Atlas of Battles

battle, major, nineteenth century

Battle of Yalu River

Battle of Yalu River was a battle fought on 30 April 1904 at Yalu River, in what is now North Korea; it lasted 1 day. It was part of the Russo-Japanese War, which ran from 1904 to 1905. The recorded result: Japanese victory. Recorded strength: 42,000 against 25,000.

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Old postcard depicting Battle of Yalu River during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.
Old postcard depicting Battle of Yalu River during the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905.. MChew, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought30 April 1904lasted 1 day
WhereYalu River, North Korea40.191N, 124.526E
OutcomeJapanese victory
BelligerentsEmpire of JapanagainstRussian Empire
Casualties and losses1,036 casualtiesand2,172 casualties; 593 killed; 1,101 wounded; 478 missing
Part ofRusso-Japanese War1904 to 1905

Where it sits in the Russo-Japanese War

Bombardment of Vladivostok, 1904Battle of Port Arthur, 1904Battle of Chemulpo Bay, 1904Battle of Yalu River, 1904Battle of Nanshan, 1904Battle of Te-li-Ssu, 1904Hitachi Maru Incident, 1904Battle of Motien Pass, 1904Battle of Tashihchiao, 1904Battle of Hsimucheng, 1904Siege of Port Arthur, 1904Battle of the Yellow Sea, 1904Battle off Ulsan, 1904Battle of Korsakov, 1904Battle of Liaoyang, 1904Battle of Shaho, 1904Battle of Sandepu, 1905Battle of Mukden, 190519041905Battle of Yalu River, 1904
18 placed engagements of the Russo-Japanese War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date30 April 1904
to 1 May 1904
PlaceYalu River, North Korea
40.191N, 124.526E
KindBattle, nineteenth century
Strength42,00025,000
Casualties and losses1,036 casualties2,172 casualties; 593 killed; 1,101 wounded; 478 missing
Commanders
  • Mikhail Zasulich
  • Nikolai Kashtalinsky
Battle of Yalu RiverBattle of Yalu RiverBattle of JiulianchengAttack on the Sui-ho DamSiege of KujuBattle of ChongjuBattle of KujinBattle of JiulianchengAttack on the Sui-ho DamSiege of KujuBattle of ChongjuBattle of KujinPyongyangAnshanBenxiLiaoyangKanggyeZhuangheHuanrenTaedong100 km40.191N, 124.526E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Yalu River
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 25 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Yalu River today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-10-10. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 9 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 1 to 209 m, 208 m of relief, hilly country and today it is 73% cropland, 8% water, 8% built-up.

cropland: 73%water: 8%built-up: 8%grassland: 7%tree cover: 3%cropland 73%water 8%built-up 8%grassland 7%tree cover 3%
west to east, 10.0 km3 to 58 mnorth to south, 10.0 km4 to 99 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1904

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: JAP 1ST ARMYDefender: RUSS ARMY
Strength56,00018,000
Casualties1,110 (2.0%)2,500 (13.9%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1082
Outcomeattacker won
Duration2.0 days
Front width8 km14 km
Attacker advanced6.4 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 242), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Yalu River is one of 2,997 engagements of the 20th century in the atlas and one of 45 in present-day North Korea.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q2273445, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of the Yalu River (1904), revision 1376998840, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.