Note 103 — OCCUPATION OF PEKIN. 13th. October, 1860.

The late Lord Herbert, in his first speech in the House of Lords, in moving the vote of thanks to the Forces in China, alluded to this service:—“The Tartar cavalry had posted themselves upon an eminence, which had a sudden fall at the foot of it, and in the deepest part they had made a ditch. They evidently thought our cavalry could not pass this ditch, and that they should be able to pick off our men as they came up with the greatest ease with their matchlocks. The spot has been described to me by an eye-witness as what would be called, in hunting phraseology, “a very ugly place,” one which very many would have looked at twice, and which very few would have gone at. The probability is that the majority of the field would have gone round, and attained their object in some other way. The 1st. Dragoon Guards however rode at it, and so successfully, that they cleared the place without more than one or two of the men getting out of the ranks. This struck dismay into the Tartars, who had no conception such a feat was possible, and they instantly scattered themselves all over the plain. A Chinese force afterwards attempted to clear the place, as our men had, but they utterly failed, and fell back into the ditch. It is said to have been singular to witness the great respect the enemy always paid to our cavalry, whether regulars or irregulars, but the alarm depicted in their countenances, and their sudden change of tactics whenever our Dragoon Guards afterwards came into the field, was something remarkable.”