Capt. Frank Denham Ta-hung-a
Yao Ying Date 10 August 1842 | Period 1841 – 1842 | |
 | ||
Results 197 prisoners executed, 87 dead from ill-treatment | ||
The Nerbudda incident was the execution of 197 personnel of the British transport ship Nerbudda and brig Ann in southern Taiwan, on 10 August 1842 during the First Opium War. An additional 87 prisoners died from ill-treatment in captivity. In September 1841, the Nerbudda became shipwrecked off the northern Taiwan near Keelung. In March 1842, the Ann also became shipwrecked in the north near Tamsui. Survivors from both ships were captured and marched south to the capital of Taiwan Prefecture, where they were imprisoned before being beheaded on 10 August. Out of the nearly 300 who landed in Taiwan, approximately 11 survived captivity and execution. The Daoguang Emperor ordered the execution on 14 May 1842, after the Chinese defeat in Zhejiang.
Contents
Background
In expanding their trading activities in East Asia, the British East India Company viewed Taiwan (Formosa) as a viable trading post with rich resource potential. The Company lobbied the British government to grant a trade monopoly by first occupying the island. In 1840, British national William Huttmann wrote to Foreign Secretary Lord Palmerston that given the strategic and commercial value of the island and the Qing dynasty's benign rule over it, a British warship with less than 1,500 troops could occupy its eastern coast while also developing trade. During the First Opium War, British men-of-war patrolled the Taiwan Strait and the Pescadores.
Nerbudda
In early September 1841, the transport ship Nerbudda set sail from Hong Kong to northern China. It had 274 personnel consisting of 243 Indian natives, 29 Europeans, and two men from Manila. After the ship struck rocks, all the Europeans, accompanied by three Indians and the two Manila men, left the Nerbudda in the row boats, leaving behind 240 Indians (170 camp followers and 70 seamen). The ship, which was supplied with provisions, lay in smooth water in Keelung bay for five days, during which they prepared rafts. In attempting to land, some drowned in the surf, others were killed by plunderers on shore, and the rest were captured by local authorities who separated them into small parties and marched them to the capital Tainan. The Chinese commanders, the Manchu Brigade General Ta-hung-a (達洪阿) and the Han taotai (intendant) Yao Ying (姚瑩), filed a disingenuous report to the Daoguang Emperor, claiming to have sunk the ship from the shore batteries and killed dozens of enemies. In response, the emperor sent rewards to both commanders, but the people he claimed to have slaughtered were the shipwrecked survivors. Only two ended up surviving and being sent to Amoy after the executions the following year.
Ann
In March 1842, the brig Ann set sail from Chusan to Macao, and became shipwrecked on the island's north. It had 57 personnel consisting of 34 Indian natives, 14 European or American natives, five Chinese, and four Portuguese or Malays. Most were seacunnies and lascars. In 1843, a list of the names of the 57 crew members and passengers, and their fate, was published in The Chinese Repository:
Rescue attempts
Between 19–27 October 1841, the British sloop Nimrod sailed to Keelung and offered 100 dollars for every Nerbudda survivor. But after learning that they were sent south for imprisonment, Captain Pearse ordered the bombardment of the harbour and destroyed 27 sets of cannon before returning to Hong Kong. On 8 October 1842, Commander William Nevill of the Serpent left Amoy for Taiwan. Captain Henry Ducie Chads of the Cambrian ordered him to inquire about the survivors of both ships "under a Flag of Truce". By that time, the British were aware that the captives were already executed. Nevill brought a letter from Chads addressed to the Taiwan governor, requesting the release of the survivors, but reported that his reception was uncourteous and his letter not accepted. They were told that the last survivors were being sent to Fuzhou. On 12 October, they returned to Amoy.
Execution
On 14 May 1842, the Daoguang Emperor released an edict after British forces repulsed the Chinese attempt to recapture Ningbo in Zhejiang province. With regards to the Ann prisoners, he ordered: "after acquiring their confessions, only the leaders of the rebellious yi [barbarians] should be imprisoned. The remaining rebellious yi and the 130-odd that were captured last year shall all be immediately executed in order to release our anger and enliven our hearts." On 10 August, the captives were taken two or three miles outside the city walls. Their execution was reported in The Chinese Repository:
All the rest—one hundred and ninety-seven [prisoners]—were placed at small distances from each other on their knees, their feet in irons and hands manacled behind their backs, thus waiting for the executioners, who went round, and with a kind of two-handed sword cut off their heads without being laid on a block. Afterwards their bodies were all thrown into one grave, and their heads stuck up in cages on the seashore.
The other prisoners, approximately 87, died from ill-treatment while in captivity. Details of the events were recorded in a journal by merchant Robert Gully who was executed and another by Captain Frank Denham who survived. On 25 October, one of the freed survivors Mr. Newman received a "leaf" of Gully's log from a Chinese soldier who said it was obtained from Gully's shirt, which was stripped off him at the hour of execution. It contained his last known diary entry, dated August 10. The journals of Gully and Denham were published in London in 1844.
Aftermath
Yiliang (怡良), governor of the two provinces of Fujian and Zhejiang, was dispatched as commissioner to Taiwan after protest by British Plenipotentiary Henry Pottinger. After investigation, Yiliang reported that Ta-hung-a and Yao Ying confessed to forwarding false reports. In April 1843, they were recalled to the capital Beijing. After being interrogated, they were imprisoned but released by the emperor on 18 October, having served only 12 days. The emperor used his subordinates as scapegoats for his own ordering of the execution. Pottinger did not became aware of this cunning move. On 16 December, Ta-hung-a was assigned to a post at Hami, Xinjiang province, while Yao Ying received an appointment in Sichuan province. The British government were not aware of their release and postings until Hong Kong Governor John Francis Davis informed Foreign Secretary Lord Aberdeen on 11 March 1845.
In 1867, 25 years after the executions, an interview was published in which British physician William Maxwell asked an old Chinese clerk in a Tainan hong if he remembered the beheadings. He responded in the affirmative and claimed that on the same day, a heavy thunderstorm formed and lasted for three days, drowning an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 people: "I remember that day well, and a black day it was for Formosa ... that was a judgment from Heaven for beheading the Foreigners; but it was done in revenge for your soldiers taking Amoy".