Page:Twentieth Century Impressions of Hongkong, Shanghai, and other Treaty Ports of China.djvu/826

officer and boat's crew sent under the wtiite tJag to establish communication with the local oflicials. In retaliation the HIoikIc, under the command of Captain Bourchier, bom- barded the town. But the object of the mission was not accomplished, and the only result of the incident was to imbue the Chinese with the idea that Anioy was a place likely to be attacked, and to aiuse them greatly to strengthen the defences. When the British squ:»dron arrived in August, 1841, to take possession of the ix>rt, it was found that a surprising change had taken place in the fortifications, upon which the guns of the ships made little impression, and the town had to be taken by escalade. The story of the occupation of Ainoy and Kulangsu by Admiral Sir William Parker and General Sir Hugh Gough, accompanied by Sir Henry Pottinger, Her Majesty's Plenipotentiary, may be quoted from the contemporary accounts published in the ■• Chinese Repository " (vol. x., pp. 524, 621):— " The following was the order of sailing: Bentinck, sure-ing vessel; Qiiccii; Wellcsley; Sesostris; Phlegfthoii: Blenheim; Wnicsis; Columbine; Million; Modcste; seven trans- ports bearing a detachment of the 4(;th and the whole of the i8th Regiment; six pro- ision transports; eight transpvirts bearing a detachment of the 26th, the 55th entire, with engineers and artillery; Dntid, wing ship; Blonde, wing ship; Fylades; Ciiiizer; Alj^cr- ine. " 24th. — At noon, a little to the westward of Breaker Point, the ships making good progress. ••25th. — At noon about seventy miles from Chapel Island, and the order of sailing pretty well preserved by the whole squadron. During the afternoon the wind increased considerably from the south-eastward; at dark, with a strong breeze, the ships ran into Amoy. The whole squadron, however, was not anchored till rather a late hour, in a fine moonlight evening. In taking up her anchorage, the Columbine ran foul of the Wellesley. not without some serious damage, Mr. William Maitland having been struck with great xiolence, and others narrowly escaping. Some guns were fired from Quemoy, as the squadron passed. . . , . . Omitting to attempt to give, for the present, any des- cription of the city of Amoy, we will detail here such facts as have come to our know- ledge respecting its defences and their fall, as alxjve noticed. " On the south side of the island, upon which the city stands, and south from it, was a heavy battery, about 1,100 yards long, and its wall about 14 feet at the base, mounting 90 guns; over against this, in a south- westerly direction, on Red Point, was another battery of 42 guns; nearly between these, but further westward, on the island of Koolangsu. were several other batteries. •' Early in the morning, which was hot and calm, the admiral, general, and plenipotentiary (the staff of each accompanying theinl em- barked on board the Phlcgctlion to reconnoitre. They proceeded within range of the long line of guns to the right on Amoy, and of the works to the left on Red Point, taking such positions in their course as to enable them to observe the defences on either hand, as well as those on Ko<jlangsu. where the men were seen engaged adding to their sand batteries. "A Chinese merchant was sent off in the course of the morning with a flag of truce to the squadron, to ask what might be its object. A demand of surrender was returned by his hands. A junk with a white flag, found after- wards to be owned by Siamese, came in while the vessels were advancing to engage, and stood on for some time after the action had commenced, seemingly in perfect confidence of being let alone. " .At 1 o'clock the Queen and Sesostris stood in for the east end of the long battery, and the Blonde with the Druid and Mo<hste for Ko<ilangsu. The Sesostris tirst tired. It was returned. The Queeti then conunenced. The batteries on all sides soon opened. The Bcnliiick gave the soundings for the Wellesley and Blenheim, in front of the long battery, distant 400 yards. The Chinese did endure the fire right manfully, standing to their guns until they were shot down by musketry in their rear. The batteries were never completely silenced by the ships' guns, and it is believed they never would have been. It was not till the troops landed that the majority of the men fled. Some were bayoneted where they stood at their guns; and two or three chief oflicers destroyed themselves — one, strange to say, by walking coolly into the water. The troops landed at several points, and drove all before them. The batteries on Red Point were almost entirely disregarded. By six o'clock the Moiteste and some of the other vessels were at anchor in the inner harbour. The troops, having passed through tiie southern suburbs, mounted the heights between them and the chief town, where they bivouacked for the night, and entered the citadel ne.xt morning. Thus fell the boasted strength of Amoy. " The wall of the long battery was found to be a masterly piece of work. When looked at from the sea, it had appeared as a town wall, with sand batteries in front; but instead of this, it was a strong and thick wall of good height, with only small, low gun-ports, and a defence between one gun- port and another of a thick earth battery of equal height with the wall; over each gun- port, too, mud was laid, so as to prevent the striking off of splinters from the stone. " About one hundred sizeable junks were found in the inner harbour, which is spacious, well-protected, and having good anchorage. " The 27th, Friday, was occupied by Sir Hugh Gough in possessing himself of the citadel and town. Late in the day, the plenipotentiary and admiral landed, and visited the town. " Yen Pihtow, the governor of Fuhkeen and Chekeang, having been for some little time past residing at Amoy, must have been spectator of the light; but no certain infor- mation could be obtained, regarding either him or of Admiral Tow Chinpew, commander- in-chief of the naval forces of the province. The admiral, it was said, had gone out for a cruise. Yen and Tow are both natives of Canton. "In course of this day, the body of the officer who had walked into the water was found lying on the beach. If he was actually the person he was stated to be — the tsung- ping — he was the chief in command at the time, having left his usual station at Quemoy to take the place of the absent admiral. " On the 28th, early in the morning, the plenipotentiary and admiral landed, and went up to Sir Hugh's quarter in the city. Sir Henry visited several of the large buildings in the citadel, and in the course of the day removed with his suite on board the Blenheim. " Here we must close these details for the present, only remarking that the Druid 42, Pyhidcs 18, and the Al^erinc 10, with three transports and 400 men (being one wing of the 18th and the entire detachment, one hundred and twenty or one hundred and fifty men of the 26th Cameronians) were to remain on Koolangsu, Amoy being evacuated, and the squadron under orders for the northward, destined it was supposed, for Ningpo, Chinhae, and Chusan." .... " The capture of Amoy was chiefly a naval operation, and the little that was left for the troops to do was done by the iStli Royal Irish. Scarcely had the fleet on the 26th August taken up their position opposite the batteries of Amoy, when a boat bearing a white flag w.is seen to approach the Wellesley. An ofticer of low rank was the bearer of the paper, demanding to know what our ships wanted, and directing us ' to make sail for the outer waters ere the celestial wrath should be kindled against us, and the guns from the batteries annihilate us! ' The line of works certainly presented a most formidable appearance, and the batteries were admirably constructed. Manned by Europeans no force could have stood before them. For four hours did the ships pepper at them without a moment's cessation. The Wellesley and Blenheim each hred upwards of 12,000 rounds, to say nothing of the frigates, steamers, and small craft. Yet the works were as perfect when they left off as when they began, the utmost penetration of the shot being 16 inches. The cannonade was certainly a splendid sight. The stream of fire and smoke from the sides of the liners was terrific. It never for a moment appeared to slack. From twenty to thirty people was all that were killed by this enormous expenditure of powder and shot. " It was nearly 3 p.m. before the i8th landed, accompanied by Sir Hugh Gough and staff. They landed close to a high wall which flanked the main line of batteries, covered by the Queen and Phlegethon steamers. The flank companies soon got over the wall, driving the enemy before them. They opened a gate through which the rest of our men entered, and advancing along the battery quickly cleared it, killing more men in ten minutes than the men-of-war did during the whole day; three of our fellows were knocked over, besides others injured. One officer cut his throat in the long battery, another walked into the sea and drowned himself in the coolest manner possible. The enemy fled on all sides so soon as our troops landed. We bivouacked as best we could during the night, and next morning took possession of the city without hindrance. Much treasure had been carried away, the mob leaving only the boxes which contained it. Immense quantities of military stores were found in the arsenals, and the foundries were in active operation. One two-decker, modelled from ours, and carrying thirty guns, was ready for sea, and others were on the stocks. But few war-junks were stationed here, the Chinese admiral being at this time absent with his fleet. During the engagement the Phlegethon steamer was nearly severely handled. She came suddenly opposite and close to a masked battery, the guns from which, having the exact range, opened upon her. Fortunately for the steamer, the water was sufficiently deep to come close into the land. Captain McCleverty immediately landed his men, advanced directly on the battery, and took possession of it, killing a great portion of the garrison. This was a very spirited affair, and attracted universal admiration. ... A garrison of detachments from the i8th and 26th Regiments, and the Madras Artillery was left at Amoy, with H.M. ships Druid, Pyladcs and Algcrinc." As Kulangsu completely commands the city of Amoy, it was determined to leave a small force on that island, which was capable of easy defence, and not to occupy the town itself. The people in and around Amoy showed very little fear or distrust of the