Henri Zuber’s
day-by-day record
An
unpublished text originally copied many years ago
(with omissions) from “the Jeanne
Frey Note-Book” by Henri Ernest Zuber (1901-1967), the
father of Professor
Roger Zuber. The original seems to be a diary written
in the form of a letter
addressed perhaps to his mother. Unfortunately,
the original which was transcribed cannot now be
traced. Tche-Fou
12 September 1866 At
the moment we are starting our expedition to Korea I
must tell you the reasons
for this campaign. Nine
French missionaries have been murdered in Korea under
the following
circumstances: The Russians who, as is far too little
known in Europe, are
inclined to a complete invasion of the East, had sent
an ambassador to the
Emperor of Korea to conclude a Treaty of Amity and
Commerce. The Emperor,
before answering, had the idea of consulting the
Catholic missionaries whose
presence in his territories he suspected; by means of
multiple promises, he drew
them out of their secret hiding-place and brought them
to his court. The
missionaries advised him to refuse the treaty and, in
case of difficulties, to
address himself to France and England, countries which
they represented as being
the most disinterested among the world powers. The
Emperor suspected a ruse,
and after sending away the Russians by promising to
consult with the Emperor of
China, his suzerain, he beheaded nine missionaries.
There remained a tenth in
Korea, Father Ridel, who managed, thanks to the
dedication of Korean neophytes,
to reach Tche-Fou; from there he went to Beijing and
made his report to the
Minister of France. The Minister wrote to the Admiral,
telling him that an
expedition to Korea would be very timely and would
correspond to the views of
the French Government. It may be remembered, indeed,
that the Emperor (Napoleon
III) at the time of the occupation of Cochin, had
regretted not being able to take
control of a point in Korea. After some hesitation
Admiral Roze thought this
possible, and that is when we were called to Tche-Fou.
It is, alas! too easy to see that
the moral value of this expedition is purely negative;
it is just one more of
those acts of theft, that are only too common today.
Indeed, we have no treaty
with Korea which, until now, has remained outside the
movement. The Christian
religion is abhorred there; therefore the missionaries
who venture into this
country can foresee the fate that awaits them;
politics has nothing to do with
their business. Unfortunately
many people consider the missionary as a kind of
diplomatic agent, and so
distort the character of the apostolic institution.
Passions are brought into
play on both sides and the Christian idea gives way to
this detestable policy
of invasion that characterizes the European in the Far
East. The
force prepared for the expedition consists of: -
7 ships, 66 canons -
725 men, about 800 with the officers, for the landing
forces. As
for me, I command a section of the mountain artillery. We
intend to immediately attack Seoul, the capital. They
say this city is not far
from the sea, but we cannot establish its position
exactly to within 70 leagues.
Father Ridel, having only lived by night in Korea,
could provide only very
general information; we have no map of the coasts that
are most dangerous,
which means that the ships will often be in danger.
The latest project is to
send the “Primauguet” with the Admiral’s flag to
explore the coast. When they
have found the river that leads to Seoul, the other
vessels will appear and the
attack will take place. Our preparations are complete.
Everything on board is
prepared for a likely landing and in three days we
will set sail. It appears
that the Jardine company of Hong Kong, having sent
several merchant ships to
Korea, has made a reasonably good map that it has
promised to give the Admiral
on condition of secrecy, but that is hearsay. The
expedition that is about to start astonishes us for
two reasons: it is being done
without the help of the English and what is more,
officially unknown to them,
which seems to me to be contrary to the procedure
adopted by the two powers in
the Far East. Admiral Roze is engaging French arms
without consulting his
government, at a time when European peace is so
troubled. What if we were to be
engaged in a war with Russia or England? We would be
caught in a trap, as the
Russians and the British in the Far East have forces
far superior to our own.
Finally, there is a consideration of another order
that should have influenced the
decisions. We know that the climate in Korea is very
rigorous, that the month
of October is already cold and that the temperature in
the month of December is
on average minus 12°. What will become in this Siberia
of men accustomed to the
sun of China? September
27, 1866: At anchor in the river of Seoul. 18
September: The “Primauguet,” carrying the
Vice-Admiral’s flag and towing the “Tardif”
and the “Déroulède” left the harbor of Tche-Fou.
Nothing new until noon on the 19th.
Then we saw a group of islands marked on the French
map under the name of Ferrières
Islands (Admiral Guerin, during his campaign on the
“Virginie”, sailed along
the coast of Korea and left behind a few attempts at
charts that have been of
some use to us). After the Ferrières came the “Islands
of the Prince Impérial,”
but here the chart was much less explicit and the two
ships we had been towing
until then had to be sent ahead to scout. We anchored
at 10 pm after many
twists and turns. September
20: The “Déroulède” was charged by the Admiral to look
for the entrance of the Seoul
river. A difficult task indeed, since it was a matter
of choosing between eight
or ten estuaries, but much facilitated by the presence
of Fr. Ridel and a
Korean Christian who had accompanied the missionary
during his escape. During
the absence of the “Déroulède” we made a survey of our
anchorage and the surrounding
areas. This task took us to several charming,
completely deserted islands. The
prettiest flowers, red dog-roses, jasmine, etc. grew
freely, while the beaches
were covered with oysters and other shell-fish that
were good to eat. Needless
to say, our work did not prevent us from gathering
enormous bouquets and eating
our fill. 21
evening: The “Déroulède” returned after completing its
mission with exceptional
good fortune. Luck had enabled it to find at the very
outset what it was searching
for. It was resolved that on the next day the three
ships would sail up the
river as far as possible. 22
morning: We set sail and with our little escort
leading the way, we engaged in
the countless passes that lead to Seoul. On seeing us
fight victoriously
against currents that no junk could overcome, and so
enter the interior of the
country, the Koreans in their white robes gathered in
groups on the hills and
gazed, probably with a mixture of fear and admiration,
at these fire-driven machines
with such great power and such a new aspect to them. Everything
was going as our leaders wished and already we were 4
or 5 leagues from the sea
when the crew of the “Primauguet” felt a very strong
impact, immediately
followed by a great lean to port. The poor ship had
struck a rock and her false
keel, broken by the shock, rose wretchedly to the
surface of the water.
Fortunately, the tide was rising: half an hour was
enough to have the sloop
afloat, but caution commanded that it should stop
there; we anchored a little
further down and it was decided that the “Primauguet”
would wait to go further until
the gunboats had sounded the river carefully. September
23: The admiral raised his flag on the “Déroulède”
and, accompanied by
Commander Bochet, set off up river, while we headed
for an anchorage which
seemed excellent. Our anchor fell to a depth of 15
meters at high tide, and
everyone thought of getting some rest, but at around
8:30 pm we found only 7
meters of water (and we draw 6!) It was becoming
worrisome. Immediately we
prepared to move off but before the engine had enough
pressure we were stranded
and the only thing to be done was to prop up the
shiip. The yards were quickly set
up as crutches, we drew in the top masts and waited;
at 9 o'clock there were no
more than 4 meters along the side and you could see
most of the copper. But then
it was over: the water was rising. So the sea fell by
11 meters: it was really frightening!
It is fair to say that we were at the equinox, at a syzygy, and near a
lunar eclipse, all circumstances that
determine the tides. Nevertheless, the highest tide at
Brest, which is found to
be considerable, is 7 meters. The
“Primauguet” fortunately suffered no damage; it had
encountered only mud and easily
came afloat again; it was taken to a place of which
the choice was determined
by experience. September
24: A senior Korean came alongside in a junk of
miserable appearance; he was
escorted by wretched-looking satellites in
considerable numbers. We had part of
the crew take up arms, placed sentinels everywhere,
then brought the Mandarin
and his escort on board. After some greetings he began
to examine with curiosity
the canons, guns, compasses, etc. then he presented to
Mr. Laguerre, acting
commander, a rather poor fan along with a piece of
paper covered with Chinese
writing. A Chinese cook in the service of the General
Staff acted as our interpreter
and translated into French the meaning of the Chinese
characters traced by our
visitors. They meant: “Why
are you here? What are you doing in Korea? How many
armed men have you on board?
Do you need food? “You
must go!” The
answer was not long in coming. Here's what the Chinese
wrote in his best hand: “We
are here for our own pleasure. “We
have come to watch the lunar eclipse that will take
place tonight. We have on
board 200 armed men and 12 guns that fire with
remarkable accuracy. “We
do not need food. We shall go when we deem it
appropriate, but as long as you
enjoin us to leave, we will stay.” This
reply, so clear, so neat, however, did not seem to
satisfy the Mandarin; he
nodded grimly and all the efforts that we made to show
him the curious features
of the ship failed to lighten his darkened features.
He finally left, little
reassured about the purity of our intentions. The
lunar eclipse did not seem
reason enough. Despite
this, the next day they sent us presents, a bull,
chickens, eggs, salted fish,
fruit, and finally a dozen fans: definitely the answer
had its effect. The
following day our relationship with the Koreans
continued on the same footing.
Even as I write there are a hundred on board, they are
allowed to visit the
deck but they are not allowed below . (Here
a description of the costumes and manners in Korea). September
30, 1866 There
is news. We were very worried these last days about
the gunboats, whose
prolonged absence seemed ominous. They were supposed
to be back at the latest
on the 26th and on the 29th we were still waiting. The
Admiral had left no
instructions. Our relations with the natives began to
grow tense; they ordered
us to leave; more reason to stay, but their insolence
did not allow us to
receive them on board and our guns were ready to vomit
shrapnel. It was decided
that on October 1 we would head up-river, come what
may, then this morning we
saw smoke to the north, it was the gunboats! Here is
what I learned about their
expedition: All
went well until the morning of the 25th, the
population seemed quiet and just a
few mandarins allowed themselves to make remarks: they
were politely dismissed
and things stayed as they were. But at a given moment,
about 4 miles from
Seoul, the river was found to be barred by junks
tightly bound one to the other.
We ordered these junks to give us free passage, giving
them an hour to
maneuver; this order was accompanied by a threat that
had to be executed. At
11:00 firing began. Some 30-calliber shells were fired
at the junks, which
immediately cut their cables and fled. Meanwhile
the natives assembled on the two banks fired many
projectiles, most of which were
lost somewhere; however, some fell near the gunboats
without causing any
damage; we responded with a hail of bullets and shells
which soon dispersed our
enemies. We then continued up the river all the way to
Seoul. There a mandarin
calling himself “the friend of the people” came
begging the Admiral to cease
firing, assuring him that our bullets had caused great
misfortune and that they
would no longer seek to hinder our progress. We
promised not to shoot so long
as we were not attacked and began to descend the
river, slowly enough to be
able to make a chart. When they reached the level of a
town called Kangoa, the
gunboats were greeted by a lively but not deadly fire;
we replied while continuing
to advance, but a serious accident brought grief to
the “Déroulède” Two men
were seriously injured by the accidental detonation of
a canon. One of these
unfortunates was even thrown into the water by the
force of the impact, but we
were able to fish him out. These last events took
place on the 30th at 9 am. At
11 am the “Tardif” and the “Déroulède” were at anchor
beside us. The
maritime achievements of the gunboats were superb; the
possibility of sailing
up to Seoul is recognized, at least for small vessels;
undoubtedly the “Tardif”
and “Déroulède” ran aground several times, but these
accidents had nothing
surprising in a journey of exploration and the river
remains easily navigable. On
setting out, the Admiral had published the following
order: “Officers
and Crew! “A
great crime has been committed in Korea: several of
our missionary compatriots
were horribly massacred by the orders of the
Government of that country It is
up to us, who have received the noble mission of
showing everywhere our
country’s flag, of striking down those who have
committed similar crimes, and
showing a barbarian Government that the innocent blood
of the children of
France is forever sacred. So I am leading you to the
shores of Korea. We will make
our utmost efforts to reach the heart of this country
and avenge the good men
who have been put to death by those to whom they came
to teach charity and
truth. I have no need to appeal to your courage and
dedication; I know them
already; but in our just vengeance we will not confuse
those who ordered the
murder of our fellow citizens with the peaceful
inhabitants who ask only to
hold out a hand. We will prove ourselves worthy of
France and our great sovereign
whose magnanimous heart watches over her children
wherever they are and drawing
our inspiration from memories of the homeland we will
march to the cry a
thousand times repeated: Vive l'Empereur “ On
his return, the Admiral issued a second order: “The
Rear-Admiral, Commander in Chief, hastens to express
his appreciation to the Commanders,
Officers and Crew of the “Primauguet”, the “Tardif”
and the “Déroulède” as well
as the officers of the General Staff who accompanied
him. “In
the difficult exploration we have just undertaken,
each of us has displayed the
zeal, the intelligence and those higher feelings of
duty which are the best
guarantees for success. Thanks to you, Korea is now
open and you can be proud
of the success you have achieved. “This
order will be read to the Crew and displayed at the
foot of the mainmast. Signed
Roze Tche-Fou
October 3 On
the day of his return the Admiral, after some
hesitation, decided that we would
go to fetch the rest of the squadron in Tche-Fou
before starting a serious
attack. We
have just learned from two Korean Christians that the
crew of an American
schooner, wrecked on the coast of Korea, was
ruthlessly massacred. This story has
reconciled me with our expedition, the official reason
for which continues to
seem to me no less iniquitous. October
13 - Mooring off Woody Island Tomorrow
is the day when our military operations against Korea
begin by the attack against
the forts of Kangoa. Before I launch into new
adventures I will give you an
account
of what has happened since
I last wrote to you. On
October 10, the day before we left, the Admiral wished
to undertake a final
review of the expeditionary force. Consequently, at 6
am, landing companies,
with all their equipment, were put ashore at the
Island of Kung-Tung. The night
before, an English vessel, flying the flag of a Rear
Admiral, had anchored in
the harbor: We were therefore not surprised to see
Admiral King land on the
same beach as us. Admiral Roze hastened to invite his
English colleague to undertake
the review of the sailors already in battle order. The
presence of the Duke of
Alençon, who sails aboard British ships as an amateur,
lent to the visit a
particular interest. This young prince, grandson of a
French sovereign, must
have felt strange emotions at the sight of these ranks
from which he was
forever excluded. Among the superior officers of the
squadron many had known
his father, whose name will always be well received in
the French Navy, and
were it not for their sense of duty, I do not know if
they would have resisted
the desire to give an expression of their sympathy to
the innocent exile. In
the morning of the 11th, the whole squadron
set sail and at 12 at
night we anchored near Eugénie Island. This morning we
crossed the few miles
that separated us from Woody Island and at present we
are making our final
preparations for tomorrow’s affair. The four small
boats, “Tardif”, “Déroulède”,
“Kien-Chan” and “Le Breton” will sail up to Kangoa in
the order I have
indicated. The first has to protect the next two as
they tow the small boats “La
Guerrière,” “Le Primauguet” and the “Laplace.” “Le
Breton’s” mission is to
protect our rear. Once they arrive before Kangoa, the
boats will drop their
tows and row to shore to unload the landing parties.
There is no denying that
the plan is extremely bold, too bold if we were
dealing with a serious enemy,
because we have to pass through the fire of ten forts
before arriving at our destination,
but with people as unskilled as the Koreans, it is in
my opinion by far the
best. On
October 14, at 6 in the morning, everything being
ready, our four small ships
came forward following the agreed plan. They were in
full battle order, ready
to cover with shrapnel both banks of the river at the
first shot of the enemy.
As for me, I commanded one of the boats towed by the
“Déroulède.” We expected
to hear a hail of bullets and balls come whistling
over our heads. Imagine our
surprise at finding all the forts quiet! The enemy was
taken by surprise,
fooled by our pretended flight. We saw many men
dressed in white running about busily
on shore, but no bullet, no arrow came through the
air. So we arrived safely
before Kangoa; there a few brave men tried to point
the guns of a fort at us,
but the number of attackers inspired in them a
salutary terror and they
abandoned their bloody project to find a more assured
salvation in flight. Soon
there was nobody left on the bank but a mandarin who
tried to soften us by salaams
and multiple prostrations and thereby avert the storm
about to fall on his
homeland. His entreaties were in vain. The 600 men of
the expedition soon set
foot on the soil of the island of Kangoa and captured
without resistance
positions that a more vigilant enemy would have been
able to defend for a long
time. We settled immediately on the fortified hills at
the foot of which
extends the village that serves as the port to the
city. (Here
a description of the cantonment taken on shore by the
troops). But
I nearly forgot to mention a characteristic adventure:
at the height of the
rain, a palanquin escorted by a dozen satellites,
wearing huge cones of oiled
paper, presented itself to our outpost. We immediately
took the palanquin and
its entourage to Commander Bochet, who could not
restrain a burst of laughter
at the sight of the singular outfit, of which the
attached sketch will give you
an idea. The Koreans were not disconcerted; they laid
down their burden with
care and there emerged an old man who began to
gesticulate while articulating
some raucous sounds. Since it was impossible for us to
understand the mandarin,
we brought him to the Admiral who, thanks to Father
Ridel, was more fortunate
than us. The old man in question told our leader such
things and reasoned so
tightly on the causes of our expedition, that we soon
found ourselves with no
answer. The Admiral then became angry and threatened
the mandarin, but the
latter, always keeping calm, replied that he knew well
enough the European
laws, to know that a negociator is always respected.
He withdrew freely. The
next day, the sun rising in an opal sky, found me
perched on top of the hill. I
was waiting impatiently for the moment when the fresh
morning light would light
up the landscape that stretched at my feet .... There
was near me a pine forest so similar to that of
Ferrette that tears came to my
eyes. I went and sat down there and spent an hour
recalling memories that date
back at least two years. During
the day, the third column undertook a reconnoiter to
the south, where they
discovered a huge stock of gunpowder and a
considerable stock of weapons, but
no enemies. The first column was sent to Kangoa; they
were welcomed near the
walls by a relatively intense burst of gunfire, and
not having the order to
attack, fell back to the encampment that had been
guarded by the second column
in the absence of the others. On
October 16 the entire expedition, with the exception
of two platoons, headed for
Kangoa, which was taken without serious resistance.
Some inhabitants, braver
than the others, got themselves killed trying to
defend a gate that was soon
broken down, allowing the three columns to pass. The
town was completely
deserted; seeing so many enemies coming, the Koreans,
who already knew the
dreadful effect of our weapons, had fled, carrying
whatever was most valuable
and closing the doors of their homes. The second
column occupied a large mandarin’s
dwelling, located on a hill to the south of the city.
The third column was
placed in the center of Kangoa, finally the first
settled in the official
neighborhood. As the Admiral had not taken any measure
to prevent looting,
indiscipline soon broke out everywhere ... Then I
remembered a German saying, “Welch
eine Bestie liegt doch in uns” which I found
singularly true. (Description
of the city of Kangoa). The
womens’ quarters are always well cared for; one can
see silk cloths, tresses of
hair, pots of rouge and ointments, and a thousand
small items proving that female
coquetry is exercised in Korea as elsewhere. Some
specific indices, such as the
shape of the clothes, and the shoes, seem even to
reveal a great knowledge of
the art of pleasing; for my part, I was struck by the
charm of these small
rooms which, without being luxurious, indicate elegant
habits. It
goes without saying that the mandarins’ homes do not
leave much to be desired
in terms of comfort. First they are built of stone. In
the Japanese manner, the
floors are covered with fine mats and the walls with
wallpaper. Light wood or
paper partitions separate the apartments from one
another. They are richly
furnished. There are lacquers, bronzes, porcelains and
silks galore. October
22 I
was forced to interrupt my letter to undertake a
survey that I have just
finished. We received news this evening from Kangoa by
the “Kien-Chan” come to
pick up our landing party. It seems that after we left
Kangoa on the 18th, a
senior military mandarin from Seoul asked to see the
Admiral. The interview seems
not to have been very peaceful and the mandarin
threatened to send against us
an army of 13,000 men. We are ready and waiting, it
goes without saying, and it
is likely that 13,000 Koreans will not have much
success with us. . .. October
23 Instead
of starting out on my surveying, I come back to Kangoa
with my section. I
prefer this and I am eager to fire some good boxes of
grape-shot at the 13,000
Koreans who are coming to us. (Henri
Zuber here stopped writing his intended letter, but
continued to keep a
day-by-day diary which he tells us he later copied to
form the continuation of
the letter, once everything was over) November
20, 1866 At anchor off Fernande Island. I
am neither dead nor injured, although I have received
such a baptism of fire as
I shall remember all my life, as what I am going to
write will prove. As for the
emotions so often described that are supposed to
invade one on such an
occasion, I must admit that I have not felt them. At
the moment when, not 30
feet away, I saw the enemy guns being aimed at me, my
heart tightened, it is
true, as I sent you a mental farewell, but as soon as
the first shot was fired,
the most complete composure came over me and I enjoyed
perfect freedom of mind
for the 5 or 6 minutes I remained alone exposed to the
shots of a hundred
enemies. Thanks to the wonderful shooting accuracy of
the Korean gentlemen, not
one of the 200 or 300 bullets that were intended for
me served its purpose. Our
expedition is over and sadly over. At this point all
the ships are still
together but as soon as the bad weather that has kept
them anchored for two
days has passed, they will disperse to regain their
former stations. I will copy
out for you verbatim the journal that I have been
keeping since October 23. October
23 We
sail up the river without difficulty. On arriving at
the port of Kangoa the landing
party from the “Primauguet” return to their former
camp, but the artillery
section that accompanies it and to which I am attached
remains at the beach. My
companion Chevalier and I install ourselves in a
filthy room that does not bode
well at first sight . October
24 The
day is spent doing a complete clean out of our hut and
getting a table, chairs,
mats and paper to cover the walls blackened by smoke. October
25 In
a pagoda already devastated by the sailors we found a
large painting
representing a Buddha surrounded by allegorical
figures of incredible ugliness,
but among these tormented faces some are so funny that
we do not hesitate to
decorate a wall with our booty. In actual fact, the
oriental people abuse the facility
they have to depict expressions: they sacrifice
everything to it and Art falls
into caricature. Their
gods alone, by a privilege of which it is easy to
guess the range, possess traits
of an unchanging stillness. We
can still see nothing of the enemy’s army which will
soon, I think, appear. We are
firmly expecting it, but there is no longer any
question of taking the
offensive and that is right. It is not with 500 men
(the “Laplace” removed 100
men from our total force) that we are going to conquer
8 or 10 million people.
After taking Kangoa, the enemy being taken by
surprise, an attack on Seoul,
though excessively bold, would not have been too much
of a risk. The Admiral
missed an opportunity that will never come again. It
is to be deplored, as
there is now no serious outcome to be hoped for. On
reflection, we are even in
a situation that leaves much to be desired. A flash of
intelligence among the
Koreans can destroy us. For example they would only
have to block the river by
sinking some junks and despatch an army to the island
of Kangoa, something very
easy to do since our means do not allow us to monitor
a large tract of country,
and we would undergo an inevitable disaster. October
26 ... Sad
day. This morning as I was finishing my toilet, a
sound of lively shooting drew
me to the beach. Three of our small boats, carrying a
division of 60 men, who
were to undertake a reconnoissance on the other shore,
had come under the fire of
about 200 Koreans hidden in ambush behind a fortified
gate and a few
surrounding houses. In an instant five men, three
mortally wounded, fell into
the bottom of the boat. Meanwhile, the largest boat
had landed. The men it was
carrying rushed ashore and charged with bayonets
fixed; soon twenty of the enemy
were lying lifeless on the ground, the others fled in
all directions,
abandoning their weapons. We pursued them in vain,
they ran like hares. The reconnoissance
party continued to advance and came back to camp after
having burned down the scene
of the struggle. I cannot describe the emotion that
seized me on seeing brought
to land the dead and wounded. I will remember all my
life long this sad
spectacle, cursing war and its horrors. We
had just won a success but a useless success, even a
fatal one, for twenty
Koreans killed were not from a military point of view
a sufficient compensation
for our losses. It has at least been recognized that
the Koreans are not as
harmless as we thought. The soldiers of the regular
army showed great bravery
and almost all were killed at their posts. Around
3 in the afternoon a strong enemy column under the
command of a mandarin on
horseback advanced in good order from inside a gorge
toward the beach located
directly opposite us. My guns were immediately made
ready and all steps were taken
to receive in a suitable manner the enemies full of
candor who were coming of
their own free will to put themselves in our reach. We
allowed them to come within
1000 meters then a fine burst of cannon-fire threw
terror into their ranks.
They fled, but not without leaving several of their
number on the ground. My
last shell was fortunate enough to reach the mandarin,
who pitifully tumbled
from his horse. October
27 We
buried this morning the three victims of yesterday’s
confrontation. The sad
ceremony caused a general emotion. In
the afternoon we blew up a huge stock of gunpowder
south of Kangoa. Nothing could
be more imposing than such an explosion, that shook
the ground for more than
four leagues around. . . A
Korean vanguard of about 150 men showed up in the
morning on the other side of
the river about a league from us. A shell from the
“Tardif” exploded right in
the middle of those poor people, who certainly did not
suspect that at that
distance they were still within our range. Many
men are harvesting their rice but we have not yet seen
any woman. We have to beware
of these peasants with their more or less false facial
expressions; one of them
tried to set fire to our camp: he was shot, it goes
without saying, but the
example may not be enough. October
28 We
continue to blow up powder magazines and burn the
estates of the kingdom; a dark
cloud of smoke has gathered above us and explosions
follow one another
relentlessly. 5000
Koreans are camping in a town 7 or 8 km from the
river. The
local Christians tell us that in Seoul people are
preparing 200 fire ships and
a large number of junks destined to ferry troops to
our island. These reports, of
uncertain accuracy, deserve, however, to be taken into
consideration . . . . While
awaiting developments, the “Tardif” and “Le Breton”
have been sent further
upriver to intercept any movement of junks. October
29 Tonight
our enemies devised a small “chinoiserie” doubtless
intended to fill us with
terror; the shore facing us was suddenly illuminated
over a length of 2 or 300
meters. This show entertained us considerably and has
not, I think, fulfilled
the mission entrusted to it. October
30 Distractions
are not numerous and are reduced to hunting and
archery. While hunting I made
some very pretty walks. . . I
collected some observations about the lifestyle of the
inhabitants. The Korean
people seem to be exclusively farmers . . . (Here
considerations about Korea). What
proves best the primitive state of Korea is that in a
town of from 20 to 30,000
inhabitants there is not one store or at least not a
single store-front display.
This fact, combined with the uniformity of houses and
costumes (all Koreans who
are not noble or mandarins, wear uniformly white
clothes), singularly
diminishes the interest of a country, which is
otherwise very pretty. Education
seems fairly widespread because it is rare to find a
hut devoid of books. November
6 During
the last few days we have had weather here that
reminds me very much of autumn back
in my beloved home country. The temperature is reduced
by a strong southerly
wind that chases violently across the sky big round
clouds and blows away the
last leaves. . . . If
the Koreans do not consider us beaten, they are truly
very modest. Since the events
of October 26 we have not set foot on the other bank,
with impunity we allowed the
construction of defense works a few miles from us. It
is now almost decided
that we are leaving after the arrival of the
“Laplace,” which will take place
on the 15 or 16. We will all leave with very mixed
feelings this ground that we
were the first Europeans to tread, and which we will
leave with only bad
memories. November
10th On
the 8th in the evening we received a report that 300
Korean soldiers had come from
the mainland and were entrenched in a strong position
5 miles to the south of
Kangoa. It was decided that a column would go the next
day to attack this
enemy. The landing company from the “Primauguet” and a
division of the third
column were designated and made their preparations
accordingly. Under
the command of M. de Lassalle, lieutenant, I had to
accompany the expedition as
an artillery officer, the artillery not being used
that day. We set off, numbering
150 men with little ammunition. On the 9th at noon we
found ourselves in front
of the designated area. We could see no one behind the
walls and the gates were
open; so we might have thought there was a complete
absence of enemies, if the
case of October 26 had not been there to make us
suspect a trick. The position
is a hill whose average height is 400 meters, topped
by four peaks connected by
crenellated walls about 3 meters high. With even a
little defense this position,
which is a veritable fortress, would be impregnable
for as small a force as
ours, especially without artillery. Once the pack
animals were concealed in a hut,
Mr. Lassalle and I were sent with one section to
attack a bastion located on
one of the peaks, while the rest of the column entered
a sloping ravine facing
the gate. So I walked with Mr Lassalle, followed at
some distance by our
section. We were walking in silence. Thirty paces from
the bastion one of our
men shouted to us: “Beware Gentlemen, you are being
aimed at.” We raised our
heads and saw twenty guns leveled at us. We barely had
time to take cover
before shots rang out and bullets whistled around us.
At the same time the
walls were suddenly covered with people and a terrible
burst of shooting
surrounded them with a belt of white smoke. We beat a
hasty retreat and returned
down the hill under a hail of bullets and shot that
produced in the air a far
from harmonious whistling sound and sent earth flying
around us. My poor chief
received four injuries, including two very serious
ones; as for me, not even my
clothes were touched. After rejoining my section, I
ordered them to fight back
but it was a waste of cartridges and meant
unnecessarily exposing ourselves, for
what could we do against an enemy ten times more
numerous and protected by
thick walls? I soon understood that and I continued to
retreat, protecting the animals,
that I had summoned, and joined the main column which,
having advanced to within
50 paces from the gate, without seeing anyone, had
suddenly been horribly
strafed and were retreating like us, withdrawing
slowly and answering fire with
fire. When
the Koreans saw our retreat clearly under way, they
climbed onto the parapets
and gave a loud shout of triumph. Tears came to my
eyes in rage. And without
thinking I looked angrily at those 1500 enemies, so
proud of their victory. Yet
they had done their duty, and why blame them? Had
our aggression been so right? Had the population of
the area been wrong to join
the 300 soldiers to defend their property? Certainly
not. They attempted a sortie.
That was all we needed in order to take our revenge.
But they did not dare
compete with us at such close quarters. As
soon as we were out of range of their bullets, a
roll-call was made. 38 men,
including five officers, were injured. One of those
unfortunate fellows had
received 11 bullets, many of them had their clothes
riddled, but we had no
deaths and not one weapon, other than a Defaucheux gun
lost by chance by the train,
fell into the hands of the enemy. There could be no
question of renewing the
attack and with our troops weakened by the obligation
to divert 80 men to carry
the wounded, simply regaining Kanghoa was a risky
undertaking. Yet that was
what we were forced to decide and we set off sadly,
with only 30 men to protect
the retreat, which fortunately was not troubled. We
had undergone a defeat, honorable to tell the truth,
but disastrous in every
respect. Indeed, the enemy was going to be emboldened
to the point of troubling
us, maybe seriously; then the population of the
island, seeing that we were not
invincible, would become a new force to be counted
with; finally, our sailors would
grow somewhat discouraged. We
cannot praise too highly the bravery of our sailors;
they conducted themselves
like old soldiers, and I could cite many who, though
seriously injured, nonetheless
continued to wield their weapons until the complete
exhaustion of their
strength. For sailors, unaccustomed to marching, to
cover ten leagues in a day,
fight, and then carry the injured for five hours
without a single one falling
behind, is a beautiful thing and shows great energy. The
sun had set when we arrived. It would be impossible to
tell the impression our
return produced; they had expected to find us all or
nearly all healthy and
happy with success; instead, a quarter of the men and
half of the officers
returned wounded, the others were full of sorrow. Now
the evacuation will begin
without delay . November
11th At
2 am we started the embarkation in the deepest
silence; the night was superb;
not a cloud veiled the sky bright with myriads of
stars, while the evening wind
had completely fallen, leaving the water’s surface as
polished as a mirror. A fire,
no doubt started by chance, threw intermittent gleams
on the beach and gave our
movements a sinister air corresponding perfectly to
our feelings. At half past
five there was nothing left on the shore, the signal
was given to set off and
the four ships moved off just when the first gleam of
daylight drew the
abandoned village from the shadows. The
enemy had not yet entered the forts nearest to Kangoa
but two leagues below the
balls and bullets began their music. This time the
Koreans did not have the
advantage; disconcerted by the firing of our guns and
our rifles, they shot
quite badly and hit nobody; good luck also had
something to do with it, because
a lot of projectiles landed on board . November
13th During
the night, five Korean Christians came aboard “La
Guerrière” seeking refuge from
the persecution to which they are subject. They
announced that by order of King
Toulipatou XXVII, people were massacring mercilessly
all the Christians, men,
women and children. This news should not surprise us:
it was to be expected as
the inevitable consequence of our intervention. The
outcome of our enterprise is a sad one; here it is:
the death of 3 brave sailors,
the mutilation of twenty others, the deaths of sixty
Koreans, the total ruin of
populations that were very peaceful until we came, a
Korean St. Bartholomew’s
Day, and finally the engagement of the French flag in
a cause from which it did
not emerge intact. November
16th The
“Laplace” has just arrived and brought me three
letters, what joy! The two
missionaries that were believed lost were on board.
After many vicissitudes
they had managed to escape and gain the Chinese coast. We
will leave tomorrow or the day after tomorrow for
Shanghai. So farewell, land
of Korea: I do not regret you! |