The Imperialists
Returned In Sufficient Force In That Month And Regained Possession Of The
Town, When, Unfortunately For Their Reputation,
They avenged their
expulsion in a particularly cruel and indiscriminating fashion Many
thousand citizens were executed without any form of
Trial, and the arrest
of the slaughter was entirely due to the intervention of the English naval
officer at Amoy. The rising at Shanghai was of a more serious character,
and took a much longer time to suppress. As the European settlement there
was threatened with a far more imminent danger than anywhere else,
preparations to defend it began in April, 1853, and under the auspices of
the consul, Mr. Rutherford Alcock, the residents were formed into a
volunteer corps, and the men-of-war drawn up so as to effectually cover
the whole settlement. These precautions were taken in good time, for
nothing happened to disturb the peace until the following September. The
Triads were undoubtedly the sole instigators of the rising, and the
Taepings of Nankin were in no sense responsible for, or participators in
it. They seized the Taotai's official residence, and as his guard deserted
him, that officer barely escaped with his life. Other officials were not
so fortunate, but on the whole Shanghai was acquired by the rebels with
very little bloodshed. In a few hours this important Chinese city passed
into the hands of a lawless and refractory mob, who lived on the plunder
of the townspeople, and who were ripe for any mischief. The European
settlement was placed meantime in a position of efficient defense, and
although the Triads wished to have the spoil of its rich factories, they
very soon decided that the enterprise would be too risky, if not
impossible.
After some weeks' inaction the imperialist forces, gathering from all
quarters, proceeded to invest the marauders in Shanghai, and had the
attack been conducted with any degree of military skill and vigor they
must have succumbed at the first onset. But, owing to the pusillanimity of
the emperor's officers and their total ignorance of the military art, the
siege went on for an indefinite period, and twelve months after it began
seemed as far off conclusion as ever.
While the imperialists laboriously constructed their lines and batteries
they never ceased to importune the Europeans for assistance, and as it
became clearer that the persons in possession of Shanghai were a mob
rather than a power, the desire increased among the foreigners generally
to put an end to what was an intolerable position. On this occasion the
French took an initiative which had previously been left to the English.
The French settlement at Shanghai consisted at this time of a consulate, a
cathedral, and one house, but as it was situated nearest the walls of the
Chinese city it was most exposed to the fire of the besiegers and
besieged. In consequence of this the French admiral, Laguerre, determined
to take a part in the struggle, and erecting a battery in the French
settlement, proceeded to bombard the rebels on one side of the city while
the imperialists attacked it on another.
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