The Storming of Ganghwa City in 1866

The French attack on Ganghwa Island in 1866.

By Robert Neff

You can read more about the war, as well as other early contacts between the West and Korea in "Brief Encounters."

On October 16, 1866, a large French military expedition attacked Ganghwa city. The attack was relatively unchallenged ― only a few shots fired resulting in the deaths of a handful of Korean defenders.

The French soldiers and marines, using axes, chopped the gate down and rushed into the deserted city. Almost immediately, the French began to loot the city.

At the government armory "they found weapons galore, bows and arrows in very large numbers, iron swords that bend without breaking, helmets, breastplates of beautiful workmanship but excessively burdensome, about eighty copper and iron cannon of various calibers, but in poor condition, a considerable amount of matchlock guns of all sizes."

Storehouses were also looted. Chinese silk, hides and leather, cloth, porcelain, waxes and dried fish were seized. Perhaps even more appealing to the soldiers were the "more than one hundred eighty thousand silver francs worth of ingots which have the shape of pancakes."

But it was in the library where they found the most valuable objects ― the books.

"The library was very rich. Two or three thousand books printed in Chinese with many drawings, on fine paper, all well labeled, the very large majority bound with copper plates on covers of green or crimson silk." Among the books were 60 volumes of ancient history.

French soldiers at the governor's residence.

Perhaps one of the most curious books was one "made of marble slabs, folding like the panels of a screen on gilded brass hinges, very well published with gold letters inlaid in the marble and each slab protected by a scarlet silk cushion; all placed in a nice chest of copper, which in turn was enclosed in a wooden box painted in red, with metal fittings of gilded copper."

One witness observed, "The Koreans attach to it a very great price." It was true and these looted books continue to be a thorn in Korean-French relations.

For several days the French occupied the city and tried to reassure the Korean population that they meant no harm to the common people. The people were distrustful and demanded to know why, if the French were there to punish the executions of the French missionaries, they did not march upon Seoul. They warned that the French would gain nothing if they stayed and were only punishing innocent people.

The French naval forces attacking in 1866.

As the days passed, the French could see more and more Korean soldiers gathering on the mainland. In an effort to prevent the French from sailing up to Seoul, the entrance to the Han River was blocked with several small Korean junks and boats. The French also heard rumors of the arrival of hundreds of Korean tiger-hunters ― famed for their ferocity and marksmanship.

The capture of Ganghwa City had been relatively easy and quite profitable, the next battles would not.