Frederick Townsend Ward

Frederick Townsend Ward 1831-62, American adventurer, b. Salem, Mass. A soldier of fortune, he served with William Walker in Nicaragua and with the French forces in the Crimean War. Ward arrived in Shanghai in 1859, when the Taiping Rebellion was at its height. Hired by the Chinese authorities to help quell it, he raised troops, cleared the Shanghai area of rebels, and won many successes near Shanghai and Ningpo. Killed in an attack, he was buried in a tomb at Sungkiang, which had been his headquarters. His armed force became the nucleus of the victorious army of Charles George Gordon (Chinese Gordon).

Ward, Frederick Townsend (1831–1862) U.S. adventurer and Chinese military leader. Born in Salem, Massachusetts, Frederick Townsend Ward wanted to serve in the Mexican War (1846–48), but his father persuaded him to begin traveling around the world instead. Ward participated in filibusterer William Walker's attempt to set up a Republic of Lower California in 1853, and served as a lieutenant in the French army during the Crimean War. In 1859 he got caught up in the Taiping Rebellion in China. Recruited by a Chinese merchant to drill and lead Chinese soldiers, Ward trained his men and outfitted them with Western weaponry, including repeating carbines. After winning a number of battles, his force became known as the “Ever Victorious Army,” and Ward was made a Mandarin and allowed to display the button of the fourth rank, a recognition no other foreigner had achieved in Chinese service. He was mortally wounded leading his men in an attack on Tz'u-chi. He was buried in Sung-chiang, and the Chinese built him a memorial hall there. The Communists later destroyed it.