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diff --git a/26419-h/26419-h.htm b/26419-h/26419-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..91a1a20 --- /dev/null +++ b/26419-h/26419-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,8060 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Life of Gordon, Volume I, by Demetrius Charles Boulger</title> + <style type="text/css"> + /*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ + + <!-- + body {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + p {margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + text-align: justify;} + /* Author ---------------------------------------------- */ + p.author, p.author-up {text-align: right; + font-variant: small-caps; + margin-right: 10%;} + p.author-up {margin-top: -1.0em;} + /* Letter ----------------------------------------------- */ + p.ltr-date {text-align: right; + margin-right: 5%; + margin-bottom: -0.5em;} + /* Text Blocks ------------------------------------------ */ + blockquote {text-align: justify; font-size: 0.9em;} + .blockquot {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + pre.note {font-size: 1.0em;} + .note, .noteBox {margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 0.9em;} + .noteBox {border-style: dashed; + border-width: thin; + padding-left: 1em; + padding-right: 1em} + div.trans-note { + margin: 10%; + padding: 0.25em; + font-size: 0.9em; + background-color: #E6F0F0; + color: inherit; + } + + /* Headers ---------------------------------------------- */ + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 {text-align: center; clear: both;} + /* Horizontal Rules ------------------------------------- */ + hr {width: 65%; + margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; + margin-top: 2.0em; margin-bottom: 2.0em; + clear: both;} + hr.full {width: 100%;} + hr.short {width: 20%;} + hr.tiny {width: 10%;} + hr.tight {margin-top: 1.0em; margin-bottom: 1.0em;} + /* General Formatting ---------------------------------- */ + .sc {font-variant: small-caps;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .allsc {font-variant: small-caps; text-transform: lowercase;} + .lowercase {text-transform: lowercase;} + .spacious {letter-spacing: 0.15em;} + .ws {word-spacing: 4em;} + .bold {font-weight: bold;} + .title-normal {font-weight: normal;} + span.pagenum {position: absolute; + right: 1%; + color: gray; background-color: inherit; + letter-spacing:normal; + text-indent: 0em; text-align:right; + font-style: normal; + font-variant:normal; + font-weight: normal; + font-size: 8pt;} + p.right {text-align: right; margin-right: 5%;} + p.center {text-align: center;} + p.heading {text-align: center; font-weight: bold;} + .super {font-size: smaller; + vertical-align: 2px;} + sup {vertical-align: 0.25em;} + .center {text-align: center;} + /* Footnotes -------------------------------------------- */ + .footnotes {border: none;} + .footnote .label {float:left; text-align:left; width:2em;} + .fnanchor {font-size: smaller; text-decoration: none; + font-style: normal; font-variant:normal; + font-weight: normal; vertical-align: 0.25em;} + .footnote {font-size: 0.9em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .figcenter {padding: 1em; + margin: 0; + text-align: center; + font-size: 0.9em;} + .figure img {border: none;} + .figure p {margin: 0; text-indent: 1em;} + .figcenter {margin: auto; clear: both;} + /* Tables ----------------------------------------------- */ + .center table {margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto; text-align: left;} + table {margin-top: 1em; /* space above the table */ + caption-side: top; /* or bottom! */ + empty-cells: show; /* usual default is hide */ + border-spacing: 2.0em 1.0em; + font-size: 0.9em;} + td {padding-left: 0.5em; padding-right: 0.5em;} + table.toc {line-height: 1.1em; + font-size: 90%; + width: 80%;} + /* Links ------------------------------------------------ */ + a:link {color: blue; background-color: inherit; text-decoration: none} + link {color: blue; background-color: inherit; text-decoration: none} + a:visited {color: blue; background-color: inherit; text-decoration: none} + a:hover {color: red; background-color: inherit} + + hr.pg { width: 100%; + margin-top: 0em; + margin-bottom: 0em; + border: solid black; + height: 5px; } + pre {font-size: 85%; } + --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Life of Gordon, Volume I, by Demetrius +Charles Boulger</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Life of Gordon, Volume I</p> +<p>Author: Demetrius Charles Boulger</p> +<p>Release Date: August 24, 2008 [eBook #26419]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF GORDON, VOLUME I***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Steven Gibbs, Richard J. Shiffer,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<div class="trans-note"> +<p class="heading">Transcriber's Note</p> +<p>Every effort has been made to replicate this text as +faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and other +inconsistencies. Text that has been changed to correct an obvious error +is noted at the <a href="#END">end</a> of this e-book.</p> +</div> +<p> </p> +<hr class="pg" /> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h1 class="spacious"><small>THE</small><br /> +LIFE OF GORDON</h1> + +<h3 class="title-normal">MAJOR-GENERAL, R.E., C.B.; TURKISH FIELD-MARSHAL, GRAND<br /> +CORDON MEDJIDIEH, AND PASHA; CHINESE TITU (FIELD-MARSHAL),<br /> +YELLOW JACKET ORDER.</h3> + +<br /> + +<h4>"<i>'Tis a name which ne'er hath been dishonour'd,</i><br /> +<i>And never will, I trust—most surely never</i><br /> +<i>By such a youth as thou.</i>"</h4> +<p class="author">—Swinton on Adam Gordon.</p> + +<br /> + +<h4>BY</h4> + +<h3>DEMETRIUS C. BOULGER</h3> + +<h4 class="title-normal">AUTHOR OF "THE HISTORY OF CHINA;" "ENGLAND AND RUSSIA IN CENTRAL<br /> +ASIA;" "LORD WILLIAM BENTINCK," ETC., ETC.</h4> + +<br /> + +<h3>WITH PORTRAIT</h3> + +<br /> + +<h3>VOLUME I</h3> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<p> </p> + +<h3 class="spacious">LONDON<br /> +T. FISHER UNWIN</h3> +<h4>PATERNOSTER SQUARE</h4> + +<h5>MDCCCXCVI</h5> + +<h4>[<i>All rights reserved.</i>]</h4> + + +<a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 304px;"> +<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="304" height="464" alt="Portrait of General Gordon, taken soon after the +Crimea." title="" /> +<p class="heading"><span class="sc"><span class="spacious">General Gordon</span><br /> +from a photograph taken shortly after the crimea and lent by his niece, Miss Dunlop.</span></p> +</div> + + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p><span class="sc">As</span> so many books of a more or less biographical nature have been +written about General Charles Gordon, it is both appropriate and +natural that I should preface the following pages with a statement of +a personal character as to how and why I have written another.</p> + +<p>In the year 1881 I told General Gordon that I contemplated describing +his career as soon as I had finished writing my "History of China." +His laughing reply was: "You know I shall never read it, but you can +have all my papers now in the possession of my brother, Sir Henry +Gordon." My history took a very long time to write, and the third +volume was not published until April 1884, when General Gordon was +hemmed in, to use his own words, at Khartoum.</p> + +<p>For over two years General Gordon's papers and letters remained in my +custody, and they included the Equator and Soudan correspondence, +which was so admirably edited by Dr Birkbeck Hill in that intensely +interesting volume, "Colonel Gordon in Central Africa." The papers +relating to China and the Taeping Rebellion were freely used in my +history. To them I have the privilege of adding in the present volume +an authoritative narrative of the events that followed the execution +of the Taeping Wangs at Soochow, and of thus rendering tardy justice +to the part taken in them by Sir Halliday Macartney. Among the +contents of the large portmanteau in which all these documents were +stored, I noticed a thick bundle of letters, in somewhat faded +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vi" id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span>handwriting, and an examination of their contents showed me that they +were of the deepest interest as relating to the important events of +the Crimean War, and to the first seven years of Gordon's service in +the Army. I at once went to Sir Henry Gordon, who honoured me with his +friendship and confidence in no less a degree than his distinguished +and ever-lamented brother, and begged of him permission to publish +them. He at once gave his consent, which was ratified by the late Miss +Augusta Gordon, the hero's favourite sister. The letters appeared in +July 1884, under the title of "General Gordon's Letters from the +Crimea, the Danube, and Armenia." In the proper place I have told what +Kinglake, the historian of the war, thought of them and their author.</p> + +<p>In the rush of books that followed the fall of Khartoum, no favourable +opportunity for carrying out my original purpose presented itself; +and, indeed, I may say that the anonymous biographical work I +performed during the course of the year 1885 would have filled a +large-sized volume. Moreover, the terrible events of the fall of +Khartoum, and the failure of the relieving expedition, were too close +at hand to allow of a just view being taken of them, and it was +necessary to defer an intention which I never abandoned. It seemed to +me that the tenth anniversary of the fall of Khartoum would be an +appropriate occasion for the appearance of a Life claiming to give a +complete view and final verdict on the remarkable career and character +of the man, with whom his own friendly inclination had made me +exceptionally well acquainted.</p> + +<p>In 1893, therefore, I began to take steps to carry out my project, and +to the notification of my intention and the application for assistance +in regard to unpublished papers, I received from several of the +principal representatives of the Gordon family encouraging replies. +But at this time both Sir Henry Gordon and Miss Gordon were dead, and +I discovered that the latter had bound her literary executrix, Miss +Dunlop, a niece of General Gordon's, by a promise not to divulge the +bulk<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_vii" id="Page_vii">[Pg vii]</a></span> of the unpublished papers during her lifetime. I am happy to +say, however, that Miss Dunlop, without accepting any responsibility +for what I have written, has with the greatest possible kindness read +these pages, and assisted me to attain complete accuracy in the facts, +so far as they relate to family and personal matters, but excluding +altogether from her purview all military and political topics. For +that co-operation, unfortunately restricted by the condition of the +promise to Miss Gordon, I avail myself of this opportunity to express +my grateful thanks; and I am also indebted to Miss Dunlop for the +youthful unpublished portrait of Gordon which forms the frontispiece +of this volume, and also for that of the house in which he was born.</p> + +<p>When I was first confronted with the difficulty that the unpublished +papers would not be accessible to me, I contemplated the abandonment +of my task; but a brief consideration made me conclude that, even +without these documents, I had special knowledge, derived from Sir +Henry Gordon and many other sources, that would enable me to deal with +all the more important passages of General Gordon's life. The result +must be judged from the Life itself; but I have not sought to make any +partisan attack on anyone, although, when I have felt compelled to +criticise and censure, I have done so with a full sense of +responsibility as well as with reluctance. I may be pardoned the +confidence I express when I say that I am sure nothing in the +unpublished documents will affect the main conclusions to which I have +come on the Khartoum mission, its inception and disastrous close.</p> + +<p>I am permitted by the courtesy of the proprietors of <i>The Times</i> to +reproduce in these pages the several articles and letters which +originally appeared in the columns of that paper.</p> + +<p>It is a personal matter, of no interest except to myself, but I should +like to state that the work would have been out much sooner but for a +long and serious illness.</p> + +<p class="author">DEMETRIUS C. BOULGER</p> +<p><i>29th August 1896.</i></p> + + + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + +<hr class="tiny" /> +<p class="heading">VOLUME I.</p> + +<div class='center'> +<table class="toc" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='right'>CHAP.</td><td align='left'> </td><td align='right'>PAGE</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_I">BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE</a></td><td align='right'>1</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_II">THE CRIMEA, DANUBE, AND ARMENIA</a></td><td align='right'>16</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_III">THE CHINA WAR</a></td><td align='right'>45</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">THE TAEPING REBELLION</a></td><td align='right'>61</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_V">THE EVER-VICTORIOUS ARMY</a></td><td align='right'>78</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">GRAVESEND AND GALATZ</a></td><td align='right'>127</td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII.</td><td align='left'><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">THE FIRST NILE MISSION</a></td><td align='right'>141</td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr /> +<h2><a name="ILLUSTRATIONS" id="ILLUSTRATIONS"></a>ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + +<hr class="tiny" /> + +<div class='center'> +<table summary="illustrations"> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#frontispiece">PORTRAIT OF GENERAL GORDON, TAKEN SOON AFTER THE CRIMEA</a></td><td align='right'><i>Frontispiece</i></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><a href="#fp16">HOUSE IN WHICH GENERAL GORDON WAS BORN</a></td><td align='right'><i>To face page</i> 16</td></tr> +</table></div> + + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>BIRTH AND EARLY LIFE.</h3> + + +<p><span class="sc">Charles George Gordon</span> was born on 28th January 1833, at No. 1 Kemp +Terrace, Woolwich Common, where his father, an officer in the Royal +Artillery, was quartered at the time. The picture given elsewhere of +this house will specially interest the reader as the birthplace of +Gordon. It still stands, as described by Gordon's father in a private +memoir, at the corner of Jackson's Lane, on Woolwich Common.</p> + +<p>The name "Gordon" has baffled the etymologists, for there is every +reason to believe that the not inappropriate connection with the +Danish word for a spear is due to a felicitous fancy rather than to +any substantial reality. There is far more justification for the +opinion that the name comes through a French source than from a +Danish. The Gorduni were a leading clan of Cæsar's most formidable +opponents, the Nervi; a Duke Gordon charged among the peers of +Charlemagne; and the name is not unknown at the present day in the +Tyrol. The "Gordium" of Phrygia and the "Gordonia" of Macedonia are +also names that suggest an Eastern rather than a Northern origin. +History strengthens this supposition and entirely disposes of the +Danish hypothesis. The first bearer of the name Gordon appeared in +Scotland at far too near a date to the Danish descents upon that +country to encourage the view that he was a member of that most +bitterly hated race. Nowhere were the Danes more hated or less +successful than in Scotland, yet we are asked to believe that the +founder of one of the most powerful families in that kingdom belonged +to this alien and detested people. The silence itself of the +chronicler sufficiently refutes the idea that the first Gordon was a +renegade or a traitor, as he must have been if he were a Dane.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<p>In all probability the first Gordon, who helped Malcolm Canmore, and +received in return a large grant of lands in Berwick, which became +known as the Gordon country, was one of the many Norman knights +attracted to the Court of Edward the Confessor. Accepting for the +occasion the popular legendary version of Shakespeare, rather than the +corrected account of modern historians, he may be supposed to have +found his way north to the camp of Siward, where the youthful and +exiled Scotch Prince had sought shelter from Macbeth, and it is no +undue stretch of fancy to suggest that he took his part in the +memorable overthrow of that usurper at Dunsinane, and thus obtained +the favour of his successor. The growth of the Gordon family in place +and power was rapid. To the lands on the borders was soon added the +Huntly country on Deeside, where Aboyne Castle now stands, and in a +very short period the Gordons ranked among the most powerful and +warlike clans of Scotland. As Sir Walter Scott wrote of Adam Gordon, +in words which might be appropriately applied to the subject of this +biography:</p> + +<blockquote><p> +"'Tis a name which ne'er hath been dishonour'd,<br /> +And never will, I trust—most surely never<br /> +By such a youth as thou!" +</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Be its remote origin what it may, no name has appeared more +prominently or more honourably in the British Army Lists during the +last century and a half than that of Gordon. One of the most famous of +our regiments bears and has nobly upheld the name. In honourable and +friendly rivalry with the equally numerous and equally distinguished +clans of Grant and Cameron, the Gordons have figured on every +battlefield from Minden to Candahar, thus establishing at the same +time the political wisdom of Chatham, who first turned the Highlanders +from a cause of danger into a source of strength, and the military +ardour and genius of their own race. Thus it came to pass that the +spirit of remote warlike ages was perpetuated, and that the profession +of arms continued to be the most natural one for any bearer of the +name Gordon. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that the +practice of his nearest relations, as well as the traditions of his +race, marked out Charles Gordon for a soldier's career.</p> + +<p>Passing over an uncertain connection with the General Peter Gordon, +who rose high in the Russian service under Peter the Great, the +nearest direct ancestor of whom we can speak with absolute confidence +was Charles Gordon's great-grandfather David Gordon, who served as a +lieutenant in Lascelles' regiment of foot—afterwards the 47th +Regiment—at the battle of Prestonpans. Although the majority of the +clans were still loyal to the Stuarts, it seems from this that some of +them had entered the Hanoverian service probably in that most +distinguished regiment,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> the First Royal Scots, which a few years +before Culloden had fought gallantly at Fontenoy. At Prestonpans David +Gordon had the bad fortune to be made prisoner by the forces of +Charles Edward, and he found on the victorious side the whole of the +Gordon clan, under the command of Sir William Gordon of Park, a +younger son of the Earl of Huntly. As he was able to claim kindred +with Sir William, David Gordon received better treatment than he might +have expected, and in a short time was allowed to go free, either on +an exchange of prisoners or more probably on his parole. This incident +is specially interesting, because, after making every allowance for +the remoteness and vagueness of the old Highland custom of cousinship, +it seems to bring Charles Gordon's ancestry into sufficiently close +relationship with the main Gordon stem of the Huntlys. After his +release David Gordon does not appear to have taken any further part in +the war which terminated at Culloden, and he emigrated shortly +afterwards to North America, where his death is recorded as having +taken place at a comparatively early age at Halifax in the year 1752.</p> + +<p>That he came of gentle blood is also proved by the fact that the Duke +of Cumberland stood sponsor to his son, who bore the Duke's names of +William Augustus. This second Gordon, of the particular branch that +has interest for us, also entered the army, and held a commission in +several regiments. The most memorable event in his life was his taking +part in Wolfe's decisive victory on the heights of Abraham. In 1773 he +married a lady, Miss Anna Maria Clarke, whose brother was rector of +Hexham in Northumberland, and by her had a family of four daughters +and three sons. Of the latter, two died at an early age, and only the +youngest, William Henry, born in 1786, survived to manhood. He is +especially interesting to us, because he was the father of General +Gordon.</p> + +<p>Like his father and grandfather, William Henry Gordon chose the +profession of a soldier, and entered the Royal Artillery. He saw a +great deal of active service, being with his corps in the Peninsula +and at Maida, commanding at a later period the Artillery at Corfu and +Gibraltar, and attaining before his death in 1865 the rank of +Lieutenant-General. He was also connected with the Woolwich Arsenal as +Director of the Carriage Department. He has been described as an +excellent officer if a somewhat strict disciplinarian, and his firm +character of noble integrity lived again in his sons. He married, in +1817, Elizabeth, the daughter of Samuel Enderby, a merchant whaler, +one of those west country worthies who carried on the traditions of +Elizabeth to the age of Victoria. It would not be possible to present +a complete picture of Gordon's mother, and therefore none will be +attempted here; but all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> available evidence agrees in describing +her as a paragon of women, and as having exercised an exceptional +influence over her children. Gordon himself bore the most expressive +testimony to her virtues and memory when, long years afterwards, he +closed an exordium on the filial affection due to a mother with the +outburst—"Oh! how my mother loved me!"</p> + +<p>Such in brief were the forebears of the hero who comes next after +Nelson in national veneration. To understand him and his career, it +must be remembered that he came of a gallant race, with a quick sense +of honour, seeing clearly the obvious course of duty, and never +hesitating in its fulfilment. These qualities were not peculiar to the +man, but inherited from his race, and as they had never been +contaminated by the pursuit of wealth in any form, they retained the +pristine vigour and fire of a chivalrous and noble age. What was +personal and peculiar to Charles Gordon had to be evolved by +circumstance and the important occurrences with which it was his lot +to be associated throughout his military and public career, but his +soldierly talent and virtue must be mainly assigned to the traditions +and practice of his ancestors.</p> + +<p>Of the five sons of General William Henry Gordon and Elizabeth +Enderby, Charles George Gordon was the fourth. His eldest brother, +Henry William Gordon, born in 1818, had entered the army, first in the +8th Regiment, and transferred in a short time to the 59th, when, at +the early age of ten, Charles Gordon was sent off to school at +Taunton. The selection of this school in the western country was due +to the head-master, Mr Rogers, being a brother of a governess in the +Gordon family. Little is known of his early childhood beyond the fact +that he had lived, before he was ten, at Corfu, where his father held +a command for some years. The Duke of Cambridge has publicly stated +that he recollects, when quartered at Corfu at this period, having +seen a bright and intelligent boy who occupied the room next to his +own, and who subsequently became General Gordon. At Taunton Gordon +remained during the greater part of five years, enjoying the +advantages of one of the most excellent grammar schools in the West of +England, and although he failed to make any special mark as a scholar, +I find that, whether on account of his later fame or for some special +characteristic that marked him out from the general run of boys, his +name is still remembered there by something more than the initials cut +upon his desk. If he distinguished himself in anything it was in +map-making and drawing, and he exhibited the same qualifications to +the end of his career. How careful and excellent the grounding at +Taunton school must have been was shown by the fact that, after one +year's special coaching at Mr Jefferies' school at Shooter's Hill, +Gordon passed direct into the Royal Military<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> Academy at Woolwich. It +is noteworthy that during the whole of the period we are now +approaching, he never showed the least tendency to extravagance, and +his main anxiety seems to have been to save his parents all possible +expense, more especially because they had a large family of daughters. +To the end of his life, and in each successive post, Gordon was the +slave of duty. At this time, and during the years that follow, down to +the Chinese campaigns, his guiding thought was how to save his family +the smallest expense on his account, and yet at the same time to hold +his head high, and to show himself worthy of his race.</p> + +<p>Gordon entered the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich in 1848, when he +had not completed his sixteenth year, and during the four years he +remained there he gave some evidence of the qualities that +subsequently distinguished him, at the same time that he showed a +lightness of disposition which many will think at strange variance +with the gravity and even solemnity of his later years. Among his +fellow-students he was not distinguished by any special or exclusive +devotion to study. He was certainly no bookworm, and he was known +rather for his love of sport and boisterous high spirits than for +attention to his lessons or for a high place in his class. More than +once he was involved in affairs that, if excusable and natural on the +score of youth, trenched beyond the borders of discipline, and the +stories of life at the Academy that he recited for many years after he +left were not exactly in harmony with the popular idea of the ascetic +of Mount Carmel.</p> + +<p>As the reader treasures up the boyish escapades of Nelson and Clive, +so will enduring interest be felt in those outbreaks of the boy +Gordon, which made him the terror of his superiors. They are recorded +on the unimpeachable evidence of his elder brother, and some of them +were even narrated by Gordon himself to his niece nearly thirty years +after they happened. Sir Henry is the writer.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Charles Gordon with a brother (William Augustus) more unruly +than himself, finding the time hang heavily upon their hands +during the vacation, employed themselves in various ways. Their +father's house (at Woolwich) was opposite to that of the +Commandant of the Garrison, and was overrun with mice. These were +caught, the Commandant's door quietly opened, and the mice were +transferred to new quarters. In after life (that is in 1879, when +in the Soudan) Charles Gordon wrote to one of his nieces: 'I am +glad to hear the race of true Gordons is not extinct. Do you not +regret the Arsenal and its delights? You never, any of you, made +a proper use of the Arsenal workmen as we did. They used to +neglect their work for our orders, and turned out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> some splendid +squirts—articles that would wet you through in a minute. As for +the crossbows we had made, they were grand with screws. One +Sunday afternoon twenty-seven panes of glass were broken in the +large storehouses. They were found to have been perforated with a +small hole (ventilation), and Captain Soady nearly escaped a +premature death; a screw passed his head, and was as if it had +been screwed into the wall which it had entered. Servants were +kept at the door with continual bell-ringings. Your uncle Freddy +(a younger brother) was pushed into houses, the bell rung, and +the door held to prevent escape. Those were the days of the +Arsenal.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>Sir Henry continues:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"But what Charles Gordon considered as his greatest achievement +was one that he in after years often alluded to. At this time +(1848) the senior class of Cadets, then called the Practical +Class, were located in the Royal Arsenal, and in front of their +halls of study there were earthworks upon which they were +practised from time to time in profiling and other matters. The +ins and outs of these works were thoroughly well known to Charles +Gordon and his brother, who stole out at night—but we will leave +him to tell his own story. He says: 'I forgot to tell——of how +when Colonel John Travers of the Hill Folk (he lived on Shooter's +Hill) was lecturing to the Arsenal Cadets in the evening, a crash +was heard, and every one thought every pane of glass was broken; +small shot had been thrown. However, it was a very serious +affair, for like the upsetting of a hive, the Cadets came out, +and only darkness, speed, and knowledge of the fieldworks thrown +up near the lecture-room enabled us to escape. That was before I +entered the curriculum. The culprits were known afterwards, and +for some time avoided the vicinity of the Cadets. I remember it +with horror to this day, for no mercy would have been shown by +the Pussies, as the Cadets were called.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>After he entered the Academy the same love of fun and practical joking +characterised him. Sir Henry writes: "After he had been some time at +the Academy and earned many good-conduct badges, an occasion arose +when it became necessary to restrain the Cadets in leaving the +dining-hall, the approach to which was by a narrow staircase. At the +top of this staircase stood the senior corporal, with outstretched +arms, facing the body of Cadets. This was too much for Charlie Gordon, +who, putting his head down, butted with it, and catching the officer +in the pit of the stomach not only sent him down the stairs, but +through the glass door beyond. The officer jumped up unhurt, and +Gordon was placed in confinement and nearly dismissed.</p> + +<p>"Upon another occasion, when he was near his commission, a great deal +of bullying was going on, and in order to repress it a number of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> +last comers were questioned, when one of them said that Charlie Gordon +had on one occasion hit him on the head with a clothesbrush. The lad +admitted it was not a severe blow; nevertheless Charlie Gordon was for +this slight offence put back six months for his commission, which +turned out well in the end, since it secured for him a second +lieutenancy in the Royal Engineers in place of the Royal Artillery." +This alteration in the branch of the service to which he was attached +was due to his own act. He decided that, as his contemporaries would +be put ahead of him, he would work for the Engineers instead of the +Artillery.</p> + +<p>Even to the end of his life there were two sides to his character. +Private grief, much disappointment, and a long solitary existence, +contributed to make him a melancholy philosopher, and a sometimes +austere critic of a selfish world, but beneath this crust were a +genial and generous disposition that did not disdain the lighter side +of human nature, a heart too full of kindness to cherish wrath for +long, and an almost boyish love of fun that could scarcely be +repressed. If this was the individual in his quieter and contemplative +moods, an energy that never tired, and a warlike spirit that only +needed the occasion to blaze forth, revealed the man of action. It may +be pronounced a paradox to say so, but to the end of his life the true +Gordon was more of the soldier than the saint.</p> + +<p>Even in the midst of his escapades at the Academy, something of the +spirit of the future hero revealed itself. However grave the offence +or heavy the punishment, he was never backward in taking his share—or +more than his share—of the blame for any scrape into which he and his +friends were brought by their excessive high spirits. On more than one +occasion his ardour and sense of justice resulted in his being made +the scapegoat of worse offenders, and it seems probable that he +generally bore more than his proper share of the blame and punishment +for acts of insubordination. But there were limits to his capacity of +suffering and sense of guilt, and when one of his superiors declared +that he "would never make an officer," he touched a point of honour, +and Gordon's vigorous and expressive reply was to tear the epaulettes +from his shoulder and throw them at his superior's feet. In this +incident the reader will not fail to see a touch and forecast of +greatness. He was ever willing to pay the penalty of youthful +indiscretion, but he was sensitive to the reproach of honour, and his +exuberant spirits detracted in no respect from his sense of the +nobility of his profession. His earnestness saved him from the +frivolity into which a light heart and good health might have led him, +and compensated for his disinclination to devote all his spare time to +the severer studies of his college.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p> + +<p>On June 23rd, 1852, nearly four years after he entered the Royal +Military Academy, Charles Gordon passed out with the rank of second +lieutenant in the Royal Engineers. Notwithstanding some remissness in +his work, he had passed through all his examinations—"Those terrible +examinations," as he said long years afterwards—"how I remember them! +Sometimes I dream of them,"—and in accordance with the regulations in +force he was sent to Chatham for the purpose of completing there his +technical training as an engineer officer. Chatham, as is well known, +is the Headquarters of the Royal Engineer Corps, to which it stands in +the same relation as Woolwich to the Artillery. There Gordon remained +until February 1854, constantly engaged on field work and in making +plans and surveys, at which his old skill as a draughtsman soon made +him exceptionally competent. This kind of work was also far more +congenial to him than the cramming at the Academy, and he soon gained +the reputation of being an intelligent and hard-working subaltern. In +the month named he attained the grade of full lieutenant, and on +taking his step he was at once ordered to Pembroke Dock, then one of +the busiest naval dêpots and most important military arsenals in the +country. The war clouds were already lowering over Eastern Europe, and +although all hope of maintaining peace had not been abandoned, +arrangements were in progress for the despatch, if necessary, of a +strong naval and military expedition to the Black Sea.</p> + +<p>At Pembroke, Gordon was at once employed on the construction of the +new fortifications and batteries considered necessary for the defence +of so important a position, and in one of his letters home he wrote: +"I have been very busy in doing plans for another fort, to be built at +the entrance of the haven. I pity the officers and men who will have +to live in these forts, as they are in the most desolate places, seven +miles from any town, and fifteen from any conveyance." Seclusion and +solitude had evidently no charms for him at that period. In another +letter about this time he wrote expressing his relief at being "free +from the temptations of a line regiment," and concluded with the +self-depreciatory remark that he was "such a miserable wretch that he +was sure to be led away." In yet another letter from Pembroke, written +not many weeks after his arrival, he reveals something of the deep +religious feeling which was no doubt greatly strengthened by his +experiences in the Crimea, and which became stronger and more +pronounced as years went on. In writing to his favourite sister in the +summer of 1854, he gives the following interesting bit of biographical +information: "You know I never was confirmed. When I was a cadet I +thought it was a useless sin, as I did not intend to alter (not that +it was in my power to be converted when I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> chose). I, however, took my +first sacrament on Easter Day (16th April 1854) and have communed ever +since."</p> + +<p>Charles Gordon was still occupied on the Pembroke fortifications when +war broke out with Russia on the Eastern Question. His father was at +the time stationed at Gibraltar in command of the Royal Artillery, and +was never employed nearer the scene of hostilities during the war. But +his two elder brothers were at the front—the eldest, the late Sir +Henry Gordon, at Balaclava, where he served in the Commissariat, and +the next brother, the late General Enderby Gordon, with his battery +under Lord Raglan. At the battle of the Alma, fought on 20th September +1854, Enderby Gordon specially distinguished himself, for he worked +one of the two guns of Turner's Battery, which exercised such a +decisive influence on the fortunes of the day. Readers of Kinglake's +"History" will remember that it was the flank fire of these two guns +which compelled the Russian battery of sixteen guns on the Causeway to +retire and thus expose the Russian front to our attack. It is a little +curious to find that while one brother was thus distinguishing himself +in the first battle of the war, another was writing from Pembroke Dock +as follows: "—— says there were no artillery engaged in the battle +of the Alma, so that Enderby was safe out of that." Enderby Gordon +also distinguished himself at Inkerman, where he acted as aide-de-camp +to General Strangeways. He subsequently earned the reputation of a +good officer during the Indian Mutiny, and when he died he had, like +his father, attained the rank of Lieutenant-General, and received +besides the Companionship of the Bath. One characteristic incident has +been recorded of him. As he commanded a column in India, he had only +to ask for promotion to obtain it; this he declined to do, because he +would thus have stepped over a friend.</p> + +<p>In General Gordon's own letters from the Crimea there are frequent +references to his eldest brother, Henry Gordon, a man of whom it may +be said here that the best was never publicly known, for during a long +and varied career, first in the combative branch of the army as an +officer of the 59th Regiment, and then as a non-combative officer in +the Ordnance Department, he showed much ability, but had few +opportunities of special distinction. In several of General Gordon's +transactions Sir Henry was closely mixed up, especially with the Congo +mission; and I should like to say, of my own knowledge, that he was +thoroughly in sympathy with all his projects for the suppression of +the slave trade, had mastered the voluminous Blue Books and official +papers, from the time of Ismail to the dark days of Khartoum, in so +thorough a manner that the smallest detail was fixed in his brain, and +had so completely assimilated his brother's views that an hour's +consultation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> with him was almost as fertile a source of inspiration +as it would have been with the General himself. I believe that the +original cause of Sir Henry's influence over his brother was that he +disclaimed having any, and that he most carefully avoided any attempt +to force his advice on his younger brother, as so many of our elders +deem to be their right and prerogative. General Gordon was a bad +listener to advice at any time or from anyone. He acted almost +entirely on his own judgment, and still more on his own impulse. His +first thoughts were his best thoughts, or, perhaps, as Tennyson says, +"his third thoughts, which are a maturer first." Sir Henry knew the +ingrained and unalterable character of his brother, and adapted +himself to it, partly through affection and partly through admiration, +for in his eyes Charles Gordon was the truest of heroes. No man ever +possessed a truer or more solicitous friend than General Gordon found +in him. Sir Henry was thoroughly devoted to him and his interests, and +carried out all his wishes and instructions to the very letter.</p> + +<p>Having said this much about the relations between Gordon and his +brother, it would be an inexcusable omission to pass over the still +more striking sympathy and affection that united him with his sisters. +From his first appointment into the service he corresponded on +religious and serious subjects with his elder sister, the late Miss +Gordon, who only survived her brother a few years, with remarkable +regularity, and as time went on the correspondence became more, rather +than less constant, and in his letters to her were to be found his +most secret thoughts and aspirations. Most of the letters from the +Crimea were addressed to his mother; but, in an interesting volume +published in 1888, Miss Gordon presented the world with the remainder +of her brother's letters, spread over thirty active and eventful +years. One of General Gordon's most cherished objects, resembling in +that, as in other respects, Lord Lawrence, was to add to the comfort +of his sisters, and when he left England on his last fatal mission to +Egypt, his will, made the night before he left for Brussels, provided +that all he possessed should be held in trust for the benefit of his +well-beloved sister, Mary Augusta, and that it was to pass only on her +death to the heirs he therein designated. It is not necessary to enter +into fuller particulars on this subject, but it may be proper to say +that his affection for his other sisters was not less warm or less +reciprocated. Of his six sisters, of whom two alone survive, it is +only necessary to refer here (in addition to Miss Gordon) to the +youngest, who married Dr Andrew Moffitt, who was not merely head +medical officer with the Ever Victorious Army, but Gordon's right-hand +man in China. Dr Moffitt was a man of high courage; on one occasion he +saved Gordon's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> life when a Taeping attempted to murder him in his +tent, and an English officer, who served with the Force, has described +him in these two lines: "He was imbued with the same spirit as his +future brother-in-law; he was a clever Chinese scholar and an A1 +surgeon." Dr Moffitt, who received a gold medal and order, besides the +Red Button of a Mandarin, from the Chinese Government for his +brilliant services against the Taepings, died prematurely. To say less +about these family relations would be an omission; to say more would +be an intrusion, and they may be left with the reflection that as no +one who knew him will dispute the depth and the strength of General +Gordon's sentiments as a friend, his feelings towards the members of +his own family cannot well be impugned.</p> + +<p>Some account of the personal appearance of General Gordon will be +deemed necessary, and may be appropriately given at this stage, +although the subject is a dangerous one, because so very few people +form the same impression about any one's appearance. There has been +much discussion as to General Gordon's exact height, and I have been +to much pains to obtain some decisive evidence on the subject. +Unfortunately no such records as to height, etc., are kept about +officers, and my search proved fruitless, more especially as the +records at Woolwich for the period required were destroyed by fire +some years ago. The best evidence I have obtained is that of General +Gordon's tailors, Messrs Batten & Sons, of Southampton, who write: "We +consider, by measurements in our books, that General Gordon was 5 ft. +9 in." As he had contracted a slight stoop, or, more correctly +speaking, carried his head thrown forward, he looked in later life +much less than his real height. The quotations at the end of this +chapter will show some difference of opinion. His figure was very +slight, but his nervous energy could never be repressed, and he was +probably stronger than his appearance suggested. The suggestion of +delicate health in his look and aspect, arising, as he was led to +believe, but erroneously, from <i>angina pectoris</i>, or some mysterious +chest pain, may have induced a belief that he was not robust, but this +seems to have been baseless, because throughout his life, whether in +the trenches of Sebastopol, the marshes of the Yangtse delta, or the +arid plains of the Soudan, he appears to have equally enjoyed +excellent health.</p> + +<p>The only specific mention of serious illness was during his stay in +the Soudan as Governor-General, when the chest pains became acute. +These were at length traced to an enlarged liver, and perhaps the +complaint was aggravated by excessive smoking. In the desert, far +removed from medical aid, he obtained much relief from the use of +Warburg's Tincture.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>In his ordinary moods there was nothing striking about the face. The +colour of the eye was too light—yet the glance was as keen as a +rapier, and, as the little Soudan boy Capsune, whom he had educated, +said, "Gordon's eyes looked you through and through"—the features +were not sufficiently marked, the carriage of the man was too +diffident and modest to arrest or detain attention, and the +explanation of the universal badness of the numerous photographs taken +of him at all stages of his career is probably to be found in the +deficiency of colouring and contrast. Everything in his appearance +depended on expression, and expression generally baffles the +photographer. Perhaps the least objectionable of all these +portraitures is the steel plate in Dr Birkbeck Hill's volume on +"Gordon in Central Africa," and that not because it is a faithful +likeness, but because it represents a bust that might well be imagined +to belong to a hero. It was only when some great idea or some subject +in which he was interested seized his imagination that one could +perceive that the square jaw denoted unshakable resolution, and that +the pale blue eye could flash with the fire of a born leader of men. +In tranquil moments no one would have been struck by a casual glance +at his face, but these were rare, for in congenial company, and with +persons he trusted, Gordon was never tranquil, pacing up and down the +room, with only brief stops to impress a point on his listener by +holding his arm for a few seconds, and looking at him intently to see +if he followed with understanding and interest the drift of his +remarks, lighting cigarette after cigarette to enable him to curb his +own impetuosity, and demonstrating in every act and phrase the truth +of his own words that "inaction was intolerable to him." Such was the +man as I recall him on the all too few occasions when it was my +privilege and good fortune to receive him during his brief visits to +London of late years, and to hear from him his confidential views on +the questions in which he took so deep an interest. One final remark +must be hazarded about the most remarkable point after all in General +Gordon's personality. I refer to his voice. It was singularly sweet, +and for a man modulated in a very low tone, but there was nothing +womanish about it, as was the case with his able contemporary Sir +Bartle Frere, whose voice was distinctly feminine in its timbre. I +know of no other way to describe it than to say that it seemed to me +to express the thorough and transparent goodness of the speaker, and +the exquisite gentleness of his nature. If angels speak with the human +voice, Gordon's tone must have borne affinity to theirs.</p> + +<p>In completing this subject it may be appropriate to quote a few of the +more important and interesting descriptions of his personal +appearance, contributed by those who had opportunities of seeing him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<p>An officer, who served with General Gordon in China, describes his +first interview with him in the following words:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"C—— introduced me to a light-built, active, wiry, middle-sized +man of about thirty-two years of age, in the undress uniform of +the Royal Engineers. The countenance bore a pleasant frank +appearance, eyes light blue, with a fearless look in them, hair +crisp and inclined to curl, conversation short and decided. This +was Major C. G. Gordon."</p></blockquote> + +<p>General Sir Gerald Graham who, to use his own words, was Gordon's +"school-fellow at Woolwich, his comrade in the Crimea and China, and +for many years past a more or less regular correspondent," has put on +record the following interesting description of the hero, and it +should not be forgotten that, excepting his companion, Colonel Donald +Stewart, and Mr Power, General Graham was the last Englishman to see +General Gordon in this world.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Not over 5 feet 9 inches in height, but of compact build, his +figure and gait characteristically expressed resolution and +strength. His face, although in itself unpretending, was one that +in the common phrase 'grew upon you.' Time had not streaked with +grey the crisp, curly brown hair of his youth and traced lines of +care on his ample forehead and strong clear face, bronzed with +exposure to the tropical sun. His usual aspect was serene and +quiet, and although at times a ruffling wave of uncontrollable +impatience or indignation might pass over him, it did not disturb +him long. The depth and largeness of Gordon's nature, which +inspired so much confidence in others, seemed to afford him a +sense of inner repose, so that outer disturbance was to him like +the wind that ruffles the surface of the sea, but does not affect +its depths. The force and beauty of Gordon's whole expression +came from within, and as it were irradiated the man, the steady, +truthful gaze of the blue-grey eyes seeming a direct appeal from +the upright spirit within. Gordon's usual manner charmed by its +simple, unaffected courtesy, but although utterly devoid of +self-importance he had plenty of quiet dignity, or even of +imperious authority at command when required. With his friends he +had a fund of innocent gaiety that seemed to spring from his +impulsiveness, while his strong sense of humour often enabled him +to relieve his impatience or indignation by a good-natured +sarcasm."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Two further descriptions by men who served under him at Gravesend in +the interval between the Taeping War and the first mission to the +Soudan will suffice to complete the personal impressions that may help +the reader to form some idea of the appearance of General Gordon. The +first is from the pen of Mr W. E. Lilley, who brought out a special +volume on Gordon at Gravesend.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p><blockquote><p>"In Colonel Gordon's appearance there was nothing particularly +striking. He was rather under the average height, of slight +proportions, and with little of the military bearing in his +carriage, so that one would hardly have imagined that this +kindly, unassuming gentleman was already one who had attracted +the notice of his superiors by his courage and zeal in the +Crimean War, and who had won lasting renown by subduing in China +one of the greatest revolts the world had ever seen. This last +exploit had gained for him the name by which he was from that +time best known, viz. "Chinese Gordon." The greatest +characteristic of his countenance was the clear blue eye, which +seemed to have a magical power over all who came within its +influence. It read you through and through; it made it impossible +for you to tell him anything but the truth, it inspired your +confidence, it kindled with compassion at any story of distress, +and it sparkled with good humour at anything really funny or +witty. From its glance you knew at once that at any risk he would +keep his promise, that you might trust him with anything and +everything, and that he would stand by you if all other friends +deserted you."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The other impression, formed under precisely the same circumstances, +is that of Mr Arthur Stannard, recorded in the <i>Nineteenth Century</i> of +April 1885.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The next moment I was looking into Chinese Gordon's eyes. What +eyes they were! Keen and clear, filled with the beauty of +holiness, bright with an unnatural brightness, their expression +one of settled feverishness, the colour blue-grey as is the sky +on a bitter March morning. In spite of the beautiful goodness of +his heart and the great breadth of his charity, Gordon was far +from possessing a placid temperament or from being patient over +small things. Indeed his very energy and his single-mindedness +tended to make him impatient and irritable whenever any person or +thing interfered with his intentions or desires.... For a man of +his small stature his activity was marvellous—he seemed able to +walk every one else off their legs over rough ground or +smooth.... In Gordon strength and weakness were most +fantastically mingled. There was no trace of timidity in his +composition. He had a most powerful will. When his mind was made +up on a matter it never seemed to occur to him that there could +be anything more to say about it. Such was his superb confidence +in himself!"</p></blockquote> + +<p>When Gordon had been only a few months at Pembroke Dock he received +orders to proceed to Corfu, and believing it to be due to his father's +request, he wrote: "I suspect you used your influence to have me sent +there instead of to the Crimea. It is a great shame of you." But the +Fates were to be stronger than any private influence, for four days +after he wrote those lines he received fresh orders directing him to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +leave for the Crimea without delay in charge of huts. It seems that +the change in his destination was due to Sir John Burgoyne, to whom he +had expressed the strongest wish to proceed to the scene of war. On +4th December 1854, he received his orders at Pembroke, on the 6th he +reported himself at the War Office, and in the evening of the same day +he was at Portsmouth. It was at first intended that he should go out +in a collier, but he obtained permission to proceed <i>viâ</i> Marseilles, +which he pronounced "extremely lucky, as I am such a bad sailor." This +opinion was somewhat qualified later on when he found that the +Government did not prepay his passage, and he expressed the opinion +pretty freely, in which most people would concur, that "it is very +hard not to give us anything before starting." He left London on the +14th December, Marseilles in a French hired transport on the 18th, and +reached Constantinople the day after Christmas Day. He was not much +struck with anything he saw; pronounced Athens "very ugly and dirty," +and the country around uncommonly barren; and was disappointed with +the far-famed view on approaching Constantinople. The professional +instinct displayed itself when he declared that the forts of the +Dardanelles did not appear to be very strong, as, although numerous, +they were open at the rear and overlooked by the heights behind. On +28th December Gordon left Constantinople in the <i>Golden Fleece</i> +transport conveying the 39th Regiment to Balaclava. The important huts +had not yet arrived in the collier from Portsmouth, but they could not +be far behind, and Gordon went on in advance. The huts, it may be +added, were built to contain twenty-four men, or two captains and four +subalterns, or two field-officers or one general, and the number of +these entrusted to the charge of Gordon was 320. These reinforcements +were the first sent out to mitigate the hardships the British Army +underwent during a campaign that the genius of Todleben and the +fortitude of his courageous garrison rendered far more protracted and +costly than had been anticipated.</p> + +<hr /> + +<a name="fp16" id="fp16"></a> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 247px;"> +<img src="images/fp016.jpg" width="247" height="342" alt="House in which General Gordon was born." title="" /> +<p class="heading"><span class="sc">the house in which general gordon was born, on woolwich common.</span></p> +</div> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>THE CRIMEA, DANUBE, AND ARMENIA.</h3> + + +<p><span class="sc">Charles Gordon</span> reached Balaclava on New Year's Day, 1855. He found +everyone engaged in foraging expeditions, that the siege of Sebastopol +excited no interest, that the road from the bay to the hill was like a +morass, and that a railway to traverse it was being slowly laid down. +Gordon remained about three weeks at Balaclava assisting in the +erection of huts, and in the conveyance of some of them to the front. +When this task was accomplished he was himself ordered to the +trenches, where his work could not fail to be more exciting and also +more dangerous than that upon which up to this he had been engaged.</p> + +<p>Before following him it will be useful to summarise the leading events +that had taken place in the Crimea up to this date. War between +England and France on the one side, and Russia on the other, was +finally declared in March 1854, the allied forces landed in the Crimea +early in September 1854, and the first battle was fought on the Alma +stream on the 20th of that month. In that battle 60,000 allied +troops—20,000 English, 40,000 French—attacked 120,000 Russians in a +strong and well-chosen position. The result was a brilliant victory +for the allies, and there is no doubt that it was mainly won by the +dashing attack of the English Infantry. The losses were—French, 60 +killed and 500 wounded; English, 362 killed and 1620 wounded, thus +furnishing clear evidence as to the force which bore the brunt of the +engagement. The Russian loss was computed to be not less than 6000, or +double that of the allies.</p> + +<p>As the allied forces advanced towards Sebastopol the Russian Army +assumed the offensive. The brilliant and never-to-be-forgotten Cavalry +charges on 25th October, of the Light and Heavy Brigades, under +Cardigan and Scarlett respectively, at Balaclava in the valley that +stretched at the foot of the hills overlooking the bay of that name, +had not merely vindicated the reputation of English horsemen for dash +and daring, but had done something—at excessive cost, it is true—to +clear the advance for the whole army. When the Russians, assuming in +their turn the offensive, attacked our camps on the heights of +Inkerman, they were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> repulsed with heavy loss on both sides, and with +the result that more than six months elapsed before they again +ventured to show any inclination to attack in the open field, and then +only to meet with fresh discomfiture on the banks of the Tchernaya.</p> + +<p>The battle of Inkerman was fought in the early morning of 5th +November, and again the brunt of the fighting fell on the English +army. The Russian General, Todleben, subsequently stated that he +reluctantly decided to attack the English camp instead of the French, +because "the English position seemed to be so very weak." Here again +the losses give no misleading idea of the proportionate share of the +two allied armies in the struggle. While the Russian loss was put down +in all at 11,000 men, the French lost 143 killed and 786 wounded; the +English, 597 killed and 1760 wounded.</p> + +<p>The opinion has been confidently expressed that if a rapid advance and +attack had been made on Sebastopol immediately after Inkerman, the +fortress would have been easily captured; but both before and during +the siege the Russians made the best use of every respite the Allies +gave them, and this lost opportunity, if it was one, never recurred. +It will thus be seen that some of the most interesting incidents of +the war had passed before Gordon set foot in the Crimea, but for an +engineer officer the siege and capture of the fortress created by +Todleben under the fire of his foes presented the most attractive and +instructive phase of the campaign.</p> + +<p>At this time the French army mustered about 100,000 men, the British +about 23,000, and the Russian garrison of Sebastopol 25,000. In +addition, there was a covering army, under the Grand Dukes and General +Liprandi, which, despite its losses at Inkerman, was probably not less +than 60,000 but the successive defeats at Alma, Balaclava, and +Inkerman had broken the confidence of the troops and reduced their +leaders to inaction. The batteries were nearly completed when Gordon +reached the front, and a good deal had already been written and said +about the hardships of the soldiers. Gordon was a man of few wants, +who could stand any amount of fatigue, and throughout his life he was +always disposed to think that soldiers should never complain. Writing +as late as 12th February 1855, when the worst of the winter was over, +he says: "There are really no hardships for the officers; the men are +the sufferers, and that is partly their own fault, as they are like +children, thinking everything is to be done for them. The French +soldier looks out for himself, and consequently fares much better." +Something of the same conclusion had been forced on him when on board +the French transport between Marseilles and Athens when he wrote: "The +poor French soldiers, of whom there were 320 on board<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> without any +shelter, must have suffered considerably from cold; they had no +covering, and in spite of the wet, cold, and bad weather, they kept up +their health however, and their high spirits also, when our men would +have mutinied." And again, later on: "We have capital rations, and all +the men have warm clothing, and more than enough of that. They of +course grumble and growl a good deal. The contrast with the French in +this respect is not to our advantage." It must in fairness be +remembered that the worst of the maladministration was over before he +reached the scene, and that he came with those reinforcements, not +merely of men, but still more especially of supplies, which ended "the +winter troubles," and converted them into the sanguine hopes and views +of the spring.</p> + +<p>Gordon was not long in the trenches before he came under fire, and the +account of his first experience of real warfare may be given in his +own words:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The night of February 14th I was on duty in the trenches, and if +you look at the plan I sent you and the small sketch enclosed I +will explain what I had to do. The French that night determined +to join their sentries on their right and our sentries on our +left, in advance of their and our trenches, so as to prevent the +Russians coming up the ravine, and then turning against our +flank. They determined to make a lodgment in the ruined house +marked <i>B</i> on the sketch, and to run a trench up the hill to the +left of this, while I was told to make a communication by +rifle-pits from the caves <i>C</i> to the ruined house <i>B</i>. I got, +after some trouble, eight men with picks and shovels, and asked +the captain of the advance trench to give me five double sentries +to throw out in advance. It was the first time he had been on +duty here; and as for myself, I never had, although I kept that +to myself. I led forward the sentries, going at the head of the +party, and found the sentries of the advance had not held the +caves, which they ought to have done after dark, so there was +just a chance of the Russians being in them. I went on, however, +and, though I did not like it, explored the caves almost alone. +We then left two sentries on the hill above the caves, and went +back, to get round and post two sentries below the caves. +However, just as soon as we showed ourselves outside the caves +and below them, bang! bang! went two rifles, the bullets hitting +the ground close to us. The sentries with me retired in a rare +state of mind, and my working party bolted, and were stopped with +great difficulty. What had really happened was this: It was not a +Russian attack, but the two sentries whom I had placed above the +caves <i>had fired at us</i>, lost their caps, and bolted to the +trench. Nothing after this would induce the sentries to go out, +so I got the working party to go<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> forward with me. The Russians +had, on the report of our shots, sent us a shower of bullets, +their picket not being more than 150 yards away. I set the men to +work, and then went down to the bottom of the ravine, and found +the French in strength hard at work also. Having told them who we +were, I returned to the trench, where I met Colonel —— of the +1st Royals. I warned him if he went out he would be sure to be +hit by our own sentries or the Russians. He would go, however, +and a moment afterwards was hit in the breast, the ball going +through his coats, slightly grazing his ribs, and passing out +again without hurting him. I stayed with my working party all +night, and got home very tired."</p></blockquote> + +<p>In further illustration of the confusion prevailing in the trenches at +night, he mentions in the same letter that while trying to find the +caves he missed his way, and "very nearly walked into the town by +mistake."</p> + +<p>This was the more surprising because Gordon's intimate knowledge of +the trenches was remarkable and well known. The following testimony +given by Sir Charles Staveley affords striking proof that this +reputation was not undeserved:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I happened to mention to Charlie Gordon that I was field officer +for the day for command in the trenches next day, and, having +only just returned from sick leave, that I was ignorant of the +geography of our left attack. He said at once, 'Oh! come down +with me to-night after dark, and I will show you over the +trenches.' He drew me out a very clear sketch of the lines (which +I have now), and down I went accordingly. He explained every nook +and corner, and took me along outside our most advanced trench, +the bouquets (volleys of small shells fired from mortars) and +other missiles flying about us in, to me, a very unpleasant +manner, he taking the matter remarkably coolly."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The late Sir George Chesney, a very competent and discriminating +witness, gives evidence to the same effect:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"In his humble position as an Engineer subaltern he attracted the +notice of his superiors, not merely by his energy and activity, +but by a special aptitude for war, developing itself amid the +trench work before Sebastopol in a personal knowledge of the +enemy's movements <i>such as no other officer attained</i>. We used to +send him to find out what new move the Russians were making."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The next incident of the siege described by Gordon occurred about a +week after his <i>baptême de feu</i> in the caves. While the French were +somewhat deliberately making at Inkerman a battery for fifteen guns, +the Russians, partly in a spirit of bravado, threw up in a single +night a battery for nearly twenty guns immediately opposite, at a +distance of not more than 600 yards from the French. As this was made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +in the open ground, it was a defiance which could not be tolerated, +and the French accordingly made their arrangements to assault it. +Kinglake has graphically described the surprise of the French when +they discovered this "white circlet or loop on the ground," and the +attempt made by three battalions, with two other battalions in +reserve, to capture it. A battalion of Zouaves, under the command of +Colonel Cere, carried it in fine style, but the Russian reserves came +up in great force, and their own reserves "declining to come to the +scratch," as Gordon laconically put it, the Zouaves were in their turn +compelled to fall back, with a loss of 200 killed. Encouraged by this +success, the Russians gave the French another surprise a few days +later, throwing up a second battery 300 yards further in advance of +the first "white circlet." These two batteries, mounting between them, +according to Kinglake, twenty-two guns, were finally strengthened and +equipped by 10th March, and although the French talked much of +storming them, nothing was done, much to Gordon's disgust. It was +while these operations were in progress that Charles Gordon had a +narrow escape of being killed. A shot from one of the Russian +rifle-pits "as nearly as possible did for me," he wrote; "the bullet +was fired not 180 yards off, and passed an inch above my nut into a +bank I was passing." His only comment on this is very characteristic: +"They are very good marksmen; their bullet is large and pointed."</p> + +<p>This was the first but not the last escape he had during the siege. +One of his brothers, writing home some three months later, a few days +before the assault on the Redan, wrote as follows: "Charlie has had a +miraculous escape. The day before yesterday he saw the smoke from an +embrasure on his left and heard a shell coming, but did not see it. It +struck the ground about five yards in front of him and burst, not +touching him. If it had not burst it would have taken his head off." +Of this later shave Gordon himself says nothing, but he describes a +somewhat similar incident, which had, however, a fatal result. "We +lost one of our captains named Craigie by a splinter of a shell. The +shell burst above him, and by what is called chance struck him in the +back, killing him at once."</p> + +<p>During the three months March, April, and May, the siege languished, +and Gordon apologises for the stupidity of his letters with the +graphic observation: "It is not my fault, as none of the three +nations—French, English, or Russian—will do anything."</p> + +<p>At the end of May, however, there was a renewal of activity. General +Pelissier succeeded to the French command, and, unlike his +predecessors, made it his primary object to act in cordial +co-operation with the English commander. He was also in favour of an +energetic prosecution<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> of the siege, with the view to an early +assault. All the batteries were by this time completed, and 588 guns, +with 700 rounds in readiness for each gun, were opposed to the 1174 in +the Russian fortress. It only remained to utilise this terrific force, +and at last orders were given for the commencement of what was known +as the third bombardment. After nearly two days' incessant firing the +French stormed the Mamelon and two advance redoubts. These were +successfully carried and held, at the same time that the English +stormed a position called the Quarries, close under the formidable +Redan. Of this bombardment Gordon gives in one of his letters a very +good description:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On the 6th we opened fire from all our batteries. I was on duty +in the trenches. I could distinctly see the Russians in the Redan +and elsewhere running about in great haste, and bringing up their +gunners to the guns. They must have lost immensely, as our shot +and shell continued to pour in upon them for hours without a +lull. Never was our fire so successful. Before seven we had +silenced a great many of their guns, while our loss was very +small—only one man killed and four wounded. I was struck +slightly with a stone from a round shot and stunned for a second, +which old Jones has persisted in returning as wounded. [It was, +notwithstanding, a real wound.] However, I am all right, so do +not think otherwise. Our fire was continued all night, and the +next day until four o'clock, when we opened with new batteries +much nearer, and our fire then became truly terrific. Fancy 1000 +guns (which is the number of ourselves, the French, and Russians +combined) firing at once shells in every direction. On our side +alone we have thirty-nine 13" mortars. At half-past five three +rockets gave the signal for the French to attack the Mamelon and +the redoubts of Selingkinsk and Volhynia. They rushed up the +slope in full view of the allied armies. The Russians fired one +or two guns when the French were in the embrasures. We then saw +the Russians cut out on the other side, and the French after +them, towards the Malakoff Tower, which they nearly reached, but +were so punished by the guns of this work that they were obliged +to retire, the Russians in their turn chasing them through the +Mamelon into their own trenches. This was dreadful, as it had to +be assaulted again. The French, however, did so immediately, and +carried it splendidly. The redoubts of Volhynia and Selingkinsk +were taken easily on our side. In front of the right attack a +work called the Quarries had to be taken, which was done at the +same time as the Mamelon. The Russians cut out and ran, while our +men made their lodgment for our fellows. We were attacked four +times in the night, but held the work. If we had liked to +assault, I am sure we should have taken the place with little +loss, some of our men being close to the Redan. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> French took +twenty guns and 400 prisoners, and found the Mamelon so traversed +as to have no difficulty in making their lodgment. We were driven +from the Quarries three times in the night, the Russians having +directed all their efforts against them. Our loss is supposed to +be 1000 killed and wounded. Nearly all our working party had to +be taken for fighting purposes. The attacking columns were 200 +strong; one went to the right, and the other to the left of the +Quarries. The reserve consisted of 600 men. The Russians fought +desperately."</p></blockquote> + +<p>A further week was occupied with a heavy but desultory bombardment, +but at last on 17th June what is known as "the fourth bombardment" +proper began, and after it had continued for about twenty-four hours, +orders were given for the assault to be made by the French on the +Malakoff and the English on the Redan on the 18th June, a date ever +memorable in military annals. The silence of the Russian guns induced +a belief that the allied fire had overpowered theirs, and in +consequence orders for the attack were given twenty-four hours sooner +than had been intended. Kinglake, in his exhaustive History, has shown +how this acted adversely on the chances of the assault, because the +Russian gunners had really only reserved their fire, and also +especially because the Redan, which we had to attack under the +original arrangement between Lord Raglan and General Pelissier, had +hardly suffered any damage from the bombardment. General Gordon's long +account of this memorable assault will long be referred to as a +striking individual experience:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I must now commence my long story of our attempted assault. To +take up my account from 14th June, which was the last letter I +wrote to you, Seeley, my fellow-subaltern at Pembroke, arrived on +the 15th, and joined the right. On the evening of the 16th it was +rumoured we were to commence firing again in the morning. I was +on duty on the morning of the 17th, and I went down at half-past +two <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> At 3 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> all our batteries opened, and throughout the +day kept up a terrific fire. The Russians answered slowly, and +after a time their guns almost ceased. I mentioned in my report +that I thought they were reserving their fire. [If this view had +only been taken by the Generals, especially Pelissier, a dreadful +waste of life would have been averted, and the result might have +proved a brilliant success.] We did not lose many men. I remained +in the trenches until 7 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>—rather a long spell—and on coming +up dined, and found an order to be at the night attack at twelve +midnight on June 17 and 18. I was attached to Bent's column, with +Lieutenants Murray and Graham, R.E., and we were to go into the +Redan at the Russians' right flank. Another column, under Captain +de Moleyns and Lieutenants Donnelly and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> James, R.E., was to go +in at the angle of the salient; and another under Captain Jesse, +Lieutenants Fisher and Graves, was to go in at the Russian left +flank. We passed along in our relative positions up to the +advanced trench, which is 200 yards from the Redan, where we +halted until the signal for the attack should be given from the +eight-gun battery, where Lord Raglan, Sir G. Brown, and General +Jones were.</p> + +<p>"About 3 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> the French advanced on the Malakoff Tower in three +columns, and ten minutes after this our signal was given. The +Russians then opened with a fire of grape, which was terrific. +They mowed down our men in dozens, and the trenches, being +confined, were crowded with men, who foolishly kept in them +instead of rushing over the parapet of our trenches, and by +coming forward in a mass, trusting to some of them at least being +able to pass through untouched to the Redan, where of course, +once they arrived, the artillery could not reach them, and every +yard nearer would have diminished the effect of the grape by +giving it less space for spreading. We could then have moved up +our supports and carried the place.</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately, however, our men dribbled out of the ends of the +trenches, ten and twenty at a time, and as soon as they appeared +they were cleared away. Some hundred men, under Lieutenant +Fisher, got up to the abattis, but were not supported, and +consequently had to retire.</p> + +<p>"About this time the French were driven from the Malakoff Tower, +which I do not think they actually entered, and Lord Raglan very +wisely would not renew the assault, as the Redan could not be +held with the Malakoff Tower in the hands of the Russians. +Murray, poor fellow, went out with the skirmishers of our +column—he in red, and they in green. He was not out a minute +when he was carried back with his arm shattered with grape. +Colonel Tylden called for me, and asked me to look after him, +which I did, and as I had a tourniquet in my pocket I put it on. +He bore it bravely, and I got a stretcher and had him taken back. +He died three hours afterwards. I am glad to say that Dr Bent +reports he did not die from loss of blood, but from the shock, +not being very strong.</p> + +<p>"A second after Murray had gone to the rear, poor Tylden, struck +by grape in the legs, was carried back, and although very much +depressed in spirits he is doing well. Jesse was killed at the +abattis—shot through the head—and Graves was killed further in +advance than any one. We now sat still waiting for orders, and +the Russians amusing themselves by shelling us from mortars. When +we appeared, the Russians lined their parapets as thick as +possible, and seemed to be expecting us to come on. They flew two +flags on the Malakoff Tower the whole time in defiance of us. +About ten o'clock some of the regiments got orders<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> to retire. +We, the Royal Engineers, however, stayed until twelve o'clock, +when we were told that the assault was not to be renewed, and +that we could go. Thus ended our assault, of the result of which +we felt so sure. The first plan made was that we should fire for +three hours and go in at six o'clock, but the French changed it, +and would not wait until we had silenced the enemy's artillery +fire, and so we attacked at 3 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> My father can tell the effect +of grape from twelve 68-pounders and 32-pounders at 200 yards +upon a column; but whatever may be the effect, I am confident +that if we had left the trenches in a mass, some of us would have +survived and reached the Redan, which, once reached, the Highland +Brigade and Guards would have carried all before them, and the +place would have fallen. General Jones was struck by a stone in +the forehead, but not much hurt. I believe it is said that the +trenches were too high to get over. As the scaling-ladders were +carried over them, this can hardly be sustained. So much for +<i>our</i> assault.</p> + +<p>"Now for the assault which was made from the left attack. General +Eyre had an order given him to make a feint at the head of the +creek if we were successful at the Redan; however, at five +o'clock, when we had failed at the Redan, we heard a very sharp +attack on the head of the creek. The 44th and other regiments +advanced, drove the Russians out of a rifle-pit they held near +the cemetery, and entered some houses there. The Russians then +opened a tremendous fire on the houses, and the men took shelter +in line, being under no command, their own officers not knowing +where they were to go, or anything about the place, and no +Engineer officer being with them. The men sheltered themselves in +the houses until they were knocked about their ears. They then +remained in different places—in fact, wherever they could get +any shelter, until dusk, as, if they had attempted to retire, +they would have been all destroyed. The men of General Eyre's +column found lots of drink in the houses. Our losses in the four +columns are—1400 killed and wounded, 64 officers wounded, and 16 +killed. The French lost 6000 killed and wounded, they say! +Nothing has occurred since the assault, but it is determined to +work forward by sap and mine!"</p></blockquote> + +<p>In a subsequent letter he wrote: "Remember, in spite of all the absurd +reports in the papers, that our troops never once passed the abattis +in front of the Redan, which is sixty yards from it, and that we have +never spiked a gun of the Russians," and before closing his narrative +account of the Redan, the passage in which Mr Kinglake refers to +Gordon's evidence and action on this eventful day may well be quoted. +It appears from his statement that Gordon lost his temper through +excitement at the repulse, and even upbraided and used angry language +to his old friend and comrade, Lieutenant, now General Sir Gerald,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> +Graham, on his coming back to the trenches. Such language, it may be +pointed out, could not have been used with less justice to any soldier +taking part in the assault than to the man who had carried a ladder +farther than anyone else, and twice endeavoured to place it against +the Redan. It illustrates the perfervid zeal and energy of the young +officer, who explained in his letters home how he thought the Russian +fortress might have been carried at a rush, and appropriately +introduces the passage in which Mr Kinglake records his opinion of +Gordon:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"This impassioned lieutenant of sappers was a soldier marked out +for strange destinies, no other than Gordon—Charles Gordon—then +ripening into a hero, sublimely careless of self, and a warrior +saint of the kind that Moslems rather than Christians are fondly +expecting from God."</p></blockquote> + +<p>I cannot refrain from quoting here a letter I received from Mr +Kinglake when I sent him a copy of my edition of "General Gordon's +Letters from the Crimea," etc., as it records a somewhat more +deliberate opinion on his character and career:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="ltr-date">"<span class="smcap">28 Hyde Park Place,</span><br /> +"<span class="smcap">Marble Arch</span>, W., <i>27th July 1884</i>.<br /> +</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Sir</span>,—I indeed feel greatly obliged to you for your +kindness in sending me a copy of 'General Gordon's Letters from +the Crimea.'</p> + +<p>"Already I have read a great part of the volume, and I need +hardly say that, apart from the reasons which link me to the +Crimea, I have been greatly interested by seeing what was +thought, and felt, and expressed in his early days by this really +phenomenal man, whose romantic elevation above all that is base +and common has made him, in even these days, a sort of warlike +and heroic Redeemer.</p> + +<p>"Your Preface well and ably expresses an opinion that is widely +entertained as to the conduct of our Government towards Gordon, +and I don't know enough of the question to be able to gainsay +your conclusion, but it would seem at first glance that, +considering the imperative reasons, the vast distances, the +changeful condition of things, and the consequent changes of +mind, the task of doing justice between the Government and this +heroic envoy would be one of some complexity. With my repeated +thanks,—I remain, dear sir, very truly yours,</p> + +<p class="author">"A. W. Kinglake."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Ten days after the repulse at the Redan, Lord Raglan, the gallant +soldier over whose bier Pelissier wept like a child, died "of wear and +tear and general debility," as Gordon put it, and the siege again +entered upon another dull and uninteresting stage. Nearly three +months<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> were to elapse before the capture of the fortress that had +resisted so long, and the only incident of marked importance during +that period was the battle of the Tchernaya, in which the officers in +the trenches had no part. In that action the last effort of the +Russian commanders to relieve the place and extricate Todleben from +his peril was repulsed by the whole allied forces, for in this +engagement both the Italians and Turks took part, with a loss of seven +or eight thousand men. The only comment Gordon makes on the action is +that "the Sardinians behaved very well." At last, on 8th September, a +second general assault was delivered, the English again attacking the +Redan, and, more fortunate in one sense than on the earlier occasion, +effected a lodgment in the fortress, but were then driven out with +heavy loss. But the French succeeded in storming and holding the +Malakoff, which commanded the Redan, and the Russians retired to the +northern side of the harbour during the night after blowing up their +ships. The fall of Sebastopol, especially after the doubts held and +expressed in July and August as to whether the siege would not have to +be raised, caused the greatest excitement and widespread satisfaction. +General Gordon sent home the following graphic description of this +final and at last successful attack:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I must now endeavour to give you my idea of our operations from +the eventful 8th of September to the present 16th. We knew on the +7th that it was intended that the French should assault the +Malakoff Tower at twelve the next day, and that we and another +column of the French should attack the Redan and central bastion. +The next day proved windy and dusty, and at ten o'clock began one +of the most tremendous bombardments ever seen or heard. We had +kept up a tolerable fire for the last four days, quite warm +enough; but for two hours this tremendous fire extending six +miles was maintained. At twelve the French rushed at the +Malakoff, took it with ease, having caught the defenders in their +bomb-proof houses, where they had gone to escape from the shells, +etc. They found it difficult work to get round to the Little +Redan, as the Russians had by that time got out of their holes.</p> + +<p>"However, the Malakoff was won, and the tricolour was hoisted as +a signal for our attack. Our men went forward well, losing +apparently few, put the ladders in the ditch, and mounted on the +salient of the Redan, but though they stayed there five minutes +or more, they did not advance, and tremendous reserves coming up +drove them out. They retired well and without disorder, losing in +all 150 officers, 2400 men killed and wounded. We should have +carried everything before us if the men had only advanced. The +French got driven back with great loss at the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> central bastion, +losing four general officers. They did not enter the work. Thus, +after a day of intense excitement, we had only gained the +Malakoff. It was determined that night that the Highlanders +should storm the Redan the next morning.</p> + +<p>"I was detailed for the trenches, but during the night I heard +terrible explosions, and going down to the trenches at 4 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> I +saw a splendid sight—the whole town in flames, and every now and +then a terrific explosion. The rising sun shining on the scene of +destruction produced a beautiful effect. The last of the Russians +were leaving the town over the bridge. All the three-deckers, +etc., were sunk, the steamers alone remaining. Tons and tons of +powder must have been blown up.</p> + +<p>"About eight o'clock I got an order to commence a plan of the +works, for which purpose I went to the Redan, where a dreadful +sight was presented. The dead were buried in the ditch—the +Russians with the English—Mr Wright reading the Service over +them. About ten o'clock Fort Paul was blown up—a beautiful +sight. The town was not safe to be entered on account of the fire +and the few Russians who still prowled about. The latter cut off +the hands and feet of one Frenchman. They also caught and took +away a sapper who would go <i>trying</i> to plunder—for as to plunder +there was and is literally nothing but rubbish and fleas, the +Russians having carried off everything else. I have got the lock +and sight off a gun (which used to try and deposit its contents +very often in my carcass, in which I am grateful to say it +failed) for my father, and some other rubbish (a Russian cup, +etc.) for you and my sisters. But you would be surprised at the +extraordinary rarity of knick-knacks. They left their pictures in +the churches, which form consequently the only spoil, and which I +do not care about buying. I will do my best to get some better +things if it is possible. On the 10th we got down to the docks, +and a flag of truce came over to ask permission to take away +their wounded from the hospital, which we had only found out that +day contained 3000 wounded men. These unfortunate men had been +for a day and a half without attendance. A fourth of them were +dead, and the rest were in a bad way. I will not dwell any more +on it, but could not imagine a more dreadful sight.</p> + +<p>"We have now got into the town, the conflagration being out, and +it seems quite strange to hear no firing. It has been a splendid +city, and the harbour is magnificent. We have taken more than +4000 guns, destroyed their fleet, immense stores of provisions, +ammunition, etc. (for from the explosions they did not appear to +be short of it), and shall destroy the dockyard, forts, quays, +barracks, storehouses, etc. For guns, Woolwich is a joke to it. +The town is strewn with our shell and shot, etc. We have traced +voltaic wires to nearly every powder<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> magazine in the place. What +plucky troops they were! When you hear the details of the siege +you will be astonished. The length of the siege is nothing in +comparison with our gain in having destroyed the place.</p> + +<p>"We are not certain what the Russians are doing on the north +side, and as yet do not know whether we shall follow them up or +not. We ought to, I think. It is glorious going over their horrid +batteries which used to bully us so much. Their dodges were +infinite. Most of their artillerymen, being sailors, were +necessarily handy men, and had devised several ingenious modes of +riveting, which they found very necessary. There was a vineyard +under our attack, a sort of neutral ground where no one dared to +venture, either Russian or English. We found lots of ripe grapes +there. The Russians used to fire another description of grape +into it. One night I was working with a party at this very spot, +and out of 200 men we lost 30 killed and wounded. We are engaged +in clearing the roads, burning the rubbish, and deodorizing the +town, taking account of the guns, etc. Nothing is stirring; the +Russians fire a little into the town. We hear they are +retreating, but do not believe it. The French, it seems, took the +Malakoff by surprise. They had learnt from a deserter that the +Russians used to march one relief of men out of the place before +the other came in on account of the heavy fire; whilst this was +being done the French rushed in and found the Malakoff empty. The +Russians made three attempts to retake it, the last led by a +large body of officers alone. Whenever the Russians commenced a +battery they laid down first a line of wires to the magazine with +which they could blow it up at any time."</p></blockquote> + +<p>With this final tribute to the courage of the Russian garrison, +Charles Gordon's account of the siege and fall of Sebastopol closes. +He took part in the expedition to Kimburn, when General Spencer +commanded a joint force of 9000 men intended to dislodge the Russians +from a fort they had built at that place, and also to attack a corps +of 10,000 men supposed to be stationed at the important town of +Kherson. The fort surrendered after four hours' bombardment by the +fleet—the garrison not being "the same style of soldiers as the +Sebastopol men"—but the Kherson force was never encountered, retiring +as the allies advanced, who in their turn retired for fear of being +drawn too far into the country. In one of several letters while on +this expedition Gordon says that the Czar Alexander the Second was +near Kimburn during the attack, and that he sent the Governor a +telegram, "Remember Holy Russia," which the Russian General did by +getting drunk. The expedition was then withdrawn after installing a +French garrison in the fort, and Charles Gordon returned to his old +quarters<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> before Sebastopol. A fortnight after his arrival he was +appointed to take part in the destruction of the docks, which was to +signalise the downfall of Russia's power in the Black Sea. This +closing episode is very well described in several of his letters +written during the month of December 1855:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I am now, as you see, stationed in the dockyard preparing the +shafts and galleries for the demolition of the docks. The French +will destroy one half and ourselves the other. The quantity of +powder we shall use is 45,000 lbs., in charges varying from 80 +lbs. to 8000 lbs. The French do not sink their shafts so deep as +we do, but use heavier charges. The docks are very well made, and +the gates alone cost £23,000. We are taking one gate to London, +and the French another to Paris. Our shafts are some of them very +deep, and in others there are from eight to ten feet of water. +There is not much prospect of the Russians leaving the north +side. We can see them hutting themselves.... Our works at the +docks approach completion, and we hope to blow up some portion of +them on Saturday. The French blew up one last Saturday. The +explosion presented a splendid appearance and succeeded +admirably, not a stone being left standing. The powder for our +demolition will be upwards of twenty-two tons. The Russians still +(27th December) hold the north forts, and do not appear to be +likely to leave this year as their huts are all built. We can see +them quite distinctly on the other side.... <i>January 20, +1856.</i>—We have blown up part of our docks, and are very busy +with the remainder, which we hope to get over by the end of the +month. I do not anticipate any movement of the army until March, +when I suppose we shall go to Asia to relieve Kars, and make the +Russians retire from the Turkish territory.... <i>February 3, +1856.</i>—We all of us have been extremely busy in loading and +firing our mines in the docks, which required all our time, as we +were so very short of officers, having only three, while the +French had twelve. Our force of sappers was only 150 and the +French had 600. We have now finished the demolition, which is +satisfactory as far as the effects produced are concerned; but +having used the voltaic battery instead of the old-fashioned +hose, we have found that electricity will not succeed in large +operations like this, and I do not think that anyone will use it +if there is a possibility of using hose. I am now engaged in +making plans of the docks, and have not much time to myself. The +French have done their work very well, using more powder than we, +and firing all their mines with hose. I will try and get you a +photograph of the docks as they <i>were</i> and as they <i>are</i>, which +will tell you more than a dozen letters would. We had an alarm +down here the other<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> night about twelve o'clock. The Russians on +the north side opened a tremendous fire throughout the whole line +on us and on the French. We were all out under arms, expecting an +attack by boats, but after being well shelled for an hour, the +Russians left off, and all was again silent; but for the time it +lasted the fire was terrific. I heard afterwards that it was +caused by a French navy captain, who pulled over to the other +side of the harbour, and tried to burn a steamer which was lying +on its side. He and his companions arrived unperceived, found the +steamer quite new, and were getting into it, when the Russian +sentinel challenged. They answered 'Russe,' but the sentry called +'To arms,' and the Russians fired into the boat, and then +continued the fire from all their guns, I suppose expecting a +grand attack. Only one man, however, was hurt by a splinter on +the arm. The French will blow up Fort Nicholas on Monday. They +only got their order the night before last, and are obliged to +make a hasty demolition of it. They will use 105,000 lbs. of +powder in the demolition. The Russians had ruined this fort, but +had not had time to put in the powder; the excavations were +complete. It certainly is a splendid fort, mounting 128 guns, and +capitally finished for barracks. It would hold 6000 men. The +Russians evidently intended this to be an exceptionally strong +place, and they appear to have been making a quay all the way +round the dockyard creek. We have seen a great deal of the French +engineers; they are older men than ours, and seem well educated. +The non-commissioned officers are much more intelligent than our +men. With us, although our men are not stupid, the officers have +to do a good deal of work which the French sapper +non-commissioned officer does. They all understand line of least +resistance, etc., and what they are about. The Russians do not +molest us much now. We can hear them call out and sing, +especially on Sundays. We can see them drill, which they do every +day. They even have the coolness to go out and fish in the +harbour. We never fire, neither do the French. I do not think +they purpose leaving the north side; in fact, it would not be at +all wise of them to do so. We had some French engineers to dine +with us the other day; they were very agreeable, and we learnt a +great deal from them about their mining. They used to hear the +Russians mining within ten feet of them, and when they did this +they used to put in their powder as quick as possible and blow in +the Russian mines. The Russians had two systems or layers of +mines, one about ten feet below the surface of the ground and the +other about forty feet. The French only knew of the higher one, +and they found out after the place was taken that their advanced +trenches were quite mined and loaded in the lower tier. In the +Bastion du Mât there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> were no less than thirty-six mines loaded +and tamped. I saw one myself in the upper tier when I was +surveying it. They (the Russians) worked out a strata of clay +between two layers of rock, so that no wood was required to keep +the earth from falling in."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Soon after these letters a truce was concluded with the Russians in +anticipation of the peace which was ultimately signed at Paris in +March 1856. The prospects of peace were not altogether agreeable to +the English army, which had been raised to an effective strength of +more than 40,000 men, and was never in a better condition for war than +at the end of the two years since it first landed in the Chersonese. +Gordon's correspondence contains two or three remarks, giving +characteristic evidence to the strength and extent of this sentiment.</p> + +<p>In one passage he says: "We do not, generally speaking, like the +thought of peace until after another campaign. I shall not go to +England, but expect I shall remain abroad for three or four years, +which <i>individually</i> I would sooner spend in war than peace. There is +something indescribably exciting in the former."</p> + +<p>Another comment to the same effect is the following: "Suders, the +Russian General, reviewed us and the French army last week. He must +have thought our making peace odd."</p> + +<p>Gordon did not obtain any honour or promotion for his Crimean +services. He was included in Sir Harry Jones's list of Engineer +Subalterns who had specially distinguished themselves during the +siege. The French Government, more discerning than his own, awarded +him the Legion of Honour.</p> + +<p>The letters from the Crimea are specially interesting for the light +they throw on General Gordon's character. They illustrate better than +anything else he wrote during his career the soldierly side of his +character. The true professional spirit of the man of war peers forth +in every sentence, and his devotion to the details of his work was a +good preparatory course for that great campaign in China where his +engineering skill, not less than his military genius, was so +conspicuously shown. As a subaltern in the Crimea Gordon showed +himself zealous, daring, vigilant, and with that profound national +feeling that an army of Englishmen was the finest fighting force in +the world, combined with an inner conviction that of that army his +kindred Highlanders were the most intrepid and leading cohort. This +was a far more attractive and comprehensible personality than the +other revealed in later days, of the Biblical pedant seeking to +reconcile passing events with ancient Jewish prophecies, and to see in +the most ordinary occurrences the workings of a resistless and +unalterable fate. That was not the true<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> Gordon, but rather the +grafting of a new character on the original stem of Spartan simplicity +and heroism. But to the very end of his career, to the last message +from Khartoum, the old Gordon—the real Gordon, the one who will never +be forgotten—revealed himself just as he was in the trenches before +Sebastopol.</p> + +<p>Gordon's connection with the Russian War and the Eastern Question did +not terminate with the Treaty of Paris. On 10th May he received orders +to join Colonel Stanton, for the purpose of assisting in the +delimitation of the new frontier in Bessarabia. He imagined that the +work would take six months; it really took a year. A not unimportant +principle was involved in this question, and an error in a map was +nearly securing for the Russians a material advantage. At the Paris +Congress it was determined to eloin the Russians from the Danube and +its tributary lakes and streams. The Powers therefore stated that the +Russian frontier should pass south of Bolgrad, judging from the small +scale-map supplied by the Russians that Bolgrad was north of Lake +Yalpukh, which opens into the river Danube. When the Boundary +Commission came on the ground, they found that Bolgrad was on Lake +Yalpukh, and that if the frontier passed to the south of it the +Russians would have access to the Danube; and therefore, knowing the +spirit of the Treaty, the English Commissioners referred the question +to the Paris Congress. A sketch was prepared by Gordon and his +colleagues, to show the diplomatists its exact position, and led to +the frontier being laid down north of Bolgrad and Lake Yalpukh. +Austria, as well as France, Turkey, and Russia, was represented on +this Commission, and Gordon's comrade was Lieutenant, afterward +General Sir Henry, James, who had served with him in the trenches, and +who had one day lost his way and walked into the Russian lines, as +Gordon himself had so nearly done.</p> + +<p>Gordon's letters give an interesting account of his work, and bring +out with his usual clearness all the points at issue; but it is +unnecessary to follow very closely the events of the year he passed in +the lower Danube region. How excellent his work must have been can be +judged from the fact that the Government sent him back some years +later to act as British Consul at Galatz. The delimitation work +commenced with a personal inspection of the frontier from Katamori on +the Pruth to Boma Sola on the Black Sea, a distance of 200 miles. Then +the frontier was defined on the map, and finally it had to be marked +on the ground with the usual posts and distinctive marks. Thirty-two +separate plans had to be prepared before the frontier could be +adjusted, and the frequent bickerings and quarrels gave rise to many +surmises that the negotiations might be broken off and hostilities +ensue. The main point of dispute as to Bolgrad threatened to form a +<i>casus belli</i> with even a new arrangement<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> of the Powers, as France +gave up the case, and thus encouraged Russia to prove more obdurate. +But England and the other Powers stood firm, and Bolgrad was included +in Moldavia.</p> + +<p>The following extracts give a tolerably complete account of what was +done. Writing from Kichenief on 9th January 1857, Gordon said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We are now settled as to the frontier question. Russia has given up +Bolgrad and received a portion of territory in exchange equal to that +surrendered, both as to number of inhabitants and also as to extent of +land. This mode of compensation will give us more than half our work +to do over again. I had almost finished my plans, and one-half of +these will have to be redrawn. However, it is a consolation to know +that the thing is settled. We heard all this by telegraph from Paris, +and by the same message learnt that we are to proceed at once to work +on the frontier in order to get it finished by 30th March, and thus +allow of the ceded territory being handed over to the Moldavians on +that day. You may imagine what a hurry they are in to get this +finished. The Russians pretend to believe that they have got the best +of the dispute, but it will be difficult to persuade the world to be +of the same opinion. Although so cold, there is not much snow, and it +is beautifully clear weather, capital for sledging. The new frontier +leaves Tobak and Bolgrad in Moldavia, and gives a piece of land near +the Pruth in exchange to Russia.... The territory will be given over +in two parts. The southern consists of Ismail, Kilia, Reni, and +Bolgrad, as well as the delta of the Danube. The northern part +consists of the land between the Pruth and Yalpukh.... We have +finished our work, everything has been signed, and the total number of +the plans we have made is upwards of 100. For my part, I have had +enough of them for my whole life."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This wish was not to be gratified, for before Colonel Stanton's +Commission was dissolved orders came for him to hand over his officers +and men to Colonel—now Field-Marshal Sir Lintorn—Simmons, for the +purpose of settling the boundary in Armenia, where a dispute had +arisen about the course of the river Aras, the ancient Araxes. Gordon, +who had now had two and a half years of foreign service without a +break, did not relish this task, and even went to the expense of +telegraphing for permission to exchange; but this effort was in vain, +for the laconic reply of the Commander-in-Chief was: "Lieutenant +Gordon must go." If Gordon had under-estimated the time required for +the Bessarabian delimitation, he slightly over-estimated that for the +Armenian, as his anticipated two years was diminished in the result to +twenty-one months.</p> + +<p>He left Constantinople on 1st May 1857 on board a Turkish steamer, +<i>Kars</i>, bound for Trebizonde. The ship was overcrowded<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> with dirty +passengers, and the voyage was disagreeable, and might have been +dangerous if the weather had not proved exceptionally favourable. On +arriving at Trebizonde horses had to be engaged for the ten days' +journey across the 180 miles of difficult country separating that port +from Erzeroum, the Armenian capital. The total caravan of the English +and French Commissioners—the latter being Colonel Pelissier, a +relative of the Marshal—numbered ninety-nine horses; and the Turkish +Commissioner, being unable to obtain any money from his Government, +seized the horses necessary for his journey in a manner that first +opened Gordon's eyes to the ways of Pashas. He stopped on the road +every caravan he met, threw off their goods, put on his own, and +impounded the animals for his journey. After a brief stay at +Erzeroum—which Gordon describes as a very pretty place at a distance, +but horribly dirty when entered, and where there are eight or nine +months of very hard winter—the Commission passed on to Kars, which +became its headquarters. The heroic defence of that fortress was then +recent, and it is still of sufficient interest as a military episode +to justify the quotation of the evidence Gordon, with his +characteristic desire to be well informed, collected on the spot while +the events themselves were fresh. For convenience' sake, his remarks +on Kars and the whole campaign are strung together here, although they +appeared in several letters:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Kars is, as you can easily imagine, a ruined city, and may +perhaps never recover its former strength and importance. As far +as the works of defence are concerned, they are excessively badly +traced. A little pamphlet published by Kmety, a Hungarian, gives +a graphic description of the siege. One thing difficult if not +impossible to realise without seeing it, is the large extent of +the position. Kars has been twice in the hands of the Russians +during the last thirty years, Paskievitch having taken it by +assault in 1829. We passed the battlefield at Kuyukdere, where +the Russians in very small force under Bebutoff were attacked by +a very superior force of Turks, under the direction of General +Guyon, the Hungarian. By some mistake the Turkish left lost its +way during the night, and was eight miles distant from the field +when the right came into action. The battle was very hotly +contested, but the Turks had at last to retire with the loss of +several guns. Had the affair gone off as Guyon<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> intended, the +Russians would have been licked. This battle, I should add, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +fought in August 1854, before any English officer had arrived in +this country. The Russian loss was very severe: there were 3,200 +wounded alone brought into Gumri for treatment. The first day +from Gumri we passed Baiandoor, where the Turks and Russians had +a small battle in 1853, and where the former lost a splendid +opportunity of taking Gumri, which was nearly denuded of troops. +My Turkish colleague, Osman Bey (I believe this officer to be +identical with Ghazi Osman, the defender of Plevna), was present, +and got into Gumri as a spy, disguised in the character of a +servant. The Russian army avenged the slight check they received +from the Turks by taking all their artillery of the right wing."</p></blockquote> + +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Guyon was an Englishman, but one of the National +Commanders in the Hungarian Rebellion of 1848. I have given a brief +account of his adventurous career at pp. 148-49 of "General Gordon's +Letters from the Crimea," etc.</p></div> + +<p>As illustrating his professional zeal and powers of scientific +examination, the following description of the fortress of Alexandropol +or Gumri is a striking production from so young an officer:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The fortress of Alexandropol (40° 47' N. lat., 43° long. 45' E., +4500 feet above the sea) is situated on the left bank of the +river Arpatchai, which here forms the boundary between Russia and +Turkey. It is distant thirty-five miles from Kars and eighty-four +miles from Tiflis. The plain on which it is situated is perfectly +level and very peculiar. It has a stratum of alluvial soil for +the depth of one foot six inches on the surface, and then a +substratum of fine uniform lava, ten to fifteen feet thick, +supposed to have issued from Mount Alagos (13,450 feet), an +extinct volcano thirty miles from Alexandropol. The depth of the +earth allows the growth of grain, but entirely prevents that of +trees, which with their roots cannot penetrate into the lava. The +Russians have taken advantage of this bed of lava in the ditch of +the fortress. The fortress is well constructed and in perfect +repair. There are upwards of 200 guns (varying from 36-pounders +to 12-pounders) mounted on the works, and about 100 in reserve, +of which 30 are field-guns with their equipment wagons, etc. The +garrison would be 5000 to 6000, including artillery. There are +large supplies of ammunition and military stores. The ditch, +twelve feet deep, of the two western fronts has not been +excavated near the flanks on account of the expense. The Russians +have constructed in the centres of the two curtains a +<i>caponnière</i> with two guns in each flank to defend the dead +angles caused by the non-excavation of the whole of the ditch. In +the centre of these two fronts is a large <i>caponnière</i>, mounting +ten guns in the upper tier and eight in the lower tier. This +<i>caponnière</i> is on a lower level than the enceinte of the place. +The counterscarp at the north-west and south-west angles of these +two fronts is for the distance of twenty yards composed of a +crenellated wall four feet six inches thick. This was caused by +the irregularity of the ground. The bomb-proof barracks of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> the +northern fronts mount in casemate two tiers of fourteen guns at +the curtains. The flanks have five guns in casemates open to the +rear, in addition to the guns on the parapet above. The lunette +in the ditch is eight feet deep. The eastern front has an escarp +fourteen feet high cut in the lava, and well flanked by the +<i>caponnière</i> defending the entrances, mounting four guns. The +bomb-proof barracks in the northern fronts have one tier of eight +guns in casemate at the curtains, and three guns in each flank in +casemates open to the rear. The two outworks are closed at the +gorge with a loopholed wall, flanked by a small guard-house. They +have no ditches, but an escarp of ten feet in the lava. The tower +marked <i>A</i> in my plan is sixty yards in diameter, with a well in +the centre. It has its gorge closed with a ditch and loopholed +wall. It mounts fifteen guns on the top, and fifteen guns in +casemate. It is proposed to connect it by a crenellated wall with +the main work. The tower marked <i>B</i> has a ditch and small glacis. +It mounts eight guns in casemate, and eight on the top. Its +object is to flank the long ravine which runs southward from it. +All the buildings in the interior of the fortress are bomb-proof. +The great fault of the fortress as it is constructed at present +is that it does not so much as see the town with its population +of 9310. It is now proposed, however, to make a large work on the +site marked <i>K</i> with a view of meeting this want. During the war +in 1853, when the Turks were 35,000 strong at Baiandoor, six +miles from Alexandropol, and the Russians had only two battalions +in the fortress, the latter demolished all the houses which were +on this ground. I think that should it ever be in our power to +besiege this place (which is not likely, from the enormous +difficulty of getting a siege train there), that batteries might +be established on the hillocks between the fortress and the +river, to breach the large <i>caponnière</i> and the tower <i>A</i> which, +from the formation of the ground, would not be opposed by more +fire than the direct fire of the works they were intended to +breach, and which would be limited by their circular form to +about seven guns. The soil is not unfavourable on these hills. +The hill on which the cemetery of the officers killed at Kars and +Kuyukdere is situated is also favourable for batteries. The +principal well, which is sunk to a good depth, is in the +north-eastern bastion."</p></blockquote> + +<p>General Gordon's letters contain two or three interesting descriptions +that, in view of more recent events, deserve quotation. Of the Kurds +he thus speaks, and the description stands good at the present day:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We met on our road a great number of Kurds, who live as their +fathers did, by travelling about, robbing, etc., with their +flocks. Their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> children are short of clothing. In spite of the +Cossacks, etc., they are as lawless as ever, and go from Turkey +to Russia and back again as they like. They are fine-looking +people, armed to the teeth, but are decreasing in numbers. They +never live in houses, but prefer tents and caves. On the +mountains we fell in with the tribes of Kurds, who live at this +height during the summer months, quite isolated from the rest of +mankind. I paid a visit to the chief of a tribe of 2000, and he +passed a great number of compliments on the English. This Bey is +all powerful with his tribe; he settles all disputes, divides the +pasture land among the families, etc. Although living in such a +deserted spot, they read the Turkish papers, and they asked +several questions about the English war with Persia. They are +very fanatical, and are much encouraged in their religious +fervour by the Sultan's agents. Their houses consist of stone +walls covered with camel's-hair tents, which are quite +waterproof, and lined inside with capital carpets made by +themselves. We encamped near them and obtained our milk, etc., +from them; but, in order to let us know their habits, they stole +the horse of the Russian officer's interpreter during the night. +I should not mind trusting them at all, for the Bey would not +allow them to take our horses; perhaps this was only from his +hatred to the Russians."</p></blockquote> + +<p>He gives some particulars of the Lazes, to one of whose villages he +paid a visit, and as he believed that he was the only Englishman who +had ever done so, his remarks were based on special local knowledge:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On one side of it was Lazistan, and this part of Lazistan is +peopled by the fiercest tribe of Lazes, who scarcely acknowledge +even the Sultan. We had an escort of forty infantry, and were not +molested. This tribe and the Kabouletians supply the +Constantinople Turks with slaves, whom they kidnap from the +Gourelians, who are on the Russian side. The Adjars (the tribe +referred to) are most daring, and even proposed to us to bring +any person we might choose out to Batoum for £40 to £120. In +consequence of these kidnappings, etc., a deadly enmity exists +between the two peoples, and whenever they get a chance they kill +one another. During the last eighteen months sixty-two people +have been kidnapped, sixteen killed, and twenty or thirty wounded +on the part of the Gourelians. The Russian guards of the frontier +are helpless against these people, for the latter are armed with +a capital rifle and are also splendid shots, while the Cossacks +have only a trumpery smooth bore. The country of the Adjars is +very mountainous indeed, and quite impracticable except on foot, +being covered with dense forests."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Of Ani, the ancient, once famous, and now deserted capital of Armenia, +he gives the following picture:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span>—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We passed through Ani, the ancient capital of Armenia. This city +is completely deserted, and has splendid churches still standing +in it. These churches are capitally built and preserved. Some +coloured drawings on their walls are to be seen even now. The +towers and walls are almost intact, but the most extraordinary +thing about so large a place is the singular quietness. There are +many ruined cities in the neighbourhood, and all dating from +about the eleventh century. At that period Ani itself contained +100,000 inhabitants and 500 churches, which shows that more +people went to church among them than with us. Before the end of +that century it passed into the hands of the Greeks and Saracens. +Afterwards the Mongols took it, and at last an earthquake drove +out the remaining inhabitants in 1339, since which time it has +been perfectly deserted. The churches of Ani were built with +lava, and crosses of black lava were let in very curiously into +the red lava. With the exception of the churches and the king's +palace, the city is level with the ground, the foundations of the +houses being alone discernible. These churches were covered with +Armenian inscriptions cut on the walls."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The delimitation work in itself was uninteresting, being carried on in +barren and solitary regions where there was nothing but rock, without +either grass or inhabitants. Gordon said he would not take thirty +square miles for a gift, and yet the Turks and Russians clung to it, +bringing witnesses from among the tribes who would swear whatever they +were paid for. The question at issue was where the old frontier +between the Persian province of Erivan and the Pashalik of Baizeth was +fixed. The Persians ceded the province of Erivan to Russia in 1828, +and both the Turks and Russians had their own, and necessarily +conflicting, views as to where the frontier was. General Gordon's own +belief that there had never been any real frontier at all was no doubt +the right one. The English officers, without any assistance from their +Turkish colleagues, who merely looked on when they were not keeping up +the supply of witnesses, had to effect the best arrangement they could +with the Russians. In the course of his survey of the frontier, which +he said he examined almost foot by foot, Gordon came to Mount Ararat, +which he very nearly ascended, as he tells the reader in the following +graphic narrative:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"When we arrived at the foot of Mount Ararat we were unable to +proceed along the frontier any further because the ground becomes +extremely broken by the innumerable streams of lava which have +run down from it. The ground is black with cinders. They look as +if quite recently emitted, and no one would imagine from their +appearance that Ararat had been extinct so long. Our road went +along the northern<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> or Russian slope of Ararat, and passed +through a very old city called Kourgai, where there are still the +remains of a church and part of an old castle. Even the Armenians +do not pretend to know its history, but some of them say that +Noah lived there. It is situated half-way up the mountain, and +there is no living person within twelve miles of it. There used +to be a populous village named Aralik, with 5000 inhabitants, a +little above it, but in 1840 an earthquake shook Mount Ararat, +and in four minutes an immense avalanche had buried this place so +completely as to leave scarcely any vestige of its site. Not a +single person escaped, which is not to be wondered at, +considering the mass that fell. Stones of twenty or thirty tons +were carried as far as fifteen to twenty miles into the plain. It +has left a tremendous cleft in Ararat itself. Other villages were +destroyed at the same time, but none so completely as this. The +village immediately below Aralik was also destroyed, but the +graveyard remained untouched, and the tombstones stand up intact +in the midst of the ruins. The common people say that it was +saved on account of a saint who was buried there. All these +places have a very lonely look. Both the Kurds and the Armenians, +if they can possibly help it, never pass near Mount Ararat, while +they think it a great sin to ascend it.</p> + +<p>"I must now tell you of my ascent, or rather my near ascent, of +Great Ararat.</p> + +<p>"I and my interpreter and three sappers went up to a Kurdish +encampment where an old Kurd lived who assisted five of our +countrymen to ascend about two years ago. The only assistance, +however, that he appeared able to give us was to show us where +these Englishmen had encamped the night before their ascent. We +consequently pitched our tents there, and settled ourselves for +the night. The night proved to be very stormy, with thunder and +rain, which was a bad lookout for us. However, we started at 4 +<span class="smcap">a.m.</span> the next morning, and had some very hard work up to the line +of perpetual snow. My interpreter and two of the sappers gave it +up before this, but I and the other, Corporal Fisher, held on.</p> + +<p>"The whole of this time there was a thick fog, which now and then +cleared away, though only for brief moments, and enabled us to +get a splendid view of the country spread out as a map beneath +us, with cumuli clouds floating about. The snow which I mounted +was at a very steep slope, and quite hard, nearly ice, on the +surface. It was so steep that we could not sit down without +holding on tightly to our poles. Corporal Fisher was about half a +mile to my left, and had a better ascent as it was not quite so +steep. About two o'clock I began to get very tired, not able to +get up more than two yards<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> without resting. This was caused by +the rarefication of the air. The mist cleared just at this time +for a minute, and I was enabled to see the summit about 1000 feet +above me, but still a further very steep ascent. Little Ararat +was also visible 3000 feet below me. It began to snow soon after +this, and became intensely cold. The two together settled me, and +I turned round, although very reluctantly, and sitting down, slid +over in a very few minutes the distance which had taken me so +many hours to clamber up. Corporal Fisher managed to get up to +the top, and describes the crater to be very shallow, although +the top is very large. The Kurd told me afterwards that the road +I took was very difficult, and that the other English explorers +went up a road which was comparatively easy. I believe, however, +that if the weather had been more favourable I should have +succeeded."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This was not his only mountaineering experience. Some weeks later he +ascended Mount Alagos—that is, the Motley Mount, from its various +colours. It is 13,480 feet above the sea, or about 3000 feet lower +than Ararat.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We started with some Kurdish guides to the mountain, and after a +good deal of delay got to the place where the only path to the +summit commences. Here we were obliged to dismount and take to +our legs. After about two hours and a half we got to the summit, +and were extremely glad of it, for although it is not to be +compared to Mount Ararat, it is still rather difficult. Trusting +to my Ararat experience, I thought of descending in the snow, and +started. I was much astonished at finding the slope far steeper +than I expected, and consequently went down like a shot, and +reached the bottom one hour and a half before the others. A +Russian doctor tried it after me, and in trying to change his +direction was turned round, and went to the bottom sometimes head +foremost. He was not a bit hurt. There was no danger, as we had +only to keep ourselves straight. My trousers are the only +sufferers! I was the first up. None of the Russians succeeded!"</p></blockquote> + +<p>With one more quotation, Gordon's description of Etchmiazin, the +celebrated monastery where the Armenian Catholicos resides, the +extracts from these early letters may be concluded:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We passed through the oldest of the Armenian churches and +monasteries, a place called Etchmiazin. It professes to be 1500 +years old, and certainly has the appearance of great antiquity; +it was existing during the time of the ruined city of Ani, and is +built in a similar style. The relics there are greatly esteemed. +People make pilgrimages to this monastery from all parts. There +is, firstly, an arm of St Gregory, which is enclosed in a gold +case covered with precious stones;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> next the piece of the ark, +which is necessarily of great antiquity; a piece of the cross and +of the spear, and a finger-nail of St Peter complete the relics. +All these are enveloped in gold cases, and richly ornamented with +every sort of precious stones. The monastery owns ten villages +and a great deal of land. The monks gave us a grand dinner, and +their feeding certainly was not bad. The monks' council chamber +was splendidly got up, all the ceiling being carved and gilded."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The concluding stages of the delimitation work were rapidly concluded, +and before the end of September 1857 Colonel Simmons and his staff had +returned to Constantinople. The illness of all the English officers +except Gordon detained them some weeks in the Turkish capital, and he +wrote home that his surveying duties had been superseded by those of +sick nurse. But before the end of October he was back again in +England, and met his father and the other members of his family after +a still longer interval. While engaged on the frontier commission, his +comrade in the trenches, Lieutenant William Christian Anderson, of his +own Corps, had married one of his sisters, but, after a very short +period of wedded happiness, he died suddenly. After his death a son +was born who bore the same name, is now an officer in the Royal +Artillery, and served on General Graham's staff at Souakim. Charles +Gordon summed up his comrade's character in these words:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I am extremely distressed to hear of poor Willie Anderson's +death, and every one who knew him will be so. He was a sterling +good comrade and officer, greatly liked by both officers and men, +and our Corps has sustained a great loss in him. I am so very +sorry for poor dear ——. It is such a sudden blow to her, and I +am sure they must have been so happy together during their short +married life."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Gordon, therefore, found a certain amount of gloom in the family +circle during the Christmas of 1857, and as his desire to join the +staff of the army was not immediately attainable, the orders he +suddenly received in April 1858 to again proceed to the Caucasus, in +consequence of a slight frontier dispute with Russia, were not +altogether disagreeable to him as a return to that active work which +he loved. For some reason, which was probably the wish to save a +little money by economy in travelling, with the view of carrying out +his generous plans towards others, he took his passage to +Constantinople in a slow steamer from the Thames, touching at Havre. +He described his fellow-passengers as not very select, but amusing, +and the voyage as "a yachting excursion, time being apparently no +object." He only remained ten days at Constantinople, and reached +Redout Kaleh in the Caucasus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> on 3rd June, visiting Sebastopol on the +way. He described it as still an utter ruin; "the grass had so +overgrown the place where the camps stood that it was with difficulty +I found my hut."</p> + +<p>On 12th June Gordon joined his Russian colleague, Ogranovitch, at +Ozurgeth; but the Turkish representative did not arrive for a month +later, which interval Gordon employed in recording his impressions of +Russian and Georgian society in the Caucasus:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I dined with the Governor-General, Prince Eristaw, who left the +next day for Swaneti to overawe the subjects of the late Prince +(he was shot at Kutais for stabbing Prince Gagarin, the +predecessor of Prince Eristaw), who do not seem to have realised +his death. The Prince takes two battalions of infantry and two +guns nominally as an escort. There are some very pretty ladies at +Kutais who dance their national dances capitally. They dance +alone, and all the gentlemen beat time with their hands. I was +surprised at seeing the ladies wear a sort of bracelet of black +beads, to which they attached great value. I am sure they are +nothing more than bog oak.... I have since discovered they are +<i>cannel coal, not bog oak</i>. The ladies are very pretty, but have +not very cleanly habits in general; they prefer their nails +tipped, and do not hesitate at taking a bone and gnawing it. They +live in extremely dirty houses, or rather huts. They are +generally all princesses, and the men all princes, who, however, +do not hesitate to accept small donations. I am always in fear +and trembling lest they should give me anything, as it is +necessary to give in return. I, unfortunately, happened to notice +a certain glass letterweight with the Queen on it, and observed +that it was like Her Majesty. I was given it on the spot, and +with deep regret had to part with my soda-water machine the next +day. I admire nothing now, you may be sure. The servants of +Prince Dimitri Gouriel have made a good thing out of my visit, +for each time they bring anything—butter, fruit, etc.—orders +are given that an equivalent be given them in money. My hands get +quite sticky with shaking hands with so many princes, but I have +hitherto borne up like a martyr under my trials. On being invited +to the house of a prince, you would figure yourself invited to a +palace; but it is not the case here, and you would find it out to +your cost if you did not take something to eat in your pockets."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The work of this Commission proved exceedingly fatiguing—Gordon +breaking in characteristically with the statement: "I do not complain +when there is no occasion"—and consisted chiefly in replacing the +pyramids carefully removed by the population during the twelve months +since they were erected. The successful result of this Commission was +entirely due to Gordon's energy and untiring labour. His Russian and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +Turkish colleagues were always quarrelling, and Gordon had to play the +part of peacemaker—for which, he said, "I am naturally not well +adapted"—an admission that may be commended to those who think that +Gordon was a meek and colourless individual, with more affinity to a +Methodist parson than the dauntless and resolute soldier he really +was.</p> + +<p>Early in October the whole delimitation was concluded, and without a +hitch, much to Gordon's satisfaction. By 17th November he had reached +Constantinople on his way home, but notwithstanding the special +hardships of his work and his long absence from England, with one +brief interval, he was still anxious for work and action. In the +closing letter of his correspondence he said: "I do not feel at all +inclined to settle in England and be employed in any sedentary way, +and shall try and get employed here (Constantinople) if it is +possible."</p> + +<p>While these letters contain a very vivid account of the striking and +remarkable events that occurred during the long military and +diplomatic struggle with Russia, they are not less interesting or +important for the many unconscious glimpses Gordon gives into his own +character. In them may be found references to habits and things which +show that the young officer was a sportsman, and by no means +indifferent to creature comforts; and as the most careful search +through all his later writings of every kind will bring no similar +discovery, these acquire a special importance as showing that the +original Gordon only differed from his comrades in being more earnest, +more active, and more enthusiastic. I take at random such statements +as "Our feeding is pretty good, but the drinking is not," "The +Russians gave a spread [vulgar] on Saturday, noisily and badly got up. +Their wine was simply execrable," and "How I wish I could get some +partridge shooting! My bag up to the present (on the Danube) is +200—not bad! eh?" Then again, on a more delicate subject, there are +numerous references to ladies, and to his appreciation of beauty. In a +chaffing passage in one of his letters, he wrote that one of his +sisters "wants me to bring home a Russian wife, I think; but I am sure +you would not admire the Russian ladies I have seen." Again, the +ladies of the Caucasus are pronounced "very pretty," and "the +Gourelians are beautiful—in fact, I never saw so many handsome women +as the peasants among them." At this time Gordon was certainly not a +misogynist, but I am assured that the rumours as to his having met +with an early disappointment in love are quite baseless of truth. From +a very early period of his life, certainly before the Crimea, Gordon +had made up his mind not to marry, and was in the habit of going even +further, and wishing himself<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> dead. This sentiment led him to +constantly refer to himself as "the dead man"; and some years later he +wrote, "There is a Miss —— here, the nicest girl I ever met; but +don't be afraid, the dead do not marry." His own secret opinion seems +to have been that marriage spoilt both men and women, and it will be +at least admitted that if he had married he could never have lived the +disinterested, heroic life which remains a marvel for the world.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE CHINA WAR.</h3> + + +<p><span class="sc">Gordon</span> was back in England in good time for the Christmas festivities +of 1858, and a few months later—1st April 1859—he was gazetted to +the rank of Captain. About the same time he also received the +appointment of Field-Work Instructor and Adjutant at Chatham, where +his practical knowledge gained in the Sebastopol trenches was turned +to good account in the theoretical training of future officers of his +Corps. He was thus employed when the conflict in China, which had been +in progress for some years, assumed a graver character in consequence +of the Chinese refusal to ratify the Treaty of Tientsin and Admiral +Hope's repulse in front of the Taku forts. Gordon at once volunteered +for active service, and on 22nd July 1860 he sailed for the Far East. +He did not reach Tientsin until the following 26th September, being, +as he said in his first letter home, "rather late for the amusement, +which won't vex mother." Not only had he missed the capture of the +Taku forts, but also the one battle of the war, that fought at +Chan-chia-wan on 9th September. He was, however, in time for the sack +of the Summer Palace, which he describes in the following letter:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On the 11th October we were sent down in a great hurry to throw +up works and batteries against the town, as the Chinese refused +to give up the gate we required them to surrender before we would +treat with them. They were also required to give up all the +prisoners. You will be sorry to hear that the treatment they have +suffered is very bad. Poor De Norman, who was with me in Asia, is +one of the victims. It appears that they were tied so tight by +the wrists that the flesh mortified, and they died in the +greatest torture. Up to the time that elapsed before they arrived +at the Summer Palace they were well treated, but then the +ill-treatment began. The Emperor is supposed to have been there +at the time.</p> + +<p>"To go back to the work—the Chinese were given until twelve on +the 13th to give up the gate. We made a lot of batteries, and +everything was ready for the assault of the wall, which is +battlemented and 40 feet high, but of inferior masonry. At 11.30 +<span class="smcap">p.m.</span> the gate was opened, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> we took possession; so our work +was of no avail. The Chinese had then until the 23rd to think +over our terms of peace, and to pay up £10,000 for each +Englishman and £500 for each native soldier who died during their +captivity. This they did, and the money was paid, and the Treaty +signed yesterday. I could not witness it, as all officers +commanding companies were obliged to remain in camp.</p> + +<p>"Owing to the ill-treatment the prisoners experienced at the +Summer Palace, the General ordered it to be destroyed, and stuck +up proclamations to say why it was so ordered. We accordingly +went out, and, after pillaging it, burned the whole place, +destroying in a Vandal-like manner most valuable property which +would not be replaced for four millions. We got upwards of £48 +a-piece prize money before we went out here; and although I have +not as much as many, I have done well. Imagine D—— giving +sixteen shillings for a string of pearls, which he sold the next +day for £500!</p> + +<p>"The people are civil, but I think the grandees hate us, as they +must after what we did to the Palace. You can scarcely imagine +the beauty and magnificence of the places we burnt. It made one's +heart sore to burn them; in fact, these palaces were so large, +and we were so pressed for time, that we could not plunder them +carefully. Quantities of gold ornaments were burnt, considered as +brass. It was wretchedly demoralising work for an army. Everybody +was wild for plunder.</p> + +<p>"You would scarcely conceive the magnificence of this residence, +or the tremendous devastation the French have committed. The +throne-room was lined with ebony, carved in a marvellous way. +There were huge mirrors of all shapes and kinds, clocks, watches, +musical boxes with puppets on them, magnificent china of every +description, heaps and heaps of silks of all colours, embroidery, +and as much splendour and civilization as you would see at +Windsor; carved ivory screens, coral screens, large amounts of +treasure, etc. The French have smashed everything in the most +wanton way. It was a scene of utter destruction which passes my +description."</p></blockquote> + +<p>It may be of interest to state here that Gordon bought the throne +referred to. Its supports are the Imperial Dragon's claws, and the +cushions are of yellow Imperial silk. He presented it long afterwards +to the headquarters of his Corps at Chatham, where it now stands.</p> + +<p>On the exchange of the Treaty ratifications, which took place within +the walls of the Imperial capital, the force under Sir Hope Grant was +withdrawn to Tientsin, and after a brief space from China. But pending +the payment of the instalments of the war indemnity, a garrison of +3000 men, under General Staveley, was left at Tientsin, and Captain +Gordon was attached to this force. He had a very busy time of it at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +first, for suitable quarters had to be provided for our troops, and +Gordon was fully employed in the construction of barracks and stables. +Among the other tasks that engaged his attention at the time was the +management of a fund for the benefit of the Chinese poor, and he was +much distressed by an unfortunate accident that attended its +distribution.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We had collected about nine hundred dollars for the poor, and +had asked the mandarins to issue tickets to the most deserving. +This they would not do, so a certain day was fixed upon which to +distribute the funds. There were about 3000 beggars, and in the +crush seven women and one boy were killed. The poor women on +their little feet, on which they are never very safe, were thrown +down and trampled upon."</p></blockquote> + +<p>During the eighteen months that Gordon resided at Tientsin he took +every opportunity of seeing the country, and as often as he could he +rode from that town along the banks of the Peiho river to the Taku +forts at its mouth. The distance is about forty miles each way, and he +computed that he accomplished it not fewer than twenty times. He also +visited Peking in August 1861, and remained several days on a visit to +Sir Frederick Bruce at the British Legation. At that date rumours were +already current that the Emperor Hienfung, who never returned to +Peking after our occupation, but made Yehol his capital and place of +residence, was dead. These were true, but some time elapsed before it +was officially announced that the Emperor had died on the 22nd of that +month, the very day that Gordon reached Peking himself, and wrote the +following letter:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The Emperor is reported to be dead, and his coffin has been sent +for; but this is no proof, since it is the custom to send for a +man's coffin when he is seriously ill, and it is kept for him +even if he lives fifty years after."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Writing again some time after, he says on the grave event: "A great +operation relating to the funeral of Hienfung is going on: a marble +block, weighing sixty tons, is being removed from the quarries to the +west of Peking to the cemetery in the east. It is drawn along upon a +huge truck by six hundred ponies, and proceeds at the rate of four +miles per day. When it arrives it is to be set up and carved into the +shape of an elephant; several other large stones are also <i>en route</i>."</p> + +<p>But the most interesting expedition Gordon undertook from Tientsin was +that to the Great Wall, and here I must borrow Dr Birkbeck Hill's +graphic description, which is based on a long letter from Gordon +himself:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"In December 1861, accompanied by Lieutenant Cardew of the 67th +Regiment, he made a tour on horseback to the outer Wall of China +at Kalgan. A Chinese lad of the age of fourteen who knew a little +English acted as their servant and interpreter, while their +baggage<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> was carried in two carts. In the course of their journey +they passed through districts which had never before been visited +by Europeans. Against the northern side of the city of Siuen-hoa +(<i>not</i> Si<i>n</i>en-hoa, as printed in Dr Hill's book) they found that +the sand had drifted with the wind till it had formed a sloping +bank so high that it reached to the top of the walls, though they +were nearly twenty feet high. Nature had followed in the steps of +the generals of old, and had cast up a bank against the town. At +Kalgan the Great Wall was with its parapet about 22 feet high and +16 feet broad. Both of its faces were built of bricks, each of +which was three times the size of one of our bricks. The space +between was filled in with rubble. 'It is wonderful,' writes +Colonel Gordon, 'to see the long line of wall stretching over the +hills as far as the eye can reach.' From Kalgan they travelled +westwards to Taitong, where the wall was not so high. There they +saw huge caravans of camels laden with 'brick tea' going towards +Russia. Here they were forced to have the axle-trees of their +carts widened, for they had come into a part of the country where +the wheels were always set wider apart than in the province +whence they came. Their carts therefore no longer filled the deep +ruts which had been worn in the roads.</p> + +<p>"The chief object of their journey had been to ascertain whether +there was in the inner wall any pass besides the Tchatiaou, which +on that side of the country led from the Russian territory to +Peking. They pushed along southwards, in vain trying for a long +time to find a way eastward over the mountains. It was not till +they reached Taiyuen that they struck into the road that led to +Peking or Tientsin.</p> + +<p>"In this town, for the first time on their journey, they got into +any kind of trouble. When their bill was brought them for their +night's lodging they found that the charge was enormous. Seeing +that a dispute would arise, they sent on their carts, and waited +at the inn till they felt sure that they had got well on their +way. They then, like the three Quakers with whom Charles Lamb +travelled to Exeter, offered what they thought a reasonable sum. +It was refused. They tried to mount their horses, but the people +of the inn stopped them. Major Gordon took out his revolver, for +show more than for use, for he allowed them to take it from him. +He thereupon said, 'Let us go to the Mandarin!'</p> + +<p>"To this they agreed, and at the same time they gave him back his +revolver. They all walked towards the Mandarin's house—the two +Englishmen alongside their horses. On the way Major Gordon said +to his companion, 'Are you ready to mount?' 'Yes,' he answered. +So they mounted quietly, and went on with the people. When they +reached the Mandarin's they turned horses, and scampered after +their carts as fast as they could. The people yelled and rushed +after them, but it was too late.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Some way beyond Taiyuen they came upon the pass over the +mountains which led down into the country drained by the Peiho. +The descent was a terrible one. All along the cold had been +intense—so much so that raw eggs were frozen hard as if they had +been boiled. To add to their troubles, when they were on in front +their carts were attacked by robbers; but the Chinese lad—an +ugly imp—kept them off with his gun. When they drew near +Paoting-fu they sent on with the lad the two carts and their +tired horses, which had now carried them for three weeks without +the break of a single day, and they hired a fresh cart in which +they thought to ride to Tientsin. But with the boy gone they had +no interpreter, and in their impatience, 'their new driver'—to +quote our traveller's own words—'got rather crossly dealt with.' +They stopped near Paoting-fu for the night. Early next morning as +they were washing they heard the gates of the inn open and the +rumble of cartwheels. They guessed what was happening. 'Half +stripped as I was, I rushed out and saw our cart bolting away. I +ran for a mile after it, but had to come back and hire another +with which we got to Tientsin—more than fourteen days over our +leave.'"</p></blockquote> + +<p>From this pleasant but uneventful occupation Gordon was summoned to a +scene where important events were in progress, and upon which he was +destined to play what was perhaps, after all, the most brilliant part +in the long course of his remarkable career. His brother puts the +change into a single sentence:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On the 28th of April 1862 Captain Gordon left the Peiho and +arrived at Shanghai on 3rd of May, and at once dropped into the +command of a district with the charge of the engineer part of an +expedition about to start, with the intention of driving the +rebels out of a circuit of thirty miles from Shanghai."</p></blockquote> + +<p>By the end of March 1862 the Chinese Government had sufficiently +carried out its obligations to admit of the withdrawal of the force at +Tientsin, and General Staveley transferred the troops and his quarters +from that place to Shanghai, where the Taeping rebels were causing the +European settlement grave anxiety, and what seemed imminent peril. The +Taepings, of whose rebellion some account will be given in the next +chapter, were impelled to menace Shanghai by their own necessities. +They wanted arms, ammunition, and money, and the only means of +obtaining them was by the capture of the great emporium of foreign +trade. But such an adventure not merely implied a want of prudence and +knowledge, it could only be attempted by a breach of their own +promises. When Admiral Hope had sailed up the Yangtsekiang and visited +Nanking, he demanded and received from Tien Wang, the Taeping king or +leader, a promise that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> Taeping forces should not advance within a +radius of thirty miles of Shanghai. That promise in its larger extent +had soon been broken, and an attack on Shanghai itself, although +unsuccessful, crowned the offences of the rebels, and entailed the +chastisement a more prudent course would have averted. Without +entering into the details here that will be supplied later on, it will +suffice to say that in January 1862 the Taepings advanced against +Shanghai, burning all the villages <i>en route</i>, and laid irregular +siege to it during more than six weeks. Although they suffered several +reverses, the European garrison was not in sufficient strength to +drive them away, and a general anxiety prevailed among the European +community when the arrival of General Staveley altered the posture of +affairs.</p> + +<p>Before Gordon arrived two affairs of some importance had taken place. +At Wongkadza, a village twelve miles west of Shanghai, General +Staveley obtained a considerable success, which was, however, turned +into a disaster by the disobedience of his orders. The Taepings had +retired to some stronger stockades, and General Staveley had ordered +the postponement of the attack until the next day, when the trained +Chinese troops, carried away by their leaders' impetuosity, renewed +the assault. The result was a rude repulse, with the loss of nearly +100 men killed and wounded. The next day the stockades were evacuated, +and within another week the fortified villages of Tsipu and Kahding +were also taken. It was at this point that Gordon arrived from +Tientsin, and reached the scene of action just as the arrangements for +attacking the important village of Tsingpu were being completed.</p> + +<p>That the Taepings were not contemptible adversaries, at least those +under their redoubtable leader Chung Wang, was shown by their +attempting to destroy Shanghai by fire, even while these operations +were in progress. The plot nearly succeeded, but its promoters were +severely punished by the summary execution of 200 of their number. The +force assembled for the attack on Tsingpu assumed almost the +dimensions of an army. General Staveley commanded 1,429 British troops +with twenty guns and mortars, in addition to a naval brigade of 380 +men and five guns. There was also a French contingent of 800 men and +ten guns, under Admiral Protet. At Tsingpu Gordon specially +distinguished himself by the manner in which he reconnoitred the +place, and then placed and led the ladder parties after two breaches +had been pronounced practical. The Taepings fought well, but the place +was carried, and the Chinese auxiliaries killed every one they found +with arms in their hands. Commenting on Gordon's part in this affair, +General Staveley wrote in his official despatch:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span>—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Captain Gordon was of the greatest use to me when the task of +clearing the rebels from out of the country within a radius of +thirty miles from Shanghai had to be undertaken. He reconnoitred +the enemy's defences, and arranged for the ladder parties to +cross the moats, and for the escalading of the works; for we had +to attack and carry by storm several towns fortified with high +walls and deep wet ditches. He was, however, at the same time a +source of much anxiety to me from the daring manner he approached +the enemy's works to acquire information. Previous to our attack +upon Tsingpu, and when with me in a boat reconnoitring the place, +he begged to be allowed to land in order better to see the nature +of the defences; presently, to my dismay, I saw him gradually +going nearer and nearer, by rushes from cover to cover, until he +got behind a small outlying pagoda within 100 yards of the wall, +and here he was quietly making a sketch and taking notes. I, in +the meantime, was shouting myself hoarse in trying to get him +back, for not only were the rebels firing at him from the walls, +but I saw a party stealing round to cut him off."</p></blockquote> + +<p>A letter from Gordon gives an interesting account of the two +subsequent affairs at Nanjao, where Admiral Protet was killed, and at +Cholin, where the Taepings suffered a severe but, as it proved, not a +decisive defeat.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"On going through the village a Chang-mow (rebel leader) came out +of a house rubbing his eyes, evidently having been taking a +siesta; he was horrified, and bolted, but was soon caught, and +the sailors had much difficulty in saving his life from the +villagers, who flew upon and would have killed him. Poor man! he +had such a nice costume when taken, but in five minutes +afterwards you would scarcely have known him; all his finery, and +even more, had been taken from him. The small force encamped and +entrenched themselves 900 yards from Cholin, much to the surprise +and anger of the garrison. They came down in force on the next +morning with no end of banners. Upon the principle that inquiring +minds should not be balked, they were allowed to come pretty +close, but then the poor things received a check, and the +beautiful silk banners were furled up and carried back to the +town.</p> + +<p>"The next day General Staveley sent us word to come back, since +he would attack Nanjao first, but as there were nearly 1000 +villagers depending upon our protection and crowding round our +camp, I was sent back with an armed party, and Captain Willes +remained in front of the town. I went back by a different road +and came on the General four miles from Nanjao. We marched on, +and halted near the town, which was reconnoitred during the +night, and the guns placed in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> position by 5 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span> On the 17th we +opened fire at seven, and attacked the place. Here Admiral Protet +was killed; he was among 500 men, and was the only one struck. +The town was a wretched affair, and a good many Chang-mows +escaped. These Chang-mows are very funny people; they always run +when attacked. They are ruthlessly cruel, and have a system of +carrying off small boys under the hope of training them up as +rebels. We always found swarms of these boys who had been taken +from their parents (whom the rebels had killed) in the provinces.</p> + +<p>"I saved one small creature who had fallen into the ditch in +trying to escape, for which he rewarded me by destroying my coat +with his muddy paws in clinging to me. I started soon after the +attack for Cholin, and got there on the 18th. The rebels had made +a <i>sortie</i> since my departure, and had got into a pretty mess. +Willes let them come up and then advanced on them; over sixty +were killed, and several taken prisoners. The General then came. +We got our guns in position during the night, opened fire next +morning, and assaulted at seven. The place was miserable and +poor. The Armstrong guns, which enfiladed one face, did great +execution."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The fruits of these successes were lost by the signal overthrow and +practical annihilation of a large Chinese army at Taitsan. One of +General Staveley's detachments was cut off, and with his +communications threatened he found himself compelled to abandon +Kahding, and to retire towards Shanghai. Tsingpu had also to be +abandoned, and the garrison suffered some loss in effecting its +retreat. Of the first results of General Staveley's campaign there +thus remained very little, and it was only in the autumn that these +places were retaken, and the campaign against the Taepings in the +Shanghai districts continued with varying fortune throughout the +remainder of the year 1862 and the early months of 1863.</p> + +<p>While these military events were in progress Major Gordon, who was +raised to the rank of Major in the army in December 1862 for his +services in China, had been trusted with the congenial task, and one +for which he was pre-eminently well suited, of surveying and mapping +the whole of the region for thirty miles. This work, necessary in +itself for many reasons, proved of incalculable value to him in the +operations which he eventually undertook and carried out to a +successful issue against the rebels. His own letters show how +thoroughly he fulfilled his instructions, and how his surveys ended in +his complete mastery of the topography of the region between the Grand +Canal, the sea, and the Yangtsekiang:—</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p><blockquote><p>"I have been now in every town and village in the thirty miles' +radius. The country is the same everywhere—a dead flat, with +innumerable creeks and bad pathways. The people have now settled +down quiet again, and I do not anticipate the rebels will ever +come back. They are rapidly on the decline, and two years ought +to bring about the utter suppression of the revolt. I do not +write about what we saw, as it amounts to nothing. There is +nothing of any interest in China; if you have seen one village +you have seen all the country. I have really an immensity to do. +It will be a good thing if the Government support the +propositions which are made to the Chinese.</p> + +<p>"The weather here is delightful—a fine cold, clear air which is +quite invigorating after the summer heats. There is very good +pheasant-shooting in the half-populated districts, and some quail +at uncertain times. It is extraordinary to see the quantities of +fishing cormorants there are in the creeks. These cormorants are +in flocks of forty and fifty, and the owner in a small canoe +travels about with them. They fish three or four times a day, and +are encouraged by the shouts of their owners to dive. I have +scarcely ever seen them come up without a fish in their beaks, +which they swallow, but not for any distance, for there is a ring +to prevent it going down altogether. They get such dreadful +attacks of mumps, their throats being distended by the fish, +which are alive, when the birds seem as if they were pouter +pigeons. They are hoisted into the boats and then are very +sea-sick. Would you consider the fish a dainty?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>And again he writes about the Taepings, who were not in his eyes "a +people nobly struggling to be free," but a horde of ruthless +marauders.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We had a visit from the marauding Taepings the other day. They +came close down in small parties to the settlement and burnt +several houses, driving in thousands of inhabitants. We went +against them and drove them away, but did not kill many. They +beat us into fits in getting over the country, which is +intersected in every way with ditches, swamps, etc. You can +scarcely conceive the crowds of peasants who come into Shanghai +when the rebels are in the neighbourhood—upwards of 15,000, I +should think, and of every size and age—many strapping fellows +who could easily defend themselves come running in with old women +and children.</p> + +<p>"The people on the confines are suffering very greatly, and are +in fact dying of starvation. It is most sad this state of +affairs, and our Government really ought to put the rebellion +down. Words could not depict the horrors these people suffer from +the rebels, or describe the utter desert they have made of this +rich province. It is all very well to talk of non-intervention, +and I am not particularly sensitive, nor are our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> soldiers +generally so, but certainly we are all impressed with the utter +misery and wretchedness of these poor people.... In the midst of +those terrible times the British and foreign merchants behaved +nobly and gave great relief, while the Chinese merchants did not +lag behind in acts of charity. The hardest heart would have been +touched at the utter misery of these poor harmless people, for +whatever may be said of their rulers, no one can deny but that +the Chinese peasantry are the most obedient, quiet, and +industrious people in the world."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The propositions referred to in the former of these two letters were +that the services of Major Gordon should be lent to the Chinese +Government for the suppression of the Taeping rebellion, that he +should assume the command of an Anglo-Chinese legion of which the +nucleus already existed, and that he might enlist the services of a +certain number of our own officers. Considerable delay took place in +the execution of this project, as it was necessary to send to Europe +for the necessary authority; and another explanation was given +subsequently to the effect that Gordon insisted on finishing his +survey first. But Sir Charles Staveley, who nominated Major Gordon for +the work, has effectually disposed of this latter statement by +declaring that the former was the true and only cause. At length these +propositions were sanctioned, and on 26th March 1863 Major Gordon +proceeded to Sungkiang, a town west of Shanghai and south of Tsingpu, +to take over the command of the Chinese force, which had already been +named the Ever Victorious Army, and which in his hands justified its +name.</p> + +<p>Before closing this chapter it will be well to give some account of +the origin of this force, and of the more important events that +preceded Gordon's appointment to the command. As far back as April +1860 the Viceroy of the Two Kiang provinces had begged the English and +French representatives to lend him military assistance in dealing with +the rebels. The request was not complied with, but when some of the +richest native merchants of Shanghai, with one Takee at their head, +formed themselves into a patriotic association, and bound themselves +to provide the funds required to raise a European-led force, no +impediments were placed in their way. In July 1860 the services of two +American adventurers who had had some military experience in Central +America and elsewhere were enlisted and taken into the pay of this +merchants' guild. Their names were Ward and Burgevine, and they were +both adventurers of an unscrupulous and unattractive type. In addition +to excellent pay, they were promised handsome money rewards for the +capture of specified places, and what spoil there was to take should +be theirs. Such a prospect was very inviting to the bold spirits of a +great port like Shanghai, with its trading ships from every quarter +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> the world, and they succeeded in recruiting about 100 Europeans +and 200 Manilla men or Spanish half-breeds.</p> + +<p>In order to test the quality of this force it was decided to attack +Sungkiang; and in July, only a week or so after it was organised, Ward +led his somewhat motley band against that place. The result was +unfavourable, as his attack was repulsed with some loss. Nothing +daunted, Ward collected some more Manilla men and renewed the attack. +He succeeded in capturing one of the gates, and in holding it until an +Imperial army of 10,000 men arrived, when the town was carried by +storm. Having thus proved its mettle, Ward's force became very +popular, and it was increased by many fresh recruits, chiefly Greeks +and Italians. It also was strengthened by the addition of some +artillery, two six-pounder and later two eighteen-pounder guns.</p> + +<p>The Chinese merchants then offered Ward and his quarter-master +Burgevine a large reward for the capture of Tsingpu; and their legion, +accompanied by a Chinese force of 10,000 men, who were, however, only +to look on while it did the fighting, accordingly marched on that +place. The attack made during the night of 2nd August resulted in a +most disastrous repulse, most of the Europeans being either killed or +wounded, Ward himself receiving a severe wound in the jaw. He renewed +the attack with fresh men and two eighteen-pounders three weeks later; +but after bombarding the place for seven days, he was attacked by the +Taeping hero Chung Wang, and routed, with the loss of his guns and +military stores. It was on this occasion that Chung Wang, following up +his success, and doubly anxious to capture Shanghai because this new +and unexpected force was organised there, attacked that town, and was +only repulsed by the English and French troops who lined its walls.</p> + +<p>This reverse at Tsingpu destroyed the reputation of Ward's force, and +for several months he remained discredited and unemployed. In March +1861 he reappeared at Sungkiang, at the head of sixty or seventy +Europeans whom he had recruited for the Imperial cause; but at that +moment the policy of the foreign Consuls had undergone a change in +favour of the Taepings, and Ward was arrested as a disturber of the +peace. Perhaps a more serious offence was that the high pay he offered +and prospect of loot had induced nearly thirty British sailors to +desert their ships. He was released on his claiming that he was a +Chinese subject, and also on his sending orders to his colleague +Burgevine to return the troops they had enlisted. Burgevine thought he +saw in this a chance of personal distinction, and before disbanding +the men he made with them another attack on Tsingpu. This attack, like +its two predecessors, was repulsed with heavy loss, and the original +Ward force<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> was thus finally discredited. It should be borne in mind, +to distinguish it from what followed, that it was a mercenary force of +European and Spanish half-breeds, without a single Chinese in it.</p> + +<p>In September 1861 these two men altered their proceedings, and gave a +new turn to the whole question. As it was impossible for them to +recruit foreigners, they induced Takee and his associates to provide +the funds for a native Chinese force, which they undertook to train +and organise. In this task they made considerable progress, and with a +view to making it popular with the Chinese, and also to give the men +confidence, this new force was named, probably by Takee, the Chun Chen +Chün or Ever Victorious Army. This proud title was given long before +the claim to it was justified, but its subsequent appropriateness has +buried in oblivion the slender claim it possessed to it on its +inception.</p> + +<p>By the end of January 1862 Ward had succeeded in training two +regiments of 1000 men each, and with these he captured Quanfuling and +200 boats in the rear of the Taeping force, which attacked Shanghai +for a third time in that month. When the English and French forces +assumed the offensive before the arrival of Sir Charles Staveley, part +of Ward's Corps accompanied them in the attack on Kachiaou. It led the +attack, and behaved extremely well, thus giving rise to very +favourable anticipations as to what a properly-trained Chinese army +might do.</p> + +<p>In a second action at Tseedong the force maintained the reputation it +had gained. The Chinese fought with great bravery, and the difficulty, +in fact, was in keeping them back. The English general reviewed them +after this encounter, and declared himself much impressed with their +appearance. Representations were made at Peking, and on 16th March +1862 an Imperial decree gave the first public recognition of the Ever +Victorious Army.</p> + +<p>Although reverses followed, the Corps maintained the reputation it had +gained for steadiness and discipline. Under General Staveley at +Wongkadza it acted well and lost heavily, and in all the subsequent +movements of that officer it took a prominent part. When Tsingpu was +captured, as already described, one of Ward's regiments was left in it +as a garrison, but on the evacuation of that place in consequence of +the return of Chung Wang with fresh and more numerous forces, it +narrowly escaped annihilation. It was then that the Taeping general +named them in scornful irony, "Cha-Yang-Kweitser," or "Sham Foreign +Devils," the point of the sarcasm being that these troops wore an +European costume.</p> + +<p>During the summer of 1862, when the heat rendered active operations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +impossible, everything was done to increase both the numbers and the +efficiency of the Ever Victorious Army. By the month of July its +strength had been raised to 5000 men, the commissioned officers being +all Europeans except one Chinese, named Wongepoo, who had been given a +commission for special gallantry by Admiral Hope. Ward was in chief +command, and Colonel Forrester and Burgevine were his first and second +lieutenants. When the weather became a little cooler in August, it was +determined to utilise this force for the recapture of Tsingpu, which +was taken at the second assault on the 9th of that month, although not +without heavy loss in officers and men. Six weeks later the important +Taeping position at Tseki, across the Hangchow Bay and not far distant +from Ningpo, was attacked by Ward and a party of English blue-jackets. +The operation was perfectly successful, but Ward was shot in the +stomach and died the next day. His loss was a very considerable one, +for, as Gordon said, "he managed both the force and the mandarins very +ably." Colonel Forrester should have succeeded to the command, but he +declined the post, which then devolved upon Burgevine.</p> + +<p>After a brief space the services of Captain Holland of the Royal +Marine Light Infantry were lent to Burgevine in the capacity of Chief +of the staff, and as this was done at the suggestion of the Futai +Li—since famous to Europeans as Li Hung Chang—it did not conduce to +greater harmony between him and Burgevine, for their antagonism had +already become marked. An occasion soon offered to fan this feeling to +a flame. A Chinese army under Li and General Ching advanced to attack +a Taeping position near Tsingpu, at the same time that Burgevine at +the head of his corps assailed it from the other side. The brunt of +the fighting fell on the latter, but when Li issued his bulletin he +claimed all the credit of the victory, and totally ignored Burgevine +and his men. Burgevine did not accept this rebuff meekly, and his +peremptory manner offended the Chinese. The breach was widened by the +distrust many of the Chinese merchants as well as officials felt as to +his loyalty, and soon it was seen that the funds so freely supplied to +Ward would not be forthcoming in his case.</p> + +<p>Burgevine's character has been described in the following sentence by +Gordon himself:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"He was a man of large promises and few works. His popularity was +great among a certain class. He was extravagant in his +generosity, and as long as he had anything would divide it with +his so-called friends, but never was a man of any administrative +or military talent, and latterly, through the irritation caused +by his unhealed wound and other causes, he was subject to violent +paroxysms of anger,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> which rendered precarious the safety of any +man who tendered to him advice that might be distasteful. He was +extremely sensitive of his dignity."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The situation between the Chinese authorities and Burgevine soon +became so strained that the former presented a formal complaint to +General Staveley, and begged him to remove Burgevine. This, as the +English commander pointed out, was for obvious reasons beyond his +power, but he made representations to his Government, and suggested +that an English officer should be lent to the Chinese, and he +nominated Gordon as the best qualified for the work. Pending the +arrival of the required authority, the Chinese, assisted by +Burgevine's own impetuosity, brought their relations with him to a +climax. The merchant Takee withheld the pay of the force; Burgevine +was first ordered to proceed with his troops to Nanking, and then, on +consenting, the order was withdrawn; some weeks later a fresh order to +the same effect was issued, and Burgevine demanded the payment of all +arrears before he would move, and thus Li's object of exposing +Burgevine as a disobedient officer to the Government that employed him +was attained.</p> + +<p>The Ever Victorious Army, excited by the absence of its pay, and +worked upon by the exhortations of its chief, was on the point of +mutiny, and Burgevine hastened to Shanghai to obtain by force rather +than persuasion the arrears. On 4th January 1863 he saw Takee, a +violent scene ensued, and Burgevine used violence. Not only did he +strike Takee, but he carried off the treasure necessary to pay his +men. Such conduct could not be upheld or excused. Li Hung Chang made +the strongest complaint. Burgevine was dismissed the Chinese service, +and General Staveley forwarded the notice to him with a quiet +intimation that it would be well to give up his command without making +a disturbance. Burgevine complied with this advice, handed over the +command to Captain Holland, and came back to Shanghai on 6th of +January. He published a defence of his conduct, and expressed his +regret for having struck Takee.</p> + +<p>Captain Holland was thus the third commander of the Ever Victorious +Army, and a set of regulations was drawn up between Li Hung Chang and +General Staveley as to the conduct and control of the force. It was +understood that Captain Holland's appointment was only temporary until +the decision of the Government as to Gordon's nomination arrived, but +this arrangement allowed of the corps again taking the field, for +although it cost the Chinese £30,000 a month, it had done nothing +during the last three months of the year 1862. Early in February 1863, +therefore, Captain Holland, at the head of 2,300 men, including a +strong force of artillery—600 men and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> twenty-two guns and +mortars—was directed to attack Taitsan, an important place about +fifty miles north-east of Shanghai. An Imperialist army of nearly +10,000 men acted in conjunction with it. The affair was badly managed +and proved most disastrous.</p> + +<p>After a short bombardment a breach was declared to be practicable, and +the ladder and storming parties were ordered to the assault. +Unfortunately, the reconnoitring of the Taeping position had been very +carelessly done, and the attacking parties were checked by a wet +ditch, twenty feet wide and six feet deep, of which nothing had been +seen. Situated only forty yards from the wall of the town, and without +any means of crossing it, although some few did by throwing across a +ladder, the storming party stood exposed to a terrific fire. Captain +Holland ordered a retreat, but it was not managed any better than the +attack. The light guns were removed too quickly, and the heavy ones +were stuck so fast in the mud that they could not be removed at all. +The Taepings attacked in their turn, and the greatest confusion +prevailed, during which the survivors of the larger half of the Ever +Victorious Army escaped in small detachments back to Sungkiang. Twenty +European officers were killed or wounded, besides 300 Chinese +privates. Captain Holland exposed himself freely, but this, his only +action in independent command, resulted in complete and unqualified +failure. Gordon himself summed up the causes of this serious and +discouraging reverse:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The causes of the failure were the too cheap rate at which the +rebels were held. The force had hitherto fought with the allies +with them (except at Tsingpu). They now had to bear the brunt of +the fighting themselves, the mistake of not having provided +bridges in spite of the mandarin's information, and the too close +proximity of the heavy guns to the walls, and the want of cover +they had, and finally the withdrawal of the lighter guns before +the heavy guns, whose removal they should have covered. There is +little doubt that the rebels had been warned by persons in +Shanghai of the intended attack, and that several foreigners, who +had been dismissed by Captain Holland, were with the rebels +defending the breach. As may be imagined, Burgevine's removal had +caused considerable feeling among his acquaintances, who were not +sorry to see the first expedition of the force under an English +officer fail, being in hopes that the command would again revert +to Burgevine."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This reverse occurred on 13th February, and no further steps of any +consequence were taken until the appointment of Major Gordon, which at +last was sanctioned in the latter portion of March, about a week +before ill-health compelled General Staveley to resign his command in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +China. That officer was connected with the Gordon family, his sister, +a most amiable and sympathetic lady, being Lady Gordon, widow of the +late Sir Henry Gordon. As far back as May 1861—that is, prior to most +of the events described in this chapter—Gordon's sensitiveness about +his family connection with the commanding officer in China had +impelled him to write this letter:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I was much put out in Henry's writing, and I think hinting he +could do something for me, and I went to Staveley and told him +so. It is the bother of one's life to be trying after the honours +of the profession, and it has grown in late years into a regular +trade—everyone uses private interest."</p></blockquote> + +<p>When Gordon gave this early manifestation of his independent spirit he +was little more than twenty-eight years of age, but it should +certainly be noted as showing that in one respect he was very little +changed in his later years from what he was in his youth.</p> + +<p>After these reverses in February nothing more was attempted until +Major Gordon arrived at Sungkiang on 25th March 1863 to take over the +command of the force. It is to be hoped that the last few pages have +made clear what that force was like. In the first place, it had been +one composed entirely of Europeans, a band somewhat resembling those +that have set up and cast down the mushroom republics that separate +the conquests of Pizarro from those of Cortes. That force achieved +nothing and had an ignominious end. It was succeeded by the larger +force of drilled Chinese, to which was given the name of the Ever +Victorious Army. Although these Chinese showed far more courage than +might have been expected of them, none of their leaders—Ward, +Burgevine, or Holland—seemed able to turn their good qualities to any +profitable purpose. They were as often defeated as successful, and at +the very moment of Gordon's assuming the command the defeat of Captain +Holland at Taitsan, and a subsidiary reverse of Major Tapp at Fushan, +had reduced their <i>morale</i> to the lowest point, and even justified a +belief that for military purposes this force was nearly, if not quite, +worthless.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE TAEPING REBELLION.</h3> + + +<p><span class="sc">In</span> order to bring before the reader the magnitude of Gordon's +achievements in China it is necessary to describe briefly the course +of the Taeping rebellion, and to show the kind of opponents over whom +he was destined to obtain so glorious and decisive a victory. But as +this would be to tell a thrice-told tale, I content myself with giving +in an abridged form the account I prepared from the papers of General +Gordon and other trustworthy sources, which appears in the last volume +of my "History of China."</p> + +<p>As far back as the year 1830 there had been symptoms of disturbed +popular feeling in Kwangsi, the most southern province of China +adjacent to Tonquin. The difficulty of operating in a region which +possessed few roads, and which was only rendered at all accessible by +the West River or Sikiang, had led the Chinese authorities, much +engaged as they were about the foreign question, to postpone those +vigorous measures, which, if taken at the outset, might have speedily +restored peace and stamped out the first promptings of revolt. The +authorities were more concerned at the proceedings of the formidable +secret Association, known as the "Triads," than at the occurrences in +Kwangsi, probably because the Triads made no secret that their object +was the expulsion of the Manchus and the restoration of the old Ming +dynasty. The true origin of the Triads is not to be assigned, but +there seems reasonable ground for the suspicion that they were +connected with the discontented monks of a Buddhist monastery which +had been suppressed by the Government. Between them they seem to have +formed the inception of what became the famous Taeping rebellion.</p> + +<p>The summer of 1850 witnessed a great accession of energy on the part +of the rebels in Kwangsi, which may perhaps have been due to the death +of the Emperor Taoukwang. The important town of Wuchow on the Sikiang, +close to the western border of Kwantung, was besieged by a force +reported to number 50,000 men. The governor was afraid to report the +occurrence, knowing that it would<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> carry his own condemnation and +probable disgrace; and it was left for a minor official to reveal the +extent to which the insurgents had carried their depredations. Two +leaders named Chang assumed the style of royalty; other bands appeared +in the province of Hoonan as well as in the southern parts of +Kwantung, but they all collected by degrees on the Sikiang, where they +placed an embargo on merchandise, and gradually crushed out such trade +as there had been by that river. Their proceedings were not restricted +to the fair operations of war. They plundered and massacred wherever +they went. They claimed to act in the name of the Chinese people; yet +they slew all they could lay hands upon, without discrimination of age +or sex.</p> + +<p>The confidence of the insurgents was raised by frequent success, and +by the manifest inability of the Canton Viceroy to take any effectual +military measures against them. Two hundred imperial troops were +decoyed into a defile, and slaughtered by an overwhelming force in +ambush. This reverse naturally caused considerable alarm in Canton +itself, and defensive measures were taken. Governor Yeh was sent +against them with 2000 men, and he succeeded in compelling, or as some +say in inducing, them to retreat. Any satisfaction this success may +have occasioned was soon dispelled, for at Lienchow, near the small +port of Pakhoi, the rebels not merely gained a victory, but were +joined by the troops sent to attack them. But these successes at +several different points were of far less significance than the +nomination of a single chief with the royal title of Tien Wang, or the +Heavenly King.</p> + +<p>The man on whom their choice fell was named Hung-tsiuen. He was the +son of a small farmer, who lived in a village near the North River, +about thirty miles from Canton. If he was not a Hakka himself, he +lived in a district which was considered to belong exclusively to that +strange race, which closely resembles our gipsies. He belonged to a +degraded race, therefore, and it was held that he was not entitled to +that free entry into the body of the civil service, which is the +natural privilege of every true-born Chinese subject. His friends +declared that he came out high at each of the periodical examinations, +but their statements may have been false in this as in much else. The +fact is clear that he failed to obtain his degrees, and that he was +denied admission into the public service. Hung was therefore a +disappointed candidate, the more deeply disappointed, perhaps, that +his sense of injured merit and the ill-judging flattery of his +admirers made his rejection appear unjust.</p> + +<p>Hung was, at all events, a shrewd observer of the weakness of the +Government, and of the popular discontent. He perceived the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +opportunity of making the Manchu dynasty the scapegoat of national +weakness and apathy. He could not be the servant of the Government. +Class contempt, the prejudices of his examiners, or it may even have +been his own haughty presumption and self-sufficiency, effectually +debarred him from the enjoyment of the wealth and privileges that fall +to the lot of those in executive power in all countries, but in +Asiatic above every other. To his revengeful but astute mind it was +clear that if he could not be an official he might be the enemy of the +Government and its possible subverter.</p> + +<p>The details of his early career have been mainly recorded by those who +sympathised with the supposed objects of his operations; and while +they have been very anxious to discover his virtues, they were always +blind to his failings. The steps of his imposture have therefore been +described with an amount of implicit belief which reflected little +credit on the judgment of those who were anxious to give their +sanction to the miracles which preceded the appearance of this +adventurer in the field. Absurd stories as to his dreams, allegorical +coincidences showing how he was summoned by a just and all-powerful +God to the supreme seat of power, were repeated with a degree of faith +so emphatic in its mode of expression as to make the challenge of its +sincerity appear extremely harsh. Hung, the defeated official +candidate, the long-deaf listener to the entreaties of Christian +missionaries, was thus in a brief time metamorphosed into Heaven's +elect for the Dragon Throne, into the iconoclastic propagator of the +worship of a single God, and the destroyer of the mass of idolatry +stored in the hearts and venerated in the temples of the Chinese +people for countless ages. Whether Hung was merely an intriguer or a +fanatic, he could not help feeling some gratitude to those who so +conveniently echoed his pretensions to the Throne at the same time +that they pleaded extenuating circumstances for acts of cruelty and +brigandage often unsurpassed in their infamy.</p> + +<p>If he found the foreigners thus willing to accept him at his own +estimate, it would have been very strange if he had not experienced +still greater success in imposing upon the credulity of his own +countrymen. To declare that he had dreamt dreams which showed that he +was selected by a heavenly mandate for Royal honours was sufficient to +gain a small body of adherents, provided only that he was prepared to +accept the certain punishment of detection and failure. If Hung's +audacity was shown by nothing else, it was demonstrated by the lengths +to which he carried the supernatural agency that urged him to quit the +ignominious life of a Kwantung peasant for the career of a pretender +to Imperial honours. The course of training to which he subjected +himself, the ascetic deprivations, the loud prayers and invocations, +the supernatural<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> counsels and meetings, was that adopted by every +other religious devotee or fanatic as the proper novitiate for those +honours based on the superstitious reverence of mankind, which are +sometimes no inadequate substitute for temporal power and influence, +even when they fail to pave the way to their attainment.</p> + +<p>Yet when Hung proceeded to Kwangsi there was no room left to hope that +the seditious movement would dissolve of its own accord, for the +extent and character of his pretensions at once invested the rising +with all the importance of open and unveiled rebellion. After the +proclamation of Hung as Tien Wang, the success of the Kwangsi rebels +increased. The whole of the country south of the Sikiang, with the +strong military station of Nanning, fell into their hands, and they +prepared in the early part of the year 1851 to attack the provincial +capital Kweiling, which commanded one of the principal high roads into +the interior of China. So urgent did the peril at this place appear +that three Imperial Commissioners were sent there direct by land from +Peking, and the significance of their appointment was increased by the +fact that they were all Manchus. They were instructed to raise troops +<i>en route</i>, and to reach Kweiling as soon as possible. Their movements +were so dilatory that that place would have fallen if it had not been +for the courage and military capacity shown by Wurantai, leader of the +Canton Bannermen. This soldier fully realised the perils of the +situation. In a memorial to the Throne he spoke plainly:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The outer barbarians (Europeans) say that of literature China +has more than enough, of the art of war not sufficient. The whole +country swarms with the rebels. Our funds are nearly at an end, +and our troops few; our officers disagree, and the power is not +concentrated. The commander of the forces wants to extinguish a +burning wagon-load of fagots with a cupful of water. I fear we +shall hereafter have some serious affair—that the great body +will rise against us, and our own people leave us."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The growth of the rebellion proved steady if slow. Although 30,000 +troops were stated to be concentrated opposite the Taeping positions, +fear or inexperience prevented action, and the numbers and courage of +the Imperialists melted away. Had the Chinese authorities only pressed +on, they must, by sheer weight, have swept the rebels into Tonquin, +and there would thus have been an end of Tien Wang and his +aspirations. They lacked the nerve, and their vacillation gave +confidence and reputation to an enemy that need never have been +allowed to become formidable.</p> + +<p>While the Imperial authorities had been either discouraged or at the +least lethargic, the pretender Tien Wang had been busily engaged in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> +establishing his authority on a sound basis, and in assigning their +respective ranks to his principal followers who saw in the conferring +of titles and posts, at the moment of little meaning or value, the +recognition of their past zeal and the promise of reward for future +service. The men who rallied round Tien Wang were schoolmasters and +labourers. To these some brigands of the mountain frontier supplied +rude military knowledge, while the leaders of the Triads brought as +their share towards the realisation of what they represented as a +great cause skill in intrigue, and some knowledge of organisation. +Neither enthusiasm nor the energy of desperation was wanting; but for +those qualities which claim respect, if they cannot command success, +we must look in vain. Yet the peasants of Kwangsi and the artisans of +Kwantung assumed the title of "Wang" or prince, and divided in +anticipation the prizes that should follow the establishment of some +dynasty of their own making.</p> + +<p>The war dragged on in the Sikiang valley during two years, but the +tide of success had certainly set in the main against the +Imperialists, as was shown by the scene of operations being +transferred to the northern side of that river. The campaign might +have continued indefinitely until one side or the other was exhausted +had not the state of the province warned Tien Wang that he could not +hope to feed much longer the numerous followers who had attached +themselves to his cause. He saw that there would very soon remain for +him no choice except to retire into Tonquin, and to settle down into +the ignominious life of a border brigand. To Tien Wang the thought was +intolerable, and in sheer desperation he came to the resolve to march +northwards into the interior of China. It was not the inspiration of +genius but the pressure of dire need that urged the Taeping leader to +issue his orders for the invasion of Hoonan. He issued a proclamation +on the eve of beginning this march, announcing that he had received +"the divine commission to exterminate the Manchus and to possess the +Empire as its true sovereign."</p> + +<p>It was at this stage in the rebellion that the name "Taepings" came +into general use, and various accounts are given as to its origin. +Some say it was taken from the small town of that name in the +south-west of Kwangsi, where the insurrection began; others that the +characters mean "Universal Peace," and that it was the style assumed +by the new dynasty. In seeming contradiction with this is the fact +that some of the Taepings themselves declared that they never heard +the name, and did not know what it meant. At this particular juncture +the rebels were in the heart of Kwangsi, at the district capital of +Woosuen. In May 1851 they moved to Siang, a little north of that +place. They<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> ravaged the country, making no long stay anywhere. In +August they were at Yungan, where 16,000 men were ranged under the +banner of the Heavenly King, and for a moment Tien Wang may have +thought of making a dash on Canton. Respect for Wurantai's military +capacity induced him to forego the adventure, and at Yungan, where he +remained until April 1852, the Taeping leader made his final +arrangements for his march northwards.</p> + +<p>At Yungan a circumstance occurred which first promised to strengthen +the Taepings, and then to lead to their disruption. Tien Wang was +joined there by five influential chiefs and many members of the Triad +Society. For a time it seemed as if these allies would necessarily +bring with them a great accession of popular strength; but whether +they disapproved of Tien Wang's plans, or were offended by the +arrogant bearing of the Wangs, who, but the other day little better +than the dregs of the people, had suddenly assumed the yellow dress +and insignia of Chinese royalty, the Triad leaders took a secret and +hurried departure from his camp, and hastened to make their peace with +the Imperialists. The principal of these members of the most +formidable secret society in China—Chang Kwoliang by name—was given +a military command of some importance, and afterwards distinguished +himself among the Imperial commanders. In April 1852 the Taeping army +left its quarters at Yungan and marched direct on Kweiling, the +principal city of the province, where the Imperial commissioners sent +from Peking had long remained inactive. Tien Wang attacked them at the +end of April or the beginning of May, but he was repulsed with some +loss. Afraid of breaking his force against the walls of so strong a +place, he abandoned the attack and marched into Hoonan. Had the +Imperial generals only been as energetic in offensive measures as they +had shown themselves obstinate in defence, they might have harassed +his rear, delayed his progress, and eventually brought him to a +decisive engagement under many disadvantages. But the Imperial +Commissioners at Kweiling did nothing, being apparently well satisfied +with having rid themselves of the presence of such troublesome +neighbours.</p> + +<p>On 12th of June the Taepings attacked the small town of Taou in Hoonan +with better success. Some resistance was offered, and one of the +Taeping Wangs, known as the "Southern King," was killed. This was a +great loss, because he was a man of some education, and had taken the +most prominent part in the organisation of the Taeping rebellion. +General Gordon inclined to the opinion that he was the real originator +of the whole rising. His loss was a severe blow to the Taepings, whose +confidence in themselves and their cause was alike rudely shaken. They +could not however turn back, for fear of the force at Kweiling, and to +halt<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> for any time was scarcely less dangerous. Necessity compelled +them therefore to press on, and in August they captured the three +small towns of Kiaho, Ching, and Kweyang. Their next march was both +long and forced. Overrunning the whole adjacent country, they appeared +early in the month of September before the strong and important town +of Changsha, situated on the river Seang, and only fifty miles south +of the large lake Tungting.</p> + +<p>At this town, the capital of Hoonan, some vigorous preparations had +been made to withstand them. Not merely was the usual garrison +stationed there, but it so happened that Tseng Kwofan, a man of great +ability and some considerable resolution, was residing near the town +at the time. Tseng Kwofan had held several offices in the service, and +as a member of the Hanlin enjoyed a high position and reputation; but +he was absent from the capital on one of those frequent periods of +retirement to their native province which the officials of China have +to make on the occasion of any near relative's death.</p> + +<p>When tidings of the approach of the Taepings reached him he threw +himself with all the forces he could collect into Changsha. At the +same time he ordered the local militia to assemble as rapidly as +possible in the neighbourhood, in order to harass the movements of the +enemy. He called upon all those who had the means to show their duty +to the state and sovereign by raising recruits or by promising rewards +to those volunteers who would serve in the army against the rebels. +Had the example of Tseng Kwofan been followed generally, it is not too +much to say that the Taepings would never have got to Nanking. As it +was, he set the first example of true patriotism, and he had the +immediate satisfaction of saving Changsha.</p> + +<p>When the Taepings reached Changsha they found the gates closed and the +walls manned. They proceeded to lay siege to it; they cut off its +supplies, and they threatened the garrison with extermination. They +even attempted to carry it by storm on three separate occasions. +During eighty days the siege went on; but the Taepings were then +compelled to admit that they were as far from success as ever. They +had suffered very considerable losses, including another of their +Wangs, the Western King, and although it was said that the loss of the +Imperialists was larger, they could better afford it. On the 1st +December they accordingly abandoned the siege and resumed their march +northwards. They crossed the Tungting Lake on boats and junks which +they had seized, and secured the town of Yochow on the Yangtsekiang +without meeting any resistance. Here they captured much war material, +including a large supply of gunpowder left by the great Chinese +Viceroy, Wou Sankwei, of the seventeenth century. From Yochow they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> +hastened down the river. The important city of Hankow surrendered +without a blow. The not less important town of Wouchang, on the +opposite or southern bank of the river, was then attacked, and after a +siege of a fortnight carried by storm. The third town of Hanyang, +which completes the busy human hive where the Han joins the great +river, did not attempt any resistance.</p> + +<p>These successes raised the Taepings from the depths of despair to the +heights of hope. The capture of such wealthy places dispelled all +their doubt and discouragement. They were able to repay themselves for +the losses and hardships they had undergone, and the prize they had +thus secured furnished ground for hoping for more. But even now it was +no part of their mission to stand still. They waited at Hankow only +long enough to attach to their cause the many thousands attracted to +Tien Wang's flag by these successes. The possibility of pursuit by +Tseng Kwofan at the head of the warlike levies of Hoonan, where each +brave is considered equal to two from another province, was still +present to their minds. But he unfortunately rested content with his +laurels, while the Taepings swept like an irresistible wave or torrent +down the valley of the Yangtsekiang.</p> + +<p>The capture of Kiukiang, a town situated on the river near the +northern extremity of the lake Poyang, and of Ganking followed in +quick succession, and on 8th March the Taepings sat down before +Nanking, the old capital of the Mings. The siege lasted only sixteen +days. Notwithstanding that there was a considerable Manchu force in +the Tartar city, which might easily have been defended apart from the +Chinese and much larger town, the resistance offered was singularly +faint-hearted. The Taepings succeeded in blowing in one of the gates. +The townspeople fraternised with the assailants, and the very Manchus, +who had looked so valiant in face of Sir Hugh Gough's force ten years +before, now surrendered their lives and their honour after a mere show +of resistance to a force which was nothing better than an armed +rabble. The Manchu colony of Nanking, to the number of some 4000 +families, had evidently fallen off from its high renown. Instead of +dying at their posts, they threw themselves on the pity of the Taeping +leader. Their cowardice helped them not; of 20,000 Manchus not 100 +escaped. The tale rests on irrefragable evidence. "We killed them all +to the infant in arms; we left not a root to sprout from; and the +bodies of the slain we cast into the Yangtse."</p> + +<p>The capture of Nanking and this sweeping massacre of the dominant race +seemed to point the inevitable finger of fate at the Tatsing dynasty. +It was no longer possible to regard Tien Wang and his miscellaneous +gathering as an enemy beneath contempt. Without<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> achieving any +remarkable success, having indeed been defeated whenever they were +opposed with the least resolution, the Taepings found themselves in +possession of the second city in the Empire. With that city they +acquired the control of the navigation of the Great River, and they +cut off the better part of the communications between the northern and +southern halves of the Empire. They abandoned Hankow, and confined +their occupation of the river banks to the part between Kiukiang and +Nanking; but they determined to secure the Grand Canal, which enters +the river east of the city. On 1st April 1853 they occupied +Chinkiangfoo, on the southern side of the river, and they held it, but +although they also captured Yangchow on the northern bank, they +evacuated it in a few days. These successes were obtained without any +loss, as all the garrisons fled at the mere approach of the dreaded +Taepings.</p> + +<p>The Imperialist authorities seemed paralysed by the rapidity and +success of the rebels, who devoted all their efforts to strengthening +the defences of Nanking and to provisioning it in view of all +eventualities. But the thoughts of Tien Wang and his immediate +advisers were still of offensive and forward measures, and when +Nanking was equipped for defence a large part of the Taeping army was +ordered to march against Peking. At this time it was computed that the +total number of the Taepings did not fall short of 80,000 trustworthy +fighting men, while there were perhaps more than 100,000 Chinese +pressed into their service as hewers of wood and drawers of water. The +lines of Nanking and the batteries along the Yangtsekiang were the +creation of the forced labour of the population which had not fled +before the Taepings.</p> + +<p>On the 12th of May an army, stated to consist of 200,000 men, but +probably consisting of less than half that number of combatants, +crossed the Yangtse and marched northwards. It would be uninteresting +to name the many small places they captured on their way, but on 19th +June they reached Kaifong, the capital of Honan, and once of China +itself. They had thus transferred in a few weeks their advanced posts +from the Yangtsekiang to the Hwangho, or Yellow River.</p> + +<p>The garrison of Kaifong made a resolute defence, and repulsed the +Taepings, who at once abandoned the siege in accordance with their +usual custom, and resumed their march. They succeeded in crossing the +Yellow River under the eyes of the Kaifong garrison, and they then +attacked Hwaiking, an important prefectural town, where they +encountered a stout resistance. They besieged it for two months, and +then had to give up the attempt. Forces were gathering from different +directions, and it became necessary to baffle their opponents. They +marched westwards for some distance along the southern bank of the +Hwangho,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> turned suddenly north at Yuenking, and on reaching Pingyang +they again turned in an easterly direction, and secured the Lin +Limming Pass which leads into the Metropolitan province of Pechihli. +The whole of the autumn of 1853 was taken up with these manœuvres, +and it was on 30th September that the Taepings first appeared in the +province containing the capital. They met with little or no +opposition. They had mystified their pursuers, and surprised the +inhabitants of the districts through which they passed. Having forced +the Limming Pass, the Taepings found no difficulty in occupying the +towns on the south-west border of Pechihli. The defeat of the Manchu +garrison in a pass that was considered almost impregnable gave the +Taepings the prestige of victory, and the towns opened their gates one +after another. They crossed the Hootoo River on a bridge of boats +which they constructed themselves, and then occupied the town of +Shinchow; on 21st October they reached Tsing, about twenty miles south +of Tientsin and only one hundred from Peking; but beyond this point +neither then nor at any other time did the rebels succeed in getting.</p> + +<p>The forcing of the Limming Pass produced great confusion at Peking. It +was no longer a question of suffering subjects and disturbed +provinces. The capital of the Empire, the very person of the Emperor, +was in imminent danger of destruction at the hands of a ruthless foe. +The city was denuded of troops. Levies were hastily summoned from +Manchuria in order to defend the line of the Peiho and the approaches +to the capital. Had the Taepings shown better generalship there is no +saying but that they would have succeeded in capturing it, as the +Imperialists had left quite unguarded the approach by Chingting and +Paoting, and the capture of Peking would have sounded the knell of the +Manchu dynasty. But the Taepings did not seize the chance—if it were +one—and they were far from being in the best of spirits. They had +advanced far, but it looked as if it was into the lion's mouth. Their +march had been a remarkable one, but it had been attended with no +striking success. In their front was the Tientsin militia, +strengthened by a large if nondescript force, led by the Mongol chief +Sankolinsin. In their rear the levies of Hoonan, of the vast district +that had suffered from their exactions, were closing up, and soon they +were closely beleaguered in a hastily-fortified camp at Tsinghai. In +this they were besieged from the end of October to the beginning of +March 1854. The Imperial generals, afraid to risk an assault, hoped to +starve them out, and so they might have done had not Tien Wang sent a +fresh army to extricate this force from its peril. Then the retreat +began, but, beset by assailants from every side, it was slow and +disastrous. The struggle went on until March 1855, when Sankolinsin +was able to declare that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> not a Taeping remained north of the Yellow +River. Only a very small portion of the two armies sent to capture +Peking ever returned to the headquarters of Tien Wang.</p> + +<p>While these events, and others that do not call for description as +being of minor importance, were in progress, symptoms of +disintegration were already beginning to reveal themselves in the camp +at Nanking. After its capture Tien Wang himself retired into the +interior of his palace and never afterwards appeared in public. All +his time was passed in the harem, and the opportunity was thus given +his more ambitious lieutenants to assert themselves. Tung Wang, the +"Eastern King," became principal Minister. He, too, claimed to have +communion with Heaven, and on celestial advice he began to get rid of +those of his comrades who opposed his schemes. He even summoned Tien +Wang to his presence and reproved him for his proceedings. A plot was +then formed against Tung Wang, and he was slain with three of his +brothers, in the presence of Tien Wang, by another of the Taeping +chiefs. Nor did the slaughter stop there, for it is alleged, although +the numbers must not be accepted literally, that 200,000 of his +partisans—men, women, and children—were massacred. These internal +dissensions threatened to break up the Taeping confederacy, and no +doubt they would have done so but for the appearance of the most +remarkable man associated with the movement, and one of the most +heroic figures in China's history.</p> + +<p>A young officer, rejoicing in the innumerable Chinese name of Li, had +attracted Tung Wang's favourable notice, and was by him entrusted with +a small command. It will be more convenient to speak of him by his +subsequent title of Chung Wang, or the "Faithful King." He +distinguished himself in his first enterprise by defeating a large +Imperial army besieging Chinkiang, and in relieving the garrison when +on the point of surrender. But while engaged on this task the +Imperialists closed in on his rear and cut off his retreat back to +Nanking, whither Tien Wang hastily summoned him to return. He +endeavoured to make his way along the northern bank, but was checked +at Loohoo by the ex-Triad Chang Kwoliang, the same who deserted the +Taepings in Kwangsi. Chang had crossed the river to oppose him, and +Chung Wang, hastily conveying his army over the river, fell upon and +destroyed the weakened force that the Imperial general had left there, +under General Chi, who committed suicide. Chang Kwoliang crossed after +him, but only to suffer defeat, and Chung Wang made his way into +Nanking. He then attacked the main Imperial army before its walls, +under the Emperor's generalissimo Heang Yung, and drove it out of its +entrenchments. Heang took his defeat so much to heart that he also +committed suicide,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> but Chang Kwoliang made a supreme effort to +retrieve the day, and succeeded in retaking all the lost positions, +with the exception of the Yashua Gate of Nanking.</p> + +<p>While these events were in progress in the Taeping capital, some +events that must be briefly referred to happened on a different scene. +The Triads, aided by the mob, rose in Shanghai, overcame the Emperor's +officers and garrison, and on 7th September 1853 obtained complete +mastery of the native city. The foreign settlement was placed in a +state of siege, the men-of-war covered the approaches to the +factories, and a volunteer corps was carefully organised and +constantly employed. Then an Imperial army re-appeared on the scene, +and laid siege to Shanghai, but it was conducted with no skill, and +the situation remained unchanged. After twelve months' delay the +French Admiral, Laguerre, decided to help the Imperialists, and he +began to bombard the walls in December 1854. He combined with them in +an assault, and 400 French sailors and the Imperialists attacked the +walls which had been breached. The assault ended disastrously, for the +rebels defended the houses, and at last drove back the assailants with +much loss. The pressure of famine compelled the besieged some months +later to make a <i>sortie</i>, when the Imperialists recovered the town. A +similar rising, with a similar result, occurred at Amoy. The +insurgents caused a great loss of life and property, but in the end +the authorities gained the upper hand. These events compelled the +foreign consuls and their Governments to reconsider their policy, +which had been one of sympathy towards the Taepings, and gradually the +conviction became universal that it would be well for civilization and +trade if a speedy end were put to the Taeping rebellion. But for our +own quarrel and war with the central Government these views would have +borne fruit in acts at an earlier date than they did.</p> + +<p>During the campaign of 1858 the Taepings more than held their own +through the courage and activity shown by Chung Wang. He relieved the +town of Ganking when closely pressed by Tseng Kwofan, and although he +could not prevent a fresh beleaguerment of Nanking, it caused him no +apprehension because the Emperor's generals were well known to have no +intention of attacking. Notwithstanding this, it was clearly foreseen +that in time Nanking must fall by starvation. In these straits Chung +Wang proved the saviour of his party. The city was invested on three +sides; only one remained open for any one to carry out the news of +Tien Wang's necessities. In this moment of peril there was a general +reluctance to quit the besieged town, but unless someone did, and that +quickly, the place was doomed. In this supreme moment Chung Wang +offered to go himself. At first the proposal was received<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> with a +chorus of disapproval, but at last, when he went to the door of Tien +Wang's palace and beat the gong which lay there for those who claimed +justice, he succeeded in overcoming the opposition to his plan, and in +impressing upon his audience the real gravity of the situation. His +request was granted, and having nominated trusty men to the command +during his absence, he left by the southern gate. A few days later and +Tseng's last levies constructed their fortified camp in front of it. +The Emperor's generals unfortunately reverted to their old dilatory +measures, because they failed to realise the importance with which the +possession of Nanking still invested the Taepings. Without that city +they would have been nothing but a band of brigands, who could easily +have been dispersed. With it they could claim the status of a separate +dynasty. Yet the capture of Nanking was put off until the last act of +all. These sapient leaders, whose military knowledge was antiquated, +acted with an indifference to the most obvious considerations, that +would have been ludicrous if it had not been a further injury to a +suffering people. In 1858 their apathy was such that it not merely +saved Nanking but played the whole game into the hands of Chung Wang.</p> + +<p>That chief succeeded in collecting a small force, with which he at +once began to harass Tseng's army. By transferring his army rapidly +from one side of the river to the other, he succeeded in supplying his +deficiency in numbers; but with all his activity he could make no +impression on the mass of his opponents. He even got the worst of it +in several skirmishes, but by a supreme effort he succeeded in +overpowering the Imperial force north of the river at Poukou, and thus +relieved the pressure on Nanking. But this was only momentary, and +after a doubtful and wearisome campaign throughout the year 1859, the +situation again became one of great gravity for the besieged Taepings +who were now confined to Nanking and a few other towns in the Yangtse +valley.</p> + +<p>In this extremity Chung Wang conceived a fresh plan for extricating +his cause from the difficulties that beset it. By January 1860 all +Chung Wang's arrangements were completed. He distributed considerable +sums of money among his men to put them in good humour, and then set +forth. His first movements were directed to misleading his enemy as to +his real object, and having succeeded in this he marched as rapidly as +possible towards the important harbour of Hangchow, in the bay of the +same name, south of Shanghai. On 19th March he succeeded in capturing +the Chinese city, but the Tartar portion held out, and a relieving +army compelled Chung Wang to retire. What seemed an unredeemed +calamity proved a stroke of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> good fortune, for the Imperialists had +sent their best troops to pursue him, and thus materially weakened the +force before Nanking. Chung Wang saw his chance, and while the +Imperialists were rejoicing in Hangchow at its recovery, he hastened +back by forced marches, and fell upon the besieging army. In the +desperate engagement that followed 5000 Imperialists were slain, and +the remainder were driven ignominiously from the field. Thus, at the +blackest moment of their fortunes, did Chung Wang succeed in +delivering his kinsmen who had so long been shut up in Nanking. This +siege had then continued with more or less interruption for seven +years.</p> + +<p>Nor did Chung Wang's success stop here. He fought a battle at Tayan +with his old adversary Chang Kwoliang, and defeated him with a loss of +10,000 men. At the height of the engagement Chang Kwoliang was drowned +while crossing a canal, and this decided the battle. Encouraged by +these successes, and with increased forces—for most of the prisoners +he took were incorporated in his army—Chung Wang assumed the +offensive, and after winning no fewer than three regular engagements, +he succeeded in capturing the important city of Soochow, on the Grand +Canal, and this became his chief quarters during the remainder of this +long struggle. By these successes he obtained fresh supplies, and +commanded the great and hitherto little touched resources of the +wealthy province of Kiangsu. It was thus that he was brought into the +neighbourhood of Shanghai, and made those attempts to acquire +possession of the Chinese city which were set forth in the last +chapter, and which were the true cause of the inception of the +foreign, or foreign-trained force, that began with Ward.</p> + +<p>After his repulse at Shanghai, Chung Wang was recalled to Nanking. He +went reluctantly, leaving Hoo Wang, "the Protecting King," as his +deputy at Soochow. He found there everything in confusion, and that +Tien Wang, instead of laying in rice for a fresh siege, was absorbed +in his devotion and amusements, while the other chiefs were engaged in +plundering their own subjects. Dissatisfied with what he saw at +Nanking, Chung Wang again took the field, and transferred the scene of +hostilities to the province of Kiangsi, but although he showed great +activity, and marched 800 miles, he gained little, and, indeed, was +defeated on one or two occasions. Nor could he save Ganking, which, +after being besieged for three years, surrendered to Tseng Kwotsiuen, +and thus all hope of succour from the west, or of retreat there, in +the last resort, was removed from the hard-beset garrison of Nanking. +As some set-off to this reverse, Chung Wang captured the ports of +Ningpo and Hangchow, after a gallant defence<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> by a small Manchu +garrison. The Taepings could scarcely now hope for durable success, +but their capacity for inflicting an enormous amount of injury was +evidently not destroyed. Chung Wang's energy and military skill alone +sustained their cause, but the lovers of rapine and turbulence flocked +in their thousands to his standard.</p> + +<p>In the Yangtse valley—in fact, wherever Chung Wang was not—the +Taepings met with many reverses that counterbalanced these successes. +Several Chinese armies approached Nanking from different sides, and +Tien Wang in a state of panic summoned Chung Wang, his only champion, +back to his side. That warrior obeyed the summons, leaving Mow Wang in +charge of Soochow, but he could do no good. He found nothing but +disorder at the Taeping capital, and no troops with which he could +venture to assume the offensive against the powerful army, in numbers +at all events, that the two Tsengs had drawn round Nanking. In this +position his troubles were increased by the suspicion of Tien Wang, +who deprived him of all his honours, and banished him to the province +of Anhui, adjacent to both Kiangsi and Kiangsu, and joined with them +in the same viceroyalty. This order to depart was a relief to Chung +Wang, who was thus able to complete his own measures for the defence +of Soochow and the other places along the Canal that had fallen to his +arms. He saw clearly that the success of the foreigners in keeping him +back at a distance of thirty miles from Shanghai, and in expelling him +from Ningpo, signified his being shut in just as effectively on the +east, as he already was on the west by the fall of every place except +Nanking, and by the miserable inefficiency of the garrison in that +place. He may have really despaired, but this Chinese Frederick was +resolved, if he could, to break his chains. Unfortunately for him, a +new and more formidable antagonist than any he had met appeared on the +scene at this juncture, in the person of Gordon.</p> + +<p>This summary of the progress and nature of the Taeping rebellion up to +the 25th March 1863 when Gordon assumed the command will make clear +what follows to the general reader. It would be as great a mistake to +minimise the fighting military strength of the Taepings as it would be +to exaggerate it. There was a moment, years before Gordon came on the +scene, when the Imperial commanders by a little energy and promptitude +might have stamped out the rebellion; but having missed the +opportunity the military skill and daring of Chung Wang had revived +the Taeping cause, and made it more formidable than ever from a +military point of view. The blunders of the Imperial commanders +precluded any confidence as to their superior numbers and resources +effecting their natural result, and although Gordon himself declared +that the Taeping cause was a lost one before he assumed the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> command, +no cause could be pronounced irretrievable with a leader so expert and +resolute as Chung Wang, and opponents so incapable and craven as his +were. But another thing was certainly incontestable, and that was that +the Taepings could not in any sense be regarded as patriots. Their +regular mode of conduct stamped them at once as undiscriminating +plunderers of all, whether Chinese or Manchu, who had the misfortune +to fall into their hands, and their acts of cruelty surpassed +description and even belief. Some instances of the massacres they +perpetrated have been mentioned, but these were only a few out of the +many that stained, or rather characterised, their usual proceedings. +It will suffice to say that their ordinary way of dealing with their +prisoners was to crucify them, and there will then be no difficulty in +accepting the conclusion that the Chinese population thoroughly +detested them, and regarded them as a scourge rather than as +deliverers.</p> + +<p>Nor does a closer examination of the system of administration set up +at Nanking by the leader Tien Wang raise one's opinion of the cause or +its promoters. The foreign missionaries long thought that the Taepings +were the agents of Christianity, and that their success would lead to +the conversion of China. That faith died hard, but at last in 1860 a +missionary had to confess that after visiting Nanking "he could find +nothing of Christianity but its name falsely applied to a system of +revolting idolatry," and out of that and other irresistible testimony +resulted the conclusion that the conversion of China by the agency of +the Taepings was a delusion. The missionaries were not alone in their +belief among foreigners. The Consuls and their Governments entertained +a hope that the Taepings might establish an administration which would +be less difficult to deal with than they had found the existing one at +Peking. They attempted to, and did in an informal manner, establish +some relations with Tien Wang. They acquainted him with the articles +of the Treaty of Tientsin, and they requested him to conform with its +conditions. On a second occasion Sir George Bonham, our head +representative in China, even honoured him with a visit; but closer +acquaintance in the case of our diplomatists, as of the missionaries, +stripped the Taepings of the character with which interested persons +would wish they had been invested. From the first feeling of +friendship and sympathy there consequently ensued a slow but steady +revulsion, until at last the general feeling was that the Taepings +were little more than marauders, and as such a scourge to the country +and a standing injury to the trade and interests of Europeans. Then +came the desire to see the rising suppressed, and finally the +disillusionment culminated in active measures being taken to assist +the Imperial<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> Government in suppressing a rebellion which had defied +all its efforts for more than ten years. Of these measures the +appointment of Major Gordon to the command of the Ever Victorious Army +was both the last and the most effectual in producing the desired +result.</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>THE EVER VICTORIOUS ARMY.</h3> + + +<p><span class="sc">The</span> appointment of any English officer would have led to some +improvement in the direction of the Chinese Imperial forces assembled +for the suppression of the Taeping rebellion; but the nature of the +operations to be carried out, which were exclusively the capture of a +number of towns strongly stockaded and protected by rivers and canals, +rendered it specially necessary that that officer should be an +engineer. In addition to the advantages of his scientific training, +Major Gordon enjoyed the benefit of the preliminary course he had gone +through under General Staveley. He had seen the Taepings fight, and +something also of the defence and capture of their positions. He had +also thoroughly mastered the topographical features of the region in +and beyond which he was about to conduct military operations. There is +little doubt that he assumed the command with a plan of campaign +already decided upon in his brain. The Taepings with whom he had to +deal derived their power and importance from the possession of +Soochow, and from their access to several ports whence they obtained +arms and ammunition. Therefore the capture of that city and the +cutting off of their supplies represented his principal objects. Very +much had to be accomplished before Soochow could be even approached, +and the main object of Gordon's first campaign was the capture of +Quinsan, which he saw would be far more suitable as headquarters for +him and his force than the existing one at Sungkiang. Even before that +could be attempted many matters had to be arranged. Not only had Major +Gordon to relieve more than one beleaguered loyal garrison, but he had +to establish his authority over his own force, which was on the verge +of mutiny and clamouring for the return of Burgevine. His own opinion +of that force was given in the following letter to a military +friend:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I hope you do not think that I have a magnificent army. You +never did see such a rabble as it was; and although I think I +have improved it, it is still sadly wanting. Now both officers +and men, although<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> ragged and perhaps slightly disreputable, are +in capital order and well disposed."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Before entering on these matters the following letter to his mother +will be read with interest, as showing what was in Gordon's mind at +the time he assumed the command. The letter was written on 24th March +1863, the day before he rode over to Sungkiang to take up his command.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I am afraid you will be much vexed at my having taken the +command of the Sungkiang force, and that I am now a mandarin. I +have taken the step on consideration. I think that anyone who +contributes to putting down this rebellion fulfils a humane task, +and I also think tends a great deal to open China to +civilization. I will not act rashly, and I trust to be able soon +to return to England; at the same time, I will remember your and +my father's wishes, and endeavour to remain as short a time as +possible. I can say that, if I had not accepted the command, I +believe the force would have been broken up and the rebellion +gone on in its misery for years. I trust this will not now be the +case, and that I may soon be able to comfort you on this subject. +You must not fret on this matter. I think I am doing a good +service.... I keep your likeness before me, and can assure you +and my father that I will not be rash, and that as soon as I can +conveniently, and with due regard to the object I have in view, I +will return home."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Major Gordon rode over to Sungkiang, situated on the line of the +thirty-mile radius from Shanghai, on 25th March, and the following +morning he inspected his force. He delivered a brief address, stating +that there was no intention to dismiss any of them, and that so long +as they behaved well he would carefully uphold their rights and +interests. These words had a tranquillising effect, and Major Gordon's +assumption of the command might be described as being then ratified by +the Ever Victorious Army. The good he effected was very nearly undone +two days later by the civil magistrate hanging some soldiers for +marauding. After the affair looked like becoming serious, Gordon +succeeded in pacifying his men and restoring order. In this state of +affairs it was most desirable that no time should be lost in resuming +active operations, and the Taeping successes at Taitsan and Fushan +rendered them doubly necessary.</p> + +<p>The first task entrusted to Major Gordon was the relief of Chanzu, +which was closely assailed by the Taepings and believed to be on the +point of surrendering. Chanzu lies some distance south of Fushan and +west of Taitsan, and its garrison at this time was composed of +Taepings who had deserted their comrades and joined the Imperial +forces. Several attempts had been made to relieve it, but without +success, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> Gordon was urged by his Chinese colleagues to signalise +his assumption of the command by carrying out this most desirable and +necessary task. The best means of approaching it was by the river, and +on 31st March Gordon accordingly sailed from Shanghai to the mouth of +the Fushan Creek. His force numbered about 1200 men, and included 200 +artillery with four 12-pounders and one 32-pounder. The enemy had +constructed some stockades at Fushan, outside the ruined city of that +name, and Gordon attacked these on the 4th April. He began with a +heavy bombardment, and when he ordered the advance the Taepings, +disheartened by his fire, evacuated their positions and retired with +very little loss to either side. Gordon then marched on Chanzu, ten +miles south of Fushan, and reached it without further fighting. The +relief of Chanzu being thus effected, Gordon hastened back to +Sungkiang, where he arrived little more than a week after he left it. +The success and swiftness of this movement greatly impressed Li Hung +Chang, who publicly recorded his great satisfaction at the very +different manner in which the new commander transacted business from +Burgevine.</p> + +<p>In a letter to the British Consul at Shanghai, Mr Markham, Li wrote:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The officer Gordon having received command of the Ever +Victorious Army, having immediately on doing so proceeded to +Fushan, working day and night, having worked harmoniously with +the other generals there, having exerted himself and attacked +with success the walled city of Fushan and relieved Chanzu, and +at once returned to Sungkiang and organised his force for further +operations to sweep out the rebels, having proved himself +valiant, able, and honest, I have congratulated myself and +memorialised his Imperial Majesty to confer on him the dignity +and office of Tsung-ping (Brigadier-General), to enable me to +consider him as part of my command. Again, since Gordon has taken +the command, he has exerted himself to organise the force, and +though he has had but one month he has got the force into shape. +As the people and place are charmed with him, as he has already +given me returns of the organisation of the force, the formation +of each regiment, and the expenses ordinary and extraordinary in +the clearest manner, wishing to drill our troops and save our +money, it is evident that he fully comprehends the state of +affairs."</p></blockquote> + +<p>On his return to Sungkiang, Major Gordon devoted himself to the +thorough reorganisation of his force. He began by abolishing the +system of rewards for the capture of towns, and he forbade plundering +on pain of death. These were strong steps to take with a force such as +that he had under him, but he succeeded in making them acceptable by +increasing the pay of the men, and by substituting<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> on his staff +English officers—the services of a few being lent him by the +commanding officer at Shanghai—for the adventurers who had followed +Ward and Burgevine. The total strength of the force was fixed at 4000 +men, and his artillery consisted of four siege and two field +batteries. The men were paid regularly by a Chinese official appointed +by Li Hung Chang, and the cost to the Chinese Government averaged +£20,000 a month. At the same time, Gordon collected a pontoon train +and practised his men in all the work of attacking fortified places +before he ventured to assume the offensive. He also organised a +flotilla of small steamers and Chinese gunboats capable of navigating +the canals and creeks which traversed the province of Kiangsu in all +directions. Of these the principal was the steamer <i>Hyson</i>—a +paddle-wheel vessel drawing 3½ feet of water, armed with a +32-pounder in her bow, and a 12-pounder at her stern, and possessing +the faculty of moving over the bed of a creek on her wheels—and it +took a very active and prominent part in the subsequent operations.</p> + +<p>The strategy on which Major Gordon at once decided, and from which he +never deviated, was to cut off the Taeping communications with the sea +and the river Yangtsekiang, whence they were able to obtain supplies +of ammunition and arms from little-scrupulous foreign traders. The +expulsion of the Taepings from the Shanghai district and from Ningpo +had done something towards the success of this project, but they still +held Hangchow and the line of the Yangtsekiang to within ten miles of +the entrance of the Woosung River on which Shanghai stands. The loss +of Fushan and Chanzu had made an indent in this territory, and in +order to complete this breach in the Taeping position, Gordon had +decided and made all his plans to attack Quinsan, when he was +compelled to defer it in consequence of the following incident.</p> + +<p>The rude repulse at Taitsan had been, it will be recollected, the +culminating misfortune of the force before Gordon's assumption of the +command, but a Chinese army under Li Hung Chang's brother, San Tajin, +continued to remain in the neighbourhood of the place. The Taeping +commander laid a trap for him, into which he fell in what was, for a +Chinese officer fully acquainted with the fact that treachery formed +part of the usages of war in China, a very credulous manner. He +expressed a desire to come over, presents and vows were exchanged, and +at a certain hour he was to surrender one of the gates. The Imperial +troops went to take possession, and were even admitted within the +walls, when they were suddenly attacked on both flanks by the +treacherous Taepings. Fifteen hundred of San Tajin's men were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> killed +or captured, and he himself was severely wounded. In consequence of +this reverse, the main Chinese army, under General Ching, a brave but +inexperienced officer, could not co-operate with Gordon against +Quinsan, and it was then decided that Gordon himself should proceed +against Taitsan, and read the triumphant foe at that place a lesson. +It was computed that its garrison numbered 10,000 men, and that it had +several European deserters and renegades among its leaders, while the +total force under Gordon did not exceed 3000 men. Their recent +successes had also inspired the Taepings with confidence, and, judging +by the previous encounters, there seemed little reason to anticipate a +satisfactory, or at least a speedy issue of the affair for the +Imperialists. That the result was more favourable was entirely due to +Gordon's military capacity and genius.</p> + +<p>Major Gordon acted with remarkable and characteristic promptitude. He +only heard of the catastrophe to San Tajin on 27th April; on 29th +April, after two forced marches across country, he appeared before +Taitsan, and captured a stockade in front of one of its gates. Bad +weather prevented operations the next day, but on 1st May, Gordon +having satisfied himself by personal examination that the western gate +offered the best point of attack, began the bombardment soon after +daybreak. Two stone stockades in front of the gate had first to be +carried, and these, after twenty minutes' firing, were evacuated on +part of Gordon's force threatening the retreat of their garrison back +to the town. The capture of these stockades began and ended the +operations on that day. The next morning Gordon stationed one regiment +in front of the north gate to cut off the retreat of the garrison in +that direction, and then resumed his main attack on the west gate. By +this time he had been joined by some of his gunboats, and their fire, +aided by the artillery he had with him, gradually made a good +impression on the wall, especially after the guns had been drawn as +near as 200 yards to it. The breach was then deemed sufficiently +practicable; the gunboats went up the creek as near the walls as +possible, and the two regiments advanced to the assault. The Taepings +fought desperately in the breach itself, and no progress was made. It +is probable that a reverse would have followed had not the howitzers +continued to throw shells over the wall, thus inflicting heavy losses +on the Taepings, who swarmed in their thousands behind. At that +critical moment Gordon directed another regiment to escalade the wall +at a point which the Taepings had left unguarded, and the appearance +of these fresh troops on their flank at once decided the day, and +induced the Taeping leaders to order a retreat. The Taepings lost +heavily, but the loss of the Ever Victorious Army was in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> proportion +equally great. The latter had twenty men killed and 142 wounded, one +European officer killed and six wounded. But the capture of Taitsan +under all the circumstances was an exceptionally brilliant and +decisive affair. With it may be said to have begun the military +reputation of the young commander, whose admirable dispositions had +retrieved a great disaster and inflicted a rude blow on the confidence +of a daring enemy.</p> + +<p>From Taitsan he marched to Quinsan; but his force was not yet +thoroughly in hand, and wished to return to Sungkiang, in accordance +with their practice under Ward of spending their pay and prize-money +after any successful affair before attempting another. Gordon yielded +on this occasion the more easily because he was impressed by the +strength of Quinsan, and also because his ammunition had run short. +But his trouble with his men was not yet over, and he had to face a +serious mutiny on the part of his officers. For improved economy and +efficiency Gordon appointed an English commissariat officer, named +Cookesley, to control all the stores, and he gave him the rank of +lieutenant-colonel. This gave umbrage to the majors in command of +regiments, who presented a request that they should be allowed the +higher rank and pay of lieutenant-colonel; and when this was refused +they sent in their resignations, which were accepted. The affair was +nearly taking a serious turn, as the troops refused to march; but +Gordon's firmness overcame the difficulty. Two of the majors were +reinstated, and the others dismissed, but this incident finally +decided Gordon to change his headquarters from Sungkiang to some place +where the bad traditions of Ward and Burgevine were not in force. The +active operations now undertaken against Quinsan served to distract +the attention of the men, and to strengthen their commander's +influence over them. General Gordon's own description of this affair +is well worth quoting:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The force arrived at their old camping ground near the east gate +of Quinsan on the evening of 27th of May. General Ching had +established some five or six very strong stockades at this place, +and, thanks to the steamer <i>Hyson</i>, had been able to hold them +against the repeated attacks of the rebels. The line of rebel +stockades was not more than 800 yards from his position. The +force encamped near the stockades; and at daybreak of the 28th +the 4th and 5th Regiments, with the field artillery, moved to +attack them. The right stockade was attacked in front, and its +right flank turned, on seeing which the rebels retreated. They +were in large force, and had it not been for the numerous bridges +they had constructed in their rear, they would have suffered +much, as the pursuit was pressed beyond the north gate close<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> up +to a stockade they held at the north-east angle of the city. +Captain Clayton, 99th Regiment, a very gallant officer who had +gained the goodwill and admiration of every one of the force, was +unfortunately wounded in the attack, and died some months +afterwards of his wounds. Our loss was two killed and sixteen +wounded.</p> + +<p>"General Ching was now most anxious to get me to attack the east +gate on the following day. His object was that he had written to +the Futai Li, who had in turn passed the statement on to Peking, +to say that he had his stockades on the edge of the ditch, and +merely wanted a boat to get into the city. This he showed by a +plan. The east gate looked, if possible, more unpromising than it +did before, and I declined to attack it without reconnoitring the +other side of the city. Accordingly, the next day, 29th May, I +went in the <i>Hyson</i> with General Ching and Li Hung Chang to +reconnoitre the west side, and after three hours' steaming came +within 1000 yards of the main canal, which runs from the west +gate of Quinsan to Soochow. At the junction of the creek we came +up with this main canal at the village of Chunye. This place is +eight miles from Quinsan, and twelve from Soochow. The only road +between these two places runs along the bank of the creek. The +rebels had here on its bank two stockades of no great strength, +and about 500 yards inland, they had, near the village of Chunye, +a very strong stone fort. About 1000 yards from the stockades the +creek was staked across. At the time of our arrival large numbers +of troops were passing towards and from Soochow with horsemen, +etc. We opened fire on them and on their boats. The rebels seemed +perfectly amazed at seeing us, and were ready for a run. General +Ching was as sulky as a bear when he was informed that I thought +it advisable to take these stockades the next day, and to attack +on this side of the city.</p> + +<p>"At dawn on 30th May the 4th Regiment, 350 strong, with field +artillery, all in boats and <i>Hyson</i>, accompanied by some fifty +Imperial gunboats, started for Chunye. The Imperial gunboats +started some hours previous, but had contented themselves with +halting one and a half miles from the stockades. The whole +flotilla—some eighty boats, with their large white sails and +decorated with the usual amount of various-coloured flags, with +the <i>Hyson</i> in the middle—presented a very picturesque sight, +and must have made the garrison of Quinsan feel uncomfortable, as +they could see the smallest move from the high hill inside the +city, and knew, of course, more than we did of the importance of +the stockades about to be attacked.</p> + +<p>"At noon we came up to the stakes before alluded to, and landed +the infantry. The Imperial gunboats, now very brave, pulled up +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> stakes, and a general advance with the steamer and troops +was made. The rebels stood for a minute, and then vacated the +stockades and ran. The reason of the rebels defending these +stockades so badly was on account of the ill-feeling between the +chiefs in charge of Quinsan and Chunye, and the neglect of the +former to furnish rice to the latter.</p> + +<p>"The <i>Hyson</i> [with Gordon on board] now steamed up towards +Soochow at a slow pace, owing to the innumerable boats that +crowded the creek, which, vacated by their owners, were drifting +about with their sails up in every direction. The rebels were in +clusters along the bank, marching in an orderly way towards +Soochow. The <i>Hyson</i> opened fire on them and hurried their +progress, and, hanging on their rear, kept up a steady fire till +they reached Ta Edin, where a large arch bridge spanned the +creek, and where the rebels had constructed a splendid stone +fort. We expected that the rebels would make a stand here, but +they merely fired one shot, which was answered by a shell from +the <i>Hyson</i>, which went into the embrasure, and the rebels +continued their flight. It became rather hazardous to pass this +fort and leave it unoccupied, with the number of armed rebels who +were between Chunye and Ta Edin. The <i>Hyson</i>, moreover, had no +force on board of any importance. There were with me five or six +Europeans and some thirty Chinamen—gunners, etc. However, six of +us landed, and held the fort somehow till more Imperialists came +up, while the <i>Hyson</i> pushed on towards Soochow.</p> + +<p>"The <i>Hyson</i> continued the pursuit, threading her way through the +boats of all descriptions which crowded the creek, and harassing +the rear of the rebel columns which extended along the road for +over a mile. About two miles from Ta Edin another stone fort was +passed without a shot being fired; this was Siaon Edin. +Everything was left in the forts by the rebels. Soon after +passing this place the steamer headed some 400 rebels, and +Captain Davidson ran her into the bank, and took 150 of them +prisoners on board the <i>Hyson</i>—rather a risk, considering the +crew of that vessel and her size. Soon after this four horsemen +were descried riding at full speed about a mile in rear of the +steamer. They came up, passed the steamer amid a storm of +bullets, and joined the rebel column. One of them was struck off +his horse, but the others coolly waited for him, and one of them +stopped and took him up behind him. They deserved to get off. +About three miles further on another stockade of stone was passed +at a broken bridge called Waiquaidong, and the pursuit was +carried on to about three-quarters of a mile from Soochow. It was +now getting late (6 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>), and we did not know if the rebels in +our rear might not have occupied the stockades, in which case we +should have had to find another route back. On our return we met<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +crowds of villagers, who burnt at our suggestion the houses in +the forts at Waiquaidong and Siaon Edin, and took the boats that +were in the creek.</p> + +<p>"We met many boats that had appeared deserted on our passing up +sailing merrily towards Soochow, but which, when they saw the red +and green of the steamer and heard her whistle, were immediately +run into the bank and were deserted. Just before Siaon Edin was +reached we came on a large body of rebels, who opened a sharp +fire of rifles on us striking the gun twice. They had got under +cover of a bridge, which, however, after a short delay, we +managed to enfilade with a charge of grape and thus cleared them +out. We then steamed into the bank and took in more prisoners. +Four chiefs, one a Wang, galloped past on horseback; and although +not two yards from the steamer, they got away. The Wang got +shoved into the water and lost his pony. A party of rebels were +encamped in Siaon Edin, not dreaming of any further annoyance for +that night, and were accordingly astonished to hear the steamer's +whistle, and rushed out in amazement, to meet a shell at the +entrance, which killed two of them. The steamer now pushed on to +Ta Edin, and found it unoccupied; while waiting there to collect +some of the prisoners, about 200 rebels came so suddenly on the +steamer that we were obliged to whistle to keep them off till the +gun could be got ready.</p> + +<p>"It was now 10.30 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, and the night was not very clear. At this +moment the most tremendous firing and cheering was heard from +Chunye, and hurried our progress to that place. Just before we +reached it a gunboat disarranged the rudder, and then we were +dodging about from side to side for some ten minutes, the firing +and cheering going on as before. At last we got up to the +junction of the creek, and steaming through the Imperial, and +other boats, we came on the scene of action. The gunboats were +drawn up in line, and were firing as fast as they could. The +stone fort at the village was sparkling with musketry, and at +times astounding yells burst forth from it. The <i>Hyson</i> blew her +whistle, and was received with deafening cheers from the +gunboats, which were on the eve of bolting. She steamed up the +creek towards Quinsan, and at the distance of 200 yards we saw a +confused mass near a high bridge. It was too dark to distinguish +very clearly, but on the steamer blowing the whistle the mass +wavered, yelled, and turned back. It was the garrison of Quinsan +attempting to escape to Soochow, some seven or eight thousand +men.</p> + +<p>"Matters were in too critical a state to hesitate, as the mass of +the rebels, goaded into desperation, would have swept our small +force away. We were therefore forced to fire into them, and +pursue them towards Quinsan, firing, however, very rarely, and +only when the rebels looked as if<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> they would make a stand. The +steamer went up to about a mile from Quinsan, and then returned. +Several officers landed and took charge of the prisoners who were +extended along the bank, and at 4 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span>, 31st May, everything was +quiet. The <i>Hyson</i> had fired some eighty or ninety rounds during +the day and night; and although humanity might have desired a +smaller destruction, it was indispensably necessary to inflict +such a blow on the garrison of Soochow as would cause them not to +risk another such engagement, and thus enable us to live in peace +during the summer—which it indeed did, for the rebels never came +on this road again. Their loss must have been from three to four +thousand killed, drowned, and prisoners. We took 800, most of +whom entered our ranks. They lost all their arms and a very large +number of boats. At 5 <span class="smcap">a.m.</span> on 31st May the troops at Chunye and +the <i>Hyson</i> moved towards Quinsan, and found the remainder of the +force who had been left at the east gate already in the city. The +possession of Quinsan was of immense importance in a strategical +point of view. The circumference of its walls is some five miles, +but they are very inferior. Its ditch is over forty yards wide, +and from the nature of the creeks around it would prove very +difficult to take. The high hill enclosed within its walls would +enable the slightest move to be seen, and if two or three guns +were placed on the spurs of this hill it would form a very +formidable citadel. The rebels did not know its importance till +they lost it."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Such was the capture of Quinsan, told in the simple words of its +captor. It confirmed the reputation gained by the fall of Taitsan, and +proved that the new commander was a man of extraordinary military +intuition as well as energy. There is scarcely room to doubt that if +Gordon had attacked Quinsan where the Chinese commander wished him to +do, at its very strongest point, he would have met with a rude +repulse. By attacking them on the side of Soochow, and by threatening +their communication with that place, he terrified the large garrison +so much that in the end they evacuated the place without resistance. +Gordon himself believed that if the mandarins at the head of the +Imperial army would have consented to support him in immediate +measures for an assault on Soochow, that city would have fallen in the +panic that ensued after the loss of Quinsan. The opportunity being +lost, it will be seen that many months of arduous fighting followed +before the same result was achieved.</p> + +<p>The reasons which rendered a change in the headquarters of the force +desirable have already been mentioned, and Major Gordon at once +decided to remove them to Quinsan, a strong and advantageously-placed +position embarrassing to the Taepings, and equally encouraging to the +Imperialists. But if this removal was necessary on grounds of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +discipline and policy, it was very unpopular with the men themselves, +who were attached to Sungkiang, where they could easily dispose of +their plunder. They determined to make an effort to get the offensive +order withdrawn, and a proclamation was drawn up by the most +disaffected, who were the non-commissioned officers, and sent to Major +Gordon with an intimation that the artillery would blow all the +officers to pieces unless their demands were complied with. Major +Gordon at once sent for all the non-commissioned officers, who paraded +before him. When he demanded the name of the writer of the +proclamation they were silent. At this Major Gordon announced that +unless the name was given up, he would shoot one out of every five of +them. At this statement the men groaned, when Gordon, noticing the man +who groaned loudest, and shrewdly conceiving him to be a ringleader, +seized him with his own hands, dragged him from the ranks, and ordered +two of his bodyguard to shoot the man on the spot. The order was at +once carried out, and then Gordon, turning to the rest, gave them one +hour to reflect whether they would obey orders, or compel him to shoot +one in every five. Within this time they gave way, and discipline was +restored. Gordon in his official despatch expressed regret for the +man's death, but, as he truly said, "it saved many others which must +have been lost if a stop had not been put to the independent way of +the men." But the matter did not quite end here, for more than 2000 +men deserted, but Gordon found no difficulty in filling their places +from his prisoners and the villages round Quinsan. It is worthy of +note that his own bodyguard was mainly composed of Taeping prisoners, +and some of the most faithful of them had been the bearers of the +Snake banners of the rebel Wangs.</p> + +<p>Having thus settled the differences within his own force, and having +fully established his own authority, Major Gordon would have +prosecuted the attack on Soochow with vigour, if other difficulties +had not occurred which occupied his time and attention. In the first +place, there was a serious quarrel with General Ching, who was sore +because he had not gained the credit for the capture of Quinsan, and +who did everything he could to hamper and humiliate the force. At last +he went to the length of firing on a column of Gordon's force, and as +he refused all satisfaction, that officer was on the point of marching +to attack him, when Dr—now Sir Halliday—Macartney arrived in his +camp, being sent in a fully accredited manner, and escorted by the +Futai's bodyguard, as a peace messenger from Li Hung Chang. On this +occasion Sir Halliday Macartney first gave evidence of the exceptional +diplomatic tact which he has since evinced in so many important<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +negotiations, when China derived much advantage from his energy, +ability, and devotion to her cause. The storm then blew over, but the +second affair was more serious. Li Hung Chang became remiss in his +payment of the force, and on 25th July Gordon sent in his formal +resignation. There is every reason to believe that at this moment +Gordon was thoroughly sick of his command, and would willingly have +returned to Europe. The difficulties with his own men, the want of +co-operation, to say nothing of appreciation on the part of the +Chinese authorities, had damped even his zeal in what he reiterated +was the good cause of restoring peace and security to a suffering +people; and in addition to these troubles he had to carry on a +correspondence with anonymous writers, who made many baseless charges +in the Shanghai and Hongkong papers of cruelty against the men under +his command. The English General at Shanghai used all his influence, +however, with the Chinese Governor to pay up the arrears, and with +Gordon to retain the command, because, as he said, there was "no other +officer who combined so many dashing qualities, let alone skill and +judgment."</p> + +<p>But the event that really decided Gordon to withdraw his resignation +was the unexpected return of Burgevine. That adventurer had proceeded +to Peking after his dismissal from the command, and obtained some +support from the American minister in pressing his claims on the +Chinese. He had been sent back to Shanghai with letters which, +although they left some loophole of escape, might be interpreted as +ordering Li Hung Chang to reinstate him in the command. This Li, +supported by the English commanding officer at Shanghai, had +resolutely refused to do, and the feud between the men became more +bitter than ever. Burgevine remained in Shanghai and employed his time +in selling the Taepings arms and ammunition. In this way he +established secret relations with their chiefs, and seeing no chance +of Imperial employment he was not unwilling to join his fortunes to +theirs. This inclination was increased by the belief that he might be +able to form a force of his own which would give a decisive turn to +the struggle, and his vanity led him to think that he might pose on +the rebel side as no unequal adversary of Gordon, to whom all the time +he professed the greatest friendship. These feelings arose from or +were certainly strengthened by the representations made by several of +the officers and men whom Gordon had dismissed from his army. They +easily led Burgevine to think that he was not forgotten, and that he +had only to raise his standard to be joined by many of his old men.</p> + +<p>A fortnight before Gordon's resignation Dr Macartney—who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> some +time before begun his remarkable career in the Chinese service, and of +whom Gordon himself said: "He drilled troops, supervised the +manufacture of shells, gave advice, brightened the Futai's intellect +about foreigners, and made peace, in which last accomplishment his +<i>forte</i> lay"—wrote to him, stating that he had positive information +that Burgevine was enlisting men for some enterprise, that he had +already enrolled 300, and that he had even chosen a special flag for +his force. A few days later Burgevine, probably hearing of this +communication, wrote to Gordon, begging him not to believe any rumours +about him, and stating that he was coming up to see him. Gordon +unfortunately believed in this statement, and as he wished to exhibit +special lenience towards the man whom he had displaced in the command, +he went bail for him, so that he retained his personal liberty when +the Chinese arrested Burgevine's agent Beechy, and wished to arrest +Burgevine himself. On 2nd August Burgevine threw off the mask. At the +head of a band of thirty-two rowdies, he seized the new steamer +<i>Kajow</i> at Sungkiang, and with that vessel hastened to join the +Taepings. The very day that this happened Gordon reached Shanghai for +the purpose of resigning his command, but on the receipt of this +intelligence he at once withdrew his resignation and hastened back to +Quinsan. Apart from public considerations, he felt doubly bound to do +this because Burgevine had not been arrested on his pledged word.</p> + +<p>The position was undoubtedly critical, for the prospect of plunder +offered by Burgevine was very attractive to mercenaries like the Ever +Victorious Army, and there was a very real risk that the force at +Quinsan, deprived of its commander, might be induced to desert <i>en +masse</i> under the persuasive promises of Burgevine. When Gordon reached +Quinsan he was so apprehensive as to what might occur that he removed +his heavy artillery and most of his munitions of war to Taitsan, where +General Brown, in command at Shanghai, undertook to see that they were +protected. The situation at Quinsan was full of peril, for although +Burgevine had thrown away a chance, by taking a roundabout instead of +a direct route to Soochow, of striking a decisive blow before Gordon +could get back, the Taeping leader, Mow Wang, had not been so +negligent, and his operations for the recovery of several places taken +by Gordon in the last few days of his command were on the point of +success, when that officer's return arrested the course of his plans. +It must be pointed out that after this date the Taepings fought with +far more skill than before. They had a very considerable European +contingent, probably nearly 300 men, and these served not only as +leaders, but as trainers of the rebel Chinese forces. They had also +obtained some good cannon,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> and the steamer <i>Kajow</i> proved of material +value on water. Gordon found on his return, therefore, that the +difficulties of the campaign were materially increased. His opponents +were far stronger and more confident, while his own resources remained +unchanged. Gordon tersely summed up the situation in an official +despatch: "There is no knowing what an immense amount of damage might +have been done if the rebels had had a more energetic man than +Burgevine, and it would be as well not to point out the line which +might have been taken."</p> + +<p>The first engagements of this more difficult and keenly-contested +phase of the campaign took place at Kahpoo, a place on the canal some +miles south of Soochow. Gordon had taken it a week before he left for +Shanghai, as a sort of parting gift to the Chinese, but when he +arrived there on 9th August he found the garrison hard pressed, +although the <i>Hyson</i> was stationed there—and indeed nothing but his +arrival with a third steamer, the <i>Cricket</i>, averted its recapture. +After five days' operations, that do not require description, the +neighbourhood of Kahpoo was cleared of rebels, and Gordon returned to +Quinsan, where the most essential task had to be accomplished of +restoring the discipline of his own force. As some assistance in this +difficult task General Brown lent him the services of 200 Beluches, +whose admirable conduct and splendid appearance went far to restore a +healthy spirit among his own men. At the same time these troops +ensured the safety of Quinsan and also of Gordon himself, at least +against the treachery of Burgevine's sympathisers.</p> + +<p>The season of the year, the hottest and most trying of the long +Chinese summer, compelled inaction, and Gordon felt doubly the need of +caution now that he was brought face to face with the most arduous +undertaking of the whole war, viz. the siege and capture of Soochow. +General Ching's headquarters were at Ta Edin, and he had also occupied +in force Waiquaidong, only two miles from the eastern gate of Soochow. +Before the end of September he had pushed on still further, and +erected his stockades within half a mile of that position. At this +moment Gordon, anxious as to what might happen to his too-adventurous +colleague, advanced with his force to his aid, and took up the supreme +direction of the attack on Soochow. As usual, Gordon began by making a +careful examination of the extensive rebel positions at and round +Soochow, and the result of it was that he decided to capture the +stockades and village of Patachiaou, one mile distant from the south +wall of that city. His plan met with easy success, for the Taepings +were not expecting an attack in that quarter, and offered little +resistance.</p> + +<p>Easily as they had been driven out of it, the Taepings made a very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +determined effort to retake it a few days later, and it was only by +desperate exertions that Gordon succeeded in holding what he had won. +This was the first occasion on which Burgevine and the <i>Kajow</i> +steamer, commanded by Captain Jones, "a daring and capable officer," +to use Gordon's words, came into action. The rebels were extremely +confident for this reason, and also because they had some heavy +artillery. Gordon had to keep to his stockades, and to send the +<i>Hyson</i> out of action from fear of its being damaged by the enemy's +shell, but the Taepings were afraid to come to close quarters, and +eventually retreated before a well-timed <i>sortie</i>. In this engagement +Gordon had the co-operation of a French-trained Chinese regiment, +under the command of a gallant officer, Captain Bonnefoy. After this +there was a lull, but Gordon felt too weak to attempt anything serious +against Soochow, and he deprecated all operations until he could +strike an effective blow. In this respect he differed materially from +his Chinese colleague, General Ching, who was most restless and +enterprising, but his ill-directed energy produced no result, and even +assisted the enemy's plans.</p> + +<p>At this juncture the Taeping hero Chung Wang arrived from Nanking with +reinforcements, and imparted a new vigour to the defence. But whether +on account of jealousy, or of disappointment at the poor services he +had rendered, it also resulted in the dismissal of Burgevine, an +incident of which some brief account may be given before following the +main course of the campaign. More than one ground of dispute led up to +this conclusion. In the first place, Burgevine was disappointed at +finding several of the rebel Wangs as clever and ambitious as he was, +and they were disappointed at the amount of service and help he could +give them. This feeling culminated in angry scenes, when, on being +sent into Shanghai in disguise to purchase arms with a large sum of +money, he returned to Soochow without either money or weapons. He was +apparently given, as a last chance, the opportunity of regaining his +reputation by entrapping Gordon into the rebel power, and he +thoroughly entered into the scheme, although he failed to carry it +out. On 3rd October—that is to say, two days after the failure to +retake Patachiaou—Burgevine made the first step in this plot by +addressing a letter to Gordon, thanking him for the offer of medicines +he had sent, and offering to meet him whenever he liked to discuss +matters. On the 6th he met Gordon at the stockades, and declared his +willingness to abandon the Taepings and come over with all his force, +including the <i>Kajow</i>. He and his companions were guaranteed their +lives, and the arrangement seemed complete. Two days later he had a +second interview with the English officer, when he made the +extraordinary proposition that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> he and Gordon should join bands, +attack both Taepings and Imperialists, and fight for their own hand. +This mad and unprincipled proposal excited Gordon's anger, but it was +only Burgevine's old filibustering idea revived under unfavourable +conditions. It was while smarting under this rebuff that Burgevine +proposed to Captain Jones a fresh plot for entrapping Gordon, while +he, unsuspecting evil, was engaged in conferences for their surrender; +but to Jones's credit, let it be stated that he refused to have any +part in such black treachery. Thereupon Burgevine attempted to take +Jones's life, either to conceal his own treachery or to enable him to +carry out his interrupted plans. Much delay occurred in carrying out +the project of Burgevine's desertion, and Gordon, rendered specially +anxious to save his and the other foreigners' lives, because one party +had escaped without Burgevine, wrote a strong letter on the subject to +Mow Wang, Chung Wang's chief lieutenant. He also sent him a present of +a pony, at which the rebel chief was so much pleased that he agreed to +release Burgevine, and on 18th October that person appeared at the +outworks of Gordon's position. His personal safety was entirely due to +Gordon's humane efforts, and to the impression that officer had made +on the Taepings as a chivalrous opponent. The American Consul at +Shanghai, Mr Seward, officially thanked Major Gordon for his "great +kindness to misguided General Burgevine and his men." Nearly two years +later this adventurer met the fate he so narrowly escaped on several +occasions. He had been forbidden by his own Consul as well as the +Chinese Government ever to return to China, but in June 1865 he broke +his parole. Before he could be arrested he met with his death by +accident, being drowned when crossing a Chinese river, but rumours +were prevalent that his death was an act of vengeance instigated by +his old enemy the Futai, Li Hung Chang.</p> + +<p>The assumption of the supreme command by Chung Wang was soon followed +by those offensive operations which had made that dashing leader the +most famous of all the rebel generals. Gordon and the bulk of his +corps were at Patachiaou, south of Soochow—only General Ching and the +Chinese army were north of that place—and he resolved to attack them +and force his way through to Chanzu, which he wished to recover as +opening a road to the river and the outer world. Gordon divined his +intention, and for some time prevented him carrying it out by making +threatening demonstrations with his gunboats on the western side of +Soochow; but his own attention was soon diverted to another part of +the country where a new and unexpected danger threatened his own +position and communications. A large rebel force, computed to number +20,000 men, had suddenly appeared behind Major Gordon's<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> position and +attacked the Imperial garrison stationed at Wokong, a place on the +canal twelve or thirteen miles south of Soochow. The news that reached +Gordon on 12th October from this quarter was that the garrison, having +been repulsed in a <i>sortie</i> with a loss of several hundred men, could +not hold out many hours. Gordon at once hastened to the rescue at the +head of one of his regiments, and with the invaluable <i>Hyson</i> steamer. +He found his allies quite cowed, afraid even to open the gates of +their stockades to admit him and his men, and the enemy drawn up in +imposing lines at a distance of about 1500 yards. He at once ordered +the attack, and during three hours the engagement was contested in the +most obstinate and spirited manner. The rebels, having their line of +retreat secure, fought bravely. Gordon had to bring up his heavy guns +to within forty yards of the wall before they would gave way, and even +then they stood at the second and third inner stockades. Gordon never +gave them a chance of recovering, but having got them on the run, kept +them at it for a distance of ten miles. This was one of Gordon's +greatest victories in the open field. The Taepings never fought +better, yet with 1000 good Chinese troops Gordon routed more than +20,000 of them.</p> + +<p>Chung Wang had begun his march towards Chanzu, but after some slight +successes met with a rude repulse at Monding, where he also lost the +steamer <i>Kajow</i>, which was sunk by an accidental explosion. He then +established his headquarters at Wusieh, a place on the Grand Canal, +about twenty-five miles north of Soochow. Here he hoped to effect some +diversion that might relieve the increasing pressure on Soochow +itself.</p> + +<p>In the meantime that pressure had greatly increased, owing to the +bolder measures to which Gordon resorted after the European contingent +abandoned the Taeping side. His first step was to attack and capture +the stockades at Wuliungchow, a village two miles west of Patachiaou, +which commanded a passage leading from the Taiho Lake to the south +gate of Soochow. Gordon managed to conceal the real object of his +attack from the Taepings, and to capture the stockades with little +loss. The wet weather and the unexpected nature of the attack +explained this easy success, for the stockades were strong and well +placed. Chung Wang returned from Wusieh with the special object of +retaking them, but he was repulsed with some loss, and then hurried +back to that place. A few days later part of Gordon's force, under +Major Kirkham, was sent to Wokong, which was again being threatened by +the Taepings, and obtained a brilliant success, capturing 1300 +prisoners and not fewer than 1600 boats, including sixteen gunboats.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + +<p>Having achieved this success on the south, Gordon proceeded with his +plans to secure an equally advantageous position on the north side. He +left two regiments at Wuliungchow, which he greatly strengthened, and +with the remainder he went to Waiquaidong, where he proposed to +deliver his attack on the Leeku stockades, only a short distance in +front of the north gate of Soochow. This operation was carried out +with complete success, and it was promptly followed up by the capture +of the rebel positions at Wanti, which enabled the forces round +Soochow to join hands with the other considerable Imperial army that +had been placed in the field by the energy of Li Hung Chang, and +entrusted to the command of his brother, San Tajin. This last force +was opposed to Chung Wang, but although numerically the stronger, the +want of the most rudimentary military knowledge in its commander +reduced this army of 20,000 men to inglorious inaction. At this stage +of the struggle it will be well to sum up in Gordon's own words the +different positions held by the contending forces:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"We held the Taiho Lake with the steamers the <i>Hyson</i>, the +<i>Tsatlee</i>, <i>Firefly</i>, and 200 men (Imperialists), which cruised +off Moodow, and prevented supplies coming to Soochow up the creek +which leads from that village to the small West Gate, or +Shih-mün, of Soochow, and where they had many actions with the +rebel gunboats. The next great water outlet was closed to the +rebels by our possession with 1000 men (Imperialists) of +Wuliungchow. Off the Pon-mün, or South Gate, the next main water +and road communication to the south was closed to them by our +occupation by 1500 men (Imperialists) of the Patachiaou stockades +on the Grand Canal, south of the south-east angle of Soochow. The +next, which led from the east gate of Soochow to Quinsan, was +closed by Ching's force of 3000 or 4000 men, nearly two miles +from the gate. These men were well posted in strong and +well-constructed stockades. The next position held was Leeku, +where I had one regiment, and at Wanti there was another +regiment. The total force in the stockades was about 8500 men, +leaving for field operation 2500 Imperialists, 2100 of the +Quinsan Corps, and 400 Franco-Chinese. San Tajin had 20,000 to +30,000, in three separate camps. He was utterly incapable for +command of any sort.</p> + +<p>"The rebels held Soochow with some 40,000 men in and around the +city. The city of Wusieh held some 20,000 men, and Chung Wang had +at Mahtanchow some 18,000 more. Chung Wang's position was central +between Wusieh and Soochow, some ten miles in advance of the +Grand Canal, so as to be able to give help to either city, and to +attack on the flank any advance made by us on their grand line of +communications by that canal."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p></blockquote> + +<p>The city of Soochow, now so closely beleaguered, was of imposing +appearance. An English traveller who saw it at this time thus +describes it:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Further than the eye could penetrate in the misty morning +stretched the grizzled walls of Soochow, a city celebrated for +ages in the history of China for its size, population, wealth, +and luxury, but now stripped of its magnificence, and held by an +army of Taeping banditti against the Imperial forces. To the +right and left, mile after mile, rose the line of lofty wall and +grey turret, while above all appeared not only the graceful +pagodas, which have been for ages the boast of Soochow and the +dense foliage of secular trees—the invariable glory of Chinese +cities—but also the shimmering roofs of newly decorated palaces +confidently occupied by the vainglorious leaders of the +rebellion. The proximity of the rebel line became apparent with +surprising suddenness, for, following their usual custom, they +greeted the rising sun with a simultaneous display of gaudy +banners above the line of their entrenchments. The mud walls they +had thrown up in advance, scarcely distinguishable before, were +now marked out by thousands of flags of every colour from black +to crimson, whilst behind them rose the jangling roll of gongs, +and the murmurs of an invisible multitude."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Had Gordon been free to act, or even if he had possessed authority +over the two Chinese commanders, his plan of campaign would have been +simple and decisive. He would have effected a junction of his forces +with San Tajin; and having overwhelmed Chung Wang and his 18,000 men +with his combined army of double that strength, he would have appeared +at the head of his victorious troops before the bewildered garrison of +Wusieh. He would probably have thus terminated the campaign at a +stroke. Even the decisive defeat of Chung Wang alone might have +entailed the collapse of the cause now tottering to its fall. But +Major Gordon had to consider not merely the military quality of his +allies, but also their jealousies and differences. General Ching hated +San Tajin on private as well as on public grounds. He desired a +monopoly of the profit and honour of the campaign. His own reputation +would be made by the capture of Soochow. It would be diminished and +cast into the shade were another Imperial commander to defeat Chung +Wang and close the line of the Grand Canal. If Gordon detached himself +from General Ching, he could not feel sure what folly that jealous and +impulsive commander might not commit. He would certainly not pursue +the vigilant defence before Soochow necessary to guard the extensive +line of stockades, and to prevent its large garrison sallying out and +assailing his own rear. Gordon had consequently for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> these +considerations to abandon the tempting idea of crushing Chung Wang and +capturing the towns in the rear of Nanking, and to have recourse to +safer if slower methods.</p> + +<p>But if he had to abandon the larger plan, he still stuck tenaciously +to his main idea that the way to capture Soochow was to isolate it, +and above all to sever Chung Wang's communication with it. Several +weeks passed before Gordon could complete the necessary arrangements, +but at last, on 19th November, he left Leeku at the head of the +greater part of his own force and a large contingent of Ching's braves +to attack the stockades at Fusaiquan on the Grand Canal, about four +miles north of Leeku. The Taeping position was a strong one, including +eight separate earthworks, a stone fort, and several stockades. Gordon +said "it was far the best built and strongest position he had yet +seen," but the rebels evacuated it in the most cowardly manner without +attempting the least resistance. Gordon goes on to say: "Our loss was +none killed, and none wounded! We had expected a most desperate +defence. If ever men deserved beheading, the Taeping leaders did on +this occasion." The immediate consequence of this success was that +Chung Wang quitted his camp in face of San Tajin, and, joining the +Wusieh corps, concentrated his whole force for the defence of the +Grand Canal.</p> + +<p>Having thus strengthened his position towards the north, Gordon, very +much to Ching's satisfaction, fell in with his views to begin a direct +attack on Soochow itself. For good reasons it was decided that the +north-east angle of Soochow was the weakest, but before it could be +attacked it was necessary to capture the strong stockades which the +rebels had erected in front of the East and North Gates. The East +Gate, or Low Mun, stockades were selected for the first attack, and as +the scene of a reverse to Ching's force on 14th October, the Chinese +commander was specially anxious to capture them. They were exceedingly +formidable, consisting of a line of breastwork, defended at intervals +with circular stockades, and the position was well chosen and strongly +fortified. After reconnoitring it, and obtaining all the information +he could from deserters, Gordon determined on a night attack; but +unfortunately not only were his plans revealed to the Taepings by +traitors in his own camp, but his arrangements miscarried. As is often +the case with night attacks, the plan of attack was not adhered to, +and much confusion followed. The breastwork was carried by a small +part of his troops, but the stockades in its rear were never reached. +Encouraged by Gordon's example, who seemed to be at every point at the +same moment, his men held on to the breastwork, but the supports would +not move up, and when he hastened to the rear to encourage them, the +Taepings under Mow Wang attacked in their turn and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> manned the +breastwork. There was nothing now to be done but to draw off the +troops, which was executed with comparatively slight loss; but 165 +officers and men were killed or wounded—the majority being killed or +missing. This loss would have been much greater if the Taepings had +only had the courage to leave their position, but fortunately they +showed themselves unable to follow up their success. This was Gordon's +first defeat, but it was so obviously due to special causes that it +did not much dishearten his men, or diminish the high reputation he +and his force had gained by thirteen previous victories.</p> + +<p>But the necessity to retrieve such a reverse was obvious, and Gordon +collected the whole of his corps for the purpose of capturing the Low +Mun stockades. He also placed his siege guns in position, and began a +heavy bombardment in the morning of 29th November as the preliminary +to attack. On his side, Mow Wang made all his preparations for +defence, which had been rendered the more necessary because there were +dissensions among the Taeping leaders themselves, one of whom, named +Lar Wang, had offered to surrender with his followers to General Ching +on terms. Partly on this account Chung Wang rode into Soochow with a +bodyguard of a few hundred men by the only bridle-path available, and +his presence composed for the moment the quarrels of the Taeping +leaders. But the result depended on the successful defence of the +stockades in front of the East Gate, and Gordon was equally intent on +capturing them. After a short bombardment the breastwork seemed so +knocked about that Gordon ordered a column to advance to the assault, +but it was met by a tremendous fire and compelled to turn back. Then +the bombardment was renewed, and the field-pieces were pushed forward +as far as possible. A second assault was then delivered, but the +creek—fourteen yards across—was too wide for the bridge, and things +again looked black, when the officers boldly jumped into the water, +and their men following, the whole position was captured at a rush. +Once this success was gained, the defence of the Taepings, who had +fought well, collapsed, and stockade after stockade was carried with +little or no loss. Gordon himself, with a mere handful of men, +captured three more stockades and a stone fort that he said could have +held out after all the other positions had fallen. The loss of the +corps in this severe but decisive engagement was heavy, amounting to 6 +officers killed, and 3 wounded; 50 men killed, and 128 wounded, +besides 5 Europeans of the Bodyguard. But this assault was decisive, +inasmuch as it was the last that had to be made on the defences of +Soochow before the fall of that place.</p> + +<p>At this point it will be appropriate to say something about Gordon's +relations with his own officers, many of whom contemplated, whenever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> +dissatisfied with their treatment or at prolonged inaction, selling +their cause and services to the Taepings. During the siege he +discovered that Captain Perry had written a letter giving the enemy +information, but Gordon agreed to look over the offence on the +condition that Perry led the next forlorn hope, which happened to be +the affair at the Leeku stockades. Gordon had forgotten the condition, +but Perry remembered it, and led the assault. He was shot in the +mouth, and fell into the arms of his commander, ever at the point of +danger. Perry was the first man killed, and Gordon's epitaph was that +he was "a very good officer." Although Gordon was a strict and even +severe disciplinarian, he was always solicitous of the interests of +the officers who worked under him, and he set apart the greater +portion of his pay in the Chinese service, which had been fixed at +£1,200 a year, for their benefit, more especially for the purchase of +medicine and comforts for the ill or wounded. There was no +exaggeration at all in the statement that he left China without any +savings and as poor as when he reached it.</p> + +<p>From the gallant deeds of Gordon and his corps the course of the siege +passes to the intrigues and negotiations between General Ching and Lar +Wang. These had made so much progress that Lar Wang's troops abandoned +the formidable stockades in front of the North Gate, which were +occupied without the least attempt at resistance. Several interviews +took place with the Taeping leaders, and Gordon was present at some of +these, but Li Hung Chang asserts that he was not present at the most +important of them; and that he was not a signatory of the convention +of surrender. He was strongly in favour of good terms being granted to +the rebels, and impressed his views on both Li Hung Chang, who had +come up to the camp to be present at the fall of Soochow, and General +Ching. From both he received the most positive assurances that the +lives of all the Wangs would be spared, and such was no doubt their +intention, but events were too strong for them. The most interesting +of these leaders, with, of course, the exception of Chung Wang, was +Mow Wang, who would have nothing to say to a surrender, and wished to +fight to the death. He was the man who had sent back Burgevine, and +Gordon admired his courage so much that he resolved to spare no effort +to save his life. He asked Li to assign Mow Wang to him, and this +request was granted. Unfortunately all these efforts were thrown away, +for on the 4th December, during a banquet given at Mow Wang's palace, +the other Wangs had fallen upon and murdered that chief, who would +have resisted with all his force their projected surrender of the +place. The next day Lar Wang, who had taken an oath of brotherhood +with General<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> Ching, gave up one of the gates, and his numerous +followers undertook to shave their heads in token of surrender. The +Imperialist troops occupied the gate, and prepared to take possession +of the city, but Gordon would not allow any of his men to leave the +stockades as he foresaw the impossibility of preventing them from +plundering if they were permitted to advance into the city. But he +went and represented the case to Li Hung Chang, and demanded two +months' pay for his men as a reward for their good service, and as +some compensation for the loss of loot. Li replied that he could not +grant the request, and Gordon at once resigned for the second time +during his connection with the Chinese Government. There was serious +risk of an outbreak on the part of the discontented soldiers of the +Ever Victorious Army, but on General Ching providing one month's pay +Gordon used his influence with his men to march quietly back to +Quinsan. The men at first received this order with shouts of +dissatisfaction, and even threatened to attack the Futai Li, but +Gordon succeeded in overcoming their objections, and the worst that +happened was a noisy demonstration as the troops passed Li Hung +Chang's tent, where Gordon and another officer stood on guard.</p> + +<p>The Chinese officials were delighted to thus get rid of the Ever +Victorious Army, without which they would never have seen the inside +of Soochow. Its presence diminished their credit and interfered with +the execution of the plans which they had no doubt held throughout all +the negotiations with Lar Wang. Neither Li nor Ching wished Lar Wang +and his colleagues to be saved, and thus allowed to become rivals to +themselves in the race of official honour and wealth. There was +nothing surprising in this, and the only matter for astonishment is +that Lar Wang, well acquainted with the Punic faith of his countrymen, +and with such a black record from the Government point of view, should +have so easily placed faith in the word of his enemies. This was the +more extraordinary because Gordon himself went into the city and saw +Lar Wang at his own house before he left for Li Hung Chang's quarters, +where a banquet had been arranged, and asked him very pressingly +whether he was quite satisfied. Gordon himself seems to have had +suspicions or apprehensions, for he even offered to take him on board +his own steamer with which he was going to cruise in the Taiho Lake. +Lar Wang, however, was quite confident, and said that all was well. +This confidence was doubly unfortunate, for Gordon had excused himself +from the Futai's banquet on the ground that his presence might seem +humiliating to the Taeping leaders, whereas it was the only thing that +could have averted their fate. As Gordon was leaving the city the +Wangs passed him, laughing and talking, and riding apparently unarmed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> +to the Futai's quarters. The next time Gordon saw them was when he +beheld their headless bodies lying on the river bank near their host's +camp.</p> + +<p>Gordon after this walked through the city, as some hours would elapse +before the steamer could get round to the south-west side, where he +intended to embark. While on his way he was joined by Dr Macartney. +They both proceeded to the walls near the Eastern Gate, and on looking +towards the Futai's quarters Gordon noticed a large crowd, but he did +not attach any significance to it. About half an hour later a large +number of Imperial soldiers entered the city, and set up a yell, as +was their custom, and fired off guns. Gordon represented to their +officers that this conduct was against the agreement, and might lead +to disturbance, as the city was still crowded with Taepings. At this +juncture General Ching appeared. As Gordon was supposed to be on his +steamer on his way to the lake, he seemed taken aback, and turned +pale. To Gordon's repeated inquiries as to whether all was well, he +made a rambling statement that Lar Wang had made unreasonable demands, +that he had refused to carry out the exact terms of the surrender, and +finally, that he had run away. Gordon then asked Dr Macartney, as he +knew Chinese, to go to Lar Wang's house, and reassure him if he found +him there, but this statement must be taken in conjunction with the +important narrative I give two pages further on. Gordon went a little +way with General Ching, and then decided to wait at the North Gate for +further intelligence, while the Chinese commander continued his round. +Gordon then began to question his own interpreter as to what he +thought, and on receiving the reply that "there was something +improper," he determined to proceed himself with all speed to Lar +Wang's house. On his way he passed through crowds of excited Taeping +soldiers, and he also met a band of Imperialists laden with plunder. +Lar Wang's palace had been pillaged and gutted, but an uncle of his, +named Wangchi, was there, and he begged Gordon to help him to escort +the females of Lar Wang's family to his own house. Gordon agreed to do +this, but when he reached Wangchi's house, he found five or six +hundred armed men in the courtyard. The doors were closed, and Wangchi +refused to allow either Gordon or his interpreter to leave. During the +night large bodies of excited Taepings, who knew that their chiefs had +been entrapped, although, fortunately, not aware of their murder, +rallied on this spot, and Gordon was thus placed in a position of the +greatest personal peril.</p> + +<p>At length leave was given him to send his interpreter, escorted by two +Taepings, to summon his own bodyguard, and to take an order<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> to +another part of his force to seize the Futai and hold him as a hostage +for the safety of the Wangs. The interpreter was attacked on the way +by Imperialists, who wounded him, and tore up Gordon's letters. When +one of the Taeping guides brought back this news Gordon was allowed to +leave himself for the same purpose; but he was arrested on the way by +some Imperialists, detained for several hours, and the morning was far +advanced before he was able to send back his bodyguard for the +protection of Wangchi's house and family. He then moved a further +force into the city, to prevent the massacre that the Imperialists +seemed to be contemplating, and in this task he was gallantly seconded +by Captain Bonnefoy and the Franco-Chinese contingent. Having taken +these steps, Gordon waited near the Eastern Gate for all his steamers, +with which he intended to seize the Futai, and make him give up the +Wangs. At this moment General Ching approached him, but before he +could begin his excuses, "he met with such a storm that he made a +precipitate retreat into the city." Ching then sent an English +officer, one of Gordon's own force, to explain matters, but he did not +know whether the chiefs were alive or dead. He went on to say, +however, that Lar Wang's son was in his tent, and on the boy being +sent for, he said that his father had been executed on the opposite +side of the creek. The steamers had still not arrived, and Gordon +asked one of his lieutenants, Prince F. von Wittgenstein, to cross the +creek in his boat and report what he saw. He returned with the +intelligence that there were nine headless bodies. Gordon then crossed +himself, and identified Lar Wang and several of his companions. There +was consequently no further doubt as to what had happened, or anything +left for Gordon to do than to secure them decent burial. Having done +this he abandoned his trip to the Taiho Lake, and hastened to Quinsan.</p> + +<p>The exact mode of this assassination seems to have been as follows: +When the Wangs came out of the city they were met by General Ching, +who did not, however, accompany them to the Futai Li Hung Chang. That +official received them in a stockade near his boat, some conversation +ensued, and then Li left the stockade. Here again reference should be +made to the authoritative narrative that follows. A party of Imperial +troops closed the gates, seized the Wangs, and at once beheaded them. +Li Hung Chang very soon afterwards left his quarters for a different +and remote part of the Imperial camp.</p> + +<p>This treacherous act, although quite in accordance with Chinese +traditions, was generally denounced at the time, and has excited much +discussion since. Major Gordon certainly felt it very keenly, for he +considered that his word had been pledged as much as the Chinese<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> +commander's for the safety of the leaders who surrendered. It has been +shown how energetically he acted once he suspected that anything was +wrong, but it seems as if it were going too far to say that he thought +for a moment of exacting a summary revenge on the person of Li Hung +Chang. Sir Henry Gordon, writing with at least a sense of +responsibility, says on this point: "It is not the fact that Major +Gordon sought the Futai with the intention of shooting him. It is a +complete misrepresentation to say he did so. It is true he endeavoured +unsuccessfully to have an explanation with him, but not of the nature +asserted." But it must also be reaffirmed that as long as Gordon +thought he could save the Wangs' lives he was prepared to secure the +person of Li Hung Chang and hold him as a hostage for their safety. Of +that, at least, there can be no question.</p> + +<p>I must now ask the reader to return to the point when Gordon and Dr +Macartney were standing on the wall near the Low Mun Gate, in order +that the following important and authoritative narrative may be +understood. General Ching entered by this gate at the head of a party +of his troops, and Gordon, somewhat uneasy at the signs of commotion +he thought he had detected across the creek, at once addressed him, +asking—"Well, how did it go off? Have the Wangs seen the Futai?"</p> + +<p>Taken off his guard, or confused between the sudden question and his +own knowledge of what had occurred, Ching quickly replied, "They have +not seen the Futai."</p> + +<p>"What!" replied Gordon, equally hastily; "that must be nonsense. I saw +the Wangs myself ride out of the city to the rendezvous, and spoke to +them."</p> + +<p>Ching then corrected himself by saying, "Oh, yes, that is all right, +but they have not shaved their heads, and they want to retain half the +city," the western half, that nearest to the relieving force, still at +a considerable distance from Soochow, under the heroic Chung Wang.</p> + +<p>To which Gordon at once responded, "That won't do. They must conform +with what has been agreed upon," and turning to Macartney, he said, +"Will you go to the Lar Wang's palace and tell him that this cannot +be, and meet me afterwards at Wuliungchow, where I am to join the +steamer <i>Hyson</i> to go on the Taiho Lake?"</p> + +<p>Macartney at once accepted the mission, and proceeded to the Lar +Wang's palace, but before following him thither it is necessary to +refer to two earlier passages, one known and the other up to this +moment unknown, in the relations of General Gordon and Sir Halliday +Macartney.</p> + +<p>The passage which is known is that where Macartney, sent as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +representative of the Futai Li Hung Chang, and escorted by that +Governor's own bodyguard, healed the breach caused between Gordon and +General Ching by the latter firing on some of Gordon's troops and +treating the matter with marked levity, which so enraged Gordon that +he was on the point of attacking the Imperialist troops when Sir +Halliday Macartney arrived as peacemaker, and with equal tact and +energy averted the catastrophe. This incident has already been +referred to, and need not further detain us. I come now to the second +and more interesting matter.</p> + +<p>Some weeks before the fall of Soochow, but at a moment when it had +become clear that the place could not hold out much longer, Gordon +approached Macartney and said: "I want to speak to you very privately, +and as I do not wish any one to hear our conversation, will you come +on board my boat?" When they were both on board, Gordon ordered his +Chinese sailors to pull out to the centre of the lake before he would +say a word. Having thus rendered secrecy assured, Gordon spoke as +follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Macartney, I have brought you out here so that nobody should +know of our conversation, and that we might speak out as man to +man. I must tell you, in the first place, that as soon as Soochow +falls I intend to resign the command and return home. With that +intention in my mind, I have been anxiously considering who was +the best man to name as my successor in the command of the Ever +Victorious Army, and, after the most careful consideration, I +have come to the conclusion that you are the best man. Will you +take the command?"</p></blockquote> + +<p>This unexpected question was the more embarrassing to Macartney, +because, long before Gordon was appointed, rumour had freely credited +him with coveting the command of the Ever Victorious Army in +succession to Burgevine, and, as a matter of fact, the Chinese +authorities had wished him to have the command. However, nothing had +come of the project, and Macartney, after his post as Burgevine's +military secretary had ceased to exist with the dismissal and treason +of that adventurer, was appointed to a separate command of a portion +of the Imperialist forces. The course of events had now, in an +unexpected but highly complimentary manner, brought the realisation of +any hopes he may have entertained on the subject within his reach. He +replied to Gordon as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"As you speak so frankly to me, I will speak equally frankly to +you, and tell you something I have never told a living person. +Rumour has credited me with having aspired to the command of this +force, but erroneously so. My ambition was to work myself up at +Court, and only to take the command if forced on me as a +provisional matter, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> as a stepping-stone to my real object, +which was, when my knowledge of the language was perfected, to +acquire at Peking some such influence as that possessed by +Verbiest and the other French missionaries in the seventeenth and +eighteenth centuries. I should never have mentioned this to you +lest you should not have believed it, but now that the command is +at my feet I may make this avowal without any hesitation as to +your accepting it. As you really think I can best succeed to the +command of the force when you resign it, I am perfectly willing +to accept the task."</p></blockquote> + +<p>To which Gordon replied: "Very well, then. That is settled." With this +private understanding, as to which nothing has been published until +this moment, the conversation closed with a final injunction from +Gordon of profound secrecy, as, should it become known, he might be +unable to get certain of his more ambitious officers to take part in +capturing the city. When Gordon therefore turned to Macartney, and +asked him to proceed to the Lar Wang's palace and inform him that the +terms of the convention must be carried out, it is necessary in order +to throw light on what follows to state what their relations were at +that moment. Gordon had selected Macartney as his successor in +preference to all his own officers.</p> + +<p>Macartney hastened to the Lar Wang's palace, but as he had lent Gordon +his horse, his movements were slightly retarded. On reaching the +building he noticed some signs of confusion, and when he asked one of +the attendants to take him at once to his master, he received the +reply that the Lar Wang was out. Sir Halliday Macartney is not a man +to be lightly turned from his purpose, and to this vague response he +spoke in peremptory terms:</p> + +<p>"The matter is of the first importance. I <i>must</i> see the Lar Wang. +Take me to him."</p> + +<p>Then the servant of the Taeping leader did a strange thing.</p> + +<p>"You <i>cannot</i> see my master," he said, and turning his face to the +wall, so that no one else might see, he drew his open hand in a +cutting position backwards and forwards. This is the recognised +Chinese mode of showing that a man's head has been cut off.</p> + +<p>Being thus apprised that something tragic had happened, Macartney +hastened away to Wuliungchow to keep his appointment with Gordon, and +to acquaint him with what had taken place at the Lar Wang's palace. +But no Gordon came, and more than a day elapsed before Macartney and +he met again under dramatic circumstances at Quinsan. After waiting at +Wuliungchow some hours, Sir Halliday resolved to proceed to the +Futai's camp, and learn there what had happened. But on arriving he +was informed that the Futai was not in the camp, that no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> one knew +where he was, and that Gordon was in a state of furious wrath at the +massacre of the Wangs, which was no longer concealed. Macartney then +endeavoured to find Gordon, but did not succeed, which is explained by +the fact that Gordon was then hastening to Quinsan to collect his own +troops. Baffled in these attempts, Macartney returned, after a great +many hours, to his own camp near the Paotichiaou Bridge, there to +await events, and on his arrival there he at last found the Futai Li +who had come to him for security. Li put into his hands a letter, +saying, "I have received that letter from Gordon. Translate its +contents."</p> + +<p>After perusing it, Macartney said: "This letter is written in a fit of +indignation. You and Gordon are and have been friends, and I am also +the friend of you both. The most friendly act I can do both of you is +to decline to translate it. Let me therefore return you the letter +unread."</p> + +<p>"Very well," replied Li; "do as you think best, but as I am not to +know the contents, I do not wish to have the letter. Please keep it."</p> + +<p>Sir Halliday Macartney kept the letter, which remained in his +possession for some time, until, in fact, he handed it, with an +explanatory account of the whole affair, to Sir Harry Parkes, as will +be explained further on.</p> + +<p>After this point had been settled, Li Hung Chang went on to say that +he wished Macartney to go and see Gordon at Quinsan, and speak to him +as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Tell Gordon that he is in no way, direct or indirect, +responsible in this matter, and that, if he considers his honour +involved, I will sign any proclamation he likes to draft, and +publish it far and wide that he had no part in or knowledge of +it. I accept myself the full and sole responsibility for what has +been done. But also tell Gordon that this is China, not Europe. I +wished to save the lives of the Wangs, and at first thought that +I could do so, but they came with their heads unshaved, they used +defiant language, and proposed a deviation from the convention, +and I saw that it would not be safe to show mercy to these +rebels. Therefore what was done was inevitable. But Gordon had no +part in it, and whatever he demands to clear himself shall be +done."</p></blockquote> + +<p>I do not gather that Sir Halliday Macartney had any serious misgivings +about this mission when he undertook it. His relations with Gordon +were, as has been shown, of a specially cordial and confidential +character, and even if he failed to induce Gordon to abandon the +threatening plans he had described in his letter to Li Hung Chang, +which was in his pocket, there was no reason to apprehend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> any +personal unpleasantness with one who had given the clearest proof of +friendship and esteem. As I cannot give the full text of the original +letter from General Gordon, I content myself by stating that its two +principal passages were that Li Hung Chang should at once resign his +post of Governor of Kiangsu, and give up the seals of office to +Gordon, so that he might put them in commission until the Emperor's +pleasure should be ascertained; or that, failing that step, Gordon +would forthwith proceed to attack the Imperialists, and to retake from +them all the places captured by the Ever Victorious Army, for the +purpose of handing them back again to the Taepings. When Gordon went +so far as to write a letter of that character, which, it must be +admitted, was far in excess of any authority he possessed, it must be +clear that the envoy, who came to put forward counsels that were +intended to restore harmony, but that by so doing might assume the +aspect of palliating the Futai's conduct, could not count on a very +cordial reception from a man of Gordon's temperament, whose sense of +honour and good faith had been deeply injured by the murder of the +rebel leaders.</p> + +<p>Still, Sir Halliday accepted the mission without hesitation, and +hastened to carry it out without delay. It was late in the day when he +saw Li Hung Chang, but having procured a native boat with several +rowers, he set off in the evening, and reached Quinsan in the middle +of the night. Gordon was then in bed and could not be disturbed, and +while Macartney waited he drank some coffee Gordon's servant made for +him, which he much needed, as he had left Soochow without having +broken his fast during the whole day. After a short time, and before +day had really broken, Gordon sent down word that he would see him, +and Macartney went upstairs to an ill-lighted room, where he found +Gordon sitting on his bedstead. He found Gordon sobbing, and before a +word was exchanged, Gordon stooped down, and taking something from +under the bedstead, held it up in the air, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"Do you see that? Do you see that?"</p> + +<p>The light through the small Chinese windows was so faint that +Macartney had at first some difficulty in recognising what it was, +when Gordon again exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"It is the head of the Lar Wang, foully murdered!" and with that burst +into hysterical tears.</p> + +<p>At once perceiving that any conversation under these circumstances +would do no good, Macartney said he would retire and see Gordon later. +Some hours afterwards breakfast was served in a large room downstairs, +where there were present not only many of the officers, but also +several European merchants and traders of Shanghai, who had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> in +the habit of supplying the force with its commissariat requirements. +Gordon came in, and Macartney took a seat beside him. After a few +minutes' silence Gordon turned to Macartney, and said abruptly:</p> + +<p>"You have not come for yourself. You have come on a mission from the +Futai. What is it?"</p> + +<p>When Macartney suggested that so public a place might not be the most +suitable, Gordon said: "There are only friends here. I have no +secrets. Speak out."</p> + +<p>There was no longer any honourable way of avoiding the challenge, and +Macartney described exactly what has been already recorded as to Li +Hung Chang having come to him with Gordon's letter, which from +friendly motives he had declined to translate, and stating that Li +took the whole responsibility on himself, and would exonerate Gordon +from the least complicity in the affair, with which the Chinese +statesman averred Gordon had had nothing to do. He went on to urge +with regard to the measures threatened by Gordon in expiation of the +massacre that they were not justifiable, and would not in the end +redound to Gordon's own credit. In conclusion, he said he felt sure +that "a little reflection would show Gordon that to carry on a +personal war with the Futai would be to undo all the good that had +been done. Moreover, you must recollect that although you, no doubt, +have at this moment the military force to carry out your threats, it +will no longer be paid by the Chinese authorities. You will only be +able to keep your men at your back by allowing them to plunder, and +how long will that prove successful, and what credit will you get by +it?"</p> + +<p>Gordon here stamped his foot, saying he would have none of Macartney's +mild counsels. To which Macartney replied, "Mild or not, they are the +only ones your Minister at Peking and our Queen will approve. Nay, +what I advise you to do is even that you would yourself do if you +would but reflect, and not let yourself be influenced by those men +sitting at your table."</p> + +<p>To these undoubtedly prudent representations, supported as they were +by at least one of those present, Mr Henry Dent, who got up and said +that, in his opinion, Dr Macartney's advice ought to be followed, +while the others who wished the war to go on from interested motives +remained silent, Gordon did and would not listen. The hot fit of rage +and horror at the treacherous murder of the Wangs, kept at fever-point +by the terrible memorial in his possession, was still strong upon him, +and his angry retort was—"I will have none of your tame counsels," +and there and then ordered the <i>Hyson</i>, with a party of infantry, to +be got ready to attack the Futai, at the same time offering Macartney +a passage in the steamer.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span></p> + +<p>On hearing this decisive declaration Macartney left the table, and +hastening to one of Gordon's officers, who was a personal friend, he +begged the loan of a horse and a pair of spurs. Having obtained what +he wanted, he set off riding as hard as he could by the road, which +was somewhat shorter than the canal, so that he might warn Li Hung +Chang as to what was going to happen, and also bring up his own troops +to oppose the advance of Gordon, who actually did move out of Quinsan +with the intention of carrying out his threats, but returned there +when his flotilla had proceeded half way.</p> + +<p>By that time he had fortunately reflected on the situation, and a +sanguinary struggle was averted. Gordon came to see that his honour +was not in the slightest or most remote degree involved, and that +China was not a country to which the laws of chivalry could be +applied; but before he had reached this stage of mental equilibrium he +had penned a most regrettable and cruelly unjust despatch, not about +Li Hung Chang or any one involved in the massacre, but about Dr, now +Sir Halliday Macartney, whose sole fault had been that he wished to +make peace, and to advise Gordon to act in the very sense which he +afterwards himself adopted.</p> + +<p>In a despatch to General Brown, commanding at Shanghai, which appears +in the Blue Book (China, No. 3, 1864, p. 198), Gordon wrote: "I then +went to his (Li's) boat and left him a note in English, informing him +of what my intention had been, and also my opinion of his treachery. I +regret to say that Mr Macartney did not think fit to have this +translated to him.... On 8th December the Futai sent Mr Macartney to +persuade me that he could not have done otherwise, and I blush to +think that he could have got an Englishman, late an officer in Her +Majesty's army, to undertake a mission of such a nature." This +statement, appearing in an official publication, has been largely +quoted, especially in Mr Egmont Hake's "Story of Chinese Gordon," and +the original injury done by Gordon, for which at the time he atoned, +was thus repeated in an offensive and altogether unjustifiable form +twenty years after Gordon had stated publicly that he was sorry for +having written this passage, and believed that Sir Halliday Macartney +was actuated by just as noble sentiments as himself.</p> + +<p>It is not an agreeable task for any biographer to record that his hero +was in the wrong, but as General Gordon frankly and fully admitted +that in this matter he was altogether to blame, and as Mr Hake's error +shows that his retractation never obtained that publicity which he +himself desired, I conceive myself to be carrying out his wishes in +placing the following facts prominently before the reader.</p> + +<p>When the Blue Book was published with the despatch referred to,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> Dr +Macartney took no notice of it. Some time afterwards he met the late +Sir Harry Parkes, then Consul-General at Shanghai, and he described +what I have set forth in the same language. Sir Harry Parkes, than +whom England never had a finer representative in the Far East, at once +said: "This is very interesting. Sir Frederick Bruce is coming down +shortly. I wish you would write out what you have told me, so that I +might show it to him." Dr Macartney wrote out his narrative, and with +it he sent Gordon's original letter to Li Hung Chang. Those documents +have never been published, but they should still exist in the Shanghai +Consulate. Sir Frederick Bruce's (brother of the ambassador Lord +Elgin, and himself the First British Minister at Peking) comment after +perusing them was: "Dr Macartney showed very great judgment and good +sense, and no blame attaches to him in this matter."</p> + +<p>A considerable period intervened between the breakfast scene at +Quinsan and Gordon's next meeting with Macartney. In that period much +had happened. Gordon had forgiven Li Hung Chang, done everything that +Macartney had recommended as the right course in the memorable scene +at Quinsan, and by some of the most remarkable of his military +exploits had crushed the Taeping rebellion, but the two principal +actors in this affair had not crossed each other's path.</p> + +<p>Six weeks after Gordon brought his operations in the field to an end +at Chanchufu in May he returned to Soochow, and Li Hung Chang, wishing +to do him honour, asked him to an official breakfast at his yamen. At +the same time Li Hung Chang said to Macartney: "I have asked Gordon to +breakfast. I know you and he have had some difference. How would you +meet him if you came too?"</p> + +<p>To this question Macartney replied: "I would meet Gordon exactly as +Gordon met me. It is true that Gordon did me an injustice, but I am +quite ready to blot it out from my memory if Gordon will admit it. +Gordon acted under a strong feeling of excitement when he was not +master of himself, and I have no more thought of holding him strictly +responsible for what he wrote at such a moment than I would a madman."</p> + +<p>Li Hung Chang said: "Very well, then. I ask you to come to breakfast +to meet him." On Macartney's return to his house he found a letter +from Gordon waiting for him. In this letter Gordon admitted that he +had done him a wrong, and was prepared to sign any paper to that +effect that Macartney might prepare.</p> + +<p>Macartney thereupon replied to Gordon, pointing out that the mere +publication of a letter of retractation was not an adequate reparation +for an injurious statement which had been given a wide circulation, +and to a certain extent placed beyond recall by appearing in an +official publication,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> but that if he might publish Gordon's own +letter offering to do this in the <i>North China Herald</i>, he would be +satisfied, and the matter, as far as he was concerned, might be +considered at an end. To this course Gordon at once acquiesced, +subject to the omission of one paragraph affecting a third person, and +in no respect relating to Sir Halliday or his conduct. This letter, +which the Editor of that paper stated he "published at Colonel +Gordon's request," on 23rd July 1864, read as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote> +<p class="ltr-date">"<span class="smcap">Shanghai</span>, <i>July 5, 1864</i>.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Macartney</span>,—It is with much regret that I perceive in +the last Blue Book issued on China affairs a Report from me to +General Brown on the occurrences at Soochow, which report +contains an injurious remark on your conduct.</p> + +<p>"I am extremely sorry that I ever penned that remark, as I +believe you went out of your way on this occasion wholly on the +same public grounds which led eventually to my taking the field +myself, and I can only excuse my having done so by recollecting +the angry feelings with which I was actuated at that time.</p> + +<p>"It will be my duty to rectify this error in other quarters, and +in the meantime I beg you to make what use you may think fit of +this letter.—Yours truly,</p> + +<p class="author-up">"C. G. Gordon."</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>On the next day Gordon and Macartney met at breakfast at the yamen of +the Futai Li Hung Chang, and Gordon at once came up to Macartney and +said:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Do not let us talk of the past, but of the future. I am one of +those who hold that when a man has wronged another he should seek +opportunities through his life of making him redress. Now you are +founding an Arsenal at Soochow, and I am going back to England, +where I have a brother in the Arsenal at Woolwich. From him I can +get you books, plans, and useful information. I will do so."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Gordon was as good as his word. He sent Macartney expensive plans and +books, besides most valuable information. He also promised to write to +the Duke of Cambridge as Commander-in-Chief, admitting that he was not +justified in his criticism of Dr Macartney, who had acted in every way +becoming an English gentleman and officer. Thus ended the +misunderstanding between the two Englishmen who rendered China the +best service she has ever obtained from foreigners; and knowing both +these distinguished men intimately, I have much pleasure in testifying +from my own knowledge to the accuracy of the following statement of +Sir Halliday Macartney to myself that "after this, Gordon and I +remained firm friends evermore."</p> + +<p>Gordon's indignation at this outrage did not soon subside, and three +weeks after it happened an opportunity presented itself for showing +and perhaps relieving his mind. A high Chinese officer presented +himself at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> his quarters at Quinsan to announce the receipt of an +Imperial decree and presents from Peking as a reward for his share in +the capture of Soochow. Gordon at once said that he would not accept +the presents, and that they were not to be brought to him. The Chinese +officer replied that they should not be brought, but that the emissary +of the Emperor ought to be received. To this Gordon assented, and on +1st January 1864 he went down to receive him at the West Gate. On +arriving there he met a procession carrying a number of open boxes, +containing 10,000 taels (then about £3000 of our money) in Sycee +shoes, laid on red cloth, also four Snake flags taken from the +Taepings—two sent by Li Hung Chang, and two by another mandarin who +had had no part in the Soochow affair. Gordon made the procession turn +about and take the whole lot back again. He wrote his reply stating +his reason on the back of the Imperial rescript itself; he rejected Li +Hung Chang's flags, but he accepted the other two as being in no sense +associated with the disgrace of the Taeping massacre. In this manner +did Gordon show the Chinese what he thought of their conduct. His +characteristic reply to the Imperial rescript read as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Major Gordon receives the approbation of His Majesty the Emperor +with every gratification, but regrets most sincerely that, owing +to the circumstance which occurred since the capture of Soochow, +he is unable to receive any mark of H.M. the Emperor's +recognition, and therefore respectfully begs His Majesty to +receive his thanks for his intended kindness, and to allow him to +decline the same."</p></blockquote> + +<p>At this moment it will be recollected that Gordon was, strictly +speaking, no longer in command. He had resigned, because his very +reasonable demand for a gratuity to his troops had not been complied +with. But circumstances were too strong for him, and a number of +considerations, all highly creditable to his judgment and +single-mindedness, induced him to sink his private grievances, and to +resume the command on grounds of public policy and safety. The +internal condition of the Ever Victorious Army itself, which inaction +had brought to the verge of mutiny, was the determining fact that +induced Gordon to resume the command, even at the price of meeting Li +Hung Chang and sinking his differences with him. There had been much +intrigue among the officers of the force as to who should succeed +Gordon in the command, if he persisted in his resolve to give it up, +and before tranquillity was restored sixteen of the agitating officers +had to be dismissed. The force itself welcomed the formal resumption +of the command by Gordon, and not the less because it signified a +return to active operations after more than two months' inaction. The +murder of the Wangs took place on 7th December 1863; it was on 18th +February<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> 1864 that Gordon marched out of Quinsan at the head of the +bulk of his force.</p> + +<p>In a letter written at the time, Sir Robert Hart, whose services to +the Chinese Government, spread over the long period of forty years, +have been of the highest order and importance, said:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The destiny of China is at the present moment in the hands of +Gordon more than of any other man, and if he be encouraged to act +vigorously, the knotty question of Taepingdom <i>versus</i> 'union in +the cause of law and order' will be solved before the end of May, +and quiet will at length be restored to this unfortunate and +sorely-tried country. Personally, Gordon's wish is to leave the +force as soon as he can. Now that Soochow has fallen, there is +nothing more that he can do, whether to add to his own reputation +or to retrieve that of British officers generally, tarnished by +Holland's defeat at Taitsan. He has little or nothing personally +to gain from future successes, and as he has himself to lead in +all critical moments, and is constantly exposed to danger, he has +before him the not very improbable contingency of being hit +sooner or later. But he lays aside his personal feelings, and +seeing well that if he were now to leave the force it would in +all probability go at once to the rebels or cause some other +disaster, he consents to remain with it for a time."</p></blockquote> + +<p>During that interval some minor successes had been obtained by the +Imperialists. Several towns surrendered to Li Hung Chang, and Chung +Wang evacuated Wusieh and retired to Chanchufu, also on the Grand +Canal. At the same time he hastened himself to Nanking, in the vain +hope of arousing Tien Wang to the gravity of the situation, and +inducing him to make some special effort to turn the fortune of the +war. General Ching succeeded in capturing Pingwang, and with it +another entrance into the Taiho Lake. San Tajin moved his camp close +up to Changchufu and engaged the Taepings in almost daily encounters, +during one of which the <i>Firefly</i> steamer was retaken, and its English +captain killed. In consequence of this all the Europeans left the +service of the Taepings, and as their fleet had been almost entirely +destroyed, they were now hemmed in within a small compass, and Gordon +himself estimated that they ought to be finally overcome within two +months. In this hope he resumed the command, and his decision was +officially approved of and confirmed by the British Minister at +Peking.</p> + +<p>The Taepings still retained possession of Hangchow and some other +towns in the province of Chekiang, but all communication between them +and Nanking had been severed by the fall of Soochow, so far at least +as the routes east of the Taiho Lake were concerned. West of that lake +they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> still held Yesing and Liyang, which enabled them to maintain +communication, although by a roundabout route. Gordon determined to +begin his campaign by attacking these two places, when the severance +would be complete.</p> + +<p>Yesing, on the north-west corner of the lake, was the first object of +attack. Liyang is about fifty miles further inland than that town. The +Taepings at Yesing were not dreaming of an attack when Gordon, at the +head of his force, suddenly appeared before its walls. He found the +surrounding villages in a most appalling state of distress, the +inhabitants living on human food. The town was well surrounded by +ditches and stockades, and Gordon felt compelled to reconnoitre it +most carefully before deciding on his plan of attack. While engaged in +this work his ardour carried him away, and he was nearly captured by +the enemy. It was one of the narrowest of his many escapes during the +war, and went far to justify the reputation he had gained of having a +charmed life. A very striking instance of his narrowly escaping a +premature end had occurred during the siege of Soochow itself, when +the marvellous fifty-three-arch bridge at Patachiaou was destroyed. +One evening Gordon was seated smoking a cigar on one of the damaged +parapets of the bridge, when two shots fired by his own men struck the +stone-work close by him. He got down at the second shot, and entered +his boat. Hardly had he done so when the bridge collapsed with a +tremendous crash, nearly smashing his boat and killing two men. In all +the engagements, except when confined to his boat, Gordon always led +the attack, carrying no weapons, except a revolver which he wore +concealed in his breast, and never used except once, against one of +his own mutineers, but only a little rattan cane, which his men called +his magic wand of Victory. A graphic picture was drawn by one of his +own officers of this unarmed leader in the breach of an assaulted +position urging on his men by catching them by the sleeve of their +coats, and by standing indifferent and unresisting in the midst of the +thickest fire. Gordon long afterwards admitted that during the whole +of these scenes he was continuously praying to the Almighty that his +men should not turn tail. In the varied and voluminous annals of war +there is no more striking figure than this of human heroism combined +with spiritual fervour.</p> + +<p>The attack on Yesing lasted several days, as, owing to the manner in +which the country was cut up by canals, all the operations had to be +conducted with great caution. The capture of the southern stockades +was followed after a day's interval by the evacuation of the latter +and the flight of the garrison, who however pillaged the town as far +as they could before leaving. Gordon would not let his men enter the +town, as he knew they would pillage, and thus get out of hand. They +were so<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> disappointed that several cases of insubordination occurred, +and one mutineer had to be shot. The Imperialists were left to +garrison Yesing, but under strict injunctions that they were on no +account to take life; and under the threats of Li Hung Chang, who did +not wish a repetition of the Soochow affair, these were strictly +obeyed. All these arrangements having been made, Gordon resumed his +march towards Liyang on 4th March, the infantry proceeding overland, +and the artillery in the boats and <i>Hyson</i> steamer.</p> + +<p>At Liyang the rebels had collected a large force, and made every +preparation for a vigorous defence. But Gordon was quite confident of +success, although he was now operating in the heart of a hostile +country, and at a distance from his base. The sound flotilla which +mounted formidable artillery, and which co-operated with him on the +creek that led to the walls of Liyang, gave him sound reasons for +confidence, and additional ground of security in the event of any +accident. But his military skill and careful arrangements were not +subjected to any severe test, as a mutiny broke out among the Taepings +themselves, and the half in favour of surrender got possession of the +city, and closed the gates on those of their comrades who wished to +hold out. Major Gordon promptly accepted their surrender, and +guaranteed their personal safety to all, thus obtaining a signal +success without any loss. This was the more satisfactory because +Liyang was found to be an admirable position for defence, strongly +fortified with numerous stockades, well supplied with provisions for +several months' siege, and garrisoned by 15,000 well-armed and +well-clothed rebels. These men were disarmed, and allowed to go where +they liked after they had shaved their heads in token of surrender. +The provisions they had stored up for their own use were distributed +among the starving peasants of the surrounding country. Gordon himself +saved the lives of the female relatives of the Taeping Wang, who had +wished to hold out, not however, it should in fairness be stated, from +the official Chinese, but from the Taepings who had surrendered. After +the capitulation was over, Gordon took 1000 of the Taepings into his +own force, and he also engaged the services of another 1500 as a new +contingent, to fight under their own officers. In this unusual manner +he nearly doubled the effective strength of his own corps, and then +advanced north to attack the town of Kintang, rather more than forty +miles north of Liyang. At this point Gordon experienced his first +serious rebuff at the hands of Fortune, for the earlier reverse at the +Soochow stockades was so clearly due to a miscarriage in the attack, +and so ephemeral in its issue, that it can scarcely be counted.</p> + +<p>Unlike the other Taeping towns, all of which were stockaded +positions,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> Kintang had no outer defences. It presented the appearance +of a small compact city with a stone wall. No flags were shown; the +place might have been deserted, but the complete silence seemed +ominous. Gordon selected his point of attack, and began a bombardment, +which continued during three hours, and then he ordered the assault. +As the bugles sounded the advance, the Taepings appeared for the first +time on the walls, and received the assailants with a heavy fire. At +this critical moment Gordon received a severe wound below the knee, +and had to be carried to his boat. His place was taken by Major Brown, +brother of the General commanding at Shanghai, who advanced waving +Gordon's own flag, but he too received a severe wound, and was carried +off the field. The rebels fought with great desperation, and Gordon, +who remained conscious, sent orders from his boat for the +discontinuance of the attack. The loss was heavy—two officers killed, +eleven wounded, and 115 rank and file killed and wounded. Gordon, +notwithstanding his wound, would have renewed the attack, but for the +receipt of alarming intelligence from his rear. Li Hung Chang wrote +that the Taepings had turned the flank of his brother's army, and +captured Fushan. They were at that moment besieging Chanzu, and had +carried terror into the very heart of the Imperial position. Gordon's +wound—the only one of any severity he ever received—excited much +sympathy among the Chinese, and was made the subject of an Imperial +edict ordering Li Hung Chang to call on him daily, and "requesting +Gordon to wait until he shall be perfectly restored to health and +strength."</p> + +<p>In the extremity to which he was reduced, the brilliant idea had +occurred to Chung Wang to assume the offensive at a point most remote +from the scene where Gordon was acting in person. Hence the sudden and +successful attack on Fushan, and his strategy was rewarded by the +paralysis it produced in the Imperial plans. Gordon at once hastened +back to Liyang, where he left a strong garrison, and taking only 1000 +men, half of whom were the irregular Taeping contingent raised at +Liyang itself, proceeded by forced marches to Wusieh. As the late Sir +George Chesney well said, it is impossible to decide whether the +temerity or the confidence of the young wounded commander was the more +calculated to excite wonder. On arriving here, he found that nothing +worse had happened than what had been already reported, while in the +south, beyond his sphere of operations, the important city of Hangchow +had been evacuated by the Taepings; and with this loss another avenue +for obtaining arms and ammunition was closed to them.</p> + +<p>The relief of Kongyin, which was hard pressed, was the first task +Gordon set himself; and as he could not leave his boat on account<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> of +his wound, the conduct of operations was attended with much +difficulty. After obtaining several minor successes, and approaching +to within a few miles of Kongyin, Gordon found it necessary to +completely alter his plans, and to attack the Taepings in their +headquarters at Waisso, before relieving the former place. He +accordingly proceeded to Waisso with his artillery on board the +flotilla, and his infantry marching by land. The latter, carried away +by some trifling successes, attacked the Waisso stockades without his +orders, and even without his knowledge; and having invited a reverse +by their rashness and disobedience, rendered it complete by an +inexcusable panic, during which the Taeping cavalry, not more than 100 +strong, rode through the best regiment of the force; the rebels, +carrying a sword in each hand, cut down the fugitives right and left. +The pursuit lasted for three miles, and 7 European officers killed, 1 +wounded, 252 men killed, and 62 wounded, represented the heavy loss in +this disastrous affair. The survivors, many of whom had thrown away +their arms, were so panic-stricken that Gordon had to retire, and to +summon up fresh troops.</p> + +<p>For this disaster Gordon held the officers, and not the men, to be +blameworthy. They led the men into a false position, and then did not +make the proper movements. If the men had only formed square, Gordon +wrote, it would have been all right with them. After this Gordon +waited to allow of his wound being thoroughly cured, and on 6th April +he again appeared before Waisso. A large Imperial force also enveloped +the place on all sides but one, which had been left apparently open +and unguarded in the hope that the garrison would use it as a means of +reaching a place of safety. The Imperialists had, however, broken all +the bridges along this route, so that the Taepings would soon +encounter serious difficulties to their progress, and admit of their +being taken at a great disadvantage. Gordon approached the place with +much caution, and he found it so strongly fortified on the south side, +opposite his line of approach, that he moved round to the north in +search of a more favourable point of attack. This simple manœuvre +so disconcerted the Taepings that they abandoned several of their +stockades, which Gordon promptly seized; and finding that these in +turn commanded others, he succeeded in carrying the whole of a most +formidable position with little or no loss. The Taeping garrison fled +in confusion and suffered heavily at the hands of the Imperial troops. +It rallied on the camp before Kongyin, and the day after this success +Gordon marched from Waisso to attack them. The Taepings were +thoroughly disorganised, and apparently amazed at the number of their +opponents, for the whole of the population rose against them in +revenge for the outrages they had perpetrated. There was only one +action, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> that of an insignificant description, when the whole +Taeping force before Kongyin broke into a rout. The Imperialist plan +for retarding their retreat succeeded to admiration, and of more than +10,000 men not a tenth escaped from the sword of their pursuers.</p> + +<p>In a letter written at this time to his mother, Gordon, who, at the +end of February had been raised to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in +the army for distinguished conduct in the field, gave a graphic +account of the condition of the region in which he was operating:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The rebels are very much pressed, and three months should finish +them. During the pursuit from Kongyin the Imperialists and +villagers killed in one village 3000. I will say this much—the +Imperialists did not kill the coolies and boys. The villagers +followed up and stripped the fugitives stark naked, so that all +over the country there were naked men lying down in the grass. +The cruelties these rebels had committed during their raid were +frightful; in every village there were from ten to sixty dead, +either women—frightfully mutilated—old men, or small children. +I do not regret the fate of these rebels. I have no talent for +description, but the scenes I have witnessed of misery are +something dreadful, and I must say that your wish for me to +return with the work incomplete would not be expressed if you saw +the state of these poor people. The horrible furtive looks of the +wretched inhabitants hovering around one's boat haunts me, and +the knowledge of their want of nourishment would sicken anyone. +They are like wolves. The dead lie where they fall, and are in +some cases trodden quite flat by the passers-by. I hope to get +the Shanghai people to assist, but they do not <i>see</i> these +things, and to <i>read</i> that there are human beings eating human +flesh produces less effect than if they saw the corpses from +which that flesh is cut. There is one thing I promise you, and +that is, that as soon as I can leave this service, I will do so; +but I will not be led to do what may cause great disasters for +the sake of getting out of the dangers, which, in my opinion, are +no greater in action than in barracks. My leg is all right; the +eleventh day after I received the wound I was up, and by the +fifteenth day I could walk well. The ball went through the thick +part of the leg, just below the knee."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Having thus cleared the district due north of Wusieh, Gordon proceeded +against the main Taeping position at Chanchufu, north-west of that +place, and on the Grand Canal. Here Chung Wang had fortified thirty +stockades, and commanded in person. On inspecting it, Gordon found it +so strong that he summoned up his troops from Liyang, and it was not +until 22nd April, ten days after Waisso, that he had collected all his +force of 4000 men for the attack. On the very day he accomplished this +the Imperialists alone attacked some stockades outside the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> West Gate, +and carried them by a heavy and unnecessary loss of life. Their +defenders, instead of retreating into Chanchufu, fled northwards to +their next possession, at Tayan. The same night part of the garrison +left behind made a <i>sortie</i>, but Gordon was apprised of it, and it was +easily repulsed. The next day he captured all the stockades on the +southern, or, more correctly, the western side of the Canal, but the +Taepings still held a strong stone fort on the opposite side, which +defied all the efforts of the Imperialists. Two hundred of the Liyang +corps gallantly crossed the Canal in boats, forced open the back door +of the fort, and carried it at a rush. With this success all the +outworks of Chanchufu were taken, and the town itself closely +besieged. Gordon then proceeded to plant his batteries opposite the +point he had selected for attack, but a regrettable affair happened in +the night, when the picket on guard fired into the party working at +the battery, and killed Colonel Tapp, an excellent officer who +commanded the artillery of the force. This mishap was quickly followed +by others. The Imperialists under their own generals wished to get all +the credit of the capture, and attacked several times on their own +side, but always without obtaining any advantage. Nor was Gordon +himself more fortunate. After a severe bombardment, to which the +Taepings made no reply, Gordon assaulted on 27th April. His men +succeeded in throwing two pontoons across the ditch, twenty yards +wide, and some of his officers reached the wall; but the Taepings met +them boldly with a terrific storm of fire-balls, bags of powder, +stinkpots, and even showers of bricks. Twice did Gordon lead his men +to the assault, but he had to admit his repulse with the loss of his +pontoons, and a great number of his best officers and men. Ten +officers killed and 19 wounded, 40 men killed and 260 wounded, +represented the cost of this disastrous failure.</p> + +<p>Undaunted by this defeat, Gordon proceeded to lay siege in regular +form, and Li Hung Chang lent him the services of his own troops in +order to dig the necessary trenches. Working only at night, and with +equal celerity and secrecy, a succession of trenches were made right +up to the edge of the ditch. At the same time, proclamations in large +characters were exhibited, offering terms to all who came over, except +the Wang in command; and many desertions took place. At last, on 11th +May, the place was again assaulted, this time at mid-day; and owing to +the short distance from the advance trench to the breach, the Chinese +troops of all kinds were able to come to close fighting with the +Taepings without any preliminary loss. The Taepings fought with great +courage, even although their chief Hoo Wang was taken prisoner early +in the fight, but at last they were overwhelmed by numbers. Hoo Wang +and all the Canton and Kwangsi men—that is to say, the original +Taeping<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> band—were executed, and the completeness of the triumph was +demonstrated by the surrender, two days later, of Tayan, the last of +the Taeping possessions on the Grand Canal. On the spur of the moment, +two hours after the successful assault, Gordon wrote a hurried few +lines to his mother, stating, to relieve her anxiety, that he would +"not again take the field," and that he was happy to say he had "got +off safe."</p> + +<p>The capture of Chanchufu was the last achievement of the Ever +Victorious Army, which marched back to Quinsan, its headquarters, in +preparation for its disbandment, which had been decided on by the +joint conclusion of the Chinese and European authorities. It had done +its work, and the Chinese naturally regarded the presence of this +formidable and somewhat unruly force with no little apprehension. The +Taepings were now confined to Nanking, and the Viceroy, Tseng Kwofan, +felt confident that before long he would be able to capture that city. +The British Government had decided that the service of Major Gordon +under the Chinese should terminate on 1st June 1864, and some weeks +before that order was put in force the army was quietly disbanded, +without any disturbance or display. The troops themselves would have +given their commander a demonstration, but he evaded them, and escaped +quietly into Shanghai, passing without regret from the position of the +arbiter of an Empire's destiny to the routine of an English officer's +existence. At the same time a considerable part of his force was taken +into the service of Li Hung Chang.</p> + +<p>Gordon's own opinion of his work was given in the following letter:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I have the satisfaction of knowing that the end of this +rebellion is at hand, while, had I continued inactive, it might +have lingered on for years. I do not care a jot about my +promotion or what people may say. I know I shall leave China as +poor as I entered it, but with the knowledge that, through my +weak instrumentality, upwards of eighty to one hundred thousand +lives have been spared. I want no further satisfaction than +this."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Having retired from the active direction of the campaign, Gordon still +retained sufficient interest in the work he had had in hand so long to +incline him to accept an invitation to visit the lines of Tseng Kwofan +before Nanking. On 26th June he visited that Viceroy's camp, and found +that his position extended over from twenty-four to thirty miles, and +that he commanded 80,000 troops, who were, however, badly armed. The +troops were well fed, but ill paid, and at last confident of success. +While Gordon was there, or only a few hours after he left, Tien Wang, +the leader of the moribund Taeping cause, seeing no chance of escape, +swallowed gold leaf in the approved regal fashion, and died. On the +19th July the Imperialists succeeded in running a gallery<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> under the +wall of Nanking, and in charging it with 40,000 lbs. of powder. The +explosion destroyed fifty yards of the wall, and the Imperialists at +once stormed the breach. Chung Wang made a valiant defence in his own +palace, and then cut his way out, at the head of 1000 men. Very few of +these escaped, but Chung Wang and the young Tien Wang, son of the +defunct leader, were among the fortunate few. Chung Wang was soon +captured, and beheaded on 7th August, after being allowed a week's +respite to write the history of the Taeping rebellion. At least it may +be claimed for him that he was the only true hero of the rebel +movement. Gordon's own estimation of this leader is given in these +words:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"He was the bravest, most talented, and enterprising leader the +rebels had. He had been in more engagements than any other rebel +leader, and could always be distinguished. His presence with the +Taepings was equal to a reinforcement of 5000 men, and was always +felt by the superior way in which the rebels resisted. He was the +only rebel chief whose death was to be regretted; the others, his +followers, were a ruthless set of bandit chiefs."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The young Tien Wang was eventually captured and executed. Thus +terminated, in the blood of its authors and leaders, the great +rebellion, which had inflicted an incalculable amount of misery and +loss on the Chinese people in a vain attempt to subvert the existing +dynasty. Six hundred cities were stated to have been destroyed during +its course, and sixteen out of the eighteen provinces to have +witnessed the ravages of civil war.</p> + +<p>Having thus concluded his work as commander of the Ever Victorious +Army, it might have been thought that Gordon would be allowed to carry +out his own wish of returning home as quickly as possible, but the +English, as well as the Chinese, authorities were desirous of +organising a purely Chinese force, with the object of supplying the +Government with the means of asserting its authority over any internal +enemies. Sir Frederick Bruce came specially from Pekin to Shanghai on +the subject, and Gordon undertook to give the necessary organisation +his personal supervision until it was in fair working order. From the +end of June until the middle of November Colonel Gordon was engaged in +the Chinese camp, which was formed at a place near Sungkiang, drilling +recruits, and endeavouring to inspire the officers with the military +spirit. He describes his work in the following short note, which is +also interesting as expressing his impressions about the Chinese +people:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I have the manual, and platoon, and company drill in full swing, +also part of the battalion drill, and one or two men know their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +gun drill very fairly. This is so far satisfactory, and I think, +if the whole country was not corrupt, they might go on well and +quickly, but really it is most irritating to see the jealousies +of the mandarins of one another. The people are first-rate, +hard-working, and fairly honest; but it seems as soon as they +rise in office they become corrupt. There is lots of vitality in +the country, and there are some good men; but these are kept down +by the leaden apathy of their equals, who hate to see reform, +knowing their own deficiencies."</p></blockquote> + +<p>By the end of November Gordon was able to think of returning home, as +he had given a start to military reform in China; but before he sailed +he had to receive a congratulatory address from the most prominent +citizens and merchants of Shanghai, expressing their "appreciation and +admiration of his conduct." They had not always been so +discriminating, and at the beginning their sympathies had been for the +Taepings, or at least for strict non-intervention. The Chinese +Government also gave exceptional signs of its gratitude to the +noble-minded soldier, who had rendered it such invaluable aid. It +again offered him a large sum of money, which was declined with as +much firmness, although less emphasis, as on the earlier occasion. But +he could not reject the promotion offered him to the high rank of +Ti-Tu, or Field Marshal in the Chinese army, or churlishly refuse to +receive the rare and high dignity of the Yellow Jacket. The English +reader has been inclined on occasion to smile and sneer at that +honour, but its origin was noble, and the very conditions on which it +was based ensured that the holders should be very few in number.</p> + +<p>The story of its origin will admit of being retold. When the Manchus +conquered China, in the middle of the seventeenth century, they +received material aid from a Chinese soldier named Wou Sankwei. He was +rewarded with the Viceroyalty of the whole of south-western China, in +which region he became supreme. After many years the Manchus thought +he posed with too great an air of independence, and he was summoned to +Peking to give an account of his stewardship. But Wou Sankwei was too +old to be caught by so simple a ruse. He defied the Manchus, and +established his authority throughout the larger part of the country +south of the Great River. The young and afterwards illustrious Emperor +Kanghi threw himself into the struggle with ardour, and it continued +for many years, and devastated almost as large an area as did the +Taeping rebellion. Kanghi did not obtain a decisive triumph until +after the death of Wou Sankwei, when he bestowed a yellow riding +jacket and an ornament of peacock's feathers for the cap on his +principal lieutenants. He also decreed that this decoration should be +made a regular order, to be conferred only on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> generals who had led +victorious armies against rebel forces. Gordon was thus perfectly +qualified to receive the order founded by the famous Manchu +contemporary of the Grand Monarque.</p> + +<p>The Chinese Government also sent him six mandarin dresses in the +correct fashion for a commanding officer of the rank of Ti-Tu, and a +book explaining how they should be worn. Gordon said very little about +it, his only comment being: "Some of the buttons on the mandarin hats +are worth thirty or forty pounds. I am sorry for it, as they cannot +afford it over well; it is, at any rate, very civil of them." The two +Empress Regents also struck a heavy gold medal in his honour, the +destination of which will be told hereafter, and Li Hung Chang did +everything possible to demonstrate the respect and regard he +entertained for his European colleague. That that was no transitory +feeling was well shown thirty-two years later, when the famous Chinese +statesman seized the occasion of his visit to London to place wreaths +on the statue and cenotaph of his old comrade in arms. General Gordon +valued the Yellow Jacket and the Gold Medal very highly. When he gave +up the medal for the cause of charity he felt its loss keenly, and it +became a phrase with him to signify the height of self-sacrifice to +say, "You must give up your medal." Prince Kung, in a special and +remarkable despatch to the British Minister, narrated in detail the +achievements of Gordon, and declared in graceful language that "not +only has he shown himself throughout both brave and energetic, but his +thorough appreciation of that important question, a friendly +understanding between China and foreign nations, is also deserving of +the highest praise." The Minister was requested to bring these facts +to the notice of the British Government, and it was even suggested by +the Chinese Prince that some reward that Gordon would appreciate at +the hands of his own Sovereign should be conferred on him, and would +be hailed with satisfaction in China. If I add to this list the sword +of Chung Wang, captured from one of his lieutenants, and presented +afterwards by Gordon to the Duke of Cambridge, the rewards of Gordon +from the Chinese are fully catalogued. At the hands of his own +Government he received for his magnificent service a brevet +lieutenant-colonelcy, and somewhat later the Companionship of the +Bath.</p> + +<p>Gordon had kept a journal, which he sent home; but subsequently, on +finding that it was being circulated, he destroyed it. Of this fact +there is no doubt, and it is of course impossible to say whether it +contained more than the manuscript history of the Taeping war, which +he lent me in 1881 as "a trustworthy narrative" for the purposes of my +"History of China," and which was published many years later as a +separate volume. The authorship of that history is a matter of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +speculation, but there seems little or no doubt that it was at least +compiled under Gordon's own direction, from the reports of his +lieutenants in China, and completed during his residence at Gravesend.</p> + +<p>Of the true personal journal Gordon wrote in 1864: "I do not want the +same published, as I think, if my proceedings sink into oblivion, it +would be better for every one; and my reason for this is that it is a +very contested point whether we ought to have interfered or not, on +which point I am perfectly satisfied that it was the proper and humane +course to pursue, but I still do not expect people who do not know +much about it to concur in the same.... I never want anything +published. I am sure it does no good, and makes people chary of +writing."</p> + +<p>The same feeling came out in his last letter to his mother from China, +17th November 1864: "The individual is coming home, but does not wish +it known, for it would be a signal for the disbanded to come to +Southampton, and although the waits at Christmas are bad, these others +are worse." Such a wish as this was impossible of gratification. The +public press could not be silenced by the modesty of this retiring +commander whose deeds had been so heroic and devoid of selfish +purpose. The papers became so filled with accounts of his achievements +that he gave up reading them, but <i>The Times</i> had at least +crystallised the opinion of the day into a single sentence: "Never did +soldier of fortune deport himself with a nicer sense of military +honour, with more gallantry against the resisting, and with more mercy +towards the vanquished, with more disinterested neglect of +opportunities of personal advantage, or with more entire devotion to +the objects and desires of his own Government, than this officer who, +after all his victories, has just laid down his sword."</p> + +<p>The more calmly and critically the deeds of the Ever Victorious Army +and Gordon's conduct during the campaign against the Taepings are +considered, the greater will be the credit awarded to the high-minded, +brave, and unselfish man who then gained the sobriquet of "Chinese" +Gordon. Among all the deeds of his varied and remarkable career he +never succeeded in quite the same degree in winning fame and in +commanding success. At Khartoum the eyes of the world were on him, but +the Mahdi was allowed to remain victorious, and the Soudan still +awaits fresh conquest. But during the two Taeping campaigns he was +completely successful, and closed his work with an unqualified +triumph. It was also the only occasion when he led an army in the +field, and proved his claims to be considered a great commander. Of +serious warfare it may be said to have been his last experience, for +his own Government was very careful to give him no<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> active military +employment—garrison, and even consular duties being deemed more +suitable for this victorious leader than the conduct of any of those +little expeditions commencing with the Red River and Ashanti for which +he was pre-eminently qualified—and under the Khedive he controlled an +army without finding a real foe. Gordon's title to rank among skilful +military commanders rests on his conduct at the head of the Ever +Victorious Army during the Taeping war. It has earned the praise of +many competent military authorities as well as the general admiration +of the public, and Lord Wolseley must have had it in his mind when, in +vindicating his sanity, he exclaimed that he "wished other English +generals had been bitten with his madness."</p> + +<p>Those who have thought that Gordon won his victories in China by sheer +personal gallantry, and nothing else, have taken a very shallow view +of the case, and not condescended to study the details. In his general +conception of the best way to overcome the Taepings he was necessarily +hampered by the views, wishes, jealousies, and self-seeking purposes +of his Chinese colleagues. But for them, his strategy would have been +of a very different character, as he himself often said. He had to +adjust his means to the best attainable end, and it must be allowed +that he did this with remarkable tact and patience—the very qualities +in which he was naturally most deficient. If we consider his strategy +as being thus fettered by the Chinese officials Li Hung Chang and +General Ching, whose first object was not so much the overthrow of the +Taeping Government as the expulsion of the Taepings from the province +for which they were responsible, it will be admitted that nothing +could be better than his conception of what had to be done, and how it +was to be effected. The campaign resolved itself into the cutting off +of all their sources of supply from the sea and Treaty ports, and the +shutting up of their principal force within the walls of Soochow. How +well and successfully that was accomplished has been narrated, but a +vainglorious commander could not have been held back after the fall of +Chanchufu from leading his victorious force to achieve a crowning +triumph at Nanking, which Gordon could easily have carried by assault +before the order in council withdrawing his services came into effect.</p> + +<p>More frequent opportunity was afforded for Gordon to reveal his +tactical skill than his strategical insight, and in this respect the +only trammels he experienced were from the military value and +efficiency of his force, which had its own limitations. But still it +would be unjust to form too poor an estimate of the fighting +efficiency and courage of either Gordon's force or his Taeping +opponents from the miserable exhibition the Chinese recently made of +themselves during<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> the war with Japan. The heavy losses incurred, the +several repulses Gordon himself experienced, would alone tell a +different tale, if there were not the obstinate resistance offered to +General Staveley and the French by the Taepings to show that they were +not altogether contemptible adversaries. Gordon himself thought that +his force could fight very well, and that his officers, if somewhat +lacking in polish, were not to be surpassed in dash and devilry. For +the Taepings, especially behind walls, and when it was impossible to +out-manœuvre them, he had also the highest opinion, and his first +object on every occasion was to discover a weak point in their +position, and his patience and perspicuity were generally rewarded. +The very first step he took on approaching any place that he had to +attack was to reconnoitre it himself, either on foot or in one of his +steamers, and he wrote a powerful despatch pointing out the general +neglect of this precaution in the conduct of our Eastern campaigns, +with its inevitable heavy attendant loss of precious lives. As he +truly said, a careful reconnaissance generally revealed points of +weakness in the enemy's position, and the Taepings, like all Asiatics, +were easily demoralised when their line of retreat was threatened, or +when attacked at some point where their preparations had not been +perfected. Among his own personal qualifications, his untiring energy +and his exceptional promptitude in coming to a decision were the most +remarkable. No exertion relaxed his effort or diminished his ardour, +and in face of fresh perils and disappointments he was always ready +with a new plan, or prepared with some scheme for converting defeat +into victory. One of his chief characteristics was his quickness in +seeing an alternative course of action when his original plan had +either failed or been thwarted by others. Of his personal courage and +daring sufficient instances have been given to justify the assertion +that in those qualities he was unsurpassable; and if he had never done +anything else than lead the Ever Victorious Army, it would be +sufficient to secure him a place among the most remarkable of English +soldiers. In China he will be remembered for his rare self-abnegation, +for his noble disdain of money, and for the spirit of tolerance with +which he reconciled the incompatible parts of "a British officer and a +Chinese mandarin."</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>GRAVESEND AND GALATZ.</h3> + + +<p><span class="sc">After</span> the exciting and eventful ten years which began in the Crimea +and ended in China, the most tranquil period in Gordon's career +follows, until he was once again launched on the stormy sea of public +affairs in Africa. He used to speak of the six years following his +return from the Far East as the happiest of his life, and by a +fortunate although unusual coincidence the details of his existence +during the tranquil and uneventful period have been preserved with +great amplitude and fidelity by several witnesses associated with him +in his beneficent as well as his official work. It would be easy to +fill a small volume with these particulars, which have been already +given to the world, but here it will suffice to furnish a summary +sufficient to bring out the philanthropic side of his character, and +to explain how and why it came to be thought that Gordon was the man +to solve that ever-pressing but ever-put-off problem of diminishing +the pressure of excessive population and poverty in the eastern +districts of London.</p> + +<p>General Gordon arrived in England early in 1865, and proceeded to join +his family at Rockstone Place, Southampton, where he was then doubly +welcomed, as his father was in declining health, and died soon +afterwards. Here Gordon passed a quiet six months, refusing all +invitations with extreme modesty, and in every way baffling the +attempts of relations, friends, and admirers to make a lion of him. He +would not permit anyone to say that his suppression of the Taeping +rebellion was a marvellous feat, and he evaded and resented all the +attempts made by those in power to bring him into prominence as a +national hero. Modesty is becoming as an abstract principle of human +conduct, but Gordon carried it to an excess that made it difficult not +so much for his fellow-men to understand him, as for them to hold +ordinary workaday relations with him. This was due mainly to two +causes—a habitual shyness, and his own perception that he could not +restrain his tongue from uttering unpalatable and unconventional +truths. He was so unworldly and self-sacrificing in his own actions +that he could not let himself become even in a passive sense +subservient to the very<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> worldly means by which all men more or less +advance in public and private life. The desire of Ministers and War +Office authorities to bring him forward, to eulogise his Chinese +exploits, and in the end to give him worthy employment, was regarded +by him as that secret favouritism that he abhorred. He retired into +his shell at every effort made to bring him into prominence. He tore +up his diary sooner than that it should be the means of giving him +notoriety. He even refused special employment and promotion, because +it would put him over the heads of his old comrades at the Woolwich +Academy. The inevitable result followed. Those in power came to regard +him as eccentric, and when occasions arose that would have provided +him with congenial and much-desired employment on active service for +his own country, his name was passed over, and the best soldier in +England was left in inglorious and uncongenial inactivity. This was +regrettable, but natural. The most heroic cannot pose as being too +elevated above their fellows, or they will be left like Achilles +sulking in his tent.</p> + +<p>There were moments, we have been told, when in the bosom of the family +circle he threw off the reserve in which he habitually wrapped +himself, and narrated in stirring if simple language the course of his +campaigns in China. These outbursts were few and far between. They +became still less frequent when he found that the effect of his +description was to increase the admiration his relatives never +concealed from him. His mother, whose feelings towards him were of a +specially tender nature, and whose solicitude for his personal safety +had been more than once evinced, took the greatest pride in his +achievements, and a special pleasure at their recital. But even her +admiration caused Charles Gordon as much pain as pleasure, and it is +recorded that while she was exhibiting to a circle of friends a map +drawn by him during his old term days at the Academy, he came into the +room, and seeing that it was being made a subject of admiration, took +it from his mother, tore it in half, and threw it into the fire grate. +Some little time after he repented of this act of rudeness, collected +the fragments, pasted them together, and begged his mother's +forgiveness. This damaged plan or map is still in existence. His +extraordinary diffidence and shrinking from all forms of praise or +exaltation was thus revealed at a comparatively early stage of his +career, and in connection with the first deeds that made him famous. +The incident just described shows that his way of asserting his +individuality was not always unattended with unkindness to those who +were nearest and dearest to him. His distrust of his own temper, and +of his capacity to speak and act conventionally, urged him towards a +solitary life; and when his fate took him into places and forms of +employment where solitude was the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> essential condition of the service, +it is not surprising that his natural shyness and humility, as well as +that habit of speaking his own mind, not only without fear or favour, +but also, it must be admitted, with considerable disregard for the +feelings of others, became intensified, and the most noticeable of his +superficial characteristics.</p> + +<p>But although Gordon was averse to praise and any special promotion, he +was most anxious to resume the work of his profession, in which he +took a peculiar pride, and for which he felt himself so thoroughly +well suited. His temperament was naturally energetic and impulsive. +The independent command he had exercised in China had strengthened +these tendencies, and made a dull routine doubly irksome to one whose +eager spirit sought action in any form that offered. The quiet +domestic life of the family circle at Southampton soon became +intolerable to his restless spirit, and although he was entitled to +two years' leave after his long foreign service, he took steps to +return to active service as an engineer officer within a very few +months of his return to England.</p> + +<p>On 1st September 1865 he was appointed Commanding Royal Engineer +officer at Gravesend, to superintend the erection of the new forts to +be constructed in that locality for the defence of the Thames. For +such a post his active military service, as well as his technical +training, eminently suited him; and although there was little promise +of excitement about it, the work was distinctly congenial, and offered +him a field for showing practical judgment and skill as an engineer. +He threw himself into his task with his characteristic energy and +enthusiasm. But how far the latter was damped by his prompt discovery +that the whole project of the Thames defences was faulty and unsound +it is impossible to say, but his attention to his work in all its +details certainly showed no diminution or falling off. There were five +forts in all to be constructed—three on the south or Kent side of the +river, viz., New Tavern, Shornmead, and Cliffe; and two, Coalhouse and +Tilbury, on the north or Essex side. An immense sum had been voted by +Parliament for their construction, and Gordon was as loud as an +officer dare be in his denunciation of this extravagant waste of money +as soon as he discovered by personal examination that the three +southern forts could be turned into islands, and severed from all +communication by an enemy cutting the river bank at Cooling; and also +that the northern forts were not merely unprotected in the rear, like +those of the Chinese, but completely commanded from the Essex range of +hills. Notwithstanding this important discovery, made at the very +beginning, the original scheme was prosecuted to the end, with +enormous outlay and useless result, for an entirely new system of +river defences had to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> be formed and carried out at a later period. +But for these errors Gordon was in no sense responsible, and they +would not have been committed if his advice and representations had +been heeded.</p> + +<p>Mr Arthur Stannard, who was assistant to the manager of the firm which +had been intrusted with the contract for the building of these forts, +gave in the <i>Nineteenth Century</i> for April 1885 the best account we +possess of the manner in which Colonel Gordon discharged his official +duties at Gravesend.</p> + +<p>Colonel Gordon's headquarters were at a quaint-looking, old-fashioned +house with a good-sized garden, close to the site on which the New +Tavern fort was to be erected. He considered himself to be on official +duty from eight o'clock in the morning until two o'clock in the +afternoon; and during these six hours he not only worked himself +without intermission, but expected all those under him to work in the +same untiring spirit. He was a severe and unsparing taskmaster, and +allowed no shirking. No other officer could have got half the work out +of his men that he did. He used to keep them up to the mark by +exclaiming, whenever he saw them flag: "Another five minutes gone, and +this not done yet, my men! We shall never have them again."</p> + +<p>Another instance of his unflagging energy and extreme activity was +furnished in connection with the boat in which he had to visit the +different parts of the defences. A two-oared, slow-moving boat was +provided for the purpose, but Gordon soon grew tired of this slow +means of locomotion, and he started a four-oared gig. He trained these +men according to his own ideas, and expected them to row with all +their might and main, and to lose not a minute in casting off their +boat on his arrival. So fond was he of rapid motion, or so impressed +with the value of time, that he would continue to urge them on, +whenever any signs of slackening appeared, with exclamations: "A +little faster, boys, a little faster!" and Mr Stannard states that he +has seen the boatmen land after such a row as this in as limp a +condition as four strong men could be. All his own movements were +carried on at the run, and his activity was such that few younger and +taller men were able to keep up with him. I well recollect myself my +first interview with General Gordon in 1881, when he roused me up by a +surprise morning visit at eight o'clock—I had not returned from a +newspaper office till four o'clock—and carried me off, walking in a +light, springy way which was half a run up to the top of Campden Hill, +to interview the late Sir Harry Parkes.</p> + +<p>While many incidents and the general tenor of his conduct show the +natural gentleness of Gordon and his softness of heart, he was a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +strict disciplinarian, and even a martinet in some of his ways. As has +been said, he came on duty at eight every morning punctually, but he +would not allow himself to be intruded upon before that hour. Mr +Stannard tells one story that furnishes striking evidence to this +effect. Early in the morning the men were brought to a standstill in +their work until Colonel Gordon arrived to decide some doubtful or +disputed matter. It was noticed that his bedroom window was wide open, +and the contractor's manager was induced to go up and knock at his +door for instructions. Gordon opened his door a little way, and +exclaimed in a testy and irritable tone, "Presently, presently." He +made his regular appearance at eight o'clock, and no one ventured to +again disturb him before the regulation hour.</p> + +<p>With regard to his meals he was most abstemious, and at the same time +irregular. His brother describes an arrangement by which he was able +to take, at all events, his midday meal, and at the same time to carry +on his official work, especially in the matter of receiving visitors. +He had a deep drawer in his table, in which the food was deposited. +When anyone came to see him, the drawer was closed, and all signs of a +meal were concealed. At all periods of his career he was a small and +frugal eater, partly because he deprecated extravagance in living, and +partly because he considered that the <i>angina pectoris</i> from which he +thought he suffered could be best coped with by abstention from a +sumptuous or heavy diet. Some days he would almost starve himself, and +then in the night Nature would assert herself, and he would have to +come downstairs and take whatever he found in the larder. It is +recorded that on one occasion he sucked ten or a dozen raw eggs. But +if he denied himself the luxuries and even the necessaries of a decent +table, he possessed the true spirit of hospitality, and never expected +his guests to follow any different practice than their own. For them +he was always at pains to provide dainty fare and good wine. Nor must +undue stress be laid on the isolated cases cited of his indifference +to his personal comfort. Gordon was always attentive to his dress and +appearance, never forgetting that he was a gentleman and an English +officer.</p> + +<p>While quartered at Gravesend he received a visit from Sir William +Gordon, who had just been appointed to the command of the troops in +Scotland. Sir William was no relation, only a member of the same great +clan, and he had served with Gordon in the trenches of the Crimea. He +had a great admiration and affection for the younger officer, and +begged him to accept the post of his <i>aide-de-camp</i> in the North. The +idea was not a pleasant one to our Gordon, but his good-nature led him +to yield to the pressing invitations of his friend; and after he had +given his assent, he was ill with nervousness and regret at having<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> +tied himself down to an uncongenial post. In some way or other Sir +William heard of his distress, and promptly released him from his +promise, only exacting from him the condition that he should pay him a +visit at his home in Scotland. Soon afterwards Sir William Gordon +became seriously ill, and Charles Gordon hastened to the North, where +he remained some time employed in cheering up his friend, who was +suffering from hypochondria. Some time afterwards Sir William died +under sad circumstances. He had wished to benefit General Gordon by +his will, but the latter absolutely refused to have anything except a +silver tea service, which he had promised Sir William, while alive, to +accept, because "it would pay for his funeral," and save any one being +put to expense over that inevitable ceremony. The fate of this tea +service, valued at £70, cannot be traced. It had disappeared long +before Gordon's departure for Khartoum, and was probably sold for some +beneficent work.</p> + +<p>The Sir William Gordon incident was not the only external affair that +distracted his attention from the monotonous routine work of building +forts on a set, but faulty and mistaken, plan. Glad as he was of any +work, in preference to the dull existence of a prolonged holiday in +the domestic circle, Gravesend was not, after all, the ideal of active +service to a man who had found the excitement of warfare so very +congenial to his own temperament. When, in the course of 1867 it +became evident that an expedition would have to be sent to Abyssinia +to release the prisoners, and to bring the Negus Theodore to his +senses, Gordon solicited the Horse Guards to include him in any force +despatched with this object. There is no reason to think that his wish +would not have been complied with if the expedition had been fitted +out from England, but it was very wisely decided that the task should +be entrusted to the Anglo-Indian Army. The late Lord Napier of +Magdala, then Commander-in-Chief of the Bombay Army, was appointed to +the command. The officers of his staff, as well as the troops under +him, were all drawn from the Bombay Army, and although his connection +by marriage, Sir Charles Staveley, held a command under Napier, and +would willingly have assisted towards the gratification of his wish, +an exception in Gordon's case could not be made without that +favouritism which he most deprecated. Still, it was a great +disappointment to him, and he shut himself up for a whole day, and +would see no one.</p> + +<p>If the six years at Gravesend, "the most peaceful and happy of any +portion of my life," as he truly said, had left no other trace than +his official work, of which the details must necessarily be meagre, +there would have been a great blank in his life, and the reader would +necessarily possess no clue to the marked change between the Gordon +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> China and the Gordon of the Soudan. Not that there was any loss of +power or activity, but in the transition period philanthropy had come +to occupy the foremost place in Gordon's brain, where formerly had +reigned supreme professional zeal and a keen appreciation—I will not +say love—of warlike glory. His private life and work at Gravesend +explain and justify what was said of him at that time by one of his +brother officers: "He is the nearest approach to Jesus Christ of any +man who ever lived."</p> + +<p>It has been written of him that his house at Gravesend bore more +resemblance to the home of a missionary than the quarters of an +English officer. His efforts to improve and soften the hard lot of the +poor in a place like Gravesend began in a small way, and developed +gradually into an extensive system of beneficence, which was only +limited by his small resources and the leisure left him by official +duty. At first he took into his house two or three boys who attracted +his attention in a more or less accidental manner. He taught them in +the evening, fed and clothed them, and in due course procured for them +employment, principally as sailors or in the colonies. For a naturally +bad sailor, he was very fond of the sea; and perhaps in his heart of +hearts he cherished the thought that he was performing a national work +in directing promising recruits to the first line of our defence, and +the main prop of this Empire. Soon his few special pupils swelled into +a class, not all boarders, but of outsiders who came in to learn +geography and hear the Colonel explain the Bible; and not only that, +but to be told of stirring deeds beyond the sea by one who had himself +contributed to the making of history. We can well believe that before +this uncritical but appreciative audience, from whose favour he had +nothing to hope, or, as he would say, to fear, Gordon threw off the +restraint and shyness habitual to him. It was very typical of the man +that, where others thought only of instructing the poor and the +ignorant, his chief wish was to amuse them and make them laugh.</p> + +<p>By this simple means his class increased, and grew too large for his +room. Sooner than break it up or discourage new-comers, he consented +to teach in the ragged schools, where he held evening classes almost +every night. Where he had clothed two or three boys, he now +distributed several hundred suits in the year; and it is said that his +pupils became so numerous that he had to buy pairs of boots by the +gross. All this was done out of his pay. His personal expenses were +reduced to the lowest point, so that the surplus might suffice to +carry on the good work. It very often left him nearly penniless until +his next pay became due—and this was not very surprising, as he could +never turn a deaf ear to any tale of distress, and often emptied his +pockets at the recital of any specially<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> touching misfortune. When any +outside subject of national suffering appealed to his heart or touched +his fancy, he would consequently have no means available of sending +any help, and this was specially the case during the suffering of the +Lancashire operatives after the close of the American Civil War. On +that occasion he defaced the gold medal given him by the Chinese +Empresses, and sent it anonymously to the fund, which benefited from +it to the extent of £10; but, as has been already stated, he made this +sacrifice with the greatest pain and reluctance.</p> + +<p>Gordon's love of children, and especially of boys, was quite +remarkable. He could enter into their feelings far better than he +could into those of grown men, and the irritability which he could +scarcely suppress even among his friends was never displayed towards +them. He was always at their service, anxious to amuse them, and to +minister to their rather selfish whims. Some accidental remark led his +class to express a wish to visit the Zoo. Gordon at once seized the +idea, and said they should do so. He made all the arrangements as +carefully as if he were organising a campaign. His duties prevented +his going himself, but he saw them off at the station, under the +charge of his assistant, and well provided with baskets of food for +their dinner and refreshment on their journey. Of course he defrayed +the whole expense, and on their return he gave them a treat of tea and +strawberries. He also thought of their future, being most energetic in +procuring them employment, and anxious in watching their after-career.</p> + +<p>For some reason that is not clear he called these boys his "kings." He +probably used it in the sense that they were his lieutenants, and he +borrowed his imagery from the "Wangs," or kings of the Taeping ruler. +I am told, however, that he really used the word in a spiritual sense, +testifying that these boys were as kings in the sight of God. He +followed the course of the first voyage of those who went to sea, +sticking pins in a map to show the whereabouts of their respective +vessels. It is not astonishing that his pupils should have felt for +him a special admiration and affection. He not merely supplied all +their wants, but he endeavoured to make them self-reliant, and to +raise them above the sordid and narrow conditions of the life to which +they were either born or reduced by the improvidence or misfortune of +their parents. Of course Gordon was often deceived, and his confidence +and charity abused; but these cases were, after all, the smaller +proportion of the great number that passed through his hands. He +sometimes met with gross ingratitude, like that of the boy whom he +found starving, in rags, and ill with disease, and whom he restored to +health, and perhaps to self-respect, and then sent back to his parents +in Norfolk. But neither<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> from him nor from them did he ever receive +the briefest line of acknowledgment. Such experiences would have +disheartened or deterred other philanthropists, but they failed to +ruffle Gordon's serenity, or to discourage him in his work.</p> + +<p>Perhaps the following incident is as characteristic as anything that +took place between Gordon and his "kings." A boy whom he had twice +fitted out for the world, but who always came to grief after a few +months' trial, returned for a third time in the evening. Gordon met +him at the gate, a mass of rags, in a deplorable condition, and +covered with vermin. Gordon could not turn him away, neither could he +admit him into his house, where there were several boys being brought +up for a respectable existence. After a moment's hesitation, he led +him in silence to the stable, where, after giving him some bread and a +mug of milk, he told him to sleep on a heap of clean straw, and that +he would come for him at six in the morning. At that hour Gordon +appeared with a piece of soap, some towels, and a fresh suit of +clothes, and, ordering the boy to strip, gave him a thorough washing +with his own hands from head to foot at the horse-trough. It is to be +regretted that there is no record of the after-fate of this young +prodigal, although it would be pleasant to think that he was the +unknown man who called at Sir Henry Gordon's house in 1885, after the +news of Gordon's death, and wished to contribute £25 towards a +memorial, because he was one of the youths saved by General Gordon, to +whom all his success and prosperity in life were due.</p> + +<p>But it must not be supposed that Gordon's acts of benevolence were +restricted to boys. He was not less solicitous of the welfare of the +sick and the aged. His garden was a rather pretty and shaded one. He +had a certain number of keys made for the entrance, and distributed +them among deserving persons, chiefly elderly. They were allowed to +walk about, in the evening especially, and see the flowers, +vegetables, and fruit which Gordon's gardener carefully cultivated. +Gordon himself declared that he derived no special pleasure from the +sight of flowers, for the simple reason that he preferred to look at +the human face; and the same reason is the only one I can find he ever +gave for his somewhat remarkable reticence about dogs and other +domestic animals. It was said of him that he always had handy "a bit +o' baccy for the old men, and a screw o' tea for the old women." He +would hurry off at a moment's notice to attend to a dying person or to +read the Bible by a sick-bed. In the hospital or the workhouse he was +as well known as the visiting chaplain, and often he was requested by +the parish clergyman to take his place in visiting the sick. His +special invention for the benefit of his large<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> number of clients was +a system of pensions, which varied from a shilling to as much as a +pound a week. Many of these payments he continued long after he left +Gravesend, and a few were even paid until the day of his death. It is +not surprising, in view of these facts, that Gordon remained a poor +man, and generally had no money at all. As he wrote very truly of +himself to his assistant Mr Lilley, "You and I will never learn wisdom +in money matters."</p> + +<p>Many stories have been told of his tenderness of heart, and of his +reluctance to see punishment inflicted, but perhaps the following is +the most typical. A woman called on him one day with a piteous tale. +Gordon went to his bedroom to get half a sovereign for her, and while +he was away she took a fancy to a brown overcoat, which she hastened +to conceal under her skirt. Gordon returned, gave her the money, and +she left with a profusion of thanks. While on her road home the coat +slipped down, and attracted the notice of a policeman, who demanded an +explanation. She said, "I took it from the Colonel," and was marched +back for him to identify his property, and charge her with the theft. +When Gordon heard the story, he was far more distressed than the +culprit, and refused to comply with the constable's repeated requests +to charge her. At last a happy thought came to his relief. Turning to +the woman, he said, with a twinkle in his eye, "You wanted it, I +suppose?" "Yes," replied the astonished woman. Then turning to the +equally astonished policeman he said, "There, there, take her away, +and send her about her business."</p> + +<p>Among the various economies he practised in order to indulge his +philanthropy was that of not keeping a horse, and he consequently took +a great deal of walking exercise. During his walks along the Kentish +lanes and foot-paths he distributed tracts, and at every stile he +crossed he would leave one having such an exhortation as "Take heed +that thou stumbleth not." Yet all this was done in an honest, and, as +I believe, a secretly humorous spirit of a serious nature, for Gordon +was as opposed to cant and idle protestations as any man. There is a +strikingly characteristic story preserved somewhere of what he did +when a hypocritical, canting humbug of a local religious secretary of +some Society Fund or other paid a visit to a house while he was +present. Gordon remained silent during the whole of the interview. But +when he was gone, and Gordon was asked what he thought of him, he +replied by waving his hand and drawing it across his throat, which he +explained signified in China that his head ought to be cut off as a +humbugging impostor.</p> + +<p>Although buried, as it were, at Gravesend, Gordon could not be +altogether forgotten. The authorities at the Horse Guards could not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +comply with his request to be attached to the Abyssinian expedition, +but they were willing enough to do him what in official circles was +thought to be a very good turn when they could. The English membership +of the Danubian Commission became vacant, and it was remembered that +in his early days Gordon had taken part in the delimitation +negotiations which had resulted in the formation of that body. The +post carried with it the good pay of £2000 a year, as some +compensation for the social and sanitary drawbacks and disadvantages +of life in that region, and it was offered to Gordon, who accepted it. +It cut short his philanthropical labours, but it drew him back into +that current of active work for which he was already pining. He +therefore accepted it, and having presented some of the Snake flags of +the old Taeping Wangs to the local school in which he had toiled as a +simple teacher, he left Gravesend quietly, and without any +manifestation that it had lost its principal resident. Having +mentioned the Snake flags, it is proper to add that the principal of +these, including some of his own which were shot to ribbons, were left +by General Gordon to his sister, the late Miss Gordon, who in her turn +presented them, with the Yellow Jacket and its appendages, the chief +mandarin dress, etc., to the Royal Engineers at Chatham. The Gravesend +life closed with a notice in the local journal, from which the +following extract may be made; but once a year the old flags that led +the advance or retreat of the Chinese rebels are brought out from +their cases and flaunted before the Gravesend scholars as the memorial +of a brave and unselfish leader and teacher.</p> + +<p>The farewell article in the local paper read as follows:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Our readers, without exception, will learn with regret of the +departure of Lieut.-Colonel Gordon, R.E., C.B., from the town in +which he has resided for six years, gaining a name by the most +exquisite charity that will long be remembered. Nor will he be +less missed than remembered in the lowly walks of life, by the +bestowal of gifts, by attendance and administration on the sick +and dying, by the kindly giving of advice, by attendance at the +Ragged School, Workhouse, and Infirmary—in fact, by general and +continued beneficence to the poor, he has been so unwearied in +well-doing that his departure will be felt by many as a personal +calamity. There are those who even now are reaping the rewards of +his kindness. His charity was essentially charity, and had its +root in deep philanthropic feeling and goodness of heart, +shunning the light of publicity, but coming even as the rain in +the night-time, that in the morning is noted not, but only the +flowers bloom, and give a greater fragrance.... All will wish him +well in his new sphere, and we have less hesitation in penning +these lines from the fact<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> that laudatory notice will confer but +little pleasure upon him who gave with the heart and cared not +for commendation."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Gordon left for Galatz on 1st October 1871. He had visited and +described it fourteen or fifteen years before, and he found little or +no change there. The special task intrusted to the Commission of which +he was a member was to keep open by constant and vigilant dredging the +mouth of the Sulina branch of the Danube. He discovered very soon that +the duties were light and monotonous, and in the depressing +atmosphere—social and political as well as climatic—of the Lower +Danube, he pined more than ever for bracing work, and for some task +about which he could feel in earnest. The same conclusion seems to +have forced itself upon his mind at the beginning and at the end of +his stay at Galatz. In one of his first letters he exclaims: "How I +like England when I am out of it! There is no place in the world like +it!" In another letter, written on the very day of his departure home, +he wrote: "Tell S. to thank God that he was born an Englishman." +Gordon was always intensely patriotic. His patriotism partook of the +same deep and fervid character as his religion, and these and many +other little messages in his private correspondence furnish striking +evidence to the fact.</p> + +<p>The mention of Galatz recalls an incident, showing how long was his +memory, and how much he clung to old friendships. During the +Commune—that is to say, when he was still at Gravesend—the papers +stated that a General Bisson had been killed at the Bridge of Neuilly +on 9th April 1871. He wrote to Marshal Macmahon to inquire if he was +the same officer as his old colleague on the Danube, and received, to +his regret, an affirmative answer. General Bisson and Gordon had kept +up a correspondence, in which the former always signed himself Bisson, +C.B., being very proud of that honour, which was conferred on him for +the Crimea. He was taken prisoner early in the Franco-Prussian war, +and was shot by the Communists almost immediately on his return from +the Prussian prison. Gordon's stay at Galatz was varied by an +agreeable trip in 1872 to the Crimea, where he was sent to inspect the +cemeteries with Sir John Adye. They travelled in an English gunboat, +which proved a comfortable sea-boat, and Gordon wrote, "General Adye +is a very agreeable companion." The cemeteries were found much +neglected, and in a sad state of disrepair. The Russian officers were +pronounced civil, but nothing more. But Gordon saw clearly that, +having torn up the Black Sea Treaty, they were ready to recover +Bessarabia, and to restore Sebastopol to the rank of a first-class +naval fortress. After the Crimean tour he came to England on leave. +His time was short, but he managed to pay a flying visit to +Gravesend<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span>. He also could not resist the temptation of attending the +funeral of the Emperor Napoleon in January 1873, and he expressed his +opinion of that ill-starred ruler in his usual terse manner—"a +kind-hearted, unprincipled man." His youngest brother, to whom he was +much attached, and who had shared in the Woolwich frolics, died about +this time, and his mother was seized with paralysis, and no longer +recognised him. He felt this change most acutely, for between him and +his mother there had been a peculiar attachment, and when he was at +home she would hardly ever let him out of her sight. He used to call +his home visits doing duty as his mother's <i>aide-de-camp</i>. When he +left England for Galatz she was unconscious, and passed away some +months later while he was abroad.</p> + +<p>It was while General Gordon was on the Danube that preparations were +made for the expedition against the Ashantees, and many persons +suggested General Gordon for the command. It would have been an +excellent occasion for intrusting him with an independent command in +his country's service; but Sir Garnet, now Lord, Wolseley had recently +gained much credit by his conduct of the Red River Expedition, and was +appointed to the command of this force. General Gordon was no doubt +disappointed at the result, but not so much as he had been in the case +of Abyssinia, and loyalty to an old Crimean colleague tempered his own +loss with satisfaction at another's success. Still, on public grounds, +it must be pronounced unfortunate that the last occasion which was +offered of employing for a national cause the services of a soldier +who added the fervour and modesty of Wolfe to the genius of Clive +should have been allowed to pass by unutilised.</p> + +<p>A casual meeting with Nubar Pasha at Constantinople, on his way back +from the Crimea in 1872, was destined to exercise what may be styled a +determining influence on the rest of Gordon's life. At that meeting +Nubar Pasha sounded him as to his willingness to take service under +the Khedive, and Gordon, attracted by the prospect of doing good work +on a larger sphere, expressed his own readiness to take up the task of +establishing authority, and suppressing slavery in the Soudan, +provided that the permission of his own Government were granted. He +heard nothing more of the matter for twelve months, but at the end of +September 1873 he received a communication to the effect that the +Khedive wished to appoint him to succeed Sir Samuel Baker, and that +the British Government were quite willing to grant him the necessary +permission. In a letter of 8th November 1873 to the Adjutant-General +he said:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I have written an account of what I know of the Khedive's having +asked me to take Baker's place. It came about from a +conversation<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> I had with Nubar Pasha at our Embassy at +Constantinople. This was twelve months ago. The next thing was a +telegram a month ago. I have not determined what to do, but the +Government have no objection."</p></blockquote> + +<p>He was not long, however, in making up his mind, and early in 1874 he +was <i>en route</i> for Alexandria. One characteristic act in connection +with his appointment deserves mention. The Khedive fixed his salary at +£10,000 a year, but Gordon absolutely refused to accept more than +£2000 a year—the same sum as he received for his post on the Danube. +Various reasons have been given for this decision, but there is no +ground for supposing that it was due to such a very narrow-minded +prejudice as "that he would take nothing from a heathen." If he ever +used these words, they must have been intended as a joke, and are not +to be accepted seriously. A sufficient explanation of his decision is, +that he had a supreme disdain for money, and the sum offered seemed +far in excess of the post and work he had to perform. To have received +£10,000 a year would have added immensely to his worries. He would not +have known what to do with it, and the voluntary cutting of his salary +relieved him of a weight of responsibility. Perhaps also he was +far-seeing enough to realise that he would be less the mere creature +of the Egyptian ruler with the smaller than with the larger salary, +while he could gratify his own inner pride that no one should say that +any sordid motive had a part in his working for semi-civilized +potentates, whether Chinese or Mussulmen.</p> + +<p>I am able to describe Gordon's exact feelings on this point in his own +words. "My object is to show the Khedive and his people that gold and +silver idols are not worshipped by all the world. They are very +powerful gods, but not so powerful as <i>our</i> God. From whom does all +this money come? from poor miserable creatures who are ground down to +produce it. Of course these ideas are outrageous. Pillage the +Egyptians is still the cry."</p> + + + +<hr /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE FIRST NILE MISSION.</h3> + + +<p><span class="sc">A brief</span> description of the conquest by Mehemet Ali and his successors +of the Soudan—a name signifying nothing more than "the land of the +blacks"—and of the events which immediately preceded the appointment +of Gordon, is necessary to show the extent of the work intrusted to +him, and the special difficulties with which he had to contend.</p> + +<p>It was in 1819 that the great Pasha or Viceroy Mehemet Ali, still in +name the lieutenant of the Sultan, ordered his sons Ismail and the +more famous Ibrahim to extend his authority up the Nile, and conquer +the Soudan. They do not seem to have experienced any difficulty in +carrying out their instructions. Nobody was interested in defending +the arid wastes of that region. The Egyptian yoke promised to be as +light as any other, and a few whiffs of grape-shot dispersed the only +adversaries who showed themselves. Ibrahim, who soon took the lead, +selected Khartoum as the capital of the new province, in preference to +Shendy, which had formerly been regarded as the principal place in the +country. In this he showed excellent judgment, for Khartoum occupies +an admirable position in the fork of the two branches of the Nile; and +whatever fate may yet befall the region in which the Mahdi and his +successor the Khalifa have set up their ephemeral authority, it is +destined by Nature to be the central point and capital of the vast +region between the Delta and the Equatorial Lakes.</p> + +<p>Khartoum lies on the left bank of the Blue Nile—Bahr-el-Azrak—rather +more than three miles south of its confluence with the White +Nile—Bahr-el-Abiad—at the northern point of the Isle of Tuti. The +channel south of that island affords a slightly nearer approach to the +White Nile, coming out immediately opposite the fortified camp of +Omdurman, which the Mahdi made his headquarters and capital after the +famous siege of 1884. There was nothing attractive or imposing about +Khartoum. It contained 3000 mud houses, and one more pretentious +building in the Governor's official residence or palace, known as the +Hukumdariaha. It is surrounded by a wall and ditch, except where the +Blue Nile supplies the need; and its western wall is not more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> than +half a mile from the banks of the White Nile, so that with proper +artillery it commands both rivers. The Nilometer at this place used to +give the first and early intimation to the cultivators in Lower Egypt +of the quantity of water being brought down from the rivers of +Abyssinia. There seems no other conclusion possible than that sooner +or later this practical service will compel Egypt, whenever she feels +strong enough, to re-establish her power at Khartoum; already there is +evidence that the time has arrived.</p> + +<p>Having conquered the Soudan easily, the rulers of Egypt experienced no +difficulty in retaining it for sixty years; and if other forces, +partly created by the moral pressure of England and civilized opinion +generally, had not come into action, there is every reason to suppose +that their authority would never have been assailed. Nor did the +Egyptians stand still. By the year 1853 they had conquered Darfur on +the one side, and pushed their outposts on the other 120 miles south +of Khartoum. In the rear of the Egyptian garrison came the European +trader, who took into his service bands of Arab mercenaries, so that +he pushed his way beyond the Egyptian stations into the region of the +Bahr Gazelle, where the writ of the Cairo ruler did not run. These +traders came to deal in ivory, but they soon found that, profitable as +it was, there was a greater profit in, and a far greater supply of, +"black ivory." Thus an iniquitous trade in human beings sprang up, and +the real originators of it were not black men and Mahommedans, but +white men, and in many instances Englishmen. From slave buying they +took to slave hunting, and in this way there is no exaggeration in +declaring that villages and districts were depopulated. Such +scandalous proceedings could not be carried on in the dark, and at +last the Europeans involved felt compelled, by the weight of adverse +opinion, or more probably from a sense of their own peril, to withdraw +from the business. This touch of conscience or alarm did not improve +the situation. They sold their stations to their Arab agents, who in +turn purchased immunity from the Egyptian officers. The slave trade, +by the pursuit and capture of any tribe rash enough to come within the +spring of the Arab raiders, flourished as much as ever. The only +change was that after 1860 Europeans were clear of the stigma that +attached to any direct participation in it.</p> + +<p>The condition of the Soudan during this period has been graphically +described by Captain Speke, Dr Schweinfurth, and Sir Samuel Baker. +They all agree in their facts and their conclusions. The people were +miserably unhappy, because the dread and the reality of compulsory +slavery hung over their daily life. Those who were not already slaves +realised their impending fate. Villages were abandoned, districts +passed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> out of cultivation, and a large part of the population +literally vanished. Sir Samuel Baker, speaking of the difference +between a region he knew well in 1864 and in 1872, wrote in the latter +year: "It is impossible to describe the change that has taken place +since I last visited this country. It was then a perfect garden, +thickly populated, and producing all that man could desire. The +villages were numerous, groves of plantains fringed the steep cliffs +on the river's bank, and the natives were neatly dressed in the bark +cloth of the country. The scene has changed! All is wilderness. The +population has fled! Not a village is to be seen! This is the certain +result of the settlement of Khartoum traders. They kidnap the women +and children for slaves, and plunder and destroy wherever they set +their foot." How true all this was will be seen in the course of +Gordon's own experiences.</p> + +<p>It has been stated that the Arab slave-dealers made terms with the +Egyptian officials, and they were even not without influence and the +means of gaining favourable consideration at Cairo itself. But as they +increased in numbers, wealth, and confidence in themselves and their +organisation, the Khedive began to see in them a possible danger to +his own authority. This feeling was strengthened when the slavers, +under the leadership of the since notorious Zebehr Rahama, the most +ambitious and capable of them all, refused to pay their usual tribute. +Dr Schweinfurth has given a vivid picture of this man in the heyday of +his power. Chained lions formed part of his escort, and it is recorded +that he had 25,000 dollars' worth of silver cast into bullets in order +to foil the magic of any enemy who was said to be proof against lead. +Strong as this truculent leader was in men and money, the Khedive +Ismail did not believe that he would dare to resist his power. He +therefore decided to have recourse to force, and in 1869 he sent a +small military expedition, under the command of Bellal Bey, to bring +the Bahr Gazelle into submission. Zebehr had made all his arrangements +for defence, and on the Egyptian army making its appearance he +promptly attacked and annihilated it. This success fully established +the power and reputation of Zebehr, who became the real dictator of +the Soudan south of Khartoum. The Khedive, having no available means +of bringing his rebellious dependent to reason, had to acquiesce in +the defeat of his army. Zebehr offered some lame excuse for his +boldness and success, and Ismail had to accept it, and bide the hour +of revenge.</p> + +<p>Zebehr, encouraged by this military triumph, turned his arms against +the Sultans of Darfour, who had incurred his resentment by placing an +embargo on wheat during the course of his brief campaign with Bellal. +This offensive action still further alarmed the Khedive Ismail, who +was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> fully alive to the danger that might arise to his own position if +a powerful military confederacy, under a capable chief, were ever +organised in the Soudan. Instead of allying himself with the +Darfourians, as would probably have been the more politic course, +Ismail decided to invade their territory simultaneously with Zebehr. +Several battles were fought, and one after another the Sultans of +Darfour, whose dynasty had reigned for 400 years, were overthrown and +slain. Zebehr received in succession the Turkish titles of Bey and +Pasha, but he was not satisfied, for he said that as he had done all +the fighting, he ought to receive the Governor-Generalship of Darfour. +If he failed to win that title from the Khedive, he succeeded in +gratifying a more profitable desire, by leading off into slavery the +larger half of the population of Darfour. He was still engaged in this +pursuit at the time of Gordon's appearance on the scene, and the force +at his disposal was thus described by that officer: "Smart, +dapper-looking fellows, like antelopes, fierce, unsparing, the terror +of Central Africa, having a prestige far beyond that of the +Government—these are the slave-dealers' tools," and afterwards they +no doubt became the main phalanx of the Mahdi's military system.</p> + +<p>The financial position of the Egyptian Government in the Soudan was as +bad as the military and political. The Khedive's Governor-General at +Khartoum, Ismail Yakoob Pasha, was nominally responsible for the +administration of Darfour, although Zebehr reaped all the gain. This +arrangement resulted in a drain on the Khedive's exchequer of £50,000 +a year. The revenue failed to meet the expenditure in the other +departments, and this was mainly due to the fact that the slavers no +longer paid toll or tithe in the only trade that they had allowed to +exist in the Soudan. What share of the human traffic they parted with +was given in the way of bribes, and found no place in the official +returns. All the time that this drain continued the Khedive was in a +constant state of apprehension as to the danger which might arise to +him in the south. He was also in receipt of frequent remonstrances +from the English and other Governments as to the iniquities of the +slave-trade, for which he was primarily in no sense to blame. On the +other hand, he derived no benefit from the Soudan; and if he thought +he could have obtained a secure frontier at Abou Hamid, or even at +Wadi Halfa, he would have resigned all the rest without a sigh. But it +was his strong conviction that no such frontier was attainable, and +Ismail clung to his nominal and costly authority over the Soudan in +the hope that some improvement might be effected, or that, in the +chapter of accidents, the unexpected might come to his aid.</p> + +<p>Alarmed as to his own position, in view of the ambition of Zebehr, and +harassed by the importunities of England, Ismail, acting on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> +advice of his able and dexterous Minister, Nubar Pasha, one of the +most skilful diplomatists the East has ever produced, came to the +decision to relieve himself from at least the latter annoyance, by the +appointment of Gordon. This was the main object the Khedive and his +advisers had in view when they invited Gordon to accept the post of +Governor of the Equatorial Provinces in succession to Sir Samuel +Baker, who resigned what he found after many years' experience was a +hopeless and thankless task. The post was in one sense peculiar. It +was quite distinct from that of the Egyptian Governor-General at +Khartoum, who retained his separate and really superior position in +the administration of the Upper Nile region. Moreover, the finances of +the Equatorial districts were included in the general Soudan Budget, +which always showed an alarming deficit. These arrangements imparted a +special difficulty into the situation with which Gordon had to deal, +and his manner of coping with it will reveal how shrewd he was in +detecting the root-cause of any trouble, and how prompt were his +measures to eradicate the mischief. From the first he fully realised +why he was appointed, viz. "to catch the attention of the English +people"; but he also appreciated the Khedive's "terrible anxiety to +put down the slave-trade, which threatens his supremacy." With these +introductory remarks, the main thread of Gordon's career may be +resumed.</p> + +<p>After the brief hesitation referred to in the last chapter, and the +reduction of his salary to what he deemed reasonable dimensions, +Gordon proceeded to Cairo, where he arrived early in the year 1874. As +in everything else he undertook, Gordon was in earnest about the work +he had to attempt, and no doubt he had already formed in his mind a +general plan of action, which would enable him to suppress the +slave-trade. Here it will suffice to say that his project was based on +the holding of the White Nile by a line of fortified posts, and with +the river steamers, which would result in cutting off the slave +hunters from their best source of supply. The expression of his plans +in his earnest manner showed up by contrast the hollowness of the +views and policy of those who had obtained his services. In his own +graphic and emphatic way he wrote: "I thought the thing real and found +it a sham, and felt like a Gordon who has been humbugged." He found +Cairo "a regular hot-bed of intrigues," and among not only the +Egyptian, but also the European officials. With a prophetic grasp of +the situation he wrote, "Things cannot last long like this." Had +Gordon been long detained at Cairo, where the etiquette and the advice +offered him by every one in an official position exasperated him +beyond endurance, there is no doubt that he would have thrown up his +task in disgust. He was animated by the desire to make the sham a +reality, and to convert the project<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> with which he had been intrusted +into a beneficial scheme for the suffering population of the Soudan. +There, at least, he would be removed from the intrigues of the +capital, and at liberty to speak his own thoughts without giving +umbrage to one person and receiving worldly counsel from another.</p> + +<p>One of the chief bones of contention during the few weeks he passed at +Cairo was the dispute as to how he should travel to the scene of his +government. He wished to go by ordinary steamer, with one servant. The +Minister insisted that he should travel by a special steamer, and +accompanied by a retinue. Gordon's plan would have saved the Khedive's +Government £400, but he had to give way to the proprieties. The affair +had an amusing issue. His special train to Suez met with an accident, +and he and the Egyptian officials sent to see him off were compelled, +after two hours' delay, to change into another train, and continue +their journey in an ordinary passenger carriage, much to the amusement +of Gordon, who wrote: "We began in glory and ended in shame!" On +arrival at Souakim, Gordon was put into quarantine for a night, in +order, as he said, that the Governor might have time to put on his +official clothes.</p> + +<p>Soon his attention was drawn from such frivolities as these to more +serious matters. He left Cairo on 21st February, reached Souakim on +26th, left Souakim on 1st March, Berber on 9th March, and entered +Khartoum 13th March. He brought with him 200 fresh troops, and was +welcomed with considerable display and many hollow protestations of +friendship by the Governor-General, Ismail Yakoob.</p> + +<p>A few weeks before his arrival at Khartoum an important event had +taken place, which greatly simplified his ulterior operations. The +"sudd," an accumulation of mould and aquatic plants which had formed +into a solid mass and obstructed all navigation, had suddenly given +way, and restored communication with Gondokoro and the lakes. The +importance of this event may be measured by the fact that whereas the +journey to Gondokoro, with the "sudd" in existence, took twenty months +and even two years to perform, it was reduced by its dispersal to +twenty-one days. General Gordon wrote the following very pretty +description of this grassy barrier and its origin:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"A curious little cabbage-like aquatic plant comes floating down, +having a little root ready to attach itself to anything; he meets +a friend, and they go together, and soon join roots and so on. +When they get to a lake, the current is too strong, and so, no +longer constrained to move on, they go off to the sides; others +do the same—idle and loitering, like everything up here. After a +time winds drive a whole fleet of them against the narrow outlet +of the lake and stop it up. Then no more<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> passenger plants can +pass through the outlet, while plenty come in at the upper end of +the lake; these eventually fill up all the passages which may +have been made."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Gordon had the control of seven steamers, and in one of these he left +Khartoum on 22nd March for the Upper Nile. He had already issued his +first decree as Governor of the Equator, in which he declared the sale +of ivory to be a Government monopoly, and forbade the importation of +firearms and ammunition. It was while he was on this journey that he +heard some birds—a kind of stork—laughing on the banks of the river. +In his letters to his sister, which were to stand in the place of a +diary, he facetiously remarks that he supposes they were amused at the +idea of anyone being so foolish as to go up the Nile in "the hope of +doing anything." But Gordon was not to be discouraged. Already he +liked his work, amid the heat and mosquitoes day and night all the +year round, and already he was convinced that he could do a good deal +to ameliorate the lot of the unfortunate people. He reached Gondokoro +on 16th April, where not only was he not expected, but he found them +ignorant even of his appointment. He remained there only a few days, +as he perceived he could do nothing without his stores, still <i>en +route</i> from Cairo, and returned to Khartoum, which he reached in +eleven days.</p> + +<p>This brief trip satisfied him of several simple facts bearing on the +situation in the Equatorial Province which the Khedive had sent him +with such a flourish of trumpets to govern. He found very easily that +the Egyptian Government possessed no practical authority in that +region. Beyond the two forts at Gondokoro—garrison 300 men—and +Fatiko—garrison 200 men—the Khedive had no possessions, and there +was not even safety for his representatives half a mile from their +guns. As Gordon said: "The Khedive gave me a Firman as +Governor-General of the Equator, and left me to work out the rest." He +began the practical part of his task on the occasion of this return to +Khartoum by insisting that the accounts of the Equatorial Province +should be kept distinct from those of the Soudan, and also that Ragouf +Pasha, sent nominally to assist but really to hinder him, should be +withdrawn.</p> + +<p>Having asserted his individuality after several rows with Ismail +Yakoob, he became impatient at the delayed arrival of his stores and +staff, and hastened off to Berber to hurry their progress. As he was +fond of saying, "Self is the best officer," and his visit to Berber +hastened the arrival of the supplies which were necessary for his +subsequent operations. His staff consisted of Colonel Long, of the +United States Army, who had accompanied him to Gondokoro and been left +there; Major Campbell, Egyptian Staff; Mr Kemp, an engineer; M. +Linant,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> a Frenchman; Mr Anson, Mr Russell, and the Italian Romulus +Gessi. Two Royal Engineer officers, Lieutenants Chippendall and +Charles Watson, joined him before the end of the year. He worked very +hard himself, and he expected those under him to do the same. The +astonished Egyptian officials looked on in amazement at one in high +rank, who examined into every detail himself, and who took his turn of +the hard work. One of Gordon's forms of recreation was to get out and +help to pull his <i>dahabeah</i>. Tucking up his trousers, he would wade +through the river fearlessly, having learnt from the natives that +crocodiles never attack a person moving.</p> + +<p>At first Ismail Yakoob and his colleagues were filled with curiosity +and amusement at this phenomenal Englishman—so different, not merely +from themselves, but from other Europeans—then apprehension seized +them as to what he would do next in the way of exposing their neglect +of duty, and finally only the capacity for one sentiment was +left—relief whenever he turned his back on Khartoum.</p> + +<p>Having collected his staff and supplies, he started up the Nile once +more, to begin the establishment of the line of fortified posts, which +he had resolved on as the best means of maintaining and extending his +own authority, and at the same time of curtailing the raids of the +slave-dealers. The first of these forts or stations he established at +the entrance of the Saubat river, and while there he made a discovery +which showed how the slave-trade flourished with such impunity. He +seized some letters from a slave-dealer to the Egyptian commander at +Fashoda, stating that he was bringing him the slaves he wanted for +himself and many others, besides 2000 cows. By several skilful +manœuvres Gordon succeeded in rescuing all of them, restoring the +cows to their owners, and compelling the soldiers of the slavehunters +to return to their homes, generally in or near Khartoum. Nor was this +his only success during the first two months of his government, for he +detected one of his lieutenants in the act of letting a slave convoy +pass in return for a bribe of £70. On this occasion he had the +satisfaction of delivering 1600 human beings from slavery. This will +show that one of his principal difficulties was caused by his own +subordinates, who were hand-in-glove with the leading slavehunters. +Another of Gordon's troubles arose from the collapse of his staff +under the terrible heat. Of those enumerated as having gone up with or +to him in May, all were dead or invalided in September; and the duties +of sick-nurse at last became so excessive that Gordon had to order, in +his own quaint manner, that no one who was sick should be allowed to +come to headquarters. Only in this way was he able to obtain the time +necessary for the accomplishment, single<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> handed, of his various +duties. Such was the strain on him that he gave positive injunctions +that no more Europeans, and especially young English officers, were to +be sent up to him.</p> + +<p>As soon as it was realised that the new Governor was in earnest, that +he was bent on crushing the slave-trade, and that he would not permit +corruption or extortion in any form, he became the mark of general +hostility. The intrigues to mislead and discredit him were incessant. +Abou Saoud, who had been formerly banished by Sir Samuel Baker from +the Soudan, and then taken into high favour by Gordon, turned out a +fraud and a failure, while Raouf Bey, the nominee of the Khartoum +Governor-General, was sent back in disgrace. With regard to Abou Saoud +it may be said that Gordon never really trusted him, that is to say he +was not taken in by him, but believed he would be less able to do +injury in his service than at a distance. It was precisely the same +principle as led him to solicit the co-operation of Zebehr in 1884.</p> + +<p>Gordon's method of dealing with those who caused him trouble was short +and simple. It consisted in a brief but unchallengeable order to go +back to the base. As the officials would have been murdered by the +people they had so long and so often injured if they attempted to seek +shelter among them, they had no alternative save to obey; and thus, +one after another, Gordon brushed the chief obstructionists from his +path. He served the old troublesome soldiers who would not work or +change their ways after the same fashion, by sending them to his +Botany Bay at Khartoum. In the midst of all these troubles he kept +well, although "a mere shadow," and he still retained the conviction +that he would be able to do much good work in this unpromising region.</p> + +<p>In dealing with the natives, he endeavoured first to induce them to +cultivate the ground, providing them with seed and dhoora (<i>sorghum</i>), +and then to accustom them to the use of money. He bought their ivory +and paid for it in coin, so that in a little time he found that the +inhabitants, who had held aloof from all previous Egyptian officials, +freely brought him their ivory and produce for sale. At the same time, +he made it a point to pay scrupulously for any service the natives +rendered, and he even endeavoured, as far as he could, to put +employment in their way. The practice of the Egyptian officials had +been to lay hands on any natives that came across their path, and +compel them by force to perform any work they might deem necessary, +and then to dismiss them without reward or thanks. The result was a +deep-rooted execration of the whole Egyptian system, which found voice +in the most popular war-cry of the region: "We want no Turks here! Let +us drive them away!" But Gordon's mode was widely different.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> It was +based on justice and reason, and in the long-run constituted sound +policy. He paid for what he took, and when he used the natives to drag +his boats, or to clear tracks through the grassy zone fringing the +Nile, he always carefully handed over to them cows, dhoora, or money, +as an equivalent for their work. On the other hand, he was not less +prompt to punish hostile tribes by imposing taxes on them, and, when +unavoidable, inflicting punishment as well. But the system averted, as +far as possible, the necessity of extreme measures, and in this the +first period of his rule in the Soudan he had few hostile collisions +with the natives of the country. Indeed, with the exception of the +Bari tribe, who entrapped Linant, Gordon's best lieutenant after +Gessi, and slew him with a small detachment, Gordon's enemies in the +field proved few and insignificant. Even the Baris would not have +ventured to attack him but for the acquaintance with, and contempt of, +firearms they had obtained during an earlier success over an Egyptian +corps.</p> + +<p>There is no doubt that this absence of any organised opposition was +fortunate, for the so-called troops at the disposal of the Governor of +the Equator were as miserably inefficient and contemptible, from a +fighting point of view, as any General Gordon ever commanded; and at a +later stage of his career he plaintively remarked that it had fallen +to his lot to lead a greater number of cowardly and unwarlike races +than anyone else. But it was not merely that they were such poor +fighters that Gordon declared that three natives would put a company +to flight, but they were so disinclined for any work, and so +encumbered by their women and children, that their ability to make any +military show might be as safely challenged as their combative spirit. +Well might Gordon write: "I never had less confidence in any troops in +my life." But even these shortcomings were not the worst. The Arab +soldiers provided by the Egyptian Government, and sent up over and +over again, in spite of Gordon's protests and entreaties, could not +stand the climate. They died like flies. Of one detachment of 250, +half were dead in three months, 100 of the others were invalided, and +only 25 remained fit for duty. From a further body of 150 men sent as +a reinforcement, half were reported on the sick list the day after +their arrival. The main buttress of the Khedive's authority in this +region was therefore hollow and erected on an insecure foundation. The +Egyptian soldiers possessed firearms, and the natives, in their +ignorance that they could not shoot straight, were afraid of them; but +the natural progress of knowledge would inevitably prove fatal to that +unreal supremacy, and eventually entail the collapse of the Cairo +administration in the Soudan and the remoter districts on the +Equator.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<p>Realising the inefficiency of the Egyptian force, General Gordon set +himself to the task of providing a better; and mindful of the +contingent danger of creating a corps that might in the end prove a +peril to the system it was meant to protect, he resolved that, if +individually brave and efficient, it should be exceedingly limited in +numbers, and incapable of casting aside its allegiance to the Khedive. +He began in a small way by engaging the services of any stalwart +Soudanese native whom chance placed in his path, and thus he organised +in the first year of his rule a corps of about forty men as a sort of +bodyguard. An accident brought him into contact with a party of the +Niam Niam, a tribe of cannibals from the interior of Africa, but +possessing a martial spirit and athletic frames. Gordon looked at them +with the eye of a soldier, and on the spot enrolled fifty of them into +the small force he was organising. He armed them with spears as well +as guns, and as these spears were cutting ones, with a blade two feet +long, they were the more formidable weapon of the two. Gordon +describes the Niam Niam warriors as looking very fierce, and brave, +and fearless. They were also thick-set and sturdy, and, above all, so +indifferent to the tropical heat that they might be relied on not to +break down from the climate like the Egyptian soldiers. Before the end +of the year 1876 he had increased the numbers of these two contingents +to 500 men. It was with these black troops that Gordon humbled the +pride of the Baris, elated by their two successes, and provided for +the security of the long Nile route to the lakes.</p> + +<p>There was another advantage besides the military in this practical +measure, one of those numerous administrative acts, in every clime and +under innumerable conditions, that established the fame and the sound +sense and judgment of General Gordon. It promoted economy, and +contributed to the sound finance which Gordon always set himself to +establish wherever he was responsible. One of Gordon's first +resolutions had been that his part of the Soudan should cease to be a +drain, like the rest, on the Cairo Exchequer. He determined that he at +least would pay his way, and on the threshold of his undertaking he +had insisted, and carried in the teeth of powerful opposition his +resolution, that the accounts of the Equatorial Province should be +kept distinct from those of the Soudan. The employment of black +soldiers was very economical as well as efficient, and contributed to +the satisfactory result which was shown in the balance-sheet of the +Equatorial Province as described by General Gordon for the year 1875. +In that year the Khedive received £48,000 from the Province which +Gordon ruled at a total cost of only £20,000, while he had also formed +a surplus or reserve fund of £60,000 more.</p> + +<p>Having thus accomplished as much as possible towards the +strengthening<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> of the administration and tranquillisation of the +people, some further particulars may be recorded of his measures and +success in dealing with that slave-trade, the existence of which was +the primary cause of his own appearance in the Soudan. Allusion has +already been made to the considerable number of slaves rescued by a +few grand <i>coups</i> at the expense of his own subordinates, but during +the whole of these three years Gordon was in close contact with +slaves, and the rescue of individuals was of frequent occurrence. +Several touching incidents are recorded in the letters published from +Central Africa as to his kindness towards women and infants, to some +of whom he even gave the shelter of his own tent; and nothing could be +more effective in the way of illustration than his simple description +of the following passage with the child-wife of one of his own +soldiers:</p> + +<blockquote><p>"The night before I left this place a girl of twelve years, in +one of those leather strap girdles, came up to the fire where I +was sitting, and warmed herself. I sent for the interpreter, and +asked what she wanted. She said the soldier who owned her beat +her, and she would not stay with him; so I put her on board the +steamer. The soldier was very angry, so I said: 'If the girl +likes to stay with you, she may; if she does not, she is free.' +The girl would not go back, so she stays on the steamer."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Nor was this the only incident of the kind to show not merely the +tenderness of his heart, but the extraordinary reputation Gordon had +acquired by his high-minded action among these primitive and +down-trodden races. Here are some others that have been selected +almost at random out of his daily acts of gentleness and true +charity:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I took a poor old bag of bones into my camp a month ago, and +have been feeding her up, but yesterday she was quietly taken +off, and now knows all things. She had her tobacco up to the +last, and died quite quietly.... A wretched <i>sister</i> of yours +[addressed to the late Miss Gordon] is struggling up the road, +but she is such a wisp of bones that the wind threatens to +overthrow her; so she has halted, preferring the rain to being +cast down. I have sent her some dhoora, which will produce a +spark of joy in her black and withered carcass. I told my man to +see her into one of the huts, and thought he had done so. The +night was stormy and rainy, and when I awoke I heard often a +crying of a child near my hut within the enclosure. When I got up +I went out to see what it was, and passing through the gateway, I +saw your and my sister lying dead in a pool of mud—her black +brothers had been passing and passing, and had taken no notice of +her—so I ordered her to be buried, and went on. In the midst of +the high grass was a baby, about a year or so old, left by +itself. It had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> out all night in the rain, and had been left +by its mother. I carried it in, and seeing the corpse was not +moved, I sent again about it, and went with the men to have it +buried. To my surprise and astonishment, she was alive. After +considerable trouble I got the black brothers to lift her out of +the mud, poured some brandy down her throat, and got her into a +hut with a fire, having the mud washed out of her eyes. She was +not more than sixteen years of age. There she now lies. I cannot +help hoping she is floating down with the tide to the haven of +rest. The next day she was still alive, and the babe, not a year +old, seized a gourd of milk, and drank it off like a man, and is +apparently in for the pilgrimage of life. It does not seem the +worse for its night out, depraved little wretch!... The black +sister departed this life at 4 <span class="smcap">p.m.</span>, deeply lamented by me, not +so by her black brothers, who thought her a nuisance. When I went +to see her this morning I heard the 'lamentations' of something +on the other side of the hut. I went round, and found another of +our species, a visitor of ten or twelve months to this globe, +lying in a pool of mud. I said, 'Here is another foundling!' and +had it taken up. Its mother came up afterwards, and I mildly +expostulated with her, remarking, however good it might be for +the spawn of frogs, it was not good for our species. The creature +drank milk after this with avidity."</p></blockquote> + +<p>Such incidents explain the hold Gordon obtained over the indigenous +population of the Upper Nile. He made friends right and left, as he +said, and the trust of the poor people, who had never received +kindness, and whose ignorance of the first principles of justice was +so complete that he said it would take three generations of sound and +paternal government to accustom them to it, in General Gordon was +complete and touching. A chapter might be filled with evidence to this +effect, but it is unnecessary, as the facts are fully set forth in the +"Letters" from Central Africa. The result alone need be dwelt on here. +For only too brief a period, and as the outcome of his personal +effort, these primitive races saw and experienced the beneficial +results of a sound and well-balanced administration. The light was all +too quickly withdrawn; but while it lasted, General Gordon stood out +as a kind of redeemer for the Soudanese. The poor slaves, from whose +limbs the chains of their oppressors had only just been struck, would +come round him when anxious about his health, and gently touch him +with their fingers. The hostile chiefs, hearing, as Bedden did, that +he restored his cattle to and recompensed in other ways a friendly +chief who had been attacked in mistake, would lie in wait for him, and +lay their views and grievances before him. He could walk fearlessly +and unarmed through their midst, and along the river banks for miles, +when an Egyptian official<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> would have required a regiment to guard +him, and detached soldiers would have been enticed into the long grass +and murdered. Even the hostile tribes like the Bari, who, from a +mistaken view of their own military power, would not come to terms, +showed their recognition of his merit by avoiding in their attacks the +posts in which he happened to be. Thus there grew up round Gordon in +the Soudan a sublime reputation for nobleness and goodness that will +linger on as a tradition, and that, when these remote regions along +the Equator fall under civilized authority, will simplify the task of +government, provided it be of the same pattern as that dispensed by +General Gordon.</p> + +<p>As the subject has a permanent practical value, the following passage +embodying General Gordon's views is well worth repetition:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"I feel sure that a series of bad governments have ruined the +people. Three generations of good government would scarcely +regenerate them. Their secretiveness is the result of the fear +that if they give, it may chance that they may want. Their +indolence is the result of experience that if they do well, or if +they do badly, the result will be <i>nil</i> to them, therefore why +should they exert themselves? Their cowardice is the result of +the fear of responsibility. They are fallen on so heavily if +anything goes wrong. Their deceit is the result of fear and want +of moral courage, as they have no independence in their +characters. For a foreign power to take this country would be +most easy. The mass are far from fanatical. They would rejoice in +a good government, let its religion be what it might. A just +administration of law, and security of person against arbitrary +conduct, would do a great deal. It is the Government that needs +civilizing far more than the people. Mehemet Ali and his +descendants have always gone on the principle of enriching +themselves by monopolies of all sorts. None, not even the present +Khedive (Ismail), have brought in civilizing habits or customs +with any desire to benefit the country, or, at any rate, they +have subordinated this desire to that of obtaining an increased +revenue."</p></blockquote> + +<p>But while Gordon brought kindness and conciliation into play, the +settlement of the region entrusted to his care called for sterner +measures, and he was not the man, with all his nobility of character +and overflowing supply of the milk of human kindness, to refrain from +those vigorous and decisive measures that keep turbulent races in +subjection, and advance the cause of civilization, which in so many +quarters of the world must be synonymous with British supremacy. The +student of his voluminous writings will find many passages that +express philosophical doubts as to our right to coerce black races, +and to bind peoples who in their rude and primitive fashion are free +to the car of our wide-world Empire. But I am under no obligation to +save them the trouble of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> discovery by citing them, more especially +because I believe that they give a false impression of the man. I have +affirmed, and shall adduce copious and, as I think, convincing +evidence, at every turn of his varied experiences, that the true +Gordon was not the meek, colourless, milk-and-water, text-expounding, +theological disputant many would have us accept as a kind of Bunyan's +hero, but in action an uncompromising and resistless leader, who, when +he smote, at once struck his hardest. Gordon has supplied the answer +to his own misgivings as to our moral right to coerce and subject +tribes who advanced their natural claims to be left undisturbed: "We +cannot have them on our flank, and it is indispensable that they shall +be subjected."</p> + +<p>Having organised his new forces, equipped all his steamers—one of +which was fitted out with machinery that had been left in Baker's time +to rust in the Korosko Desert—General Gordon set himself to the task +of systematically organising the line of posts which he had conceived +and begun to construct in the first stages of his administration. The +object of these posts was twofold. By them he would cut the slave +routes in two, and also open a road to the great Lakes of the Equator. +In the first few months of his residence he had transferred the +principal station from Gondokoro to Lardo, twelve miles lower down the +stream, and on the left instead of the right bank of the river. These +places lie a little on each side of the fifth degree of north +latitude, and Gordon fixed upon Lardo as his capital, because it was +far the healthier. Above Lardo he established at comparatively short +stages further posts at, in their order, Rageef, Beddem, Kerri, +Moogie, and Laboré, immediately beyond the last of which occur the +Fola Falls, the only obstruction to navigation between Khartoum and +the Lakes. Above those Falls Gordon established a strong post at +Duffli, and dragged some of his steamers overland, and floated them on +the short link of the Nile between that place and Lake Albert, +establishing a final post north of that lake, at Wadelai. When his +fleet commanded that lake, he despatched his lieutenant, Gessi, across +it up the Victoria Nile, connecting the two great lakes, and continued +his chain of posts along it by Magungo, Anfina, Foweira, and Mrooli, +to the very borders of Mtesa's dominion in Uganda. By means of these +twelve posts General Gordon established the security of his +communications, and he also inspired his men with fresh confidence, +for, owing to the short distances between them, they always felt sure +of a near place of refuge in the event of any sudden attack. Thus it +came to pass that whereas formerly Egyptian troops could only move +about in bodies of 100 strong, General Gordon was able to send his +boats and despatches with only two soldiers in charge of them; and +having entirely<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> suppressed the slave-trade within his own +jurisdiction, he was left free to accomplish the two ulterior objects +of his mission, viz. the installation of the Khedive's flag on the +Lakes, and the establishment of definite relations with Mtesa, whose +truculent vassal, Kaba Rega, of Unyoro, showed open hostility and +resentment at the threatened encroachment on his preserves.</p> + +<p>It was neither a reprehensible nor an unintelligible vanity for the +Egyptian ruler to desire the control of the whole of the great river, +whose source had been traced south of the Equator, and 2000 miles +beyond the limits of the Pharaohs' dominions. Nor was the desire +diminished when, without sharing the gratification of the Prince in +whose name he acted, General Gordon advanced cogent reasons for +establishing a line of communication from Gondokoro, across the +territory of Mtesa, with the port of Mombasa on the Indian Ocean. As +Gordon pointed out, that place was nearly 1,100 miles from Khartoum, +and only 900 from Mombasa, while the advance to the Lakes increased +the distance from the one place by nearly 300 miles, and reduced that +to the other in the same measure. This short and advantageous line of +communication with the Equatorial Province and Upper Nile was beyond +both the power and the sphere of the Khedive; but in the task of +winning one of the most important of African zones formally recognised +as lying within the British sphere of influence, the route advocated +by General Gordon in 1875 has now become of the most undoubted value +and importance.</p> + +<p>The aversion to all forms of notoriety except that which was +inseparable from his duty led Gordon to shrink from the publicity and +congratulations sure to follow if he were the first to navigate those +inland seas on the Equator. Having made all the arrangements, and +provided for the complete security of the task, he decided to baffle +the plans in his honour of the Royal Geographical Society, by +delegating the duty of first unfurling the Khedive's flag on their +waters to his able and much-trusted lieutenant, Gessi. Although he +sometimes took hasty resolutions, in flat opposition to his declared +intentions, he would probably have adhered to this determination but +for reading in one of Dr Schweinfurth's published lectures that "it +may be that Lake Albert belongs to the Nile basin, but it is not a +settled fact, for there are seventy miles between Foweira and Lake +Albert never explored, and one is not authorised in making the Nile +leave Lake Albert. The question is very doubtful." The accidental +perusal of this passage changed General Gordon's views. He felt that +this task devolved on him as the responsible administrator of the +whole region, and that his natural shrinking from trumpery and too +often easily-earned geographical<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> honours, which he has bluntly +asserted should only be granted by the Sovereign, did not justify his +evading a piece of work that came within his day's duty. Therefore he +resolved to ascertain the fact by personal examination, and to set at +rest the doubts expressed by the German traveller.</p> + +<p>Expanding Dr Schweinfurth's remarks, he explained that "it was +contended that the Nile did not flow out of Lake Victoria, and thence +through Lake Albert, and so northward, but that one river flowed out +of Lake Victoria and another out of Lake Albert, and that these two +rivers united and formed the Nile. This statement could not be +positively denied, inasmuch as no one had actually gone along the +river from Foweira to Magungo. So I went along it with much suffering, +and settled the question. I also found that from Foweira or Karuma +Falls there was a series of rapids to Murchison Falls, thus <i>by +degrees</i> getting rid of the 1000-feet difference of level between +Foweira and Magungo." While mapping this region, Gordon one day +marched eighteen miles through jungle and in pouring rain, and on each +of the four following days he also walked fifteen miles—and the month +was August, only a few miles north of the Equator, or, in other words, +the very hottest period of the year. Having established the course of +the Nile and its navigability to the Murchison Falls close to the +Victoria Nyanza, General Gordon gave what he thought was a finishing +touch to this exploring expedition by effecting an arrangement with +King Mtesa.</p> + +<p>But in order to explain the exact significance of this step, and the +consequent disappointment when it was found that the arrangement was +illusory and destitute of practical value, it is necessary to go back +a little, and trace the course of events in the Uganda region.</p> + +<p>The Egyptian advance towards the south brought in its train two +questions of external policy. One was with Abyssinia, of which we +shall hear much in the next chapter; and the other was with the +kingdom of Uganda and the kinglets who regarded Mtesa as their chief. +Of these the principal was Kaba Rega, chief of Unyoro, and the +recognised ruler of the territory lying between the two Lakes. He was +a man of capacity and spirit, and had raised himself to the position +he occupied by ousting kinsmen who had superior claims to the +privileges of supreme authority. In the time of Gordon's predecessor, +Sir Samuel Baker, Kaba Rega had come to the front as a native +champion, resolved to defy the Egyptians and their white leaders to do +their worst. In a spirited attack on Baker's camp at Masindi, he +endeavoured to settle the pretensions of his invaders at a blow, but +he found that numbers were no match for the superior arms of his +opponent. But defeat did<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> not diminish his spirit. Baker decreed his +deposition as King of Unyoro, proclaiming in his stead a cousin named +Rionga, but the order had no practical effect. Kaba Rega retired a +little from the vicinity of the Egyptian forces; he retained "the +magic stool" of authority over the lands and peoples of Unyoro, and +his cousin Rionga possessed nothing beyond the empty title contained +in an Egyptian official decree. This was the position when Gordon +appeared on the scene, and his first obligation was to give something +like force and reality to the pretensions of Rionga.</p> + +<p>If Kaba Rega had been satisfied to retain the practical marks of +authority, it is probable that Gordon would have been well content to +leave him alone, but irritated by the slight placed upon him by Sir +Samuel Baker, he assumed the offensive on every possible occasion. He +attacked Colonel Long, one of Gordon's lieutenants, on his way back +from Mtesa, just as he had Baker; he threatened the Egyptian station +at Foweira; and above all, he welcomed the thwarted slave-dealers, who +were not averse to taking their revenge in any form at Gordon's +expense. In these circumstances an active policy was forced on General +Gordon, who promptly decided that Kaba Rega was "too treacherous" to +be allowed to retain his kingdom, and that measures must be taken to +set up Rionga in his place. It was at this moment, unfortunately, that +General Gordon discovered the worthlessness of his troops, and when, +in 1876, he had organised his new force, and was ready to carry out +the policy he had decided on in 1874, he was thinking mostly of his +departure from the Soudan, and had no time to proceed to extremities +against these southern adversaries, for behind Kaba Rega stood Mtesa.</p> + +<p>When Gordon, in January 1876, entered the territory of Unyoro, +belonging to Kaba Rega, he found it desirable to take up the cause of +Anfina, in preference to that of Rionga, as the more influential +chief; but neither proved in popularity or expertness a match for Kaba +Rega. The possession of "the magic stool," the ancestral throne or +copper seat of the family of Unyoro, believed to be identified with +the fortunes of the little kingdom, alone compensated for the few +losses in the open field, as Kaba Rega was always careful to retreat +on the approach of his most dangerous adversary. Neither of his +kinsmen was likely to prove a formidable foe. Rionga passed his hours +in native excesses, in the joy of receiving the titular rank of Vakil +to the Khedive. Anfina alienated Gordon's friendly feeling by +suggesting the wholesale assassination of Kaba Rega's officers and +followers when they came on a mission to his camp. Kaba Rega carried +off the stool to the south, or rather the west, of Victoria Nyanza, +and bided his time, while Mtesa wrote a half-defiant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> and +half-entreating letter to Gordon, asking him to spare Unyoro. Mtesa +had his own views of gain, and when Gordon proposed to establish a +fortified post with a garrison of 160 men at Urundogani, the Uganda +ruler begged that it might be stationed at his own capital, Dubaga, +with the view of either winning over the troops to his service or +employing them against his own enemies. Gordon saw through this +proposal and withheld his consent, but his lieutenant, Nuehr Agha, +acted on his own responsibility, and moved with his force to Dubaga. +In a few weeks Gordon learnt that they were all, practically speaking, +prisoners, and that his already heavy enough task had been increased +by the necessity of rescuing them.</p> + +<p>Gordon accordingly advanced in person to Mrooli, the nearest point to +Mtesa's capital without actually crossing his frontier, and as he had +with him a strong force of his newly-raised black contingent, he felt +confident of his capacity to punish Mtesa for any act of treachery, +and to annex, if necessary, his kingdom. But Gordon did not wish to +force a war on Mtesa, or to increase the burdens of the Nile dominion. +All he wanted was the restoration of the men detained at Dubaga, and +he soon received assurances that his presence, and the moral effect of +the force he had brought with him, would attain this result without +any necessity for fighting. As Gordon worded his complaint, it was a +case not of his wishing to annex Mtesa, but of Mtesa annexing his +soldiers.</p> + +<p>Having satisfied himself that Mtesa was not willing to risk a quarrel, +General Gordon sent Nuehr Agha with ninety men to bring back the 140 +men detained at Dubaga, and the task was accomplished without any +hitch or delay. This was due partly to the military demonstrations, +and partly also to a clever diplomatic move by Gordon, who wrote to +Mtesa expressing his readiness to recognise by treaty the independence +of Uganda, and to provide a safe-conduct for the King's ambassadors to +Cairo. At this time the late Dr Emin, who claimed to be an Arab and a +Mahommedan, was at Dubaga, but his influence on the course of events +was <i>nil</i>, and he and Gordon never met. After the return of the troops +Gordon commenced his retirement to the Nile, and after an arduous and +dangerous march of eighty miles through a swampy jungle beset by Kaba +Rega's tribesmen, who were able to throw their spears with accurate +aim for fifty yards, he succeeded in reaching Masindi without loss. +Then Gordon drew up a plan of campaign for the effectual subjugation +of Kaba Rega, but he did not wait to see it carried out, as the first +move could not be made until the grass was dry enough to burn. As soon +as that season arrived three columns were to march against the chief +of Unyoro in the following order—one consisting of 150 black +soldiers, and 3000 of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> the Lango tribe, under Rionga, moving from +Mrooli to Kisoga; another of about the same strength from Keroto to +Masindi; and the third operating from the Albert Lake with the +steamer. The plan was a good one, but Kaba Rega, by having recourse to +his old Fabian tactics, again baffled it.</p> + +<p>Although these events happened when Gordon had reached Cairo, it will +be appropriate to give here the result of this campaign. The Unyoro +chieftain retired before the Egyptians, who carried off much cattle, +and when they in turn retired, he advanced and reoccupied his country. +After a brief period the Egyptians definitely gave up their stations +at Mrooli, Foweira, and Masindi, on the left bank of the Victoria +Nile, and confined themselves to those on its right bank, and thus +finally were Mtesa and Kaba Rega left to enjoy their own rude ideas of +independence and regal power.</p> + +<p>So far as General Gordon was concerned, the Uganda question was then, +both for this period and for his subsequent and more important +command, definitely closed. But one personal incident remains to be +chronicled. When Gordon received Mtesa's request to garrison Dubaga, +and had actually planted a station on the Victoria Lake, he +telegraphed the facts to the Khedive, who promptly replied by +conferring on him the Medjidieh Order. At the moment that Gordon +received this intimation he had decided that it would not be politic +to comply with Mtesa's request to garrison Dubaga, and he had only +just succeeded in rescuing an Egyptian force from a position of danger +in the manner described. He felt that he had obtained this decoration +"under false pretences," but the recollection of the hard and +honourable work he had performed must have soon salved his conscience.</p> + +<p>At an early stage of his work Gordon felt disposed to throw it up, and +during the whole three years a constant struggle went on within +himself as to whether he should stay or return to England. Many causes +produced this feeling. There was, in the first place, disillusionment +on discovering that the whole thing, from the Egyptian Government +point of view, was a sham, and that his name was being made use of to +impose on Europe. But then he thought he saw an opportunity of doing +some useful and beneficial work, and, stifling his disappointment, he +went on. Arrived on the scene, he found himself thwarted by his +Egyptian colleagues, and treated with indifference by the Cairene +Government. He also discovered that his troops were worthless, and +that not one of his officers, civil and military, cared a fig for the +task in hand. Their one thought was how to do nothing at all, and +Gordon's patience and energy were monopolised, and in the end +exhausted, by attempts to extract work from his unwilling +subordinates.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> Even the effort to educate them up to the simple +recognition that a certain amount of work had to be done, and that +unless it were well done, it had to be done over again, resulted in +failure. To the plain instructions he gave, they would give an +interpretation of their own; and while fully admitting on explanation +that this was not the proper way of executing any task, they would +invariably repeat it after their own fashion, until at length Gordon +could see no alternative to performing the task himself. Thus were his +labours indefinitely multiplied, and only his exceptional health and +energy enabled him to cope with them at all. How much they affected +him in his own despite may be judged from the exclamation which +escaped him, after he had obtained a considerable success that would +have elated any other leader—"But the worry and trouble have taken +all the syrup out of the affair!"</p> + +<p>The personal glimpses obtainable of Gordon during these depressing +years, while engaged on a task he foresaw would be undone by the +weakness and indifference of the Egyptian authorities as soon as he +gave it up, are very illustrative of his energy and inherent capacity +for command. The world at large was quite indifferent to the heroism +and the self-denial, amounting to self-sacrifice, which alone enabled +him to carry on his own shoulders, like a modern Atlas, the whole +administration of a scarcely conquered region, which covered ten +degrees of latitude. But we who have to consider his career in all its +bearings, and to discover, as it were, behind his public and private +acts, the true man, cannot afford to pass over so lightly passages +that are in a very special degree indicative of the man's character +and temperament. In no other period of his career did he devote +himself more strenuously to the details, in themselves monotonous and +uninteresting, of a task that brought him neither present nor +prospective satisfaction. When the tools with which he was supplied +failed him, as they did at every turn, he threw himself into the +struggle, and supplied the shortcomings of all the rest. When it was a +matter of pulling the boats up the river, he was the first at the +ropes, and the last to leave them, wading through the water with his +trousers up. If it was his steamer that had run aground, all the +active labour, as well as the organisation, fell on him. Sooner than +add to the work of those in attendance on him, he would be seen +preparing and cooking his own food; and because he could do it better +than his native servant, he would clean his duck-gun, with the whole +camp agape, until his ways were realised, at an Excellency doing his +own work. Nor did he spare himself physically. His average day's walk, +which satisfied him that he was in good health, was fourteen miles; +but he often exceeded twenty miles, and on one occasion he even walked +thirty-five miles under a tropical sun. Of the conduct of his soldiers +against an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> enemy, or in coping with the difficulties of river +navigation, he was always nervous, and whether for work or for +fighting he used, he said, "to pray them up as he did his men in +China"; but without his knowledge, one of his own soldiers was +vigilantly observant of his conduct, and has recorded, through the +instrumentality of Slatin Pasha, his recollections of Gordon as a +fighter and leader of soldiers:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"Gordon was indeed a brave man. I was one of his chiefs in the +fight against the Mima and Khawabir Arabs; it was in the plain of +Fafa, and a very hot day. The enemy had charged us, and had +forced back the first line, and their spears were falling thick +around us; one came within a hair's-breadth of Gordon, but he did +not seem to mind it at all, and the victory we won was entirely +due to him and his reserve of 100 men. When the fight was at its +worst he found time to light a cigarette. Never in my life did I +see such a thing; and then the following day, when he divided the +spoil, no one was forgotten, and he kept nothing for himself. He +was very tender-hearted about women and children, and never +allowed them to be distributed, as is our custom in war, but he +fed and clothed them at his own expense, and had them sent to +their homes as soon as the war was over."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This picture of Gordon lighting a cigarette in the press of a doubtful +battle may well be coupled with that already given during the Taeping +rebellion, of his standing unarmed in the breach of an assaulted +stockade, while around him pressed on or wavered the individuals of a +forlorn hope. It will be difficult for anyone to find in all the +annals of war another instance of human courage more nearly +approaching the sublime.</p> + +<p>In November 1875 General Gordon had fully made up his mind to resign +and return to Cairo, in consequence of the indifference with which he +was treated by the Khedive's Government, and he had actually written +the telegrams announcing this intention, and given orders to pack up +the stores for the passage down the Nile, when the receipt of a long +letter full of praise and encouragement from the Khedive Ismail +induced him to alter his plans, to tear up the telegrams, and to +continue his work. General Gordon gives his reason for changing his +mind very briefly: "The man had gone to all this expense under the +belief that I would stick to him; I could not therefore leave him." So +he stayed on for another year. In July 1876 he formally and more +deliberately resigned, but the execution of this decision had to be +postponed by the necessity he felt under, as already explained, of +solving the geographical questions connected with the Nile and the +Lakes, and also of securing the southern frontier against Kaba Rega +and Mtesa.</p> + +<p>These tasks accomplished, or placed in the way of accomplishment,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +there remained no let or hindrance to his departure; and by the end of +October he was in Khartoum. But even then he felt uncertain as to his +ultimate plans, and merely telegraphed to the Cairo authorities that +he intended to come down for a time. With his back turned on the scene +of his labours, the old desire not to leave his work half done came +over him, and all the personal inconvenience and incessant hardship +and worry of the task were forgotten in the belief that he was called +on by God "to open the country thoroughly to both Lakes." He saw very +clearly that what he had accomplished in the three years of his stay +did not provide a permanent or complete cure of the evils arising out +of the slave-trade and the other accompaniments of misgovernment, and +he did not like to be beaten, which he admitted he was if he retired +without remedying anything. These reflections explain why, even when +leaving, his thoughts were still of returning and resuming the work, +little more than commenced, in those Mussulman countries, where he +foresaw a crisis that must come about soon.</p> + +<p>But these thoughts and considerations did not affect his desire for a +change to Lower Egypt, or even to visit home; and leaving Khartoum on +12th November he reached Cairo on 2nd December. He then formally +placed his resignation in the Khedive's hands, but it was neither +accepted nor declined; and the Khedive, in some mysterious manner, +seems to have arrived at the sound conclusion that after a brief rest +General Gordon would sicken of inaction, and that it would be no +difficult manner to lure him back to that work in the Soudan which had +already established its spell over him. Of that work, considerable as +it was as the feat of a single man, it need only be said that it would +have remained transitory in its effect and inconclusive in its results +if General Gordon had finally turned his back on it at the close of +his tenure of the post of Governor of the Equatorial Province at the +end of the year 1876. When he left Cairo in the middle of December for +England there was really very little reason to doubt that at the right +moment he would be ready to take up the work again.</p> + +<br /> + +<p class="heading">END OF VOL. I.</p> + +<a name="END" id="END"></a> +<div class="trans-note"> +<p class="heading">Transcriber's Note</p> + +<p>The transcriber made the following changes to the text to +correct obvious errors:</p> + +<pre class="note"> + 1. p. 34, charactistic --> characteristic + 2. p. 84, while sails --> white sails + 3. p. 162, lieutenaut --> lieutenant +</pre> +</div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="pg" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE OF GORDON, VOLUME I***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 26419-h.txt or 26419-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/6/4/1/26419">http://www.gutenberg.org/2/6/4/1/26419</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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