Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis from 1840 to 1843 by W. D.‏ ‏ Bernard W. H. Sir Hall

Author:W. D.‏ ‏ Bernard, W. H. , Sir Hall [W. D.‏ ‏ Bernard, W. H. , Sir Hall]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Nonfiction, History
ISBN: 4057664576781
Publisher: Good Press
Published: 2019-12-03T05:00:00+00:00

The generals own words will best do justice to this little incident:—"The Sepoys," says he, "in this critical situation, nobly upheld the high character of the native army, by unshrinking discipline, and cheerful obedience, and I feel that the expression of my best thanks is due to Lieutenants Hadfield and Devereux, and Ensign Berkeley, who zealously supported them during this trying scene."

They did not, however, escape without some loss, as one private was killed, and one officer and fourteen men were severely wounded.

This open hostility of the Chinese, during the operation of a truce, could not be permitted to continue; and, moreover, it was evident that no good purpose could be attained by merely dispersing these irregular bodies of the Chinese. Accordingly, on the following morning, the 31st, the general sent to inform the Kwang-chow-foo, or prefect, that if these hostile demonstrations were continued, he should be under the necessity of at once hauling down the flag of truce, and of recommencing hostilities against the city. In the course of the day, before any further arrangements had been made with the prefect, who promised to come and meet the general and Captain Elliot under the walls, the Chinese again collected upon the hills, displaying their banners, &c., and firing off their guns. Detached parties were also thrown in advance, as if they had some design of communicating with the Tartar troops, who, to the number of 7000, had already marched out of the city, and were still moving.

In the afternoon, the number of Chinese had still further increased, upon the same hills upon which they had appeared the day before. At length, the prefect arrived, and assured the general that the movements of these peasants were quite without the knowledge or sanction of the authorities, and that he would immediately send off an officer of rank to order them to disperse to their homes. It was agreed that one of our own officers should also accompany him, to endeavour to effect this object by their joint efforts; and Captain Moore, of the 34th Bengal N.I., volunteered to undertake this hazardous and responsible duty. Some treachery might possibly have been intended, although, as there was reason to believe, without the sanction of the prefect, who was personally, at that time, completely in our power. These irregular bodies were at length induced to disperse, and no further collision took place.[51]

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.