Gwon Yul
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 Portrait of General Gwon Yul. |
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Kwon Yul (1537-1599) was a Korean Army General and Field Marshal during the Joseon Dynasty, who led his forces in the Battle of Haengju during Hideyoshi's Invasions of Korea against Japan.
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[edit] Early life
A member of Andong Kwon clan, Kwon Yul descended from high ranking government officials; his father, Kwon Cheol, was a former Prime Minister of the Joseon court. However, Kwon Yul did not enter politics nor military career until he was 46. He became army officer and appointed several different posts, mostly local commander or mayor. It was during the Seven-Year War when Kwon, then mayor of Gwangju, became famous.
[edit] Seven-Year War
At the time of the Japanese invasion, in 1592, he gathered around 1,000 militia near the city of Namwon with his commander Yi Gwang and headed towards Seoul to join the main force. Yi Gwang eventually lost to Japanese, but Kwon managed to lead his forces to Ichi (Geumsan), where his militia encountered Kobayakawa Takakage (小早川隆景)'s army. Kwon's men fought and won the battle, which resulted in the recapture of the province of Jeolla.
The Joseon Government recognized Kwon's heroics, and named him the new Governor of the province the following year. Kwon then led an army of 2,000 to Gyeonggi to recapture Seoul once more, where he was joined by local militia and monks, which enabled Kwon to gather up to 10,000 men. However Kwon's troops were running out of food supplies, so Kwon planned to retreat to his base, but the government ordered Kwon to march northward and combat the Japanese in Seoul. Since Kwon knew well about the failure of Yi Gwang's campaign, he moved his regiment slowly to the north, and camped on fortress Doksung (禿城山城 or 禿王 Dokwang), near present-day Suwon. Japanese general Ukita Hideie (宇喜多秀家), upon hearing the news, led his forces to lay siege on the fort. However Ukita was unable to seize the fortress due to the heavy resistance of Kwon's forces, and at last he gave order to withdraw to Seoul. Kwon chased the retreating Japanese, inflicting heavy casualties. There he met supporting Chinese soldiers and marched toward Seoul.
[edit] Battle of Haengju
Kwon and his men set up camp in the run-down fortress of Haengju (幸州山城); although his forces were joined by many local militias and monks, his entire unit in Haengju was no more than 2,800 men. Threatened by this action, Japanese commanders Kato Kiyomasa (加藤清正) and Ukita, attacked Haengju fortress with 40,000 men, trying to finish off Kwon's troops once and for all. Ukita, who never led the attack in the frontline directly, led the Japanese toward the fortress. The commencement of the Battle of Haengju, early in the morning of 12th February, 1593. Almost 70,000 Japanese under Kato and Ukita, armed with muskets, surrounded the fortress and launched several massive attacks; however, Kwon's forces and the civilians at the fortress resisted heavily, and the Japanese, with heavy casualties, were compelled to retreat. It was one of the greatest Korean military victories during the Seven-Year War. Inflicting over 10,000 casualties on the Japanese, Ukita and his remaining troops fled the region.
[edit] After the Battle
After the battle, he kept his position, until the peace talks between Ming Dynasty and Toyotomi Hideyoshi began. Then he moved to Jeolla province, and from then on, Kwon Yul became the Field Marshal and Commander-in-Chief (導元帥 Dowonsu) of the Korean military. He was briefly removed from office due to his harsh treatment of deserters, but was restored back again in the following year. He ordered Commander-in-Chief of navy, Won Kyun, to battle the Japanese in the Battle of Chilchonryang, which was won by Japanese. However Admiral Yi Sun Shin was able to defeat the Japanese navy under Todo Takatora in the Battle of Myeongnyang.
In 1597, Kwon and Chinese commander Ma Gui planned to combat the Japanese in Ulsan, but the Chinese commander-in-chief ordered Kwon to withdraw. Then Kwon tried to attack Japanese in Suncheon, but the idea was again rejected by Chinese. After the war, Kwon retired from all of his posts; he died in July 1599. Kwon is remembered in Korean history as one of Korea's most successful and patriotic military commanders.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Gyohaksa. (1983). 새國史事典 [New Encyclopedia of Korean History]. Seoul, Korea: Gyohaksa. ISBN 8909005068
- Doosan Encyclopedia Online
- Information on Kwon Yul from Korean Ministry of Culture and Tourism Web site
