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

The second brigade, under Major-General Schoedde, was to land under a bluff point somewhat to the northward of the city, where there were two small hills which commanded the walls on that side. The object was to create a diversion, and draw the attention of the enemy towards that side, while the real attack was to be made upon the western gate, which was to be blown in by powder-bags. General Schoedde was directed to use his own discretion, as to turning his diversion into a real attack, should he think proper to do so.

There was found to be more difficulty in landing the troops than had been expected, many of the transports lying at a considerable distance, and the great strength of the current rendering the operation troublesome and protracted. The first brigade, under Lord Saltoun, succeeded in driving the enemy completely over the hills, after receiving a distant and ineffectual fire as they advanced; but they met with a more determined resistance from a column of the enemy, who were in great danger of being cut off. Several casualties occurred on our side, in this encounter. Upon the walls of the town itself, few soldiers shewed themselves, and the resistance which was soon experienced was not at all expected.

General Schoedde, with a portion of the second brigade, took possession of a joss-house, or temple, upon the hill overlooking the northern and eastern face of the walls, near the river, and there awaited the landing of the rest of his brigade, being received by a spirited fire of guns, ginjals, and matchlocks, which was opened from the city walls; this was returned by a fire of rockets.

As soon as a sufficient force had been collected, the rifles, under Captain Simpson, descended from a small wooded hill which they occupied, and crept up close under the walls, keeping up a well sustained fire upon the Tartars. Major-General Schoedde now gave orders for escalading the wall, although, from its not having been part of the regular plan of attack, only three scaling ladders were provided. The grenadier company of the 55th, with two companies of the 6th Madras Native Infantry, advanced to the escalade, under the command of Brevet-Major Maclean, of the 55th. The first man who mounted the walls was Lieutenant Cuddy, of the 55th, who remained sitting upon the wall, assisting the others to get up, with astonishing coolness. He was shortly afterwards wounded in the foot by a matchlock ball.

The 55th and the 6th Madras Native Infantry vied with each other in gallantly mounting the ladders, together with the rifles; but the Tartars fought desperately. As they retreated along the wall, they made a stand at every defensible point, sheltering themselves behind the large guard stations and watch-boxes, which are found at intervals upon most of the Chinese walls.

Many anecdotes are told by those who were present, of the desperate determination with which the Tartars fought. Many of them rushed upon the bayonets. In some instances, they got within the soldiers' guard, and seizing them by the body, dragged their enemies with themselves over the walls; and in one or two instances succeeded in throwing them over, before they were themselves bayoneted. The Tartars were fine muscular men, and looked the more so from the loose dresses which they wore. They did not shrink from sword combats, or personal encounters of any kind; and had they been armed with weapons similar to those of our own troops, even without much discipline, upon the top of walls where the front is narrow, and the flanks cannot be turned, they would have probably maintained their ground for a much longer time, and perhaps even, until they were attacked by another body in the rear. Major Warren and Captain Simpson were wounded, as well as Lieutenant Cuddy.

As soon as the wall was scaled, one body of our troops proceeded to clear the walls to the right, and the other to the left; and the latter, as they scoured the walls, afterwards fell in with the third brigade, with the General and the Admiral at their head, who had just forced their way in at the gateway. While these important successes had been gained by General Schoedde with the second brigade, two other operations had been conducted at the western gate, one by the third brigade, and the other by a small body of marines and seamen, under Captain Peter Richards. These are now to be detailed.

Sir Hugh Gough, as soon as he had been joined by the 18th and the greater part of the 49th, with the 26th, which had not accompanied Lord Saltoun's brigade, gave orders to blow in the west gate with powder-bags. The canal which runs along the walls on that side was found not to be fordable; and this was ascertained by four officers who volunteered to swim across it to ascertain the fact. Sir Hugh Gough was at this time with the third brigade, under Major-General Bartley, at about midway between the south and west gates, but determined to storm the latter, because the suburbs afforded shelter for the men to approach it, with little exposure. A few Tartar soldiers only appeared upon the walls at this point, as the main body had probably been marched off to reinforce those who were opposed to our troops, after the escalade of the walls on the northern side.

Two guns, under Lieutenant Molesworth, were placed so as to command the approach to the gate, and to cover the advance of a party of sappers and miners, under Captain Pears, who were to fix the powder-bags against the gate. This operation was perfectly successful; and the General, putting himself at the head of the 18th, who had just come up, rushed in over the rubbish, the grenadiers forming the advance, and entered a long archway, which led into what might be called an outwork, from which there was a second gate, conducting into the town itself.

It appears that in Chinese fortifications, as before described, there are always two gateways; the outer one placed at right angles to the main wall of the town, so as to be flanked by it, and leading into a large court, surrounded by walls similar to the walls of the town, and in which there are commonly cells for prisoners, &c. The second gate and archway leads from it directly into the body of the place, and is surmounted by a guard-house upon the top of the gateway, to which you ascend by a flight of stone steps on either side.

All resistance at the gateways had been already overcome, the Chinese guard at the inner gate having given way before the advanced party of the 55th regiment; and the open court, or space between the two gateways, having been just occupied by a party of marines and seamen, under Captain Peter Richards and Captain Watson, who had escaladed the outer wall very near the gateway.

As no detailed account of this interesting part of the day's work has yet appeared, and as some misapprehension has prevailed with regard to the affair of the boats of the Blonde in the canal, I have taken pains to ascertain the particulars from two officers who were present, and who were both wounded on the occasion. The following condensed statement of what took place may therefore be relied on for its accuracy.

The boats of the Blonde, which vessel was at anchor off one of the principal southern branches of the Grand Canal running under the city walls, having been employed in landing the Artillery Brigade during the early part of the morning, were ordered, about ten o'clock, to re-embark part of the Artillery and Gun-Lascars, with two howitzers, for the purpose of assisting in the attack of the west gate, and to create a diversion in favour of the troops. At all events, whatever the object of the movement might have been, it is certain that the guns were put on board the boats of the Blonde, and that there were altogether about one hundred men embarked. The boats consisted of the launch, barge, pinnace, cutter, and flat of that ship, together with two boats belonging to transports. They proceeded up the canal, which took a winding direction through the suburbs, for some distance, until they came suddenly in sight of the west gate of the city, which until then had been obscured by the houses. The whole of these boats were under the command of Lieutenant Crouch, of the Blonde, having Messrs. Lambert, Jenkins, and Lyons, midshipmen, under his orders.

On coming in sight of the gate, the barge, cutter, and flat were a little in advance of the other boats, and proceeding in single line towards a spot pointed out by Major Blundell, of the Madras Artillery, as well adapted for the landing of the guns. Suddenly a heavy fire of ginjals and matchlocks was opened on them from the whole line of the city wall, running parallel with the canal; and, as the height of it was little less than forty feet, the small gun of the barge could not be elevated sufficiently to do any service, and the fire of musketry which was returned was inefficient.

The Chinese opened their fire with deadly effect upon the advancing boats, and, in the course of about ten minutes, sixteen seamen and eight artillerymen were wounded; Lieutenant Crouch himself was hit in three places, and one midshipman (Mr. Lyons) and two officers of the Artillery were also wounded. Under these circumstances, the men were got out of the boats as quickly as possible, and placed under cover of the houses in the suburbs, on the opposite side of the canal. At this time these three boats were considerably in advance of the rest, and, as soon as the men were all landed, the boats were abandoned and the guns left behind. The launch and pinnace, who were behind them, as soon as they saw the disaster, and that to advance further would only expose themselves to a destructive fire, without the possibility of returning it with effect, stopped under cover of some buildings, which sheltered them from the city walls.

The officers and men who belonged to the advanced boats, having many of their comrades wounded, were now in a trying predicament. The only alternative left was to endeavour to join the other boats which had remained under cover; to do which they had to pass across an open space by the side of the canal, exposed to the whole fire of the enemy from the walls on the opposite side. This was, however, effected without farther loss, although a heavy fire was opened on them, (but of course at a greater distance than when in the boats.) Some of the wounded were necessarily left behind, and were kindly treated by the Chinese people in the suburbs, who shewed no hostility.

As it was evident that nothing further could be attempted at present, they all returned down the canal in the launch and pinnace, and reported the circumstances to Captain Richards, of the Cornwallis, to which ship the rest of the wounded were immediately removed.

On receiving the information of what had happened, Captain Peter Richards lost not a moment in landing with two hundred marines, at the entrance of the canal, where he was joined by about three hundred men of the 6th M.N.I., under Captain Maclean, of that corps, and then pushed through the suburbs towards the city walls; at the same time the whole of the boats of the Cornwallis, under the command of Lieutenant Stoddart, advanced by the canal, in company with the remaining boats of the Blonde, to bring off the boats and guns which had been left behind. They were also to endeavour to check the fire of the Chinese at the west gate, when Captain Richards advanced through the suburbs to escalade the wall.

As soon as Captain Richards had landed, he was joined by Captain Watson and Mr. Forster, (master,) of the Modeste, with a boat's crew and a small body of marines belonging to that vessel. On reaching the foot of the walls, a heap of rubbish was luckily found to have been left by accident not far from the gate. Upon this the ladders were planted by Captain Peter Richards and Captain Watson, under cover of the fire of the Marines, in face of a large body of Tartars, who lined the walls, and appeared determined to defend their post to the last. These two officers, together with Lieutenant Baker, of the Madras Artillery, and a private marine of the Modeste, were the first to ascend the ladders. As they got upon the wall (with much difficulty) they were directly exposed to the cross fire from the guard-houses over the outer and inner gateway, by which the marine was killed, and Captain Watson and Lieutenant Baker were wounded; the former having one of the buttons of his jacket driven into his side, and three balls passing through his jacket. The marine was killed by several shots passing through his body, and another marine, (also belonging to the Modeste,) who followed afterwards, was severely wounded.

With great difficulty and exertion about a dozen men got upon the wall; and Lieutenant Fitzjames, having succeeded in bringing up some rockets, lodged one of them in a guard-house over the gateway, which immediately caught fire, and threw the enemy into such consternation that they then gave way. Captain Richards, (who had, as if by a miracle, escaped being wounded,) was now able to dash down, at the head of his men, into the open space between the two gateways; and, just afterwards, the outer gate was blown in, as before described, by powder-bags. The advanced guard of the 55th had in the meanwhile come round along the walls from their north-eastern angle, where General Schoedde's brigade had escaladed it, and had now reached the inner gateway.

The third brigade, under Major-General Bartley, accompanied by Sir Hugh Gough, and also by Sir William Parker, dashed in over the ruins of the gate, and, to their great disappointment, found that the walls had been already carried; but, within the city itself, the resistance of the Tartars was by no means overcome. Part of the 18th and 49th regiments, under Major-General Bartley, were now ordered to march along the western face of the walls, and they threw out a line of skirmishers as they advanced along some ditches and old houses below the wall. As the brigade filed along the walls left in front, they suddenly received a heavy fire from a body of Tartars, by which two officers were killed and two wounded, and several men struck down. The leading division of the 49th immediately dashed down the ramparts upon the enemy's left, while the 18th pushed forward to turn their right. They were soon dispersed, although many of them fought with great determination. One company of the 18th pursued them into the Tartar city. In this spirited affair the 18th had one officer killed and one wounded, with about twenty men killed and wounded. The loss of the 49th was one officer killed, one wounded, and about twenty-four rank and file killed and wounded.

In the meantime, the Admiral, having put himself at the head of the seamen and marines, marched some way along the walls, where they had been already cleared by the 55th, and, as the heat of the sun at this time (past noon) was almost insupportable, he had directed the men to take shelter for a little while, in one of the watch-houses upon the ramparts. The heat was quite overpowering, and the men being already much fatigued, several of them died from sun-stroke. Here it was that the gallant Major Uniacke, R.M., fell, from the effects of the sun, and in the list of casualties of the day no less than sixteen men are included, who died from the same cause.

Having rested something less than an hour in the guard-house, a heavy firing was heard within the Tartar city, and the men were instantly formed, and advanced in the direction of the firing, under Captain Richards and Captain Watson. On passing through a narrow street in the Tartar part of the city, a sudden fire was poured upon them by a body of Tartars drawn up across the street, behind a small gateway, where they seemed prepared to make a most determined stand. Several men were wounded, and it was necessary to advance with caution, taking advantage of shelter when it could be found. Here Lieutenant Fitzjames was wounded while endeavouring to get a rocket off.

Captain Watson was now sent round by a side-lane, to endeavour to turn the flank of the Tartars, but there also the latter were prepared for them, behind a temporary barricade. However, a cheer, and a sudden rush from both divisions at once, upon the front and flank of the Tartars, carried the point, and the enemy were driven back with heavy loss, after shewing individual instances of the most desperate valour, in several hand-to-hand encounters. When the brave Tartars at length saw that their utmost efforts were of no avail, then began the scenes of horror, and the tragedy of self-immolation, which makes one's very blood run cold to hear of. The Admiral himself was a witness of what took place. Some of the Tartars kept the doors of their houses with their very lives, while others could be seen within, deliberately cutting the throats of their women, and destroying their children, some by strangulation, and others by throwing them into the wells. In one house in particular, a Tartar was found in the act of sawing his wife's throat with a rusty sword, as he held her over the mouth of the well into which his children had been already thrown. He was shot before the deed was completed, in order to save the woman, who was immediately taken care of, and had the wound, which was not severe, tied up. Yet the first use she made of her tongue, as soon as she could speak, was to utter the most violent imprecations upon the heads of the victors. The children who were in the well (in which there was little water) were all got up, and recovered.

In other houses, numbers of poor creatures were found dead, some by their own hands or the hands of each other, and the rest by the hands of their husbands. In one house no less than fourteen dead bodies were discovered, principally women; in others the men began to cut their own throats the moment they saw any of our soldiers approaching; while in other instances they rushed out furiously from some hiding-place, and attacked with the sword any one who came in their way.

Several of our officers had to defend their own lives with the sword, long after all systematic opposition had ceased. An officer of the 14th M.N.I. had a sword combat with three Tartars who rushed out upon him sword in hand, and by retreating so as to endeavour to take them singly, he was able to cut down two of them just at the moment when a fatal blow was about to be aimed at him by the third, who was fortunately shot at the very critical moment, by a soldier who was coming up to his officer's assistance.

It is impossible to calculate the number of victims to the barbarous practice of self-immolation and wholesale murder. Chin-keang-foo was a Tartar stronghold considered by them as impregnable; they could not brook defeat, or the desecration of their hearths, by the tread of the unknown but thoroughly-hated barbarian; every house had its victims; and to add to the horrors of the day, and the desolation of the city, the Chinese plunderers flocked in from the country in multitudes, pillaging in all directions. They even set fire to the streets in some parts, to enable them to carry on their work with less interruption in others.

On our side, although the place had been taken by storm, and not without heavy loss, the strictest orders were given to prevent the pillage of the town as much as possible. Measures were taken, not only to control our own men, (who, according to European custom, might have expected to be allowed to pillage a town taken by assault,) but also to arrest the violent proceedings of the Chinese rabble, who, in this as in other instances, were the worst enemies of their own countrymen.

The authorities and nearly all the respectable inhabitants had fled; and the Tartar general (who had complained bitterly to the Emperor of insufficient means for defence) had set fire to his own house, and buried himself and part of his family in its ashes.

Notwithstanding all the attempts to prevent the destruction of property, it was impossible altogether to arrest it in so large a city. Plunder was sometimes taken from the Chinese thieves outside the town, and occasionally articles of value were thrown over the walls, because they were not allowed to be carried through the gates. In this way, plunder was sometimes obtained, and many ingenious devices were adopted to endeavour to secure a few valuables; but nearly all the mischief was done by the Chinese themselves.

The public offices were taken possession of by our troops, and all the arms and warlike stores which were found were destroyed. Only sixty thousand dollars, worth of Sycee silver was found in the public coffers; but a little addition was made to the prize fund by the sale of articles which were taken from plunderers, when they were discovered trying to carry property out of the gates. The waste and destruction of property was, however, enormous. When more valuable objects were discovered, those of smaller value were left in the streets; costly furs lay strewed in all directions; silks and satins lay about in such profusion that the only difficulty was to choose among them. So little had the inhabitants expected that their stronghold would fall, that valuables of all kinds, gems, and gold ornaments, and curiosities of every description, and in some instances even money, were left in the wardrobes of the best houses, at the mercy of the first comers. Under these circumstances, it is surprising that so little plunder was carried away from a city taken by assault.

Terrible as was the downfall of Chin-keang-foo in the eyes of the Chinese, and great as was the desolation throughout the city in every direction, it cannot be doubted that the loss of this important Tartar stronghold, and the panic created by it, (the whole trade of the country being at the same time suspended,) tended very materially to produce in the mind of the Emperor and of his ministers the conviction that a speedy peace, on any terms, was preferable to a continuance of the war.⁷⁰