The Private of the Buffs (or The British Soldier In China) is a ballad

Ballad

A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...

 by Sir Francis Hastings Doyle

Francis Hastings Doyle

Sir Francis Hastings Charles Doyle, 2nd Baronet was a British poet.-Biography:Doyle was born near Tadcaster, Yorkshire, to a military family which produced several distinguished officers, including his father, Major-General Sir Francis Hastings Doyle, 1st Baronet, who was created a baronet in 1828...

 describing the execution of a British infantryman by Chinese soldiers in 1860.

Background

During the Second Opium War

Second Opium War

The Second Opium War, the Second Anglo-Chinese War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a war pitting the British Empire and the Second French Empire against the Qing Dynasty of China, lasting from 1856 to 1860...

, an Anglo-French expedition landed in China and marched towards Peking in order to force the compliance of the Treaty of Tientsin

Treaty of Tientsin

Several documents known as the "Treaty of Tien-tsin" were signed in Tianjin in June 1858, ending the first part of the Second Opium War . The Second French Empire, United Kingdom, Russian Empire, and the United States were the parties involved...

. On 13 August 1860, during the attack on the Taku Forts

Taku Forts

The Dagu Forts , also called the Peiho Forts are forts located by the Hai River estuary, in Tanggu District, Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. They are located 60 km southeast of the Tianjin urban center.-History:The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Jiajing...

 -- 大沽炮台, in Chinese, or dàgū pàotá -- Chinese troops captured two British soldiers and a group of coolies. (Some contemporary accounts record the latter as Sikh

Sikh

A Sikh is a follower of Sikhism. It primarily originated in the 15th century in the Punjab region of South Asia. The term "Sikh" has its origin in Sanskrit term शिष्य , meaning "disciple, student" or शिक्ष , meaning "instruction"...

 soldiers from India, and indeed the poem refers to "dusky Indians")

The details of the subsequent events are not well-recorded, but according to reports in The Times, one Private John Moyse

John Moyse

Private John Moyse was a British soldier of the 3rd Regiment who according to popular legend was captured by Chinese soldiers during the Second Opium War and later was executed for refusing to prostrate himself before the Chinese general...

, of the 3rd (East Kent) Regiment

The Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)

The Buffs , formerly the 3rd Regiment of Foot was an infantry regiment of the British Army until 1961. It had a history dating back to 1572 and was one of the oldest regiments in the British Army being third in order of precedence...

 (commonly known as "the Buffs") refused to kowtow

Kowtow

Kowtow is the act of deep respect shown by kneeling and bowing so low as to have one's head touching the ground. An alternative Chinese term is ketou, however the meaning is somewhat altered: kòu originally meant "knock with reverence", whereas kē has the general meaning of "touch upon ".In Han...

to his captors. Apparently he had "declared he would not prostrate himself before any Chinaman alive," and as a result, he was summarily executed. The poem refers to Moyse as a young Kentish farmboy; it is quite possible that he was, in fact, a middle-aged Irishman. However, the poem was written on the strength of newspaper reports, and it is likely that Doyle was unaware of the discrepancies.

The Historical Sources

Despite the report in The Times, there is some question as to whether the incident took place as was popularly supposed. Garnet Wolseley, who was present at the taking of the Taku forts, insists that "The man belonging to the Buffs was either killed, or 'died of drink,' as the Chinese say." The source of the information -- a soldier in the 44th Regiment -- was, according to Wolseley, not reliable. "His mind, indeed, seemed to be unbalanced, as in addition to the untruths he told, he talked utter nonsense about what he pretended he had overheard his captors say."

D.F. Rennie, a doctor with the British troops, also denies that the incident took place. The Manchester Times reprinted Rennie's account on December 2, 1865, with the conclusion

Thus, it would seem that this unfortunate man, who, through the romancing propensities of his comrade of the 44th, and the ready ear for 'sensationalism of the Times correspondent, was believed by the deluded British public to have been decapitated because he would not kow-tow to Sang-ko-lin-sin, died without ever seeing that personage at all."