Litchfield enquirer., 1857-02-05
Bombarament of Canton.

Bombardment of Canton.
 Unexpected events have occurred at Canton which has been partially bombarded by the British fleet, aud trade is entirely suspended, most of the foreign residents haFiag retired to Honskong and Macao, with ther books and treasure. The saparcilou and insole.it bearing of tue Ci:iaese officials toy ards the British Goseri- ncnt and people has long required e" check, which being delayed, at last Aemboldened tie Eieeroy to insult our flag and refuse all apolo- gy for the outrage.
 The more immediate cause of offence is as follows: i lolcha, possessing colonial register a:,l entitled, therefore to bear the British flag aad claim it's protection was anchered off GniE ton cn the s.! of Octob r, when ! party of I'm pctial soldiers board ,d the vessel, seized l2 Chinese of the crew, whom they sent on shore, and hauling down the Union Jack, retained possession of the toscha. E- The master ali Englislmaa, applied to her Br.tannic Majesty's Consul, who forthwith vent on board. On remonstrating with the Mandarin officer he was nsultcd, aud even thre# tened with violence. The Consul then ad- dressed the Ficeroy' detailing the facts and rc- quF.ng an immediate explanation and redress which so far fron. being granted was distinctly refused, tEs yiceroy appearing determined to de iend the act. Mir. Consul Parkes then co,nmu n;cated with Her Majestys Ptaipotentiary, here, and 9 hours were granted to the Vice roy Yeh to apologize for the insult to our flag and Consul. Such an apology not being forth coming, Ir Parkcs oD the 22d October pub- licly notified that the task of exacting satisfac- ton had dexclycd upon Her Majesty's naval officers. Meanwhile his ExceIIeucy Rear-Ad miral Sir Michael Seymour had proceeded to Canton, taking with him all tue fleet except Her Aaesty's ship Winchester; the boats and spare force f'enl that vessel however, joined :he expedition
 The Admiral demanded redress and apology and d salute of ? guns to the British Rag and gave the Eiccroy 24 hours to consider the course he was pursuing, ample warning being given that should he still refuse compliance coercise measures would be adopted.
 leh however made no satisfactory over lures, asd the tone of his communications were anything but apo,ogetie-
 But one course, therefore, remained for Sir Michael 5 ymour, and on the 24th of October all save one of the river forts at and about Can ton, were taken by cur seamcn and marines, witho:t loss , thu Chinese making but a poor resistance. The guns were spiked, to the num- Der of l79, and some of the forts were burnt. while others were held by our marines and 1 detachE,cnt of the Royal Artillery, sent up from this place, under the command of Cartain Ko,ton, R. A.
 i Some days were then allowed to elapse, and every opportunity Was given to Yeh to arrange matters, if so inclined. The Vicerog however
 renlaiued obstinate, and the usual Chinese pol icy vas resorteL to. i2 men, with chains round ! their neckS, were sent to the Consulate not on
 board the lorcha, as had been demanded, } pu,- l porting to be the same as were taken from the
 vessel. They were however, wretches of the i lowest class, evidently dragged from prison,
 and were, of course, seut back at once, and all
 attempts at negotiation ha7ing faiied, on the,
 21th of October the Encounter steamer, Cap O'Caughan opened fire on the city wall and
 the Niceroy's palace, the royal artillery co-opc- i rating from ono of the captured forts Her
 Majcsty's steamer Barracoutn, Capt. Fort
 esqua. steamed up branch'of the rvcr and
 from distance of 3,200 yards threw shot and
 shell into the forts on the nights 4 breach having been effected in the city wall, it was
 atormed on the 29ti of October by the marine
 and sailed by Commodore Elliot The breach
 was carried after some resistance, and the F:c>-
 rcys palace was also taken possession of and
 visited by Sir Nj. Seymour Cur troops were
 withdrawn before dark, our loss for the day
 amoHn:ing to only three killed and fl wounded, Further attempts at negotiation were then made, but all proved truitless. On the 3d and ith November the old city was shelled, and on the 1th Her Majesty's steamer Baracouta en- gagged and destroyed a fleet of g war jnnsss, anchored ill line of the small fort not prcvi- ously taken. The Barracouta had hot work, and received no less than so shot in her hull and rigging, The Chinese stood to their guns better than usual. This fort was also taken ny the boats of the Calcutta. Our loss anoun ted to three killed and four wounded. His ES- ccllency having previously reconnoitered the Bogue forts, at the entrance of the Canton iriscr, they were taken on the iath instant after some fighting, hy which we lost two killed and four wounded one of the latter a midshipman. C6ihd Cor. q Londoa Tines. q %Lo fxs xs~1,,r i