Having landed and formed, they immediately joined the small body of troops which had been stationed at the joss-house to protect the guns, stores, &c., which had been left behind. They were commanded by Lieutenant Grant, of the 49th, and consisted of thirty men of that regiment, thirty of the 18th, under Lieutenant Cockburn, and fourteen of the 37th M.N.I., under Ensign Anquitelle. Lieutenant Grant had got his men under arms the moment the alarm was given, and, perceiving a body of about two hundred and fifty Chinese skirmishers advancing in extended order, he moved out to meet them; when within about fifty yards, he poured in a smart fire, by which many of them were killed, and drove them back upon their main body, who were drawn up in close column, about four hundred strong, (regular troops,) behind a bridge some distance off, upon which they had planted three field-pieces. The blue jackets having joined, Captain Hall instantly led the way, at the head of his own men, directly down the causeway, towards the bridge; and, under cover of an excellent fire from the Nemesis and Starling, the whole column attacked the Chinese in front, and were received with an ill-directed fire of grape and curious rocket arrows, by which two men were slightly hit.
The Chinese were driven from their guns, and endeavoured to rally behind some houses in their rear, but they soon made a hasty retreat towards the town, closely pursued, for some distance, by our men. But it was not thought prudent to follow them within range of the ginjals upon the city walls, as no good purpose could be effected by it, and some loss might have been suffered. About thirty of the enemy were supposed to have been killed and wounded. The three field-pieces were spiked: and the houses near the bridge, in which a quantity of military stores were found, were set on fire.
It is worthy of notice that this little spirited affair, although officially reported to Sir Le Fleming Senhouse, was never specially mentioned in any of the public despatches—an omission which at that time created some surprise.
To return to our movements upon the heights. During the greater part of the day, a spirited fire was kept up from the city walls by guns, ginjals, and matchlocks; which made it necessary to keep the men under cover as much as possible.
In the rear, and a little to the eastward of the forts occupied by the 18th and 49th, was a high hill which, in fact, was the key to the whole position, but it was not fortified. There was, however, a large joss-house upon the top of it, which was occupied by a detachment of the 49th regiment. Upon the low ground to the eastward of this hill, and between it and a large entrenched camp, situated upon rising ground close to the suburbs, was a village occupied by Chinese troops. Frequent communications were passing between it and the entrenched camp, in which there appeared to be not less than three or four thousand men. The enemy were soon dislodged from the village by the 49th, and dispositions were made by Sir Hugh Gough to carry the entrenched camp by assault. Several high officers had been observed to pass out of the city on their way to this camp, and it was evident that some fresh attack was projected. The 18th were therefore ordered down from the heights to reinforce the detachment of the 49th, together with a few marines, and Major-General Burrell was directed to carry the encampment, the only approach to which was along a narrow causeway. A heavy fire was opened upon them from guns and ginjals upon the north-eastern face of the city walls, to which the men were unavoidably exposed as they advanced. The Chinese seemed to have got the precise range of the causeway, and some loss was suffered in consequence. But the enemy were soon driven gallantly out of the camp, and fled in disorder across the country. The buildings were then destroyed, together with several magazines, and the force then returned to the heights.
The day was now far advanced, and the men were much fatigued with the oppressive heat. The steep and broken nature of the approach to the heights had made it impossible to get up the heavy guns and ammunition until the following day. The assault of the city was therefore deferred; but Sir Hugh Gough, having made a careful reconnoissance of the walls and gates, determined to carry them on the following day, while the panic of the Chinese was still at its height.
On the morning of the 26th, all was apparently quiet within the city, except that numbers of people were issuing out of the gates, which were removed from the scene of action, hastening to carry away with them all the valuable property which could be easily transported. Our troops were early under arms, but no further operations against the city could be undertaken until the ammunition and the heavy guns could be brought up.
The weather in the morning did not look auspicious, and before the day was half over, rain began to fall in torrents. Few Chinese appeared upon the walls of the city; and at length, soon after ten o'clock, a flag of truce was displayed from the walls. It is remarkable how perfectly well the value of the white flag was remembered (as before noticed by Capt. Elliot) whenever the Chinese wished to negotiate, or to induce us to suspend our operations; although they thought proper to slight it whenever it suited their purpose. Shortly afterwards the general deputed Mr. Thom, who was attached to him as interpreter, to advance and ascertain what the Chinese desired. A mandarin, distinguished by a red button, now stated that they wished to propose terms of peace, with a view to spare the city, and that in the meantime there should be a suspension of hostilities. It was replied, that the general could treat with no other officer than the Chinese commander-in-chief, his equal in rank; that the British forces had come before Canton much against the wishes of the English nation, but were compelled to do so owing to the insults offered to the British subjects, and the bad faith of the Chinese high officers; that they might, therefore, address their requests to Capt. Elliot, who was with the advanced squadron in the river before the city; and that two or three hours would be allowed for them to communicate with that officer, and also to arrange an interview between the English and the Tartar general; but that if within that period no satisfactory communication should be received, the white flag would be struck.
These overtures, on the part of the Chinese, led to no immediate result. Sir Hugh Gough waited more than four hours before the white flag was struck, and even then the Chinese did not lower theirs.
During the remainder of the day, and in the course of the night, by the unwearied exertions of the Royal and Madras Artillery, assisted by the Sappers and Miners, all the guns and ammunition were got up, except one 12-pounder howitzer, the carriage of which had been disabled. During the whole of this time, the rain fell heavily, which much increased the necessary labour, and added to the privations of the men, who either bivouacked or were partially sheltered, as best they could.