In the meanwhile, Canton had been taken by the English and French forces, the Taku forts had been captured on the 20th of May, and on the 3rd of July the Elgin treaty was concluded; a treaty that in all respects proved nearly the death-warrant of the patriots.
On the 8th of November, Lord Elgin started from Shanghae upon the expedition up the Yang-tze-kiang as far as Hankow.
On approaching Nankin, the squadron came into collision with the Ti-pings in a similar, though more serious manner, than on the occasion of the visit of the Hermes. Lord Elgin, with the characteristic arrogance of Englishmen in foreign lands, disregarded the frequently repeated and urgent request of the Ti-ping authorities; namely, that to avoid misunderstandings as to men-of-war approaching their fortifications during a time of battle and blockade (especially considering the Manchoos had engaged some foreign vessels, and reported continually that foreign war-steamers were preparing to attack Nankin, &c.), "a small boat should be detached, to communicate with the garrison; in which case there would be no chance of collision." By referring to the visit of the Hermes, and the correspondence that took place, it will be seen that she was followed by the Manchoo flotilla, which took advantage of her presence to engage the Ti-ping forts, the anxiety of the Ti-ping authorities upon which point pervades all their communications to Sir George Bonham. Perfectly indifferent, then, to the observance of a courtesy which any powerful belligerent in like circumstances to those of the Ti-pings would have compelled, Lord Elgin sent the gunboat Lee ahead of the squadron,—"to communicate if possible," as he reported. But instead of attempting the only correct mode of communication in the case, by sending a boat in first, the Lee, by her backing and filling in front of the batteries and fortified positions, aided by the presence of a powerful squadron in the rear, apparently awaiting the result of her reconnoitre, naturally led the Ti-pings to suppose she was on the scout from a hostile fleet. In consequence of this, the batteries opened fire on the Lee, and the rest of the squadron, prepared for the event, steamed up and opened upon them with "considerable effect." Not satisfied with this, "they on the following morning re-descended the stream to Nankin and bombarded the forts, with but little reply for an hour and a half." What a gallant exploit for British seamen! To silence forts which were perfectly harmless, and slaughter the inmates at their ease.
The Church Missionary Intelligencer of December, 1860, gives the following account of the transaction:—
"In the latter end of 1858, a British squadron, with Lord Elgin, passed up the river as far as Hankow, not without exchanging shots, on more than one occasion, with the Tai-pings, and a consequent loss of life was caused, which, by due precautions, might have been avoided. On approaching Nanking, the capital city of Ngan-hwui, the insurgents and Imperialists were found to be in action. The British vessels were not recognized by the Tai-pings: they were the first bearing the British flag which had ascended the stream so far. Under the misapprehension that they were acting in concert with the Imperialist fleets of junks which commanded the river, the Tai-pings fired a shot at the leading vessel, the Lee, and was replied to by the Furious, Cruiser, Dove, and Lee, in full chorus. The garrison of the forts was soon in flight, the guns abandoned. A little timely explanation might have prevented this collision. On the return voyage, when these forts were again approached, such an explanation was resorted to. The water had fallen so low that the two large vessels had been left behind, and the two gun-boats were alone on their way to the river's mouth. To engage the forts on going up, when the force was strong, was a pleasant divertissement; but to venture on the same experiment with two gun-boats, was, if possible, to be avoided; and that the more so, as the nature of the channel compelled them to steer immediately under the city walls, so that the decks could easily have been swept by gingalls. On this occasion, therefore, that was done which should have been done before—a communication was opened with the insurgents, and the gun-boats passed the forts unmolested."
The first act of the wolf and lamb drama was thus performed, and "those outlaws," the Ti-pings, who might possibly "interfere with the carrying into due effect the terms of his treaty," were reported to head-quarters, as not only having insulted and fired upon the British ensign, but having actually violated a flag of truce—but it was not reported that said flag of truce was unknown to the Ti-pings, and therefore could not be recognized.
The affair is thus reported by Secretary Wade:—
"My orders were to inform the rebels that we took no part (?) in the civil war, and interfered with no one who did not molest us. (?) That a gun-boat had been detached from the squadron before it passed Nankin, for the express purpose of explaining the object of our expedition had the rebels desired to ask it; that they had fired eight shots at the little vessel so detached without a single shot being returned by her; that the forts which had so fired had been made an example of, and that the fact, together with the lesson they had themselves received, might satisfy them of the absurdity of provoking our men-of-war to hostility."
At the time the expedition passed Nankin it was generally supposed the four principal chiefs besides Hung-sui-tshuen, the Tien-wang, were dead. The Southern and Western Princes had fallen in action, and it was rumoured the Eastern and Northern Princes had lost their lives in the capital, in consequence of their attempt to rebel against the authority of their king. I can only say that the report of the execution of the Northern and Eastern Princes, together with large numbers of their particular followers, has been very much exaggerated. The princes, and some who supported them, seem to have been put to death for treason.
The earlier half of 1859 was unmarked by any important military movement upon the part of the Ti-pings. The most interesting event of this period was the arrival of the Tien-wang's relative, Hung-jin, at Nankin, after many fruitless attempts to reach that place.