The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-14 00:00:00

r attack on the forts, which are very substantially'
built, and have evidently had the benefit of Euro-
pOn skill in their construction, as did also their
guns during the action. The principal forts con-
ant of three bastions connected by curtains and
armed with guns of from 24-pounders to 60-
pounders. One of these forts is on the south
bank of the river and another on the north, but that
on the north runs at right angles to the south
batteries, and thus any ships anchoring parallel to
the south forts—i. e., in the line of the river—are
exposed to a. raking or longitudinal fire from the
north forts. Besides these there are two or three
other batteries which took part in the action, 'but
without much effect. Four very formidable barriers
crossed •the river, the outer one being
.so situated
that it was not more than 600 yards from any gun
in the batteries, and considerably less than that
from most of them. The flag captain partially
destroyed one of these barriers during the night of
the 24th, but was fired on by the batteries, and
retired.

"On Saturday, June 25, the gunboats Janus,
Kestrel,,Lee, Haughty, Plover, Starling, Opossum,
Banterer, and Forester, with the despatch-vessels
Nimrod and Cormorant, took up their positions, the
inner gunboat, the Banterer, being close to the
outer barrier on the north side of the river, the line
of vessels crossing the stream from that point dia-
gonally, or in a southerly direction. The Admiral
had hoisted his flag on board the Plover, and with
the Opossum leading, he proceeded about 2 p.m.
to force his way through the outer barrier. The
Opossum steamed at it, but it was too strong for
her; however, by hooking her anchor to one of the
piles she managed to drag one up, and so made
room to pass through, and then steamed on towards
the second barrier. Every one now began to think
that the Chinese were going to let us pass through
quietly, but that idea was of very short duration,
for the Admiral, following the Opossum, had no
sooner pushed the bow of the Plover through the
barrier, than bang went a gun from the batteries
into her. She immediately returned it, and the
whole of the forts opened fire as if by magic
(this was at 2.40 p.m.) A tremendous can-
nonade ensued, and it lasted without intermis-
sion until between four and five o'clock, the Chinese
firing with remarkable precision and causing ater-
rible loss on board the gunboats, the Plover and
Opossum had to retrace their steps and join the
rest of the squadron. So severe was the fire that
in a very short time the Plover and two other gun-
boats had to be reinforced from the Naval Brigade,
The Admiral was wounded In the early part of the
action, but refused to leave the deck. His gun-
boat was evidently a mark for the enemy until
he shifted to the Cormorant. The tide falling,
several of the vessels grounded, and the enemy's•
fire was now cutting them to pieces below the
water line. The southern batteries, however, had
begun to slacken their fire, and it being thought
that a landing might be effected with a good
prospect of success, an officer was sent to inspect
the proposed spot for the landing, and reported it
practicable. The signal was immediately made for
the landing parties, and the two brigades ap-
proached in two vessels for some distance, and
then pulled in towards the shore. Directly they
commenced landing they were assailed by a
tremendous fire from all the batteries, and
a dreadful carnage ensued. The mud was so
heavy that the men could scarcely struggle through
it, and they were mowed down by dozens. Many
who were wounded fell and were smothered in the
mud ; others were actually drowned in this dread-
ful morass from pure fatigue. Many more con-
trived to push on towards the batteries, but scarcely
a man ha,l a dry cartridge. The two ditches were
crossed, but the utter impossibility of bringing up
scaling ladders or bridges through such a sea of mud
baffled all attempts at storming. The Chinese threw
out fireballs which, in the darkness that had now
come on, showed very distinctly the position of our
people. Capt. Shadwell, who commanded the Naval
Brigade, having been severely wounded, and many
other officers and men killed and wounded, it was
but too evident that any further attempt would
only entail a still greater sacrifice of life, and there-
fore the retreat was reluctantly ordered. The Chi-
nese gave a yell of triumph when they saw this
movement, and, if possible, redoubled their fire, while
our poor fellows retraced their steps a 3 best they could
many having to crawl on their hands and knees to
prevent sinking into the mud altogether. By 1 p.m.
the wounded and the remains of the leading party
were embarked. To return to the gunboats,—the
duel between them and the forts recommenced with
great fury and continued until long after dark,
when at length, all the ammunition being expended
and the vessels all being in a sinking condition, the
firing gradually ceased, and by 10 o'clock the ac-
tion may be said to have ended. The Lee and Kes-
trel had already sunk and the Cormorant was fast
following their example, and they, with two or
three other gunboats, bad to be deserted during the
night. Thus ended this most disastrous affair;
the only redeeming point in it is that our men,
though beaten, fought everywhere with the most
desperate resolution, and had there been firm foot-
ing for the Marine and Naval Brigades there can
be no doubt that the forts would have been carried;
as it was, their part of the fighting was a strug-
gle against mud, and not against China-
men. Between the 26th of June and this
day we have managed to rescue all the
vessels from under the guns of the batteries,
except the Cormorant, Lee, and Plover; they
are utterly destroyed, but the remaining
have been patched up sufficiently to make them
float. The Kestrel, floated oia.t in the most extra-
ordinary manner, and managed to steam out and
join the rest of the squadron last evening ; and the
Chinese, who have kept up a desultory fire on our
vessels ever since the 25th, are now left in the quiet
enjoyment of their victory. The Americans, though
they took no part in the action, have been extremely
kind in assisting our wounded, and in various
other ways have earned the good wishes of the
whole squadron, I send you a list of the killed and
wounded, which you will see is a very heavy one,
considering that the total number of men of all
arms engaged did not exceed 1,300 men. There
may be one or two names omitted, but it is very
difficult to discover among so many vessels who are
in the list of casualties. I cannot now ascertain the
number of seamen and marines in each vessel, but
:he total loss, including officers and men of all arms,
.s 464 killed and wounded. The officers are as
7ollows

" CASUALTIES BEFORE THE PEIHO FORTS ON
JUNE 25, 1859.
KILLED.

Lieut. Graves, R.N., the Assistance, killed on
shore.

Lieut. Clutterbuck, R.N., the Coromandel, killed
on shore.
Lieut. Rason, R.N., the Plover, killed on board.
Capt. MlCenna,Royal Regiment, killed on board
the Plover.
Mr. Herbert, midshipman, the Chesapeake, killed
on shore.
Lieut. Woolridge, Royal Marine Brigade, killed
on shore.
Lieut. Inglis, Royal Marines, the Highflyer
killed in boat.

WOUNDED.
Admiral Hope, severely.
Capt. Vansittart, the Magicienne, loss of left leg
below knee.
Capt. Shadwell, The Highflyer, severe wound of
Capt. Willess, the Chesapeake, slightly.
Col. Lemon, Royal Marine Brigade, severely.
Lieut. Purvis, R.N., the Highflyer, slightly.
Lieut. Buckle, Magicienne, slightly. '
Mr. Burniston, master, the Banterer, slightly.
Mr. Armitage, midshipman, the Cruiser, severely.
Mr. Powlett, midshipman, the Cambrian, severely.
Mr. N. B. Smith, mate, the Chesapeake, severly.
Mr. Phillips, second master, the Plover, slightly,
Lieut. Longley, Royal Engineers, the Plover
severely.
Rev. H. Hewliatt, chaplain, Royal Marine Bri.
Bade, severely.
Capt. Masters, the Chesapeake.
Capt. Slaughter, Royal Marine Brigade.
Lieut. Williams, Royal Marine Artillery.
Lieut. Crawford, Royal Marine Artillery.
Lieut. Collier, Royal Marine Brigade.
Lieut. Carrington, Royal Marine Brigade.
Lieut. Smith, Royal Marine Brigade.
Lieut. Perceval, Fury, slightly.
TOTAL KILLED AND WOUNDED.
British, 464; French, 4 killed and 10 wounded,
including Capt. Tricault (Du Chayla), wounded in
the arm.
TOTAL OF MARINE BRIGADE ONLY.
Killed. Wounded.
Officers • 1
Sergeants
Buglers
Corporals ....
Rank and file

104

142

" JULY 14.

" Since our issue of the 9th the 11
Bruce and M. de Bourboulon, the Ministers of Eng-
land and France, with their suites, have arrived in
Shanghai, the former in the Coromandel, the latter
in the Du Chayla. The Magicienne and Assistance
are gone to an anchorage off Chinhae, Ningpo, near
Kinfang Island, where the British squadron will
rendezvous, to recruit the sick and wounded. The
Hesper arrived yesterday from the Gulf on the
Bth. The Admiral in the Chesapeake was
waiting until the disabled gunboats were ready
to accompany him to the rendezvous. The High-
flyer was to leave on the Bth for Shanghai, under
sail, where she will take her station again as