“In addition to the communication made to the Tsungli Yamen, your memorialist, Li Hung Chang, consulted Tseng Kwo Fan, Governor General of the Two Kiang, and Tso-Tsung-Lang, Governor of Chehkiang, with regard to the recapture of Tsze Kee by the rebels, and their spying out the approaches to the city of Ning Po; also with regard to the newly appointed acting Taotai of Ning Po, She Chengeh, putting this city in a state of defence, and the levying of contributions at Shanghai, to be forwarded to Ning Po; and further, with regard to Brigadier Ward’s recapture from the rebels of Tsz Ki, where he perished from a wound by a musket ball, and for which reason Your Majesty is entreated to bestow on him posthumous honours; and finally, with regard to dispatching with all haste this memorial, and laying it before Your Majesty’s Sacred Glance for approval and further instruction.”
With a promptness unusual in Oriental procedure, this memorial was followed in twelve days by the issue of an Imperial Edict, of which the record obtained for the Essex Institute at the Tsung-li-Yamen in Peking by the late Minister Conger, is as follows:
“The following Imperial Rescript was received on the 18th day of the Intercalary Eighth Moon of the First Year of the Reign of Tung Chih.
“Li Hung Chang in a memorial has acquainted Us of the death of Brigadier Ward, who perished from the effects of a bullet-wound received at the capture of Tsz-Ki, and has asked Our sanction for the building of a temple to him as a sincere expression of Our sorrow at his death. Ward was a native of the United States of America. Having desired to become a Chinese subject, and offered his services to Us, he joined the Imperial Troops at Shanghai, and took Kading, Tai-Tsan, and Sung Kiang, and later defeated the rebels at Yin-hai-pang, Tien-ma-shan, and other parts, in the district of Sung Kiang. He also, in company with other foreign officers, destroyed the rebel fortifications at Kaou-Keaou and elsewhere. We, admiring his repeated victories, had been pleased to confer upon him special marks of Our favor, and to promote him to the rank of Futsiang gazetted for service.
“According to the present memorial of Li Hung Chang, Ward having learned of the designs upon Ning Po of the Chi-Kiang rebels who were in possession of Tsz-Ki, at once advanced with the Ever Victorious Army to destroy them. While in person conducting the movements he was fatally wounded in the chest by a rebel bullet fired from the top of the city wall. The bullet came out through his back. It grew dark to the General instantly, and he fell. The City of Tsz-Ki was already taken by his Ever Victorious Army. Ward returned to Ning-Po, where he died of his wound the next day.
“We have read the memorial, and feel that Brigadier Ward, a man of heroic disposition, a soldier without dishonor, deserves Our commendation and compassion. Li Hung Chang has already ordered Wu-Shi and others to attend to the proper rites of sepulture, and We now direct the two Prefects that special temples to his memory be built at Ning Po and Sung Kiang. Let this case still be submitted to the Board of Rites, who will propose to Us further honors so as to show our extraordinary consideration towards him, and also that his loyal spirit may rest in peace. This from the Emperor! Respect it!”
On October 27, 1862, Minister Burlingame forwarded to Washington his official communication announcing Ward’s death, which read as follows:
“Legation of the United States,
“Peking, Oct. 27, 1862.
“Sir: It is my painful duty to inform you of the death of General Ward, an American, who had risen by his capacity and courage to the highest rank in the Chinese service. He was shot and mortally wounded while reconnoitering, before its capture, Tsz-Ki, a place near Ning-Po. The incidents attending his wound and death please find in the edict of the Emperor.
“General Ward was originally from Salem, Massachusetts, where he has relatives still living, and had seen service in Mexico, the Crimea, and, he was sorry to say, with the notorious Walker.