The ‘Ever-Victorious Army’: A History of the Chinese Campaign under Lt. Col. C. G. Gordon and of the Suppression of the Tai-Ping Rebellion

Description

Journalist and traveller Andrew Wilson (1831–1881) was born in India to colonial missionaries. Educated in Europe, he later edited the China Mail in Hong Kong, and the Bombay Times. This, his best known work, was published in 1868, and recounts the suppression of the Taiping uprising in 1863–1864 by Colonel Charles G. ('Chinese') Gordon, leading a small multinational force. The Taiping rebellion against the Qing dynasty lasted from 1850 to 1864, and it is estimated that some 20 million people died as a result. Wilson was given access to Gordon's journals to write the book. Wilson was very pro-Chinese, and was quite critical of British colonial policy towards China. Despite this bias, the work contains much fascinating information on nineteenth-century China, and sheds light on the early career of one of Britain's greatest Victorian military heroes. Frontmatter Contents LIST OF MAPS preface LIST OF TAI-PING WANGS OR CHIEFS LIST OF LEADING EVENTS LIST OF ENGAGEMENTS BETWEEN THE TAI-PINGS AND DISCIPLINED IMPERIALISTS, 1862-64 PART I - THE ORIGIN OF THE REBELLION CHAPTER I. THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CHINESE STATE. CHAPTER II. PREPARATIONS FOR TAI-PINGDOM. CHAPTER III. THE TIEN WANG AND HIS HISTORY UP TO 1860 PART II - OUR COLLISION WITH THE REBELS CHAPTER IV - REVIVAL OF THE REBELLION, AND ITS CONFLICT WITH FOREIGNERS CHAPTER V - TAI-PING REVERSES IN THE YANGTSZE VALLEY, AND A CHANGE OF POLICY AT PEKING CHAPTER VI - ALLIED OPERATIONS ROUND SHANGHAI IN 1862 CHAPTER VII - CAPTAIN DEW'S OPERATIONS IN CHEKIANG PART III - COLONEL GORDON'S CAMPAIGN CHAPTER VIII - THE ORGANISATION OF GORDON'S FORCE CHAPTER IX - GORDON'S FIRST VICTORIES CHAPTER X - BURGEVINE'S HISTORY AND FATE CHAPTER XI - THE FALL OF SOOCHOW, AND THE EXECUTION OF ITS WANGS CHAPTER XII - GORDON'S FURTHER OPERATIONS CHAPTER XIII - THE DISSOLUTION OF GORDON'S FORCE, AND A REVIEW OF ITS RESULTS CHAPTER XIV - THE MEDICAL ARRANGEMENTS OF GORDON'S FORCE PART IV - THE END OF THE TAI-PINGS CHAPTER XV - A VISIT TO TSENG KWO-FAN—SKETCHES OF NATIVE AND ENGLISH OFFICIALS IN CHINA CHAPTER XVI - THE FALL OF NANKING AND THE LAST STRUGGLES OF THE TAI-PINGS CHAPTER XVII - NIEN-FEI AND MOHAMMEDAN REBELS CHAPTER XVIII - THE PRESENT AND FUTURE OF CHINA appendices plate-section