e manner in which he reconnoitred the
place, and then placed and led the ladder parties after two breaches
had been pronounced practical. The Taepings fought well, but the place
was carried, and the Chinese auxiliaries killed every one they found
with arms in their hands. Commenting on Gordon's part in this affair,
General Staveley wrote in his official despatch:--

"Captain Gordon was of the greatest use to me when the task of
clearing the rebels from out of the country within a radius of
thirty miles from Shanghai had to be undertaken. He reconnoitred
the enemy's defences, and arranged for the ladder parties to
cross the moats, and for the escalading of the works; for we had
to attack and carry by storm several towns fortified with high
walls and deep wet ditches. He was, however, at the same time a
source of much anxiety to me from the daring manner he approached
the enemy's works to acquire information. Previous to our attack
upon Tsingpu, and when with me in a boat reconnoitring the place,
he begged to be allowed to land in order better to see the nature
of the defences; presently, to my dismay, I saw him gradually
going nearer and nearer, by rushes from cover to cover, until he
got behind a small outlying pagoda within 100 yards of the wall,
and here he was quietly making a sketch and taking notes. I, in
the meantime, was shouting myself hoarse in trying to get him
back, for not only were the rebels firing at him from the walls,
but I saw a party stealing round to cut him off."

A letter from Gordon gives an interesting account of the two
subsequent affairs at Nanjao, where Admiral Protet was killed, and at
Cholin, where the Taepings suffered a severe but, as it proved, not a
decisive defeat.

"On going through the village a Chang-mow (rebel leader) came out
of a house rubbing his eyes, evidently having been taking a
siesta; he was horrified, and bolted, but was soon caught, and
the sailors had much difficulty in saving his life from the
villagers, who flew upon and would have killed him. Poor man! he
had such a nice costume when taken, but in five minutes
afterwards you would scarcely have known him; all his finery, and
even more, had been taken from him. The small force encamped and
entrenched themselves 900 yards from Cholin, much to the surprise
and anger of the garriso