The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1894-09-20


by Americans and flying the stars and
stripes, was attacked in Ping Yang river,
in the interior Of Korea, and destroyed.
According to the last accounts, her crew
was murdered and the ship burned, but
there were rumors among seafaring men
for long time afterward that some of the
General Sherman people were alive and
held as prisoners by the Koreans. About
that time party of French missionaries
in Korea were murdered, and when the
French navy attempted to sail up the
river Han to seek redress the Koreans
drove them away with SO good showing
of warlike stuff that the outside world be-
gan to respect them. Admiral Bell, COM
manding the Asiatio squadron of the Unit
ed States navy, reported that the proper
place to seek redress for the General Sher-
man outrage was at Seoul, and that judg
ing by the experience of the French tars,
he would require a feet Of light draft
boats to ascend the shallow Han and
2,OOO fighting men for service on land.
Nothing came of Admiral Bells sugges-
ton, but in 1867 and again in 1868 the
captains of American warships cruising in
Asiatic waters attempted to get satisfac-
ton from Korean authorities for the Sher-
man affair. Two accounts were offered,
one by the people and another by the Off
Gals The former said that the unfortu-
nate party on the Sherman had been mas
sacred in melee on shore by Korean ma
tives without instructions from the
Chinese mandarins, whose authority they
acknowledged. An official calling him
self, among other lofty and poetic titles,
''district magistrate and exercising con-
troll over the country along the Ping
| Yang river, stated that the General Sher-
man was pirate, her people disrespectful
to the customs of Korea, and that they
finally made war upon the vessels and
cities of the Ping Yang. At last she was
destroyed and her officers and men killed.
The matter then rested until 1870, when
Admiral John Rodgers went out from
America to assume command of our Asiatic
squadron. His instructions were antibel-
! ligerent. Negotiations were to be conduct
ed by the United States minister to China,
and the admiral was instructed to carry
upon his flagship, the Colorado, the mem
bers of the diplomatic commission, who
| would join him at Shanghai. The object
of the expedition was to be q treaty for the
! protection of American seamen who might
come to grief in Korean waters. A show
of power was to be made for the sake Of
effect
The fleet consisted of the Monocacy
Palos, Alaska, Benecia and Colorado, and
was accompanied by the United States
minister to China, Mr.. F. F. Low. It ar
rived off the Korean coast in May, 1871
and proceeded to enter the mouth of the
Han. The Koreans had evidently heard
Of the expedition through Chinese sources
for as soon as the fleet anchored in the rive
off the capital a deputation of oficial
moved out in a boat and made signs, ask
ing for communication. Interpreter
met them and welcomed them on boart
the flagship, and the next day anothe
party came on board, but having no ere
dentials, Minister Low and Admira
Rodgers refused to see them. They de
clared that the General Sherman was
pirate; that they (the Koreans) wished t
be let alone and have no intercourse witt