On The 12th
And 13th Of November, Sir Michael Attacked The Bogue Forts On Both Sides
Of The River And Captured Them With Little Loss.
These forts mounted 400
guns, but only contained 1,000 men.
Notwithstanding these continuous reverses, the Chinese remained defiant
and energetic. As soon as the English admiral left Canton to attack the
Bogue forts the Chinese hastened to re-occupy all their positions and to
repair the breaches. They succeeded in setting fire to and thus destroying
the whole foreign settlement, and they carried off several Europeans, all
of whom were put to death and some of them tortured. The heads of these
Europeans treacherously seized and barbarously murdered were paraded
throughout the villages of Kwangtung, in order to stimulate recruiting and
to raise national enthusiasm to a high pitch. Notwithstanding their
reverses whenever it became a question of open fighting, the Chinese, by
their obstinacy and numbers, at last succeeded in convincing Sir Michael
Seymour that his force was too small to achieve any decisive result, and
he accordingly withdrew from his positions in front of the city, and sent
home a request for a force of 5,000 troops. Meantime the Chinese were much
encouraged by the lull in hostilities, and for the time being Yeh himself
was not dissatisfied with the result. The Cantonese saw in the destruction
of the foreign settlement and the withdrawal of the English fleet some
promise of future victory, and at all events sufficient reason for the
continued confidence of the patriot Yeh.
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Page 450 of 704
Words from 122223 to 122478
of 191255
