Battle of Taejon

The 24th Infantry Division was the first US unit sent into Korea to absorb the initial North Korean advances. It was the last place it could conduct a last-ditch delaying action before the N. Korean forces would converge on the Pusansan Perimeter. TaeJon was a major transportation hub between Seoul and Taegu, giving it great strategic value for both the American and North Korean forces.

About Battle of Taejon in brief

The 24th Infantry Division was overwhelmed by numerically superior forces of the Korean People’s Army at the major city and transportation hub of Taejon. The U.S. forces were pushed back from the riverbank after several days before fighting an intense urban battle to defend the city. The 24th Division achieved a strategic victory by delaying the North Koreans, providing time for other U. S. divisions to establish a defensive perimeter around Pusan further south. The division was the first US unit sent into Korea to absorb the initial North Korean advances, and disrupt the more numerous North Korean units. During the action, the KPA captured Major General William F. Dean, the commander of the 24th Infantry Division, and highest ranking U. S. Army prisoner during the Korean War. Between 3,000 and 7,000 South Korean leftist political prisoners were shot and dumped into mass graves by South Korean troops, partially recorded by a US Army photographer. U.N. forces sent ground forces to the Korean peninsula to contain the North Korean invasion and to prevent the collapse of the South Korean state. The United Nations committed forces on behalf of South Korea, and the division was ordered into South Korea on 12 July. When forces were initially committed, the 24st Infantry Division of the Eighth United States Army, headquartered in Japan was the closest US division. It was under-strength, and most of its equipment dated from 1945 and earlier due to defense cutbacks enacted in the first Truman administration.

On 12 July, the division’s commander, Major GeneralWilliam F. Dean, ordered the division’s three regiments to cross the Kum River, destroying all bridges behind them, and to establish defensive positions around TaeJon. The battle ended on 13 July. The Division was the last place it could conduct a last-ditch delaying action before the N. Korean forces would converge on the unfinished Pusansan Perimeter. The North Korean force’s superior numbers and equipment in engagements at Chochiwon, Chonan, Hadong, and Yechon repeatedly forced south by the North Korea force. The delay imposed at Taejon probably prevented a U. s. rout during the subsequent Battle of PusAn Perimeter, which took place on 15 July. TaeJon was a major transportation hub between Seoul and Taegu, giving it great strategic value for both the American and North Korean forces. The 21st Infantry and 19th Infantry held the heavily battered line around the city, which was wrapped north and west, 10 to 15 miles from the outskirts of T Jaeon, and was surrounded by the Sobaek Mountains. The 23rd Infantry and 34th Infantry formed a defensive line with the heavily bruised Kum River line to the southeast, and held it in reserve in the southeast. After a fierce three-day struggle, the U. S. withdrew from Tae Jaeon and the battle was won by North Korea.

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