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"On May 4 the victorious force appeared before Quinsan, a place of
considerable strength and possessing a formidable artillery directed by a
European. The town was evidently too strong to be carried by an immediate
attack, and Major Gordon's movements were further hampered by the conduct
of his own men, who, upon their arrival at Quinsan, hurried off in
detachments to Sunkiang for the purpose of disposing of their spoil.
Ammunition had also fallen short, and the commander was consequently
obliged to return to refit and to rally his men. At Sunkiang worse
confusion followed, for the men, or rather the officers, broke out into
mutiny on the occasion of Major Gordon appointing an English officer with
the rank of lieutenant-colonel to the control of the commissariat, which
had been completely neglected. The men who had served with Ward and
Burgevine objected to this, and openly refused to obey orders. Fortunately
the stores and ammunition were collected, and Major Gordon announced that
he would march on the following morning, with or without the mutineers.
Those who did not answer to their names at the end of the first half-march
would be dismissed, and he spoke with the authority of one in complete
accord with the Chinese authorities themselves. The soldiers obeyed him as
a Chinese official, because he had been made a tsungping or brigadier-
general, and the officers feared to disobey him as they would have liked
on account of his commanding the source whence they were paid. The
mutineers fell in, and a force of nearly 3,000 men, well-equipped and
anxious for the fray, returned to Quinsan, where General Ching had, in the
meanwhile, kept the rebels closely watched from a strong position defended
by several stockades and supported by the "Hyson" steamer. Immediately
after his arrival, Major Gordon moved out his force to attack the
stockades which the rebels had constructed on their right wing. These were
strongly built; but as soon as the defenders perceived that the assailants
had gained their flank they precipitately withdrew into Quinsan itself.
General Ching wished the attack to be made on the eastern gate, opposite
to which he had raised his own intrenchments, and by which he had
announced his intention of forcing his way; but a brief inspection showed
Major Gordon that that was the strongest point of the town, and that a
direct attack upon it could only succeed, if at all, by a very
considerable sacrifice of men. Like a prudent commander Major Gordon
determined to reconnoiter; and, after much grumbling on the part of
General Ching, he decided that the most hopeful plan was to carry some
stockades situated seven miles west of the town, and thence assail Quinsan
on the Soochow side, which was weaker than the others. These stockades
were at a village called Chumze. On May 30 the force detailed for this
work proceeded to carry it out. The "Hyson" and fifty imperial gunboats
conveyed the land force, which consisted of one regiment, some guns, and a
large body of imperialists. The rebels at Chumze offered hardly the least
resistance; whether it was that they were dismayed at the sudden
appearance of the enemy, or, as was stated at the time, because they
considered themselves ill-treated by their comrades in Quinsan. The
"Hyson" vigorously pursued those who fled toward Soochow, and completed
the effect of this success by the capture of a very strong and well-built
fort covering a bridge at Ta Edin. An imperialist garrison was installed
there, and the "Hyson" continued the pursuit to within a mile of Soochow
itself.
The defenders of Quinsan itself were terribly alarmed at the cutting off
of their communications. They saw themselves on the point of being
surrounded, and they yielded to the uncontrollable impulse of panic.
During the night, after having suffered severely from the "Hyson" fire,
the garrison evacuated the place, which might easily have held out; and
General Ching had the personal satisfaction, on learning from some
deserters of the flight of the garrison, of leading his men over the
eastern walls which he had wished to assault. The importance of Quinsan
was realized on its capture. Major Gordon pronounced it to be the key of
Soochow, and at once resolved to establish his headquarters there, partly
because of its natural advantages, but also and not less on account of its
enabling him to gradually destroy the evil associations which the men had
contracted at Sunkiang."<br>[http://forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=841498 Post from Kung Fu Forum]
remove book text and replace with link
== The Assault on Quinsan ==
== External Links ==
*[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Rebellion] Wikipedia<br>*[https://archive.org/stream/historychina02boulgoog#page/n405/mode/2up Description of Assault on Quinsan] from end P387 ''The History of China Volume 2'' by Charles Boulger (pub 1898)*[http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101011029/ Charles George Gordon] Dictionary of National Biography
