The Sun.
London, England, 1841-04-12 00:00:00

MORNING EDITION

CHINA.

(ADDITIONAL PARTIUULARS )

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„
ACK ON TUE CHUENPEE
AND TYKOKTOW FORTS.
(Iron, Cautun _lCey ister.)
oin.swtte loose notes with which we have been
kuuduly ta.voured, we nave it now in our power to
44Y before our readers a rough account of the
Pfau of attack on the Chuenpee and Tykoktow
,o,rts ; and we hope to be able to convey to them,
sbc:eit:e usr description, a tolerably correct idea of the
Chuenpee on the itti inst.
The boats were manned and armed, and the
1-loyal Marines of the squadron under Captain
E
`l's were ready to laud on the morning of
the 7th. ✓
The detachments of the 28th and 49th Regi-
-I!ents, 37th Madras Native Infantry, and Bengal
tvolunteers embarked on board the steamers En-
J"rPrit:e and Madagascar, and were conveyed to
point of debarkation and landed in the trans-
ports' boats.
.11 Captain
d Knowles commanded the artiler,
aying uner him Lieutenant the Hon. Slype-
er• The force of this arm consisted of two 24-
Puuoder howitzers and two G-pounder guns. Tlie
rns were worked by the artillerymen, but to
each howitzer 3d seamen of the Blenheim were
attached and and to the 6-pounders 13 seamen of the
t° Position.
froin which they were landed, to drag them
op t° Position. The guns were placed on the ridge
of hill commanding the entrenchment.
Queen and the Nemesis took up a posi-
tiOn) tvithin good shell distance, as the depth' of
hill,
water allowed, and attacked the fort on the
unit which was soon deserted.
The Calliope, Hyacinth, and Larne, weighed
anda, Proceeded above the batteries to be ready-to
attack in that quarter, and to capture the junks.
oaptain Herbert commanded this portion of the
Lorse.
The Samarang, the Druid, the Columbine, and
the
Modeste were ordered to make a simulta-
c°lls attack on Tykoktow, the object being to dis-
mantle the fort. Captain Scott bad charge, of
s division.
Tlie Madagascar and the Enterprise, haying
tZlanded their troops, proceeded to join the Galli-
7, division.
trond the dispositions having been made, and the
ward
landed at the watering-place to the south-
' strong'
of the island, they formed, and pushed
andg' covering parties in advance of the guns,
• 11;then waited the effect of their fire, as well
that of the squadron; they then marched in
two bodies on the hill fort, into which the Queen
andsii the Nemesis had previously thrown some
Cs; on reaching the intervening, valley
tie stockade opened a fire on the troops,
was soon silenced by the field-pieces,
Faced, as noticed above, on the ridge of
hill ; the troops—the Cameronians and
Marines, then pushed forward up the hill
and took possession of the fort, whilst the
Bengal
Volunteers and 57th Madras Native
Infantry debouched from the valley to the
northward, and then, left shoulders forward,
marchedround the hill. After driving the
,Ilinese who made a handsome defence, out of
'the stockade, the Cameronians and Marines de-
lilc'Yed and rushed down the hill on the lower
and largest fort, entered the embrasures, and
drovet all before them, the garrison escaping
[trough the northern gate, when in a few mi-
nutes they were intercepted in their sauve qui
peat retreat by the native troops, who had de-
n,ouchad from the valley, and opened a most
oestructive fire upon them. This spot, a
Short distance from the northern gate and beach,
was the slaughter-house : it was here the Hiptae,
Mandarin of the third class, was killed, obsti-
nately refusing quarter from a sergeant of Ma-
rines, who ran up to him as his people were
carrying him off severely wounded. He cut at
the
sergeant, who parried the blow with his
bayonet and nearly had the worst of the en-
counter. The Chinese, with the Cameronians
and Marines in their rear and the native troops
1n front, rushed into the water to escape, but
there fell beneath the united fire of the troops.
It should be here remarked that the Chinese do
not understand either giving or taking quarter
in the European military sense of those condi-
tions. Many of the Chinese, when in the water,
bred their matchlocks at the native troops, and
thent threw them away and made no submission;
t this bite-and-fall-down proceeding the Sipahis
did not understand, and returned the fire of the
Chinese, of course with fatal effect.
tThe left division, led in splendid style by the
I,_ll.lid, Captain Smith, were in their stations
il'‘Mt half-past 10 o'clock a. m., the Druid re-
6, her fire, although a brisk cannonade
(1,4 kept up from this extensive fort, until she
jr:.°Pped her anchor, when instantly she poured
a .destructive broadside, her example being
followed by the other ships as they came up in
succeSsion. A landing was effected to storm the
't, fort, but the Chinese obstinately defended them-
'selves at the north gate, being driven by the
broadsides from the batteries, but not until a
great many of their guns were dismounted
or rendered unserviceable. Several personal
encounters here took place, and to show the ob-
stinacy of their defence, a mandarin having lost.
his arms, grappled with an officer of the Modeste,
and bit him severely in the arm. The Colum-
°hie being on the flank, her batteries enfilading
the fort, threw in upon the enemy, who were now
firing and retiring, a destructive discharge of
floated
and canister. In an hour the British flag
Itoated over the fort. The enemy's loss was great,
5,11 t we are unable to speak accurately as to num-
°el% Here, as at Chuenpee, the clothes (padded
vvith cotton) of the killed and wounded, as they
1,91, were ignited -by their matches and ammuni-
tion boxes, which they carry in front, and the
bodies almost consumed by fire.
Thus fell the forts, stockades, and garrisons
of Chuenpee and Tykoktow by her Britannic
4Epesty's arms, on the 7th of January, 1841.
he stockades were well and strongly built,
'Mt heir situation was not well selected, being
commanded by the neighbouring hills. They
afford a proof of the advance the Chinese have
made in the means of defence. From the fresh-
ness of the materials employed in their con-
struction, it would appear that they have been
erected within these few weeks, while the British
plenipotentiary had been negotiating, and had
they been held by determined men, or rather
skilful soldiers, it would have cost our troops some
trouble to take them. As it was, the Marines had a
Food many men wounded in the attack ; and, al-
though exposed to a heavy and galling fire from the
!laeld pieces and muskey, the Chinese reslutely
defended them for tw trenty minutes, and o
it was
only a forward movement of the gallant and
- ever-distinguished Cameronians—not invalids, as
they have been elsewhere most egregiously mis-
, uamed— and Marines, that induced them to
evacuate the works. The deep dry ditch and
breastwork of these defences offerd no small
Obstacles to our attacking force. Some amusing
scenes occurred whilst our men were struggling
11110 should be the first up the steep and hard
clay sides of the dry ditch, proving bow totally
reckless are British soldiers and sailors ” in the
uay and hour of danger."
During the attack, Major Pratt, of the Came-
ronians, was seen a long way in advance, under
the very defences of the enemy, with admirable
coolness quietly making a reconnoitre of their
Position. The gallant major, on looking through
°lle of the embrasures, saw there was a body of
Chinese close to it, when he coolly turni d to the
only soldier with him, a marine, and said, "Just
shoot me one of these fellows, will you ?" The
af'tion followed the word, and the rest of the
Chinese forthwith retired to a more respectful
distance.
We do not expect to find in the construction of
Chinese forts any exhibition of engineering
skill; they have not had a Vauban. It appears,
4, however , that the materials they employ for,
Lae upper par t of their works, such as parapets,
lltbrasures, &c., are particularly well chosen for
the Purpose. I t appears to be a composition like
P' titian! upon which our silot made but
little impression. Most of the Chinese gnus
were of small calibre, the metal wretched iron,
av
01$ as wretchedly manufactured, a single blow
a hammer being sufficient to knock off the
trunnions; they were all spiked or otherwise de-
slroyed, and most of them were thrown into the
8 the carriages were all burnt. The breast-
work and ditches of the stockades escaped with
t lily partial dismantling, but everyting within
tem has been totally destroyed by fihre, and the
loos removed, with the exception of a long Span-
;sit piece of larger calibre than usual,
which is
Yin-. dismounted as a flanking breastwork com-
manding the approach from the valley at the
well
of the hill : had this formidable gun been
ell served, its shot would have mowed down
in'v
anY of the gallant Cameronians and Marines.
The • 7
di site ot houses and huts is now only to be
o:_unguished by smoking ruins. The ground
fl,.er the whole extent of the fortifications is
•ke y strewn with tattered remnants ,
w, the Chinese suffered horribly from falling,
Lien wounded, on their burning matches, which
Ret to their padded cotton garments and
powder flasks, which they wear round their
waists_ and literally blew them up, and burnt
41.*Itentrigisle.reloy to death. The burial of these black,
, rpses, was a fearful spectacle.
into v beach,, running from Chuenpee Fort down
Anson's Bay, is strewn 7-I.th the charred
thbets of the junks so effectually
e ~, destroyed by
emesis and tin boats of the squadron,
'9413 which many Chinese corpses are yet

lying, January 12, 13, 14. Many of the bodies
were large and athletic, much beyond the gene-
rality of the natives of this province.
Just over the brow of the rising ground at the
landing place of the Chuenpee fort great numbers
of the dead lie buried in one common grave, over
whom some careless, thoughtless, " jolly jack
tar" has raised a board bearing the following in-
spiriting inscription :—" This is the road to glory."
The poorer natives do not show any fear at our
having taken Chuenpee; numbers of boats are
about the fleet, and in many instances the Chi-
nese have returned to seek the bodies of their
slain relations, which they have exhumed, and,
although in a state of decomposition, they are
carrying away the bodies in great numbers. But
among these exhibitions of filial and fraternal
feeling there have been some impostors, seek-
ing their " young brothers," evidently try-
ing to excite the compassion of the officers.
Provisions are easily procurable. One old man
and woman are the only natives left in the
island ; they were on the point where death
was rifest, but would not abandon the hearth of
their fathers; the old man was slightly wounded,
but is under the care, asare many of the wounded
Chinese, of our surgeons. Great praise is due to
these gentlemen for the humane attention they
bestowed, as far as was in their power, on the
wounded sons of Ham.
The following anecdote exhibits the base cun-
ning, and callous neartlessness of the Chinese
character. A charge was brought by them
against some of our men of murdering a man ;
the charge, however, upon investigation was
proved to be unfounded, and that, instead of a
man, it was a bullock that had been murdered !
The Chinese said they could produce the body of
the murdered man in proof of their charge ; they
were required to do so, when they brought a
corpse in a state of decomposition, which had
evidently been procured for the occasion from the
graves in the fort. We have heard of similar
charges having been made, and similar proofs
having been exhibited, more than once at Wham-
poa many years ago.
When a place is carried by storm it is always
given up to plunder; but there was nothing
found in the Chuenpee fort but a few clo ks and
caps; yet one thing was discovered which, al-
though it may surprise some, will not surprise
others—about 160 balls of the " foreign smoke"
were found. It is probable the spirits of the
Chinese were exalted to the gallant resistance
they opposed to our troops by a few additional
pipes or pills of this stimulant ; and if such were
the effect, we think neither the Emperor nor his
Commissioners will blame its use on that occa-
sion ; we are really inclined to think so from a
most singular instance of obstinacy in a Tartar
officer at Tykoktow fort, as recorded above, which
brings to mind the old ballad of Chevy Chase
and the gallant Witherington, as well as from
the obstinacy of the Hiptae; although au igno-
rance of our conditions of quarter, and an igno-
rant and foolish fear of torture it' they were made
prisoners, might have had an effect in producing
such determined resistance in both cases.
We have been favoured by a friend with the
following interesting extract of a letter dated
Macao, January 6, 1841 :
" At Tongkoo several spies were discovered
among the China boats, taking the names of the
Chinese who had been supplying the English
ships with provisions ; they were attacked by
the implicated par-des, five or six of them killed,
and the five remaining were tied hand and foot,
put into a boat filled with combustibles, and set
tire to, the unfortunate wretches being regularly
roasted alive. The boat burned to the water's
edge, and was afterwards towed on shore on
the beach, when the burnt remains of the bo-
dies were seen by several Englishmen. The
other affair took place at the Bogue, in the
sight of the Commodore's ship. A mandarin's
boat was chasing a smuggler ; the latter, think-
ing he was the stronger party, turned round and
showed fight. The mandarin endeavoured to
escape, the smugglers boarded him, and threw
the crew overboard, reserving four, whom they
took to the receiving ships at Tongkoo, and de-
sired that they might be hanged, English fashion,
at the yard-arm, so as all men might see. Their
request not being complied with, they took them
away, and doubtless disposed of them, so as they
should not appear in evidence against them at
any future time.—Bengal Hurkaru.

PROCLAMATION FROM THE IMPERIAL CON:
MISSIONER KESHEN.
Keshen, Imperial Commissioner, &c., issues this edict fur
the clear understanding of affairs.
The demands of the 1- nglish barbarians are exorbitant ;
they cantn.t follow the extent of the wishes of their heart
( Vu'g,eriter their eyes are larger than their bellies). On the
15th day of this moon (Jan. 7), without waiting for an answer,
they suddenly attacked Shaken and Takeo with their guns.
Our troops returned the attack, and the victory was unde-
cided ; at present they are grappling with each other ; but it
is hard to tie assured that they (the t.nglish) will not go to the
Westward (probably meaning Macao) and create disturbances ;
immediate measures should be taken to suppress and guard
against them.
Formerly, because the saidbarbarians stated their complaints
and begged for favour, I received the imperial order to exa-
mine into those complaints ; and because a rough or general
examination has not yet been made, how dare the said bar-
barians to behave in this unruly, mad, and disobedient man-
ner—exhorting their troops to be disobedient? Now, it is
impossible willingly to allow them to trade as before, as their
perverse rebellion is increasing.
It is proper immediately to issue orders to the Keun-
minfoo, which, when he receives, let him immediately obey
accordingly.
Let h.m increase his diligence in secretly guarding against
the English, and to cut off all the native boats from entering
into or going out of the narrow Yellin, in order to prevent
native vagabonds from secretly g cows, sheep, fuwls,
duels, rice, and flour, to supply the traitors (the English).
The supplies necessary for the officers and military, the civil
and military mandarins of that district (Heangshan), are to
raise as usual, and after examination to pass them on ; this
business, which concerns the army, is of importance. As for
those native traitors, who secretly convey supplies to the
plundering banditti (the English), openly professing obedience
to, but seermly opposing the laws, cau-ing trouble, &c., it is
on these accounts I issue to the military and people these
orders, with which they are to make themselves fully ac-
quainted.
Ye dwellers on the coast and in the villages, if the English
come sneaking in, you are to oppose and seize them, neither
are you to take your boats to supply them with eatables; if you
dare to secretly carry to them supplies, in opposition to the
orders, you shall be forthwith seized and subjected to milt ary
law fur the puni-hment of your crimes, and your relations
shall be seized and subjected to trial and punishment; then if
you wish to gnaw the umbilical cord, how will you be able to
reach it?
All.should trembling obey, without opposition.
edict.
12th moon, 19th day (January 11).

A speeial

PROCLAMATION FROM THE OFFICER AT CAZA

BRANCA.
Tscang, the public officer at Caza Branca, publishes the
following tor the information of all :
It appears to the said officer, that the prices of goods are
just now being raised in the market, being probably caused by
false rutnoun, scattered abroad by perverse traders, greedy of

gain.
Notwithstanding that the strict orders of the superior
officers prohibit the export of provisions, they have never
ordered the port of Macau to be ciosed, and consequently the
commercial relations between Chinese and foreguers should
continue the same as formerly ; what motives, then, can
there be for them to raise the prices of goods in opposition
to the la,,s? Therefore, the sail officer makes known by this
proclamation to all ve shopkeeper., that you should continue
your trade as f rmerly, and nei,her raise the prices of gooL,s,
nor scatter abroad false rumours; wooever opposes these or-
ders stud! be sr ized, and must certainly severely punished.
11ly wo ds wilt be fo lowed by the instant executi,it of the
laws; obey therefore without opposition. A special edict.
12th moon, 12th day (12th January), 1841.
From the Portuguese, Tra China, 14th January.

The following Report from the Lieutenant-Governor o
Chekeang will serve to prove the imp rtance the high officers
of the empire attach to our occupation of Chusaii ; more in.
deed than many were first disposed to allow.
It: PORT FROM THE
OF CHEKEANG LIEU TENANT-GOVERNOR
Lew, Lieutenant-Governor of Chekeang, reports respecting
some inquiries he has made into the affairs of the barbarians in
Tinghae, which are still suspicious, and requests the Imperial
will, that orders be sent to the imperial Envoy in the pro•
vinces of Canton and Chekeang (t lepoo is the Imperial Com-
mi,sioner iu Chekeang) to deliberate to the end that affairs may
be managed and tranquilly settled.
I re-pecuully report, begging for the imperial glance.
I look up witn gratitude for the imperial favour for being
selected for the Lieutenant-Governorship of Chekeang. On
my journey from Szechuen, I made inquiries on the road, but
I could ri,.t obtain any information respecting the real disposi-
tions of the English barbarians, which caused me great anxiety
and vexation. Afterwards, when I arrived at tile station of
Lin Weikwan, in the teen dist' jet of Fa,gyang, I then heard
from the imperial Commissioner to Canton, Keshen, that he
had had a conference at Teentsin respecting the affairs of the
barbarians ; but that with reference to the affairs (or disposi-
tions) of the barbarians at Tinghae, he also was without any
thorough knowledge of them. When I arrived at any office,
my first desire was to go to Ningpoo, and make clear inquiries
into all the intricacies, and then meet with my colleagues and
consult upon the affairs.
Elepoo, the Imperial Commissioner to Chekeang, had al-
ready issued a proclamation to the scholars and people of
Tinghae, to the effect that if indeed the barbarians d:d not in-
volve the people of Tinghae in trouble, they also were not to
molest the barbarians. Now letters have already passed between
the English bararian ships and Elepoo, and the 19th day of
the 10th moon (Nov. 12) was fixed for the ships to lift their
a,ehors and go to Macao, and there await the examination and
management of affairs; and then all the (Chinese) officers and
troops may be withdrawn from the other provinces, but in this
province 1 consider but few should be citsmisse,t. All the bold
stout tillagers who have been hired in the neighbourhood, they
may be at once dismissed, and all the coasting trading and
fishing borts may be let go.
Moreover, I have received a despatch from the imperial
Envoy Elepoo, saying :
Lately the English barbarians have been rather tractable
and obedient. Six sail of their snips have departed ; now a
barbarian letter has been received, saying—on the 19th day
fourteen sail wiil lift their anchors; and so forth."
Now, whether the said barbarians really have or have not
involved the people of Tinghae in troubl.--the truth or false-
hood of this must be known to Eleepoo, as they at the ap-
pointed time departed for Macao ; as also if they have really
been tractable and obedient.
The Imperial Envoy, Eleepoo, giving his undivided attention
to the matter, must, most unquestionably, have a thorough
knowledge of it. And I, residing in the provincial city, if 1
do not make secret inquiries a., to what are the dispositiot.s of tf ie
barbarians, and what are the difficulties and distresses of the
people, I shall not have repose or quiet, even in the time of