The guns of the captured fort were turned on the fort that was next in line, and that was soon silenced. Meantime a Chinese force estimated at more than 3,000 came from Canton to whelm the Americans, but a single howitzer with its sailor crew, aided by the muskets of the marines, drove them away with great slaughter. It was not glorious work but it was absolutely necessary to the preservation of American citizens and their property.
During the two or three days that followed other forts were taken, until the American flag had been planted on four of the forts. Admiral Belknap, who was then a master, is mentioned for his gallantry while in charge of one of the launches. The Americans in the course of the work lost seven killed and twenty wounded. The Chinese said they lost five hundred in all, but Foote estimated their loss at about two hundred and fifty. At any rate, the Chinese of Canton have not yet forgotten either the Portsmouth or her captain.
Three years later an American naval officer gave the English-speaking nation a catch-phrase that is likely to live in the literature of both England and the United States after the deed of the man who used it is long forgotten. It was in 1859, when the English and French were bombarding the Chinese forts in the Peiho River. On July 25th, while some English gun-boats were removing obstructions from the river, the Chinese opened a severe fire on them. Captain Josiah Tattnall, whose bravery before Vera Cruz is mentioned elsewhere, was a witness of the attack in the chartered steamer Toey-wan. Tattnall could not look on such an affray without taking part in it, even if he were of a neutral nation. Turning to a junior officer he said, “Blood is thicker than water,” and ordered his boat manned. Getting into it he rowed to the flagship of the British flotilla. His boat was struck by a shot that killed the coxswain and wounded Lieutenant Stephen Decatur Trenchard, but he boarded the British gun-boat and with his crew helped to fight the Chinese. He afterward used the Toey-wan in towing up the British reserves. It is certain that no action contrary to the law of nations ever did more to promote good feeling between the rival English-speaking nations.
The Steamer Toey-wan.
“Blood is Thicker than Water.”—Josiah Tattnall going to the Assistance of the English Gun-boats at Peiho River.
From a painting, by a Chinese artist, owned by Mr. Edward Trenchard.
What is known as the Koszta incident in the Mediterranean shall serve to close this chapter on the fighting work of the American navy, in time of peace, previous to the civil war. It is particularly worth the attention of the American people, for the reason that in these later days some such an example seems to be needed. American citizens who now travel in foreign countries have not infrequently had occasion to wonder whether their Government had an arm that was strong enough to protect them when beyond the borders of the nation.
One Martin Koszta, an Austrian by birth, after having, in legal form, taken out his first papers as a citizen of the United States, was found in Smyrna by the Austrian authorities, and carried on board the Austrian war-ship Hussar, because he had, in some way, offended the Austrian Government. The American sloop-of-war St. Louis was at that time at anchor in Smyrna harbor, and an appeal was made through the American consul to Captain Duncan Nathaniel Ingraham, commanding her, in behalf of Koszta. Captain Ingraham applied to the captain of the Hussar for the man, but the Austrian, having a heavier ship, declined to deliver him up. As Ingraham understood his duty he was compelled by it to get the man first and attend to the necessary diplomatic correspondence and consideration of the facts of the matter afterward. Clearing his ship for action he laid her alongside the Hussar, and setting a time-limit, said he would have the man or a fight. He got the man.
It is admitted that ill-disposed people have become citizens of the United States in order to use the American flag as a cover for nefarious deeds. So the American Government has a delicate and difficult task to perform whenever its power is invoked for the protection of an American citizen who is in trouble with the authorities of another nation. But because naturalized Americans have not infrequently received harsh treatment when in their native countries, and especially because American law presumes that every accused person is innocent of wrong-doing until proven guilty to the satisfaction of a jury of his peers, it is absolutely essential to the preservation of American rights that every American naval officer hold to Captain Ingraham’s understanding of duty. First get the man and then let the State Department settle the diplomatic matters.