The fate of the Allies rests in the hands of eccentric British Navy Captain George Hardy. Regarded as a madman by some, and viewed as a genius in naval warfare by those who serve with him, Hardy leads his ragtag fleet of warships into a deadly match of wits and wills against the determined Kern and his untested U-boats. Under cover of the ocean, the deadliest of enemies are about to engage their final battle . Welcome to HuntersAndTheHunted.Com, the Cyberspace Home of author: Steven Wilson.

Land of 10,000,000 Savages Part 1
by Steven Wilson, 2005

ARTICLE ORIGINALLY APPEARED AT MILITARY.COM, October 11, 2007

The 1871 expedition against the forts on Kanghwa Island was an event, as are many, deeply rooted in racism, and misunderstanding on both sides. Westerners were considered "barbarians," and were held in deep content by the Korean government. "You think the Western barbarians are a great people," the King of Korea chastised Japanese envoys visiting the country in 1872. "We Koreans, are a small country, but yet we have the courage to put into writing to you that Western barbarians are beasts."

The Hermit Kingdom permitted few foreigners to cross its borders. The Japanese were allowed to trade with Korean merchants if they did so through the Port of Pusan. The Korean government tolerated the Chinese, but just barely. French priests entered the country in 1836 in hopes of starting the heathens on the righteous road of Christianity and, by mid-century, would convert about 15,000 Koreans to Christianity. The Korean government, described by one publication as the oppressors ruling the oppressed, found the presence of priests unwelcome, hacking some Frenchmen to pieces. In 1846 two French warships were sent to investigate yet another massacre of missionaries, but succeeded only in running aground, and were abandoned. Thirty years later more French Catholics were murdered, but this time the French reacted by dispatching naval and ground forces to teach the Koreans a lesson. Nothing was accomplished. The French forces were too few, and Korea was a rugged and uninviting place to do battle.

In 1866, the American ship Surprise, wrecked off the Korean coast. The crew was well treated, primarily due to the intervention of Chinese officials, but also because as a nominal vassal of China, it was the duty of the Korean government to return shipwreck sailors through the offices of the Chinese. The crew of a later American ship, the General Sherman, suffered a different fate. Stranded in the Tao-dong River, the ship's crew became embroiled in an altercation ashore which ended in the death of eight of the ship's sailors, and the imprisonment of the rest. A band of Koreans destroyed the General Sherman in retaliation for the crew's uncivil conduct.

George F Seward, United States Consul General in Shang-Hai, approached the French in hopes of mounting a joint American-French expedition to secure the release of the Sherman's crew, and to teach the Koreans a lesson. All that was known by the Americans at that time was the crew and ship, were missing. The French, having endured one Korean adventure with little to show for it, declined. The Japanese were approached for help, but nothing came of it due to their own internal turmoil.

Two attempts were made by the Americans to learn the fate of the General Sherman and her crew. The Koreans admitted that the crew was dead, but declined to give an accounting of the ship's fate, for fear they would have to pay reparations. They also scoffed at any notion of a treaty between the United States and Korean, stating they had survived for 4,000 years without any sort of agreement with the Americans, and they saw no reason to begin now. It would take more than the entreaties of barbarians to capture the Korean's interest

In May 1871 the American Asiatic Fleet, under the command of Admiral John Rogers, set sail from Sang-hai. The Fleet consisted of the: U.S.S. Monocacy, a side-wheel gunboat with a complement of 159 men, and mounting 6 guns; the U.S.S Alaska, barely two years old, with a crew of 273, 1 60-pounder, and 2 20-pounder cannons; and, the U.S.S. Colorado, a steam screw frigate, commissioned just three years before the Civil War. Colorado's complement included 109 marines, and she was armed with 16, ten and eight inch guns. The U.S.S. Palos, an iron-hulled gunboat, and U.S.S. Benicia, similar in complement and armament to the Alaska, completed the fleet.

Aboard Roger's flagship Colorado was Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary Frederick F. Low. Well acquainted with the Orient, it was Low's responsibility to find out what happened to the General Sherman and her crew, and establish a trade agreement. This 19th Century version of shock and awe consisted of just over 1200 men, five ships, one seasoned diplomat, and a determined sailor. What they were to learn, as the French before them, was attacking the Koreans was akin to Xerxes having his men beat the waves for impudence--it might prove satisfying, but in the end nothing was accomplished.

The American fleet anchored near a densely wooded island a short distance from Inchon, Korea, on May 30, 1871. The next day two Korean junks bearing emissaries approached the U.S.S. Colorado. Claiming to be sent by the Korean king they asked to meet with Low. Because they were only officials of the third and fifth rank, the American minister refused to meet with them--lesser dignitaries would have to do. There was no aggression intended, the Koreans were assured, the interest of this force was in determining the fate of the General Sherman, and opening diplomatic relations. And, Admiral Rogers added, he wanted to survey the coast, but in order to allow the Korean emissaries time to inform the appropriate authorities, that action would not begin for 24-hours. The conference ended on that note of complete misunderstanding.

The Korean officials did not reply to the Americans, which Rogers and his party took to be acquiescence. In fact, it was indifference. The Koreans didn't care what the Americans said they would do, or not do--they were barbarians and not worthy of consideration. For the Americans' part, they were completely satisfied with their fairness and gentlemanly conduct.

On June 1, 1871, the U.S.S. Monocacy, U.S.S. Palos, and steam launches from the three larger ships began a survey of the Kanghwa Strait, sometimes known as the Salee River, which flowed between the Korean mainland and Kanghwa Island, to the Han River. The survey party proceeded up the strait, alarming the Koreans manning the island's fortifications. By law, no vessel was allowed to travel the strait without written permission, and no foreign vessel was allowed to pass beyond a sharp bend in the lower strait, known as Sandolmok, without authorization by the proper officials. The Koreans did what they had been trained to do—they opened fire on the barbarian vessels to deny them access to the forbidden strait.

The American survey party, surprised by the unwarranted attack upon what they viewed as a perfectly peaceful endeavor, returned fire. It was no contest. The Monocacy's and Palos' aim was accurate--destroying the shore battery and killing at least one Korean soldier. The Americans, incensed that they had been fired upon, demanded an apology within ten days. If none were forthcoming, action would be taken to right the wrong of an unprovoked attack. The Koreans felt their rightful defense of sovereign territory in no way constituted a need to apologize and, in fact, moved to reinforce their fortifications on Kanghwa Island.

The Koreans repaired those defenses damaged in the exchange, rushed several tons of rice, two tons of powder, 30 pieces of artillery, 30 crossbows, and 900 arrows to support the island. Several hundred troops were also sent to reinforce the Chinmu Regiment manning the island's fortifications. A short time later more rice, troops, powder, and over 15,000 rounds of ammunition were added to the defenses. Facing them was the combined firepower of the Asiatic Fleet's five ships, a sizeable force of sailors, and the fleet's marine detachment under the command of Captain McClane Tilton. Clean-shaven, a rarity among his mustached and bearded contemporaries, Tilton's main concern in doing battle with the Koreans, was the state of his weapons. Coincidently, he was a member of the board that recommended the navy adopt the breech-loading Remington rifle to arm its sailors. His marine superiors evidently felt compelled to retain the .58 caliber Springfield rifled-muskets, which had served them well doing the Civil War. Tilton bitterly disagreed, and was now faced with attacking the Korean fortifications with muzzle loaders. Capable of no more than three rounds a minute in the hands of a competent marine, these "fuzzle muzzles," would have to do. Still, Tilton wrote to his wife, he expected to give the savages a "good drubbing."

The two sides that were about to begin killing each other, had at least one thing in common—disdain for their opponents.

Steven Wilson / HuntersAndTheHunted.Com E-Mail: readermail@HuntersAndTheHunted.Com