Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis from 1840 to 1843

The leading troops were the royal marines and the royal artillery, the guns being dragged along by the blue jackets. The road lay through a winding valley for nearly the distance of a couple of miles, until it led to a transverse ridge, from which, the whole of the Chinese works could be viewed, consisting of a strong, entrenched camp, flanked by small field-batteries of recent and hasty construction, and connected with the Hill Fort above, by a high breastwork continued up the hill towards it.

The object of the Chinese was evidently to protect the rear of the fort, which was plainly the key of the position. In the rear of their field-batteries were deep trenches for giving shelter to their men from our shot, and the Chinese could be seen lining the works, and waving their flags in defiance.

The guns of the royal artillery were soon in position upon the ridge, and began firing with great precision into the entrenched camp; while an advanced party of the royal marines, crossing the shoulder of the hill to the right, drove the Chinese speedily from it; and, then, descending into the valley beyond, came upon a second encampment, with a small field-battery, which was soon cleared. A detachment of the 37th M.N. Infantry had also been sent further round to the right of the advance, where they encountered the Chinese in some force.

While all these operations were going on, The Queen and the Nemesis steamers (the latter having first rapidly disembarked her portion of the 37th, with the main body of the force) took up a position within good shelling distance of the Hill Fort. The Nemesis, from her light draught of water, was enabled to take up her station inside The Queen, and both vessels commenced throwing shell with great precision into the fort, much to the astonishment of the Chinese, who were unacquainted with this engine of destruction.

Captain Hall had on this occasion, as on several subsequent ones, the able assistance, as a gunnery officer, of Mr. Crouch, one of the mates of the Wellesley, who was permitted to serve for a time on board the Nemesis.²⁰

The Chinese could not long withstand the fire of the sixty-eight pounder of The Queen, and the two thirty-two pounder pivot-guns of the Nemesis, the shells from which could be seen bursting within the walls of the fort.

At the same time, on the land-side, the principal entrenched camp had by this time, been carried by the main body of the troops, and, twenty-five minutes after the shelling of the fort had commenced, the British flag was seen waving upon its top, and the firing ceased. Major Pratt himself, with only two marines, had been the first to run up the hill and reach the fort; upon which, the Chinese, seeing that they were pressed behind as well as before, abandoned the fort in great confusion, leaving Major Pratt and his followers in possession of this most important position, upon which the British flag was hoisted by a royal marine.

The Nemesis, as soon as this was perceived, hastened on to join the ships of war, (the Calliope, Larne, and Hyacinth,) which had taken up their positions, nearly within musket-shot of the lower batteries, and were doing great execution. The works were however, constructed of strong material, comprising large blocks of the composition called chunam, very much resembling stone but less fragile. The Nemesis came up just in time to pour in several discharges of grape and canister from both the pivot-guns, and had then to witness one of the most dreadful spectacles of war. The Chinese in the battery had already been assailed by our troops from the fort above; and now, a party of the royal marines, and the 37th M.N.I., which had previously cleared the second camp in the valley behind, were seen coming round the hill, ready to pounce upon them as they attempted to escape out of the fort. The unfortunate men were thus hemmed in on all sides; and, being unacquainted with the humane practice of modern warfare, of giving and receiving quarter, they abandoned themselves to the most frantic despair.

Now were to be seen some of those horrors of war which, when the excitement of the moment is over, and the interest as well as danger of strategic manœuvres are at an end, none can remember without regret and pain. The Chinese, not accepting quarter, though attempting to escape, were cut up by the fire of our advancing troops; others, in the faint hope of escaping what to them appeared certain death at the hands of their victors, precipitated themselves recklessly from the top of the battlements; numbers of them were now swimming in the river, and not a few vainly trying to swim, and sinking in the effort; some few, however, perhaps a hundred, surrendered themselves to our troops, and were soon afterwards released. Many of the poor fellows were unavoidably shot by our troops, who were not only warmed with the previous fighting, but exasperated because the Chinese had fired off their matchlocks at them first, and then threw them away, as if to ask for quarter; under these circumstances, it could not be wondered at that they suffered. Some again barricaded themselves within the houses of the fort, a last and desperate effort; and, as several of our soldiers were wounded by their spears, death and destruction were the consequence.

The slaughter was great; nor could it be easily controlled when the men were irritated by the protracted and useless attacks which were made upon them from behind walls and hiding-places, even after the British flag was hoisted. It is wonderful that the casualties among the men were not more numerous.

The commandant of the fort was killed at the head of his men; and it is related that his son, as soon as he found that his father was dead, resolving not to survive him, and being unable to avenge his death, jumped into the sea, in spite of all remonstrance, and was drowned.

Those who have witnessed the individual bravery, be it courage or be it despair, frequently exhibited by the Chinese during the war, in almost every encounter, will be slow to stamp them as a cowardly people, however inefficient they may be as fighting men in armed bodies, against European discipline and modern weapons.

The most painful of all the scenes on this occasion was that of the bodies of men burnt perhaps to death when wounded.

It is well known that the bow and arrow is the favourite weapon of the Tartar troops, upon the dexterous use of which they set the highest claim to military distinction. The spear also, of various forms and fashions, is a favourite weapon both of Tartars and Chinese; but the matchlock, which in all respects very nearly resembles some of the old European weapons of the same name, except that the bore is generally somewhat smaller, is of much more modern introduction, and by no means so much in favour with the Chinese; this is occasioned principally by the danger arising from the use of the powder, in the careless way in which they carry it. They have a pouch in front, fastened round the body, and the powder is contained loose in a certain number of little tubes inside the pouch, not rolled up like our cartridges.

Of course, every soldier has to carry a match or port-fire to ignite the powder in the matchlock when loaded. Hence, when a poor fellow is wounded and falls, the powder, which is very apt to run out of his pouch over his clothes, is very likely to be ignited by his own match, and in this way he may either be blown up at once, or else his clothes may be ignited; indeed, it is not impossible that the match itself may be sufficient to produce this effect. At Chuenpee, many bodies were found after the action not only scorched, but completely burnt, evidently from the ignition of the powder.

In one of the latest encounters during the war, at Chapoo, where a few of the Tartars defended themselves so desperately in a house in which they had taken refuge, they were seen stripping themselves altogether, in order to escape the effect of the fire upon their combustible clothes when the building was in flames; and many other instances of a similar kind were noticed during the war.

With respect to the attack upon the fort at Tycocktow, on the opposite side of the river, the Nemesis was not concerned in that part of the operations of the 7th January. The force employed on that service was placed under the orders of Captain Scott, of the Samarang, 26; and consisted, in addition to that vessel, of the Druid, 44, Captain Smith; the Modeste, 18, Commander Eyres; and Columbine, 16, Commander Clarke. Captain Scott was directed to proceed to attack the forts upon Tycocktow, and to dismantle them, spiking the guns, and destroying the forts as much as possible; after which, he was to take up a convenient position in reference to the expected operations against the proper Bogue forts higher up.

Captain Scott led the way gallantly in the Samarang, without returning the fire of the Chinese, until he dropped anchor within cable's length of the middle of the fort. The Modeste, Druid, and Columbine came up almost directly after, and then commenced the terrific thunder of artillery, which soon sufficed to shatter the walls, and to make a breach, through which the seamen and marines, which were landed from the ships, soon carried the fort by storm. The Chinese fled in all directions up the hill, but not without witnessing, to their cost, the deadly effect of our musketry upon their confused bodies; nor did they yield without shewing some instances of bold personal courage.

The attack was led by Lieutenant Bowers, first lieutenant of the Samarang, who received a sabre cut across the knee; which shews that the Chinese did not run away without first coming to close quarters; their loss, however, was considerable. The guns in the fort were all spiked, and then thrown into the sea; the magazines and other buildings were set on fire, (the wounded having been first removed;) but it was not thought necessary to pursue the Chinese further.

As soon as these operations had been completed, the whole of the party which had landed, comprising the boats' crews of all the ships engaged, returned on board. Part of them had proceeded to attack the northern end of the fort, namely, those of the Druid and Columbine, and were commanded by Lieutenant Goldsmith, (since promoted,) and great praise was given to all the officers and men concerned, for their gallantry and good conduct. The number of guns destroyed was twenty-five; those which were captured at Chuenpee amounted altogether to sixty-six pieces, of various calibre, including those in the entrenchments, as well as those upon the upper and lower forts. Many of the guns, however, were not mounted, shewing that the preparations for defence had not been completed; some were only 6-pounders, but a great portion of the remainder were about equal to our own 12-pounder guns. Of course, they were all rendered unserviceable.

The operations of this day have not yet, however, been all described. So far as relates to Chuenpee and Tycocktow, little remains to be added, except that the killed and wounded, on the part of the land force, on our side, amounted to thirty; and on that of the naval force, to eight men and officers. But the destruction of the war-junks in Anson's Bay also formed part of the feats of this day; and, as it more particularly relates to the Nemesis, it shall be reserved for a separate chapter.

CHAPTER XIV

The total destruction of the Chinese squadron of war-junks, on the day of the action of Chuenpee, (7th January,) under the orders of Admiral Kwan, completed the discomfiture of the Chinese by sea and by land. The engagement took place in Anson's Bay, which has already been described as lying between Chuenpee and Anunghoy. The Nemesis here took a most distinguished part; and some of the boats of the Calliope, Hyacinth, Larne, Sulphur, and Starling, co-operated with her in the action, in which Lieutenants Watson and Harrison, and other officers of the Calliope and Larne, deservedly won their laurels.

At the bottom of Anson's Bay was the entrance of a small river, unknown until now, having a small island at its mouth, somewhat on the Chuenpee side. Within this, and in a measure protected by a sand-bar which ran out from it, lay the Chinese fleet of about fifteen war-junks, moored in a good position in shallow water, so as to prevent the near approach of our ships. Directions had been given to Captain Herbert, of the Calliope, to make arrangements for the attack of these war-junks, as soon as the defences on Chuenpee should have fallen. The moment, therefore, that it was perceived on board the Nemesis, as she ran up towards the lower battery, and poured in her grape and canister, that the upper fort had fallen, and that the lower one could not longer hold out, she hastened, without a moment's delay, to the attack of the enemy's squadron. Full steam was set on, without waiting to see what other measures might be taken elsewhere to effect the object.

In her anxiety to secure the post of honour, the Nemesis rounded the point of Chuenpee a little too close, and struck rather heavily upon a rocky reef running out some distance from it, but upon which it was thought that there was still water enough to enable her to float safely. She did indeed pass over it, but not without striking; but her iron frame did not hang upon it as a wooden one would probably have done, and she proceeded, without even stopping her engines. That the force of the blow however was considerable, and would probably have seriously damaged a wooden vessel, is shewn by the fact of her having the outer paddle-ring of one of the wheels broken, together with two of the long arms attached to it. It is evident that a blow which would cause such injury to iron would have done much more serious damage to wood.

About this time, Captain Belcher, of the Sulphur, joined her, with two of his ship's boats, anxious to partake of the honour of the affair. A few of the Sulphur's seamen also came on board. As she pushed along, she was also reinforced by Lieutenant Kellett, of the Starling, who brought his gig, or whale-boat, and subsequently did good service.

As they approached the position in which the Chinese junks were drawn up, it was easily perceived that it had been well chosen, with scarcely more than five feet water round the vessels, and that, in fact, they could not be attacked in front, except by boats. However, the Nemesis, having the great advantage of drawing less than six feet water, was able to approach near enough to bring her two 32-pounder pivot-guns to bear within good range. Just at this moment also a large boat, or pinnace, of the Larne, was observed, making its way round the outside of the little island, with a view to cut off the junks in the rear.

The boldness of this manœuvre, under the command of Lieutenant Harrison, was much admired; and, indeed, the dashing way in which many similar attacks were made on other occasions during the war took the Chinese by surprise, and struck them with a wholesome terror, even before they came to close quarters.

One of the most formidable engines of destruction which any vessel, particularly a steamer, can make use of is the Congreve rocket, a most terrible weapon when judiciously applied, especially where there are combustible materials to act upon. The very first rocket fired from the Nemesis²¹ was seen to enter the large junk against which it was directed, near that of the admiral, and almost the instant afterwards it blew up with a terrific explosion, launching into eternity every soul on board, and pouring forth its blaze like the mighty rush of fire from a volcano. The instantaneous destruction of the huge body seemed appalling to both sides engaged. The smoke, and flame, and thunder of the explosion, with the broken fragments falling round, and even portions of dissevered bodies scattering as they fell, were enough to strike with awe, if not with fear, the stoutest heart that looked upon it.

It is related that, at the battle of the Nile, when the French admiral's ship, L'Orient, blew up, both of the fiercely-fighting foes paused in horror at the dreadful catastrophe, and neither side renewed the fight for at least ten minutes afterwards. So here also, although the explosion was far less violent, and the contending parties comparatively trifling in number, and far less excited by the contest, there was a momentary pause; the very suddenness of the catastrophe added something to the awe and rejoicing, combined, which it excited. The rocket had penetrated into the magazine of the junk, or had ignited some of the loose powder too often scattered carelessly about the decks by the Chinese gunners. They naturally felt that the same fate might readily befall any of the other junks; and, after some discharges of round shot had been thrown into the nearest junks, (four of them were afterwards found lodged in the admiral's junk,) their crews were observed endeavouring to escape on shore, some upon the little island, and others upon Chuenpee; while, at the same time, the junks were all cut away by those remaining on board, in order that they might drift on shore, and enable the rest to escape.

The Chinese hauled down their colours on board their junks at about half-past eleven, but continued firing afterwards. At about twelve o'clock, the boats of the Nemesis, in company with the others which were present, put off to board the junks. Only two of the smaller ones succeeded in getting away up a small branch of the river, while two more escaped for the moment up another principal branch to a large town, but were subsequently captured.

Some of the junks drifted on shore; and, as there could be no utility in saving them, they were all successively set on fire, by order of Captain Belcher, and ultimately blew up. In some of the junks which were not yet quite abandoned by their crews, the poor Chinamen, as the English sailors boarded them on one side, rushed wildly over on the opposite one, or let themselves down by the stern chains, clinging to the ship's rudder. Others, as the fire gained upon their junk, retreated before it, and continued hanging to the yet untouched portions of it, until the flames advancing upon them rapidly, they were obliged to throw water over their own bodies to enable them to bear the intense heat, still desperately clinging to their fate, more from fear of ill-treatment, if they should be taken prisoners, than from any rational hope of being saved. In many instances they would not be saved; in others, they could not, and were destroyed as their junk blew up.

On the following day, the principal part of the guns were recovered, altogether upwards of eighty in number, of which eight or ten were handsome brass Portuguese guns, 6, 9, and 12-pounders.

Altogether, eleven junks were destroyed on the spot. Scarcely had this duty been completed by the different boats engaged, when the Nemesis hastened on up the river, and at the distance of about three miles, came upon a large town, where she found two war-junks moored close to the shore, but abandoned by their crews. The consternation of the people was extreme; they were seen running away from the town in all directions; the surrounding hills were crowded with the anxious and astonished gazers, wondering what was going to happen next; never, of course, having either seen or heard of a "devil ship" before, and well knowing that her visit could only be a hostile one. It was enough that they had already heard of the total destruction of their fleet at the river's mouth. The place was not at all fortified, not a shot being fired on either side.

The tide was now beginning to fall, and as the water was not deep, and the bar would soon become impassable, and the day was already far advanced, it was thought better to return without exploring the river higher up. Accordingly, taking in tow the two junks, the Nemesis again descended the river; but one of the junks getting aground on the bar at the entrance, was obliged to be left behind, while the other was taken safely down, and soon after five p. m., the Nemesis joined the squadron off Chuenpee, and received the thanks of the commodore for the services she had rendered during the day. She had received no important damage, the paddle-box only having been injured by a well-directed shot from one of the junks.

It must have been a fine sight for the troops who were in possession of Chuenpee, to witness from the top of the hill the encounter with, and total destruction of, this fleet; the numerous burning masses, and the loud explosions as they blew up; with the boats pulling about among them, lighted by the glare of the fires. All this, added to the excitement which always attends the being a looker-on while others are actors in deeds of danger, must have formed a most animating spectacle. The scenery about Anson's Bay is moreover bold and picturesque, and the limited space in which the affair took place, must have added something to the interest it awakened.

To the Chinese this had been, in all respects, a most disastrous day. Their stone walls and their wooden walls had been alike destroyed; and, although they might before have dreaded us by sea, they had never until now had an opportunity of testing the power of Europeans on land.

On this day, the 7th of January, 1841, the native Indian troops and the Royal Marines constituted considerably more than two-thirds of the whole force employed on shore.

The loss of many hundred killed and wounded on the Chinese side, with something less than forty wounded and none killed on our side, shews rather that the Chinese were deficient in proper weapons to match their foes, than wanting in personal bravery to meet them in the fight; and, as they were not yet acquainted with the European mode of sparing an unresisting enemy, they suffered great loss from unsupported and useless resistance, when timely submission would have saved many lives. They exasperated our troops without a chance of benefiting themselves.

The Chinese admiral, the fine old Kwan, lost the red ball or button of his cap, the emblem of his rank, during the encounter with the junks. It was reported that he wished to meet his death at the hands of his foe, and was with some difficulty borne off by his attendants; but this fate was reserved for him on a future occasion, and he shewed himself a chivalrous and brave man. The loss of his ball or button, which has certain marks upon it which probably indicate that it is conferred by imperial favour as an emblem of rank, seemed naturally to occasion him the greatest possible anxiety and trouble. He, in fact, made application for it to be returned to him, if it chanced to have been found; and it is gratifying to know that, through the intervention of Captain Elliot, her majesty's plenipotentiary, it was recovered and generously restored to him.

The total number of guns taken or rendered unserviceable during the operations of this day, ashore and afloat, amounted to one hundred and seventy-three pieces, including eighty-two in the junks, of which a few were brass, but mostly of small calibre.

The junks with which the Nemesis was engaged in Anson's Bay were provided with quite a new sort of boarding-nettings, if they can be so called. Probably old Admiral Kwan, whose reputation as a seaman was not very great, had heard that English ships of war were sometimes provided with nets when going into action; and, therefore, without knowing very well what might be the purpose of them, he determined to have them likewise. But he made a sad mistake concerning the object for which they were intended. He very naturally thought, that, in the position which he had taken up in shallow water, only the boats of the squadron could come close to him, and he hit upon the bright notion of trying to catch them with his nets, just as a poacher catches his sleeping game by throwing a net over them. A number of strong fishing-nets were fastened all round the sides of the junks, not extended so as to impede any one trying to get on board, but triced up outside over each of the guns, in such a way, that, when our boats should come alongside, the nets were to be thrown over them, men and all; and thus our jolly tars were to be caught like hares in their form, and handed over to the tender mercies of the emperor.

No sooner, however, did the guns of the Nemesis open fire, than the nets were all forgotten in their fear of the shot and the rockets; and, long before the boats could get alongside, the defenders and men-catchers were glad to be off, to avoid being themselves caught.

A more unwieldy-looking machine, or one less calculated for efficient service at sea, than the old-fashioned junks, can scarcely be conceived. Although, since the commencement of the war, they have gradually improved them very much in the fashion of the hull, the masts and sails, and all that appertains to the rigging of a vessel, are very little different from what they have hitherto been.

It should be noticed, that the boats and smaller rigged vessels of the Chinese are generally very much superior to their large junks in form and convenience of arrangement, and often sail very well. The family to whom the boat belongs lives entirely on board, and, for the combined purposes for which their boats are generally used, perhaps no arrangement could be better adapted for making the most of a limited space; and they are, moreover, kept remarkably clean.

The war-junks are of different sizes, and have guns varying in number from four to fourteen, and even more, mounted upon them, of various calibre, some of foreign make, but principally Chinese. The smaller junks are also adapted for oars or sweeps, of which they sometimes can work as many as twenty on either side. The crew are further provided with a great number of spears, swords, matchlocks, and frequently large jingals, not unlike our musquetoons, fitted with a rest upon the bulwarks of the vessel, so as to give the power of taking a steady aim. There are generally a large number of round shields on board, made in a saucer-like fashion, and about two and a half to three feet in diameter. They are composed of ratans, or canes, strongly twisted or woven in together, and are so elastic, that it would be very difficult to cut through them with a sword; and even a musket-ball fired from a long distance, and hitting them at all in a slanting direction, would be turned off. They are usually hung all round the bulwarks, resting upon the top and outside of them, giving a very striking appearance.

A large junk puts one very much in mind of one of the old Roman galleys, only it is less efficiently constructed for venturing away from land, and is not unfrequently gaudily ornamented with green and yellow colours.

Several improvements have been adopted by the Chinese since the commencement of the war. They had constructed a number of gun-boats for the defence of the river higher up, upon European models; and, towards the close of the war, they built one or two large junks, which they called frigates, with great improvements in shape and general arrangement, and regular port-holes for the guns on the deck below, and with heavy guns, too, mounted in them. One of these we saw near the Bogue, after the peace, mounting thirty-six guns, all of foreign manufacture, many of them 9 and 12-pounder iron guns, made by Fawcett, of Liverpool, and purchased either at Macao or at Singapore. The junk was very clean, and in good order, painted green, and coppered; and, with the exception of the masts and sails, which were in the old style, she looked very well. This vessel was said to have been constructed by order of Tinqua, one of the Hong merchants, who has distinguished himself by his zeal in defence of his country; and it was by him presented to the emperor, together with a European barque, and a brig, rather the worse for wear in the merchant service, which he purchased at considerable cost.

But the most remarkable improvement of all, and which shewed the rapid stride towards a great change which they were daily making, as well as the ingenuity of the Chinese character, was the construction of several large wheeled vessels, which were afterwards brought forward against us with great confidence, at the engagement at Woosung, the last naval affair of the war, and were each commanded by a mandarin of rank, shewing the importance they attached to their new vessels. This, too, was so far north as the Yangtze Keang, where we had never traded with them; so that the idea must have been suggested to them by the reports they received concerning the wonderful power of our steamers or wheeled vessels.

To anticipate a little, it may here be mentioned, that the vessels had wooden wheels, very like an undershot mill-wheel, which were moved by machinery inside the vessel, worked by a sort of capstan by manual labour, the crew walking it round and round, just like walking up an anchor on board a man-of-war; the horizontal revolution was turned into the upright one by strong wooden cog-wheels, upon regular mechanical principles.

When once the spirit of change and improvement has taken hold of the Chinese, it is impossible to say where it will stop among so ingenious and indefatigable a people. Even the emperor himself has ordered still greater changes to be made since the peace, and has directed that "the best materials for building ships shall be procured from all parts of the world; and that, as only ships built on European principles can contend with European ships, they must gradually learn to adopt European models themselves. But, as this can only be effected by time, and the ships are required now to suppress the pirates which infest his coast, they are at once to purchase foreign ships and learn to exercise their crews."

To return from this short digression, we may now ask what sort of a report was made by Admiral Kwan to his mighty master, upon the subject of these first actions below the Bogue – the first great collision between the power and science of the west and the self-confidence of the remote east. Keshen, clear-sighted as he certainly was, could not fail to perceive the many troubles and humiliations to which his country must become subjected if hostilities were pushed to extremes. He was fully alive to the serious defeat he had sustained, yet dreaded to break the truth too suddenly to his haughty master; wise, therefore, in his generation, he declared there had been a "drawn battle." He informed his master that the contest had been maintained from eight A.M. until two P.M., and that "then, the tide ebbing, the foreign vessels ceased firing, and anchored in the middle of the stream, each side maintaining its ground."