Pierre-Gustave Roze

Pierre Gustave-Roze was a French Rear Admiral who led a punitive mission against Korea in 1866, in response to the murder of a number of French missionaries in Korea in 1864.

In the early autumn of 1866, he led a group of seven ships to Kanghwa Island, near Seoul, and landed ashore with an armed force. Joseon leaders quickly gathered 20,000 soldiers to defend against the invaders, and the French withdrew. The Joseon Court reported a victory over the Western barbarians to Beijing.

Though no bloodshed took place, this was taken by observers in the region (such as officials of the Tokugawa shogunate and various domains) as another example of a dangerous incident reflecting the potential threat of Western incursions.

References

• Robert Hellyer, Defining Engagement, Harvard University Press (2009), 231-232.