Shinmiyangyo.

This is coolbert:

Before there was the Korean War there was the Korean War.

More correctly called the Korean Expedition [1871]. Called by the Koreans Shinmiyangyo.

A punitive military expedition on the part of the American naval Asiatic Squadron, the result of verbal misunderstandings on the part of both warring parties, an abortive action not resulting in any decisive conclusion.

"The United States expedition to Korea, the Shinmiyangyo, or simply the Korean Expedition, in 1871, was the first American military action in Korea."

"on June 1, 1871, a punitive expedition was launched ten days later after the commanding American admiral failed to receive an official apology from the Koreans. The isolationist nature of the Joseon Dynasty government and the assertiveness of the Americans led to a misunderstanding between the two parties that changed a diplomatic expedition into an armed conflict."

This was too the last time [?] widespread use was made of NAVAL INFANTRY? Sailors going ashore carrying small arms and fighting as infantrymen. That American on-shore contingent the preponderant number of which was sailors [a mix of sailors and marines]!

Comments:

* That large number of decorations for valor [Medal of Honor] for one minor engagement would not have been the case today. At the moment [1871], the only medal for valor in combat as issued by the American military was the MoH. Today the standards for awarding the MoH have changed dramatically.

"Nine sailors and six Marines were awarded the Medal of Honor, the first for actions in a foreign conflict."

* The American naval officer in most senior command it should be noted possessing extraordinary powers to conduct diplomacy and even initiate hostilities at his discretion. This was a prerogative of naval officers of the period, not having the rapid means of communication as is the case today.

* Only several years [1866] prior to the American Expeditionary Force engaging in combat with the Koreans, the French also had done the same, in a similar manner, but with even less productive results. Korea at the time was referred to as the "Hermit Kingdom" due to the extreme and deliberate isolation as imposed by the local rulers. [sounds just like today at least for North Korea, doesn't it?]

Punitive military expeditions to redress a grievance legitimate or otherwise used to be quite fashionable but nowadays and for some time has given way to diplomacy and so much the better for it I would think. These type of events make for lurid and overblown reading in the history books and make for bad feelings that quite often last for a long time.

coolbert.