Battle of Osan

Battle of Osan
Part of the Korean War
A US soldier, Robert L. Witzig, with a 2.36-inch bazooka prepares to take aim at a North Korean tank during the Battle of Pyongtaek which took place after the Battle of Osan. On his right is Kenneth R. Shadrick, who was later reported as the first American killed in the Korean War.
Date 5 July 1950 Location Osan, South Korea 37°11′6″N 127°3′10″E / 37.18500°N 127.05278°E / 37.18500; 127.05278 (Battle of Osan) Result North Korean victory
Belligerents
United Nations  United States	North Korea
Commanders and leaders
Charles Bradford Smith Miller O. Perry	Lee Kwon-mu Ryu Kyong-su
Units involved
1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Battery A 52nd Field Artillery Battalion	4th Infantry Division 16th Infantry Regiment 18th Infantry Regiment 105th Armored Division 107th Tank Regiment
Strength
540 infantry and support	5,000 infantry 36 tanks
Casualties and losses
60 killed[1] 21 wounded[1] 82 captured[a] 1 howitzer destroyed 5 howitzers disabled	42 killed 85 wounded 1 tank destroyed 3 tanks disabled
class=notpageimage| Location within Korea

The Battle of Osan (Korean: 오산 전투) was the first engagement between the United States and North Korea during the Korean War. On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, an American task force of 540 infantry supported by an artillery battery, was moved to Osan, south of Seoul, the capital of South Korea, and was ordered to fight as a rearguard to delay the advancing North Korean forces while more US troops arrived to form a stronger defensive line to the south. The task force lacked both anti-tank guns and effective infantry anti-tank weapons and had been equipped with obsolete 2.36-inch (60 mm) rocket launchers and a few 57 mm recoilless rifles. Aside from a limited number of HEAT shells for the unit's 105 mm howitzers, crew-served weapons that could defeat T-34/85 tanks from the Soviet Union had not yet been distributed to the US Army forces in South Korea.

A North Korean tank column equipped with ex-Soviet T-34/85 tanks overran the task force in the first encounter and continued its advance south. After the North Korean tank column had breached US lines, the task force opened fire on a force of some 5,000 North Korean infantry that were approaching its position, which held up their advance. North Korean troops eventually flanked and overwhelmed the US positions, and the rest of the task force retreated in disorder.

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