Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1859-10-19
The Late Chinese War.

LIEUT.. HAnEnsuAN, of our Navy, gives the
Philadelphia Ledger on interesting account of the
recent attempt Of the English and French to reach
Pekin By ascending the river Pei llO. suljoined
is an extract showing tho disastrous refnt of that
effort
The next duy came and saw a desperate battle
fought between thirteen guab"ats on tho one side
and eight heavy forts on the other, Which, after a
duration of seven hours, resulted in furor OF the
latter. IIud these forts been anything but Chinc''
iortifcotion. II /, forty gun boats would have Mt,
tcuipted their destruction, but :uppusing them to
h. some piles of mud which they had knocked
down thirteen months since with 50 much care,
,hc English looked upon it ns IL certain victory
and not only tho English, but every foreigner pre-
sent tvuk the same view rf it. We were mos,
woIullv disappointed. For though the English
fought with the most desperate ralor, the Chinese
sIuuI hy their guns like men, aid they were 81
numerous that no good was effected by killing n
score of them, their places being ut once filled
from inexhuus,ible reservoirs. Their forts, also,
afforded 81 much better protection than the bull
warks of The gun boats, and they had so many
muro guns ut work. that the superiority of British
cunnery was murc than cullntcrbalanccd. In
short the English were finally forced to retro,
with ~ loss cf six boats. and cny-nine officers
an,l four hundred and thirty mem killed, wounded
aul mSSing-a most unprecedented luSS OF life.
Three uf thee gun i"ats were subsequently raised,
aud urc nov under steam again: but the others
nrr still under the guns of the forts and all attempt.
to recover or ,lcstr"y them abandoned yestrr-
,lay. The battle itself Was fought the 25th
ultln", commencing Mt 2.4j p. m., and ending ut
10 at night. Had not night come tv their relief,
crcrg gnn boot must hare Lcen sUn&
The French also had gun bnat in this action,
aul suffered loss Of more than one. fourth killed
anl wuumleti--thc English loss heing mrr' hun
third, nne Of the wounded heing the Admiral
himself Whose life WAS for some days in danger.
The wouuded arc nuw all '!oiug WELL and the gun
boats anchored around us repairing damages after
which the squadron will return South. ut nothing
more can he done this season with their reduced
furcc The French friga:e and sun-bnnt, with his
Exccllrncy, N. Bnurlrulnr. ou board The .rmer,
war mail. The EuSl III are. Of course, very much
GU, up their want of success. but console them
selves I.y looking ahead to next spring, when they
will make another attempt
A correspondent of the New Yolk Heruld, also
on Luart the Po.rhatan, says:
The English lost, IN killed and missing. nearly
six hundred men. and M many wounded: 80
severely tu". Ihut they were dying hourly. tut
OF uur culnp'ny Of three hundred men who lndrd,
only ono returned alive. Every head was cut of
and put in bags by the Chinese, who thus exhibited
them To their enemies. Such dcfcat the English
have never met with yet they fought like lions,
and never finched-grapc shot. solid shot, und
canister. flying in all directions about them.