The 'Ever-Victorious Army' A History of the Chinese Campaign under Lt. Col. C. G. Gordon and of the Suppression of the Tai-Ping Rebellion

Journalist and traveller Andrew Wilson (1831–1881) was born in India to colonial missionaries. Educated in Europe, he later edited the China Mail in Hong Kong, and the Bombay Times. This, his best known work, was published in 1868, and recounts the suppression of the Taiping uprising in 1863–1864 by Colonel Charles G. ('Chinese') Gordon, leading a small multinational force. The Taiping rebellion against the Qing dynasty lasted from 1850 to 1864, and it is estimated that some 20 million people died as a result. Wilson was given access to Gordon's journals to write the book. Wilson was very pro-Chinese, and was quite critical of British colonial policy towards China. Despite this bias, the work contains much fascinating information on nineteenth-century China, and sheds light on the early career of one of Britain's greatest Victorian military heroes.

Preface; List of Tai-Ping wangs or chiefs; List of leading events; List of engagements between the Tai-Pings and disciplined imperialists, 1862–64; Part I. The Origin of the Rebellion: 1. The principles of the Chinese state; 2. Preparations for Tai-Pingdom; 3. The Tien Wang and its history up to 1860; Part II. Our Collision with the Rebels: 4. Revival of the rebellion, and its conflict with foreigners; 5. Tai-Ping reverses in the Yangtsze Valley, and a change of policy at Peking; 6. Allied operations round Shanghai in 1862; 7. Captain Dew's operations in Chekiang; Part III. Colonel Gordon's Campaign: 8. The organisation of Gordon's force; 9. Gordon's first victories; 10. Burgevine's history and fate; 11. The fall of Soochow, and the execution of its wangs; 12. Gordon's further operations; 13. The dissolution of Gordon's force, and a review of its results; 14. The medical arrangements of Gordon's force; Part IV. The End of the Tai-Pings: 15. A visit to Tseng Kwo-Fan - sketches of native and English officials in China; 16. The fall of Nanking and the last struggles of the Tai-Pings; 17. Nien-Fei and Mohammedan rebels; 18. The present and future of China; Appendices.

Traveller and journalist Andrew Wilson used General Charles Gordon's journals to write this account of the suppression of the Taiping uprising in Qing-dynasty China in 1863-1864. First published in 1868, the book sheds light on the early career of one of Britain's greatest Victorian military heroes.