Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis from 1840 to 1843
TekstThe sun set clear and brilliant on that evening, the last which many a brave man on both sides was doomed to look upon. The Chinese were on the alert during the night, and brought down some large ginjals, which they planted upon the hill-side, abreast of the Nemesis, but did not make use of them.
At daylight next morning the Nemesis went alongside the transports, to take in the 18th Royal Irish, under Colonel Tomlinson, and, having landed them in the appointed bay, returned immediately to fetch part of the 55th, together with the rifles; the remainder of the 55th, with the 26th, 49th, and artillery, being landed by the Queen and Phlegethon, assisted by the boats of the squadron, the whole under the direction of Commander Charles Richards, of the Cornwallis. Sir Hugh Gough landed with the first or right column from the Nemesis, and at once occupied a height which commanded the landing-place, without meeting with any opposition. As usual, the Chinese had neglected their flanks, as if an enemy could only think of attacking them where they were most prepared to defend themselves.
As soon as the whole of the troops were formed, Colonel Schoedde was directed to move with the 26th and 55th regiments, forming the left column, and Colonel Montgomerie, with the artillery and rifles, forming the centre, as rapidly as possible round the base of the heights, in the rear of which there was a broken valley, leading up in the direction of the walled town, from which, by this means, the retreat of the Chinese would be cut off. Sir Hugh Gough moved with the left column, composed of the 18th and 49th regiments, under Colonel Morris, along the crest of the heights, driving the enemy before him from one point to another. As soon as the advance was sounded in that quarter, the ships of war opened fire upon the enemy's right flank, near the town, and after a few rounds, the Chinese fled from their field works, and from the joss-house upon the summit of the hill.
The Nemesis, in the meantime, having united her fire to that of the other ships, was signalized to close the Cornwallis, for the purpose of protecting the landing of the battalion of seamen and marines under Captain Bourchier, who was accompanied by the Admiral himself, who never shrunk from fatigue or danger, ashore or afloat. The enemy's right flank was now turned, and their principal works were fortunately carried before the Chinese had time to spring the mines which they had prepared. The enemy was soon in full flight.
The Sesostris threw some shells in upon the Chinese centre, as our troops advanced upon them from their left; but, owing to the rapid movement of the left column round the base of the hills, and the dangerous direction of the line of fire of the steamer, there was at one time more chance of danger to our own men than to the Chinese. The sides of the hills were covered with a great number of tombs, which, together with the broken nature of the ground, afforded shelter and rallying points for the enemy, behind which they occasionally made a stand, and suffered severely in consequence. Many of the Tartars were even seen deliberately cutting their own throats, as our men were advancing upon them.
But the most terrible scene, and the point at which the greatest loss on our side occurred, was a large house partly enclosed with a wall, situated at the end of a little valley, about a mile from the walls of the town. About three hundred resolute Tartar soldiers, finding their retreat cut off, took refuge in this building, determined to sell their lives as dearly as possible, expecting no quarter from their enemy. The defence of this large building was no part of their original design; but as they were driven into it, one after another, without any means of escape, they were forced to defend themselves. The number who might be inside was not at first known; and two small parties of the 18th and 49th, under Lieutenant Murray, of the former corps, and Lieutenant and Adjutant Browne, of the latter, attempted to follow them in, but were unable to effect an entrance. Of the 49th party, Lieutenants Browne and Mitchell were the only two who escaped untouched. One man was killed and the rest wounded.
This little check was now reported to Lieutenant-Colonel Stevens of the 49th, who soon came up. Perceiving that there were a great many of the enemy in the house, and that they were firing from the windows and doors, he ordered our troops to be withdrawn under cover, until the guns were brought up. Colonel Tomlinson, of the 18th, having overheard some injudicious remarks which he thought reflected upon himself, instantly put himself at the head of a few of his own regiment and of the 49th, and rushed in at the door of the joss-house. Scarcely a second had elapsed when he fell a corpse into the arms of his men, having received two balls in his neck. In fact, every man who attempted to enter was either wounded or killed, as he became exposed to the steady aim of the Tartars, in the narrow doorway, the light being full upon him, while the Tartars were themselves concealed from view.
The failure of this second attempt to enter the building, added to the exasperation occasioned by the death of Colonel Tomlinson, rendered it very difficult to restrain the men from recklessly exposing themselves. Just at this time, one 6-pounder gun was brought up by Major Knowles, and some rockets were also thrown into the house, but did not succeed in setting it on fire. The field-piece made very little impression upon the walls; but it was important that the place should be destroyed and the Tartars captured. In the meantime, it was blockaded by two companies of the 18th Royal Irish.
While this was going on, Sir Hugh Gough had marched on towards the city wall, and was joined there by Sir William Parker with the naval brigade. As soon as the Admiral had landed, Captain Hall, with three of his officers (including the surgeon) and sixteen men, (eight seamen, and eight of the Bombay artillery,) also landed as volunteers, and, after clearing a hill in their front of some straggling Chinese soldiers, they advanced directly up the hollow, at the extremity of which stood the large building just mentioned. Already Colonel Tomlinson was killed, and several other officers wounded; both the rockets and the small field-piece had failed to clear the house of its defenders. Captain Pears, the field engineer, had also come up, and proposed to endeavour to blow in a portion of the outer wall by means of a bag of powder.
Seeing a small side-door open, Captain Hall, followed by Lieutenant Fitzjames and one of his own men, got close to it and fired into it, wounding a Tartar mandarin, but it was too hazardous to try to force a passage in; and, as the defenders kept up a smart fire from the windows above, it was necessary to retire under cover. An attempt was then made to set fire to the building, by throwing combustibles in at the principal door; and Captain Hall rushed in towards it, with a bundle of straw in one hand and his sword in the other, followed by several of his men and one or two officers. Scarcely had he reached the doorway, when a smart fire was opened from within, by which two of his men were shot dead close by his side, but he himself escaped as if by a miracle.
The bodies were instantly removed to a place of safety, and this attempt failed, as the others had done. Three or four of the Tartars now made an attempt to escape, by rushing out of the doorway, and ran the gauntlet of ten or a dozen shots directed at them. They ran for their lives and escaped, although, from the traces of blood, it was thought that more than one of them must have been wounded.
Captain Pears at length got a powder-bag fixed to the northern wall of the building, which blew it in; and a small party of the 18th again attempted to enter it, but one of them was killed, and two wounded, and the rest withdrew. In fact, it was so dark inside the building, and the space was so narrow, that it was impossible to make a rush at it.
It was next proposed to set the place on fire, for on one side the upper part of the building appeared to be built of wood. Another powder-bag was fixed to that side of the house, just below the wood-work, in the hope that it would knock it all down together, or else set it on fire. The explosion was so powerful that it not only destroyed part of the wall, but brought down the wood-work above it, and thus many of the Tartars above became exposed, of whom some were shot, and others succeeded in getting down below. But, wherever a Tartar shewed himself at a window in any part of the building, several muskets were levelled at him; and, on the other hand, so well did the Tartars take aim with their matchlocks, that one of the Royal Irish, who would persist in merely peeping round the doorway "just to see if he couldn't pick off a Tartar," received a shot in his knee, before he had himself time to fire.
The fragments of the wood-work, which had tumbled down, were now collected into a heap by the sappers, and set on fire, which soon communicated to the rest of the building. Gradually, as it spread, the matchlocks of the Tartars (probably of the fallen) were heard to go off, and loud cries were uttered. The rest of the defenders must evidently surrender; and, on entering the doorway, the poor fellows could now be seen stripping off their clothes to avoid the flames, and running about in despair from one side to the other. About fifty were taken prisoners, but two or three, who tried to escape, were shot; and so exasperated were the 18th at the loss of their colonel, and some of their comrades, that it was not without difficulty they were prevented from putting several of the prisoners to death. These were now tied together by their tails, in parties of eight or ten, so that they could not well run away all together; and they were marched off, under an escort, to the walled town, which had already been taken possession of.
The walls had been scaled near the east gate, by the grenadiers of the 55th, without opposition; and the other gates of the town were soon occupied by passing round the ramparts. There were few guns, or even ginjals, mounted on them; and the Chinese, having been once driven from the heights, and cut off from the city, were dispersed all over the country, a large body of them taking the direction of Hang-chow-foo.
Between Chapoo and that city there is a good canal communication, supposed to be connected with the grand canal itself; and, in addition to that, the communication by land, along a good causeway, broad enough for artillery, gave many facilities for an immediate advance upon the capital. It was said also, that a curious Chinese map of the road, and of the adjacent country had been obtained; but, with so small a force, it was not thought advisable to march further inland.
If the loss of the Chinese was great on this day, so was it on our side much greater than on any previous occasion. The high spirit of the Tartar soldiers, the descendants of the conquerors of China, and soldiers by birthright, could not brook a total defeat; and, when they were further stimulated by the excitement of opium, their self-devotion and stubbornness tended to increase their loss. When they could no longer fight, they could die; and the instances of mad self-destruction, both within the city and without, were perfectly horrible. Many of the Tartars were with difficulty prevented from cutting their throats, which they attempted to do with apparent indifference. On visiting the large building, or joss-house, which had resisted so long, and had cost so many lives, a number of dead and wounded men were found huddled together in a horrible manner, in one of the out-buildings attached to it. The ruins of the house were still smoking, and our object was to drag out the wounded and put them under cover until they could be properly attended to, for, on all occasions, the Chinese wounded received every attention that could be shewn them from our medical officers. Just as our men began to move aside the dead bodies, a Tartar soldier, who had until now concealed himself among them, literally rising from the dead, stood up suddenly and drew his sword. But, instead of making a dash for his life, or giving himself up as a prisoner, he began deliberately to hack his own throat with the rusty weapon, and inflicted two wounds upon himself before his hand could be stopped. Another man was found concealed in a deep hollow in the earth, where there was a sort of oven, and could not be got out until some men were sent to dig him out, and he was then found to be wounded. Altogether, the scene at this house was quite enough by itself to appal any man with the horrors of war. Many of the wounded were dreadfully mutilated, and the dead bodies were charred and disfigured.
A large building in the city was specially set apart for the Chinese wounded, and the great kindness and attention they received at Chapoo produced important effects afterwards upon the authorities, and induced them to treat our prisoners with kindness, instead of torturing them to death, as had frequently been the case. The veteran Elepoo, who was, in fact, at that time governor of Chapoo, (having been partially restored to favour by the Emperor,) expressly thanked the General and the Admiral for their humanity, in a letter written about a month afterwards. "On inquiry," said he, "I found that you gave the hungry rice to eat, and allowed to the wounded medical attendance, and we feel obliged for your kindness and courtesy." But this was not the only mark of their gratitude, as we shall presently relate.
Too much praise cannot be given to the superintending surgeon, Dr. French, (often mentioned in the despatches,) and the other medical officers, for their constant attention to the Chinese wounded, whenever they had an opportunity. Occasionally, however, the Chinese refused all assistance.
Among the Tartar population, who were here for the first time met with, living entirely separate from the Chinese, and preserving their own habits and privileges, it is admitted by all that the most shocking scenes were witnessed; and the similar barbarities which were afterwards observed at the Tartar city of Chin-keang-foo confirm all that has been said of the cruel and revolting practices of that remarkable people in time of war. All accounts concur in giving their testimony to the fact of the self-destruction of whole Tartar families; the women destroying their children, drowning them in wells, and throwing themselves in afterwards; the husbands hanging and poisoning their wives, and deliberately cutting their own throats.
Every effort was made to put a stop to these barbarities, and every means were used to pacify and soothe the people; but as the greater part of the Tartar population had abandoned the Tartar portion of the city, the Chinese rabble set about plundering it, and frightened the few who remained, even more than our own people.
The Tartar town, which was separated from the other by a wall enclosing about one-fourth of the space within the city, presented its peculiar aspect. The houses were disposed something after the manner of tents in an encampment, one of the last traces of the wandering pastoral habits of the race; to each hut was attached a small bit of open ground, with a bamboo fence round it, and a few trees within; and the vine was not unfrequently seen twining itself among the bamboos. Their scanty furniture was more rude than that of the Chinese; and the bow, with its quiver full of arrows, the spear, the sword, and the matchlock, seemed to be the most cherished ornaments of their abode. They alone are permitted to retain their weapons in their own charge. Indeed, the Tartar here lives as a conqueror, and glories in the emblems of conquest which he still has around him. In other respects, they are all subject to the same laws, and wear the same dress, but differ a good deal in their countenance and expression. Commonly the Tartars are a fairer people than the Chinese, and some of them much resemble Europeans.
It is worthy of remark, that the conquerors imposed upon the conquered the practice of shaving the head, excepting the back part, with its long tail; but they themselves took care never to adopt the absurd Chinese custom of preventing the growth of the female foot, and even deforming it, in such a way as to render it nearly useless to its owner. From the Emperor's court to the lowest soldier's wife, no Tartar woman ever has her foot tortured into deformity. At Chusan, I remember seeing a Tartar woman walking about with her natural undeformed feet, and she was looked at as a curiosity by the Chinese inhabitants, who stared and smiled as if they thought it a strange piece of barbarism.
The attention of children to their parents, for which the Chinese as well as Tartars are remarkable, was shewn in many instances, even amid the trials of war, at Chapoo. The aged and infirm were of course unable to fly from the city, and many of these were found in the Tartar houses, carefully tended by their daughters, who stayed behind and braved the expected horrors of an enemy's approach, rather than abandon an aged parent. There were some touching scenes of this kind, and when they found that they were not treated harshly, their fears, which at first were distressing, gradually disappeared.
The country about Chapoo is perhaps one of the richest and most beautifully cultivated spots in the world. It in some respect resembles the prettiest parts of Devonshire. The low hills immediately adjoining the town – the rich, luxuriant, well-watered plain beyond, interspersed with numerous hamlets and villages, with their curiously-shaped blue-tiled roofs, and intersected by canals and causeways, formed a very attractive panorama, and served to indicate the means by which so dense a population is supported. But even there the horrors of war were still to be traced; dead bodies floating along the canals, (probably of wounded who had been carried away and had died,) parties of Chinese plunderers, hastening across the country, laden with every kind of property, and, perhaps, occasionally, a little, quiet European foraging party, hunting out ducks, and fowls, and pigs, for which, however, the peasants were generally very well paid.
It was not the object of Sir Hugh Gough to occupy the city longer than was necessary for the purpose of destroying the arsenals, and property belonging to the government, including, of course, the iron guns, ginjals, &c. The brass ones, some of which were very good, were sent over to Chusan. Several horses, or rather ponies, which had belonged to mandarins, were captured by our officers, and one of these, a stout grey, was carried up to Calcutta in the Nemesis, after the war was over.
The number of Chinese engaged at Chapoo has been estimated at between seven and eight thousand men, of whom about one-fourth were Tartars. It is difficult to estimate the number of their killed and wounded, but it must have been very great; it has been estimated that nearly one-sixth of them suffered more or less. On our side, two officers, one sergeant, and ten men were killed, including three of the naval brigade, of which two belonged to the Nemesis; six officers, one sergeant, and about forty-five men were wounded, many of them severely. The following were the names of the officers killed and wounded: Killed – Lieutenant-Colonel Tomlinson, 18th Royal Irish, and Captain Colin Campbell, 55th regiment, died two or three days after, from a severe wound in the head. Wounded – Staff, Lieutenant-Colonel Mountain, C.B., Deputy-Adjutant-General, severely, (three balls in his back;) Lieutenant A. E. Jodrell, 18th; Lieutenant A. Murray, 18th; Captain T. S. Reynolds, 49th; Lieutenant and Adjutant W. P. K. Browne, 49th; and Lieutenant J. G. Johnstone, Madras Sappers and Miners.
There were ten brass guns taken, together with eighty-two iron ones, and a number of ginjals, &c.