from injuring American prestige in China. It was decided to demand from the local authorities an apology for this attack, and, in its default, to inflict some exemplary punishment. On June 10, ten days having expired without the receipt of the requisite apology, a force of seven hundred and fifty men was landed from the squadron and destroyed the forts which had fired upon the vessels, it having been determined to confine the punitive operations to them.
The loss of the Americans was three killed and nine wounded. Among the killed was Lieutenant McKee, who in the assault was the first to mount the parapet and leap inside the fort. His father had fallen in the Mexican war at the head of his men.[1] Mr. Low reports that "about two hundred and fifty of the enemy's dead were counted lying on the field, fifty flags, and several prisoners of war were captured and brought away. … All accounts concur in the statement that the Coreans fought with desperation, rarely equaled and never excelled by any people." Such is the record of America's first contact with the Hermit Kingdom.
During the interval between the first attack and the assault upon the forts, some interesting correspondence had taken place between the Korean officials and Minister Low. Two days after the first firing upon the vessels the governor of the province sent him a
- ↑ "In the chapel of the Naval Academy at Annapolis, a tasteful mural tablet 'erected by his brother naval officers of the Asiatic squadron,' with the naval emblems—sword, belt, anchor, and glory-wreath—in medallion, and inscription on a shield beneath, keeps green the memory of an unselfish patriot and a gallant officer." Griffis's Corea, The Hermit Kingdom, 418.
