Battle of Seonghwan

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Seonghwan
partof=the First Sino-Japanese War


caption=Ukiyoe by Mizuno Toshikata dated August 1894
date= 28 - 29 July 1894
place= near Asan, Korea
result=Japanese victory
combatant1=flag|Empire of Japan
combatant2=flag|Qing Dynasty|name=Qing China
commander1=Major General Oshima Yoshimasa
commander2=
strength1=4,000
strength2=3,500
casualties1=82 (killed & wounded)
casualties2=500 (killed & wounded)

The Battle of Seonghwan (Japanese: 成歓作戦) was the first major land battle of the First Sino-Japanese War. It took place on 29 July 1894 at Seonghwan, outside of Asan, Chungcheongnam-do Korea between the forces of Meiji Japan and Qing China. It is sometimes also referred to as the Battle of Asan (Japanese: 牙山作戦 ).

The Battle

Charged with implementing the Imperial Japanese Army's commission from new Korean government to expel the Chinese Beiyang Army from Korean territory by force, a detachment of the First Japanese Army consisting of 4000 men under command of Major General Oshima Yoshimasa marched south from Seoul towards the major port city of Asan.

The Chinese forces stationed at Asan numbered approximately 3500 men. Reinforcements, expected from China, had been lost in the naval Battle of Pungdo on 25 July 1894.

The two forces met just outside Asan in a sharp engagement lasting from 1500 hours on 28 July to 0730 hours on 29 July 1894. The Chinese gradually lost ground to the superior Japanese numbers, and finally broke and fled towards Pyongyang.Chinese casualties included 500 killed and wounded against 82 for the Japanese.

Aftermath of the battle

The victorious Japanese army returned to Seoul on 5 August 1894. Following this battle, formal declarations of war were issued by the Emperor of China and the Emperor of Japan.

References

* Chamberlin, William Henry. "Japan Over Asia", 1937, Little, Brown, and Company, Boston, 395 pp.
*Kodansha "Japan An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1993, Kodansha Press, Tokyo ISBN 4-06-205938-X
* Lone, Stewart. "Japan's First Modern War: Army and Society in the Conflict with China, 1894-1895," 1994, St. Martin's Press, New York, 222 pp.
* Paine, S.C.M. "The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895: Perception, Power, and Primacy," 2003, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA, 412 pp.
* Warner, Dennis and Peggy. "The Tide At Sunrise", 1974, Charterhouse, New York, 659 pp.