219
"Playing at War": Poor View of Chinese Good Faith and Criticism of Captain Elliot
Turning, now, to their views of the Chinese way of waging war, however much they respected individual courage, our British soldier and sailor authors and their commanders had soon come to form the notion that Chinese leaders were untruthful, deceitful and were not to be trusted in war or diplomacy. They and their colleagues were generally highly suspicious of the deceits and ruses practised by Chinese diplomats and commanders in order to gain time, especially those palpably insincere approaches such as took place during the negotiations attending the operations in the Canton River and the heights above the City in 1841: "all being eager for the fight, and dreading a messenger of humbug," as Commander Bingham put it.31
They frequently criticized Captain Charles Elliot, the British plenipotentiary, who was making every attempt both to re-open the Canton Trade and to avoid further hostilities. He was not popular when he agreed to the temporary suspension of military and naval operations; and never less so than when he agreed to ransom Canton at the end of May 1841, without consulting the commanders, who were then heavily engaged with the enemy.
After the small British force of soldiers, sailors and marines had spent several days' fighting their way onto the heights of Canton, orders had been issued on 25th May for storming the City early on the following day. However, as Belcher recounts, "At dawn, the ominous white flag was again displayed [by the Chinese] and for some hours there had been repeated cries of "Elliot, Elliot!," as if he had been their protecting joss." Sure enough, he continued, a British officer who had lost himself since ten the night before and roughed it out in the paddy fields overnight, presented himself with a despatch from Captain Elliot. "Dead silence prevailed until it was handed to Sir Le Fleming Senhouse who immediately said "I protest against it!”
32
Major Armine Mountain of the 26th Regiment, Deputy Adjutant-General to the Expeditionary Force, was forthright in his condemnation of Elliot, writing home that "We have been playing at war, instead of waging it."33 Mountain was equally scathing of what he saw as the overindulgence shown to the native population adopted at Ting hae
219
"Playing at War": Poor View of Chinese Good Faith and Criticism of Captain Elliot
Turning, now, to their views of the Chinese way of waging war, however much they respected individual courage, our British soldier and sailor authors and their commanders had soon come to form the notion that Chinese leaders were untruthful, deceitful and were not to be trusted in war or diplomacy. They and their colleagues were gener- ally highly suspicious of the deceits and ruses practised by Chinese diplomats and commanders in order to gain time, especially those pal- pably insincere approaches such as took place during the negotiations attending the operations in the Canton River and the heights above the City in 1841: "all being eager for the fight, and dreading a messenger of humbug," as Commander Bingham put it.31
They frequently criticized Captain Charles Elliott, the British plenipotentiary, who was making every attempt both to re-open the Canton Trade and to avoid further hostilities. He was not popular when he agreed to the temporary suspension of military and naval operations; and never less so than when he agreed to ransom Canton at the end of May 1841, without consulting the commanders, who were then heavily engaged with the enemy.
After the small British force of soldiers, sailors and marines had spent several days' fighting their way onto the heights of Canton, or- ders had been issued on 25th May for storming the City early on the following day. However, as Belcher recounts, "At dawn, the ominous white flag was again displayed [by the Chinese] and for some hours there had been repeated cries of "Elliot, Elliot!," as if he had been their protecting joss." Sure enough, he continued, a British officer who had lost himself since ten the night before and roughed it out in the paddy fields overnight, presented himself with a despatch from Captain Elliot. "Dead silence prevailed until it was handed to Sir Le Fleming Senhouse who immediately said "I protest against it!”
**32
Major Armine Mountain of the 26th Regiment, Deputy Adjutant- General to the Expeditionary Force, was forthright in his condemna- tion of Elliot, writing home that "We have been playing at war, instead of waging it."33 Mountain was equally scathing of what he saw as the overindulgence shown to the native population adopted at Ting hae
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