General Sherman Incident - Incident

Incident

Determined to open up Korea to trade, the British trading firm Meadows and Co., based in Tientsin (present day Tianjin), China, sent the General Sherman (named for William Tecumseh Sherman) into Korean waters in an attempt to meet with Korean officials to begin negotiations for a trade treaty. The 187-ton side-wheel steamer allegedly carried a cargo of cotton, tin, and glass and was heavily armed. The crew consisted of Captain Page, Chief Mate Wilson, and 13 Chinese and 3 Malay sailors. Also on board was the ship's owner, W. B. Preston, an American trader, and Robert Jermain Thomas, a Protestant missionary acting as an interpreter. They departed Chefoo (present day Yantai), China on August 9 and arrived on the coast of Korea on August 16, 1866. The General Sherman, then assisted by Chinese junk boats, entered the Taedong River on Korea's west coast sailing towards Pyongyang. One captain of Chinese junk boats' name was Yu Wautai and he accompanied Rev. Thomas on his previous trip to Korea in Hwang Hae province. According to Rev. Thomas, Mr. Yu had a 20 years of experience trading with Koreans. The depth of the Taedong River changed frequently due to rains and the tides, but the ship was able to navigate it and stopped at the Keupsa Gate, lying at the border between Pyongan and Hwanghae provinces.

Local officials then met the crew and were able to communicate well enough to learn the ship was purportedly interested in trade. The Koreans refused all trade offers but agreed to provide the crew with some food and provisions. The ship was told to wait while higher level government officials could be consulted. However, the ship then departed again and went further up river, until it became stranded near Yangjak island near Pyongyang. Park Gyu-su (the governor of Pyongyang) then sent his Adjuntant-General, Yi Hyon-Ik, with food and told the ship that it was supposed to stay at the Keupsa Gate and again to wait while the Korean ruler was consulted. At that time Korea was ruled by a Regent, the Heungseon Daewongun, in the name of his minor son King Gojong. The Daewongun sent orders that the ship was to leave immediately or all the crew would be killed. According to Korean Official history record, "Kojong-silrok" (Vol.3), there were two survivors (Robert Thomas and Cho Neung-bong) who had dived into the river from the prow of ship but they were beaten to death.

There are several discrepancies as to what had happened. The crew of General Sherman abducted Adjunt-General Yi and his two deputies who were attempting to pursue a small boat launched from the General Sherman containing six men attempting to reach shore. According to Governor Park's report, another government official, Shin Tae-jung tried to persuade the crew of General Sherman to release Yi Hyon-ik and his men but failed. Instead, the General Sherman moved upstream firing cannons and guns and eventually anchored at Hwang-gang-jung (House of Yellow River). Then, five men launched a blue boat and navigated through the O-tan area in order to detect the depth of water. The residents of Pyong-yang gathered along the riverbank and shouted for the release of Yi Hyon-ik. A man (probably Robert J. Thomas since he was the only one that spoke Korean) in the boat retorted, saying that they would give the answer if they were allowed inside of Pyong-yang city. The crowd got upset and started throwing stones at the small boat. The military men also shot arrows and guns at the small boat and they retreated back to the main ship. Koreans then sent a rescue party and managed to bring Yi out safely but Yi's two deputies (Yoo Soon-won and Park Chi-young) perished. Three days later reporting the rescue, Governor Park sent another report stating that the ship fired its cannons into the spectators which resulted 7 deaths and 5 wounded.

Fighting continued for the next four days but causing no damage. The Koreans then tied several boats together filled with wood, sulphur and saltpeter. The first two boats failed to inflict any damage, but the third boat set the General Sherman afire. Unable to stem the flames, the crew jumped into the water, where they were beaten to death.

The incident was one reason why the U.S. returned in 1871 in what is called the 1871 U.S. Korea Campaign, or Sinmiyangyo, resulting in the deaths of about 300 Koreans. Five years later Korea was forced to sign a trade treaty with Japan, and in 1882 signed a treaty with the US, ending several centuries of isolationism.