Frederick Townshend Ward
Frederick Townshend Ward, an American adventurer from Salem, Massachusetts, arrived in Shanghai in 1860, just as the Taiping forces were threatening the city. Ward went to the Shanghai Taipans with a business proposal - he offered to create and lead a defence force if they would bankroll the enterprise. They agreed. His first step was to attack the Taiping rebels at Songjiang, about thirty miles southwest of Shanghai. The ragtag band of soldiers drank too much the night before the attack, and the affair ended in farce. But his unit survived and was later instrumental in turning away the Taiping attacks on Shanghai.
The Shanghai businessmen paid him well, the Chinese Imperial Court, and particularly the Empress Dowager, was so overwhelmed with gratitude at his assistance in beating back the Taiping that his force was given the name "Ever Victorious Army".
But the authorities in the Settlements were not so impressed. The Americans objected to his actions, as up to this time the policy of neutrality had been adopted by their government. The British authorities were incensed because the temptation to join Ward's force and enjoy the plunder and mayhem led to many desertions from the Navy. In May 1861, Admiral Hope arrested Ward on the charge of enticing sailors to leave their ships and he was brought before the American Consul for trial. He secured his acquittal by declaring he had renounced his nationality and had become a Chinese subject.
Ward rode into battle armed only with a riding crop. He went native, and apart from taking Chinese citizenship, also married a Chinese lady.
He was killed by a stray bullet during an action against the Taiping rebels near Ningbo to the south of Shanghai on September 21st, 1862.
He was buried with his dog in Songjiang, where a Chinese temple was raised in his honour. He was thirty years old.
Given the nature and reputation of Ward's army, General Gordon's tribute to him was a back-handed compliment at best: "He was a brave, clear-headed man, much liked by the Chinese Mandarins, and a very fit man for the command of the force he had raised."
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