At This Point Sir Hugh Gough Was Re-Enforced By The 98th
Regiment, Under Colonel Colin Campbell.
The difficulties of navigation and
the size of the fleet, which now reached seventy vessels, caused a delay
in
The operations, and it was not until the latter end of July, or more
than a month after the occupation of Shanghai, that the English reached
Chinkiangfoo, where, strangely enough, there seemed to be no military
preparations whatever. A careful reconnaissance revealed the presence of
three strong encampments at some distance from the town, and the first
operation was to carry them, and to prevent their garrisons joining such
forces as might still remain in the city. This attack was intrusted to
Lord Saltoun's brigade, which was composed of two Scotch regiments and
portions of two native regiments, with only three guns. The opposition was
almost insignificant, and the three camps were carried with comparatively
little loss and their garrisons scattered in all directions. At the same
time the remainder of the force assaulted the city, which was surrounded
by a high wall and a deep moat. Some delay was caused by these obstacles,
but at last the western gate was blown in by Captain Pears, of the
Engineers, and at the same moment the walls were escaladed at two
different points, and the English troops, streaming in on three sides,
fairly surrounded a considerable portion of the garrison, who retired into
a detached work, where they perished to the last man either by our fire or
in the flames of the houses which were ignited partly by themselves and
partly by the fire of our soldiers. The resistance did not stop here, for
the Tartar or inner city was resolutely defended by the Manchus, and owing
to the intense heat the Europeans would have been glad of a rest; but, as
the Manchus kept up a galling fire, Sir Hugh Gough felt bound to order an
immediate assault before the enemy grew too daring. The fight was renewed,
and the Tartars were driven back at all points; but the English troops
were so exhausted that they could not press home this advantage. The
interval thus gained was employed by the Manchus, not in making good their
escape, but in securing their military honor by first massacring their
women and children, and then committing suicide. It must be remembered
that these were not Chinese, but Manchu Tartars of the dominant race.
The losses of the English army at this battle - 40 killed, and 130 wounded
- were heavy, and they were increased by several deaths caused by the heat
and exhaustion of the day. The Chinese, or rather the Tartars, never
fought better, and it appears from a document discovered afterward that if
Hailing's recommendations had been followed, and if he had been properly
supported, the capture of Chinkiangfoo would have been even more difficult
and costly than it proved.
Some delay at Chinkiangfoo was rendered necessary by the exhaustion of the
troops and by the number of sick and wounded; but a week after the capture
of that place in the manner described the arrangements for the further
advance on Nankin were completed. A small garrison was left in an
encampment on a height commanding the entrance to the Canal; but there was
little reason to apprehend any fresh attack, as the lesson of Chinkiangfoo
had been a terrible one. That city lay beneath the English camp like a
vast charnel house, its half-burned buildings filled with the self-
immolated Tartars who had preferred honor to life; and so thickly strewn
were these and so intense the heat that the days passed away without the
ability to give them burial, until at last it became absolutely impossible
to render the last kind office to a gallant foe. Despite the greatest
precautions of the English authorities, Chinkiangfoo became the source of
pestilence, and an outbreak of cholera caused more serious loss in the
English camp than befell the main force intrusted with the capture of
Nankin. Contrary winds delayed the progress of the English fleet, and it
was not until the fifth of August, more than a fortnight after the battle
at Chinkiangfoo, that it appeared off Nankin, the second city in
reputation and historical importance of the empire, with one million
inhabitants and a garrison of 15,000 men, of whom two-thirds were Manchus.
The walls were twenty miles in length, and hindered, more than they
promoted, an efficient defense; and the difficulties of the surrounding
country, covered with the debris of the buildings which constituted the
larger cities of Nankin at an earlier period of history, helped the
assailing party more than they did the defenders. Sir Hugh Gough drew up
an admirable plan for capturing this vast and not defenseless city with
his force of 5,000 men, and there is no reason to doubt that he would have
been completely successful; but by this the backbone of the Chinese
government had been broken, and even the proud and obstinate Taoukwang was
compelled to admit that it was imperative to come to terms with the
English, and to make some concessions in order to get rid of them.
The minister Elepoo, who once enjoyed the closest intimacy with Taoukwang,
and who was the leader of the Peace party, which desired the cessation of
an unequal struggle, had begun informal negotiations several months before
they proved successful at Nankin. He omitted no opportunity of learning
the views of the English officers, and what was the minimum of concession
on which a stable peace could be based. He had endeavored also to give
something of a generous character to the struggle, and he had more than
once proved himself a courteous as well as a gallant foe. After the
capture of Chapoo and Woosung he sent back several officers and men who
had at different times been taken prisoners by the Chinese, and he
expressed at the same time the desire that the war should end.
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Page 104 of 188
Words from 105119 to 106122
of 191255
