THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE

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between  the  Yangtze  and  Hangchow  Bay,  with  the  exception ­
  of  Shanghai.  This  city  was  protected  by  the  troops
left  by  the  allies  for  protection  of  the  foreign  settlements.
The  Chinese  in  Shanghai  formed  a  patriotic  league  for
the  defence  of  the  city,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  Li  Hungchang,
  who  had  been  appointed  Governor  of  Kiangsu
Province,  engaged  the  services  of  two  Americans,  Ward  and
Burge  vine,  to  organise  a  force  of  Europeans  and  Manila
men  to  fight  the  rebels.  Ward,  with  a  force  two  hundred
strong,  consisting  mainly  of  adventurers,  in  conjunction
with  the  Imperial  army,  succeeded  in  taking  the  city  of
Sungkiang.  In  August  i860  Chung  Wang  advanced  on
Shanghai.  Although  he  was  able  to  occupy  the  native
city,  he  failed  to  take  the  foreign  settlements,  as  they  were
defended  by  a  foreign  garrison.  After  a  time  he  retired
from  Shanghai,  burning  and  destroying  all  the  villages
and  hamlets  in  the  outlying  country.
When  Admiral  Hope,  the  British  Commander  of  the
fleet  that  had  carried  on  the  expedition  in  the  north,  returned ­
  to  Shanghai,  he  went  up  to  Nanking  to  pay  a  visit
to  the  Taiping  Emperor,  Tien  Wang,  and  entered  into  an
agreement  with  him,  by  which  the  safety  of  Shanghai  was
assured  from  attacks  by  the  rebels,  provided  the  English
and  Europeans  remained  neutral.  In  consequence  of  this
arrangement  Ward  was  compelled  to  disband  his  force,
but  in  place  of  it  he  organised  a  small  army  composed  of
Chinese  troops.  This  afterward  became  known  as  “  The
Ever  Victorious  Army."  With  this  he  gained  many  victories
over  the  rebels.
When  the  rebels  had  taken  Ningpo  and  Soochow,  and
threatened  to  attack  Shanghai  again,  Admiral  Hope  saw
that  no  reliance  could  be  placed  upon  Tien  Wang’s  assur
anees,  and,  for  the  sake  of  helping  to  restore  peace,  decided
to  assist  the  Imperial  forces.  The  British  and  French
then  proceeded  to  clear  the  country  of  rebels  within  &amp;
thirty-miles  radius  of  Shanghai.  Acting  in  conjunction
with  Ward  this  was  successfully  accomplished  ;  but  during
the  campaign  the  brave  American  leader  lost  his  life.  He