BOMBARDMENT OF KAGOSHIMA
THUS one portion of the instructions sent out from home had been carried
into effect, and there now remained only the exaction of reparation from
the Prince of Satsuma. The demands to be made included, it will be
remembered, the trial and execution in the presence of English officers
of the murderers of Richardson, and the payment by the Prince of an
indemnity of £25,000 as compensation to Richardson's relatives and to
the three other members of the party who had been attacked. Marshall and
Clarke had recovered from their wounds, which in the case of the latter
were serious enough, as he had received a dangerous sword cut in the
shoulder, and Mrs Borradaile, who was not wounded, had returned to
China. The Tycoon's people were naturally desirous of having the
settlement with Satsuma left in their hands, but I suppose Ogasawara,
when pressed on the point by Colonel Neale, acknowledged that the
government were impotent in the matter, and the British Chargé
d'Affaires consequently assumed the responsibility of requesting the
Admiral to convey him and his staff to Kagoshima, in order to present
the demands he had been instructed to formulate.
The Admiral had at first been unwilling to send more than a couple of
ships, but it was finally determined that the squadron should consist of
H.M.S. "Euryalus," "Pearl," "Perseus," "Argus," "Coquette," "Racehorse,"
and the gunboat "Havoc." The whole staff of the legation, from Colonel
Neale down to myself, embarked on board the various ships, Willis and
myself being in the paddle-sloop "Argus," Commander Lewis Moore. The
weather on the voyage down was remarkably fine, and the squadron arrived
at the mouth of the Bay of Kagoshima, where it anchored for the night,
on the afternoon of the 11th August. Early on the following morning we
proceeded up the bay, and came to an anchor off the town.
A letter had been prepared beforehand stating the demands, which had
somehow or other been translated into Japanese by Siebold and his
teacher; it was a difficult document, and I fancy the Japanese version
did not read very well. A boat at once came off from the shore with two
officers, to whom the letter was delivered. In the afternoon of the
following day some other officials visited the flagship, and stated that
it was quite impossible to say when the answer would be given. The name
of the principal official who visited Colonel Neale on this occasion was
Ijichi Shôji. I knew him very well afterwards in Yedo. He and his
retinue of forty men came on board, after having exchanged a parting cup
of _saké_ with their prince, with the full design of making a sudden
onslaught upon the British officers, and killing at any rate the
principal ones among them; they intended in this way to make themselves
masters of the flagship. It was a bold conception, and might have been
successful but for the precautions taken on our side. Only two or three
were admitted into the Admiral's cabin, while the marines kept a
vigilant eye upon the retinue who remained on the quarter deck. While
they were still on board another boat arrived, whether with
reinforcements or orders to countermand the intended slaughter I do not
know, but Ijichi, after communicating with the men who came in her, said
he must return to the shore. In the evening a written reply was
received, the bearer of which was told to return on the following
morning to learn whether it was considered of a satisfactory character.
The letter on examination proved to contain a _fin de non recevoir_; it
said that the murderers could not be found, blamed the Tycoon for having
made treaties without inserting a clause to prevent foreigners from
impeding the passage of the prince along the highroads; spoke of delay
until the criminals could be arrested, captured, and punished, after
which the question of an indemnity could be discussed, and practically
referred the British Chargé d'Affaires back to the Yedo Government. When
the messenger arrived on the morning of the 14th, he was informed that
the reply was considered unsatisfactory, and that no further
communication would be held with the Japanese except under a flag of
truce. The Admiral then made a little trip up the bay to reconnoitre
some foreign-built steamers lying at anchor off Wilmot Point in the
plan, and take some soundings at the head of the bay beyond. On his
return in the afternoon the commanders of the various ships were
summoned on board the flagship to receive their instructions from the
Admiral. There was no intention on our part of immediately attacking the
batteries, but the Admiral probably supposed that by adopting reprisals,
that is taking possession of the steamers, he would induce the Satsuma
men to give some more satisfactory reply than that already received.
In pursuance of this plan, Captain Borlase in the "Pearl," with the
"Coquette," "Argus," and "Racehorse," proceeded to seize the steamers at
dawn of the 15th. We were, of course, very excited, and busily engaged,
as we approached, in estimating the probability of their offering
resistance; but as the "Argus" was laid alongside the "Sir George Grey,"
we saw the crew rapidly disappearing over the other side into shore
boats with which they had already provided themselves. No attempt was
made by us to take any prisoners, but two remained on board the "Sir
George Grey," who gave their names to me as Godai and Matsugi Kôwan. On
being transferred to the flagship they adopted the aliases of Otani and
Kashiwa. The former was a remarkably handsome man, with a noble
countenance, and was, I believe, the captain of the steamer. The
profession of the second was that of a physician; he had been to Europe
with the first Japanese embassy in 1862, and had in fact only just
returned. Both of them were afterwards well known, the first as a rather
speculative man of business who established indigo works at Ozaka with
capital borrowed from the Mikado's government, the second was for a
short time prefect of Yokohama in 1868, and afterwards Minister for
Foreign Affairs under the name of Terashima Munénori, and he still (in
1887) holds office at Tôkiô.
We returned, with our prizes lashed alongside, to the anchorage under
the island of Sakura Jima, whither the squadron had removed on the
afternoon of the 12th in order to be out of range of the guns in the
forts before the town, the "Euryalus" and "Pearl" lying about mid
channel, between us and the forts. Here we awaited the development of
events, which came sooner than was expected. The Japanese made no sign,
and we could not divine their intentions from the slight glimpses
obtainable of the movements on shore. But at noon the report of a gun
was suddenly heard, and immediately all the batteries opened fire upon
the squadron. Although it was raining and blowing like a typhoon, the
Admiral at once gave orders to engage, and made a signal to us and the
"Racehorse" and the "Coquette" to burn the prizes. On this we all rushed
on board our prize and began to plunder. I secured a Japanese matchlock
and a conical black war-hat (_jin-gasa_), but some of the officers found
money, silver _ichibus_ and gilt _nibus_. The sailors seized hold of
everything portable, such as looking glasses, decanters, benches and
even old pieces of matting. After about an hour of this disorder the
steamer was scuttled and set on fire, and we went to take up our order
in the line of battle. The plan shows how the line was formed.
Some time elapsed before we returned the fire of the Japanese, and it
was said that the tardiness of the flagship in replying to the first
shot of the Japanese (two hours) was due to the fact that the door of
the ammunition magazine was obstructed by piles of boxes of dollars, the
money paid for the indemnity being still on board. The "Perseus," which
was lying close under fort No. 9, had to slip her cable, and the anchor
was months afterwards recovered by the Satsuma people and returned to
us. Owing to this delay she had to take the last position in the line.
It was a novel sensation to be exposed to cannon shot, and the
boisterous weather did not add at all to one's equanimity. The whole
line went a little way up the bay, and then curving round to the left
returned along the northern shore at a distance of about 400 yards, each
vessel as she passed pouring her broadside into the successive forts.
About three quarters of an hour after the engagement commenced we saw
the flagship hauling off, and next the "Pearl" (which had rather lagged
behind) swerved out of the line. The cause of this was the death of
Captain Josling and Commander Wilmot of the "Euryalus" from a roundshot
fired from fort No. 7. Unwittingly she had been steered between the fort
and a target at which the Japanese gunners were in the habit of
practising, and they had her range to a nicety. A 10-inch shell exploded
on her main-deck about the same time, killing seven men and wounding an
officer, and altogether the gallant ship had got into a hot corner;
under the fire of 37 guns at once, from 10-inch down to 18 pounders. The
"Racehorse" having got ashore opposite fort No. 8, the "Coquette" and
"Argus" went back to tow her off, which we succeeded in doing after
about an hour's work. During this time she kept up a constant cannonade,
and the gunners in the fort were unable to do her any mischief. But at
one moment it was feared that she would have to be abandoned and set on
fire. I shall never forget the interest and excitement of the whole
affair, from the bursting of the shells high in the air against the grey
sky all round the flagship as she lay at anchor before we weighed, till
we came into action ourselves and could see first the belching forth of
flame from the middle of a puff of smoke, and then, strange to say, a
round black thing coming straight at us. This black thing, however,
suddenly rose high into the air just as it seemed about to strike us,
and passed overhead. The "Argus" was struck only three times, first in
the starboard gangway, then by a shot which went right through the
mainmast, but left it standing, and thirdly by a round shot near the
water line which penetrated about three inches, and then fell off into
the sea. By five o'clock we were all safely anchored again under Josling
point, except the "Havoc," which went off to set fire to five Loochooan
junks that were lying off the factories. Probably the latter were set on
fire by sparks from the junks, but credit was taken for their wilful
destruction. Under the impression that a large white building in the
rear of the town was the prince's palace, every effort was made to
destroy it, but it turned out afterwards to be a temple, and we learnt
that during the engagement the prince and his father had not been within
range. Rockets were also fired with the object of burning the town, in
which we were only too successful. The gale had increased to such a
height that all efforts on the part of the townspeople to extinguish the
flames must have been unavailing. It was an awful and magnificent sight,
the sky all filled with a cloud of smoke lit up from below by the
pointed masses of pale fire.
Our prize was still burning when we came back to our former anchorage,
and as she had 140 tons of coal on board she made a good bonfire. At
last she gave a lurch and went to the bottom. It was no doubt a great
disappointment to the sailors, for the steamers alone were worth
$300,000, and everyone would have had a good share of prize money if we
had been able to carry them off. It was rumoured that the prizes were
burnt at Colonel Neale's instance, who was very anxious, like the old
warrior that he was, that every ship should go into action unhampered.
It was also said that poor Captain Josling urged the Admiral against his
better judgment to fight that day, in spite of the adverse weather.
On Sunday morning the 16th August the bodies of Captain Josling,
Commander Wilmot and of the nine men who had lost their lives in the
action were buried in the sea. In the afternoon the squadron weighed
anchor and proceeded down the bay at slow speed, shelling the batteries
and town at long range until we left them too far behind. We anchored
for the night at some distance from the town, and on the 17th proceeded
to return to Yokohama. Most of us on board the "Argus," and I believe
the feeling was the same on board the other ships, came away bitterly
discontented.
The Japanese guns still continued firing at us as we left, though all
their shot fell short, and they might fairly claim that though we had
dismounted some of their batteries and laid the town in ruins, they had
forced us to retreat. Had we maintained the bombardment until every gun
was silenced, and then landed, or even lain off the town for a few days,
the opinion was that the demands would have been acceded to. Rumour said
that Colonel Neale was very anxious that the Admiral should land some
men and carry off a few guns as trophies of victory, but that he
declined to send a single man on shore. And men said that he was
demoralized by the death of his flag-captain and commander, with whom he
was talking on the bridge when the shot came that took off their heads.
But none of this appears in the official correspondence. I believe the
real explanation to be that differences had arisen between the
diplomatist and the sailor, the former of whom interfered too much with
the conduct of the operations. No doubt the etiquette was for him to
remain silent after he had placed matters in the hands of the Admiral,
but this the impetuosity of his nature would not permit him to do. It is
also possible that insufficiency of the supply of coals, provisions and
ammunition may have been a factor in the determination that was come to.
The Admiral in his report, which was published in the London "Gazette,"
took credit for the destruction of the town, and Mr. Bright very
properly called attention to this unnecessary act of severity in the
House of Commons; whereupon he wrote again, or Colonel Neale wrote, to
explain that the conflagration was accidental. But that I cannot think
was a correct representation of what took place, in face of the fact
that the "Perseus" continued to fire rockets into the town after the
engagement with the batteries was at an end, and it is also inconsistent
with the air of satisfaction which marks the despatch reporting that
£1,000,000 worth of property had been destroyed during the bombardment.
[Illustration: KAGOSIMA HARBOUR]
After the return of the squadron to Yokohama we settled down quietly
again, and the trade went on pretty much as usual; there were some
complaints that the Tycoon's council were laying hands on all the raw
silk destined for exportation, with a view doubtless of forcing up the
price and so recouping themselves out of foreign pockets for the
indemnities they had been forced to pay to the British Government. But
on a strong protest being made to them by Colonel Neale, the embargo was
removed. Rumours reached us of disturbances at Kiôto, where the
retainers of Chôshiû had been plotting to take possession of the palace,
and seize the person of the Mikado. Failing in their plans, they had
been dismissed from their share in guarding the palace, and had departed
to their native province, taking with them seven court nobles who had
been mixed up in the plot. Amongst them were Sanjô Sanéyoshi,
Higashi-Kuzé and Sawa, who afterwards held high office in the government
of the restoration.
The ill-success of the Chôshiû clan, which had been one of the foremost
in demanding the expulsion of the foreigners, was a turn of luck for the
Tycoon, and the result was the withdrawal of the circular of Ogasawara
proposing the closing of the ports. Ogasawara himself was disgraced.
Foreigners at Yokohama began to breathe freely again, and to renew their
former excursions in the neighbouring country.
But on the 14th October a fresh outrage completely upset our
tranquillity. A French officer of Chasseurs named Camus, while taking
his afternoon's ride at a distance of not more than two or three miles
from the settlement, and far from the high road, was attacked and
murdered. His right arm was found at a little distance from his body,
still clutching the bridle of his pony. There was a cut down one side of
the face, one through the nose, a third across the chin, the right
jugular vein was severed by a slash in the throat, and the vertebral
column was completely divided. The left arm was hanging on by a piece of
skin and the left side laid open to the heart. All the wounds were
perfectly clean, thus showing what a terrible weapon the Japanese
_katana_ was in the hands of a skilful swordsman. No clue to the
identity of the perpetrators of this horrible assassination was ever
discovered, but it made a profound impression upon the foreign
community, who after that were careful not to ride out unarmed or in
parties of less than three or four. Not that we were able to place much
confidence in our revolvers, for it was pretty certain that the
_samurai_ who was lying in wait to kill a foreigner would not carry out
his purpose unless he could take his victim at a disadvantage, and cases
of chance encounters with peaceably inclined Japanese were not known to
have occurred. Excepting perhaps the Richardson affair, from the very
first all these murders were premeditated, and the perpetrators took
care to secure their own safety beforehand.
It was an agreeable surprise to us a month later, when there appeared at
the legation two high officers of Satsuma, who undertook to pay the
indemnity of £25,000 and gave an engagement to make diligent search for
Richardson's murderers, who upon their arrest were to be punished with
death in the presence of British officers, in accordance with the
original demand. We may give Colonel Neale credit for knowing that there
was no genuine intention on the part of Satsuma to carry out this
promise, but on the other hand there was strong reason to suppose that
Shimadzu Saburô himself had actually given the order to cut down the
foreigners, and it could hardly be expected that the Satsuma men would
ever consent to do punishment upon him. The actual doers of the deed
were merely subordinate agents. We could not with justice have insisted
on their lives being taken, and at the same time suffer the principal
culprit to go scot-free. In order to succeed therefore in enforcing the
whole of the demands made by Her Majesty's Government, it would have
been necessary to invade Satsuma with an overwhelming force and
exterminate the greater part of the clan before we could get at their
chief; and we may be sure that he would never have fallen alive into our
hands. We had bombarded and destroyed the greater part of the forts and
town, probably killed a good many persons who were innocent of
Richardson's murder, and had thereby elevated what was in the beginning
a crime against public order into a _casus belli_. There would indeed,
it seems to me, have been no justification after that for taking more
lives by way of expiation. The Satsuma envoys, however, formally
acknowledged that their countrymen had been in the wrong, and they paid
the fine demanded by the British Government. No one therefore can blame
the British Chargé d'Affaires for having made peace on these terms. It
should be mentioned, however, that the Satsuma men borrowed the money
from the Tycoon's treasury, and I have never heard that it was repaid.