Major-General Sir Hugh Gough arrived as the new coosander of the land forces three days after the fighting around the Bogue. Elliot stayed an as the plenipotentiary since dispatches recalling his took about six months to arrive from England. There was also a change in the naval command, for Bremer had to leave for Calcutta due to failing health. Command of the squadron now fell on Sir H. LeFleming Senhouse, Captain of HMS BLENHEIM. A confused period followed the Convention of Chuenpi. Because of his proximity, Emperor Tao-kuang's displeasure with the Convention was felt sooner compared to that of Palmerston. Chishan was recalled and demoted for signing the Convention. Reinforcements were pouring into Canton to prepare for a counterattack. New commanders were dispatched to the spot, among them a cousin to the Emperor, Ishan, and Yang-fang, an old but famous general who distinguished himself in many battles against bandits and rebels. Gough arrived in the middle of a negotiation with Yangfang. The discussion brought no result since the Chinese were just buying time for reinforcements to arrive. Tired of negotiating, Gough occupied another fort overlooking Canton itself, and 12 days later, British troops took possession of the Factory area. With the city of Canton being threatened Yang-fang agreed to an armistice and agreed that trade would resume. In May, Elliot was back in the Canton Factories with his wife, but was convinced that the Chinese were merely playing for time. A big build-up of Chinese troops could be seen outside Canton, and Chinese soldiers were seen with lighted matches in their hands, ready to discharge their matchlock muskets at a moment's notice. On May 21, Elliot advised all foreigners to leave the factories for their own safety. His fear was well founded as, on that same evening, the Chinese opened fire on the British ships lying off Canton. The Chinese sent many fire rafts filled with incendiaries downstream toward the British ships with the hope of setting them afire. The British sailors spotted all of the approaching rafts and none of thee got through. Fighting continued for several days, ending with more than 70 Chinese war junks sunk. General Bough, who felt that attacking Poking was the best strategy, now realized that Canton must be captured first. A sizable force was to land in the vicinity of Canton and capture the city. By now, all of the British forces had evacuated Chusan and joined Bough. He was able to muster some 2,500 troops of all ranks. The plan of attack an Canton was to send a diversionary attack against the Whampoa area (the French Island and the Dane Island), while the main attack would be delivered at Tsingpu, northwest of the city. The diversionary attack was to be made by five warships and about 300 Cameronians. The diversion was to last for 48 hours (see map 4). Chinese strength was estimated at 45,000 men north of the city. The proposition of placing such a small invading force between 45,000 enemy soldiers and a city of 1,000,000 inhabitants was quite a daunting task, but Bough believed that it could be achieved with superior discipline and firepower. On the morning of the 24th, the British landed in Tsingpu without such opposition. There were Chinese pickets everywhere, shouting anti-British slogans and waving their spears, but they were careful about keeping their distances. Tsingpu was only two miles from the city wall, so within two hours the British case within gingal range of Canton. Throughout the operation no mass attack was threatened by the main Chinese force. By the end of the day the troops were worn out by heat and fatigue. Bough was content to let them rest on a height overlooking the city before the final assault on Canton began. Elliot was now worried that such a small force could not successfully capture and garrison a city the size of Canton. The plenipotentiary decided that there were better ways to take a city. Going against the advise of both Gough and Senhouse, Elliot offered Ishran terms which stated that the city of Canton would be spared if $6,000,000 would be paid to the "crown of England." In return, the British would stay in their present positions. These terms were immediately accepted by the Chinese and Ishran now reported to the Emperor that the British invader had been halted by Chinese resistance. This lie went pretty will in Peking, since the $6,000,000 indemnity was paid by the rich merchants of Canton. TO BE CONCLUDED NEXT ISSUE Footnotes [1] 'Emperor Tao-Kuang's Subjugation of English Barbarians' by Wei-yuan was a very interesting work. The book was written about two years after the war by a Canton merchant. It reflected the view widely held by average Chinese on foreign matters. The book claimed to be a factual account of the war, but since most of its sources were official Chinese dispatches or misconceptions about foreigners, it was destined to be a classic in fantasy literature. Here the author described the British debate in the Commons: 'The war party and the peace party were at an impass to reach an agreement whether to make war on the Celestial Kingdom. The Empress decided to seek divine oracle. She led the whole council to the royal temple. (Westminster?) The leaders of the war party and the peace party were to each ask the favor of the God by the method of chio-chien (where a person would cast two objects of ying- yang, signifying positive and negative. If the results were ying-ying or yang- ying, the omen was bad, whereas a result of ying-yang signified good joss.) Each of the leaders cast three times, the war party came out ahead. Thus the Empress decided to heed the advice of the war party.' [2] Most of the Bengali regiments consisted of high caste Hindus, whose religion prohibited thee to travel abroad or to eat food cooked overseas. Therefore, a call for volunteers was made to attract the less-scrupulous elements. [3] The breakdown of the expeditionary force was as follows: Unit Officers Men Unit Officers Men 26th 15 294 37th Madras NI 11 219 49th 28 273 Bengali Vol. 1 114 18th 25 494 Royal Arty. 2 33 Madras Arty. 11 261 Naval Brigade Sappers 5 167 1st Btn. 11 172 Royal Marines 9 372 2nd Btn. 16 231 TOTAL: 134 officers, 2,620 men [4] Hong Kong was then an uninhibited island. [5] The waterway that leads to Peking. [6] An interpreter for Jardine Matheson, then the biggest opium trading house in the world. [71] A Joss-house refers to a Buddhist temple. [8] Pratt was later to become a Major-General, and the commander-in-chief of the British forces during the Maori War in the 1860's. He perfected the use of a sap to attack a Maori pah. The Opium War Part 1 Introduction The Opening Shot The First Expedition On to the Peiho Battle of the Bogue The Ransom of Canton Back to Table of Contents -- Savage and Soldier Vol. XIX No. 3 Back to Savage and Soldier List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Milton Soong. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com