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| − | [[Category:Battles]] | + | [[Category:Locations]] |
| − | {{Battles_Infobox
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| − | |partof=[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taiping_Rebellion Taiping Rebellion]
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| − | |date=4 May 1863
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| − | |location=Quinsan, Jiangsu Province, China
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| − | |presidency=[[Madras]]
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| − | |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]
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| − | |result=British victory
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| − | |territory=
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| − | |combatant1=The Ever-Victorious Army
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| − | |combatant2=Taiping Rebels
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| − | |commander1=[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_George_Gordon Maj Charles George Gordon]
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| − | |commander2=
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| − | |strength1=
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| − | |strength2=
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| − | |casualties1=
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| − | |casualties2=
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| − | }}
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| − | "On May 4 the victorious force appeared before Quinsan, a place of
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| − | considerable strength and possessing a formidable artillery directed by a
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| − | European. The town was evidently too strong to be carried by an immediate
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| − | attack, and Major Gordon's movements were further hampered by the conduct
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| − | of his own men, who, upon their arrival at Quinsan, hurried off in
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| − | detachments to Sunkiang for the purpose of disposing of their spoil.
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| − | Ammunition had also fallen short, and the commander was consequently
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| − | obliged to return to refit and to rally his men. At Sunkiang worse
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| − | confusion followed, for the men, or rather the officers, broke out into
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| − | mutiny on the occasion of Major Gordon appointing an English officer with
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| − | the rank of lieutenant-colonel to the control of the commissariat, which
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| − | had been completely neglected. The men who had served with Ward and
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| − | Burgevine objected to this, and openly refused to obey orders. Fortunately
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| − | the stores and ammunition were collected, and Major Gordon announced that
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| − | he would march on the following morning, with or without the mutineers.
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| − | Those who did not answer to their names at the end of the first half-march
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| − | would be dismissed, and he spoke with the authority of one in complete
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| − | accord with the Chinese authorities themselves. The soldiers obeyed him as
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| − | a Chinese official, because he had been made a tsungping or brigadier-
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| − | general, and the officers feared to disobey him as they would have liked
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| − | on account of his commanding the source whence they were paid. The
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| − | mutineers fell in, and a force of nearly 3,000 men, well-equipped and
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| − | anxious for the fray, returned to Quinsan, where General Ching had, in the
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| − | meanwhile, kept the rebels closely watched from a strong position defended
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| − | by several stockades and supported by the "Hyson" steamer. Immediately
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| − | after his arrival, Major Gordon moved out his force to attack the
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| − | stockades which the rebels had constructed on their right wing. These were
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| − | strongly built; but as soon as the defenders perceived that the assailants
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| − | had gained their flank they precipitately withdrew into Quinsan itself.
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| − | General Ching wished the attack to be made on the eastern gate, opposite
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| − | to which he had raised his own intrenchments, and by which he had
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| − | announced his intention of forcing his way; but a brief inspection showed
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| − | Major Gordon that that was the strongest point of the town, and that a
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| − | direct attack upon it could only succeed, if at all, by a very
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| − | considerable sacrifice of men. Like a prudent commander Major Gordon
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| − | determined to reconnoiter; and, after much grumbling on the part of
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| − | General Ching, he decided that the most hopeful plan was to carry some
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| − | stockades situated seven miles west of the town, and thence assail Quinsan
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| − | on the Soochow side, which was weaker than the others. These stockades
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| − | were at a village called Chumze. On May 30 the force detailed for this
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| − | work proceeded to carry it out. The "Hyson" and fifty imperial gunboats
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| − | conveyed the land force, which consisted of one regiment, some guns, and a
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| − | large body of imperialists. The rebels at Chumze offered hardly the least
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| − | resistance; whether it was that they were dismayed at the sudden
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| − | appearance of the enemy, or, as was stated at the time, because they
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| − | considered themselves ill-treated by their comrades in Quinsan. The
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| − | "Hyson" vigorously pursued those who fled toward Soochow, and completed
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| − | the effect of this success by the capture of a very strong and well-built
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| − | fort covering a bridge at Ta Edin. An imperialist garrison was installed
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| − | there, and the "Hyson" continued the pursuit to within a mile of Soochow
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| − | itself.
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| − | The defenders of Quinsan itself were terribly alarmed at the cutting off
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| − | of their communications. They saw themselves on the point of being
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| − | surrounded, and they yielded to the uncontrollable impulse of panic.
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| − | During the night, after having suffered severely from the "Hyson" fire,
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| − | the garrison evacuated the place, which might easily have held out; and
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| − | General Ching had the personal satisfaction, on learning from some
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| − | deserters of the flight of the garrison, of leading his men over the
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| − | eastern walls which he had wished to assault. The importance of Quinsan
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| − | was realized on its capture. Major Gordon pronounced it to be the key of
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| − | Soochow, and at once resolved to establish his headquarters there, partly
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| − | because of its natural advantages, but also and not less on account of its
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| − | enabling him to gradually destroy the evil associations which the men had
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| − | contracted at Sunkiang."<br>[http://forum.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?p=841498 Post from Kung Fu Forum]
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| − | == External Links ==
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| − | [http://www.oxforddnb.com/index/101011029/ Dictionary of National Biography - Charles George Gordon]
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