Daylight of the 1st of charming May was ushered in by the roar of a large park of foreign artillery. Kah-ding, although a walled town, was undefended with cannon, and its garrison of some 5,000 or 6,000 men were, for the most part, armed with bamboo spears. The European troops having invested three of the city gates, the fourth, the only way of retreat for the besieged, was watched by the Imperialist braves, commissioned to cut up the Ti-pings as they fled from the British and French artillery. To the concentrated and terrific fire of thirty pieces of large ordnance, the defenders of the city replied with a brisk though totally ineffective discharge of gingalls. The storm of iron poured upon them soon silenced their fire and drove them from the walls, and with a loss of several hundred, they fled from the town, cutting their way through the Imperialist troops, who watched their only line of retreat. In order to delay the storming of the city, and so afford time for its evacuation, a small body of the Ti-ping soldierly nobly remained and sacrificed themselves for their comrades. This devoted band, numbering about 130, held their post at the south gate, the principal point of attack, until the European stormers were on the walls, three little 2-pound Chinese guns on the gate tower having been worked till the parapet, overthrown by the crushing fire of the siege train, fell upon and buried the gunners beneath the débris.
Driven back by the overwhelming advance of the storming party, the heroic few retired to the north gate, through which the garrison had made their escape; here to a man they fell, while courageously placing themselves between the foe and their retreating comrades. The greater number of them were mere boys, and from the richness of their dress, evidently of good position among their friends. Three little fellows, each armed with a small matchlock, were seen by a friend of mine to rush forward directly a large shell would knock down a portion of the parapet and fire off their puny weapons at the foe. They were too small to reach the loop-holes, and so waited till the 32-pound shot of the besiegers made a hole for them to use. To avoid the deadly rifles they never used the same hole twice, but nevertheless were all killed, for my friend, when passing round the walls, found their bodies lying close together and crushed by a mass of fallen stonework.
The China Mail, in its account of the assault, states:—
"The scene was now most picturesque. A shell had set fire to part of the city close at hand; the early morning sun was shining pleasantly upon the fields, rich with ungathered crops, and the French band played as the troops scaled the walls."
The loss of the Ti-pings at the capture of Kah-ding was nearly 500 killed in the city; 2,000 slaughtered while escaping from the murderous artillery, by the Manchoo troops under Le, who had the bodies mutilated, and offered to produce their ears to General Staveley; and about 1,000 taken prisoners, who, although captured by the assistance of British soldiers, perished in the Manchoo execution shambles.
The stolen property agreement proved very useful at the capture of Kan-ding, nearly 200,000 dollars' worth having been seized in that city without the loss of a single life to the brave allies.
The China Mail, in its issue, "15th May, 1862," although mistakenly considering the Ti-ping revenue (obtained from taxation, silk, &c.) as "the poor people's property," very rightly condemns the wholesale system of brigandage practised by the allies. After referring to the "mercenary" and "sordid" nature of the intervention, it states:—
"There is another matter of regret, and that is, that while we are stigmatizing the rebels as robbers and bandits, we should take their treasures and divide it among ourselves."
Again it continues:—
"It would be difficult to say which are the more shameless robbers of the two, the Taepings who spoil the people, or the English forces who retake the spoil and share it among themselves, while those originally robbed are famishing in Shanghae. It may well be questioned whether the whole history of warfare can record a parallel example of forgetfulness, utter forgetfulness, of all propriety to this loot-hunting game which Admiral Hope is now engaged in. An expedition against the rebels is now shown to be so harmless to those engaged in it that we may expect to hear of gentlemen giving their wives and sisters a picnic in front of the next town that is besieged, when we have no doubt that much amusement could be had among the engineers and artillery by allowing the girls to point the guns. And this is the sort of warfare in which the heart of the jaded and harassed soldier is to be cheered with loot!... There is every reason to believe that England's chivalry is likely to be kept a profound secret from the people of China so long as her affairs are under the present guidance."