Adventurer. An American mercenary, he served as a Brigadier General in the Chinese Imperial forces. The son of a merchant captain, his application to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York was turned down, so he attended a military school in Vermont that would become Norwich University. He became an associate of notorious filibuster William Walker, who invaded and took over Nicaragua. During the Crimean War, Ward obtained an officer's commission in the French Army. He travelled to China in 1859. About this time a civil war was raging, known as the Taiping Rebellion. Ward was enlisted to raise a defense force of foreigners to protect the foreign community in Shanghai. This led to his hiring by the Imperial Government to train native troops. These troops would become known as the Ever Victorious Army, regarded by their adversaries as "Devil Soldiers." Ward's troops had all but destroyed the rebellion when he was mortally wounded in battle in 1862. The Ever Victorious Army went through a number of commanders after his death, most notably Charles "Chinese" Gordon, the martyr of Khartoum. The Chinese imperial government honored Ward, who had married a Chinese woman and become a Chinese subject, by building a tomb over his grave at Sung-Chiang, an unheard-of honor for a foreigner. The tomb was reported looted by the Japanese during World War II, and in 1955 the Chinese Communist government is reported to have obliterated it and removed Ward's remains. A Roman Catholic Church has been reported as standing over the site today.
Adventurer. An American mercenary, he served as a Brigadier General in the Chinese Imperial forces. The son of a merchant captain, his application to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York was turned down, so he attended a military school in Vermont that would become Norwich University. He became an associate of notorious filibuster William Walker, who invaded and took over Nicaragua. During the Crimean War, Ward obtained an officer's commission in the French Army. He travelled to China in 1859. About this time a civil war was raging, known as the Taiping Rebellion. Ward was enlisted to raise a defense force of foreigners to protect the foreign community in Shanghai. This led to his hiring by the Imperial Government to train native troops. These troops would become known as the Ever Victorious Army, regarded by their adversaries as "Devil Soldiers." Ward's troops had all but destroyed the rebellion when he was mortally wounded in battle in 1862. The Ever Victorious Army went through a number of commanders after his death, most notably Charles "Chinese" Gordon, the martyr of Khartoum. The Chinese imperial government honored Ward, who had married a Chinese woman and become a Chinese subject, by building a tomb over his grave at Sung-Chiang, an unheard-of honor for a foreigner. The tomb was reported looted by the Japanese during World War II, and in 1955 the Chinese Communist government is reported to have obliterated it and removed Ward's remains. A Roman Catholic Church has been reported as standing over the site today.
Bio by: Bob on Gallows Hill
Family Members
Advertisement
See more Ward memorials in:
Explore more
Sponsored by Ancestry
Advertisement
