|
|
| (2 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown) |
| Line 1: |
Line 1: |
| [[Category:Battles]]
| |
| {{Battles_Infobox
| |
| |partof=[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Rebellion]
| |
| |date=4 May 1863
| |
| |location=Quinsan, Jiangsu Province, China
| |
| |presidency=[[Madras]]
| |
| |co-ordinates=[http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?ll=30.991501,121.29155&z=11&t=h&hl=en 30.991501°N 121.29155°E]
| |
| |result=British victory
| |
| |territory=
| |
| |combatant1=The Ever-Victorious Army
| |
| |combatant2=Taiping Rebels
| |
| |commander1=[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_George_Gordon Maj Charles George Gordon]
| |
| |commander2=
| |
| |strength1=
| |
| |strength2=
| |
| |casualties1=
| |
| |casualties2=
| |
| }}
| |
|
| |
|
| "On May 4 the victorious force appeared before Quinsan, a place of
| | == History == |
| considerable strength and possessing a formidable artillery directed by a
| | [[Battle of Quinsan]] 1863 |
| European. The town was evidently too strong to be carried by an immediate
| | == Spelling Variants == |
| attack, and Major Gordon's movements were further hampered by the conduct
| | Modern name: Kunshan<br> |
| of his own men, who, upon their arrival at Quinsan, hurried off in
| | Variants:Quinsan<br> |
| 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
| | [[Category:Locations]] |
| of their communications. They saw themselves on the point of being
| | [[Category:China]] |
| 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]
| |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| | |
| == External Links ==
| |
| [http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101011029/ Dictionary of National Biography - Charles George Gordon] | |