⑧ Admiral Yi's Operations Adviser and Pilot: Eo Yeong-dam

Who Was Eo Yeong-dam?

Eo Yeong-dam (魚泳潭, 1532–1594) was born in Haman, South Gyeongsang Province, the only son of Eo Sim (魚深), a junior military officer of the royal guard (Naegeumwi). He belonged to the Hamjong Eo clan. Recognized early for his martial skill and nerve, he was specially appointed manho, or garrison commander, of the navy at Yeodojin, and in 1564, the 19th year of King Myeongjong's reign, he also passed the regular military examination. After that he served on the staffs of several garrisons, including Jinhae, and learned the waterways of the southern sea; when the war began, he was magistrate of Gwangyang (光陽縣監). He was thirteen years older than Admiral Yi Sun-sin, the commander who saved Joseon at sea during the Imjin War.

The Man Who Knew the Waterways

Every time he organized his formations, Admiral Yi gave Eo Yeong-dam the post of Center Division Commander (中部將), the heart of the fleet. Why he could not do without him, Admiral Yi explained himself in a report to the court.

A collection of materials on Gwangyang Magistrate Eo Yeong-dam, expert of the waterways

"Having served many times in Gyeongsang and Jeolla, he knows the lay of the waterways well, and there is nothing he does not know. Eo Yeong-dam is a man of outstanding thought; I made him Center Division Commander and planned strategy together with him, and in battle he led the way at the risk of death and won great victories. Therefore, that one corner of Honam has been held until now can truly be called in part the work of Eo Yeong-dam's strength." (Imjin Jangcho, 8th day of the 4th month, 1593)

A record also remains that at the Battle of Hansan Island on the 8th day of the 7th month of 1592, he shot a Japanese commander himself and brought his ship back in tow.

"Gwangyang Magistrate Eo Yeong-dam also charged in first, struck one Japanese multi-decked large ship, captured it whole in mid-sea, shot and hit the Japanese commander, and brought him in tied to my ship..." (Report on the victory at Hansan Island, 8th day of the 7th month, 1592)

He was also one of the five commanders (Kwon Jun, Yi Sun-sin (李純信), Eo Yeong-dam, Bae Heung-rip, and Jeong Un) whom Admiral Yi, on the 11th day of the 9th month of that year, declared to the court had "vowed to die together."

Twice Dismissed, Twice Returned

Eo Yeong-dam, too, suffered injustice. In 1593 he was dismissed because his storehouses held some 600 seok more grain than the ledgers showed. In fact, it was military grain and relief rice he had stored in advance against famine and war. 126 people of Gwangyang County signed a petition defending him, and Admiral Yi also asked the court to keep him in his post.

"Even if he has made a mistake, to lose a commander of spirit in such a difficult time would only harm our defense against the enemy. Naval warfare is not something every man can do well, so changing commanders at a time like this is not a good military plan." (Imjin Jangcho, 8th day of the 4th month, 1593)

He was soon kept on (Nanjung Ilgi, 28th day of the 5th month, 1593), but not long after he was dismissed again for the same reason by Left State Councillor Yun Du-su. This time Admiral Yi asked that he be appointed assistant commander (助防將) instead, and that request too was accepted. He was dismissed twice, but both times Admiral Yi protected him.

As it happens, around the same time, Kwon Jun, Bae Heung-rip, and Yi Sun-sin (李純信) — three more of the five commanders who had "vowed to die together" — each went through the trial of being dismissed or arrested and then coming back (see each post). All four except Jeong Un went through something similar side by side; I plan to look further into what this pattern means in a separate post.

The Last Battle: The Second Battle of Danghangpo

Having become an assistant commander, Eo Yeong-dam in the 3rd month of 1594 led a detached fleet of thirty-one ships and burned every Japanese ship anchored at Danghangpo. He was over sixty years old.

"The urgent report from the Right Assistant Commander (Eo Yeong-dam) said, 'The enemy, afraid of our troops' might, fled under cover of night, so we burned all seventeen empty ships.'" (Nanjung Ilgi, 5th day of the 3rd month, 1594)

His Passing

And less than a month later, on the 9th day of the 4th month, Eo Yeong-dam died of the plague.

"Assistant Commander Eo Yeong-dam (魚泳潭) has died. How can I put my grief into words!" (Nanjung Ilgi, 9th day of the 4th month, 1594)

Four days earlier, Choe Cheon-bo, a former magistrate of Heungyang, had also died. That day the Nanjung Ilgi says only:

"At dawn, Choe Cheon-bo (崔天寶) died." (Nanjung Ilgi, 5th day of the 4th month, 1594)

Calmly writing down only the facts is the usual style of the Nanjung Ilgi. But in the notice of Eo Yeong-dam's death, one can see Admiral Yi's uncontainable grief. It is a moment in which one feels the same emotion with which he grieved the death of Jeong Un.

Closing

A man who knew the waterways and held the center of the fleet; who was dismissed twice, and whom Admiral Yi protected against the court both times; who even past sixty led the last battle to victory. Eo Yeong-dam, Admiral Yi's operations adviser and the Joseon navy's pilot from the outbreak of the war to the Second Battle of Danghangpo, died of the plague in the midst of the Great Famine of 1593–1594.

Ah! How can I put my grief into words!

👉 Next post: ⑨ Wherever Admiral Yi Was, He Was There: Song Hui-rip

— Momcheolhak