Appointment of Captain HollandOn January 15th， 1863 ， Captain J. Y. Holland of the BritishMarines was appointed in command of the “Ever Victorous Army.” Hestarted out from Sungkiang on February 10th， on an expedition againstTai-ch"ang （Tai-tsang）， but met with a disastrous repulse， 190 menbeing killed and 174 wounded. Having lost the confidence of his ownmen and of the British authorities， he felt obliged to resign.
Appointment of Major GordonAlthough there was a desire on the part of the officers and menfor the reappointment of Burgrvine， the Chinese authorities wouldnot give their consent， and on March 24th， Charles George Gordon，afterwards known as “Chinese Gordon，” received the appointment.
He had come out to the East as Major in the Royal Artillery inconnection with the second war between Great Britain and China. Hisappointment was made possible， as a British Order in Council hadbeen issued on January 9th， permitting British officers to take serviceunder the Chinese Government.
He soon gave proof of military genius. Like Ward， he dominatedhis men by his strong will. He went into action with utter fearlessness，carrying only a short rattan cane， and soon became a hero in the eyesof his men. Unlike Ward he had no personal ambition and refused toreceive any emoluments apart from his salary.
Gordon"s Victories in KiangsuGordon secured a succession of brilliant victores. Changshu，which had been invested by the rebels， was relieved， Tai-ch"ang wasretaken， and Kunshan （Quinsan） was captured. The latter city withits hill， 200 feet high， was of great strategical importance， as it wasconnected by waterways with Soochow， Shanghai， and the YangtzeRiver， and was protected by shallow lakes on the north and west.
Mutiny in the Army
When he decided to remove his headquarters from Sungkiangto Kunshan and gave orders to that effect， a mutiny broke out amonghis soldiers. It was dealt with promptly and severely but resulted in hisforce being reduced from 3，900 to 1，700 men. To fill the vacancies heenlisted bodily 2，000 Taipings， taken prisoners at Kunshan. In his diaryhe writes， “Recruit rebel prisoners， who are much better men.”
Surrender of SoochowNext he advanced with his force on Soochow， the headquarters ofChung Wang. Before making a direct assault on the city he capturedthe neighbouring towns. His movements were facilitated by the use oftwo small steamers， a part of the Lay-Osborne fleet which had beenpurchased by the Chinese authorities from England. Gradually hisforce worked its way closer and closer to the city of Soochow， causinggreat consternation within the walls and resulting in its surrender onDecember 4th.
Gordon had agreed that if the city surrendererd， the lives of theeight rebel “Wangs” or princes would be spared. When he discoveredthat Li Hung-chang and General Chen of the Imperialist army hadsummarily executed these men， he felt his honour was involved， andthreatened to resign.
He was persuaded， however， by the British authorities to retain hiscommand a little longer， by the argument that only so could the safetyof Shanghai be secured.
Resignation of General GordonAfter further victories and the taking of Changchow on May 11th，1864 ， the Taiping Rebellion in Kiangsu rapidly collapsed. GeneralSee page 61.