The vessel
entered the Ta-tJng river and never
returned. Il IVES burned By natives,
and those on beard were slaughtered
70 the last man. On the news Of this
massacre being received, Command
er-now Rear Admiral-R. ". Schu-
feldt. visited the peninsula with the
American war steamer Wschusett on
6 mission Of inquiry. No satisfaction.
however. was obtsined, and similar
mission. under Commander Febiger.
OF the Shenandoah, despatched few
months later. proved equally barren
Finslly. in ISL, the Asistic squad
ron. consisting OF the flagship
Colorado. the ccrvettes Alssks and
Benicis. with the gunbOsts Mono
cscy-now ST Chemulpo-snd Palos,
was despatched, under Admiral
Rodgers. TO koresn waters
1t was intended to secure treaty
for the protection of Americans ship
wrecked on the cost of hores, to in
ouire into the General Sherman
STAIR and TO obtain If possible q
treaty Of commerce. Peaceful negO-
tiatiOns. however. proved TO be I'm
possible. The natives gsrrisoned
the forts along the river snd prepar-
81 TO make things hot for the foreign
ers should they attempt to ascend
the river toward the capital 4 sur
vey expedition, under Captain
Horner Blake, consisting Of the
Morocacy and Palos, with four
steam launches, was sent up the
river. When they were close to
kang-wa Island the Korean batter
les. containing some eighty guns,
suddenly opened fire upon them.
The redoubt was instantly wrapped
. in 6 sheet Of flames. dischsrging in q
few seconds about three hundred
shots. One account says that these
rssped the water like a hsilstorm.
. The veterans Of the civil war had
never known such rapid firing. Yet
only one American was wounded
INSULT AND PUNISHMENT.
Fortunately the order TO fire had
been given e few seconds late; the
American vessels were already out OF
the line OF fire and IS the guns OF the
natives were fastened on logs, they
could not be manipulated and were
Of no further use The answering
fire from the gunbOats and launches
soon cleared the fort Of its defenders
and q week later q punitive eIpedi-
ton vas landed IN order 10 teach the
Koreans 9 necessary lesson The
force. composed Of SIX hundred and
fifty men. was led by Commander L
4 Kimberley. the sdiutsut general
being Lieutenant Commander VI
Scott SehIey, who was afterwards 70
win fame a. the rescuer Of Lieuten-
ant Greedy.
The first battery, which was at
tackled Unexpectedly IN the rear. was
taken without difficulty; the works
were completely demolished and the
cannon rolled into the river. On the
following day the next fort--FOrt
MonOcscy," as it IVES christened-
was cleared by shells from the Mono
cscy's guns and was then dismantled
BY the landed troops. An advance
was next made upon the citadel or
principle fort. which was perched on
the crest Of g rocky hill. The
Koreans we're lowering beyond the
reach OF our guns IN vastly superior
numbers. and were evidently waiting
for an opportunity to crush the little
American army ss sOon IS it had en-
tered the raTine lying below the fort
IOdefsst these tactics five hoTiiZers
and two companies Of infantry were
posted IS & rear guard on rising
ground. while the main body moved
forward TO storm the citadel. The
Koreans attacked the hoEitzers n
large numbers, but the excellent
practice made By the American gun-
ners under Master A. Y Wsdhsms
scattered them efeetgslly and IRE
vented any large body Ct them from
getting into close quarters with our
men
Presently, at . signal previously