⑪ Won Gyun's Subordinate Who Truly Followed Admiral Yi: Yi Yeong-nam

Who Was Yi Yeong-nam?

Yi Yeong-nam (李英男) belonged to the Yangseong Yi clan, and his courtesy name was Sasu (士秀). He was born in 1563 in Jincheon County, Chungcheong Province (today Gijeon-ri, Deoksan-eup, Jincheon County).

General Yi Yeong-nam

In 1584, the 17th year of King Seonjo's reign, at the age of twenty-two, he passed a special military examination, ranked 163rd in the third grade. Where he was and what he did for nearly eight years after passing has not been confirmed. But around 1592, when the Imjin War broke out, he was serving as gwongwan, or post commander, of Sobipo (蘇非浦) under Won Gyun (元均), the Right Gyeongsang Naval Commander. Sobipo was a harbor in what is now the Goseong area of South Gyeongsang Province.

Between Admiral Yi and Won Gyun

On the 13th day of the 4th month of 1592, the Imjin War broke out, and when the Japanese army took Busanjin Fortress and Dongnae Fortress one after the other, Won Gyun, the Right Gyeongsang Naval Commander, tried to sink his own warships and flee ashore. Those who stopped him included Yi Un-ryong (李雲龍), garrison commander of Okpo. Yi Un-ryong persuaded Won Gyun that the court would hold him responsible after the war, that it would not be too late to withdraw after fighting, and proposed that he ask the Left Jeolla Naval Command for reinforcements.

The one who set out on that mission — as envoy to request troops — was Yi Yeong-nam, post commander of Sobipo. At first, Admiral Yi Sun-sin — the commander who saved Joseon at sea during the Imjin War — and the commanders of the Left Jeolla Naval Command hesitated to set out, because their areas of jurisdiction were different and they could not move troops into another region without the court's permission. But Yi Yeong-nam came again and again to ask, and the Left Jeolla navy decided to sail into Gyeongsang waters. And on the 7th day of the 5th month came the Battle of Okpo, the first victory of the Imjin War.

Following Admiral Yi While Under Won Gyun

The first day Yi Yeong-nam's name appears in the Nanjung Ilgi, the Admiral's war diary, is the 7th day of the 2nd month of 1593.

"Ki Suk-heum (奇叔欽) also came to see me, and Yi Yeong-nam (李英男) and Yi Yeo-yeom (李汝恬) came too." (Nanjung Ilgi, 7th day of the 2nd month, 1593)

After that, while still under Won Gyun, Yi Yeong-nam came to Admiral Yi in person many times to tell him of Won Gyun's conduct. This is the record of the 2nd day of the 3rd month of 1593:

"Yi Yeong-nam (李英男) and Yi Yeo-yeom came, and hearing of old Won Gyun's misdeeds, I can only lament all the more." (Nanjung Ilgi, 2nd day of the 3rd month, 1593)

A similar record follows a little over two months later, on the 8th day of the 5th month:

"When I arrived straight at Dangpo, Yi Yeong-nam (李英男) came to see me and told me in detail of the many foolish things the naval commander (Won Gyun) had done." (Nanjung Ilgi, 8th day of the 5th month, 1593)

All these records come before the 12th day of the 9th month of 1593, when Admiral Yi became Supreme Naval Commander of the Three Provinces. In other words, Yi Yeong-nam, while a commander under Won Gyun, trusted Admiral Yi more.

In the 1st month of the following year, 1594, Joseon was in the midst of the so-called "Great Famine of 1593–1594." Yi Yeong-nam told Admiral Yi of this terrible situation.

"Hearing from Yi Yeong-nam (李英男), post commander of Sobipo, that the archers and oarsmen of the many ships of Yeongnam were nearly all about to starve to death, it was so dreadful I could not bear to hear it." (Nanjung Ilgi, 19th day of the 1st month, 1594)

The record of the 18th day of the 8th month of that year shows once again, clearly, where Yi Yeong-nam's trust lay.

"Gyeongsang Naval Commander Won Gyun (元均) was drunk, could not even get up, and lay down and did not come. So I alone, with the magistrate of Gonyang (Yi Gwang-ak), the magistrate of Geoje (An Wi), the post commander of Sobipo (Yi Yeong-nam), and others, turned the ships back, reached the waters off Samcheonpo, and slept." (Nanjung Ilgi, 18th day of the 8th month, 1594)

That night, when Won Gyun was absent, drunk, the one who stayed at Admiral Yi's side was none other than Won Gyun's own subordinate, Yi Yeong-nam, post commander of Sobipo.

To Ganggye, and Back to the South

On the 20th day of the 4th month of 1595, the Nanjung Ilgi has a short record: "Yi Yeong-nam came down bringing the reply to my report." And until the end of that year, Yi Yeong-nam's name disappears from the diary for some time.

It is said that for about six months, from the 7th to the 12th month of 1595, Yi Yeong-nam left the Gyeongsang seas and served as pangwan, an administrative officer, of Ganggye in Pyeongan Province. A commander who had been fighting hard in the southern sea suddenly moved to become an administrator of an inland town in the far north; I have not been able to confirm the exact reason. But it is clear that this period coincides with the gap in the Nanjung Ilgi.

After finishing his term at Ganggye, Yi Yeong-nam returned to the navy in the south. And in the 1st month of 1596, his name appears again in the Nanjung Ilgi.

Beside the Bedridden Admiral

In the 5th month of 1596, Admiral Yi fell seriously ill. He was so unwell that he wrote in his diary of vomiting again and again and groaning through the nights. Around that time, Yi Yeong-nam came. This is the record of the night of the 7th day of the 5th month:

"As I sat up worrying all night, there was the sound of someone knocking at the door. I opened it and asked, and Yi Yeong-nam (李英男) came in. I called him in, and we talked quietly about past matters." (Nanjung Ilgi, 7th day of the 5th month, 1596)

The next day, and the day after that, Yi Yeong-nam stayed by his side.

"In the morning I talked with Yi Yeong-nam (李英男)." (Nanjung Ilgi, 8th day of the 5th month, 1596)

The same day's diary separately records, "I was very unwell and vomited twice."

"I am very unwell. I talked with Yi Yeong-nam about affairs in Seogwan (Hwanghae and Pyeongan provinces)." (Nanjung Ilgi, 9th day of the 5th month, 1596)

There seems to have been something between the two that went beyond formality — enough that they could talk quietly late into the night even about conditions in distant regions. Yi Yeong-nam, who stayed more than five days, left only on the 12th day of the 5th month.

"Yi Yeong-nam (李英男) went back. I was unwell and groaned all day." (Nanjung Ilgi, 12th day of the 5th month, 1596)

And after this day, Yi Yeong-nam's name does not appear in the Nanjung Ilgi again.

Pushed Aside by Won Gyun, Then Garipo Garrison Commander

In the 2nd month of 1597, when Admiral Yi was dismissed and taken under guard to Hanyang and Won Gyun became Supreme Naval Commander of the Three Provinces, Yi Yeong-nam too is said to have been pushed aside by Won Gyun. I have not been able to confirm exactly what post he held after that.

On the 16th day of the 7th month of that year, Won Gyun's fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Chilcheollyang. In this battle Admiral Yi lost commanders he had long trusted, Yi Eok-gi among them. Then in the 8th month, when Admiral Yi returned as Supreme Naval Commander of the Three Provinces, Yi Yeong-nam also returned to the battlefield with him. At some point after that, Yi Yeong-nam was appointed garrison commander and assistant commander of Garipo (today's Wando), and it is said that this appointment reflected Admiral Yi's wishes. Having lost many commanders he could trust, he kept Yi Yeong-nam, with whom he had fought before, by his side again.

Noryang, the Last Battle

In the Battle of Noryang, which lasted from the night of the 18th day of the 11th month of 1598 to the dawn of the 19th, Admiral Yi fought his last battle. Yi Yeong-nam, garrison commander of Garipo, also took part in this battle; fighting to the end, he was struck by an enemy bullet and killed together with Admiral Yi, at the age of thirty-six.

The Joined Trees of Jincheon

When Yi Yeong-nam was killed, it is said that his servant recovered his body, returned to his hometown of Jincheon, and prepared his grave. This grave, now in Gijeon-ri, Deoksan-eup, Jincheon County, is designated North Chungcheong Province Monument No. 144.

Beside the grave stands a yeollimok, a joined tree, in which a pine and a sawtooth oak have grown together as one body. A story is handed down in the village that the pine is the reincarnation of Yi Yeong-nam, and the oak that of Admiral Yi.

In 1621, the 13th year of King Gwanghaegun's reign, the court posthumously named Yi Yeong-nam Vice Minister of War. Earlier, in 1605, the 38th year of King Seonjo's reign, he had been enrolled as a First-Class Meritorious Subject of the war (Seonmu Wonjong Gongsin).

The Story of Two Yi Yeong-nams

In fact, the Jeonui Yi family of Jeonju (Wanju) in Jeolla Province also hands down a separate tradition that the "Yi Yeong-nam" killed at Noryang was their ancestor. This tradition gives his birth year as 1571 and says he passed the military examination at eighteen (around 1589), and it records different posts: garrison commander of Yulpo and of Gadeokjin. Recently, a royal certificate from 1807, the 7th year of King Sunjo's reign, in which the court posthumously named the Jeonju Yi Yeong-nam Minister of War, was donated to the Jeonju History Museum.

This post follows the Jincheon tradition, because the original record repeated in the Nanjung Ilgi — "Yi Yeong-nam, post commander of Sobipo" — connects naturally with the personal details on the Jincheon side.

Closing

When the Imjin War broke out, Yi Yeong-nam asked Admiral Yi to set out, in place of Won Gyun, who had tried to flee. After that, too, he was the one who told Admiral Yi of Won Gyun's misdeeds, the one who reported the horror of the great famine, and the one who stayed by Admiral Yi's side late into the night when the Admiral lay sick. And at Noryang, in the last battle, he was killed together with Admiral Yi. Though he was Won Gyun's subordinate, Yi Yeong-nam truly followed Admiral Yi; he was one of Admiral Yi's own people.

👉 Next post: ⑫ From Coward to Brave Commander: An Wi

— Momcheolhak