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| The west gate of Seoul circa 1900s Robert Neff Collection |
By Robert Neff
In the previous article we ended as Captain Ferdinand H. Morsel arrived at the American legation to escort Dr. Horace N. Allen to the Korean Customs Office to treat the badly injured Korean prince.
According to Allen's diary, "He was called ― from his home ― on the evening of the 5th to see Min Yeong-ik again, he was still at Mollendorff's and I saw him twice in the evening and once early the next morning. The afternoon of the 6th (Sat.) we were quietly enjoying our pleasant home when a messenger came from General Foote [Lucius Foote, the American Minister to Korea] telling us to come at once to their place. We did so and I returned for clothing after seeing Fannie [his wife] and the baby safe at the 'Top Side House' at the Legations where the Footes and Astons [British representative and his family], Mr. T. E. Hallifax and family, Townsend and family and Mr. John B. Bernadou who had charge of affairs."
Allen's diary supports some of Morsel's accounts. As Morsel had noted, on two occasions Allen had been requested to go to Prince Min Yeong-ik but Foote refused ― much to Allen's relief ― to allow him to leave. "However in the morning a good guard with [two] of the European Customs staff came for me and I went. I found him [Min] holding his own but very impatient."
Morsel adds a little more detail:
"On arrival at our quarters [at the Korean Customs House] he [Allen] attended to the Prince immediately. I was admitted to lend a helping hand and discovered for the first time how sorely the Prince was wounded."
His praise for Allen was evident when he added, "It was a miracle that [the prince] ever recovered, yet in a few days under the skillful treatment he was now receiving his wounds began to heal."
According to Allen, "a message came from the King urging me to let Min be removed to the Palace for greater safety [and] I consented and went home."
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| Mapo in the winter of 1883-84 Robert Neff Collection |
Morsel remembers that somewhere between 2 p.m. and 3 p.m., General Yuan Shikai (who later became president then emperor and then president again of China), accompanied by 300 Chinese soldiers, arrived to escort Min Yeong-ik "to the safe accommodations of the Chinese Legation." Not having a stretcher, they placed the prince on a sofa to transport him but as they prepared to leave one of the men on watch noticed that the Japanese legation had lowered its flag. Then a volley of musket fire and yelling was heard.
The Japanese then left their legation bound for Jemulpo. They made their way past the palace ― soldiers in the lead with civilians at the back along with the legation staff and officers. Morsel saw three sedan chairs (although some claimed there were four) in which he believed were Kim Ok-gyun, Pak Yeonghyo and Seo Gwang-beom ― leaders of the coup.
They were unopposed as they went down the street ― anyone unlucky enough to cross their paths was cut down, including women. When they arrived at the West Gate, the three Korean soldiers who guarded it tried to flee but only two were successful ― the third was cut down and the gate was thrown open.
Shortly after they had passed, Morsel witnessed Korean soldiers "running madly" after the Japanese dragging two Gatling guns. "They were in the same dilapidated condition as the firearms I had examined in the morning. One had lost the handle in which the gun is worked, and for ammunition they had blank cartridges!"
As for the Japanese legation:
"Smoke was seen to issue from the first story windows and as we had not discovered any attempt on the part of the Koreans to enter and loot it, we naturally surmised that the Japanese themselves had kindled the fire before leaving. The fire worked its way to the upper part of the building, and by five the entire building was on fire, flames bursting forth from every window in the structure. It began to snow as darkness set in, the whole presenting a scene never to be forgotten ― the storm, darkness spreading over the city, the building wrapped in flames, the deathlike silence which seemed to have fallen over the people, broken only by the sound of bursting cartridges which had been stored in the doomed building. By 7 p.m. the structure had been reduced to a burning pile. None of the Koreans dared approach it for fear of the bursting cartridges and on account of a rumor that the place had been mined and might blow up at any time."
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| The Han River in the winter of 1883-84 Robert Neff Collection |
Allen also mentioned the destruction of the "magnificent and costly" Japanese legation but not as poetically. He added that Kim Ok-gyun's "fine house with his new European furniture" was also set ablaze and a number of Korean officials who had supported the coup were "killed at the instigation of the Chinese."
While the seven men at the Customs House shared "a boiled chicken and a half a dozen crackers," Allen proceeded to the Chinese legation to check on his noble patient.
"I went and found the streets lighted with fires around which were gathered the frightened people. I stumbled over some dead bodies and was glad to get inside the imposing Chinese [legation]." After checking on the prince, he also treated some of the Chinese soldiers wounded during the unrest.
Later that evening, Foote, Aston and Mollendorff met to discuss what their next course of action would be. Mollendorff, who generally wore Korean clothing, went back to wearing Western clothing ― perhaps in an effort to help ensure his own safety by emphasizing his foreignness. It was decided that the Westerners would move to Jemulpo but not together as Mollendorff and those in the Customs House would leave the following morning while those at the American legation would leave a few days later (Allen and his family elected to remain in Seoul).
Mollendorff went to the palace and notified King Gojong that he was leaving and asked for a detachment of men to guard the Customs House in his absence. This was granted.
At about midnight the snowstorm stopped and "the clouds were breaking, lifting the gloom somewhat off the darkened, silent city. Everything was tranquil once more and no one would have thought it possible that bloodshed and wholesale murder had happened so soon before."
On Dec. 7, before dawn, Morsel and his companions departed the sanctuary of the Customs House. They only had three ponies (heavily loaded down with silver wrapped up in blankets) so the men were forced to trudge through the snow ― a task that was extremely hard on Mitchell. They were escorted by a Korean guard as far as the West Gate and then they were on their own as they plodded through the snow and over the frozen ditches to the river port of Mapo.
Just as day began to dawn, they managed to arrange passage across the Han River but the strain of the affair was too much for Mollendorff and it was decided to leave him behind in a small Korean house ― Tong, the Chinese official and a Korean servant would remain with him. Morsel assured Mollendorff he would send someone back with a chair.
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| Jemulpo (modern Incheon) circa 1900s Robert Neff Collection |
At Oricol ― an inn that served as a rest stop ― the men hoped to resupply and rest but "the Japanese in their retreat had looted everything they could lay their hands on, and what they didn't get the villagers had carried to the hills." Morsel and his four companions could only scrounge up three eggs and a little rice which they shared. They were in a quandary as Mitchell and Shultz were in sorry shape ― the first suffering from fever and the latter from exhaustion. They contemplated leaving them at the inn but five silver yen managed to entice a mounted soldier to loan his horse to Mitchell who immediately set out for Jemulpo. Shultz did not relish the thought of being left alone and elected to continue on.
Morsel also sent a Korean runner ("induced to go for a liberal reward and the promise of a better one" if he reached Jemulpo in a timely manner) with a note to Stripling informing him of their situation and asking him to send a chair for Mollendorff.
After their meager refreshment and rest, the men resumed their march to the port. "As we neared [Jemulpo], it grew colder and began to freeze hard. Six miles [10 kilometers] out we missed our 'Coast Inspector' [Shultz] and retracing our steps found him sitting against an embankment asleep. We compelled him to get up and sighting a man with an ox and pack saddle we 'induced' him to loan the ox, and the captain to mount this bovine steed, and thus we started again for Jemulpo."
They arrived first at Stripling's home where they warmed up and devoured a couple of loaves of bread and then continued on to the Custom House at the port ― arriving there at about 8 p.m. The Customs House resembled a "general-lodging house" as all of the European residents of the port were sheltered there and their personal goods were piled about. There was one person missing ― Morsel's wife. He "found her at home taking care of the house, not having been persuaded to leave her post."
Morsel ended his narrative by declaring that once the Japanese were gone from Seoul, "quiet was restored. The King issued an edict to his people to be peaceful and to follow their usual occupations; and like dutiful children they responded to his wish."
Robert Neff has authored and co-authored several books including, Letters from Joseon, Korea Through Western Eyes and Brief Encounters.
