ful. The success it obtained was owing to its compactness, its completeness, the quickness of its movements, its possession of steamers and good artillery, the bravery of its officers, the confidence of its men, the inability of the enemy to move large bodies of troops with rapidity, the nature of the country, the almost intuitive perception with which its commanding officer understood the nature of the country so as to adapt his operations to it, and the untiring energy which he put forth. Colonel Gordon seems to have acted continually on the French principle, to which Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia so ably called attention a few years ago *-of always taking the initiative and acting on the offensive. In war the party thus acting has many points in its favour; for a force on the defensive is perplexed by looking out for and preparing to meet a great number of schemes, any of which its adversary may undertake against it; while he who makes the attack has one well-defined object in view, and his troops are in much higher spirits than those which have to stand still and wait. If, in the Kiangnan campaign, the Tai-pings, with their large numbers, had pushed out in their full strength and fallen on the Ever-Victorious Army, that small force could hardly have stood against them; but this was rendered very difficult by the nature of the country; and when the Rebels did attempt it at Quinsan, they were outmanœuvred, and so nearly annihilated that they never forgot the lesson. Moreover, the jealousy of the different chiefs was an obstacle in the way of formidable combined action, and led to their being overcome in detail. Each Wang, however gallant, was nothing more than the head of a lot of banditti, ignorant of almost everything L'Art de Combattre l'Armée Française.' Par le Prince Frédéric Charles de Prusse. Paris, 1860. COLONEL GORDON'S TACTICS. 139 pertaining to organised warfare, and thinking only of skirmishing and pillage. As such they fought well, and were capable of acts of very great bravery, but were easily panic-stricken when attacked in rear or in flank, or even when boldly assailed in front. To compare small things with great, the fighting in Kiangnan was something like that which has occurred in Bohemia between the Prussians and Austrians. There was on one side the same superiority in arms and in tactics, while on the other there was the same want of cordial cooperation among the chief officers. But the great point of resemblance is, that in both cases there was, on the one side, a bold, energetic, assailing tactic, which took no thought of defeat, and which, if it had been met by an able general, might have resulted in most complete and disastrous defeat; while, on the other, there was a puzzled expectant attitude which dispirited the troops and paralysed the talent of the commanders. During Ward's time the Ever-Victorious Army cost, from September 1861 to September 1862, about £360,000. In the three months Burgevine was in command, about £180,000 were expended upon it; and after that it cost about £580,000. Altogether, at the lowest computation, £1,300,000 may be debited to it. If to this be added the half-million sterling expended on the Lay-Osborn flotilla, we have a total of about £1,800,000 paid in specie to Foreigners in their employ within about two years by the Chinese Government, and that exclusive of the large expenditure on the ordinary service of the Imperial maritime customs. Let us also consider here the great and various expenses of the Imperialists besieging Nanking and in the province of Kiangsoo, which may be put down as at least half a million sterling monthly, and some idea may be formed of the military expenditure of the Chinese, at a time when they were paying two-fifths of their customs revenue to Great Britain and France. If at this period Foreign governments did give China some assistance, it cannot be denied that the Celestials paid pretty handsomely for it. Colonel Gordon's opinions as to his position when he took command of the disciplined Chinese were as follows, as expressed in a memorandum he made on the 5th May 1863. In entering on joint command with a Mandarin, Lí Adong, it was arranged that the latter should in no way interfere with the discipline of the force or with the appointment of its officers. Lí (who must be distinguished from Lí the Futai or Governor) appeared to Gordon a man well fitted for his position, and likely to be extremely useful, because his influence with the other Mandarins was so great as to prevent the action of all petty intrigues against the force, and because his knowledge of the country, and skill in obtaining information by means of spies, were of essential service. Colonel Gordon thought that the British Government was desirous that China should have armies able to cope with its internal disorder, and that the best means of assisting it to that end would be to make the disciplined Chinese force the nucleus of a new Chinese native army. The Sungkiang, or any other force entirely irresponsible to the governor of the province, would have been in a most invidious position; daily reports about its bad conduct, sent in by the local Mandarins, would have disgusted both the Peking Government and the Foreign Ministers, while its supplies and payment would have been uncertain. At the same time, Colonel Gordon considered that the precarious way in which this army existed from month to month was detrimental to its use POLICY OF THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT. 141 fulness and an encouragement to plunder. Its service was by far the most dangerous to its officers of any that he had ever seen, and their apparently high pay was not a dollar too much. If the policy of the British Government was merely, while putting down the Rebellion, to keep China weak, and leave the Imperialists as they were, then he considered that his position would be only that of a mercenary; but believing, in the absence of special instructions, and being by his commandingofficer appointed with sanction of the British Minister at Peking, that the object of his Government was to strengthen China and create a national army, he held his command with pleasure. * This appointment was soon after approved of by her Majesty's Secretary of State for War, then Lord de Grey. CHAPTER IX. GORDON'S FIRST VICTORIES. BURGEVINE'S VISIT TO PEKING-THE BRITISH MINISTER WISHES HIM RESTORED TO COMMAND-COLONEL GORDON TAKES COMMAND OF THE E.V.A.-HIS STAFF-CAPTURE OF FUSHAN-GORDON RECEIVES AN IMPERIAL COMMISSION, WITH THE RANK OF TSUNG-PINGGOVERNOR LI'S OPINION OF THE NEW COMMANDER-DESCRIPTION OF THE THEATRE OF WAR - AN AMPHIBIOUS BOAT — TAI-PING TREACHERY AT TAITSAN CAPTURE OF TAITSAN -ALLEGED IMCHINESE PUNISHMENTS— LETTER FROM PERIALIST CRUELTIES SITUATION OF COLONEL GORDON -A MUTINY IN THE FORCE BURGEVINE, of course, was very much dissatisfied with his supercession, and the appointment of a British officer; and on the 20th of February started for Peking, in order to lay his case before the Foreign Ministers and the Imperial Government. Being a man of gentlemanly and plausible address, he was well received at the capital, and, to some appearance, soon obtained his object. Sir Frederick Bruce evidently was charmed with him, for in a letter to Prince Kung, dated April 2, 1863, the British Minister says, "I have formed a high opinion of General Burgevine's qualifications for the post he occupies. He is brave, honest, conciliatory in his manner, and is sincerely desirous of serving the Chinese Govern |