Major-General Charles George Gordon CB, also known as Chinese Gordon, Gordon Pasha, and Gordon of Khartoum, was a British Army officer and administrator. He saw action in the Crimean War as an officer in the British Army. However, he made his military reputation in China, where he was placed in command of the "Ever Victorious Army", a force of Chinese soldiers led by European officers which was instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion, regularly defeating much larger forces. For these accomplishments, he was given the nickname "Chinese Gordon" and honours from both the Emperor of China and the British.
Gordon between 1878 and 1885
Gordon, from a photograph taken shortly after the Crimea.
A scene of the Taiping Rebellion. Estimates of the war dead from the Taiping Rebellion range from 20 to 70 million to as high as 100 million.
General Gordon in Egyptian uniform.
The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a civil war in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. The conflict lasted for 14 years, from its outbreak in 1850 until the fall of Nanjing—which they had renamed "Tianjing"—in 1864. However, the last rebel forces were not defeated until August 1871. Estimates of the conflict's death toll range between 20 and 30 million people, representing 5–10% of China's population. While the Qing ultimately defeated the rebellion, the victory came at a great cost to the state's economic and political viability.
An 1884 painting of the Battle of Anqing (1861)
Alleged drawing of Hong Xiuquan, dating from around the early 1850s
Qing troops retaking Suzhou city
A historic monument to the Taiping Rebellion in Mengshan, Wuzhou, Guangxi, an early seat of the Taiping government