John Moyse
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Private John Moyse was a soldier of the 3rd (East Kent) Regiment who was captured by Chinese soldiers during the Second Opium War and was later executed for refusing to kow-tow to a local mandarin. His act of defiance was later immortalised in "The Private of the Buffs", a poem by Sir Francis Hastings Doyle.
[edit] Historical Background
The Second Opium War (1856-1860) was fought to guarantee European sovereignty of the seas after a Chinese-owned and British-registered ship, The Arrow, was seized in 1856 for being involved in smuggling and piracy. Since it had been flying the British Ensign, the British government pressed for an apology. They allied with France and Russia and invaded China from 1857 to 1858. In 1858, China sued for peace and agreed to the Treaty of Tientsin, which allowed the creation of French and English embassies in Beijing, and the Treaty of Aigun, which redrew Russia's border with China.
In 1859, after China refuted the Treaty of Tientsin, the war continued. A naval force under the command of Admiral Sir James Hope shelled the forts guarding the mouth of the Peiho river. It was damaged and withdrew under the cover of fire from a naval squadron commanded by Commodore Josiah Tattnall.
In 1860, an Anglo-French army gathered at Hong Kong and then carried out a landing at Pei Tang on August 3, and a successful assault on the Taku Forts on August 21. On the march to Beijing the Anglo-French forces pushed aside several Manchu military units but the fighting was limited.
[edit] "The Private of the Buffs"
On 13 August 1860 during the march on the Taku Forts, a party of Sikh sappers and some laborers transporting their column's rum rations was captured by a force of Tartar cavalry. Among them was Private John Moyse of the 3rd (East Kent) Regiment (also known as "The Buffs") and an unnamed sergeant of the 44th (East Essex) Regiment.
The next day the prisoners were brought before a local mandarin and were ordered to kow-tow, under penalty of torture or execution if they didn't comply. Private Moyse alone refused and was savagely beaten and then beheaded, his body afterwards thrown on a dungheap. He was, ironically, his regiment's only casualty in the fighting.
The cause of his refusal has been a subject of much dispute. The popular story was that it was on the grounds that it would disgrace his country. Contemporary reports, however, have him saying that "...he would not prostrate himself before any Chinaman alive." His stubborness is not surprising because he had a history of insubordination and willfulness while in the service. Not long before his death he had been demoted from the exalted rank of Colour Sergeant as punishment for talking back to a superior.
When the prisoners were released a week later, their tale of Moyse's bravery spread through the army and his act of defiance was later celebrated in "The Private of the Buffs" [1], a poem by Sir Francis Hastings Doyle. The poem refers to Moyse as a young Kentish farmboy but it is more likely that he was, in fact, a middle-aged Irishman. However, the poem was written on the strength of newspaper reports, and it is likely that Doyle was unaware of the discrepancies.
[edit] See also
- The incident is described by the fictional character Henry Paget Flashman in George MacDonald's historical "Flashman Papers" novel, Flashman and the Dragon.
