Part 18 (1/2)

After the departure of the commandant, Burgevine, with some of his favourite officers, talked over their proposed desertion from the Ti-pings, as a long-arranged and premeditated affair, their motive for this determination being the fact that their present service did not seem likely to prove so easy and advantageous as they had expected. In the course of conversation the _General_ personally informed me that his intention had been to raise a large body of disciplined and well-armed Ti-pings, and then to convert them into an independent force, acting upon his private account; that is to say, he joined the revolution with the intention of ultimately deserting it, and proceeding upon a career of filibusting through China. This wild scheme he also mentioned to _General_ Gordon, of the Imperialist mercenaries, proposing that they should mutually desert their colours, join forces, and commence a system of independent conquest. Whether this and other equally extravagant notions were caused by mental derangement, consequent upon the effects of his wound and the stimulants he used, or may be attributed to his natural character, seems doubtful; but whatever may have been the cause of _General_ Burgevine's reckless conduct, it is quite certain that he sacrificed a splendid opportunity to insure the success of the Ti-ping revolution. Had he at first heartily espoused the movement, and unreservedly amalgamated his men with its members, he would infallibly have obtained the confidence of the chiefs. He could then have organized a disciplined and foreign-officered force far superior in material to the Imperialist auxiliary legions, and these latter were the only forces of the enemy that the Ti-pings had the slightest occasion to dread.

On the morning of the day succeeding my arrival at Soo-chow, intelligence came into the city to the effect that, at about 4.30 a.m., _Colonel_ Morton had deserted with the detachment of Europeans under his command, and gone over to the enemy, Morton shooting two soldiers of an outlying picket who came to warn him of his vicinity to the Imperialist lines. By this act of cowardly treachery, deserting his own colleagues and the wounded in the city, he placed them in much jeopardy, and caused the Mo-w.a.n.g to feel very great exasperation, and strongly to suspect further treachery from the remainder of the contingent. However, he proved himself to be a more n.o.ble-minded and merciful man than any of the traitors left behind imagined, by offering free pa.s.ses and boats to any and all who might wish to leave the city; at the same time he expressed great disgust and contempt at the mean, dastardly conduct of Morton and his followers, because he had always made the fact public, that any foreigner wis.h.i.+ng to leave Soo-chow had simply to express the desire, when everything necessary in the way of boats, pa.s.ses, &c., would be furnished to the confines of the Ti-ping territory.

When the fact of _Colonel_ Morton's desertion became established, I must confess that, well as I thought I understood the n.o.ble character of the Ti-ping chiefs, I feared the remainder of the traitors might meet with condign punishment. In consequence, I at once sought an audience with the Mo-w.a.n.g, and having obtained it, requested that he would not wreak any vengeance upon Burgevine and his companions. To my surprise, although the inferior chiefs and officers were greatly excited about the treachery of their foreign allies, the commandant instantly gave me to understand that my fear was groundless. ”Puh pa! puh pa!” (do not fear, do not fear), he said. ”These men joined me willingly and with clean faces” (_i.e._ honour); ”they can leave if they wish to do so, in like manner; but if they sneak away to the Imps, they will lose face, and so shall I.”

Just at this moment Burgevine's interpreter came into the hall and informed the Mo-w.a.n.g that he was commissioned to ask liberty for the remainder of the force to depart from the city and return to Shanghae.

The chief readily professed his compliance with this request, but said that he could not definitively settle anything until the arrival of his superior, the Chung-w.a.n.g, whom he expected in the city towards evening to consult upon the affair.

Meanwhile, with the exception of a dozen who were old adherents of the Ti-ping king, the foreigners were in a great state of ferment, for they fully expected the momentary appearance of executioners to cut off their heads. Some were drinking _samshoo_ to encourage themselves; others proposed fortifying their quarters; while a few of the boldest advocated sallying forth and attempting to force their way out of the city. The groans of more than twenty wounded men, some horribly burnt by the late explosion of the steamer and the gunboats, rendered pathetic an otherwise ridiculous scene.

Early in the evening the Chung-w.a.n.g arrived, escorted by 1,000 men of his body-guard, and at once proceeded to a council with the Mo-w.a.n.g and other chiefs. When their deliberations were concluded, I presented myself to the Chung-w.a.n.g, who, together with the Sze, Le, and Foo-w.a.n.gs (they having accompanied him from Nankin), received me with great manifestations of pleasure, having all concluded that I had been killed at the disastrous loss of the outer Nankin forts. I have hitherto forgotten to mention that my faithful interpreter, A-ling, was still with me. He also met with a very kind reception from the chiefs, for they appreciated his services, and knew that he was warmly attached to their cause.

Immediately upon my arrival at Soo-chow, I had determined, if possible, to raise another body of Europeans, with whom to form a disciplined Ti-ping force, for I saw that the dissolution of Burgevine's legion was near at hand. Still, after the irritation the chiefs must have felt at the treachery of their present foreign auxiliaries, I could not think the time appropriate to submit the subject to them. I was pleasantly surprised when, during the course of the evening, the Chung-w.a.n.g proposed that I should undertake the very work I was myself anxious to perform. He stated that his confidence had never been placed in Burgevine, and he expressed much satisfaction at the prospect of the early departure of that leader of mercenaries with his men.

About this period the small steamers attached to _General_ Gordon's force were being used with great success in the daily attacks upon the Ti-ping stockades outside Soo-chow; consequently, the Chung-w.a.n.g proposed that I should not only endeavour to raise a contingent of disciplined troops, but a flotilla of two or three steamers to operate with them. He also expressed a great desire to capture Gordon's vessels, upon which I told A-ling to obtain a separate commission to cut out any of them I might find an opportunity to seize. The Chung-w.a.n.g made a practice never to sleep inside the walls of any beleaguered city, his tactics being to relieve them by an army of co-operation under his own command. It may be that he pursued such a plan as a safeguard against treachery; but whatever the cause, he was always to be found encamped outside. As the night advanced, he therefore made ready to leave Soo-chow, after pa.s.sing an edict and signing a special commission written for me by his own secretary.[52] As I was well known to four or five of the w.a.n.gs present, they were much pleased when I accepted the authority to raise a new force; and before we separated, they became quite enthusiastic about the antic.i.p.ated results.

The designation of the proposed contingent was decided by the Commander-in-Chief to be ”the Loyal and Faithful Auxiliary Legion,” a t.i.tle closely a.s.similating to his own, Chung-sin-w.a.n.g, which may be translated as the ”Middle Heart Prince,” _i.e._ the loyal or faithful prince. The terms of organization agreed upon were: the force to be commanded by myself, or any European I might see fit to appoint, and subject only to the orders of the Chung-w.a.n.g. The Europeans engaged to be solely officers, two hundred in number, each captain of a company to receive 200 taels per mensem (nearly 70), others to be paid proportionately, and lodging found for all. Myself and princ.i.p.al officers to receive no pay, but serve as commissioned volunteers, a position which I had always maintained for myself. Two steam gunboats to be obtained, similar to the _Hyson_, in the service of the enemy; these to be attached to the land force, not to be used for any other purpose.

The governors.h.i.+p of the first city recaptured from the enemy to be placed in my hands, while the revenue of the place would const.i.tute a reserve fund for the legion (including pension to disabled men, expenses for sick and wounded, &c.), my own head to be pledged for the loyalty of the Europeans engaged, each of whom were to become ”Ti-ping brethren,”

and be ent.i.tled to every consideration as citizens.[53] The rules of European warfare to be strictly those of the legion, and, moreover, to be observed by any Ti-ping force acting in conjunction with it. Many other regulations were drawn up, but these are some of the princ.i.p.al.

Upon the conclusion of the agreement to raise the Loyal and Faithful Auxiliary Legion, the Chung-w.a.n.g left Soo-chow and proceeded to his intrenched camp nine miles distant. On the following day pa.s.ses and boats were provided for Burgevine and the remainder of his men. Among the Europeans were twelve who had served in the Ti-ping army some time previous to the advent of Burgevine, but had been placed under his orders upon his arrival at Soo-chow. These men, and fifteen others, who were not quite so mercenary as their fugitive comrades, and felt more attachment to the cause, refused to desert their colours, and volunteered to remain under command of one _Captain_ Smith, formerly a brave non-commissioned officer of the British Marine Artillery. He was almost the only unwounded man on board Admiral Hope's flag-s.h.i.+p at the disastrous attack on the Peiho forts. The volunteers were all attached to the Mo-w.a.n.g's command, but the Chung-w.a.n.g promised that, upon the formation of the legion, they should, if required, become members, some of them being good artillery-men or drill-instructors.

All these arrangements were carefully concealed from every European except myself, few of those in Soo-chow being at all trustworthy, and the few exceptions not being particularly attractive as objects of confidential communication. In consequence of the daily increasing strength of the forces besieging Soo-chow, time was precious and not to be wasted in commencing my undertaking; I therefore departed from the city on the third evening after my arrival, and proceeded to Shanghae as fast as possible, going part of the way in company with some of the late Americo-Ti-ping legion.

We were enabled to travel by a much shorter route than that by which I had reached the city, in consequence of a great victory achieved within the last few days by a Ti-ping army before the walled town Wo-kong, which freed from the presence of the enemy a more direct road. The battle was fought against Imperialists una.s.sisted by foreign artillery and disciplined troops, who were, therefore, according to the almost infallible rule in such cases, utterly defeated, and Wo-kong would have been recaptured in a very short time had not Gordon moved from Soo-chow to its defence, when artillery decided the unfair fortune of war against the Ti-pings. The force engaged had been brought up from Kar-sing-foo by the Chung-w.a.n.g's orders, and should have formed a junction with another body of troops advancing from the city of Hoo-chow-foo, the combined forces being destined to operate against the left flank of the Soo-chow besiegers, while the Chung-w.a.n.g himself acted against their right.

Unfortunately, the impetuosity of the leader of the first division (the Yoong-w.a.n.g) led him to commence hostilities before effecting a junction with his allies from Hoo-chow, and, although at first eminently successful, his rashness led to his subsequent defeat by Gordon's disciplined troops and artillery, and also to the repulse of the second division, each corps being compelled to fall back upon the cities from which they had advanced, and of which they const.i.tuted the garrisons.

The heroic determination with which the Ti-pings disputed the irresistible odds the enemy possessed by their artillery may be seen by the following extract from ”How the Taipings were driven out of the Provinces of Kiang-nan and Che-kiang. From Notes kept by an Officer under Ward, Burgevine, Holland, and Gordon.”

”The rebels again attempted, from Kar-sing-foo and Ping-bong, to capture Wo-kong. Again, therefore, a detachment was sent down there, and they were driven back, while the artillery made terrible havoc amongst them. But we must give them their due.

They fought this day like demons, advancing up to the muzzles of the guns, where they of course met with death.”--_Friend of China_, June 27, 1865.

Immediately upon reaching Shanghae I commenced engaging men for my force, and within a few days obtained about a dozen. These were all of good character and particularly promising for drill-instructors. Among them were seven non-commissioned officers, formerly of the French army: Major Moreno, of the Sardinian army, who had seen much service in Asia, Italy, and the Crimea; a Frenchman named Lavery or Labourais (once first sergeant of the 3rd Cha.s.seurs d'Afrique), who had served the Ti-pings for more than a year, but had been carried off against his will by the deserters under _Colonel_ Morton; and my friend George White, who had lately been introduced to me as a Ti-ping well-wisher, though formerly a captain in the Franco-Chinese contingent at Ningpo, a service he had resigned in disgust. Besides these, I obtained the services of several men who had served their time in a British regiment and had received their discharges; while many others promised to join me as soon as they were able. This, for a beginning, was not so bad; and, to favour my object still more, Major Moreno obtained the guarantee of certain European ordnance officials to supply me with any quant.i.ty of war material. Their sudden desire to a.s.sist the Ti-pings was caused, I believe, entirely through jealousy of the British operations conducted by General Brown, _General_ Gordon, &c.; at all events, their aid would have proved substantial, for a sample case of French rifles and bayonets was escorted through Shanghae by French soldiers, and safely deposited with my colleague.

Within two weeks I was enabled to send fourteen good men--all soldiers--under the command of Labourais, to Soo-chow, one of the number being a bugler of the French regiment stationed at Shanghae.

Unfortunately, the last seven recruits left just one day too soon, thereby causing me no little trouble during the execution of an enterprise within twenty-four hours after their departure, and for which I was obliged to engage half a dozen strangers, who subsequently proved to be of worthless and disreputable character.

Besides A-ling, who held a Ti-ping commission, I was accompanied from Soo-chow by two officers who had shaved their heads and a.s.sumed the Imperialist; their object being to a.s.sist me in capturing one of the enemy's steamers, if a chance offered, and to pilot us into the Ti-ping territory, while their presence would incontestably prove the belligerent nature of the act, should we be fortunate enough to cut out a vessel. These officers were provided with a special commission for the purpose.

On the morning of the day following the departure of the last batch of the Loyal and Faithful Auxiliary Legion, an Imperialist war-steamer arrived from before Soo-chow, and anch.o.r.ed abreast of a training camp some two miles above Shanghae. A-ling had engaged two Canton men, members of the Triad a.s.sociation, one of whom was always kept on the watch for such an arrival; consequently the steamer was scarcely anch.o.r.ed before I received information to that effect. I at once decided to attempt her capture. Major Moreno was to remain at Shanghae, where he was acquainted with many French officers who were willing to serve the revolutionists, and, as he spoke Hindoostanee perfectly well, he had managed to ingratiate himself with native officers of the 22nd B. N. I.

and Beloochee regiment, some of whom had promised to join him; it was, therefore, agreed that he should continue his present work, and await the result of the capture of the steamer and the receipt of instructions from myself. I decided to take W---- as my comrade and lieutenant during the proposed operations. I had soon ascertained the firmness of his principles and the sincerity of his attachment to the Ti-ping cause, and therefore gave him a doc.u.ment, somewhat similar to my own special commission, which I had obtained from the Chung-w.a.n.g for the purpose of duly authorizing whomever I might choose as my deputy and a.s.sistant.

Major Moreno, who had held field rank in several armies, I wished to place in supreme military command of the legion (when raised), because his education as a soldier was complete, and it would have been difficult, if not impossible, to find a man so thoroughly qualified in China. Both W---- and Moreno were men of honour--far different from Gordon, D'Aguibelle, Cook, and the other mercenaries hired by the Manchoo--and willingly, as I did, tendered their gratuitous services in the Ti-ping cause. This coincided very agreeably with my intentions, and caused me to reflect how superior would have been a force so organized to the Imperialist legions const.i.tuted upon a basis of blood-money! We had sufficient means to live; we would not increase them by taking wages to kill our fellow-men, even though the British Government had given an example, by authorizing its naval and military officers to fight in the ranks of a barbarous Asiatic despot, and to take reward for so doing.

As the Imperialist steamer was under orders to return to the front on the same day of her arrival at Shanghae, I had but little time to make my plans. One of the Canton men who had joined me was formerly employed on board our destined prize. I now sent him off in a boat with the view to ascertain the strength of her crew, whether steam was kept up ready for a start, how many Europeans were on board, &c. In a short time he returned with the favourable announcement that only two foreign officers were in charge, the others having gone ash.o.r.e; also, that two of the quartermasters (Manilla-men) were absent, besides some of the Chinese soldiers.

My followers were only six in number--W---- and the five Cantonese. It was my only chance to seize the vessel. Yet success seemed doubtful; but I knew full well that the boldness of a sudden enterprise would prove more effective than numbers, and felt sure that a well-managed surprise would give us an easy victory. The people of the steamer being at Shanghae, in the very heart of the Manchoo power, surrounded and protected by their British and French allies, would, I imagined, be too much astounded at the sudden attack by Ti-ping partisans to offer much resistance.