Felice Beato
1871, 11 June (ca)
Interior of Fort McKee

Albumen print
9 5/16 x 11 5/8 ins
 
J. Paul Getty Museum
Partial gift from the Wilson Centre for Photography, 2007.26.108
 
Curatorial description (Getty Museum): In a two-day assault, American forces captured and destroyed five forts and killed more than 240 Korean soldiers. Fort McKee was the site of the main offensive. There Beato arranged rebel corpses to create macabre photographs of the battlefields, in a style reminiscent of his work in India and China.
 
Note (Alan Griffiths, 3 October 2013): The name Fort McKee takes its name from Lieutenant Hugh Wilson McKee (USN) one of the three Americans who were killed in action during the Punitive Expedition (1871).
 
Lieutenant Hugh Wilson McKee (USN)
Born April 23, 1844, Lexington, Kentucky
Graduated 1866, United States Naval Academy
Served aboard the USS Michigan, USS Franklin, USS Canandaigua, USS Colorado
Killed in Action, June 11, 1871, Kanghwa Island, Korea (died aboard the USS Monocacy)
Buried in Lexington Cemetery, Lexington, Kentucky
 
Source: http://www.shinmiyangyo.org/ (Accessed: 3 October 2013)
 
LL/46100