Ever Victorious Army

The Ever Victorious Army (zh-cpw|c=常勝軍|p=cháng shèng jūn|w=Ch'ang² Sheng⁴ Chün¹) was the name given to an imperial army in late-19th century China. The Ever Victorious Army fought for the Qing Dynasty against the rebels of the Nien and Taiping Rebellions.

The Ever Victorious Army was a special elite force, consisting of Chinese soldiers trained and led by a European officer corps. Though the Ever Victorious Army was only active for a few years, from 1860 to 1864, it was instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion. It was the first Chinese army which was trained in European techniques, tactics, and strategy. As such, it became a model for many later Chinese armies.

History

Origins

The Ever Victorious Army had its beginnings as a force formed under the command of Frederick Townsend Ward in 1860. Ward introduced what were, for the time, radical ideas involving force structure, training, discipline, and weaponry (though there are historians who question whether his lieutenant and confident Li Heng-sung, also was responsible for some of the then-unique ideas that forged the Ever Victorious Army). He believed that highly trained, superbly disciplined, extremely mobile units could defeat larger conventional armies, and he was correct. He believed in British style discipline and training, with a more flexible command structure. Following several early victories, the Qing Dynasty officially bestowed the title "Ever Victorious Army" in March 1862.

Change in command

Following Ward's death in September 1862 after the Battle of Cixi, command of the Ever Victorious Army passed, after a short period of time, to Charles George Gordon, known as "Chinese" Gordon. Under Gordon the Ever Victorious Army, in collaboration with the Chinese Imperial forces, would fight some of the final and decisive battles that ended the Taiping Rebellion.

Tactics

The Ever Victorious Army numbered around 5000 soldiers at its height. It often defeated rebel forces which were numerically much larger because it was better-armed, better-commanded, and better-trained. It was the first Chinese army to incorporate western style training and tactics, modern weaponry, and most important, the concept of light fast moving infantry units which could move many times faster than their opponents, both to and from the field of battle, and during the fighting itself. Though Gordon has received most of the credit for the victories, it was Ward who originated the concepts that resulted in the Ever Victorious Army, and its ability to win those victories for Gordon. In recent years, there has been an effort to pay tribute to the man who molded the Ever Victorious Army, Ward, aided by Li Heng-sung, rather than the British Gordon. Some argue Gordon used a weapon forged by another and essentially took Ward's place in the history of the times.

Composition

The new force originally comprised about 200 mostly European mercenaries, enlisted in the Shanghai area from sailors, deserters and adventurers. Many were dismissed in the summer of 1861 but the remainder became the officers of 1,200 Chinese solders recruited by Ward in and around Sungkiang. The Chinese troops were increased to 3,000 by May 1862, all equipped with Western firearms and equipment by the British authorities in Shanghai. Throughout its four-year existence the Ever Victorious Army was mainly to operate within a thirty mile radius of Shanghai.

tructure

The infantry of the Ever Victorious Army was organised into battalions, usually referred to under Gordon as regiments. By 1864 there were six regiments numbering between 250 and 650 men. Each comprised six companies, with a nominal establishment of two foreign officers, seven Chinese non-commissioned officers and up to 80 Chinese privates. There was one Chinese interpreter per regiment, although commands were given exclusively in English which had to be learnt by rote,

Bodyguard

Ward created a separate Bodyguard of Filipinos numbering 200-300. Under Gordon this force comprised a company of foreigners (including both Africans and Europeans) and 100 picked Chinese soldiers.

Artillery

By 1863 the Ever Victorious Army included a separate artillery arm, comprising six batteries of Heavy and Light Artillery. Each had an establishment of five foreign officers, 19 Chinese non-commissioned officers and 120-150 Chinese gunners.

River-boat fleet

Ward bought and chartered a flotilla of about twelve armed paddle steamers, supported by a 30-50 Chinese gunboats. Under Gordon this small navy dwindled to two steamers, subsequently increased to six. Both steamers and gunboats were fitted with 9 or 12 pounder bow-guns. The largest vessel was the "Hyson", which was 90 feet long and carried a 32 pounder gun as well as a 12 pounder howitzer.

Uniforms

According to the "North China Herald", the Bodyguard wore blue uniforms with scarlet facings and green shoulder straps bearing unit identification in Chinese characters. Artillerymen wore light blue uniforms with red facings and trouser stripes. Infantry wore dark green in winter dress with red facings and shoulder straps in regimental colours. In summer all branches wore white uniforms with scarlet facings. All units wore green turbans

End of the Ever Victorious Army

Gordon's stringent discipline led to an increase in desertions and several small scale mutinies. Accordingly by June 1863 the force had declined in numbers to 1,700 men. In the final year of its existence, the Ever Victorious Army was largely recruited from former Taiping rebels who had been taken prisoner and persuaded to change sides. By April 1864 the Army had become less effective and had suffered several set backs. It was disbanded in May 1864 with 104 foreign officers and 2,288 Chinese soldiers being paid off. The bulk of the artillery and some infantry transferred to the Chinese Imperial forces.

References

The Taiping Rebellion 1851-66: Ian Heath. ISBN 1 85532 346 X

Literary allusions

Robert Jordan named the Seanchan army in his "Wheel of Time" fantasy series after the Ever Victorious Army.

Ward turns up in George MacDonald Fraser's fictional Flashman Papers (Flashman and the Dragon) as a Yangtse opium smuggler (apocryphal) and as the embryonic leader of the Ever Victorious Army.

External links

* [http://www.regiments.org/regiments/china/cn-regts/EVA.htm Information on the Ever Victorious Army]
* [http://www.autumnjade.com/shanghai_history.html Role of the Ever Victorious Army in Shanghai history]