The Battle of Ugeumchi was a decisive battle during the Donghak Peasant Revolution

Donghak Peasant Revolution

The Donghak Peasant Revolution, also known as the Donghak Peasant Movement, was an anti-government, anti-feudal and anti-foreign uprising in 1894 in the southern Korea which was the catalyst for the First Sino-Japanese War....

. Fought between the Donghak Korean peasants and the combined Japanese-Joseon Army, it resulted in the decline of the Donghak Rebellion and the growth of Japanese Imperialism in Korea.

Background

As the Korean government had difficulty in suppressing the Donghak movement, an emissary was sent to the Qing empire to request an immediate troop dispatch. The Qing court replied by sending the necessary soldiers. Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 also sent troops on the pretext of protecting Japanese citizens in Korea. As the Chinese and Japanese armies poured into the peninsula, Jeon Bong-jun

Jeon Bong-jun

Jeon Bong-jun was born in Taein, Jeollabuk-do, Korea. He was a prominent leader of the Donghak Peasant Revolution. Due to his short physical stature, he was called "Nokdu Janggun" .- Struggle and revolution :...

, the leader of Donghak peasants, rallied the Korean peasants and led them to once rebel against the Joseon court and drive out the foreign "devils".

Battle

In the early stage of the battle, the peasant force gained early successes against the Joseon army. However, they began to retire when the Japanese troops arrived to reinforce the government force. When the Donghak army advanced the second time, the Japanese, armed with the more modern rifle

Rifle

A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...

s and cannon

Cannon

A cannon is any piece of artillery that uses gunpowder or other usually explosive-based propellents to launch a projectile. Cannon vary in caliber, range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire, and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees,...

s, easily defeated peasants, armed only with bamboo

Bamboo

Bamboo is a group of perennial evergreens in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family....

 spear

Spear

A spear is a pole weapon consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head.The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with bamboo spears, or it may be made of a more durable material fastened to the shaft, such as flint, obsidian, iron, steel or...

s and outdated matchlock

Matchlock

The matchlock was the first mechanism, or "lock" invented to facilitate the firing of a hand-held firearm. This design removed the need to lower by hand a lit match into the weapon's flash pan and made it possible to have both hands free to keep a firm grip on the weapon at the moment of firing,...

s. As the peasant casualites mounted, Jeon ordered a retreat and the Donghak army scattered.

Aftermath

After the battle, Donghak peasants lost most of their power and were soon suppressed. The Japanese grew increasingly influential in the Korean peninsula after the battle. Jeon Bong-jun fled to Sunchang to regroup and rally another army, but his followers betrayed Jeon and had him arrested on December 12, 1894. He was sent to Seoul

Seoul

Seoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...

and hanged.