Our Sailors: Gallant Deeds of the British Navy during Victoria's ReignKingston, William Henry Giles
History
Our Sailors: Gallant Deeds of the British Navy during Victoria's Reign
Kingston, William Henry Giles
Great Britain -- History, Naval -- 19th century; Great Britain. Royal Navy -- History -- 19th century
Among the British contingent the navy was well represented, the Naval
Brigade, under the command of Captain Gallaghan of the _Endymion_,
consisted of 125 bluejackets with four 12-pounders from the _Barfleur,
Terrible, Endymion, Phoenix_, and _Algerine_, and 278 marines under
Major Luke; there were also two more naval 12-pounders manned by
Hong-Kong artillery under Major Saint John; there started on the same
day the junks which had been captured from the enemy.
The principal Chinese position was at Peitsang, where they were strongly
entrenched on both sides of the river. This position was attacked and
stormed by the Japanese, supported by the British, on the morning of the
5th, the brunt of the action being borne by the Japanese, who lost 200
in killed and wounded, the British only 25, of whom 21 were Indian. The
force pressed on day after day, driving the enemy before them, the
Japanese bearing the brunt of the fighting all the way up. Pekin was
reached on the 14th, and about 2:45 General Gaselee had the good fortune
to enter the legation first of all the generals. In these actions very
little fighting fell to the Naval Brigade, but the marines under Major
Luke co-operated in the relief of the cathedral the next day.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account