Owing to the danger thus arising from the location of the campsin the immediate vicinity of the Race Course， it was decided to requestGeneral Keih to remove his troops to the southern side of the nativecity， and on the morning of April 4th， 1854 ， Consul Alcock sent anultimatum， stating that if the camps were not removed before fouro"clock in the afternoon， they would be attacked by the foreign forces.
General Keih replied to this asking for delay， and entreating ConsulAlcock not to resort precipitately to arms. His answer was regarded asa refusal to evacuate， and at three o"clock in the afternoon the variousunits of the foreign force assembled in front of the English Church，standing on the site of the present Holy Trinity Cathedral. CaptainKelly of the U. S. S. “Plymouth” gives the following estimate of thenumbers employed， “At 3.00 p.m. we landed， the English landingabout 200 men， and our ships 75 ； the Volunteers， being all English，joined their countrymen， while the Americans with two field Piecesplaced themselves under my command， increasing my force to ahundred—the English to 250. About 30 sailors from the Americanmerchant vessels were added to the American force.“ Altogether theattacking unit numbered 380 men.
Captain O"Callaghan of H.M.S. “Encounter，” with Lieut.
Roderick Dew as second in command， was in charge of the Britishcontingent， the Volunteers being under Ex-Lieut. T. F. Wade， H.B.M."sVice-Consul; Captain Kelly was in charge of the American contingent.
At 3.30 p.m. with drums beating and flags flying， the advancewas made up Park Lane （now Nanking Road） and the adventurouslittle army proceeded as far as the present junction of Nanking andChekiang Roads（at that time the eastern stretch of the Race Course）
and there the column halted. It was hoped that this display of forcemight be sufficient to cause General Keih to pay some attention to theultimatum. W hen it was discovered that the situation was unchangedand that the small band would have to attack a force of some twentythousand men， there was， according to an eyewitness， “a markeddecline in the exuberance which had characterized the March out.“It was decided that the force should be split into two divisions，the Americans following the bend of the Race Course， and veering tothe left so as to deliver a frontal attack on the camp， and the Britishproceeding straight ahead as far as possible， so as to take the enemy onthe flank.
Mr. W. S. Wetmore， the eyewitness to whom we have referred，followed the movements of the Americans. They， with two guns，took up a position among the grave mounds， within two or threehundred yards of the camps in front of them. Precisely at four o"clockthe engagement began， Captain Kelly opened with his guns， andthe British did the same from the point which they had reached. Nosooner had the guns begun to boom， when， according to Mr. Wetmore，one could see “the dreary waste of graves and mounds brighten upwith scarlet spots moving rapidly in and out of the intricacies of theground.“ These were the rebels from the city who had come to join inthe fray. and to assist in the attack on the Imperialists. The red turbansbecame more and more numerous， with the result that the Imperialistswere seized with consternation and were soon in full retreat.
Captain Kelly immediately gave the order to charge， but his menwere unexpectedly halted by a creek of mud and water four feet deepand fifteen to twenty feet wide， which served as a moat to the campparapets， six or seven feet high， on the far bank. As the force reachedthe brink of this creek， they were exposed to a 1ively fire， and werecompelled to take cover again behind the grave mounds.
In a short time the humming of the bullets ceased， and for theAmericans the battle was practically over. The creek which had checkedthe advance of the Americans was the Chow-king-pang which in afteryears formed a part of Defence Creek.
Turning to the British contingent， they had proceeded straightahead and were able to cross the Chow-king-pang by a bridge. Thenchanging direction to the left they took the first camp in flank anddelivered an assault. As it was defended by a cannon placed in theentrance， there were several casualties. The camp was reached， however，and Lieut. Dew was the first to enter it. After this there was littlefighting as the Imperialists took to flight. The deserted camps weredestroyed by fire.
Gallant as was the conduct of the small force againstoverwhelming odds， the determining factor causing the flight of theImperialists was probably the sudden appearance of the rebels on thebattlefield. There is some un-certainty as to whether the rebels tookpart in the opera-tion of their own initiative， or whether the assistanceof the rebel leaders had been invited by some of the foreigners.
Mr. Wetmore， while attributing the victory to the “unexpected cooperationof the rebels，“ thinks that General Keih， seeing the foreignersin earnest， may have given orders for his forces to retire.
The casualties of the British and American forces were twokilled and fifteen wounded， of whom two died later. The losses of theImperialist troops were not more than fifty.
This skirmish has always been known as the “Battle of MuddyFlat，“ but as it was fought in clear weather on perfectly dry ground， itis difficult to account for the origin of the name.
The battle produced the desired result， as the main force of theImperialist army withdrew to the south side of the native city， and thewestern boundary of the Settlement was no longer disturbed by bandsof marauding troops.
The French Assist the ImperialistsThe native city remained in the hands of the “Small Swords，”
and it became evident that if the city was to be recaptured by theImperialists， supplies from the Settlement must be cut off.