정미의병기 湖左義陣의 편제와 의진 간 연합의 양상

Hojwa Righteous Army’s Organization and Alliance among the Camps in the Period of Jeongmi Righteous Army Uprising

In the summer, 1907, when King Kojong was dethroned and the Armed Forces of Joseon were dismissed, a number of righteous armies uprose. Hojwa Righteous Army, a representative army led by Yi Kangnyeon, had several combat units. Yet each combat unit didn’t join all the battles by major Hojwa Righteous Army troops. The major troops, under the command of Yi Kangnyeon, led the van of attacks and other combat units joined the battle depending on the situation. So commander in chief, Yi Kangnyeon, didn’t have full control of subsidiary combat units, not being involved in personnel management; reward and punishment. Individual soldiers were under the command of their unit commanders rather than Yi Kangnyeon. In addition, although the combat units were subject to Hojwa Righteous Army officially, they acted independently of it in many cases and sometimes had ruling and ruled relationships among the units. Hojwa Righteous Army went through the process of being allied with other righteous army camps around it. In the process it tried to strengthen fighting power and share stable supporting forces and information, being attracted to their ideal ideology. With unchanged particular features of each righteous army camp, the alliance was constantly changing its alignment. There was a lose bond among the allies with small camps having ruling and ruled relationships with a couple of larger camps simultaneously. Moreover there were severe conflicts among the alliance due to their different governing principles. After all, the cooperation among the righteous army camps in this period had the aspect of ‘alliance’ rather than ‘union’. Nevertheless, Hojwa Righteous Army had a remarkable role in 1907 righteous army struggling against Japan, with its long lasted legitimacy in struggling, active support from local community, and distinguished self-restrained discipline of the camp.