GENERAL FREDERICK TOWNSEND WARD[47]
(_Leader of the Chinese “Ever Victorious Army”_)
The career of Frederick Townsend Ward flashes across the later day
history of Salem like a meteor. After a youth crowded with astonishing
adventure this merchant sailor and soldier of fortune became the
organizer and first leader of the “Ever Victorious Army” of the Chinese
Imperial forces in the Tai-ping Rebellion and was killed while storming
a walled city at the head of his troops in his thirtieth year. So
memorable were his services in this, the most disastrous armed conflict
of modern times, that to this day his ashes which rest at Sung Kiang,
are yearly honored by offerings of incense and solemn rites. A temple
and a shrine mark his burial place and by an edict of their Emperor the
Chinese people are commanded forever to worship and do reverence to the
spirit of this foreign soldier who died ten thousand miles away from
the New England seaport in which he was born and where his forefathers
sleep.
In this extraordinary man were focused at white heat the spirit of high
adventure and the compelling desire to seek far distant seas and play
the game of life for high stakes which had made Salem famous in her
golden age. Frederick Townsend Ward came of old seafaring stock which
had fought and sailed through one generation after another for more
than two centuries of Salem history. As far away as 1639 his ancestor,
Miles Ward, had been a commissioned officer at the siege of Louisburg
and had served with Wolfe at the storming of Quebec. His paternal
grandfather, Gamaliel Hodges Ward, of a family of fifteen children, had
one brother who served as a lieutenant in the American navy during the
War of 1812 and another who was naval officer of the Port of Salem.
This grandfather married Priscilla Lambert Townsend, thus uniting
three strains of militant seafaring blood. Captain Moses Townsend had
died in England as a prisoner of war during the Revolution, his son of
fifteen sharing his captivity as a patriotic seaman. On the records
of the Salem Marine Society, founded in 1766, are the names of nine
Wards and three Lamberts, and among the members of the Salem East India
Marine Society are to be found six Wards, six Hodges and a Townsend
all of whom must have doubled Cape Horn or the Cape of Good Hope as
shipmasters or supercargoes in order to qualify for admission to the
Society.
The father of Frederick Townsend Ward was a shipmaster and the son
born in 1831 passed his boyhood in Salem at a time when, although
the world-wide commerce had begun to ebb, the old town still had its
schools of navigation, its nautical instrument dealers, its shipyards
and ropewalks, its East India warehouses, its sailors’ lodging houses,
dance halls and slop shops crowded along the water front. The wharves
were still thronged with the activities of voyagers inbound from and
outbound to the uttermost parts of the earth. Although the railroads
had begun to build up the larger deep water ports and to sap the
life of such lesser ports as Salem, yet even in those days to be born
in Salem was to be born a sailor. The harbor still knew the fleets
which kept it in touch with scores of remote and romantic ports and
the marvelous tales of sea-tanned sailors tempted boyhood to dream of
exploring regions little known in books.
“The stick the schoolboy whittled shaped itself into a hull, a rudder,
a bowsprit or a boom. When in school he drew lines on his slate to
relieve the tedium of the rule of three, his sketches took form in
yards and shrouds and bob-stays. Give him a box of water colors and the
private signals of the East India merchants were its earliest products.
If he were too little to pull a pair of oars, he sculled a dory with
one, and he was no more than in breeches when he knew every ring-bolt,
block and gasket from cutwater to stern-post of the East Indiamen
discharging at Derby Wharf. If he could muster a few shillings, some
kindly mariner took charge of them as a venture and brought him home in
a twelve month or so their value trebled in nutmegs or pepper-corns or
gum copal. If, on leaving school, he did not ship before the mast he
tried to sail as cabin boy or ship’s clerk, or supercargo.
“When he had won his fight on the sea and came at last to live in
comfort on shore, if he built himself a den in which to doze and smoke
and read and chat, it was apt to be shaped like a ship’s cabin, to have
a swinging light overhead, transoms for bunks, and spyglass, compass
and barometer handy. The dust and cobwebs under the eaves of his attic
concealed camphor and cedar trunks stuffed with camel’s hair shawls,
pongee silks and seersucker suits. A log or two of sandalwood, brought
home for dunnage, might sizzle on the andirons and fill his house with
the spicy breath of Arabia.
“When a family returned from residence in foreign lands it was not
unusual for them to bring Chinese cooks, nurse maids and house
servants. The high-bred Parsee merchant with his lofty head-dress of
figured taffeta and buckram was no stranger in Salem, nor was the
turbanned Indian or Arab unknown.”
Such was the atmosphere in which young Frederick Townsend Ward was
reared and the spirit of the place lured his daring and romantic fancy
to dream of enterprises on blue water. He sailed in all kinds of small
craft about Salem harbor before he was in his teens and was noted as
the boldest lad and best seaman of the company of ardent friends whom
he chose as his companions. He sought and found employment at sea when
he was no more than fifteen years old and it sounds extraordinary in
these times to learn that at this age he went out on his first voyage
as second mate of the clipper ship _Hamilton_ bound from New York to
China. This stripling mate of fifteen years was placed in a position
of authority over his watch of rugged forecastle hands, some of whom
had been going to sea before he was born. Young Ward’s father was
known as a stern disciplinarian of the quarterdeck, and the son won a
reputation for the same quality of resourceful manhood. His captain
found him to be a smart, efficient and capable officer and so reported
him to the owners of the ship. At eighteen years of age he was first
mate of the ship _Russell Glover_ commanded by his father, on a voyage
from New York to San Francisco. In the latter port the ship was laid
up for a long time and young Ward was kept on board as ship-keeper.
His impetuous temperament could not long endure such monotony as this
and it was at San Francisco that he forsook the sea for a time to
lose himself in a haze of stormy adventures as a soldier of fortune
in Spanish American countries. It is known that during this period he
gained the friendship of Garibaldi, who for eleven years previous to
1848 had been fighting in behalf of the revolutionary cause of Brazil.
[Illustration: Frederick T. Ward.[signature]]
In 1851, at the age of twenty, the family records show that Ward was
sailing as first mate of a bark from San Francisco to Shanghai where
he left the ship and took a berth for a short time, on board one of
the vessels moored in the river to prevent opium smuggling. In the
following year he appears in the American merchant service once more as
first mate of the ship _Gold Hunter_ from Shanghai to Tehuantepec.
Upon reaching Nicaragua his restless temperament must have impelled
him to leave the quarterdeck, for somewhat later than this he joined
a filibustering expedition of William Walker. The tragic history of
this attempt to found an empire in Central America need not be told
in detail. If Walker had succeeded he would have been called a man of
military genius and a farsighted maker of destinies. He was shot by
order of a drum-head court martial at daybreak on September 3, 1860,
and the shattered remnants of his force were brought home to New York
in the United States ship _Wabash_.
Frederick Townsend Ward could not have remained long with Walker,
however, for from Central America he made his way into Mexico and is
said to have been offered a command in the Mexican army. His plans seem
to have gone all wrong, for he set out penniless and alone to cross
the country to lower California. Back in San Francisco once more he
took a berth as first officer of the clipper ship _Westward Ho_ of New
York. It is claimed that between 1854 and 1856 Ward was on the Crimea
as lieutenant in the French army, fighting against the Russians. His
sister has related that she was at boarding school during that period
and that Frederick called on her there to take his leave, as he told
her, “on his way to the Crimean War,” but the dates are conflicting.
This page of his life, like those immediately preceding it, is more or
less vague so far as details are concerned. It is certain, however,
that Frederick Townsend Ward was picking up here and there as a soldier
of fortune a knowledge of men and of military matters which were to
stand him in service when the grand chance offered. He landed at
Shanghai in the autumn of 1859, probably as first mate of an American
sailing ship. He was without money, without influence and without
prospects, but he was determined to carve a place for himself among the
Chinese people. The Tai-ping Rebellion had begun in 1851 and had raged
for eight years when Ward landed at Shanghai. This tremendous upheaval
which was to continue six more years, and to cost the lives of twenty
millions of Chinese, was threatening Shanghai and repeated attempts had
been made to invest and capture this great port of foreign commerce and
shipping.
The Imperial Government had been unable to make effective headway
against the vast hordes of rebels who had flocked to the standards
of the Rebel leader, who called himself the “Heavenly King of the
Great Dynasty of the Heavenly Kingdom.” By 1860 the Tai-pings had
swept across the populous and fertile regions of two of the three
watercourses of China and their chief end now was to regain the mastery
of the Yang-tsze Kiang. The destruction of property and population
within the three months since their sally from the captured metropolis
of Nanking, revived the stories told of the devastation caused by
Attilla and Tamerlane. In August of this year Shanghai was threatened
by a force of somewhat less than twenty thousand rebels and would have
been captured if it had not been protected by British and French troops
landed to protect the foreign interests of the port.
Ward was twenty-seven years old at this time and found his first
employment as an officer on one of the river steamers which plied up
and down the Yang-tsze. He showed his mettle while engaged in this
traffic, for a merchant of Shanghai who took passage on Ward’s steamer,
relates that she grounded and was in danger of capture by Chinese
pirates. The captain believed that destruction was so certain that he
talked of suicide. Ward took his place, put heart into the crew, stood
the pirates off and got the steamer afloat.
Meanwhile the foreign merchants and bankers of Shanghai were working
hand in hand with the natives to strengthen the defense of the city.
Large amounts of money were raised to equip gunboats and artillery and
a foreign contingent was drilling as a volunteer infantry force. Ward
obtained a commission as first officer of the American-built gunboat
_Confucius_, which was one of a flotilla organized to fight the rebels
on the water. His commander, Captain Gough, made young Ward acquainted
with an influential Chinese banker, Taki, who co-operated in behalf of
the Chinese Imperial Government with the foreign residents of Shanghai
who were furnishing arms and gunboats and money to attack the rebels.
Ward made a brilliant record as a fighting officer in this gunboat
service and won the admiration and confidence of this Taki, who was the
confidential adviser of Li Hung Chang, then fast coming into prominence
as the strong man of the demoralized Manchu Government at Peking.
Douglas, the British biographer of Li Hung Chang, has placed it to the
credit of the great Viceroy that he should have been astute enough to
recognize the ability of this young American wanderer who appeared upon
the scene from nowhere in particular. This writer states that Ward was
given employment as a military officer by the Association of Patriotic
Merchants of Shanghai “at Li’s instigation.” It is certain that Ward
did not let the grass grow under his feet. The Imperialists were in
desperate straits and were seeking foreign aid. Wasting no words,
Ward submitted a proposition to the Government through Taki, that he
would, for a large cash price, undertake the capture of Sung Kiang, the
capital city of the Shanghai district, and a great rebel stronghold,
a few miles up the Yang-tzse. Once in possession of Sung Kiang he
would make it his headquarters for operations by land and water, as a
diversion to draw the Tai-pings away from Shanghai.
This audacious proposition was accepted and funds were granted to make
a beginning. A company of one hundred foreigners was enlisted by Ward,
his recruits being picked from among the deserters and discharged
seamen and other desperate riffraff of the naval and merchant fleets.
With this handful of men hammered into some kind of discipline and well
armed, Ward led the way to the walls of Sung Kiang beyond which the
rebels were mustered in thousands. A desperate assault was made, but
Ward had no artillery and could not batter a breach in the great walls.
His men tried to take the place by a straight assault, but were beaten
back, the motley legion badly cut up, and compelled to straggle back to
Shanghai.
Ward paid off and discharged this company and recruited his next force
largely from among the native sailors of Manila who were always to
be found in Shanghai. With only two white officers and less than one
hundred men the American adventurer made a second attack on the rebel
stronghold and surprising the garrison at night managed to open one
of the gates and charge into the city. The Tai-pings were unable to
withstand the headlong assault of this small column and surrendered
the place, which was looted and the plunder given to the men who had
captured it.
Ward had carried out his contract and the Chinese Imperial Treasurer
paid him his price. He had established a base and a fortress to hold
and there were funds in his war chest. His success attracted many
capable foreign fighting men and his force grew until General Frederick
Townsend Ward was able to organize a formidable body of drilled
soldiers to which the name of Chang-Shing Kiun, or “Ever Victorious
Force,” was given by the Chinese. Its composition was heterogeneous,
but the energy, tact and discipline of the leader soon molded it into
something like a martial corps, able to serve as a nucleus for training
a native army.
“Foreigners generally looked down upon the undertaking and many of the
allied naval and military officers regarded it with doubt and dislike.
It had to prove its character by works, but the successive defeats of
the insurgents during the year 1862 at Kiangsu and Chehkiang clearly
demonstrated the might of those drilled men over ten times their number
of undisciplined braves.
“Soon after his first success General Ward decided to move against
Tsing-pu, a Rebel stronghold thirty miles from his base. The
flower of his fighting force for this expedition consisted of five
drill-masters and twenty-five deserters, mostly English, whom he had
secretly enlisted at Shanghai. Added to these was his small command
of Manila-men, now two hundred in number and a body of five thousand
Chinese from the highly paid, picked troops of the foremost Chinese
general, Li Ai Tang, a corps distinguished by the title of “Imperial
Braves.”[48]
In September of 1861 Ward launched this force against Tsing-pu,
which was garrisoned by two thousand rebels, who were commanded by
a brilliant English officer named Savage. The defense conducted by
this opposing soldier of fortune was so successful that Ward’s little
army was crumpled up by volleys of musketry poured from the walls and
totally defeated in an engagement which lasted not more than a quarter
of an hour. Half of the attacking force was killed or wounded and Ward
himself was five times hit by bullets. While he was under the surgeon’s
care in Shanghai he gave it out that his force had been disbanded
because the foreign allies set up the claim that he had been guilty of
a breach of neutrality. His enlistments and drills went on in secret,
however, and his chief supporter, Taki, put him in possession of
several batteries of artillery.
When Ward was allowed to leave the hospital he mustered all the men he
could find of his old corps and made ready to take the field. Again
he sallied out against Tsing-pu, but the second attack was even more
disastrous than the first. He lost his guns and his gunboats and many
of his men and returned to his headquarters at Sung Kiang beaten and
discredited. Taki, representing the Imperial Government, had lost
confidence in Ward as a soldier, but Li Hung Chang still had faith in
him and was ready to support him in further movements.
Ward’s funds were at a low ebb at this time, for Admiral Sir James
Hope, of the British Navy, put him under arrest and held him a close
prisoner on the flagship _Chesapeake_. The Admiral made an effort to
bring Ward to trial on the charge of recruiting deserters from the
British Navy, but the American soldier proved that he was a naturalized
subject of China and the Admiral had no other resource than to keep
this troublesome interloper a prisoner on board the flagship. He made
his escape by jumping overboard and swimming ashore. After a series of
thrilling adventures he once more returned to the task of recruiting
British deserters for his garrison at Sung Kiang.
The jealousy and animosities of the British and other foreign naval men
soon led Ward to change his tactics and he bent his efforts to recruit
a native force to be commanded by European officers and drilled in the
European school of arms. Neither the Imperial Government of China, nor
its European allies could take exceptions to these methods and Sung
Kiang became a military school for the training of the first modern
Chinese Army.
“On a personal inspection of the Camp of Instruction at Sung Kiang to
which he had been invited, Sir James Hope was well received by the
troops and reported favorably. He saw, for the first time in his life,
a large force of native Chinamen paraded in European uniforms and
showing themselves expert in European drill. In view of such results
and of the possibilities which they disclosed, he found it best to
wink at the harboring of a few deserters from his fleet, and Ward was
promised every facility in his new attempt.
“In the opening months of 1862 the time had come when the Allies were
ready to throw off the mask of nominal neutrality, and to take open
ground against the Rebellion. Humanity and civilization itself seemed
to demand it. The Tai-ping movement was a little past its zenith, but
still most disastrous to commerce and to the general interests of China
as most foreigners saw them. The compact between the Imperialists and
the Rebels had provided that the latter should not come within thirty
miles of Shanghai and that the Allies should not interfere within that
radius. It was limited to a year and the limit had expired. Ward at
this time commanded a force of ten thousand men. He seems at last to
have come to terms of perfect understanding with the authorities, both
native and foreign.
“On February 21, 1862, General Ward took the offensive with a thousand
men, supported by Admiral Hope and the French Admiral Protet, in a
movement to enforce the observances of the thirty-mile limit. This
movement involved many encounters and was a brilliant success. From it
Ward won great credit for his courage and strategic sense, together
with the high appreciation of both his naval supporters. Of the six
thousand Rebels who were expected to make of the fortified town they
were defending an impregnable fortress, a large part were captured and
turned over to the mercies of the Shanghai Imperialists, who proceeded
to decapitate them, with every circumstance of barbarity, in the public
square of the city. Ward succeeded in arresting the slaughter as soon
as it was brought to his knowledge.
“This victory was hailed with great enthusiasm, and earned for Ward’s
corps the compliments of an Imperial decree. Its numbers were doubled,
and Admiral Hope found it in his great heart to forgive his quondam
prisoner and to praise him warmly. In March, 1862, a memorial to the
British Consul-General from representative citizens of Shanghai, shows
that progress was making, though slowly, for the relief of the port.
“At this time Ward discovered that the Rebel leaders were contracting
for gunboats in the United States. On learning from him this fact, Li
Hung Chang made an effective protest to the American Minister, and
applauded the loyalty which prompted Ward’s information and which
defeated the Rebel plan. But gunboats and implements of war were a
necessity to both parties and Ward, through his brother who had joined
him in China, and through his father, now a ship broker in New York,
was in a position to supply the Imperialists with muskets, artillery
and river steamers, and this he did.
“On April 26th, an attack was planned on a strong walled town twenty
miles from Shanghai. A half-dozen armed steamers and transports
furnished by the Allies, together with thirty little Chinese gunboats,
moved up the river in support of Ward’s force, which consisted of three
battalions with howitzers, and of a body of three thousand Chinese
troops. The city fell and was looted, mainly, it was charged, by French
sailors.
“On May 6th, the English and French Admirals took their turn at the
work and the French Admiral Protet, universally esteemed, was killed.
A bronze statue commemorates the distinguished Frenchman at Shanghai,
and Imperial honors were accorded him in an edict commanding gifts
“to comfort the departed soul of the faithful,” and sacrifices to be
arranged by Li Hung Chang, “to the _manes_ of the French Admiral.” A
detachment of the “Ever Conquering Legion” was present at the military
mass celebrated in his honor at the Cathedral of Shanghai.
“On May 13th, Ward made his fourth attempt to capture Tsing-pu and
this time with complete success. No looting was permitted. Ward
received in hand the stipulated thirty thousand taels as the price of
this important capture, returning at the head of his victorious troops
to the Sung Kiang headquarters. He had now equipped his men with arms
bought from the English Army in India and with Prussian rifles. He had
been supported in this attack by English and French troops and by a
French gunboat carrying a heavy rifled gun which, after a three hours’
bombardment, effected a breach and let in his force. But his men were
later dislodged by an overwhelming Rebel horde, after a most creditable
defense.
“General Ward and his troops earned great distinction in an action
on May 19th. Ward’s ambition at this time seems to have been to lead
a corps of twenty-five thousand men of all arms, and to be empowered
by the Emperor to operate with a free hand, independently of English
and French Allies, and to be responsible directly to him. The London
_Times_, in a notice of his death, intimates that he had achieved this
object.
“At last, in August, 1862, he started out without support for a fifth
attack upon the stronghold of Tsing-pu. A reward was offered for the
first man to enter the city and a Manila-man, Macanaya, General Ward’s
devoted aid-de-camp, secured it. The ‘Legion’ succeeded at last in
taking and holding the town. Probably this was the action so feelingly
described by the one great captain among all the hosts enlisted under
the Rebel flag. He complains that Li Hung Chang was employing “devil
soldiers” against him, and found it necessary to march in person
against these “Foreign Devils” at the head of ten thousand picked men.
“Imagine it,” he says, “a thousand devils keeping in check my ten
thousand men! Who could put up with such a thing!”
“Ward’s relations with Taki were at this time most cordial, and they
were now joint owners of two American-built gunboats. With other
gunboats chartered by them, the banker and General Ward—he was now a
Chinese Admiral as well—fitted out an expedition against the river
pirates. Bombarding failed to dislodge them from their stockades, but
Ward disembarked a force and they fled before him.
“Ward’s success in disciplining the Chinese was beginning to stimulate
the Allies. The French in turn raised a native legion and put a French
officer at the head of it, and when an expedition was organized against
a force of Rebels threatening Ning Po, with the support of Captain
Rhoderick Dhu commanding the _Encounter_ whose draught of water forbade
a near approach, a French lieutenant leading a corps of the new
Franco-Chinese contingent was taken into action on board the river boat
_Confucius_, while Ward’s men, in equal numbers, were towed in launches
up the river by the British gunboat _Hardy_. At the end of a six hours’
struggle Ward fell back with the loss of eight officers and a hundred
and fifty men. Next day the attack was renewed with success and the
Rebels fled to Tsz Ki.”
The story now approaches the closing scene of Ward’s career. He was
now ordered to Ning Po to take command. The order reached him at dusk.
Late as the hour was, he at once paraded his troops, reviewed them, and
expressed the highest satisfaction with accouterments and drill. He was
never to marshal them again. More devoted following no captain ever
had. It was their pride to be known as “Ward’s disciplined Chinese.” He
reached Ning Po with only the life-guard of Manila-men who were always
near him, and at once made his dispositions for driving the Rebels out
of Tsz Ki.
On the morning of September 20th he took five or six hundred men up
the river and opened an attack on the fort at Tsz Ki with howitzers. A
storming party passed him on its approach to the wall it was to scale,
and he said to Captain Cook who led it: “You must do it with a rush, or
we shall fail, for they are very numerous.” He was shot and carried
to the rear before the scaling ladders could be placed. His command
was largely made up of troops which were strangers to him, and it has
been hinted that he may have been shot by his own men. The assault
prevailed. Tsz Ki fell, and the Legion held the town.
Ward’s comrade in arms, Forrester, has thus described the closing scene:
“‘We now turned our attention to Tsz Ki. Ward being anxious to capture
the city with the least possible delay, we started out together to
reconnoitre the field. We had become so accustomed to the enemy’s
fire that we had grown somewhat careless. While we were standing
together inspecting the position Ward put his hand suddenly to his
side and exclaimed: ‘I have been hit.’ A brief investigation showed
that the wound was a serious one, and I had him carried on board the
_Hardy_ where surgical attendance was promptly given. I then held a
consultation with the officers of the expedition. It was decided to
carry out Ward’s plan and attack the city at once. Ladders were quickly
thrown across the moat which were then drawn over and placed against
the walls, and, before the garrison fully recognized what we were
about, our troops were in possession of the city.
“‘As soon as I had my troops properly housed and posted, I set out with
General Ward for Ning Po. Arrived there, the General was removed to
the house of Doctor Parker, a resident physician, and every precaution
taken. But he had been gradually sinking, and he died that night.
“‘Early the next morning I ordered his body conveyed on board the
_Confucius_, that we might reach Shanghai at the earliest possible
moment. The captain of the boat (Lynch by name, afterwards with Semmes
in the _Alabama_) proved insubordinate. At nine o’clock we were ten
miles out at sea and short of coal. I had the captain put in irons
and turned over the command to the lieutenant. We were then in such
a strong current that I gave up hope of getting the steamer back to
Ning Po, determined rather to work our way to a port near Shanghai.
By the middle of the afternoon we ran alongside a British ship flying
Dent and Company’s flag. I knew this firm to be warm supporters of the
Imperial Government, and so had no hesitance in boarding the vessel and
obtaining a supply of coal. The funeral of General Ward at Shanghai was
a most impressive one. A great number of civil and military officers
accompanied his body to Sung Kiang, where it was interred with great
pomp, and enjoyed the extraordinary honor of a resting place in the
Confucian Temple.”
Captain Rhoderick Dhu, of the flagship _Encounter_, in transmitting
Lieutenant Bogle’s report of Ward’s death to Sir James Hope, wrote: “It
is now my painful duty to inform you that General Ward, while directing
the assault, fell, mortally wounded. The _Hardy_ brought him down
the same evening to Ning Po, and he died the next morning in Doctor
Parker’s house. During a short acquaintance with General Ward I have
learned to appreciate him much, and I fear his death will cast a gloom
over the Imperial cause in China, of which he was the stay and prop.”
How cordially Sir James responded to these generous sentiments from
a gallant British sailor appears from his dispatch to Minister
Burlingame, transmitting the announcement of Ward’s death, which the
American Minister embodied in his dispatch to Washington:
“I am sure you will be much grieved to hear of poor Ward’s death. The
Chinese Government have lost a very able and gallant servant, who has
rendered them much faithful service, and whom it will not be easy for
them to replace.”
Of the events immediately following the death of Frederick Townsend
Ward and the appointment of Colonel Peter Gordon (“Chinese” Gordon) to
the command of the “Ever Victorious Legion,” Dr. S. Wells Williams in
his monumental work, The Middle Kingdom, writes as follows:
“The death of General Ward deprived the Imperialists of an able leader.
The career of this man had been a strange one, but his success in
training his men was endorsed by honorable dealings with the mandarins
who had reported well of him at Peking. He was buried at Sung Kiang,
where a shrine was erected to his memory and incense is burned before
him to this day.”
It was difficult to find a successor, and the command was entrusted
to his second, an American named Burgevine, who was accepted by the
Chinese, but proved to be incapable. He was superseded by Holland and
Cooke, Englishmen, and in April, 1863, the entire command was placed
under Colonel Peter Gordon of the British army.
“During the interval between May, 1860, when Ward took Sung Kiang, and
April 6, 1863, when Gordon took Fushan, the best manner of combining
native and foreign troops was gradually developed as they became more
and more acquainted with each other and learned to respect discipline
as an earnest of success. Such a motley force has seldom if ever been
seen, and the enormous preponderance of Chinese troops would have
perhaps been an element of danger had they been left idle for a long
time. The bravery of the “Ever Victorious” force in the presence of
the enemy had gradually won the confidence of the Allies, as well
as the Chinese officials in whose pay it was; and when it operated
in connection with the French and British contingent in driving the
Tai-pings out of Ning Po prefecture, the real worth of Ward’s drill was
made manifest.”
General Gordon won a far greater fame in China than Frederick Townsend
Ward, but the Salem soldier of fortune might have done much bigger
things than the inscrutable fates permitted if he had been suffered
to live his allotted years. He was cut off in the flower of his youth,
in the flush and glory of romantic success against the most desperate
odds, and he had played the game of life astonishingly well.
Until death overtook Ward at thirty his career singularly paralleled
that of “Chinese” Gordon. Gordon served as a lieutenant in the Crimean
War before he was twenty; next acquitted himself most ably on the
Russo-Turkish frontier in Asia; began his career in China at the age of
twenty-seven and had won his fame in the Tai-ping Rebellion at thirty.
The Chinese tributes to Ward’s memory were both eloquent and sincere,
and as presented in official decrees make a unique tribute from
an alien people, such as has been bestowed by China upon no other
American. The death of Ward was conveyed to the notice of the Emperor
of China by Li Hung Chang, whose memorial read:
“Li Hung Chang, Governor of Kiangse, on the 6th day of the intercalary
8th moon, in the first year of the reign Tungche, memorializes the
Throne.... It appears that Brigadier Ward is a citizen of New York, in
the United States, who in the tenth year of the reign Hienfung came
to China. Afterwards he was employed by Wuhyu, Taotai of Shanghai, to
take command of a contingent of men from India to follow the regular
army in the attack on Kiating and Taet’sang, and twice to the capture
of Sung Kiang, as well as to the repeated attack on Tsing-pu, where,
leading his officers and men, he was several times seriously wounded.
Later, after the contingent of Indians had, by an Imperial decree, been
dismissed, Ward petitioned the Taotai, stating that he was willing to
become a Chinese subject; whereupon Wuhyu retained him and gave him
command of the Ever Victorious Army, to support the Imperial troops in
the defence of Sung Kiang.
“In the first moon of the present year Ward defeated, with 500 troops,
above 100,000 rebels at Yin-hai-pang, Tien-mashan, and other places
in the Prefecture of Sung Kiang. Thus with few he overcame the many;
a meritorious deed that is very rare. Again he arranged for the
destruction of the rebel fortifications of Kau Keaou, Sian t’ang,
Chow-pu, Nanking, Che-ling, Wang-keasze, and Lung-chuan, having the
coöperation of British and French troops. From a petition of Wuhyu it
appears that in the early part of spring of the present year, Sung
Kiang and Shanghai were threatened by the rebels, and that the turning
away of the danger and the maintenance of tranquility in those places
was chiefly due to the exertions of Ward.
“By Imperial favor he was repeatedly promoted—from the fourth rank
with the peacock’s feather to the decorations of the third rank, again
to the rank of titulary Futsiang, Brigadier, and again to Futsiang
gazetted for employment in office; and praise was repeatedly bestowed
on him by your Majesty’s decree. From the time of the arrival of
Your Majesty’s Minister, Li Hung Chang, at Shanghai, to take charge
of affairs, this Futsiang Ward was in all respects obedient to the
orders he received, and whether he received orders to harass the city
of Kinshwanei or to force back the rebels at Linho, he was everywhere
successful. Still further, he bent all his energy on the recapture of
Tsing-pu, and was absorbed in a plan for sweeping away the rebels from
Soochan. Such loyalty and valor, issuing from his natural disposition,
is extraordinary when compared with these virtues of the best officers
of China; and among foreign officers it is not easy to find one worthy
of equal honor.
“Your Majesty’s Minister, Li Hung Chang, has already ordered Wuhyu and
others to deck Ward’s body with a Chinese uniform, to provide good
sepulture, and to bury him at Sung Kiang, in order to complete the
recompense for his valiant defence of the dynasty. Brigadier Ward’s
military services at Sung Kiang and Ning Po are conspicuous. At this
time he lost his life by a wound from a musket ball. We owe him our
respect, and our deep regret. It is appropriate, therefore, to entreat
that your Gracious Majesty do order the Board of Rites to take into
consideration suitable posthumous rewards to be bestowed on him, Ward;
and that both at Ning Po and at Sung Kiang sacrificial altars be
erected to appease the manes of this loyal man.
“In addition to the communication made to the Tsungli Yamen, your
memorialist, Li Hung Chang, consulted Tseng Kwo Fan, Governor General
of the Two Kiang, and Tso-Tsung-Lang, Governor of Chehkiang, with
regard to the recapture of Tsze Kee by the rebels, and their spying out
the approaches to the city of Ning Po; also with regard to the newly
appointed acting Taotai of Ning Po, She Chengeh, putting this city in
a state of defence, and the levying of contributions at Shanghai, to
be forwarded to Ning Po; and further, with regard to Brigadier Ward’s
recapture from the rebels of Tsz Ki, where he perished from a wound by
a musket ball, and for which reason Your Majesty is entreated to bestow
on him posthumous honours; and finally, with regard to dispatching with
all haste this memorial, and laying it before Your Majesty’s Sacred
Glance for approval and further instruction.”
With a promptness unusual in Oriental procedure, this memorial was
followed in twelve days by the issue of an Imperial Edict, of which the
record obtained for the Essex Institute at the Tsung-li-Yamen in Peking
by the late Minister Conger, is as follows:
“The following Imperial Rescript was received on the 18th day of the
Intercalary Eighth Moon of the First Year of the Reign of Tung Chih.
“Li Hung Chang in a memorial has acquainted Us of the death of
Brigadier Ward, who perished from the effects of a bullet-wound
received at the capture of Tsz-Ki, and has asked Our sanction for the
building of a temple to him as a sincere expression of Our sorrow at
his death. Ward was a native of the United States of America. Having
desired to become a Chinese subject, and offered his services to Us,
he joined the Imperial Troops at Shanghai, and took Kading, Tai-Tsan,
and Sung Kiang, and later defeated the rebels at Yin-hai-pang,
Tien-ma-shan, and other parts, in the district of Sung Kiang. He
also, in company with other foreign officers, destroyed the rebel
fortifications at Kaou-Keaou and elsewhere. We, admiring his repeated
victories, had been pleased to confer upon him special marks of Our
favor, and to promote him to the rank of Futsiang gazetted for service.
“According to the present memorial of Li Hung Chang, Ward having
learned of the designs upon Ning Po of the Chi-Kiang rebels who were in
possession of Tsz-Ki, at once advanced with the Ever Victorious Army to
destroy them. While in person conducting the movements he was fatally
wounded in the chest by a rebel bullet fired from the top of the city
wall. The bullet came out through his back. It grew dark to the General
instantly, and he fell. The City of Tsz-Ki was already taken by his
Ever Victorious Army. Ward returned to Ning-Po, where he died of his
wound the next day.
“We have read the memorial, and feel that Brigadier Ward, a man
of heroic disposition, a soldier without dishonor, deserves Our
commendation and compassion. Li Hung Chang has already ordered Wu-Shi
and others to attend to the proper rites of sepulture, and We now
direct the two Prefects that special temples to his memory be built at
Ning Po and Sung Kiang. Let this case still be submitted to the Board
of Rites, who will propose to Us further honors so as to show our
extraordinary consideration towards him, and also that his loyal spirit
may rest in peace. This from the Emperor! Respect it!”
On October 27, 1862, Minister Burlingame forwarded to Washington his
official communication announcing Ward’s death, which read as follows:
“Legation of the United States,
“Peking, Oct. 27, 1862.
“Sir: It is my painful duty to inform you of the death of General
Ward, an American, who had risen by his capacity and courage to the
highest rank in the Chinese service. He was shot and mortally wounded
while reconnoitering, before its capture, Tsz-Ki, a place near
Ning-Po. The incidents attending his wound and death please find in
the edict of the Emperor.
“General Ward was originally from Salem, Massachusetts, where he has
relatives still living, and had seen service in Mexico, the Crimea,
and, he was sorry to say, with the notorious Walker.
“He fought countless battles, at the head of a Chinese force called
into existence and trained by himself, and always with success.
“Indeed, he taught the Chinese their strength, and laid the
foundations of the only force with which their government can hope to
defeat the rebellion.
“Before General Ward died, when on board of her Majesty’s steamer
_Hardy_, he made his will, and named Admiral Sir James Hope and myself
his executors.
“In a letter communicating the fact to me, Sir James writes:
“‘I am sure you will be much grieved to hear of poor Ward’s death.
“‘The Chinese government have lost a very able and gallant servant,
who has rendered them much faithful service, and whom it will not be
easy for them to replace.’
“On account of my absence from Shanghai, I shall authorize our consul,
George F. Seward, Esq., to act for me.
“General Ward was a man of great wealth, and in a letter to me the
last probably he ever wrote, he proposed through me to contribute
ten thousand taels to the government of the United States, to aid in
maintaining the Union, but before I could respond to his patriotic
letter he died.
“Let this wish, though unexecuted, find worthy record in the archives
of his native land, to show that neither self-exile nor foreign
service, nor the incidents of a stormy life, could extinguish from the
breast of this wandering child of the republic the fires of a truly
loyal heart.
“After Ward’s death, fearing that his force might dissolve and be lost
to the cause of order, I hastened by express to inform the Chinese
government of my desire that an American might be selected to fill his
place, and was so fortunate, against considerable opposition, as to
secure the appointment of Colonel Burgevine.
“He had taken part, with Ward, in all the conflicts, and common fame
spoke well of him.
“Mr. Bruce, the British minister, as far as I know, did not antagonize
me, and the gallant Sir James Hope favored the selection of Burgevine.
Others did not.
“I felt that it was no more than fair that an American should command
the foreign-trained Chinese on land, as the English through Osborne,
would command the same quality of force on sea. Do not understand by
the above that in this, or in any case, I have pushed the American
interests to the extent of any disagreement. On the contrary, by
the avowal of an open and friendly policy, and proceeding on the
declaration that the interests of the Western nations are identical,
I have been met by the representatives of the other treaty powers in
a corresponding spirit, and we are now working together in a sincere
effort to strengthen the cause of civilization in the East.
“I have the honor to be your obedient servant,
“ANSON BURLINGAME.
“Hon. William H. Seward,
“Secretary of State, Washington.”
The Imperial edict called forth from Secretary of State Seward this
feeling response:
“You will express to Prince Kung the President’s sincere satisfaction
with the honors which the Emperor of China has decreed to be paid
to the memory of our distinguished fellow citizen. He fell while
illustrating the fame of his country in an untried, distant, and
perilous field. His too early death will, therefore, be deeply mourned
by the American people.”
The whole correspondence was called for by the United States Senate,
upon motion of Senator Sumner, and was duly transmitted under cover of
a message from President Lincoln.
Of the proposed memorial temples, one has been erected and was
dedicated with impressive ceremonies on March 10, 1877. It is still
guarded with religious care and is the scene of elaborate rites on each
New Year’s Day in February.
The consecration of this temple was described in the _North China Mail_
as follows:
“The dedication of the Tsze t’ang, or Memorial Hall, recently erected
by Feng, Taotai of Shanghai, at Sung Kiang in commemoration of the late
General Ward, of the “Ever Victorious Army,” was performed on Saturday,
with religious rites, in accordance with Chinese custom in such cases.
The Taotai had, through the United States Consul-General, expressed
his intention of conducting the ceremony himself, and requested that a
limited number of invitations should be given to persons interested,
to accompany him. The Customs’ cruiser ‘Kwashing,’ Captain Anderson,
was prepared to convey His Excellency and his guests, and seven a.
m. was the hour fixed to commence the trip up the river Hwangpoo.
Precisely at that time there were assembled at the Custom House jetty
Consul General Myers, Dr. Yates, Dr. Macgowan, Dr. Kreyer; Mr. P. G.
von Mollendorff of the German Consulate, the Hon. H. N. Shore, of H. M.
S. _Lapwing_, Captain Ditmar, of the German corvette _Louise_, Mr. C.
Deighton-Braysher and a few others, but the start was not made until
about 8.10 in consequence of the non-arrival of the Taotai before that
hour. By the time breakfast was over, the vessel had sped considerably
beyond the well-known Seven-mile Reach; and presently Ming-hong was
sighted, nearly opposite to which is the creek leading to Nai-jow, the
scene of the fight in which the French Admiral Protet, to whose memory
a statue stands in the compound of the French Municipal Hall, received
his death wound. The reaches of the river beyond this place were new
to all on board except Mr. Deighton-Braysher, who kindly undertook to
pilot the vessel from Ming-hong to the mouth of the Sung Kiang Creek;
and he also lightened the tedium of the voyage by pointing out and
describing the scenes of greatest interest in connection with the
Tai-ping rebellion, this part of the country having been overrun by the
rebels. Feck-shung was next reached, opposite to which is the creek
up which H. B. M.’s gunboat _Stirling_ was navigated to attack the
stronghold known as Yeh-sieh, which she quickly demolished.
“There not being sufficient depth of water in the Sung Kiang creek to
float the _Kwashing_, she was anchored off its mouth, and some Chinese
houseboats and a couple of steam launches, provided by the Taotai’s
directions, were brought alongside. The passengers being trans-shipped
to the houseboats, were soon spinning up the creek, towed by one of
the steam launches, the distance to the city of Sung Kiang, from the
river, being about four miles. The creek becomes very narrow as the
city is neared, and is spanned not far from the walls by one of those
light-looking, picturesque stone bridges for the construction of which
the Chinese are famous. Here, on both banks, the people had assembled
in large numbers, and it soon became evident that the sight of so many
foreigners together was a novelty to them, and the Taotai’s bodyguard
were useful in clearing a way along the bank to where some dozen or
so of sedans with bearers were in waiting for the guests. The Taotai
and others having taken their seats, the procession moved off amid
the banging of crackers and bombs, and the animated gesticulations
of the people, numbers of whom kept up with it to the scene of the
day’s ceremony. The way led along a narrow road through the suburbs,
skirting the wall of the city, until the gate was reached through which
the city was entered. A wide expanse of unoccupied ground had first
to be crossed, which before the rebellion was covered with houses.
Here and there ruins of houses are still to be seen, but the greater
part of the waste is scattered over with grass-grown mounds and heaps
of refuse, presenting a dreary aspect. The way next led along the
bank of a small creek and past the yamen of some military mandarin,
a large and peculiar building, or rather series of buildings, having
all the appearance of huge cages, each being enclosed with very lofty
rail fencing, and differing in several respects from the architecture
of any official residence in the vicinity of Shanghai. Several
unpretentious-looking pilaus were also passed enroute, and in the
distance, to the right, a lofty pagoda was visible. The Memorial Hall
was at length reached, surrounded by a low wall of considerable extent,
and entered by a gateway in the usual joss-house style.
“Turning sharply to the right after leaving the gateway, the main
building is at once seen to be very similar in construction to the open
hall facing the entrance to the Mixed Court in the Maloo. Immediately
opposite the open front stands the shrine containing the memorial
tablet of the deceased General; blue in colour with the inscription in
gold. Facing this are two small square tower-like structures, on which
are other inscriptions testifying to the merits of the deceased and
stating that the Memorial Hall was erected by Feng Taotai, by Imperial
command. Passing round the back of the shrine, a large square space is
reached, in the centre of which is the grave-mound beneath which are
the deceased’s remains and also the stone that used to mark the site of
the grave. The surrounding space is thickly planted with young trees
and shrubs.
“At the Hall the Taotai, on alighting from his chair, was met and
greeted by the magistrate of the district of Sung Kiang. A number of
other officials of lesser grade were present; and numerous soldiers, in
addition to the Taotai’s bodyguard thronged the compound. The greetings
over, the Taotai led the way to the shrine, and both he and the other
dignitaries then donned their official robes. Although it was broad
daylight, twelve lighted lamps were suspended from the roof, eight in
one row and one at each of the four corners of the shrine. Besides
these, there were four large red wax candles burning, and incense
sticks smouldering. The ceremony being one of sacrifice there were
offered to the manes of the deceased the entire carcass of a goat, a
large pig, a small roasted pig, a ham, seven pairs of ducks, pairs of
fowls, etc., and about twenty dishes of fruits, confectionery, and
vegetables, these being also in pairs.
“The Taotai and the two district magistrates being fully attired, they
advanced to the front of the shrine, and in obedience to the direction
of a sort of master of the ceremonies the Taotai commenced the oblation
by offering several small cups of wine, which were deposited on a
shelf in front of the tablet. Then, all three kneeling, the Taotai
stretched forth his hand towards the tablet, and offered the food, the
mandarins subsequently bowing their heads nine times to the ground.
A little music was also played, and the ceremony, which scarcely
occupied twenty minutes, was concluded by loud discharges of fireworks
and the crash of gongs. It cannot be said to have been impressive,
though its novelty and picturesqueness were beyond dispute; but it was
interesting from the fact of its being intended to honour the memory of
a foreigner, and including precisely the same observance awarded in the
case of high Chinese officials.
“At the conclusion of the ceremony, the whole of the food offerings
were packed away in boxes, slung on poles, and taken back to the ship,
thence to be re-conveyed to the Taotai’s yamen.
“There was no speaking either at the grave or in the Temple, except by
Dr. Macgowan, who as a private citizen said a few words to the Taotai
in Chinese, apropos of the occasion, and, after three photographic
negatives of the scene in and around the Temple had been taken, haste
was made for the return trip in order to reach home before dark.
“On the return passage down the creek, the Taotai read from a paper he
held in his hand, the following statement, which was translated as he
proceeded by Dr. Kreyer: ‘I remember reading the rescript in the Peking
_Gazette_ of how the late Emperor regretted General Ward’s death. At
that time I was only a Chuyen (recipient of a second-class literary
degree), and did not know I should ever be Taotai of Shanghai and live
to take part in the dedication of a temple to Ward’s memory. When Ward
came to China it was thought in this district that the whole country
had been lost to the rebels—that, in fact, it could not be recovered.
But owing to the exertions of Ward, the rebels were defeated and the
country saved. The cities and places that were captured were Kading,
Tai-Tsan, Sung Kiang, Ming-liu-ping, Tien-mashan, Kau Shan, Sian T’ang,
Chow-pu, Che-ling, Wang Keasze, Lung-chau—all these being retaken by
Ward before Li Hung Chang came on the scene. After Li came into these
districts Ward retook Kinshan-wei, Liu Ho, Tsing-pu, and Tsz Kzi. The
greatest credit was therefore due to General Ward, as nearly all those
places were re-captured by him long before Li Hung Chang came here. The
name of General Ward was such a terror that whenever the rebels heard
that he was coming they ran away without fighting. General Ward’s idea
was to go straight on to Soo-chow, and retake that city; but before
going there he marched to Ning Po, and at Tsz Ki, a little town about
fifteen miles distant from Ning Po, he was shot by the enemy. His
Chinese clothes were changed for foreign ones at Ning Po, where he
died, his body being brought to Sung Kiang for burial. The Imperial
intention is to build two large temples to his memory—one at Sung Kiang
and the other at Tsz Ki, where he received his death wound, and in
each of which his statue will be placed. All this is intended to be in
accordance with Li Hung Chang’s petition to the Throne, and with the
Imperial rescript, issued in the first year of Tsung-chi, 8th moon,
18th day.’ In conclusion, the Taotai said, in answer to a question by
Mr. Consul-General Myers, that the sole credit of Shanghai not having
been taken by the rebels was due to General Ward. It was also explained
that the present small temple at Sung Kiang was only a temporary
structure, and would be replaced as soon as possible by a large and
permanent one.”
“The two inscriptions on columns at the right and left of the entrance
to the shrine have been thus rendered into English:
“A wonderful hero from beyond the seas, the fame of whose deserving
loyalty reaches round the world, has sprinkled China with his azure
blood.”
“A happy seat among the clouds,” (the ancient name of Sung Kiang means
‘among the clouds’) “and Temples standing for a thousand Springs, make
known to all his faithful heart.”
Arthur D. Coulter, an American mining engineer, recently visited the
temple and shrine of Frederick Townsend Ward and described the scene as
follows:
“Toward the eastern end of the walled city stands one of the most
beautiful pagodas to be found anywhere in the Orient. It is perfectly
preserved, and overlooks the country for many miles. Passing toward
the eastern gate and crossing the mouth of the canal which follows
the city wall by an arched bridge—one of those typical stone bridges,
finely cut and very old, which span the canal—the way leads toward
the military grounds, at the present time occupied by a considerable
force of Chinese soldiers, and it is in the vicinity of this fort that
Ward’s resting-place is located and where his shrine is built. The
place seems to have been fittingly selected by the Chinese to give a
military setting to this memorial of their military saviour. A wide
path along the bank of the canal leads by the beautiful bamboo groves
a distance of about three hundred yards from the walled city to the
soldiers’ compound. The temple proper is situated within a hundred feet
of the outer walls of the fort. It is built on a plot of ground which
has been maintained as an open park. In accordance with the Chinese
idea of filial piety a grave must be maintained above ground. In almost
all instances among the better classes the receiving vaults are built
of brick or stone and covered with tiling, and these are maintained for
many years, the obligation being handed down from father to son.
“The temple compound which has been dedicated to Ward stands within
four walls built of brick. These walls are about ten feet in height
and well preserved. The area is about one hundred feet square. At the
main entrance of the compound is built the caretaker’s house. He, with
his wife and family, are maintained by the Chinese Government as they
have been since the building of the shrine. Immediately after passing
through the caretaker’s rooms, one comes into an open courtyard facing
the temple proper, which is built across the middle of the hollow
square formed by the enclosure walls. Entrance to the temple proper
is through three doors, which, when open, leave the shrine or altar
exposed to view from the outside. This is in accordance with the
prevailing arrangement of temples throughout the Empire.
“The altar stands about ten feet removed from the door which it
faces, and is about six feet wide by ten feet high. Across from this
altar is a space paved with brick throughout, in a very good state of
preservation and well kept. The most important decorations are the
tablet and the writing in Chinese which adorn the sides and top of the
altar. On the top of the altar may be seen the braziers for the burning
of joss and incense by the Taos priests. The attendance upon the
temple by the Mandarins and Officials of Mandatories from the Chinese
Government has been maintained since the building of the shrine.
They are commanded to appear there during each month for worship.
Immediately behind is a door leading out to what may be correctly
termed the graveyard. This is an open space surrounded on the one side
by the walls of the temple and on the other three sides by the walls of
the compound already described. In the central background, away from
the temple, is located the mound where Ward’s remains were placed.
Behind this mound, and on both sides, extending out to the side walls,
the ground is covered with a thick growth of young bamboo trees, making
a very beautiful setting for the grave.
“The memory of Ward is held sacred to this day by those with whom
or with whose fathers he was closely associated. He had endeared
himself to the Taotai and the Chinese people principally through his
military career and his more personal relations with Shanghai. The full
significance of Ward’s martyrdom for the Chinese people has not been
forgotten to this day by this class of Chinese.”
FOOTNOTES:
[47] This sketch of the life of Frederick Townsend Ward is taken for
the most part, from the Essex Institute Historical Collections, Vol.
XLIV, Jan. 1908, to which Hon. Robert S. Rantoul contributed a most
complete and authoritative account of General Ward’s family history
and achievements. Mr. Rantoul included also the Chinese decrees, and
other documentary material which are made use of as Chapter XXX of this
book, and the author desires to make clear his obligations, both to the
researches and literary labor of Mr. Rantoul and to the Essex Institute
for permission to make use of this material as properly belonging in a
record of the deeds of the Salem men of seafaring stock and training.
[48] The Middle Kingdom, by S. Wells Williams.