[KS] the General Sherman

Kwang On Yoo lovehankook at gmail.com
Fri Dec 2 22:10:02 EST 2011


Unfortunately, I have no good answers for Mr. Matthew Smith but would like
to share following with you, if I may:

>
> 1. The Last Battle of  the Tortoise Ship(거북선, 龜船<http://hanja.naver.com/word?q=%EF%A4%87%E8%88%B9>)
>
>


>  "An ancient armored float was brought into play, the tortoise boat, a
> scow mounted with cannon and protected by a covering of sheet iron and bull
> hide. The front part of the armour lifted when the shot was fired and
> closed immediately afterward. Even the tortoise boat failed to injure the
> foreign ship." - The Tragedy of Korea, Frederick Arthur McKenzie, 1908
>
> 2. The trophies of the fight
>


>  "The trophies of this fight are shown today in the sharp of the anchor
> chains of the ill fated vessel, which hang in one of the gateways of
> P'yung-yang." - 1905 Hulbert's History of Korea, 1962 Annotated by Clarence
> Norwwod Weems,1962
>
> 3. U.S. Acting Minister George C. Foulk refused to SQUEEZE Korean
> Government
>


> "By the last mail I am directed to SQUEEZE out of Korea an amount of money
> for the loss of life and property in the case of the schooner Shermandestroyed by Korean twenty years ago. My heart is not in such work and I
> don't believe Korea out to pay, or will she. The Sherman's people had no
> business to go to Korea, as Korea forbade foreigners from coming there, and
> again, all account agree in that the foreigners fired off guns, which made
> the Korean believe they came to do harm.The loss of life,etc. was due to
> ignorance as much on one side as the other, and with this much in favor of
> Koreans, that the schooner people were the first aggressors."  U.S.
> Legation, Seoul, October 13, 1985
>
> "I have come to a peculiar point in my official life. Heretofore I have
> been wholly.
> subordinated to the government, and its orders did not cross with my ideas
> of morality and justice. I have received an order to take up the affair of
> an American schooner Sherman, which was destroyed by Koreans twenty years
> ago, and her crew put to death, and to demand an INDEMNITY  from the
> Koreans. It seems to me that if it is proper to take this money from Korea
> now, it would be just as proper for lots of our citizens to make the State
> Department get indemnities out of Indians, whose forefathers killed
> relatives of American citizens in the past centuries. The government at
> home seems to forget that the Sherman had no business to come to Korea at
> all, as it has not made any preparation for the security of Americans who
> might go to Korea. It seems to me the Sherman people made an adventure
> with the consequences in their own hands.The question as to whether I shall
> severely tackle Korea on this subject or not is the most embarrassing one I
> ever had . I am inclined to think the government is presuming on me because
> I have been successful in a number of minor cases. How is that it did not
> order General Foote to settle this matter, or did not settle it when the
> treaty was made in 1882? I am disposed to leave the case to be wrastled
> with by the pot-belled Democrat I expect to come hereto relieve me, and
> than stand off and see the dust fly."  U.S. Legation, Seoul, February 12,
> 1886(New Year's Day)
>
> America's Man in Korea
> The private letters of George C. Foulk, 1884-1887
> Edited by Samuel Hawley
> Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc. 2009
>

4)1986 North Korea erected a monument (see below)to memorialize the battle
and re-invent the history

This granite monument stands near the captured U. S. Spy Ship USS Pueblo
(you can see the ship's mast at the bottom left of the picture). North
Korean re-wrote history as it is inscribed on the monument that Kim
Il-sung's Great-Grandfather, Kim Ung-u led the fight. It looks tome like
the monument
was built for Kim Il-sung's Great-Grandfather rather than for the battle.

Thank and regards,

Kwang-On Yoo



> [image: photo]
>
>
>
>
> On Thu, Dec 1, 2011 at 7:05 PM, Matthew Smith <matthewlynnsmith at yahoo.com>wrote:
>
>> Greetings all. I've a question that I'm sure someone more knowledgable
>> than I can answer.
>>
>> I recently read Don Southerton's "Intrepid Americans, Bold Koreans" and
>> discovered a curious mention to the ill-fated *General Sherman*. I was
>> under the impression that after the crew was killed, the beached ship was
>> burned just outside Pyongyang on the Taedong river in August of 1866.
>>
>> However, Southerton cites the ship as refitted and renamed "Warship
>> Number One" then sent downriver of Seoul to Mangwonjung. However, for
>> whatever reason, it was mysteriously returned to America and
>> reportedly sunk off the coast of Wilmington, North Carolina in January 10th
>> 1874.
>>
>> U.S. Navy archives seem to agree: (
>> http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-p/pr-royal.htm) The city
>> of Wilmington directed me to this interactive wreck map (
>> http://wreckhunter.net/InteractiveWreckMap.htm ) but I couldn't find a
>> reference to the *General Sherman* or the *Princess Royal* (a previous
>> name). As noted in Southerton's work, there were several ships named the
>> General Sherman. Are we even talking about the same ship?
>> http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-p/pr-royal.htm versus
>> http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-usn/usnsh-g/gn-shrmn.htm
>>
>> Does anyone have any convincing reference? Was it indeed sunk in Korea or
>> refitted and returned to the U.S. only to sink in Cape Fear eight years
>> later? Any insight would be helpful.
>>
>>
>> *Matthew Smith*
>>
>>
>>
>
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