a year. It was, however, rumoured at Shanghai that the English and French ministers would not be permitted to go to Pekin. On 17 June 1859 the Chesapeake, on board of which Hope's flag was flying, anchored in the Gulf of Pecheli, and Hope went at once in the Plover gunboat to the mouth of the Peiho, to acquaint the governor of the forts of the ambassadors' approach and to see for himself what the passage was like. He found that it was blocked not only by a strong boom, but by a series of timber rafts, and by rows of stakes and iron piles, the whole constituting a most formidable obstacle. The forts, too, had been rebuilt, enlarged, and strengthened, and though neither flags nor guns were to be seen, the English officer on landing with the admiral's message was met on the beach and not allowed to proceed further. On 19 June the allied ministers arrived off the bar of the Peiho, but as the obstructions prevented their passing up the river, and they were told to go to the Peh-tang, nine miles further north, contrary as they thought to the terms of the treaty, they formally requested Hope to clear the way for them. This accordingly Hope undertook to do, and on 25 June, at the top of high water, that is about 2 p.m., began to force the passage. He had with him eleven gunboats, large and small, and—including a reserve for landing—about eleven hundred men. As the gunboats approached the boom, the batteries opened on them with deadly effect. The Plover, in which Hope had hoisted his flag, was sunk; he himself was twice severely wounded, but refused to be conveyed out of action; he was carried to the Cormorant, where his flag was again hoisted. Later on the Cormorant was also sunk; so too was the Lee. All the others were severely damaged. The falling tide brought the vessels to a lower level, and gave the batteries a commanding fire to which it was impossible to reply. At the same time it exposed a wide extent of mud-flat, and when the storming parties were landed the men were caught in the mud. The enemy opened a deadly fire on them as they struggled to approach the fort. The greater number were killed or wounded, and when the last ditch was reached only fifty men were together. No reinforcements could be sent, and they were obliged to retreat, under the deadly hail, to the gunboats still afloat, which were then withdrawn out of range. Next day Hope reported to the ambassadors that his effort had failed and that it was not in his power to renew it. Of the eleven hundred men engaged, eighty-nine had been killed and 345 wounded, including the admiral himself and a large proportion of officers.
This repulse of our forces by the Chinese gave rise to the comment that we were treacherously attacked, and were taken at a disadvantage, and that the guns were manned by Europeans—Russians more especially—or Americans. Such statements were unfounded; for even admitting that the attack was a violation of the treaty, it was quite well understood by Hope that the treaty was to be violated; and he approached the boom knowing that he would have to fight his way. It had often been pointed out that to attack the Chinese forces twice in the same way on the same ground was likely to lead to serious fighting. The passage which Hope tried to force had been forced by Seymour only the year before. Despite the tactical error, however, the determined gallantry of Hope and his men roused great enthusiasm at home. It was resolved that the treaty must be ratified at Pekin, and on receipt of the intelligence that the Chinese government had approved of what had been done at Taku, a strong military expedition was sent out by both the allied powers. Hope had meantime gone to the neighbourhood of Ningpo, where he remained to recruit his health. In the following year (1860) the local transport arrangements were conducted by him, and by the end of June 1860 the troops were landed at the mouth of the Peh-tang. By 1 Aug. everything was ready for the advance. On 20 Sept. they attacked and stormed the fort on the north side of the Peiho. When that was captured the southern forts were at once evacuated, the obstacles were removed from the mouth of the river, and on the 23rd Hope went up to Tien-tsin, where he for the most part remained till the treaty was signed at Pekin on 24 Oct. On 9 Nov. 1860 he was nominated a K.C.B., and in the following year received the grand cross of the Legion of Honour. In the spring of 1862 he co-operated with the Chinese imperial troops under the American General Ward in driving back the Taepings from the neighbourhood of Shanghai and Ningpo. Several of their positions were taken by storm, and on different occasions there was severe though irregular fighting; on one, in the end of February, Hope, leading in person, was wounded by a musket-shot; on another the French admiral was killed by a cannon-ball. Things were still in a very unsettled state when, in the autumn, Hope was relieved by Rear-admiral Kuper.
Towards the end of 1863 he was appointed commander-in-chief in North America and
