n and Kwangsi men--that is to say, the original
Taeping band--were executed, and the completeness of the triumph was
demonstrated by the surrender, two days later, of Tayan, the last of
the Taeping possessions on the Grand Canal. On the spur of the moment,
two hours after the successful assault, Gordon wrote a hurried few
lines to his mother, stating, to relieve her anxiety, that he would
"not again take the field," and that he was happy to say he had "got
off safe."

The capture of Chanchufu was the last achievement of the Ever
Victorious Army, which marched back to Quinsan, its headquarters, in
preparation for its disbandment, which had been decided on by the
joint conclusion of the Chinese and European authorities. It had done
its work, and the Chinese naturally regarded the presence of this
formidable and somewhat unruly force with no little apprehension. The
Taepings were now confined to Nanking, and the Viceroy, Tseng Kwofan,
felt confident that before long he would be able to capture that city.
The British Government had decided that the service of Major Gordon
under the Chinese should terminate on 1st June 1864, and some weeks
before that order was put in force the army was quietly disbanded,
without any disturbance or display. The troops themselves would have
given their commander a demonstration, but he evaded them, and escaped
quietly into Shanghai, passing without regret from the position of the
arbiter of an Empire's destiny to the routine of an English officer's
existence. At the same time a considerable part of his force was taken
into the service of Li Hung Chang.

Gordon's own opinion of his work was given in the following letter:--

"I have the satisfaction of knowing that the end of this
rebellion is at hand, while, had I continued inactive, it might
have lingered on for years. I do not care a jot about my
promotion or what people may say. I know I shall leave China as
poor as I entered it, but with the knowledge that, through my
weak instrumentality, upwards of eighty to one hundred thousand
lives have been spared. I want no further satisfaction than
this."

Having retired from the active direction of the campaign, Gordon still
retained sufficient interest in the work he had had in hand so long to
incline him to accept an invitation to visit the lines of Tseng Kwofan
before Nanking. On 26th June he visited that Viceroy's camp, and found
that his position e