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Auction: 21042 - The Opium Wars Collection
Lot: 187

The Second Opium War
After The War
The Taiping Rebellion
1862 (2 June) stampless envelope and letter from E.H. Seymour, an officer on board H.M.S. 'Imperieuse' at Shanghai; the envelope is addressed to Alcester in Warwickshire and sent "Via Marseilles", rated "1/2" in black ink, the reverse with Bromsgrove (28.7) and Alcester (29.7) c.d.s.; the envelope shows minor soiling and a few light tone spots.


The letter gives a good account of conditions in Shanghai at that time, "... The numbers of rebels seems to increase under the command of their fighting king "Chung Wang". They are closing in round the settlement. There is no fear of their taking or burning it while we keep the numbers of men we have here but they are laying waste the country round and driving the villagers in for refuge, provisions are now very dear & I suppose will get more as it is by no means pleasant having to spend all our summer here. The weather keeps still tolerably cool but it is already getting too hot for expeditions against the rebels. The 'Euryalus' ought to reach Hong Kong in the end of July & arrive up here in August, then the question is will Admiral Hope remain out any longer or not, if he does we shall no doubt stay as his flag ship, however this is doubtful whether he'll remain or not...". A fine and interesting correspondence

Sir Edward Hobart Seymour, GCB, OM, GCVO, PC (1840 – 1929) was a Royal Navy officer. As a junior officer he served in the Black Sea during the Crimean War. He then took part in the sinking of the war-junks, the Battle of Canton and the Battle of Taku Forts during the Second Opium War and then saw action again at the Battle of Cixi during the Taiping Rebellion. Seymour went on to be Second-in-Command of the Channel Squadron and then Admiral Superintendent of Naval Reserves. After that he became Commander-in-Chief, China Station. During the Boxer Rebellion, he led an expedition of 2,000 sailors and marines from Western and Japanese warships to relieve the besieged diplomatic legations in Peking. The expedition was defeated by Chinese and Boxer forces and had to return to Tientsin.


1862年6月2日上海英國戰艦 "Imperieuse" 號上軍官 E.H. Seymour 寄英國Warurikshire 的Alcester 無票信函; 封上有 "Via Marseilles" 字樣, 及遞送費為"1/2" 黑墨註記, 封背蓋7月28日Bromsgrove 戳及7月29日Alcester 到達戳. 信封有些黃斑及小污. 此信函內容描述: "太平軍忠王率領的判軍人數增加, 到處放火而產生了很多難民…., 又提到何伯將軍如仍繼續作戰, 他可能改以本艦 "Imperieuse" 號為他的旗艦". 充满趣味及實記太平軍戰況的信函.

Estimate
HK$10,000 to HK$15,000

Starting price
HK$7000