Our Sailors | Page 7

had been employed in the morning in
landing the artillery brigade. At ten o'clock they were ordered away to
carry some of the artillery, with two howitzers, up the canal, to create a
diversion in favour of the troops. They were under the command of
Lieutenant Crouch, of the Blonde, who had with him Messrs. Lambert,
Jenkins, and Lyons, midshipmen. The barge, cutter, and a flat were a
little in advance, when, coming suddenly in sight of the west gate of the
city, they were assailed by a heavy fire of jingalls and matchlocks from
the whole line of the city wall, running parallel with the canal. As the
wall was nearly forty feet high, the gun in the barge could not be
elevated sufficiently to do service, and the fire of the musketry was
ineffectual. Lieutenant Crouch and Mr Lyons, midshipman, two
artillery officers, sixteen seamen, and eight artillerymen were wounded.
As it would have been madness to have remained longer than necessary
exposed to such a fire, the men leaped from the boats, which they
abandoned, and took shelter under cover of some houses in the suburbs.
The crews of the launch and pinnace, however, which were some way
astern, remained under cover of some buildings, and escaped without
loss. Lieutenant Crouch's party now saw that their only chance of
escape was to join the latter, though to do so they would have to pass
across a wide space, exposed to the fire from the walls. They succeeded,
however, in doing this without loss, and in getting on board the two
boats. The whole party returned down the canal to the Cornwallis,
where they reported what had happened to Captain Richards. They
were compelled to leave some of the wounded behind, who, it is
satisfactory to report, were kindly treated by the Chinese,--a strong

proof of the advantage of the example set by the British.
As soon as Captain Richards was informed of the circumstances which
had occurred, he landed with 200 marines at the entrance of the canal,
where he was joined by 300 men of the 6th Madras Native Infantry,
under Captain McLean.
This body then made their way through the suburbs, to escalade the city
walls. At the same time the boats of the Cornwallis, under Lieutenant
Stoddart, with those of the Blonde, pulled up the canal, with orders to
bring off the boats and guns which had been left behind, and to
endeavour to check the fire of the Chinese, while Captain Richards'
party were engaged in escalading the walls. As soon as Captain
Richards landed, he was joined by Captain Watson and Mr Forster,
master of the Modeste, with a boat's crew and a small body of seamen
from that ship.
A quantity of rubbish was found near the walls, on which the ladders
were planted by Captains Peter Richards and Watson, when, in face of
a strong body of Tartars, who opened a tremendous fire on them, they
began the hazardous ascent. Captain Richards escaped unhurt; but
Captain Watson was wounded, as was Lieutenant Baker, of the Madras
Artillery; and a marine, who with them was one of the first on the walls,
was killed.
At this juncture, Lieutenant Fitzjames brought up some rockets and
lodged one in a guard-house, which, catching fire, threw the enemy into
such consternation that they gave way, followed by Captain Richards,
who, at the head of his men, had jumped down into an open space
between two gateways. At the same moment the gate was blown open
by powder bags; and Sir William Parker, with the third brigade under
General Bartley, accompanied by Sir Hugh Gough, dashed over its
ruins. Several officers and a large number of men suffered from the
effects of the hot sun. The Naval Brigade having in consequence rested
for some time in a guard-house, on hearing some firing, again sallied
out, when they were met by a sudden fire from a body of Tartars,
drawn up across a street behind a small gateway. Here Lieutenant
Fitzjames was wounded, as were several of the men.

The British, however, uttering a loud cheer, attacked the Tartars with
such fury that they were soon driven back and put to flight, when
numbers fell by their own hands. The city was speedily in entire
possession of the British, when every means was taken to spare life, to
prevent plunder, and to restore order. We must not omit to speak of the
gallantry of several naval officers mentioned by Sir Hugh Gough.
Having heard that the canal was fordable, he had sent Major Gough to
ascertain the fact, accompanied by Captain Loch, RN, who acted as an
amateur throughout the campaign, as the general's extra aide-de-camp,
and Lieutenant Hodgson, of the Cornwallis, as also by Lieutenant
Heatley. Instantly