Читать книгу The Battles of the World or, cyclopedia of battles, sieges, and important military events - J. Douglas Borthwick - Страница 9
C.
ОглавлениеCABUL.—The following is succinct account of this expedition.
“Every preparation was now completed for our march, and on the 12th of October, 1842, our force, divided into three brigades, left Cabul, the first under General Pollock, the second under General McCaskill, and the rear under General Nott. We had not proceeded more than four miles, when we heard the explosion of the mines, which left the renowned Cabul a vast region of ruins; and the Affghans to judge the spirit of the British as an avenging one. Cabul lies under the Hindoo Koosh, and is bordered on the one side by the Himalaya, and the rivers Attock and Rozee: the people are robust and healthy; their manners amount to insolence and cruelty; they are continually at war with each other; and are divided into tribes. Trade seemed to have abounded greatly, and the country is generally in a flourishing state: the cities of Cabul, Ghuznee, and Candahar, are the principal ones of Affghanistan; the Persians form a considerable portion of the inhabitants of Cabul, and the traffic with that country is somewhat extensive.
The divisions made a general move at daybreak, on the 12th October, to Thag Bakh, about six miles distant from Cabul; and on the entrance to the Koord Cabul Pass, Her Majesty’s 9th and 13th Regiments, together with six Native Corps of the 1st Division, manned the hills commanding the pass, to enable those in the valley below to move on unmolested. On the morning of the 13th the troops entered the Pass which led to Tezeen, about nine miles. The mountains were high and craggy, and very dark, rendering the road extremely gloomy and sad; a torrent ran in a serpentine direction from side to side, which reminded me of the Bolun; it had to be crossed twenty-eight times during about six miles. We had scarcely got well into the jaws of this awful scene of romantic vastness, whose hollow crags seemed to echo defiance to our intruding tread, when a number of the enemy made their appearance in the rear, but were kept in check. The very great height of the mountains, of a dark, reddish colour, struck one with awe, and silence seemed to reign over all; the mind was totally occupied in contemplating this fearful sight of hidden deeds; horror struck the feeling heart, when the eye fell on the skeletons of our departed comrades, who lay in most agonizing positions, indicative of their last struggle for life. Here a spot would be strewed with a few crouched up in a corner, where they had evidently fled to cover themselves by some detached rock, from the overpowering cruelty of their foe, and had been rivetted by death. There couples were lying who had died in each other’s arms, locked as it were in the last embrace of despair: numbers lay in every direction, devoid of every particle of clothes; some with the greater part of the flesh putrefied on their bleaching bones—others were clean from having been devoured by the vast number of carrion birds and beasts inhabiting these terrible regions. I at first attempted to count the number of frames as I went along, but found them so numerous that I could not find time, and my inclination sickened from the awfulness of the scene. The pass was no more than thirty feet wide at this part, and so numerous were the mouldering frames of these whose lives had been sacrificed during the last winter, that they literally covered the road—and, in consequence, the artillery and other wheeled carriages had to pass over them—and it was indeed horrible to hear the wheels cracking the bones of our unburied comrades. It was quite easy to discover the Europeans by the hair on the skulls, which still remained fresh. After a tedious, and indeed a painful march, we reached Tezeen, which opens from the narrow Pass into a much wider part, sufficient to enable us to pitch our camp. Here was a sad scene of recent strife—scarce a tent could be pitched but a skeleton or two had to be removed, just kicked aside as though it were a stump of a tree, in order to leave clear the place for the interior of the tent, and there remained unnoticed. It has often been a subject of deep reflection to me, to think how utterly reckless man can be made by habit: so used were we to these sights, that it became a mere commonplace matter to see such relics of devastation and massacre. I remember walking with a friend down the centre of the camp, and we had often to stride over skeletons, without the least observation, further than I could not help heaving a sigh, and reflecting in silence on their unfortunate end.
The next day took us thirteen miles on a road of extreme barrenness; the high, wild, rugged mountains, hemmed in the narrow defile; the skeletons of the massacred force still strewed the road in every direction; no signs of vegetation, or aught to relieve the eye from wildness—the numerous hollow crags, as we passed, seemed to ring with echoing despair, and afforded most formidable positions for the treacherous Affghan to use his jezail or matchlock, without fear of opposition. The enemy, finding we had now entered the Pass, hovered about, and succeeded in murdering an officer, and a few men of Pollock’s force. The divisions marched one day a-head of each other, and thus kept up a continued line of communication. I, with General Nott’s, arrived at this ground on the 14th; the road was equally extremely harassing the next day, as indeed, ever since our entrance to the Pass. The ascents and descents are so numerous, coupled with having to cross the water so often, and there being no hold for the feet, on the loose flinty stones, made it very trying for both man and beast. Upwards of twenty times had the gushing torrent, dashing from side to side of the valley, to be waded through, and numbers of bleaching frames of the victims of Akbar’s treachery, lay exposed in the midst of the rolling stream. In one part of this day’s march we came to a place fifty yards in length, crowded with dead bodies of men, horses, and camels, which were those of a troop of irregular cavalry, who had all been cut up on this spot. About a mile from Sah Baba, our next ground, stands a round tower, the ruins of an old fort; it was now used as a bone house, and was crammed to the ceiling, with skulls, legs, arms, and shattered frames, and numbers were heaped outside the door, and round it,—placed there by the enemy, to form a glaring spectacle of their bitter revenge. A large body of Affghans were now seen covering the hills in our rear, and opened a fire into the dreary abyss, on our rear guards and baggage as they passed. The column had moved on some few miles, but were halted, and those of our troops in possession of the heights commenced an attack, and succeeded in repelling them, and forcing them to retreat, and we reached camp with little loss. This place is said to be the burial place of Lamech, the father of Noah, and if we may judge from its wild, dreary, stony, barren appearance, which looked as if it had been washed up into a heap after the deluge, and so void of all chances of fertility, that one could scarcely doubt the tradition.
Our next day led on to Kutta Sang, and of all the roads I had ever seen or traversed, as yet, this was the worst. The route led from hill to hill, the ascents being difficult and stony, and the descents in addition being very dangerous, as a fearful precipice presented itself should you happen to fall. These unwelcome views were many in number, and coupled with the tedious progress of the cattle and baggage, and the difficulty experienced in dragging the guns and loads up these many steep hills, and nothing but a dreary road to travel onward, made the march bad indeed. After the main body reached camp, the rear guard was attacked; a reinforcement was despatched, and a smart skirmish ensued; the Affghans seemed to delight in annoying us, and from their hidden positions most peremptorily carried their plan into effect; we lost few men compared with them, and the whole reached camp about midnight. Still the poor soldier found misery destined for him in every direction. On arriving at a new ground, two regiments had to mount duty on the summits of the hills bordering the route, which had to be ascended after the day’s harassing march, thus forming a second, much more so. The scanty, coarse meal, being nothing more than a quantity of meat and broth made from an allowance of a scarcely lifeless carcass, of the hard-driven, skeletonized bullock, and this of times not prepared before the dead hour of night; and then carried up to the men cold and tasteless. The bread or cake made of coarse, hand-ground flour, full of grit and small straw, half-baked and calculated to produce disease by its use; and ere this was well eaten, the rouse would sound, and the weary instrument of Britain’s safety would be wending his way through the dreary and unknown regions, ’mid almost perpendicular rocks, and perilous tracks. Such was the road of the next day’s march, to Jugdulluk Pass: this is by no means the most difficult one to explore—the sides not being near so high as those already traversed; it had some appearance of fertility, being studded with many small bushes. There were innumerable small caves, or recesses in the rocks, and it was from those dark-dens, forming cover for the enemy, that they succeeded so well in cutting off our unfortunate brethren, whose skeletons here were very numerously strewed about the path, and thus rendered the Pass more horrible than it would have been; for the light shone brighter here than we had it for some time. Nay, so stupendous were the mountains, hemming the ravines we had passed, that it would be often far advanced in the day before the sun would be seen by those beneath.
The unfortunate 44th made a somewhat successful stand in the Jugdulluk Pass, and succeeded, ere they were overpowered, in slaying many of their foes. The pass was narrow, and the Affghans, who had preceded us some hours, with a view to intercept and baffle us, had formed breastworks across the road; and, would it be believed, that these breastworks were formed of skeletons of our own men and horses? Not less than 100 frames could have been here piled up, which had to be removed before we could pass on. About 600 of the enemy made their appearance here, and in the first onset did considerable damage,—but a detachment from the main body soon dislodged them, and put them to the rout; it was common to see, lying on the road, bodies of murdered Sepoys and couriers; and in fact to attempt to enumerate the acts of treachery practised on us, would be next to impossible. We at length reached Soorkab. At this ground was a cluster of fine tall trees, which relieved the eye, and led us to hope we were approaching a land of the living; the camp was bordered by the celebrated Red River, a most beautiful crystal stream, rolling most musically over a stony bottom, and under the ridge of an immense mountain; the continued buzz kept up by the murmuring torrent echoing from the fearful crags, lulled the weary travellers in camp to sleep. Across this river is a most splendid bridge of one gigantic arch, which led by a declivitous route from this Pass to another; on the right of this bridge, which was erected by Alexander, issued a cataract roaring and dashing from the hills, which fed the stream, and formed a most beautiful picture. It was on this bridge that a number of the 44th—from the extreme inclemency of the weather, and the bitterness of the frost—were so benumbed with cold that they were unable to use their arms when attacked on their retreat. Oh! when reflection is but called up, and the miserable condition of these poor, oppressed creatures, considered, it cannot but call forth a sigh of deep regret,—bereft of every chance of escape, or wherewithal to exist,—as they were. When we consider that some of our nearest and dearest relatives or friends were amongst the number—surely, if there is one spark of sympathy left, it will be kindled for those whose last struggle was for their country’s cause.
Our next route led across the bridge through the defile already described, and on the road were lying the bodies of two murdered Sepoys. The ascents and descents were as usual; and from the summit of these intersecting hills, the eye would carry itself upon range after range of never ending cliffs and walls of mountains; the dark aspect of the distant horizon carried with it a volume of thoughts, wondering when the back would be once more turned on such dreariness. The moving mass below would be seen winding its serpentine length along the Pass, which from its narrowness, being obstructed by huge masses of detached rock having fallen from the heights, and impassable by other than taking a circuitous route, were truly harassing to the men and cattle. I may as well here mention the great trials and difficulties experienced in dragging along the heavy portions of the baggage, more particularly the celebrated Somnauth gates, which it will doubtless be remembered, were taken by direction of the Governor General, from the tomb of Sultan Mahomed at Ghuznee. These gates, it will doubtless also be remembered, were the idolatrous trophy of the Hindoos in the Guzerat Peninsula. The General directed a guard of not less than the wing of a regiment to mount over these gates, which were placed upon two platform carts, and drawn by six bullocks each. The other castes of the native Sepoys would not go near them, and the Hindoos were comparatively few, and insufficient to perform the duty, and as these gates were to be taken to the provinces for the purpose of being restored to that race, so great was the care taken of them that they were placed next to the main body of the army on the march, and nothing was permitted to go before them. The consequence was, that oftentimes, owing to the bullocks growing stubborn, the whole in the rear have been delayed; and the gates have had to be dragged by fatigue parties of the Europeans—night has set in—the enemy have taken advantage of our position, and have succeeded in cutting off numbers who otherwise would have been safe in camp. The badness of the roads and darkness of the night, together with the incessant fatigue and consequent loss occasioned by the protection of these idolatrous baubles, have caused much well-grounded controversy, and involved much discredit on the authorities. Many are the lives which have been lost by this—and for what? to restore to a tribe of idolaters, an idol, that they might worship with the greater vehemence, as it had been recaptured for them; and all this, too, by the representative of a Christian people. I need say nothing farther, except that, owing to the great question raised relative to their restoration, in our Parliament in 1843 and 1844, and since the recall of Lord Ellenborough, they remain like so much lumber stored in one of the stations in Bengal.
But to proceed to the march. A short distance from our camp, which was Gundamuck, stands a small hill, where the remnant of the 44th Regiment, about 300, made their last stand, and fought most desperately whilst their ammunition lasted, and were at length annihilated: their skeletons strewed the hill sides and summit; about 250 soldiers, and upwards of 30 officers, I believe, fell on this hill, and a deplorable sight it presented. We soon reached the camp, where Generals Pollock and McCaskill had halted; this place had been formed into a dépôt for grain and forage (only chopped straw), on Pollock’s advance on Cabul; the Passes from Peshawur, as he passed through, had been kept by our troops; thus in a great measure securing our route. We now refreshed ourselves with a day’s rest, and our cattle with a feast of forage, such as it was; and also in comparative confidence, as we were now but a couple of day’s stage from Jellalabad. The mails from Europe for the army were despatched from Calcutta and met us at this place, so that all in all it was quite a day of pleasure, receiving news from that dear place Home, “which never was so sweetly felt as in such times as these,”—conjunction of the Divisions, and recognition of old comrades who had escaped the perils of the few past days, and such like,—made the whole feel refreshed, and filled us with the utmost cheerfulness.”
CAIRO, OR GRAND CAIRO.—Burnt to prevent its occupation by the Crusaders, in 1220. Taken by the Turks from the Egyptian sultans, and their empire subdued, 1517. Taken by the French under Bonaparte, July 23rd, 1798. Taken by the British and Turks, when 6000 French capitulated, June 27th, 1801.
CALAIS.—Taken by Edward III, after a year’s siege, August 4th, 1347, and held by England 210 years. It was retaken by Mary, January 7th, 1558, and the loss of Calais so deeply touched the Queen’s heart, historians say it occasioned her death. Calais was bombarded by the English, 1694.
CALVI, SIEGE OF.—Besieged by the British, June 12th, 1744, and after a close investment of 59 days, surrendered on August 10th following. The garrison then marched out with the honors of war, and were conveyed to Toulon. It surrendered to the French in 1796.
CAMBRAY.—Taken by the Spaniards in 1595. It was invested by the Austrians, August 8th, 1793, and the Republican General Declay replied to the Imperial summons to surrender, that “he knew not how to do that, but his soldiers knew how to fight.” The French here were defeated by the Duke of York, April 23rd, 1794. It was then seized by the British, by Sir Charles Colville, June 24th, 1815. This was one of the fortresses occupied by the allied armies for five years after the fall of Napoleon.
CAMDEN, BATTLES OF.—The first battle fought here was between General Gates and Lord Cornwallis. The Americans were defeated August 16th, 1780. The second battle was fought between the revolted Americans and the British, the former commanded by General Greene, and the latter by Lord Rawdon. The Americans were again defeated, April 25th, 1781. Camden was evacuated and burnt by the British, May 13th, 1781.
CAMPERDOWN, BATTLE OF.—This was a memorable engagement, off Camperdown, between the British fleet, under Admiral Duncan, and the Dutch fleet, commanded by Admiral De Winter. The Dutch lost 15 ships, which were either taken or sunk. It was fought October 11th, 1797. This victory obtained the brave and good Admiral a peerage.
CAMPO FORMIO, TREATY OF.—Concluded between France and Austria. This memorable and humiliating treaty took place on the 17th October, 1797. By this treaty Austria had to yield the low countries and the Ionian Islands to France; and Milan &c., to the Cisalpine Republic.
CANNAE, BATTLE OF.—This battle, one of the most celebrated in ancient history, was fought between the Romans and Hannibal. The forces of the Africans amounted to 50,000, while those of the Romans were equal to 88,000, of whom 40,000 were slain. The victor sent 3 bushels of gold rings as a present to the Carthagenian ladies, which he had taken off the fingers of the Roman knights slain in this memorable engagement. So contested was the fight that neither side perceived an earthquake, which happened during the battle. The place is now called “The Field of Blood.” Fought 21st May, B.C. 216.
CANNON.—They are said to have been used as early as 1338. First used by the English at the siege of Calais, 1347. Used by the English first in battle, that of Crecy, in 1346.
CAPE BRETON.—Discovered by the English 1584. Taken by the French in 1632. Restored and again taken in 1745, and retaken in 1748. Finally possessed by the English, when 5000 men were made prisoners of war, and 11 ships destroyed, 1758. Ceded to England at the peace of 1783.
CAPE ST. VINCENT.—1st Battle.—Admiral Rooke, with 20 ships of war, and the Turkish fleet under his convoy, was attacked by Admiral Tourville with a force vastly superior to his own, off Cape St. Vincent, when 12 English and Dutch men of war and 80 merchantmen were captured or destroyed by the French. It was fought June 15th, 1693.
2nd Battle.—This second battle was one of the most glorious of the British navy. Sir John Jarvis, being in command of the Mediterranean fleet of 15 sail, gave battle to the Spanish fleet of 27 ships of the line, and signally defeated the enemy, nearly double in strength, taking 4 ships and destroying several others. Fought February 14th, 1797. For this victory Sir John Jarvis was raised to the peerage under the title of Earl St. Vincent.
CAPTAIN.—This title, derived from the French capitaine, literally signifies a head or chief officer,—the officer who commands a company. In Turkey, the Captain-Bashaw is the High Admiral.
CARLISLE.—The castle founded by William II, in 1092, was made the prison of the unfortunate Queen of Scots, 1568. Taken by the Parliamentary forces in 1645, and by the Pretender in 1745.
CARRICKFERGUS.—This town surrendered to the Duke of Schomberg, August 28th, 1689. William III landed here June 14th, 1690, to reduce the adherents of James II. This place is memorable for the expedition of the French Admiral Thurot, when its castle surrendered to his force of 1000 men, in 1760.
CARTHAGE.—Founded by Dido. Taken by the Roman General Scipio, and burnt to the ground B.C. 146. The flames of the burning city raged for 17 days, and thousands of the inhabitants perished in them rather than survive the calamities of their country. Afterwards it was rebuilt, but razed by the Saracens, and now no trace of the city appears.
CARTHAGENA.—In Columbia.—Was taken by Sir Francis Drake in 1584. It was pillaged by the French of £1,200,000 in 1697. It was bombarded by Admiral Vernon in 1740–1.
“When the forces were landed at Carthagena, the commanders erected a battery, with which they made a breach in the principal fort, while Vernon, who commanded the fleet, sent a number of ships into the harbor to divide the fire of the enemy, and to co-operate with the army on shore. The breach being deemed practicable, a body of troops were commanded to storm; but the Spaniards deserted the forts, which, if possessed of courage, they might have defended with success. The troops, upon gaining this advantage, were advanced a good deal nearer the city; but there they met a much greater opposition than they had expected. It was found, or at least asserted, that the fleet could not lie near enough to batter the town, and that nothing remained but to attempt one of the forts by scaling. The leaders of the fleet and the army began mutually to accuse each other, each asserting the probability of what the other denied. At length, Wentworth, stimulated by the admiral’s reproach, resolved to try the dangerous experiment, and ordered that fort St. Lazare should be attempted by scalade. Nothing could be more unfortunate than this undertaking; the forces marching up to the attack, the guides were slain, and they mistook their way. Instead of attempting the weakest part of the fort, they advanced to where it was the strongest, and where they were exposed to the fire of the town. Colonel Grant, who commanded the grenadiers, was killed in the beginning. Soon after it was found that their scaling ladders were too short; the officers were perplexed for want of orders, and the troops stood exposed to the whole fire of the enemy, without knowing how to proceed. After bearing a dreadful fire for some hours with great intrepidity, they at length retreated, leaving 600 men dead on the spot. The terrors of the climate soon began to be more dreadful than those of war; the rainy season came on with such violence, that it was impossible for the troops to continue encamped; and the mortality of the season now began to attack them in all its frightful varieties. To these calamities, sufficient to quell any enterprise, was added the dissension between the land and sea commanders, who blamed each other for every failure, and became frantic with mutual recrimination. They only, therefore, at last, could be brought to agree in one mortifying measure, which was to re-embark the troops, and withdraw them as quickly as possible from the scene of slaughter and contagion.”
CASTIGLIONE, BATTLE OF.—One of the most brilliant victories of the French arms under Napoleon against the Austrians, commanded by General Wurmsex. The battle lasted 5 days, from the 2nd to the 6th July, 1796. The Austrians lost 70 field pieces, all their caissons, and between 12,000 to 15,000 prisoners, and 6000 killed and wounded.
CASTILLON, BATTLE OF.—In France.—Fought between the armies of England (Henry VI) and those of France (Charles VII). The English were signally defeated, July 7th, 1453,—Calais alone remaining in their hands.
CASTLEBAR, BATTLE OF.—Fought between a body of French troops and an insurgent Irish force, at Killala, on the one hand, and the King’s royal forces on the other; the latter, after a short contest, being obliged to retire, August 28th, 1798.
CATAMARANS.—Fire machines for destroying ships, invented and tried on the Boulogne flotilla of Napoleon. Sir Sidney Smith attempted to burn the flotilla, but failed, August 31st, 1805.
CATAPULTÆ.—Engines used by the ancient Romans for throwing stones. Invented by Dionysius, the King of Syracuse, B.C. 399.
CATEAU, PEACE OF.—Concluded between Henry II of France and Philip II of Spain, in 1599. A battle was fought here between the allies, under the Prince of Cobourg, and the French. The latter were defeated with a loss of 5000 in killed and 5 pieces of cannon, March 28th, 1794.
CAWNPORE.—In India.—Famous in the Great Indian mutiny, which is thus described:
“At Cawnpore, a terrible disaster befell the British arms. Sir Hugh Wheeler, a veteran officer of approved bravery, had entrenched himself in the barracks with a force of less than 300 fighting men, and upwards of 500 women and children, the wives and families of officers and civilians, and of the Queen’s 32d regiment, then besieged at Lucknow. The insurgents were commanded by Nena Sahib, or, rather, Dhandoo Pant, Rajah of Bhitoor, the adopted son of the late Peishwah Bajee Raho. This man, under the mask of kindly feeling toward the English, nurtured a deadly hatred against the government, which had refused to acknowledge his claims as the Peishwah’s successor. He had long been addicted to the most revolting sensuality, and had lost all control over his passions. Wearied and enraged by the desperate resistance of this handful of brave men, he offered them a safe passage to Allahabad, if they would give up their guns and treasure. The place, indeed, was no longer tenable; and the survivors, diminished in number, were exhausted by constant vigils and want of food. In an evil moment, then, they accepted the terms of their perfidious enemy, marched down to the river, and embarked on board the boats which had been prepared for them. Suddenly a masked battery opened fire upon them, and crowds of horse and foot soldiers lined either bank. Many were shot dead, still more were drowned, and about 150 taken prisoners; four only escaped by swimming. The men were instantly put to death in cold blood; the women and children were spared for a few days longer.
“General Havelock, taking the command at Allahabad of the 78th Highlanders, the Queen’s 64th, the 1st Madras Fusiliers, and the Ferozepore regiment of Sikhs, had set out in the hope of arriving at Cawnpore in time to release Sir Hugh Wheeler and his devoted comrades. After marching 126 miles, fighting four actions, and capturing a number of guns of heavy calibre, in eight days, and in the worst season of an Indian climate, he was yet too late to avert the terrible catastrophe. The day before he entered Cawnpore, Nena Sahib foully murdered the women and children, who alone survived of the Cawnpore garrison, and caused them to be flung, the dead and the dying, into a well of the courtyard of the assembly rooms.”
Another account says:—
“General Havelock arrived before Cawnpore on the 18th July, and so eager was he to rescue the garrison (for he was not yet aware of what had happened), that he attacked the Sepoy position without delay. Ordering a charge, his gallant band rushed to the onset. Not a word was uttered until when within 100 yards of the rebels, three deafening cheers,—cheers such as Englishmen only can give, rang out. Then came the crash; a murderous volley of musketry and the crash of bayonets soon drove the mutineers back, and Cawnpore was taken; 1000 British troops and 300 Sikhs had put to flight 5000 of the flower of the native soldiery, with a native chief in command.
“When Havelock’s soldiers entered the assembly rooms, the blood came up over their shoes. There they found clotted locks of hair, leaves of religious books, and fragments of clothing in sickening array, while into the well outside the bodies had been rudely thrown. The horrors of that scene will never be fully known. A terrible retribution fell on the mutineers. General Neil compelled the Brahmins to wipe out, on their bended knees, the sanguinary traces of the outrages before he ordered them to execution, and when the 78th Highlanders found the mutilated remains of one of General Wheeler’s daughters, they divided the locks of hair among them, pledging each other in solemn covenant, that for every hair thus appropriated, a mutineer’s life and that alone could be the atonement. The eldest daughter of Sir Hugh Wheeler is said to have behaved in a most heroic manner; one of the natives testified that she shot five Sepoys with a revolver, and then threw herself into the well.”
CAVALRY.—Of the ancients the Romans had the best cavalry. To each legion there was attached 300 cavalry in ten turmae. The Persians were famous for their horse troops—they had 10,000 horse at the battle of Marathon, B.C. 490, and 10,000 Persian cavalry at the battle of Issus, B.C. 333. Horse soldiers were early introduced into the British army. During the wars of Napoleon the strength amounted to 31,000 men. The British cavalry is divided into the household troops, dragoons, hussars and lancers. Since 1840 the number has continued, with little variation, to the present day, at about 10,000.
CEDAR RAPIDS, CANADA.—Occupied by the Americans as a small fort in 1776. Taken by a detachment of the British army, and 500 Indians, under the celebrated Indian chief Brant, without firing a gun. The Americans sent to its support were captured after a severe engagement.
CENTURION.—From the Latin Centum a hundred. An officer who commanded 100 men in the Roman army. There were 6000 men in a legion, and hence sixty centurions. He was distinguished from the others by a branch of vine which he carried in his hand.
CEYLON.—Discovered by the Portuguese, A.D. 1505. Columbo, its capital, taken by the Dutch, in 1603, recovered in 1621; again taken 1656. Seized by the British 1795. Ceded to Great Britain by the Peace of Amiens in 1802. The British troops were treacherously massacred or imprisoned by the Adigar of Candy, June 26th, 1803. The complete sovereignty of the whole island taken by England in 1815.
CHÆRONEA, BATTLE OF.—Fought between the Athenians and Bœotians, B.C. 447. Another battle, and the great one of history, was fought here between the confederate army of Greece of 30,000, and that of the Macedonians, under Philip, amounting to 32,000, August 2nd, 338 B.C. Yet another battle was fought here between Archelaus, Lieutenant of Mithridates and Sylla, B.C. 86, when Archelaus was defeated and 110,000 Cappadocians slain.
CHAMBLY.—An important military post on the River Richelieu, Canada. It was often attacked by the Iroquois Indians. In 1775 it was captured by the Americans, but retaken in 1776. It is now a small military station.
CHARLEROI, BATTLES OF.—Great battles in several wars have been fought near this town; the chief in 1690 and 1794. (See Fleurus.) Besieged by Prince of Orange in 1672, and again invested by the same Prince, with 60,000 men, in 1677, but he was obliged to retire. Near to the place is Ligny—(which see)—memorable at the battle of Waterloo.
CHARLESTOWN.—Massachusetts.—Burnt by the British forces under General Gage, January 17th, 1775. English fleet here repulsed with great loss, June 28th, 1776. Taken by the British, May 7th, 1779.
CHARLESTON.—South Carolina.—Besieged by the British troops in March 1780, and surrendered in May 13th following, with 6000 prisoners. Evacuated by the British, April 14th, 1783. Famous during the wars of Secession. The South Carolina Convention assembled here, March 26th, 1861. A battle was fought here, and the rebels or Confederates defeated, August 19th, 1861, and after experiencing all the vicissitudes of war, it was evacuated February 17th, 1865, and next day surrendered to General Gilmore.
CHATEAUGUAY.—Canada.—To effect a junction with the army of General Wilkinson, on October 26th, 1813, General Hampton, with 3500 men pushed forward from Lake Champlain towards Montreal. At the junction of the Ontario and Chateauguay Rivers, he there met 400 Canadians under Colonel de Salaberry, who most bravely disputed his advance. By skilful management and great bravery on the part of the Canadian officers, Viger and Doucet, the Americans were compelled to retreat towards Plattsburg. Their loss was considerable, while that of the Canadians was only two men killed and sixteen wounded. Gen. Hampton returned to Plattsburg, his army having dwindled away by sickness and desertion.
CHATILLON, CONGRESS OF.—Held by the four powers allied against France, February 5th, 1814, but the negociation for peace was broken off, March 19th following.
CHAUMONT, TREATY OF.—Between Great Britain, Austria, Russia and Prussia, March 1st, 1814. It was followed by the treaty of Paris, by which Napoleon abdicated, April 11th following.
CHERBOURG.—Famous for an engagement between the English and French fleets. French defeated; 21 of their ships burnt or destroyed by Admirals Rooke and Russel, May 19th, 1692. The fort, etc., destroyed by the British, who landed August, 1758. The works begun by Louis XVI, and completed by Napoleon, are proof against any armament in the world.
CHESAPEAKE, BATTLE OF THE.—Fought at the mouth of the river of this name, between the British Admiral Greaves and the French Admiral De Grasse, in the interest of the revolted States of America, 1781. The Chesapeake and Delaware, blockaded by the British in 1812. The American frigate of this name surrendered to the Shannon, British frigate, after a very severe action, June 2nd, 1813.
CHILLIANWALLAH, BATTLE OF.—In India.—This memorable and sanguinary battle, between the Sikh forces and the British, was fought January 13th, 1849. Lord Gough commanded. The Sikhs were completely routed, but the British also suffered severely: 26 officers were killed and 66 wounded, and 731 rank and file were killed and 1446 wounded. The loss of the Sikhs was 3000 killed and 4000 wounded. This battle was followed by the attack on the Sikh camp and the army under Sheere Shing, in its position at Goojerat (which see) February 21st, 1849.
CHIPPEWA.—On the 5th July, 1814, General Ball with 2400 men gave battle here to 4000 Americans. The British fought bravely, but were obliged to retire to Lundy’s Lane, or Bridgewater, near the Falls of Niagara.
CHRYSLER’S FARM.—Williamsburg, Canada.—On the 11th November, 1813, the Americans, under General Wilkinson, in their passage down the St. Lawrence to attack Montreal, being harassed by the Canadian forces, resolved to land and disperse them. They were 2000 strong and the Canadians 1000. After two hours of very hard fighting, in an open field, the Americans were compelled to retire, with the loss of one general, and 350 killed and wounded. Canadian loss 200. Medals were granted to the victors of this battle by the British Government.
CHINA.—“The opening of the China trade to all British subjects, by the abolition of the East India Company’s monopoly in 1833, gave rise to a series of disputes with the native rulers, which at length led to open hostilities. These disputes, relating at first mainly to the legal rights and immunities to be enjoyed by the commercial superintendents appointed by the British cabinet, came eventually to be merged in the greater question touching the traffic in opium, which had all along been in some measure declared contraband by the Imperial Government. It was not, however, peremptorily prohibited till 1836; and even afterwards, through the connivance of the inferior authorities, an active smuggling trade continued to be carried on till 1839, when the Imperial Commissioner Lin, determined on its forcible suppression, seized the persons of the British merchants at Canton, and of Captain Elliot, the superintendent. That functionary was then compelled, by threats of personal violence to himself and his fellow-prisoners, to issue an order for the surrender of all the opium on board the vessels in the vicinity of Canton, which, to the value of above £2,000,000 sterling, was accordingly given up to the Chinese, who destroyed it,—the superintendent at the same time pledging the faith of the English government for compensation to the merchants. After various fruitless attempts to obtain satisfaction for this outrage, or even an accommodation by which the regular trade might be resumed, the cabinet of London resolved on hostilities. These, which were vigorously prosecuted, gave the Chinese a salutary lesson as to their inferiority to Europeans in military science and discipline; and they ended in a peace, signed August 29th, 1842, by which the Emperor agreed to pay $21,000,000 by way of compensation, to open five of his principal ports to our commerce, and to surrender the island of Hong-Kong to the British crown for ever.”
The following is a brief narrative from an English journal of the war of 1860 in China:—“On the 25th of June, 1860, the arrival of Sir Hope Grant at Tahlien Bay completed the muster of the British force in Northern China. General de Montauban reached Cheefoo at the same time, but his tale of men was not full; and as the Ambassadors were not due for a fortnight, it was determined that our troops should be landed. This was done, and horses and men benefited exceedingly by their sojourn on the breezy slopes which look upon the northern and southern sides of the grand harbor of Tahlien-wan, chosen for our rendezvous; notwithstanding that the hottest month of the summer was passed by the men in bell-tents, and by horses in the open.
On the 1st August, a landing was effected at Pehtang without opposition, much to our surprise and delight, for the only spot at which disembarkation was practicable is distant only 2000 yards from the snug-looking forts which appeared to protect the town; and even at this place there was a mile of water at high tide, or of more difficult mud at low water, to be traversed, before the troops could reach anything which might, by courtesy or comparison, be termed dry ground.
The 2nd brigade of 1st Division of British troops, and a French brigade, formed the first landing party. A vigorous resistance had been expected at this place; and had a fair proportion of the means lavished on the defence of the Peiho been expended on the Pehtang river, we should have had great trouble, for by nature that position is certainly the stronger. The forts on either side, and the town which adjoins that on the right bank, are built on two molecules of solid ground, which have turned up, one does not know how, at a distance of five miles inland from the bar, which closes the entrance of the river, to even the smallest gunboats, save at high water. The town is surrounded by a sea of mud, impassable to horse or man, inundated at high tide; it is connected with the comparatively higher country bordering the Peiho by a narrow causeway, which a determined and skilful enemy could hold against any force whatever, until driven successively from positions which might be established on the causeway at every hundred yards. We found, on the night of the 1st August, that the forts were deserted, and that the guns with which they bristled were but wooden “Quakers.” Next day we occupied town and forts.
Large bodies of cavalry having shown themselves in our front, a reconnaissance was made on the 3rd August, covered, in the absence of cavalry, not yet landed, by infantry and by two French 8-pounder guns, the only artillery disembarked. We discovered that our polite enemy had left the causeway unoccupied, and that his force held no position nearer than 8 miles from the town we were in. The Chinese pickets opened fire upon our troops, but were speedily driven back. The reconnaissance effected, our force returned to Pehtang unmolested.
Meanwhile the Admirals had set to work, landing troops, horses, guns, materiel, and stores. The navy worked famously; and as everything had to be brought into the river either in, or in tow of, the gunboats, whose movements depended upon the tides, the work, under the active superintendence of Captain Borlase, C.B., continued without regard to any arbitrary distinction between day and night. During four or five of the ten days spent in this tedious operation, the rain fell in torrents; and as the interior of Pehtang is below high water-mark, the streets were knee-deep in mud, composed, in addition to the usual impurities pertaining to that substance, of flour, wardrobes, Tartar-hats, field rakes, coal, shutters, oil-cake, chaff, china-cups, matting, beer-bottles, tin cans, and kittens, being chiefly the contents of the dwellings of the townspeople, which were successively turned out of windows to make room for our troops. The cavalry and artillery horses were picketed in the streets, where alone space was available; and how they and we and everybody escaped death from typhus fever or plague, Heaven only knows. The sanitary officer was outraged by the result. During this time, water for the use of the troops was obtained in boats filled by the navy in the river above the influence of the tide, and towed to Pehtang, where the contents were landed in barrels for distribution.
On the 12th August, after a delay of a day on account of the French, who at first were unwilling to advance till the season changed, we moved out to attack the enemy’s position; General Michel with the 1st Division and the French, along the causeway against the enemy’s front, General Napier, with the 2nd Division and cavalry, by a track which diverged from the causeway to the right at a short distance from Pehtang, with the view of turning the enemy’s left.
It will not be easy for those who were not present to realise the difficulties of this march, or to do justice to the troops who performed it. The gun-waggons sank literally axle-deep, and their hinder parts had to be left behind; the heavy cavalry were greatly distressed in struggling through the mud, and it occupied the troops six hours to traverse four miles, during which time the enemy remained in his position.
Napier’s division having reached moderately firm ground, advanced upon the open Tartar flank and rear; whilst the Allied left cannonaded his front, which was covered by a formidable intrenchment. The Tartar cavalry came out in great numbers to meet Napier, who opened on them with Armstrong guns. At first the Tartars seemed puzzled, but not disturbed; presently, seeing they were losing men, they rapidly extended, and in a few minutes the 2nd Division stood enveloped in a grand circle of horsemen, advancing from all points towards the centre. Napier’s infantry were speedily deployed, his cavalry let loose, and artillery kept going; and though the heavy ground was rendered more difficult for our cavalry by ditches broad and deep, whose passages were known to the enemy alone, yet, within a quarter of an hour of their advance, the Tartar force was everywhere in retreat. Not, however, till a body of their horsemen, which had charged Sterling’s battery, had been gallantly met and beaten by a party of Fane’s Horse, inferior in number, under Lieutenant Macgregor, who was severely wounded.
The Allied left then advanced along the causeway, and occupied the lines of the intrenchments about Senho, which the enemy deserted on the success of our right.
Amongst some papers found after the action, was a copy of a report from the Tartar General San-ko-lin-tzin to the Emperor, setting forth that the physical difficulties in the way of our landing at Pehtang, and of advancing thence across a country which never is dry, rendered it unnecessary to dispute our disembarkation on that river; and even if a landing should be effected, and our troops could be got under weigh, the general considered that nothing would be easier than to destroy us with his hordes of cavalry, so soon as we got entangled in the marshes.
At Senho the Allied forces rested their right on the Peiho river. The Taku Forts are about six miles lower down. Mid-way between Senho and the northernmost or nearest fort on the left bank, stands the town of Tungkoo, surrounded by a very long intrenchment, consisting of a formidable rampart and a parapet, covered in all its length by a double wet ditch.
General de Montauban proposed to attack this town the afternoon we reached Senho, but Sir Hope Grant would not consent to do so until he had acquired some knowledge of the position.
The French Commander-in-Chief thereon determined to take the place at once without the aid of our troops. The French troops were led along the causeway communicating between Senho and Tungkoo, which appeared to be the only means of approach; but so considerable a fire was developed from the ramparts as to deter our Allies from attempting a coup-de-main, and they returned to camp after cannonading the place for half an hour.
Means having been afterwards found of approaching Tungkoo with a large front on firm ground, the 1st British Division and the French captured the place on the 14th August. It was exclusively an affair of artillery; the enemy’s guns in position on the ramparts were silenced by our Armstrong and 9-pounder guns, and the rifled 24-pounder of the French, gradually advanced, covered by infantry, to successive positions, as the enemy’s fire became weaker. The Allies had forty-two guns in the field. We found about fifty guns of all sorts in the ramparts, which the enemy, abandoned as our infantry advanced under cover of the guns. The British headed by the 60th Rifles, turned the right of the ditch, and entered the works a quarter of an hour before the French, who made their entry at the gate.
After taking Tungkoo, the 1st Division (British) returned to its camp in front of Senho, and the 2nd Division, which had been in reserve, occupied the town.
The view from General Napier’s house-top was not encouraging. As far as the eye could reach, we were surrounded by salt marshes, intersected by very numerous and wide canals, which carry sea-water into the salt-pans.
It was in contemplation to attack the north and south forts simultaneously, with a force operating on each side of the Peiho, and a bridge of boats was in course of construction across the river at Senho. But as all the materials of the bridge, save boats, had to be conveyed overland from Pehtang, its progress could not be rapid. Meanwhile, by dint of most laborious reconnaissance, General Napier had discovered that open ground near the north fort could be reached by artillery, on the completion of a line of causeway which he had commenced over the inundated ground within the town of Tungkoo, and by establishing crossing-places at certain points on five or six canals. He urged an immediate attack on the north forts only; and, having obtained permission to throw out a picket towards them, on the 19th, made so good a use of it, that in one night the passages of the canals were completed, and the Commander-in-chief was conducted next morning within five hundred yards of the nearest fort. Seeing all obstacles to the approach of the forts overcome, Sir Hope Grant frankly consented to General Napier’s scheme, and intrusted its execution to his division. The French commander was very averse to the plan proposed. He formally protested against it, but General Grant maintained his determination; and, devoting the night of the 20th to the construction of batteries, the attack was made upon the upper north fort at daylight of the 21st August. The fire of thirty-one pieces of British and six of French ordnance gradually subdued the enemy’s artillery; their magazine was exploded by one of our shells; shortly before, that of the further north fort, which supported it, was blown up by a shell from one of the gunboats, which were rendering such assistance as they could give at a range of two thousand yards, the distance imposed by the stakes and booms which were laid across the river. On the advance of the infantry, the French crossed the ditches, upon scaling-ladders laid flat. Our engineers, who trusted to pontoons, were less successful, and the French had reared their ladders against the ramparts for a quarter of an hour, before our infantry, some by swimming and scrambling, others by following the French, had struggled across the ditches and reached the berme. But so active was the defence that no French soldier got into the place by the ladders, though several bravo men mounted them; an entrance was eventually made by both forces at the same time through embrasures, which were reached by steps hewn out of the earthen rampart with axes, bayonets, and swords.
When the attack was delivered General de Montauban was absent from the field, the French army being represented by General Collineau and his brigade.
It had been intended to breach the rampart near the gate, and so secure an entrance to the fort actually taken by assault; but our gallant Commander-in-Chief became impatient of the process, and the more speedy means of escalade was resorted to. It is highly probable that the rapidity of our success, and the tremendous loss inflicted on the garrison of the first fort, who had no time for escape in any large numbers, conduced to the surrender of the second fort and to the prompt abandonment of the position. Our loss amounted to two hundred and three British killed and wounded; the French loss was somewhat less. That of the Tartars was estimated at two thousand men, large numbers of whom became inmates of our hospitals.
The attack was gallant, so was the defence, and the success was perfect. The enemy immediately surrendered the further northern fort into our hands, with two thousand prisoners; and before the evening the entire position on the Peiho, covering an area of six square miles, and containing upwards of six hundred guns, was abandoned by its defenders.
The attack on the forts had only been deferred until provisions and munitions of war could be drawn from Pehtang, which we had quitted on the 12th August, in as light marching order as possible. Since our arrival at Senho, our tents, packs, kits, ammunition, and baggage, had gradually been brought through the mud to the front as speedily as the limited means of transport would permit, but in the process many of the beasts of burden perished. The state of the country would alone account for this; but further, as none of the commissariat waggons were at this time disembarked, it was necessary that everything should be carried upon the backs of transport animals, many of which having just landed from Manilla, Japan, and Bombay in sorry condition, were quite unfit for this service. At this juncture the Chinese Coolie Corps, composed of men recruited at Canton, became the only reliable means of transport. They were very hard worked, but they performed their duty very cheerfully and well.
From the first landing at Pehtang until after the capture of the forts, the army was entirely dependent on sea-borne provisions, brought from the fleet in gunboats and carried across from Pehtang; fresh meat rations were therefore rare. No sooner were the forts surrendered than the Chinese peasantry hastened to establish markets; and fruit, poultry, eggs and sheep were offered for sale in profusion, at such moderate prices, that on the march from Tungkoo to Tientsin, spatchcock fowls, savoury omeletes, and stewed peaches became the staple food of the British soldier. On the 22nd of August, the day after the forts were captured, Admiral Hope, with a squadron of gunboats, had pushed up the Peiho river to Tientsin. He met with no opposition, and the townspeople threw themselves at his feet. The Ambassador, Commander-in-Chief, and a portion of our troops, speedily followed in gunboats; the remainder of the force by land, so soon as transport could be organized. The last of our regiments reached Tientsin, distant thirty-five miles from Taku, on the 5th of September.
A convention for the cessation of hostilities was to be signed on the 7th, and ground was actually taken for a review of all the troops, which was to be held for the edification of the Commissioners, after they should have signed the treaty.
Suddenly the sky darkened: it was ascertained that “Kweiliang” and his brother Commissioners were not armed with the powers they asserted, and ultimately, instead of parading on the 8th in holiday pageant, a portion of our forces began that day the march towards Pekin. The Ambassadors left next day, in company with the Commanders-in-Chief; the forces were advanced as far as carriage could be procured; but the means of the commissariat were insufficient to move the whole army to such a distance, and to carry the necessary supplies. The draught cattle furnished by the mandarins at Tientsin were spirited away at the first halting place, and the 2nd division of the British army, which was to have brought up the rear, had to devote its carriage to the assistance of the 1st division, and remain behind.
In this emergency the commissariat would have had the greatest difficulty in feeding the troops in the front, but for the measures taken by Sir Robert Napier, who remained in command at Tientsin. By inducing persistent efforts to push boats up the river Peiho, which runs parallel to the road nearly up to Pekin, but which had been pronounced unnavigable by even the smallest craft, and by laying embargo on the traffic of Tientsin, General Napier procured, and with the aid of the navy organised, large means of water transport, which afforded invaluable assistance.
As the Ambassadors advanced they were met by letters announcing the appointment of “Tsai Prince of Ee” as Chief Commissioner to conclude negotiations in lieu of Kweiliang, who was pronounced to have proved himself incompetent; and on the 14th September, Messrs. Parkes and Wade held a conference with the Commissioners at Tung-chow, whereat, all preliminaries being settled, a letter was written to Lord Elgin acceding in terms to all his demands.
It was arranged that Lord Elgin was to meet the Commissioners in the walled city of Tung-chow, eight miles short of Pekin, where he would sign the convention, under escort of 1000 men; and that he should immediately afterwards proceed to Pekin, there to exchange ratifications of the Treaty of Tientsin (1858), under similar protection. Our armies meanwhile were to encamp four miles below Tung-chow.
Nothing remained but to settle details, and take up suitable quarters for Lord Elgin at Tung-chow. For this purpose Mr. Parkes, accompanied by Messrs. Loch (private secretary), De Norman (attached to Shanghai mission), and Bowlby (Times’ correspondent), with an escort of Fane’s Horse, under Lieut. Anderson, went out on the 17th. Lieut.-Colonel Beauchamp Walker accompanied the party, for the purpose of inspecting the ground designated by the Chinese for our encampment, and Mr. Thompson (Commissariat) was sent to guage the capabilities of supply of the city of Tung-chow.
On arrival they were well received; but in discussing affairs they were surprised to find objections raised on several points to which the Chinese Commissioners had before consented. However, after a discussion of five or six hours, the Chinese negociators gave way; and having arranged details, our party slept that night in the city, the guests of the Commissioners.
Next morning Colonel Walker, accompanied by Messrs. Parkes and Loch, and attended by a Chinese officer deputed by the Commissioners, proceeded to examine the ground on which the British army was to be encamped, leaving the larger part of the escort at Tung-chow, where Messrs. Bowlby and De Norman also remained, pending the return of Parkes and Loch, who had yet to find a suitable residence for Lord Elgin within the walls of Tung-chow. On the way out, the party found the Tartar army in hurried movement in the direction of our forces, and on reaching the ground proposed for encampment, discovered it to be entirely commanded by the position which the Tartar forces, supported by a numerous artillery, were then taking up.
Seeing this, Parkes turned round and rode back to Tung-chow to demand a cessation of these hostile movements. Loch went on into the British camp with a couple of men to report progress, whilst Col. Walker, Thompson, and half-a-dozen dragoons, remained in the Tartar position, at Parkes’s request, until he should return. Having reported progress to the Commander-in-Chief, whom he met advancing, about a mile from the Tartar position, Loch returned towards the Tartars, accompanied by Captain Brabazon, R. A., with orders to Parkes to come back at once.
Mr. Parkes, on reaching Tung-chow, was rudely received by the Prince of Ee, and was told that until the questions to which objections had been made the day previous had been satisfactorily determined, peace could not exist. Thereupon Parkes, with Bowlby, De Norman, and all our people, left Tung-chow for the British camp. Mid-way they met Loch and Brabazon, who turned homewards with them, and all went on together, preceded by a flag of truce.
Before they came in sight of Colonel Walker and his few men, Tartar cavalry, blowing their matches, and making other hostile gestures, came galloping along the high bank on either side of our people, who were in a hollow way. Presently the party was summoned to halt; being surrounded, and ignorant of the ground, it was deemed advisable to comply, both to insist on the sanctity of the flag of truce, and to gain an opportunity of discovering the best way out of their uncomfortable position. The Tartar officer in command civilly told them, that as firing had commenced, he was unable to let them pass, without orders from his General, to whose presence he would conduct Mr. Parkes. Parkes, Loch, and one Sikh rode away with the officer. Suddenly turning the angle of a field of maize, they found themselves in the midst of a mob of infantry, whose uplifted weapons their guide with difficulty put aside. Further on stood San-ko-lin-tzin, the Tartar General, of whom Parkes demanded a free passage. He was answered with derision; and, after a brief parley, in which San-ko-lin-tzin upbraided Parkes as the cause of all the disasters which had befallen the empire, at a sign from the General our men were tossed off from their horses, their faces rubbed in the dust, and their hands tied behind them, and so, painfully bound, were placed upon carts, and taken to Pekin. Orders, were, at the same time, sent to capture the escort, which had been already surrounded by ever increasing numbers. Some of the troopers suggested the propriety of cutting their way through, but Anderson replied it would compromise the others, and refused to do what his gallant heart desired.
Soon, however, the whole party was disarmed, and taken to Pekin on their horses without dishonor. Next day they were removed to the Summer Palace of Yuen-Ming-Yuen, where they were severally bound. Their hands and feet tied together behind their backs, they were thrown on their chests, and kept in the open air exposed to the cold at night, and the still considerable heat by day, without food or water, for three days and nights. From the first their bonds were wetted to tighten them, and if they attempted to turn or move to rest themselves, they were cruelly kicked and beaten. On the third day poor Anderson’s fingers and nails burst from the pressure of the cords, which were not even then relaxed. The wrist bones became visible, and mortification ensued; the victim became delirious, and thus mercifully made unconscious of the horror of his position, this gallant soldier died. During his sufferings his men made efforts to approach him and to gnaw his cords, but they were savagely kicked away by his inhuman jailers. The condition of the survivors was only ameliorated, after the lapse of three days, by the bonds on their hands and feet being exchanged for heavy chains and irons. But, from this time, they were regularly, though most scantily and miserably, fed.
Poor Bowlby died the fifth day, in the same way as Anderson, then De Norman and several of the men. All appear to have kept noble hearts, and to have cheered and encouraged each other, but no less than thirteen sank under the horrors of this captivity. Brabazon and a French Abbé, who were taken with the escort, were, still unbound, seen to leave the party, on the way to Pekin, saying they were going to the Chinese Commander-in-Chief to procure the release of their companions. Their mournful fate was, we rejoice to know, less horrible. They were beheaded, by order of a Chinese General, on the 21st September, in revenge for a wound he had received during the action of the day; but their bodies being then thrown into the canal, were unhappily never recovered.
Parkes, Loch, and their Sikh orderly, had been taken off straight to Pekin, and never saw anything of the rest of their party. Parkes was known by sight and reputation, and his position and that of Loch was, in a manner, recognised. Their cords were unbound after eight hours, when they were heavily ironed, separated from each other, and each put into ward with sixty prisoners—murderers and felons of the first class—with whom they ate and slept and lived. By day they were allowed to move about in their wards; at night their chains were fastened to staples in the prison roof. They represent their fellow prisoners to have behaved uniformly with kindness towards them, sharing with them any little comforts they possessed, and carrying their chains when they moved. But they were treated with extreme rigour, and their allowance of food was scanty.
After the 29th September a change of treatment was adopted. Parkes and Loch were taken from prison, and confined together in a temple, where they were treated with every consideration. Their dinner was furnished by the Véry of Pekin, and mandarins visited them, bringing little presents of fruit. During this time the diplomatists were trying to turn Parkes to political account. They wrote to Lord Elgin to say that the prisoners then in Pekin were very well, and that the basis of a treaty was being arranged with Mr. Parkes, which would no doubt be satisfactory to all parties. And thus matters went on until the joyful day came of the prisoners’ release.
The firing spoken of as the immediate cause of the detention of our people, began thus: Colonel Walker and his party had been left in the lines of the Tartars, who were at first rudely good-humoured, as he moved about and observed how completely the guns, now in position behind a ridge of sandhills, covered the ground allotted by the Commissioners for the encampment of our forces. Suddenly Walker’s attention was attracted by a cry uttered close to him. He saw a French officer who had come out of Tung-chow during the morning, and had attached himself to the English, in the act of being cut down and pulled off his horse by a party of soldiers. Walker rode up to him, and catching hold of his hand, essayed to drag him away. A mob closed round Walker; some attempted to lift him off his horse; whilst others, taking advantage of his right hand being engaged, canted his sword out of its scabbard and made off. A mortal blow was dealt to the poor Frenchman; swords were drawn on all sides; and Walker calling on his men to put spurs and ride, galloped for his life towards our troops, now drawn up within sight, about half a mile away. The party was pursued by cavalry, and fired on by Tartar infantry and guns in succession; but they reached our lines alive, with one horse severely, and two men slightly, wounded.
An immediate advance was made by the Allied forces; the enemy were speedily driven from their guns, and their cavalry was swept away by successive charges of our horse. All their guns, seventy-five in number, their camps, and quantities of arms, were captured by our troops, who occupied for the night the walled town of Chan-kya-wan, which gave its name to the battle. That place is twelve miles from Pekin, in a direct line, and four from Tung-chow, which is the port of Pekin on the Peiho; and lies to the right of the direct road from Tientsin.
But the victory did not lead, as we had fondly hoped, to the immediate recovery of the prisoners, victims of treachery so dark as to have been unsuspected even by the experienced and wary Parkes. The night before the foul plot was carried out, the Prince of Ee had entertained our people at dinner, and, smiling, had bidden them adieu. An officer, deputed by the Prince, attended the party in the morning, and it was perhaps not unnatural for Parkes to believe that he could induce the Prince to countermand the movement of troops which he then saw, and which he supposed to be unknown to the High Commissioner. The Prince’s reception of Parkes, of course, dispelled this expectation, and no time was lost in returning to camp. Even then there was no appearance of immediate danger to the party, unless from possible excitement of the rude soldiery through whom they had to pass; for both Chinese and Tartars had up to this time invariably shown the fullest confidence in the protection of flags of truce, under which officers had frequently passed between the Allied and Chinese camps during the war then waging.
The soldiers, however, possessed that reverence for the emblem of peace which animates most other savages; and it was at the hands of San-ko-lin-tzin, the commander-in-Chief of the Chinese army, and the apostle of competitive examination, that the Chinese Government was degraded to the last degree by the deliberate violation of a flag of truce, and by the capture of the heralds whom it should have shielded.
Having ascertained that a considerable force of Tartars was encamped between Tung-chow and Pekin, Sir Hope Grant advanced on the 21st September to attack their position. Again the Tartars were completely beaten, their camps and guns all captured, and great loss inflicted on the enemy by our cavalry. The King’s Dragoon Guards made a capital charge; and a squadron of Fane’s horse, under Lieutenant Cattley, attached for the day to the French, after driving the enemy into a village, galloped quickly round it, and falling on the enemy’s flank, as he emerged on the other side, inflicted signal punishment. The number of Tartar troops on or about the field this day is estimated at 80,000 men, of whom 30,000 were actually engaged. The allied forces numbered 6200—viz., English, 3200 of all arms, and fifteen guns; and French, 3000, with twelve guns.
The action of Pā-li-chow left us in possession of the important strategic point called the Pā-li bridge, whereby the paved causeway from Tung-chow to Pekin crosses the canal constructed between those places. It further gave us the line of the canal on which the enemy had rested, and left the approach to Pekin open to our troops.
Our success was immediately followed by a letter from the Prince Koung, brother of the Emperor, and heir to the throne, announcing to the Ambassadors that he had been appointed, with full powers, to conclude a peace, in the room of Prince Tsai.
After the fight of the 18th, Sir Hope Grant had sent an express to summon General Napier, with as much of the 2nd division as could be spared from Tientsin. The General had already succeeded in procuring from the Chinese authorities carriage for his troops, which the Commissariat was unable to furnish. The order found them ready to move, and General Napier reached headquarters on the 24th, having marched seventy miles in sixty hours, with a supply of ammunition, which was much required, escorted by a company of Brownlow’s light-footed Punjabees.
The army halted in the position it had won until siege guns had arrived by water from Tientsin; fourteen days’ supply had been brought up the river, and all available troops had been collected. The force in front was strengthened by all the infantry of the garrison of Tientsin, which was replaced by the 19th Punjab Infantry from Tahlien Bay, and by marines, whom the Admiral landed from the fleet.
Advancing from Pā-li on the 6th October, the British took up position on the northern road leading from the gates of Pekin to Tartary, without falling in with any of the enemy, except a picket, which retired with precipitation. The French who were to have operated on the left between our flank and Pekin, marched, through some misunderstanding, across our rear, and took possession of the imperial palace of Yuen-Ming-Yuen, “the Fountain of Summer,” six miles to the North of Pekin, and four miles away to our right. We heard nothing of them all night; but Sir Hope Grant found them the next morning, when arrangements were made for the division between the two forces of the treasures which the palace contained. But in the absence of any British troops the arrangements broke through, and our prize agents, finding the principal valuables appropriated by the French, abandoned their functions. Thereupon on the 8th indiscriminate plunder was allowed; but as of the British a few officers only had access to the palace, and none of the men, our officers were ultimately desired to give up all they had brought away, and the property they had collected was ultimately sold by auction for the benefit of the troops actually present in the field before Pekin.
A most spirited sale ensued of china, enamels, jade, furs, silk, &c., which realised £5000; and this sum, added to the amount of gold and silver bullion which had been brought in, enabled the prize agents at once to make a distribution amongst the troops, ranging from £3 for a private soldier, to £60 for a first-class field officer. All our generals surrendered their shares to the troops. The arrangement made was perhaps the fairest that could be arrived at under the actual circumstances of the time; but of a booty worth at least a million of money, belonging to the imperial crown—therefore prize of the fairest character—the British troops have profited only to the amount of £25,000. The balance has gone to the French, who take the broadest view of the question of halves, or to the Chinese peasantry, who plundered as they pleased, after the departure of the French, on the third day of occupation.
On the 8th October, the first-fruits of our advance on Pekin were realised, in the surrender to us, by the Chinese, of Messrs. Parkes and Loch, and the Sikh orderly who had been taken with them. A French savant and three men were given up at the same time. Our poor fellows looked wonderfully well; but M. d’Escayrae’s hands were still contorted by the pressure to which they had been subjected during the twenty hours in which he was bound. The delivery of prisoners was the direct result of an intimation sent to the Chinese, on the 7th October, that unless all the prisoners still in their hands were delivered up immediately, a gate of the city placed in our possession without opposition, and competent persons deputed to conclude a peace, Pekin would be taken by assault; but if all the prisoners were given up, our troops would not be allowed to enter the city, and the lives and property of the inhabitants should be respected.
Saturday, the 13th October, at noon, was the period fixed on for compliance with our demands. Before the time elapsed, eleven of our Sikh horsemen who had been prisoners, were delivered up alive, and the remains of all who had perished (save poor Brabazon and the Abbé), were received in coffins. On the 17th they were buried in the Russian cemetery, with all the honour and solemnity that could be paid. The Ambassadors of England, France, and Russia, the Commanders-in-Chief, and the allied officers not on duty, attended. The Roman Catholic and Greek prelates showed, by their presence, generous sympathy in the untimely fate of our countrymen.
But as the complete fulfilment of the demands was still uncertain, batteries were erected against the city wall at a distance of 150 yards, by the British and French respectively, and arrangements were made for opening fire at noon of the 13th, if the gate was not by that time given up. Every one agreed in hoping that thousands of inoffensive people might be spared the misery of an assault; but the 2nd Division must have felt something like a pang when, at the appointed hour, they saw their General ride with an escort through the gate, and found, by the display of the ensign from its top, that the Tartars had surrendered to us the command of the Imperial city.
