The Sun.
London, England, 1860-11-28 00:00:00

THE ALLIED ARMIES IN (MINA.

We (Times) have been favoured with the follow-
ing communication, dated Pa-li-chias, the Camp,

six miles from Pekin, Sept. 23 :

" As I fear there is not now the slightest pro- 1
spect of your receiving any letter from your corre-
spondent by this mail, it occurs to me that you may
be glad to receive some account, however brief and
imperfect, of what has occurred since he despatched
his short supplementary note of the 11th inst. from
Yang-tsun, announcing the arrival of a communica-
tion that morning for Lord Elgin from two new
Commissioners of the very highest rank.
" The army proceeded the next day to Nan-tsei-
tsun, about seven miles further on, and the day
after (the 13th) to Ho si-wu, a town of some size,
situated on the Peiho, about 10 miles beyond it.

A second communication from the Commissioners
came in before the army moved on the 12th, the
great object of both this and the former one being
to induce Lord Elgin to consent to a renewal of
negotiations, and to prevent the troops advancing
any further on the road to the capital. I believe
it had been Lord Elgin's wish that they should, if
possible, have been pushed on rapidly, and without
stopping, except for the necessary rest, to the
neighbourhood of Tung-chau, and had this been
done he would in fact have brought his own an-
swer in person. It was found, however, after the
arrival of the army at Ho-si-wu, that, owing to
some difficulty connected with supplies, it would
not be able to move for some days ; and, as it was
not only most important that this should not be-

come known to the Chinese authorities, but also
impossible for Lord Elgin to remain there receiv-
ing despatch after despatch without returning
some sort of answer, he decided on sending
Mr. Parkes and Mr. Wade to meet the Commis-
sioners at Ma-tow, a town about 12 miles off, where
they were said to have arrived, for the purpose of
making arrangements for the army's advancing to
some position within easy reach of Pekin, and to
let them know at the same time the precise terms
which he would require the Chinese Government
to accede to.

" They started on this mission on the afternoon
of the 13th with an escort of Irregular Cavalry,
and, finding on their arrival at Ma-tow that the
Commissioners had, on hearing of our advance, re-
tired to Tung-chau, they followGd them up, and
arrived there about noon the next day. They had
an interview with them the same afternoon, and
after a discussion, embracing all the subjects they
had to treat of, which lasted many hours, they left
on their return to Ho-si-wu in the firm conviction
that everything had been satisfactorily arranged.
Among the points which they had settled was one
to the effect that the main body of the army should
advance to the neighbourhood of Chang-keiawan, a
small town four miles from Tung-chau, while Lord
Elgin would only take tWc n d ,that the escort, in-
tended to amount to 1" ' , which was to at-
tend hint to Pekin.. We (is and Mr. Wade got
back to Ho-si-wu early onAfte 15th, and it was ar-
ranged that the army should start for Chang-keia-
wan on the 17th, halting one 'night on the road at
Ma-tow ; that Mr. Parkes should return to Tang-
chau to settle some matters of detail connected with
Lord Elgin's arrival, and arrange for supplies for
the troops ; and that the Ambassador should re-
main where he was until he heard from Mr. Parkes
that everything was prepared for his presence at
Tung-chau. This was, accordingly, carried into
effect. Sir H. Grant started on the 17th, at day-
light, and reached Ma-tow early in the morning.
Mr. Parkes started at the same time, accompanied
by Mr. Loch, who went on to see that everything
was properly arranged for Lord Elgin's reception,
and by Mr. Bowlby, Mr. De Norman, Attache
to the English Legation at Shanghai ; Colonel
Walker, Quartermaster General of the Cavalry;
and Mr. Thompson, of the Commissariat,
as well. They had an escort of 25 Irre-
gular Cavalry (Fane's), under Captain Ander-
son, the Adjutant, and a few King's Dragoon

Guards.
Mr. Bowlby and Mr. De Norman had asked
Lord Elgin's leave to go the day before, which he
had readily given them, little thinking what was
so soon to happen to them. On the 18th Sir H.
Grant moved towards his camping ground at Chang-
keiawan, and on approaching it was surprised to
find it occupied by a large force of Chinese, both
infantry and cavalry, with feld guns in position
.behind entrenchments, evidently recently thrown
up. He halted to allow his infantry to come up,
and in a few minutes afterwards Mr. Loch galloped
in, accompanied by three irregulars. He brought
letters from Mr. Parkes to say that everything had
been arranged satisfactorily ; they (Parkes and he)
had left Tung-chau early that morning for the pur-
pose of meeting the General and showing him the
camping ground agreed upon. Mr. De Norman
and Mr. Bowlby remained behind, and Captain
Anderson and his cavalry were left with them
Colonel Walker and Mr. Thompson came out with
them, with the King's Dragoon Guards and four
sowers. On reaching Chang-keiawan they found
that during the night works had been thrown up,
batteries armed, and a large force assembled, occupy-
ing and flanking the ground upon which our troops
were to have encamped, and between them and
the river. Mr. Parkes expostulated, but, receiving
no satisfaction, decided on returning to Tung-
chau to see the Commissioners. Mr. Loch came
on to tell the General, and Colonel Walker, with
the rest of the party, remained on the ground
in the midst of the Chinese army. Mr. Loch,
after giving his message, asked leave to return
to Mr. Parkes, which the General allowed him
to do, and Captain Brabazon, Deputy-Assistant-
Quartermaster-General of Artillery, having volun-
teered to accompany him, they started together,
with orders from Sir Hope Grant to direct
Mr. Parkes and the whole party to return at
once. This was about eight o'clock. A Chinese
officer with some men came out, offering to con-
duct our troops to what they were pleased to call
the camping ground, but they were sent away;
also a mandarin, who said he wished to see the Am-
bassadors. The General still halted, for the double
object of getting his baggage collected, so that it
might not be cut off by the cavalry in the rear, and
from the very natural desire not to do anything
which might compromise the safety of the English
and French then within the enemy's lines.
" About 10 a.m. a sudden commotion was ob •
served in one part of the enemy's front, and they
opened fire from several matchlocks. Our Dragoons
were seen galloping back, and presently out came
Colonel Walker, Thompson, four King's Dragoon
Guards, and one sower. It appeared that Colonel
Walker had not seen Mr. Loch when he went back
with Captain Brabazon, so he remained quietly
among the Chinese, waiting for the arrival of either
Mr. Parkes or the others of the party, without being
annoyed or molested in any way by them. Shortly
before 10 a French commissariat officer came up
from Tong-ohan with a mule, which some of the
Chinese soldiers attempted to seize. The French-
man drew or fired—it is uncertain which—a pistol.
Upon this his horse was shot, and he himself cut
down. Twice Colonel Walker got him up, and at-
tempted to lead him off, but each time the Chinese
managed to prevent him ; his sword
was hitched
out of the scabbard, returned to him by an officer,
and again thrown out as be was assisting the French-
man. At the same time they seized his legs and
tried to pull him off his horse. Finding that he
would soon be overpowered, he set spurs to his
horse and gave the word to ride for it, when a
general fire was opened on his party. One of the
King's Dragoon Guards was shot through the leg, a
horse through the body, and Thompson received a
thrust from a spear, but fortunately all got in.
"This of course brought on a general action. Mr.
Loch had been gone two hours, and there had been
plenty of time to allow of his communicating with
Mr. Parkes and returning with the whole party
if no impediments had been thrown in their way.
" Want of time prevents my attempting to give
you any account of the action, beyond stating that
it resulted in the entire rout of the Chinese—their
intrenchments were taken, with scarcely any loss to
ourselves, and, as they got the chance, our cavalry
cut them up terribly. One charge of a troop of
alle's Horse, attached to the French army, is said
to have accounted for between 600 and 700 of
them.
" Lord Elgin received a letter from the General