Part 16 (1/2)

”J. C. S.”

Placing the Manchoo, Sing, in charge of Tait-san, _General_ Gordon moved forward to reconnoitre Quin-san, the next Ti-ping city in the direction of Soo-chow, the provincial capital. After establis.h.i.+ng a large Imperialist army in a stockaded position close to its walls, he returned with his own force to Soong-kong, the head-quarters, for the purpose of obtaining from General Brown, at Shanghae, further supplies of H. B.

Majesty's shot and sh.e.l.l, preparatory to bombarding the city. When all the necessary munitions of war had been received from the British a.r.s.enals, Gordon returned to his allies outside the east gate of Quin-san.

The garrison, upon the arrival of Gordon's troops, sallied forth upon them in strong force, but after a desperate attempt to come to close quarters were driven back by the artillery with much loss. Now, unfortunately for the Ti-pings, the scientific knowledge of their enemy led him to investigate the strategic and defensive position of Quin-san with unmistakable perception of its weak points. He quickly discovered that the place was so situated as to possess but one line of retreat or supply, in consequence of the numerous small lakes, Imperialist outposts, and broad creeks in every other direction. Consequently, instead of directly attacking the city, Gordon moved his army, supported by the steamer _Hyson_ and a large fleet of well-armed gunboats, against its only line of communication, a road constructed along the bank of a wide creek leading to Soo-chow. This movement was no sooner perceived by the garrison of Quin-san, than, finding their position rendered perfectly untenable, they commenced to evacuate the city as fast as possible. Refugees from Tait-san and the surrounding country had increased the number of inhabitants considerably, and, as at many places their only line of retreat was but a few feet broad, with deep creeks on either side, and continual narrow bridges spanning the numerous ca.n.a.ls intersecting the country with a perfect maze of water, their escape from the city occupied the entire day, and their long thin line stretched for miles along this narrow road. The rush of the panic-stricken people was so great that the Ti-ping troops became inextricably mingled with and confused among them.

A few miles from Quin-san the _Hyson_ and the gunboats came upon the fugitives where their line of retreat was intersected by the creek, up which the vessels were advancing; their progress, however, was for some time arrested by a couple of stockades, into which a few soldiers managed to throw themselves, and by an obstruction presented by a strong row of stakes driven firmly across the creek. During the delay, the _Hyson's_ European officers amused themselves by an incessant fire of grape and canister poured among the helpless people seeking to escape almost in front of the muzzle of her 32-pounder bow gun. Gordon, in his report to General Brown,[48] after noticing the ”well-cultivated”

appearance of the country, states that the _Hyson_ continued this murderous work for ”over three hours,” at the expiration of which time he arrived with his troops and drove the defenders from their stockades.

Immediately upon this, the _Hyson_, as Gordon states, ”overhauled the rebels and followed them slowly up. The creek was positively jammed up with their boats, and at the bridge at Edin the crush was awful.” Now, how those who directed the fire of sh.e.l.l and _mitraille_ from the _Hyson_ managed to avoid injuring the women and children, who const.i.tuted a great proportion of the people contained in the boats, does not appear.

When the unfortunates had been leisurely followed up and ceaselessly attacked until they reached the vicinity of Soo-chow, and the protection afforded by its garrison, the steamer turned about and slowly ran back.

The report, continuing from this point, states:--

”All this time rebel stragglers had been dropping into the Soochow road from all parts, and the _Hyson_ had to _continue her work_ all the way back, sometimes being so close on ma.s.ses of rebels that she had to resort to some measure to get clear of them, and so adopted the novel expedient of using her steam whistle, which, singular as it may appear, had the desired effect.... Mounted men would try and gallop by the steamer not six yards from her; others positively rode or tried to ride past when she was alongside the road. _The grape and canister must have told fearfully, owing to their numbers._... We had not ceased sh.e.l.ling until 2.30 _a.m._”

At least nine-tenths of the wretched people who thus perished under the orders of _General_ Gordon--who, by the way, seems to have become very quickly imbued with the ”Chinese character” prophesied by the British minister at Pekin--were non-combatants. The manner in which British officers dealt destruction to their victims during _twenty hours_, with absolute impunity to themselves, would be too revolting to be credible, but for its plain avowal by Major Gordon, R.E., himself. This almost unparalleled proceeding is merely the prototype of many other atrocities perpetrated by the Anglo-Manchoo legion and its Imperialist allies.

During all the operations against the Ti-pings, and all the terrible consequences following the fall of their cities, can Major Gordon say how many were peaceful inhabitants, whose only fault was the fact that they were inmates of a town captured and held by the revolutionists?

Fully nine-tenths of the Ti-ping killed and wounded, so vain-gloriously, were only guilty of submission to the _de facto_ Power; the remainder were _bona fide_ Ti-ping soldiers, whose only crime was their endeavour to expel the foreign and oppressive dynasty, and to establish the Christian faith, the persecution of the first converts to which caused their revolution.

Thousands of the people who fled before the ceaseless sh.e.l.ling from the _Hyson_ had never seen a steamer before; even the few who had, like all Chinese, were greatly awed by the supposed qualities of the ”fiery dragon s.h.i.+p;” thus, the shrieking of the steam whistle, the das.h.i.+ng noise of her paddles, the flaming appearance of her funnel, and the fearful effect of her artillery fire, must have thrown them into the wildest consternation. Other steam gunboats, similar to the _Hyson_, were shortly added to the flotilla attached to Gordon's force, and ever afterwards their appearance threw the Ti-pings into confusion, and proved more effective than a great army in the field. The dread inspired by the steamers was always fatal to every Ti-ping position they attacked, and not without cause. They were each protected by iron mantlets, proof against musketry fire, which was all they had to resist, and carried a heavy bow gun and another at the stern. If the garrison of any stockade attempted to resist them, their artillery soon battered down the defences or sh.e.l.led the defenders, and then came a ma.s.sacre similar to that attending the evacuation of Quin-san. The whole country between Shanghae and Soo-chow is low, marshy, and cut up by innumerable creeks, ca.n.a.ls, d.y.k.es, and lakes, the only roads being a few narrow causeways built along the sides of the princ.i.p.al creeks; therefore, whenever the garrison of a stockade was driven out, their only line of retreat was along the bank of a creek, up which a steamer could follow them for miles, and pour in deadly discharges of grape and canister at a distance of only a few feet.

It has been estimated that the Ti-ping loss during the evacuation of Quin-san and the subsequent route was not less than 3,000. Gordon's force lost 2 killed and 5 drowned!

Having noticed the particulars of the disastrous loss of Tait-san and Quin-san, we must now come to the still more unfortunate effect caused by the receipt of the intelligence at Nankin, and the further report that the s.h.i.+ps of the Anglo-Chinese or ”Vampyre” flotilla were arriving at Shanghae.

These events took place in the month of May, 1863, and immediately the Ti-ping Government heard of them, couriers were despatched in hot haste after the Chung-w.a.n.g, recalling his army to the capital. At this time the Commander-in-Chief had advanced about four hundred miles in the direction of Pekin, having captured many cities from the enemy, and completely defeated several large Manchoo armies, one led by the Imperialist Prince Sung-w.a.n.g, or San-ko-lin-sin, as he is known to Europeans. Upon receipt of the orders from Nankin, the Chung-w.a.n.g was compelled to forsake all the important advantages he had gained, and derive no benefit from the series of victories he had achieved, by abandoning every captured position and precipitately returning to the capital.

The Ti-ping forces had quite lately reached a fertile part of the country, where they were recruiting and gradually recovering from the hards.h.i.+ps endured throughout the previous march. From the edge of the river Yang-tze, in the vicinity where the army first crossed from Nankin, throughout a naturally sterile country, for a distance of more than three hundred miles, the retreating Imperialists had devastated everything far and near, so as to stay the advance of the Ti-pings by the deadly medium of famine. Every rice-field, farm, and plantation were destroyed and made a desert waste, so that not the smallest article of food could be obtained. Fortunately the Chung-w.a.n.g's commissariat was well supplied, so his troops were able to traverse the desolated regions without very much suffering, and by quick movements to limit the devastation to an extent of three hundred miles.

At the time, however, when the Chung-w.a.n.g received his orders to return to Nankin, the supplies of his army had become well nigh exhausted, and the urgent tone of the despatches made an immediate retreat so imperative, that no delay to gather in the standing crops or otherwise collect a sufficient quant.i.ty of provisions was possible.

Besides the fall of Tait-san, Quin-san, &c., and the presence of several ”Vampyre” s.h.i.+ps at Shanghae, where others were momentarily arriving, other dangers menaced the Ti-pings; namely, either the destruction of their best army by starvation, or the prevention of its retreat to Nankin, by the immense fleet of Imperialist gunboats threatening the city.

Since the fall of Ngan-king (towards the close of the year 1861), the Imperialists had gradually approached along both banks of the river, until at last they managed to capture every place up to the walls of Nankin. This result was accomplished entirely by the presence of the well-equipped and innumerable flotilla of row-galleys, just at the period the Ti-ping Government was alarmed by the loss of Tait-san and Quin-san. But though the revolutionists were unable to dispute the supremacy on the great river, simply because they were entirely dest.i.tute of war vessels, they held the country within five miles of the water for a considerable distance above Nankin on the south bank of the Yang-tze.

The army commanded by the Chung-w.a.n.g consisted princ.i.p.ally of veteran troops, natives of the south of China, who originally joined the movement, and was by far the best in the Ti-ping service. Its strength of fighting men was not less than 50,000, while numberless refugees, prisoners, coolies, and others, far more than doubled those figures.

From the intelligence conveyed in his despatches, the General knew at once that only one course--an instant retreat by forced marches--was possible, either to save his army from destruction, or succour the hardly-pressed garrisons of the cities of the silk district. Gathering all the rice at hand, though it was quite unripe, and foraging everything that could be used as food, though a full treasury could have supplied them with suitable provisions had such been available in sufficient quant.i.ty, the army broke ground and commenced its disastrous return to Nankin. The supplies soon proved inadequate to last one half the distance to be traversed; consequently, this retreat proved more terribly destructive to the army than a dozen bad defeats would have been. The latter part of the forced marches these starving men had to perform led through desert places and low marshy ground; and, to add to the horrors of their situation, the Yang-tze having considerably overflowed its banks, the low country for a great distance inland was completely flooded. Through this, and many a weary mile of bamboo swamp, had the exhausted and starving Ti-pings to force their way.

Whenever a piece of firmer ground was reached, it could only be pa.s.sed after defeating the Manchoo troops in occupation, who, well supplied with food, clothing, and boats, swarmed around the peris.h.i.+ng and retreating army in thousands, now that it could be done with impunity.

As the unfortunate Ti-pings approached nearer and nearer to the bank of the river, their sufferings (if possible) became increased. Frequently they came to places totally impa.s.sable except by swimming, and at such they had to cross exposed to the attacks of numerous squadrons of Imperialist gunboats, stationed at every available position to cut off or hara.s.s their retreat. Can anything more dreadful than the state of these unhappy patriots be imagined? For nearly a month they had subsisted entirely upon the gra.s.s of the fields, the green tops of bamboo, and the bodies of the dead!--while their march lay through the mazes of dense bamboo jungle, and swamps of mud and water--frequently of a depth which prevented fording. During the whole of this fearful retreat, their rear, front, and flanks were incessantly hara.s.sed by the attacks of the cowardly and bloodthirsty enemy, who cruelly murdered hundreds of exhausted men, whom they were quite unable to withstand in fair fight. Thousands perished in this manner, and thousands more were horribly suffocated in the mora.s.ses, or drowned among the swamps. Who is responsible for all this misery and loss of life? It was _caused_ entirely through British intervention, and the material aid given to the Manchoo. At last the leading division of the army made its appearance opposite Nankin, and then arose the difficulty of transporting it across the river.

During several days preceding the arrival of the remnant of the Chung-w.a.n.g's troops, the enemy had maintained an incessant attack upon the batteries and forts commanding the pa.s.sage of the river, and had particularly concentrated their efforts against a large fort on the opposite side, the capture of which would have placed the whole north bank in their hands, and would also have cut off all retreat. About a week previous, the _Anglo-Ti-ping_, with my old craft and three junks, had run the Imperial blockade and safely arrived at the Nankin creek, each heavily laden with rice and other provisions. My friend D---- had caught a pa.s.sing steamer, and proceeded on to Shanghae upon business.

P---- remained with the lorcha, and I joined him on board, taking my wife with me, as the Sz-w.a.n.g and princ.i.p.al chiefs in the city had requested me to a.s.sist in the defence of the river forts. Directly the Imperialists became aware of the near approach of the Chung-w.a.n.g's army, they began their attacks upon the fort on the other side of the river.

This work, Kew-fu-chew, as the Ti-pings named it, was directly opposite the batteries (at the entrance of the creek) which extended along the edge of the river, on the narrow strip of land forming the outer bank of the creek until it turned inland towards the city. These batteries mounted a number of heavy guns; though, as nearly all were of Chinese make--huge, unwieldy ma.s.ses of iron, bigger than an English 68, but with the bore of only a 4 or 6-pounder--few were moveable or manageable. As a rule, until taught by Europeans, the Chinese are wretched artillerists, their guns being usually lashed firm in one position, from which they can neither be moved by the muzzle radius, nor breech-elevating principle; so that, be the object far or near, the guns are fired at the same range in every case. Among the many useless guns, the appearance of which had far more to do with frightening away the enemy than their effectiveness, I at last found five or six that were really serviceable--including an English naval 32-pounder, one 18-pounder, a large French cannon, and several fine bra.s.s Chinese guns. As there happened to be nearly thirty European and American trading vessels at the port, I managed to raise a corps of about twenty-five volunteers to work the artillery. My own lorcha carried two beautiful pivot-guns amids.h.i.+ps, which proved of no little use during the different actions.

Regularly at daylight every morning the enemy would commence their attack upon Kew-fu-chew, and the smaller forts above the Sz-w.a.n.g's position. Their plan of battle was well formed and very picturesque in appearance; successive squadrons of gunboats would sail down and engage the fort, delivering their fire; and then, filling away before a fair wind, returning to their position up the river. These vessels were a.s.sisted by others co-operating from below the Ti-ping lines; all being profusely decorated with gaudy flags, and propelled by numerous oars on either side.