📅 On This Day in Military History
1 event across history
Following the catastrophic reversal of November 1950, UN forces under the newly arrived General Matthew Ridgway conducted a disciplined fighting withdrawal as the combined Chinese-North Korean offensive drove south. Seoul fell for the second time on January 4, 1951, as Ridgway ordered the city abandoned to preserve his forces intact. The capital's population fled in terrible winter conditions. Ridgway worked furiously to rebuild UN morale and establish coherent defensive lines.
The second fall of Seoul marked the nadir of UN fortunes in Korea and demonstrated the transformative effect of massive Chinese intervention. However, Ridgway's calm, methodical leadership steadied the demoralized UN forces, laying the groundwork for the counteroffensive that would recapture Seoul for a final time in March 1951.
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