Bombardment of the Selee River Forts

Bombardment of the Selee River Forts
Part of the United States expedition to Korea
Date June 1, 1871 Location Ganghwa Island, Yellow Sea, Joseon Modern day: Ganghwa Island, Yellow Sea, South Korea Result American victory; Beginning of the Battle of Gangwha
Belligerents
United States	Joseon Dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Unknown	Unknown
Strength
2 gunboats	Unknown
Casualties and losses
2 wounded 1 gunboat damaged	2 forts damaged

The Bombardment of the Selee River Forts, or the Bombardment of Ganghwa, was the result of a Korean attack on two United States Navy warships supporting the Korean Expedition in 1871. The incident broke down relations between Korea and the United States diplomatic expedition sent to establish trade agreements with the Joseon monarchy. The Battle of Ganghwa was fought as a punitive action against the Korean batteries which had attacked USS Palos.

See also

• Battle of the Pearl River Forts

References

• Nahm, Andrew C. (1996). Korea: A history of the Korean people (2nd ed.). Seoul: Hollym. ISBN 1-56591-070-2.
• Gordon H. Chang, "Whose "Barbarism"? Whose "Treachery"? Race and Civilization in the Unknown United States-Korea War of 1871," Journal of American History, Vol. 89, No. 4 (Mar., 2003), pp. 1331–1365 in JSTOR