page_title: Battle of Ka-san
section_title: US counterattack on Ka-san
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Ka-san / Battle / US counterattack on Ka-san
caption_attribution_description: Map of North Korean attacks on Taegu, September 1950 during the Korean War.
context_page_description: The Battle of Ka-san was an engagement between United Nations Command and North Korean forces early in the Korean War from September 1 to September 15, 1950, in the vicinity of Ka-san in South Korea. It was a part of the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, and was one of several large engagements fought simultaneously. The battle ended in a victory for the United Nations after large numbers of United States Army and Republic of Korea Army troops repelled a strong Korean People's Army attack.
  Attempting to capture Taegu as part of the Great Naktong Offensive, the KPA 1st and 13th Divisions advanced to the hill masses north of the city where they confronted the US 1st Cavalry Division and the ROK 1st Division. The KPA sought to occupy a number of hill masses, most prominently Hill 902, known to South Koreans as Ka-san, for the ancient fortress situated atop it.
  In two weeks of fighting in and around the fortress, the KPA were able to gradually push back the UN forces from Ka-san and Hills 755 and 314 to the south, but the UN forces held out strongly and the KPA were not able to quickly consolidate their gains.
context_section_description: Eighth Army countered the KPA advance down the Tabu-dong road by ordering the 1st Cavalry Division to recapture and defend Hill 902. This hill, 10 miles (16 km) north of Taegu, gave observation all the way south through Eighth Army positions into the city, and, in KPA hands, could be used for general intelligence purposes and to direct artillery and mortar fire. Hill 902 was too far distant from the Tabu-dong road to dominate it; otherwise it would have controlled this main communication route. The shortage of KPA artillery and mortar ammunition reduced the advantages the peak held as an observation point for the KPA.
  Despite being popularly known as the "walled city," there was no walled city on the crest of Ka-san in 1950. Ka-san, or Hill 902, the 3,000-foot-high (910 m) mountain which differs from most high peaks in this part of Korea in having an oval-shaped semi-level area on its summit. This oval is a part of a 1-mile-long (1.6 km) ridge-like crest, varying from 200 yards (180 m) to 800 yards (730 m) in width, which slopes down from the peak at 902 metres (2,959 ft) to approximately 755 metres (2,477 ft) at its southeastern end. On all sides of this ridge crest the mountain slopes drop precipitously. In ancient times, Koreans had built a 30 feet (9.1 m) stone wall around the crest and had converted the summit into a fortress. Most of the summit in 1950 was covered with a dense growth of scrub brush and small pine trees. There were a few small terraced fields. Koreans knew Ka-san as the "Sacred Mountain". Near the northern end of the crest still stood the Buddhist Poguk Temple.
  When the 1st Cavalry Division on August 29 assumed responsibility for the old ROK 1st Division sector north of Taegu it sent a patrol from the I&R Platoon to the top of Ka-san. There the patrol found 156 National Police. There was some discussion between Gay and Walker about whether the 1st Cavalry Division or the ROK 1st Division should have the responsibility for the mountain. Gay maintained that his understrength division with a 35 miles (56 km) front was already overextended and could not extend eastward beyond the hills immediately adjacent to the Tabu-dong road. Uncertainty as to final responsibility for Ka-san ended on the afternoon of September 3 after the KPA had seized the mountain.
  The Eighth Army telephoned Colonel Ernest V. Holmes, Chief of Staff of the 1st Cavalry Division, and told him that the 1st Cavalry Division had responsibility for the Walled City. Holmes replied he would send a company of engineers to Ka-san. Holmes ordered Lieutenant Colonel William C. Holley, commanding officer of the 8th Engineer Combat Battalion, to report to Colonel Raymond D. Palmer, commanding the 8th Cavalry Regiment. That afternoon Palmer in his command post on the Tabu-dong road outlined to Holley and the commanding officers of D Company, 8th Engineer Combat Battalion, and E Company, 8th Cavalry, his attack plan to regain control of Ka-san. The Engineer company, commanded by First Lieutenant John T. Kennedy, was to lead the attack, E Company following. Once the force had gained the crest and E Company had established itself in defensive positions, the Engineer company was to come off the mountain. Many of the men in D Company were veteran infantrymen who had fought in World War II.
  That evening, D Company loaded into trucks traveled north to the assembly area through a heavy rain. On the way they met two truckloads of National Police going south, some of them wounded. These were the police who, together with the detachment of the I&R Platoon, had been driven off Ka-san that afternoon. After waiting in the rain awhile for orders, the Engineer company turned around and went back to camp.
caption: North Korean attacks on Taegu, September 1950
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