Our Sailors | Page 6

and
Chinghae on the 10th of October 1841, and Ningpo was occupied on
the 12th of the same month. Early in the year, Captain Hall and the
officers and crew of the Nemesis had a spirited brush with the Chinese,
to the north of Chusan. After this, the enemy kept at a distance from
that place.
Several attempts were made by the Chinese to destroy the ships of the
squadron, each time defeated by the vigilance of the officers and crews.
On the 13th of May 1843, Chapoo, a large town near the sea, was
attacked and captured; and Woosung and Shanghai shared the same
fate on the 16th and 19th of June, the greater part of the fighting on
both occasions being performed by the seamen and marines of the fleet.
CAPTURE OF CHIN-KEANG-FOO AND NANKIN--21ST JULY
1842.
We now come to the crowning victory of the British in China in this
war.
Considerable reinforcements having arrived, it was resolved to advance
on Nankin itself, the ancient capital of the empire, as the most certain
way of bringing the Chinese to terms. To reach that city, the admiral
had determined to conduct his fleet, consisting of nearly eighty sail,
including two line-of-battle ships, up the great river Yang-Tze, into the
very heart of the empire, 200 miles from the sea.
On the 6th July, this imposing fleet passed up the river without any
opposition, the Chinese having even withdrawn their guns from most of
the towns on its banks, to escape the injury they expected would be
inflicted had they made any hostile demonstration. At Seshan, however,
about fifteen miles below Chin-Keang-Foo, some batteries at the foot

of a hill, mounting about twenty guns, opened their fire on the Pluto
and Nemesis, as those vessels were surveying in advance. On the
following day, the batteries having fired on the Modeste, she very
speedily drove out their garrisons, and destroyed them completely.
On the 16th, the naval and military commanders-in-chief went up the
river in the Vixen, followed by the Medusa, to reconnoitre the
approaches to Chin-Keang-Foo. They approached the entrance of the
Imperial Canal, which passes close to the city walls, and is one of the
greatest works in China for facilitating the internal water
communication through the country. As no soldiers were seen on the
walls, and no other preparations for defence were visible, it was hoped
that resistance would not be offered, and that thus all effusion of blood
would be spared. When, however, some of the officers landed on
Golden Island, which is opposite the mouth of the Great Canal, and
climbed to the top of the pagoda in the centre of the island, they
discovered three large encampments on the slope of the hills to the
south-west of the city. This showed that the Chinese had a large army
ready to defend the place, though it was doubted if the troops would
fight. The British land force consisted of about 7000 men of all arms. It
had been determined that none of the ships-of-war should be engaged
in the attack. The Auckland was therefore the only vessel which fired
into the city, when employed in covering the landing of the troops.
On the evening of the 20th all preparations were completed for the
attack, which was to take place at daylight the next day. A body of
seamen and marines, however, under Captain Peter Richards, took an
active part in the engagement, accompanied by Sir William Parker,
who forced his way with the general through the gates of the city. Lord
Saltoun's brigade was the first on shore, and, gallantly attacking the
Chinese encamped outside the walls, soon drove them over the hills.
General Schoedde's brigade, however, was received by a hot fire of
guns, jingalls, and matchlocks, and in consequence he gave orders for
immediately escalading the walls. The Tartars fought with the most
determined bravery, often in hand-to-hand combats, and several of the
British officers and men were wounded. The walls were soon scaled;
and, as the troops scoured them to the right and left, they fell in with

Sir Hugh and Sir William, who had forced their way in at the gate,
while Captains Peter Richards and Watson, with the seamen and
marines, had scaled the walls in another direction. Still, in the interior
of the city, the Tartars held every house and street where they could
hope to make a stand, determined to sell their lives dearly; and often,
when driven back by superior force, they with perfect deliberation put
an end to their own lives, and frequently those of their wives and
children.
While these events were taking place, another of a more naval character
was enacting elsewhere. The Blonde was anchored off the mouth of the
Grand Canal, and her boats