Taiping tragedy

The Taiping rebellion: imperialism, opium, zealous military order, shocking cruelty, foreign intervention, and a hint of celestial intrigue. It is humanity's, most devastating civil war responsible for over twenty million lives lost, with some accounts suggesting casualties were much, much, higher. Destruction of cities and farms was so pervasive that cannibalism became routine. Human flesh was sold in markets at a drastically inflated price due to high demand and thriving cities along the Yangtse River became ghost towns. A conflict so abhorrent it caused a melancholic Lord Elgin, feeling somewhat ambivalent about Britain's role, to remark "Their treachery and cruelty comes out so strongly at times as to make almost anything justifiable".

One particularly grizzly episode of the saga was the merciless purge of rebel sympathisers in Canton. The Manchu government rounded up suspected partizans and all of their families, an estimated 75000 citizens. For those who weren't captured the government set up suicide booths, with placards instructing insurgents to do the honourable thing. From 1854 to 55 The prisoners were ruthlessly massacred in a Canton execution ground (former marketplace) in what the British council described as a series of executions among the most horrible in extent and manner of which the world has any authentic record. "Tens of thousands of accused taiping supporters were slaughtered in the canton execution ground [...] that stank with congealed blood. thousands were put to the sword, hundreds cast into the river, tied together in batches of a dozen." An eyewitness testified "I watched in horror as the accused were butchered, one executioner to grip the top knot of the bound kneeling prisoner and another to chop off his head with a sword. the witness counted 63 men decapitated in four minutes before he had to stop watching. I have seen the horrid sight he wrote and the limbless, headless corpse merely a mass of flayed flesh among headless trunks that lay in scores covering the whole execution ground. there were chests for sending the severed heads up to the governor-general as proof of effective punishment. But so many were executed that their heads wouldn't fit and the executioners packed only their ears, the right ears specifically which alone filled the boxes to overflowing."

If you say "I'm reading a book about the tapping rebellion" to the average uk citizen you'll most likely get a "what's that then?" in return, alas surprisingly it's not a widely prevalent chapter of history relative to its scale and timing.

I found the book "Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom" by Stephen Platt (audiobook available on Scribd) to be a good resource on the subject cited above as the source for the canton executions. Platt's in-depth account highlights the shocking brutality of the Civil War. Platt also questions the motives of British involvement in the conflict (where Chinese Gordon got his nickname). Floundering between neutral, siding with the rebels before finally siding with the Qing dynasty only prolonged the inevitable overhaul of the outdated imperial dynasty.

The photos included here are the work of Felice Beato. An Italian-British photographer who travelled with Lord Elgin's invasion force in China. Beato was one of the most prominent photographers who documented the Taiping Rebellion. 

The Hand of Glory

16th-century Europe, a juxtaposition between incredulous occult superstitions and the driving force of modernity. The peasantry that would eventually become Renaissance society brought the essence of our tribal phase, our oral tradition and our folklore. This leads to some interesting customs; jars full of human hair to ward off witches or a mummified cat sealed in walls for good fortune. Conversely, we begin to observe practices that, while primitive, adhere to empirical logic. The middle ages fall In the pseudoscience era of the four humours; black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood. These humours were the vital elements that sustained human life and, if you had a fresh supply, they could be topped up. One good supply of these valuable resources, be it superstitious or 'scientific', was the executioner who would often sell grim surplus as a sideline. Ques of lepers might eagerly await a beheading to drink the fresh lifeblood right from the source and a scholar may pay a premium for a fresh cadaver to dissect. A severed hand as a supernatural criminal aid is one such trinket.

 

Derived from the French term; 'main De Gloire', known in Britain as The Hand of Glory, the belief was that the hand of a corpse possessed magical powers. You could bury the appendage under your dwelling for good fortune or even use it as a candle with a hair wick on each finger. This would serve as an unlikely burglary aid, the principal is this: before entering a house a would-be crook takes out the hand of glory and lights the wicks to see how many people are in the residence. If a wick failed to light this indicated that someone is not there or not sleeping. If you found a less discerning executioner or a knacker you could buy a hand of glory for yourself but of course, there were other, more nefarious, means of acquiring parts. Graverobbing was not uncommon,  hanging bodies were often cut down and sometimes only partially, if only to steal clothes from or look for "hidden gold" (a rumour often spread by the condemned who didn't want to hang around for long after death). 

Shell-shock and awe. Crimean corpses desperate plea.

The Crimean War epitomized the emergence of a new era in warfare, one that resonates with those of us on this side of the 21st century. It introduced industrialized munitions manufacture, trench warfare, and the familiar shell casings found in modern bullets. This technocratic phase of warfare unveiled itself in a manner more shocking than anything preceding.

The siege of Sevastopol marked a disastrous and protracted final chapter of the war. Emperor Alexander, newly appointed after Tzar Nicolas' passive suicide, recognized the war's inevitable conclusion and sought an opportunity to end it with Russian pride intact. This chance came with the battle of Chernaya. The Emperor encouraged General Gorchakov to secure a triumphant last stand, aiming to break the siege and strengthen Russia's position in peace negotiations with the allies. Despite recognizing the futility of the stance, Gorchakov refrained from questioning the Emperor's directive. Chernaya culminated in an Allied victory. In 1855, following a brutal bombardment by the French at the battle of Malakoff, the Russian General had no choice but to concede defeat and initiate the evacuation of the city.

Any city that has been under siege for 12 months is likely to be in a poor state, this was the case in Sevastopol. Famous author Leo Tolstoy fought in the city's defence and wrote a record of the state of Sevastopol in "Sevastopol sketches" a city cut off, bombarded and devastated. Times correspondent William Russel was one of the first to enter the conquered city. He offers this passage to what he witnessed.

"Inside the sight was too terrible to dwell upon. The French were carrying away their own and the Russians wounded, and four distinct piles of dead were formed to clear the way. The ground was marked by pools of blood, and the smell was noisome; swarms of flies settled on the dead and dying; broken muskets, torn clothes, caps, shakos, swords, bayonets, bags of bread, canteens and haversacks all lying in indescribable confusion all over the place, mingled with heaps of shot, of Grape, bits of shell, cartridges case and canister, loose powder, official papers and cooking tins. The ditch outside, towards the North, was full of French and Russians, piled over each other and horrid confusion. On the right towards the little red redan, was a little redan, strewn with bodies as thick as they could lie, and in the ditch they were piled over each other. Here the French, victorious in the Malakoff, met with a heavy loss and a series of severe repulses. The Russians lay inside the work in heaps, like carcasses in a butcher's cart; and the wounds, the blood- the site exceeded all I had hitherto witnessed. Descending from the Malakoff, we came upon a sober of ruined houses open to the sea- it was filled with dead. The Russians had crept away into holes and corners into every house, to die like poisoned rats; artillery horses, with their entrails torn open by shot, stretched all over the space at the back of the Malakoff, marking the place where the Russians moved up in their last column to retake it under the cover of a heavy field battery. Every house, the church, some public buildings, sentry boxes- all alike were broken and riddled by cannon and mortar. Of all of the pictures of the Horrors of War which have ever been presented to the world, the Hospital of Sebastopol offered the most horrible, heart-rending, and Revolting. How the poor human body could be mutilated, and yet hold its soul within it, with every limb shattered, and every vein and artery is pouring out of the live stream, one might study there at every step, and at the same time wonder how little will kill! [...] entering one of these doors, I beheld such a sight as few men, thank god, have ever witnessed. In a long, low room, supported by Square pillars arched at the top, and dimly lighted through shattered and unglazed window frames, laid the wounded Russians, who had been abandoned to our mercies by their general. The wounded, did I say? No, but the dead- the rotten and the festering corpses of the soldiers, who were left to die in their extreme agony, untended, uncared for, packed as close as they could be stowed, some on the floor, others on wretched tressels and bedsteads, or pallets of straw, sopped and saturated with blood, which oozed and trickled through upon the floor, mingling with the droppings of corruption. [...] Many, nearly mad by the scene around them, or seeking escape from it in their extremist agony, had rolled away under the beds, and glad out on the heartstricken spectator- oh with such looks! Many, with legs and arms broken and twisted, the jagged splinters sticking through the raw flesh, implored aid, water, food, or pity, or, deprived of speech by the approach of death, or by dreadful injuries in the head or trunk, pointed to the lethal spot."

Frederick Lugard's Arrow-dynamic leadership.

Artist's rendering of Lugards camp table

Baron Frederick Lugard was an able commander employed by Sir George Goldie to advance the Niger companies' control in West Africa. So successful was he that during the scramble for Africa Lugard was named high commissioner of northern Nigeria. The area of one million square miles in territory over which he ruled was mostly unexplored by the British and, according to "The British Empire" by Stephen Sears, there were territories within where even the wheel was unknown.

 One story during his travels through the hinterlands tells of an incident involving a poisoned arrow. The best source that describes the attack in detail is "The Passionate Imperialists: the true story of Sir Frederick Lugard, anti-slaver, adventurer and founder of Nigeria" by Rory O'Grady "Lugard took the lead and tried to straighten the line of his soldiers when suddenly he felt something strike him upon the back of the head. As gunfire was continuing wildly all around, he concluded it was a graze from a bullet fired from one of his own men. He tried to remove his pith helmet he had been struck by an arrow, which had gone right through the cork and pierced his skull. One of the Hausas tried to wrench the helmet off, unsuccessfully, and it was finally Lugard’s hunter, Mallum Yaki, an expert in jungle craft, who managed to cut off the helmet, but was still unable to remove the arrow from Lugard’s head. By now Lugard had sunk to the ground, with Mallum trying with increasing force to remove the arrow. At one point, Lugard was being dragged along the ground by Lum in a desperate attempt to remove it. Finally, Mallum put his foot against his master’s head and gave one mighty tug. This time he was successful, but to his horror he found a piece of skull also attached to the arrowhead. The only consolation for Lugard was that it was not barbed, but the iron tip had penetrated his skull by twenty millimetres; far worse it was poisoned, and they had no idea what the poison was. Mottram found one antidote he had been given which looked like sawdust and applied it to the wound. Mallum gave him another by chewing on a lump of something and stuffing it into the hole. Another hunter came up with a piece of root which Lugard chewed as the glutinous paste turned his saliva to jelly. All this time the fighting was still raging, and Lugard was shouting instructions to keep going forward. Wrapping a cloth around his head, he struggled to his feet and ordered his men to advance. Eventually the attackers were forced back into the village. He gave the order to cease fire and to keep the caravan moving. Out of this chaos, Bio, his trusty guide appeared, most agitated, and produced several more antidotes of equally repellent taste, which Lugard agreed to take. He halted Bio swiftly when he started chanting various long-winded, magical incantations! They had to retreat from this hostile area as quickly as possible, and marched another thirteen miles in stifling humidity before setting up camp, exhausted. Lugard collapsed onto his bed and immediately fell into a deep sleep. To everyone’s amazement, he awoke the next morning refreshed, with no ill effects from the wound and more astounding, none from the antidotes, one of which must have saved him. He had been completely outnumbered that day, but the enemy did not have rifles. When they saw him rise after being hit, they must have thought he had magical powers on his side." Lugard living on beyond this incident was alone miraculous the fact he lived t the age of 87 was positively supernatural, especially since poison arrows at that time in Nigeria were ubiquitous.

Trephinated: Frederick Lugard

Cooked

I recently read the biography "Captain James Cook" by Rob Mundle. It tells the compelling story of Cook's life and the wonder of his various excursions into the unknown. It's a highly recommended read which at times perfectly captures the profound amazement and hair-raising astonishment. with which these intrepid 18th-century pioneers stepped into the annals of history. It is decked with stories of mystique, awe and perhaps unsurprisingly a large portion of cannibalism.

One such tale occurs when HMS Adventure was anchored in "ship's cove" for repairs. Ten sailors were sent out in a cutter to find "wild greens" for the ship's larder and were instructed to return by the afternoon but by the next morning, they still had not arrived and were becoming the source of considerable anxiety. Second Lieutenant Mr Burney and ten marines were instructed to investigate and after an hour of searching, they found a large double-hulled canoe, two natives and a dog who retreated into the woods when they saw the men. They found a shoe and some meat which Mr Burney described as fresh having sniffed it and believed it to be "dog flesh".

A little further down the beach, they found some food baskets, it was here where James Burney made a ghastly discovery, the baskets contained the hacked-up and freshly cooked remains of human bodies. Identified as the missing party by a hand with a distinctive tattoo- the initials T.H. One Thomas Hill. 

They continued to another cove where they were confronted by around 400 mauris who mocked and taunted the party. Scattered around were the sailors' remains some still cooking on the fires. They gathered up some of these body parts as evidence and then left. Mr Burney made the report to ships master Tobias Furneaux in his own words "The heads, hearts, lungs of many of our men were laying on the beach and some dogs were devouring their guts."

"carried aboard both hands; one was that of Mr Rowe; the other was that of Thomas Hill, and the head was that of servant of captain. These remains, with others that are joined, were tied in a hammock and thrown into the sea with ballast and weight balls heavy enough to make them fall to the bottom. We found no weapons or clothes, except trousers, a blouse and six mismatched shoes. “ They hurriedly weighed anchor and put to sea.

Empire Total War game review

If you partake in the modern delights of video gaming, here's Empire: Total War. 

I know what you're thinking; video games are for the limp-wristed, and... you're right. But tell me this - where else can you invade an impoverished nation, trade their natural resources, and then outsource the locals to fight in wars over lands they've never heard of? Certainly not in reality anymore!

This intricate strategy game covers everything from sinking the French and Spanish on various trade routes that, by God, naturally belong to the British, to getting all your French and Spanish chums in neat little columns of rank and file to be shredded by cannon and cavalry. Why not marginalize a once proud tribe? Educate your towns across the world so they come up with new technologies to aid you in vanquishing foes more efficiently, then enlist dragoons to lead cavalry charges on the locals when their fine education leans too far towards reform.

Jove, if you wanted to, you could conquer Paris just to increase taxation! Muahahaha. In short, a no-holds-barred historical strategy game covering all the ins and outs of warfare in the age of empire.

A curious corpse

Francesco Caracciolo- the buoyant.

Immersed in Robert Southey's all-encompassing "The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson" through Audible, I stumbled upon a rather eerie tale - the true story of the lifeless body of Admiral Francesco Caracciolo, an Italian revolutionary. Who once condemned to death, was hanged at the yard-arm of the Minerva and thrown into the sea at sundown. Miraculously, it was later spotted defying the depths of the sea, supposedly swimming towards the shore. The rising hysteria among superstitious locals led Nelson to personally investigate this spectral swimmer. 

"Nelson, to please the king, stood out to sea; but the ship had not proceeded far before a body was distinctly seen, upright in the water, and approaching them. It was soon recognized to be, indeed, the corpse of Caracciolo, which had risen and floated, while the great weights attached to the legs kept the body in a position like that of a living man. A fact so extraordinary astonished the king, and perhaps excited some feeling of superstitious fear akin to regret. He gave permission for the body to be taken on shore and receive Christian burial."