[KS] Re: Question on General Sherman

[Thomas Duvernay]

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> I am sorry to bother the group with yet another question.....
>
> There was an American mercenary named Burgevine who seized an American
ship
> named the General Sherman while it was at Yokohama in late April 1865.  He
> then took this ship back to Taiwan in May and refurbished his ship and
crew
> with mercenaries and weapons.  He was eventually arrested.
>
> My question is:  Was this the same ship as the General Sherman that was
> destroyed by the Koreans?
>
> Thanks for any assistance...
>
> Robert


Robert,

There were two ships that I am aware of that had the name 'General Sherman'.
The first was an American Civil War river gunboat and the other was a side
wheel steamer gunboat, originally called the 'Princess Royale'.

The first boat would not have been suitable for trans-Pacific travel, as it
was made only for river use (although, if it had ever been brought to Korea,
it would have gone up the Dae Dong River admirably).  The second ship is
purported to be the one that became the 'General Sherman' of 1866 fame
(infamy).

The 'General Sherman' that went up the Dae Dong River had a Captain Page in
charge and owned by a fellow with the family name of Preston.  I suppose it
is possible that the ship you mentioned could have been the same; it
wouldn't have been unheard of that the ship were sold by the Burgevine
fellow to Preston (lots of things happened in Asia then that wouldn't have
conformed to international law today).  Hope it helps.

Thomas
http://www.shinmiyangyo.org