The Chinese, finding their enemy pressing up towards the wall, and being already bewildered by the admirable firing of the ships, now began to slacken their fire. The 18th rushed for the lower end of the wall, while the party from the Nemesis made a dash at its flank, some way higher up, near a gateway, where the wall appeared less elevated and more accessible. They had, however, brought no scaling-ladders, and, in order to get over the wall, the men were obliged to be lifted up on each other's backs. In this way Captain Hall managed to get first upon the top of the wall, and instantly waved the British flag (which on such occasions he always carried with him in his pocket) in token of triumph. Others soon followed; and the Chinese, the moment they saw their enemies upon the walls, fired two or three random shots, and fled. At this time also the 18th got over the wall lower down, while the 49th forced their way through the embrasures, just at the angle of the sea-face of the great battery. The fire of the ships had not yet ceased, when the party from the Nemesis got down into the body of the fort, and several of our large shot fell close around them.
A very short distance in advance they now observed that two Chinese officers of high rank, mounted on horseback, were endeavouring to make their escape, surrounded by a numerous body-guard, or retinue. The opportunity for trying to take an important prisoner was a tempting one; and Captain Hall, little thinking how few of his own men were near him, and carried away by the impulse of the moment, rushed headlong upon the Chinese soldiers in front of him, firing off his pistols at the two principal officers. Only two of his own men were near him at the moment; so that one of the inferior Chinese officers, seeing the disparity, rallied a few of his men, and suddenly faced about, with a view to cut them off. A personal encounter now took place with the Chinese officer, who was a remarkably fine young man, bearing the white button. The long sword, however, soon had the advantage over the Chinese short one, even putting aside personal prowess, and the mandarin fell severely wounded in the arm. He was immediately disarmed, and his cap and button, together with his sword, were taken from him as trophies. Several other soldiers now came up, to endeavour to rescue their officer, who got up and tried to escape, but another wound in the leg soon brought him down again, and made the other Chinamen halt.
By this time, Captain Hall and his two men were nearly surrounded, and were compelled to fight their way back again towards their comrades, who were coming up to their aid. One of the two seamen received a severe wound in the groin from the thrust of a spear, but the others got off without any injury. The young wounded mandarin was at last safely carried off by his comrades.
The Chinese were now in full flight in every direction, followed by the 18th, 49th, and a party of small-arm men, who were landed from the Wellesley and Blenheim, some way up the sea-face of the fort, under Commander Fletcher and other officers of those ships. The fort was soon completely in our possession. During all the operations of this day, Sir Henry Pottinger and suite were with the admiral on board the Wellesley.
On examining the sea-face of the battery, it was impossible not to be struck with the amazing solidity of the wall. It was composed of hewn granite, faced outside with earth, and of such strength, that the heavy firing of two line-of-battle ships against it, at the distance of only four hundred yards, had made very little impression; indeed, it might be said to be shot-proof. The embrasures were something like low port-holes, covered with stone and earth, and in the space between them were sheds, or a sort of temporary watch-boxes, in which was found a quantity of arms of every kind, clothes, half-cooked food, and also opium, with the common pipes used for smoking it. A horse also was found. The guns were many of them very ill-mounted, and in general the carriages were badly contrived, and often defective. In some places you saw bags of sand placed upon the top of the guns, to prevent them from jumping out of the carriages altogether. The fort had evidently been armed hastily.
Several high Chinese officers fell during this day; some probably by their own hands. One of them very quietly rushed into the water and drowned himself, although, in the report of the affair to the emperor, it was afterwards stated that he "rushed on to drive back the assailants as they landed, and fell into the water and died." This officer was the Chinese commodore, who commanded in the absence of the admiral. This officer had left the port just before our arrival, (boasting that he was going to meet the barbarians,) and, having sailed northward, could not get back again, owing to the contrary wind.
Before five o'clock, the whole of the outer defences of Amoy were in our possession. The Blonde and Modeste, as soon as they had silenced the batteries on Kolingsoo, with the assistance of the Druid, had pushed on into the inner harbour, and captured twenty-six war-junks, mounting not less than one hundred and twenty-eight guns; they were nearly ready for sea, but were deserted by their crews. A large building-yard was discovered, with an immense quantity of timber collected in it; and there was a good-sized frigate-junk, of about three hundred tons, in course of building, in a regular dry dock, something after the European model; they had evidently made a great step in advance in the art of ship-building; indeed, the longer the war lasted, the more the Chinese found themselves led on, by the "impulse of necessity," to attempt great changes, and, in many respects, improvements, not only in their vessels, but in their warlike weapons, and other matters relating to the art of defence.
The Nemesis, in running along the shore to avoid the swell which was setting in, unexpectedly found herself within a circular patch of coral rock, which was not visible above the surface. Several fruitless attempts were made to extricate her from this curious position, but the entrance by which she had got into it could not again be found; but her draught of water being very small, it was thought likely she would be able to force her way over the reef without suffering much damage to her iron hull, and she dashed at it at half speed. The blow, however, was more severe than was expected; the vessel bounded completely over the reef; but the sharp coral rock cut completely through her bottom, making a considerable leak in the engine-room. This was fortunately stopped from the inside without much difficulty, and no further notice was taken of it until some time afterwards, when she arrived at Chusan, where the damage was substantially repaired.
In the meantime, Sir Hugh Gough pushed on without delay, to occupy a chain of steep, rocky hills, which, running transversely down to the beach, lay between the great fort and the town, so as to intercept the view of the latter. A strong body of the Chinese seemed disposed to defend this position, which was naturally of great strength, and completely commanded the approach to the city. Immediate advantage was to be taken of the prevailing panic; and the 18th and 49th regiments being directed to advance partly up a steep gorge, and partly by a more circuitous road leading round the hills, soon made themselves masters of the heights overlooking the city. The Chinese retreated before them as soon as they had fired off their guns and matchlocks. Our troops bivouacked for the night upon the positions they occupied; but they might have been a good deal harassed by the Chinese, if the latter had taken advantage of the rocky, broken character of the ground, to dispute their further advance. The night was bitterly cold upon the heights.
At daylight a reconnoissance was made, and it was soon discovered that little resistance was to be expected. Great confusion and bustle were apparent in all directions; hundreds of the inhabitants were hurrying out of the northern gate, carrying with them their most valuable property; in fact, there was evidently a general panic. Without loss of time, therefore, the 18th, supported by the 49th, were ordered to march down towards the city in the direction of the eastern gate, which was the nearest, while Captain Cotton, the commanding engineer, was directed to examine carefully the approaches to the gate itself.