Nashville patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1858-1860, 1859-09-28
n he Battle in China---Heavy Loss TO
the British.

We copy below from the dispatches to the
Louisville Journal. the details of the battle in
China, mentioned in our telegraph column
yesterday:
The China mail has arrived, bringing COM
plete accounts of the Pehio affair. which re-
suited in the total defeat OF the British forces,
with no less than the loss of five gun
boats aud about a third of the whole force
engaged. The mouth of the river was efc-
tually barred by iron stakes. This bar was
raked by the fire Of the newly constructed
forts on the other eide of the river, mounting
80 10 100 guns. Admiral Hopes appearance
in the first instance was Enthusiastically pa
ciic. A solitary man-ot-war boat carried
in bis first message. the Fury and the two
gun-boats being left outside the bar, while
the rest of the squadron was lying thir-
ty mills off The Ambassadors, ind
ing no proper officers to receive them. de-
cided to remove the bar and pass up the river.
Six or seven hours. however, were spent in
vain endeayors to effect this, and during that
time not a gun fired from the forts, al
| though the gun-boats were at distance of
| 500 to 700 yards only. and some of them had
got aground. At 1:30 p. NJ. the signal for
action was run up. aud the "Opossum" and
| flover" pushed in close up TO the first
barrier suddenly. About 2 P. NJ. the guns in
the forts opened fire, and the action became
| general. The fire Of the Chinese, both in
weight and precision, was such as was never
| before experienced at their hands. In about
| 2 hours the fire of The Chinese began to
| s!acken, aud was soon afterward almost ST.
fenced, although every shot of theirs told,
while the British guns did comparatively
| little damage to the mud walls.
At about 5 p. NJ. the signal was made for
the troops to land, aud there were then no
d ubts of q speedy victory.
| just as the first boat touched the shore, the
forts opeued perfect hurricane of shell-balls
and rockets, which moved down the m"n as
they landed. The ships threw in as heavy a
covering fire as they possibly could. The
| Ell mys fire continued SO heavy. and the
mud on the landing being up to the knees,
aud sometimes to the waist, that out of one
thousand men who landed, hardly one hun
dred reach, d the first OF the three wide and
dc, p bitches, which, alter some 500 yards oil
wadng through the mud, presented them
selves
OF the gallant forces who got through the
mud difficulties, scarcely twenty had been
able to keep their rifles or ammunition dry
Nevertheless. they boldly for ccd the bitches
and had som" fifty OF them, including a crowd
of officers, succeeded in getting as far the
third ditch, they would certainly have made
a good attempt to scale the walls. Blu
their add, RS hid either been broken by sho
Or bad stuck in the mud. With the one
however, which remained. ten daring mel
sprang forward, three OF whom were i'm
mrdiut,ly shot dead and five wounded
severely.
A vertcle fire of arrows well as a con
slant fuseleade was kept upon the select
fbaud, who now crOuched in the ditch, wait
ing but III vain Tor reiniorccments.
Orders were at last given to retire, an(
while in retreat the men We're shot down Tx
birds. Many OF the boats were swamped bJ
the balls, and not enough were left to carr,
off the survivors. Several, full of wounded
IN H. were struck and swamped. Russian
features were distinctly visible among ia
men manning the Chinese batteries.