Narrative of the Voyages and Services of the Nemesis from 1840 to 1843 / And of the Combined Naval and Military Operations in China: Comprising a Complete Account of the Colony of Hong-Kong and Remarks on the Character & Habits of the Chinese. Second Edition

by Sir W. H. Hall; W. D. Bernard

As soon as a sufficient force had been collected, the rifles, under Captain Simpson, descended from a small wooded hill which they occupied, and crept up close under the walls, keeping up a well sustained fire upon the Tartars. Major-General Schoedde now gave orders for escalading the wall, although, from its not having been part of the regular plan of attack, only three scaling ladders were provided. The grenadier company of the 55th, with two companies of the 6th Madras Native Infantry, advanced to the escalade, under the command of Brevet-Major Maclean, of the 55th. The first man who mounted the walls was Lieutenant Cuddy, of the 55th, who remained sitting upon the wall, assisting the others to get up, with astonishing coolness. He was shortly afterwards wounded in the foot by a matchlock ball.

The 55th and the 6th Madras Native Infantry vied with each other in gallantly mounting the ladders, together with the rifles; but the Tartars fought desperately. As they retreated along the wall, they made a stand at every defensible point, sheltering themselves behind the large guard stations and watch-boxes, which are found at intervals upon most of the Chinese walls.

Many anecdotes are told by those who were present, of the desperate determination with which the Tartars fought. Many of them rushed upon the bayonets. In some instances, they got within the soldiers' guard, and seizing them by the body, dragged their enemies with themselves over the walls; and in one or two instances succeeded in throwing them over, before they were themselves bayoneted. The Tartars were fine muscular men, and looked the more so from the loose dresses which they wore. They did not shrink from sword combats, or personal encounters of any kind; and had they been armed with weapons similar to those of our own troops, even without much discipline, upon the top of walls where the front is narrow, and the flanks cannot be turned, they would have probably maintained their ground for a much longer time, and perhaps even, until they were attacked by another body in the rear. Major Warren and Captain Simpson were wounded, as well as Lieutenant Cuddy.

As soon as the wall was scaled, one body of our troops proceeded to clear the walls to the right, and the other to the left; and the latter, as they scoured the walls, afterwards fell in with the third brigade, with the General and the Admiral at their head, who had just forced their way in at the gateway. While these important successes had been gained by General Schoedde with the second brigade, two other operations had been conducted at the western gate, one by the third brigade, and the other by a small body of marines and seamen, under Captain Peter Richards. These are now to be detailed.

Sir Hugh Gough, as soon as he had been joined by the 18th and the greater part of the 49th, with the 26th, which had not accompanied Lord Saltoun's brigade, gave orders to blow in the west gate with powder-bags. The canal which runs along the walls on that side was found not to be fordable; and this was ascertained by four officers who volunteered to swim across it to ascertain the fact. Sir Hugh Gough was at this time with the third brigade, under Major-General Bartley, at about midway between the south and west gates, but determined to storm the latter, because the suburbs afforded shelter for the men to approach it, with little exposure. A few Tartar soldiers only appeared upon the walls at this point, as the main body had probably been marched off to reinforce those who were opposed to our troops, after the escalade of the walls on the northern side.

Two guns, under Lieutenant Molesworth, were placed so as to command the approach to the gate, and to cover the advance of a party of sappers and miners, under Captain Pears, who were to fix the powder-bags against the gate. This operation was perfectly successful; and the General, putting himself at the head of the 18th, who had just come up, rushed in over the rubbish, the grenadiers forming the advance, and entered a long archway, which led into what might be called an outwork, from which there was a second gate, conducting into the town itself.

It appears that in Chinese fortifications, as before described, there are always two gateways; the outer one placed at right angles to the main wall of the town, so as to be flanked by it, and leading into a large court, surrounded by walls similar to the walls of the town, and in which there are commonly cells for prisoners, &c. The second gate and archway leads from it directly into the body of the place, and is surmounted by a guard-house upon the top of the gateway, to which you ascend by a flight of stone steps on either side.

All resistance at the gateways had been already overcome, the Chinese guard at the inner gate having given way before the advanced party of the 55th regiment; and the open court, or space between the two gateways, having been just occupied by a party of marines and seamen, under Captain Peter Richards and Captain Watson, who had escaladed the outer wall very near the gateway.

As no detailed account of this interesting part of the day's work has yet appeared, and as some misapprehension has prevailed with regard to the affair of the boats of the Blonde in the canal, I have taken pains to ascertain the particulars from two officers who were present, and who were both wounded on the occasion. The following condensed statement of what took place may therefore be relied on for its accuracy.

The boats of the Blonde, which vessel was at anchor off one of the principal southern branches of the Grand Canal running under the city walls, having been employed in landing the Artillery Brigade during the early part of the morning, were ordered, about ten o'clock, to re-embark part of the Artillery and Gun-Lascars, with two howitzers, for the purpose of assisting in the attack of the west gate, and to create a diversion in favour of the troops. At all events, whatever the object of the movement might have been, it is certain that the guns were put on board the boats of the Blonde, and that there were altogether about one hundred men embarked. The boats consisted of the launch, barge, pinnace, cutter, and flat of that ship, together with two boats belonging to transports. They proceeded up the canal, which took a winding direction through the suburbs, for some distance, until they came suddenly in sight of the west gate of the city, which until then had been obscured by the houses. The whole of these boats were under the command of Lieutenant Crouch, of the Blonde, having Messrs. Lambert, Jenkins, and Lyons, midshipmen, under his orders.