The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-01 00:00:00

A YAiYKTE FILIBUS7ER IN CIIINA.

We find inlthe Shanghai correspondence of the
New York Herald a curious sketch of Col. Ward,
the American, who now occupies a nigh command
under the Imperial Government of China :
Two or three years ago the mate of a coasting vessel came
to Shanghai. He was neither better nor worse than mates
usually are. He was a green, boyish-looking fellow, with a
fair skin and long black hair, which fell in glossy waves to
his shoulders. There was no very great peculiarity about
,him, except that his eye showed a vigorous constitution and
a most indomitable pluck. He was pretty hard up and was
unknown. He appeared hardly old enough to have been
much of an adventurer; yet his life had been a romance
from the first. He had been with Walker in his earlier ex-
peditions, and had had a taste of civil warfare in the South
American States. But it was not in the petty struggles of
such marauders alone that he had been schooled. He had
been in the Crimea during the terrible war which was en-
acted there. He had seen the world, in fact. He had occu-
pied almost every position in the social scale, and at last
came to Shanghai the mate of a coasting vessel, sound in
health and theowner of a good deal more brains than people
generally gave him credit for. His name was then pl iin
Frederick Ward.
The rebels were pinching Shanghai sadly, and the Impe-
rialists couldn't help themselves. Thirty miles or so up the
Norsung river was a city called Soonkong, a very strong
city, like all Chinese cities of importance, surrounded with
high stone walls, outside of which was a deep ditch
always filled with water. This was the sore place, and
the rebels might be coming out some fine day and make
a descent upon Shanghai. The Imperialists couldn't take
the city ; it was beyond their abilities, and they would
pay a handsome price to get it. So I'4 and entered into a
contract with them, and promised to take the city for
forty thousand tile's. He was taken up, and a little while
after he, in company with 80 Manillamen, surprised the
city of 7,000 rebels, took it by storm, and then very
quietly pocketed his forty thousand taels, receiving
hardly a scratch in the encounter. This was all very
well ; but the fellow's blood was up, and he wanted to
take another city some thirty miles beyond Soonkong,
where the rebels) had retired and intrenched themselves
more strongly than before. The Touti-chin chinned him
I exceedingly, and told him to go in. He did go in, or, at
least, as far as the walls, and fell, shot in three places.
He did net die, however, but fell back upon Shanghai, to
recover from his wounds and plan another campaign.
He was out again in a few weeks, but with a hole in the
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married a Chinese woman of the small-footed kind—the
worst thing he ever did—and was created a mandarin of the
blue button. One day Col. Ward received a polite invita-
tion to dine on board H.M.S. Urgent, Capt. Hire. Putting
perfect faith in the invitation, and unsuspicious of under-
handed measures, the colonel went aboard at the time ap-
pointed, was seized by order of the captain and put in irons,
News of the occurrence spread rapidly through the settle-
ment. Americans protested against it, and even threatened
to use force in his liberation. Ward swearing to the fact of
his being a Chinese subject he was discharged. By and by
down came the rebels again, making a furious demonstra-
tion against Shanghai. Big English hongs wrote down to
Hong Kong for naval assistance, and up came the Admiral
to see what the row was. Hs went up to Soonkong in
the Coromandel, and was much astonished. He found an
army of Chinamen there, dressed in foreign costume, carry-
ing foreign arms, and well drilled in the evolutions of
foreign tactics. He found foreign officers to each company,
and he found the great mover of it all, Col. 'Ward. Admi-
ral Hope liked Ward as soon as he became acquainted with
him ; so the French and the English Admirals and the
Colonel consulted, and planned out a campaign against the
rebels. Ward's Chinamen were placed alongside the Eng-
lish and French forces, and they didn't disgrace them-.
selves. Well, the allied forces cleaned the rebels out pretty
effectually, news of which reached Pekin, and shortly came
the gazettes announcing that Ward was promoted to the
rank of general, and had his button raised another grade.
Ward landed in Shanghai with a suit of clothes and six
Mexican dollars. He is now, at a moderate computation,
worth as many hundred thousand. He has the most san-
guine ideas about crushing the rebellion in China, albeit
his progress thus far has not been much to boast of. He
has:offered Prince Kung to do it for ten millions, of dollars,
and the Prince asserts that such a reward would be insig-
nificant in comparison with the extent of the labour. He
is now quietly drilling his new recruits and swelling his
army daily, preparing for the next approach of winter.
Dozens are applying every day to join him—members of
the police force, marines and sailors from the men of war
and the shipping : but he is very judicious in takiug them
into his employ. He has now some 30 or 40 European offi
cers under him, and has his head-quarters at Soonkong,
where the striciest discipline is enforced.