8,455
edits
Changes
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Replacing page with 'Category:Locations'
[[Category:BattlesLocations]]{{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 ofconsiderable strength and possessing a formidable artillery directed by aEuropean. The town was evidently too strong to be carried by an immediateattack, and Major Gordon's movements were further hampered by the conductof his own men, who, upon their arrival at Quinsan, hurried off indetachments to Sunkiang for the purpose of disposing of their spoil.Ammunition had also fallen short, and the commander was consequentlyobliged to return to refit and to rally his men. At Sunkiang worseconfusion followed, for the men, or rather the officers, broke out intomutiny on the occasion of Major Gordon appointing an English officer withthe rank of lieutenant-colonel to the control of the commissariat, whichhad been completely neglected. The men who had served with Ward andBurgevine objected to this, and openly refused to obey orders. Fortunatelythe stores and ammunition were collected, and Major Gordon announced thathe 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-marchwould be dismissed, and he spoke with the authority of one in completeaccord with the Chinese authorities themselves. The soldiers obeyed him asa Chinese official, because he had been made a tsungping or brigadier-general, and the officers feared to disobey him as they would have likedon account of his commanding the source whence they were paid. Themutineers fell in, and a force of nearly 3,000 men, well-equipped andanxious for the fray, returned to Quinsan, where General Ching had, in themeanwhile, kept the rebels closely watched from a strong position defendedby several stockades and supported by the "Hyson" steamer. Immediatelyafter his arrival, Major Gordon moved out his force to attack thestockades which the rebels had constructed on their right wing. These werestrongly built; but as soon as the defenders perceived that the assailantshad gained their flank they precipitately withdrew into Quinsan itself.General Ching wished the attack to be made on the eastern gate, oppositeto which he had raised his own intrenchments, and by which he hadannounced his intention of forcing his way; but a brief inspection showedMajor Gordon that that was the strongest point of the town, and that adirect attack upon it could only succeed, if at all, by a veryconsiderable sacrifice of men. Like a prudent commander Major Gordondetermined to reconnoiter; and, after much grumbling on the part ofGeneral Ching, he decided that the most hopeful plan was to carry somestockades situated seven miles west of the town, and thence assail Quinsanon the Soochow side, which was weaker than the others. These stockadeswere at a village called Chumze. On May 30 the force detailed for thiswork proceeded to carry it out. The "Hyson" and fifty imperial gunboatsconveyed the land force, which consisted of one regiment, some guns, and alarge body of imperialists. The rebels at Chumze offered hardly the leastresistance; whether it was that they were dismayed at the suddenappearance of the enemy, or, as was stated at the time, because theyconsidered themselves ill-treated by their comrades in Quinsan. The"Hyson" vigorously pursued those who fled toward Soochow, and completedthe effect of this success by the capture of a very strong and well-builtfort covering a bridge at Ta Edin. An imperialist garrison was installedthere, and the "Hyson" continued the pursuit to within a mile of Soochowitself. The defenders of Quinsan itself were terribly alarmed at the cutting offof their communications. They saw themselves on the point of beingsurrounded, 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; andGeneral Ching had the personal satisfaction, on learning from somedeserters of the flight of the garrison, of leading his men over theeastern walls which he had wished to assault. The importance of Quinsanwas realized on its capture. Major Gordon pronounced it to be the key ofSoochow, and at once resolved to establish his headquarters there, partlybecause of its natural advantages, but also and not less on account of itsenabling him to gradually destroy the evil associations which the men hadcontracted 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]
