The Assault Was Made With The
Impetuosity Good Troops Always Show In Attacking Inferior Ones, No Matter
How Great The
Disparity of numbers; and here the Chinese were driven out
of their position - although they stood their ground in a
Creditable
manner - and chased over the hills down to the rice fields below. The
Chinese loss was over a thousand killed, including many of the Imperial
Guard, of whom 500 were present, and whom Sir Hugh Gough described as
"remarkably fine men," while the English had six killed and thirty-seven
wounded. For the moment it was intended to follow up this victory by an
attack on the city of Hangchow, the famous Kincsay of medieval travelers;
but the arrival of fresh instructions gave a complete turn to the whole
war.
Little permanent good had been effected by these successful operations on
the coast, and Taoukwang was still as resolute as ever in his hostility;
nor is there any reason to suppose that the capture of Hangchow, or any
other of the coast towns, would have caused a material change in the
situation. The credit of initiating the policy which brought the Chinese
government to its knees belongs exclusively to Lord Ellenborough, then
governor-general of India. He detected the futility of operations along
the coast, and he suggested that the great waterway of the Yangtsekiang,
perfectly navigable for warships up to the immediate neighborhood of
Nankin, provided the means of coercing the Chinese, and effecting the
objects which the English Government had in view.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 385 of 704
Words from 104465 to 104719
of 191255
