THE KOREAN WAR
25 June
North Korean forces cross border with South Korea. North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) numbers approximately 135,000 men; Republic of Korea (ROK) Army contains 98,000 soldiers.
28 June
NKPA forces capture Seoul.
1 July
First U.S. ground combat troops, Task Force Smith (1st Battalion, 21st Infantry, 24th Infantry Division), arrive in Korea.
3 July
Inch’on falls to the NKPA.
5 July
Task Force Smith engages and delays advancing NKPA forces at Osan in first U.S. ground action of the war.
8–12 July
21st Infantry stalls NKPA advances at Chochiwon.
10–18 July
25th Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions begin movement to Korea from Japan; 29th Regimental Combat Team sails from Okinawa for Korea; 2d Infantry Division prepares to embark from Seattle.
13–16 July
19th and 34th Infantry Regiments, 24th Infantry Division, fight delaying actions at Kum River line.
19 July
24th Infantry Division begins defense of Taejon.
20 July
Taejon is captured by NKPA; 24th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, captures Yech’on.
25 July
29th Regiment engages the enemy near Chinju.
31 July
5th Regimental Combat Team arrives in Korea from Hawaii.
4 August
Naktong (Pusan) Perimeter is set up.
8–18 August
NKPA attempts to penetrate Naktong (Pusan) Perimeter and is repelled by 24th, 2d, and 25th Infantry Divisions along with Marine elements in the First Battle of the Naktong Bulge.
15–20 August
Elements of 23d and 27th Infantry Regiments and ROK 1st Division successfully defend Naktong (Pusan) Perimeter in the Battle of the Bowling Alley (west of Taegu).
31 August–
19 September
Second Battle of the Naktong Bulge.
PHASE 2: 16 September-2 November 1950 (UN OFFENSIVE)
15 September
U.S. X Corps, with the 1st Marine Division, in the lead, conducts amphibious landing at Inch’on.
16 September
U.S. Eighth Army begins its offensive northward out of the Pusan Perimeter.
20 September
1st Marine Division drives northeast across Han River.
26 September
X Corps’ 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, moving east from Inch’on, links up with Eighth Army’s 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, south of Suwon.
27 September
U.S. and Republic of Korea (ROK) forces capture Seoul, the South Korean capital.
1 October
ROK I Corps crosses 38th Parallel and then advances up the east coast.
6-7 October
Two ROK II Corps divisions cross 38th Parallel in central Korea.
9 October
U.S. Eighth Army forces cross 38th Parallel north of Kaesong and attack northward toward P’yongyang, the North Korean capital.
10 October
ROK I Corps captures the major port of Wonsan.
14-17 October
7th Infantry Division loads on ships at Pusan in preparation for amphibious landings by X Corps along the northeastern coast above the 38th Parallel.
19 October
1st ROK Division and U.S. 1st Cavalry Division capture P’yongyang.
25 October
Communist Chinese Forces (CCF) offensive operations begin north of Unsan with fighting between CCF and ROK forces; first Chinese soldier is captured.
26 October
1st Marine Division, X Corps, lands at Wonsan. ROK forces reach the Yalu River at Ch’osan.
29 October
U.S. 7th Division lands at Iwon.
1-2 November
First U.S. battle with CCF, near Unsan.
Phase 3: 3 November 1950-24 January 1951 (CCF INTERVENTION)
3-6 November
Communist Chinese Forces (CCF) offensive continues in Eighth Army and X Corps zones.
11 November
X Corps resumes advance north.
24 November
Eighth Army moves north from the Ch’ongch’on River.
25 November
Chinese forces attack Eighth Army center and right.
27 November
X Corps attacks from west in support of Eighth Army; Chinese forces strike X Corps at Chosin Reservoir.
29 November
Eighth Army begins general withdrawal from Ch’ongch’on River line to defensive line at P'yongyang.
29 November-
1 December
Chinese forces devastate U.S. 2d Infantry Division as it guards Eighth Army withdrawal.
30 November
X Corps starts retreat to port of Hungnam.
5 December
Eighth Army falls back from P'yongyang.
11-24 December
X Corps loads on ships for evacuation to Pusan; General Almond sails on Christmas Eve.
23 December
General Walker is killed in auto accident north of Seoul.
26 December
Lt. Gen. Matthew B. Ridgway arrives in Korea as Eighth Army commander.
31 December-
5 January
New CCF offensive begins.
4 January
Seoul falls; Eighth Army pulls back to line forty miles south of Seoul.
5 January
Port of Inch’on is abandoned.
7-15 January
Enemy offensive subsides; UNC situation stabilizes — intelligence sources report many enemy units had withdrawn to refit.
15 January
Army Chief of Staff General J. Lawton Collins, on a visit to Korea, declares that "we are going to stay and fight."
PHASE 4: 24 January-21 April 1951 (First UN Counteroffensive)
22 April-July 1951 (CCF Spring Offensive)
25 January
Eighth Army counterattacks in Operation THUNDERBOLT, which starts in the west and gradually expands eastward.
10 February
In the west, Inch'on is recaptured, as I Corps approaches the Han River
11-12 February
Chinese forces attack X Corps, forcing advancing ROK units to fall back toward Wonju.
13-15 February
Battle of Chip’yong-ni.
18 February
Reports confirm an enemy withdrawal along the entire central front.
21 February
Eighth Army launches Operation KILLER, a general advance north by IX and X Corps
28 February
Enemy resistance south of the Han River collapses.
7 March
General Ridgeway begins Operation RIPPER; the objective is Line Idaho, just south of the 38th Parallel.
14-15 March
UN troops enter Seoul, the South Korean capital.
31 March
Eighth Army is positioned along the Idaho line.
2-5 April
General Ridgeway puts Operation RUGGED into motion; the objective is Line Kansas, some ten miles above the 38th Parallel.
9 April
The I and IX Corps and the ROK I Corps reach the Kansas line; the two U.S. corps continue to advance farther north.
11 April
General MacArthur is relieved as UNC commander; General Ridgeway succeeds him.
14 April
General Van Fleet assumes command of Eighth Army.
22 April
The expected Chinese and North Korean spring offensive begins, with the strongest attacks in the west, toward Seoul.
30 April
The enemy offensive is stopped just north of Seoul.
15-20 May
The Chinese and North Koreans resume the offensive, focusing on the east-central region; General Van Fleet begins a counterattack.
31 May
The Eighth Army advances nearly to Line Kansas.
1 June
General Van Fleet strengthens the Kansas line and sends forces farther north, toward Line Wyoming.
23 June
The Soviet Union calls for armistice talks.
PHASE 5: 9 July 1951-27 July 1953 (UN Summer-Fall Offensive
1951)
(Second Korean Winter) (Korea, Summer- Fall 1952)
(Third Korean Winter) (Korea, Summer 1953)
10 July 1951
Armistice talks begin at Kaesong.
23 August
Communist side breaks off negotiations.
5 September
North Koreans abandon Bloody Ridge, after UN forces, led by U.S. 2d Infantry Division’s 9th Infantry, outflank it.
12 September-
13 October
2d Infantry Division, using the 72d Tank Battalion to tactical advantage, seizes Heartbreak Ridge.
3-19 October
Five UN divisions advance to Line Jamestown, some four miles beyond the Wyoming line, to protect the Seoul-Ch’orwon railway.
25 October
Armistice talks resume, now at P’anmunjom.
12 November
General Ridgway, the UNC commander, instructs General Van Fleet to cease Eighth Army offensive operations and to assume an "active defense."
12 May 1952
General Mark W. Clark assumes command of the UNC.
8 October
UN delegation calls an indefinite recess to armistice talks, reflecting a long lack of any progress.
11 February 1953
Lt. Gen. Maxwell D. Taylor takes command of the Eighth Army.
26 April
Armistice talks begin again.
6-11 July
General Taylor abandons Pork Chop Hill, a 7th Infantry Division outpost, to the Chinese as not worth further fighting.
13-20 July
Chinese launch a six-division attack against ROK II Corps and U.S. IX Corps south of Kumsong; after falling back some eight miles to below the Kumsong
River, UN forces regain the high ground along the river.
27 July
Armistice agreement is signed at 1000; all fighting stops twelve hours later; both sides have three days to withdraw two kilometers from the cease-fire line.