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金國琛，字逸亭，江蘇江陰人。 咸豐中，以諸生謁羅澤南於江西，使參軍事。 每出戰，部伍嚴整，倉猝犯之，屹然不亂。 轉戰弋陽、廣信、武昌、黃州，累功擢知縣。 七年，李續賓代澤南，使總理營務。 率師會襲湖口，克之。 進復彭澤小姑洑、泰坪關，擊退援賊，晉秩同知直隸州。 八年，從克九江，窺安徽，下太湖、潛山、桐城。 續賓戰歿三河，國琛與其弟續宜招集散亡，勞徠撫慰，重申紀律，軍勢復振。
Jin Guochen, whose style name was Yiting, was from Jiangyin in Jiangsu. During the Xianfeng reign he went to Jiangxi as a licentiate to seek out Luo Zeyuan and was put on his military staff. On every campaign his units kept strict formation, and even when the enemy hit them without warning they held their ground without disorder. He fought through Yiyang, Guangxin, Wuchang, and Huangzhou, and for repeated merit was raised to county magistrate. In the seventh year Li Xubin succeeded Zeyuan and put him in charge of overall camp affairs. He led his forces in a combined attack on Hukou and captured it. He advanced to retake Xiaogufu in Pengze and Taiping Pass, beat back the relieving rebels, and was promoted to subprefect of Zhili prefecture. In the eighth year he took part in the capture of Jiujiang, then pressed into Anhui and seized Taihu, Qianshan, and Tongcheng. After Xubin was killed at Sanhe, Guochen and his younger brother Xuyi rallied the scattered troops, consoled and reassured them, restored discipline, and the army's fighting spirit returned.
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九年秋，石達開犯湖南，圍寶慶。 國琛從續宜赴援，毀田家渡賊壘，又敗賊賀家坳，斬悍賊胡德孝，賊走廣西，擢知府。 其冬，胡林翼、曾國籓規皖，精兵猛將萃於潛山、太湖。 陳玉成糾眾數十萬，結捻匪龔瞎子圍鮑超於小池驛，救兵迭失利。 先是林翼以國琛行軍善規地勢，令率十四營冒雪趨天堂備援。 至事急，乃出高橫嶺，屯仰天庵，俯視賊營，皆在目中。 賊驟見旗幟，大驚。 十年正月，賊乘霧登山來犯，國琛揮軍突起躪之，合山下軍奮擊，斬馘逾萬，乘勝克潛山、太湖。 林翼疏陳：「非鮑軍之堅忍，不能久持； 非國琛之出奇制勝，不能轉危為安。」 論功，擢道員。
That autumn in the ninth year Shi Dakai invaded Hunan and laid siege to Baoqing. Guochen marched with Xuyi to relieve the siege, destroyed the rebel fort at Tianjiadu, routed them again at Hejia'ao, and slew the fierce rebel Hu Dexiao; when the rebels fled into Guangxi he was promoted to prefect. That winter Hu Linyi and Zeng Guofan laid plans for Anhui, concentrating elite troops and veteran commanders at Qianshan and Taihu. Chen Yucheng raised several hundred thousand men, allied with the Nian bandit Gong Xiazi, and penned Bao Chao in at Xiaochi Post, while one relief force after another was beaten back. Earlier, because Linyi knew Guochen excelled at judging ground on campaign, he had sent him with fourteen battalions through the snow toward Tiantang to stand ready as reinforcements. When the crisis broke he marched out by Gaoheng Ridge and camped at Yangtian'an, from which he could look down and see every rebel encampment spread below. The rebels suddenly caught sight of his banners and were thrown into panic. In the first month of the tenth year the rebels used the fog to climb the heights and attack; Guochen threw his men forward in a sudden charge and rode them down, then joined the force below in a furious assault that killed more than ten thousand; pressing the advantage he took Qianshan and Taihu. Linyi wrote in a memorial: "Without the steadfast endurance of Bao's army the line could not have been held so long; without Guochen's unexpected stroke that turned the battle, danger could not have been turned to safety." For his merit he was promoted to circuit intendant.
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十一年，粵匪復犯湖北，國琛馳援武昌，連復孝感、云夢，進攻德安。 賊酋馬融和死斗，卒以長圍克之，加布政使銜。 尋授湖北安襄鄖荊道，仍兼治軍。 樊城地沖要，商賈所集，督軍士筑土城，不煩民力，賴為保障。 時捻匪西擾關中，命國琛率師赴援，以鄖西戒嚴，留未行。
In the eleventh year the Taiping rebels invaded Hubei again; Guochen hurried to relieve Wuchang, retook Xiaogan and Yunmeng in turn, and advanced on De'an. The rebel chief Ma Ronghe fought to the last, but in the end a prolonged siege brought the city down, and Guochen was given the nominal rank of provincial administration commissioner. He was soon appointed intendant of the An-Xiang-Yun-Jing circuit in Hubei while continuing to command troops. Fancheng lay at a vital junction where merchants gathered; he had his soldiers build an earthen wall without calling on civilian labor, and it became a reliable bulwark. When Nian bandits were raiding west into Guanzhong he was ordered to lead troops to the relief, but Yunxi was placed on alert and he was kept from marching.
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同治元年，馬融和以眾六萬圍南陽，國琛越境往援，力戰解城圍，拔出難民數萬。 巡撫嚴樹森忌之，劾其不遵調度，以同知降補。 二年，曾國籓調統義從營。 擊賊徽州，屢捷於豹嶺、佛嶺、黃傋口、小溪。 皖南肅清，復原官，補甘肅鞏秦階道。 以母老假歸。 光緒元年，起復廣東督糧道，擢按察使。 五年，卒于官。
In the first year of Tongzhi Ma Ronghe besieged Nanyang with sixty thousand men; Guochen crossed into the neighboring province to relieve the city, fought fiercely to break the siege, and brought out tens of thousands of civilians. Governor Yan Shusen, jealous of him, impeached him for failing to follow orders, and he was demoted to subprefect. In the second year Zeng Guofan assigned him to command the Yicong Battalion. Fighting rebels in Huizhou he won repeated victories at Baoling, Foling, Huangzhangkou, and Xiaoxi. After southern Anhui was cleared he was restored to his former rank and appointed intendant of the Yong-Qin-Jie circuit in Gansu. He took leave to go home because his mother was elderly. In the first year of Guangxu he was recalled as grain superintendent of Guangdong and promoted to provincial surveillance commissioner. In the fifth year he died in office.
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國琛以儒生治軍十餘年，堅苦踔厲，號為名將。 居官亦有政聲。
A scholar who had led troops for more than ten years, Guochen was known for his grit and daring and was acclaimed as a famous general. As a civil official he likewise earned a reputation for sound governance.
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黃淳熙，字子春，江西鄱陽人。 道光二十七年進士，湖南即用知縣，歷署綏寧、會同。 剛直為時所忌，引疾閒居。 咸豐三年，巡撫駱秉章廉知其賢，使強起之。 七年，署湘鄉，有異政。 尋丁父憂。 鄱陽方陷賊，移家於湘鄉。 曾國籓方起督浙江軍，辟參軍事，不就。 九年，石達開犯湖南，秉章檄淳熙募勇千六百人防省城，時出剿賊。 達開由寶慶竄踞嶺東，分黨犯江華，淳熙破之於掛勾嶺，遂夜襲嶺東賊營，躡至江、藍，殲殪甚眾。 進剿賊黨賴裕新，乘霧敗之，破杉木根、黃馬寨而還。 十年，達開黨眾四出，淳熙轉戰於永、道、綏、靖諸州，復宜章、桂陽。 前后三十餘戰，皆捷，累擢知府，以道員記名。 所部曰果毅營，增至三千人。
Huang Chunxi, whose style name was Zichun, was from Poyang in Jiangxi. He passed the metropolitan examination in the twenty-seventh year of Daoguang, was posted as magistrate in Hunan, and served in acting posts at Suining and Huitong. His blunt integrity made him unpopular, and he pleaded illness and withdrew from office. In the third year of Xianfeng Governor Luo Bingzhang, recognizing his talent, pressed him back into service. In the seventh year he served as acting magistrate of Xiangxiang and won notice for exceptional governance. He soon entered mourning for his father. Poyang had just fallen to the rebels, so he moved his family to Xiangxiang. Zeng Guofan was just assuming command of the Zhejiang campaign and invited him onto his staff, but he declined. In the ninth year, when Shi Dakai invaded Hunan, Bingzhang ordered Chunxi to raise sixteen hundred militiamen to defend the provincial capital and sent him out repeatedly to fight the rebels. Dakai broke out from Baoqing and seized the eastern passes, then sent detachments against Jianghua; Chunxi routed them at Guagou Ridge, launched a night attack on the rebel camp in the eastern passes, pursued them into Jiang and Lan counties, and slaughtered a great many. He advanced against the rebel Lai Yuxin, used the fog to rout him, stormed Shanmugen and Huangmazhai, and marched back. In the tenth year Dakai's forces fanned out in every direction; Chunxi fought through Yong, Dao, Sui, and Jing and recovered Yizhang and Guiyang. In more than thirty engagements he was victorious every time; he was repeatedly promoted to prefect and placed on the list for intendant. His unit, called the Guoyi Battalion, grew to three thousand men.
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駱秉章奉命赴四川督師，湘軍名將勁兵多從曾國籓、胡林翼，劉蓉薦淳熙兵精善戰，秉章遂以淳熙與劉岳昭從行。 至荊州，岳昭復留，獨淳熙以所部當軍鋒。 分道溯峽上，次萬縣，聞順慶被圍，率師赴援。 五月，至，賊走定遠，追之，距定遠二十里，望賊屯城西南，連十餘里，城東北江水環繞，賊方造浮橋渡水。 淳熙分三路進，遇賊即前搏之，擲火焚其屯，賊大亂爭走，二十餘壘悉潰，擒斬數千。 殲首賊何國樑，解散脅從萬餘人。 賊黨彭紹福率眾千餘屯東岸，收集潰賊，竄二郎場，淳熙銳進，欲一戰平之。 二郎場在山中，羊腸曲逕，通遂寧兩路，均為涪江阻。 別賊硃甲眾數千由青岡壩至，四路設伏。 淳熙遣偵不見賊，五鼓師行，賊燕子窠，擊走之，逼二郎場。 賊分兩路繞山麓上，淳熙知有伏，令諸營左右搜捕，自率中軍策應。 兵分，伏賊起，遍布山岡。 官軍走田塍，泥深輒陷。 淳熙率親卒拒戰，被圍，策馬突陣，陷淖中，棄馬，手刃十餘賊，中矛仆，擁至場，支解燔之。 賊懾其軍勇猛，不復追，餘部整隊還，賊亦遁走。 淳熙雖戰歿，湘軍之威因之頓振。 詔贈布政使，賜恤，加贈內閣學士，謚忠壯。
When Luo Bingzhang was ordered to Sichuan to take command, most of the Hunan army's star generals and crack troops had gone with Zeng Guofan and Hu Linyi; Liu Rong recommended Chunxi's force as elite and battle-hardened, so Bingzhang took Chunxi and Liu Yuezhao with him. At Jingzhou Yuezhao was left behind again, and Chunxi alone led his men at the point of the army. They advanced up the gorges by separate routes, halted at Wanxian, and on hearing that Shunqing was besieged marched to its relief. He arrived in the fifth month; the rebels withdrew to Dingyuan and he pursued. Twenty li from the city he saw their camps spread southwest of the walls for more than ten li; northeast of the city the river curved around them while they were building a pontoon bridge to cross. Chunxi advanced in three columns, closing with the enemy wherever he met them, set fire to their camps, and sent them fleeing in chaos; more than twenty stockades were overrun and several thousand were killed or captured. He killed the rebel chief He Guoliang and released more than ten thousand coerced followers. The rebel Peng Shaofu camped on the east bank with more than a thousand men, gathered the routed troops, and withdrew to Erlangchang; Chunxi pressed forward hard, hoping to finish them in a single battle. Erlangchang lay in the mountains along narrow winding paths; two roads led toward Suining, both cut off by the Fu River. Another rebel commander, Zhu Jia, arrived from Qinggangba with several thousand men and laid ambushes on four roads. Chunxi sent scouts but found no enemy; at the fifth watch his army marched, routed the rebels at Yanziwowo, and pressed on toward Erlangchang. The rebels came around the foothills in two columns; Chunxi sensed an ambush and ordered his battalions to search the flanks while he led the center in support. As his men spread out, hidden rebels sprang up all along the ridges. Government troops fled along the field embankments, sinking deep into the mud. Chunxi led his personal guard in a stand, was surrounded, spurred his horse to break through, sank in the mire, abandoned his mount, and killed more than ten rebels with his own blade before a spear brought him down; the rebels dragged him to the field, dismembered him, and burned his body. The rebels, awed by his army's ferocity, did not pursue; the survivors reformed and withdrew, and the rebels likewise fled. Though Chunxi died in battle, the prestige of the Hunan army was suddenly restored. An edict posthumously made him provincial administration commissioner, granted mourning favors, added the posthumous rank of Grand Secretary, and gave him the posthumous title Zhongzhuang, "Loyal and Bold."
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吳坤修，字竹莊，江西新建人。 捐納從九，分發湖南。 道光二十九年，賑湘陰水災，勤於事。 從剿李沅發，以府經歷、縣丞補用。 咸豐二年，粵匪犯長沙，以守城功擢知縣。 曾國籓創立水師，坤修司軍械。 四年，水師攻九江，入鄱陽湖，為賊所阻不得出，令坤修單騎往南康，導往吳城、南昌。 五年，率舟師防瑞豐。 以父憂歸。 既而武昌復陷，坤修從羅澤南援湖北，復咸寧、蒲圻、崇陽、通城，累擢同知，賜花翎。 進規武昌。
Wu Kunxiu, whose style name was Zhuzhuang, was from Xinjian in Jiangxi. He purchased the rank of subordinate ninth grade and was posted to Hunan. In the twenty-ninth year of Daoguang he directed flood relief in Xiangyin and worked with notable diligence. He took part in suppressing Li Yuanfa and was appointed in supplementary posts as prefectural registrar and assistant magistrate. In the second year of Xianfeng, when the Taiping rebels attacked Changsha, he was promoted to magistrate for his part in the city's defense. When Zeng Guofan founded the river navy, Kunxiu was put in charge of ordnance. In the fourth year the fleet attacked Jiujiang and entered Poyang Lake but was trapped by the rebels; Zeng sent Kunxiu alone on horseback to Nankang to guide a route to Wucheng and Nanchang. In the fifth year he led the fleet to defend Ruifeng. He went home to observe mourning for his father. When Wuchang fell again he followed Luo Zeyuan to relieve Hubei, retook Xianning, Puqi, Chongyang, and Tongcheng, was repeatedly promoted to subprefect, and received the peacock feather. He advanced to lay plans for recovering Wuchang.
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六年，江西軍事不利，胡林翼令坤修領新募軍曰彪字營，會湘軍援江西。 復新昌、上高。 由新昌取道羅坊攻奉新，梯城而登，賊死守不能拔，乃先下安義、靖安，后萃軍奉新。 時江西餉絀，坤修傾家貲，并勸族里富人出銀米餉軍； 又籌銀四萬兩解省垣，收集平江潰勇。 七年春，克奉新，累擢道員。 尋授廣東南韶連道，仍留軍，克瑞州。 是年冬，東鄉師潰，被劾褫職。 九年，駐師撫州。 江西巡撫耆齡檄督辦撫、建、寧三屬團練，始立團防營，駐貴溪。 移德興，出援徽州。 十年，克建德。 秋，徽防軍潰，坤修方假歸，其弟修敳攝軍事，守嶺外郭村。 調回江西，曾國籓令守湖口，而巡撫毓科檄援建昌。 賊由金谿竄東鄉，坤修自撫州迎擊於鄧家埠，大破之。 賊復出貴溪竄安仁，遏之不得渡河，乃竄德興、萬年，將擾景德鎮。 坤修由饒州馳援景德，以固祁門大軍后路。 會賊由建德上犯，國籓令援湖口。 坤修且戰且進，先賊至，城恃以完，加鹽運使銜。
In the sixth year, when Jiangxi's campaign went badly, Hu Linyi put Kunxiu in command of newly raised troops called the Biaozi Battalion to join the Hunan army in relieving Jiangxi. He retook Xinchang and Shanggao. From Xinchang he marched by Luofang to attack Fengxin, scaled the walls by ladder, but the defenders held out and he could not take the city; he therefore seized Anyi and Jing'an first, then concentrated his forces at Fengxin. Jiangxi's funds were exhausted at the time; Kunxiu spent his family fortune and persuaded wealthy kinsmen to contribute silver and grain for the troops; he also raised forty thousand taels for the provincial capital and gathered the routed militia from Pingjiang. In the spring of the seventh year he captured Fengxin and was repeatedly promoted to circuit intendant. He was soon appointed intendant of the Nan-Shao-Lian circuit in Guangdong but stayed with the army and captured Ruizhou. That winter his force was routed at Dongxiang; he was impeached and dismissed from office. In the ninth year he encamped his troops at Fuzhou. Jiangxi Governor Qiling ordered him to oversee militia training in Fu, Jian, and Ning; he founded the Tuanfang Battalion and stationed it at Guixi. He moved to Dexing and marched out to relieve Huizhou. In the tenth year he captured Jiande. That autumn the Huizhou defense force collapsed; Kunxiu was on leave, and his younger brother Xiuyi took command and held Guocun beyond the pass. He was transferred back to Jiangxi; Zeng Guofan ordered him to hold Hukou, but Governor Yuker ordered him to relieve Jianchang. Rebels broke out from Jinxi into Dongxiang; Kunxiu marched from Fuzhou to intercept them at Dengjiabu and inflicted a crushing defeat. The rebels broke out from Guixi toward Anren; he blocked them from crossing the river, so they fled into Dexing and Wannian, threatening Jingdezhen. Kunxiu hurried from Raozhou to relieve Jingdezhen and secure the rear of the main army at Qimen. Just then rebels advanced from Jiande, and Guofan ordered him to relieve Hukou. Kunxiu fought his way forward, reached the city before the rebels, and saved it from capture; he was given the nominal rank of salt transport commissioner.
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同治元年，李秀成自蘇州援江寧，分犯蕪湖，會軍擊卻之，又會克金保圩、高淳、溧水及溧陽、東壩各要隘，遣散降眾數萬。 三年，加布政使銜。 江寧克復，以按察使記名。 四年，署徽寧池太廣道，授安徽按察使。 五年，署布政使。 六年，巡撫英翰駐潁州，出境剿捻，坤修轉輸餉運，未嘗遲乏。 七年，署巡撫，實授布政使。 東捻平，請假回籍補終父母喪。 九年，回任。 十一年，卒。 巡撫英翰疏陳其戰功政績，賜恤，贈內閣學士。
In the first year of Tongzhi Li Xiucheng marched from Suzhou to relieve Jiangning and sent detachments against Wuhu; Kunxiu joined the allied force and beat them back, then helped capture Jinbaowei, Gaochun, Lishui, and the key positions at Liyang and Dongba, and released tens of thousands of surrendered men. In the third year he received the nominal rank of provincial administration commissioner. When Jiangning was recovered he was placed on the list for provincial surveillance commissioner. In the fourth year he served as acting intendant of the Hui-Ning-Chi-Tai-Guang circuit and was appointed Anhui provincial surveillance commissioner. In the fifth year he served as acting provincial administration commissioner. In the sixth year, when Governor Yinghan was at Yingzhou campaigning against the Nian beyond the border, Kunxiu handled supply transport and never fell behind or ran short. In the seventh year he served as acting governor and was then appointed provincial administration commissioner in substantive rank. After the eastern Nian were suppressed he took leave to go home and complete the mourning period for his parents. In the ninth year he returned to duty. In the eleventh year he died. Governor Yinghan memorialized his military and civil record; mourning favors were granted and he was posthumously made Grand Secretary.
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康國器，初名以泰，字交修，廣東南海人。 少為吏員。 道光末，從軍，以勞授江西贛縣桂源司巡檢。 咸豐初，粵匪犯江西，土寇蜂起，國器募死士三百，贛南道周玉衡檄擊賊烏兜、良口，克萬安。 造船三十艘，習水戰。 六年，從克饒州，累擢知縣，署南城。 石達開陷瑞、撫、臨、吉四郡，國器從克樟樹鎮，連戰瑞州、臨江、鉛山、安仁，擢同知。 十一年，廣東巡撫耆齡檄剿陽山賊。 賊踞藍山，地阻絕，負隅十餘年。 國器緣崖歷磵出賊后，破石柵九，奪砲臺，毀其老巢。 遣子熊飛單騎說降劇賊練四虎，其魁梁柱走豬頭寨，穴山攻獲之。 進軍赫巖，擒賊渠周裕等。 藍山平，擢知府。 同治元年，援浙，從蔣益澧圍湯溪，明年春，克之，擢道員。 三年，克餘杭，功最多，授福建延建邵道，始專統一軍。
Kang Guoqi, originally named Yitai and styled Jiaoxiu, was from Nanhai in Guangdong. In his youth he served as a minor clerk. At the end of the Daoguang reign he joined the army and, for his service, was appointed inspector of Guiyuan subdistrict in Ganxian, Jiangxi. Early in Xianfeng, when the Taiping rebels invaded Jiangxi and local bandits rose on every side, Guoqi raised three hundred dare-to-die fighters; Circuit Intendant Zhou Yuheng of southern Gan ordered strikes on the rebels at Wudou and Liangkou, and Wan'an was captured. He built thirty boats and trained his men in river warfare. In the sixth year he helped capture Raozhou, was repeatedly promoted to magistrate, and served as acting magistrate of Nancheng. When Shi Dakai seized the four prefectures of Rui, Fu, Lin, and Ji, Guoqi took part in capturing Zhangshu Town, fought through Ruizhou, Linjiang, Qianshan, and Anren, and was promoted to subprefect. In the eleventh year Guangdong Governor Qiling ordered him to suppress the rebels in Yangshan. The rebels held Lanshan, where the terrain was nearly impassable, and had defied the government there for more than ten years. Guoqi climbed the cliffs and crossed the streams to get behind the rebels, stormed nine stone palisades, seized their batteries, and destroyed their main stronghold. He sent his son Xiongfei alone on horseback to persuade the fierce rebel Lian Sihu to surrender; the chieftain Liang Zhu fled to Zhutou Stockade, which Guoqi took by mining into the hill. He advanced to Heyan and captured the rebel leaders Zhou Yu and others. When Lanshan was pacified he was promoted to prefect. In the first year of Tongzhi he marched to relieve Zhejiang, joined Jiang Yili in besieging Tangxi, and captured it the following spring; he was promoted to circuit intendant. In the third year he captured Yuhang with the greatest share of the credit, was appointed intendant of the Yan-Jian-Shao circuit in Fujian, and for the first time held sole command of an army.
13
粵匪汪海洋犯閩，陷武平、永平，李世賢踞漳州、龍巖與之合，旁郡縣多沒於賊。 左宗棠議三路進兵，國器自請當龍巖。 進軍雁石，令熊飛壁鐵石洋，三戰薄城下，破其眾數萬，并敗古田援賊。 四年正月，遂克龍巖。 賊走永定，分踞苦竹、奎洋，勢猶熾。 國器進擊苦竹，乘夜大霧，火賊營，破二十餘壘。 海洋以悍黨來援，敗之於東阬，又敗之大溪，乃竄廣東大浦境。 未幾，海洋復犯永定，國器馳毀羅灘橋； 賊分七路來撲，海洋自陣獅龍嶺，所部皆死黨，旗幟遍巖谷。 國器曰：「賊精銳盡萃於此，若摧之，餘眾必奔。」 乃堅壁深溝，伺怠出擊。 先破其伏，分道猛進，斬馘數千，盡獲其軍實，海洋跳而免。 時漳州亦下，李世賢西遁，遇國器於塔下，縱兵擊之，降其眾二萬人。 海洋走廣東，踞鎮平。 國器進壁鎮平東南高思塘，分軍扼程官埠，賊數來犯，卻之。 國器知海洋將襲高思而虛攻程官埠，乃戒程官軍勿為動，設伏兩山間。 海洋果率悍黨來撲，誘入，伏突起，槍斃其梟汪大力、黃十四，海洋傷腕，陣斃及墮巖磵死者無數。 胡瞎子攻程官，亦敗走。 尋克鎮平。 十二月，會諸軍擊賊嘉應，海洋伏誅，餘孽悉平。
The Taiping rebel Wang Haiyang invaded Fujian, seized Wuping and Yongping, and Li Shixian held Zhangzhou and Longyan in league with him; many neighboring districts fell to the rebels. Zuo Zongtang planned a three-pronged advance, and Guoqi volunteered to take the Longyan front. He advanced to Yanshi and ordered Xiongfei to hold Tieshiyang; after three battles below the walls he routed tens of thousands of the enemy and also beat back the relieving force from Gutian. In the first month of the fourth year he captured Longyan. The rebels withdrew to Yongding and held Kuchu and Kuiyang in separate positions; their strength was still formidable. Guoqi advanced on Kuchu; under cover of a thick night fog he burned the rebel camps and overran more than twenty stockades. Haiyang came with his toughest fighters to relieve them; Guoqi routed them at Dongkeng and again at Daxi, and they fled into the Dapu region of Guangdong. Before long Haiyang invaded Yongding again; Guoqi hurried to destroy the Luotan Bridge; the rebels came at him in seven columns while Haiyang himself held Shilong Ridge; his men were all sworn diehards, and their banners filled the ravines and valleys. Guoqi said: "The enemy's best troops are all gathered here; if we break them, the rest will surely run." He therefore strengthened his defenses and dug deep trenches, waited until the enemy slackened, and then struck. He first broke their ambush, then advanced fiercely on several routes, killing several thousand and capturing all their stores; Haiyang leaped away and escaped. By then Zhangzhou had also fallen; Li Shixian fled west, met Guoqi below the pagoda, was attacked at full strength, and twenty thousand of his men surrendered. Haiyang fled into Guangdong and held Zhenping. Guoqi advanced and fortified Gaositang southeast of Zhenping, detached troops to hold Chengguanbu, and beat back repeated rebel attacks. Guoqi knew Haiyang would strike Gaosi while feinting at Chengguanbu; he ordered the Chengguan force to hold still and laid ambushes between the two hills. Haiyang did lead his toughest fighters in an assault, was lured in, and the ambush rose; gunfire killed his chiefs Wang Dali and Huang Shisi, Haiyang was wounded in the wrist, and countless rebels were killed in battle or fell from the cliffs. Hu Xiazi attacked Chengguan and was likewise routed. Zhenping was captured soon after. In the twelfth month the allied armies struck the rebels at Jiaying; Haiyang was killed in an ambush, and the remaining rebels were all suppressed.
14
五年，擢按察使。 七年，遷廣西布政使。 十年，護理巡撫。 十一年，內召，以疾歸。 光緒十年，卒。 左宗棠疏陳戰績，請恤，格於吏議，特詔允之。
In the fifth year he was promoted to provincial surveillance commissioner. In the seventh year he was transferred to provincial administration commissioner of Guangxi. In the tenth year he served as acting governor. In the eleventh year he was summoned to the capital but went home because of illness. In the tenth year of Guangxu he died. Zuo Zongtang memorialized his battle record and requested mourning favors; the Board of Civil Office blocked the request, but a special edict approved it.
15
國器治軍能以少擊眾，常傷足而跛，軍中號康拐子，悍賊皆畏之。 子熊飛，積功至浙江候補道，勇而有謀，常為軍鋒。 國器數獲奇捷，實資其力云。
Guoqi could defeat larger forces with smaller ones; lame from a foot wound, he was called Lame Kang in the army, and fierce rebels all feared him. His son Xiongfei rose through merit to expectant circuit intendant in Zhejiang; brave and resourceful, he often led the van of the army. Guoqi's many extraordinary victories owed much to his son's strength.
16
李鶴章，字季荃，安徽合肥人，大學士鴻章弟。 諸生。 從父兄治本籍團練，屢出戰有功，以州同用。 咸豐十一年，從克菱湖賊壘，復安慶，擢知縣，賜花翎。 同治元年，從鴻章援江蘇，常率親兵佐督戰。 北新涇、四江口諸役，功皆最。 又攻枝福山、許浦海口賊壘，招降常熟踞賊錢森仁。 鴻章引嫌，奏捷不敘其勞，特旨詢問，命一體議敘，以知州用，加四品銜。 二年，會克太倉，規蘇州。 分諸軍為兩路，其進昆山一路，以程學啟為總統； 由常熟進江陰者，鶴章督之。 迭戰於常熟之王莊，江陰之南漍、北漍、顧山，毀賊壘，破援賊，會克江陰，擢知府。 進攻無錫，踞賊黃子隆死守，李秀成屢來援； 及蘇州既克，潰賊亦麕聚，鶴章督水陸諸軍力戰克之，以道員記名簡放。 詔嘉鶴章：「能與兄同心戮力，為國宣勤。 此次未行破格之獎，為鴻章功不自私，俾得報勞將士，鼓舞眾心。 指日常州、金陵次第奏捷，克成全功，更當與郭松林、劉銘傳等同膺懋賞。」 鶴章進趨常州，與劉銘傳會攻，破援賊，解奔牛之圍。 三年四月，克常州，賜黃馬褂，授甘肅甘涼道。 是年冬，曾國籓調其軍赴湖北。
Li Hezhang, whose style name was Jiquan, was from Hefei in Anhui and was the younger brother of Grand Secretary Li Hongzhang. He was a licentiate. He followed his father and elder brother in organizing local militia at home, fought repeatedly with distinction, and was appointed subprefect. In the eleventh year of Xianfeng he helped capture the rebel stockade at Linghu and recover Anqing, was promoted to magistrate, and received the peacock feather. In the first year of Tongzhi he followed Hongzhang to relieve Jiangsu and often led his personal guard in the field. At Beixinjing, Sikoujiang, and other engagements his merit ranked first. He also stormed rebel stockades at Zhifushan and the Xu Pu estuary and persuaded Qian Senren, the rebel holding Changshu, to surrender. Hongzhang, avoiding favoritism, omitted his brother's merit from the victory report; a special edict inquired into the matter and ordered equal reward, appointing Hezhang prefect with added fourth-rank insignia. In the second year he joined in capturing Taicang and laid plans for Suzhou. The armies were divided into two routes; the column advancing on Kunshan was placed under Cheng Xueqi as supreme commander; the column from Changshu toward Jiangyin was directed by Hezhang. He fought repeatedly at Wangzhuang in Changshu and at Nanhan, Beihan, and Gushan in Jiangyin, destroyed rebel stockades, routed relieving forces, helped capture Jiangyin, and was promoted to prefect. He advanced on Wuxi, where the rebel Huang Zilong held the city to the death while Li Xiucheng came repeatedly to relieve it; after Suzhou fell, routed rebels also massed there; Hezhang directed the land and naval forces in fierce fighting and took the city, and was placed on the list for appointment as circuit intendant. An edict praised Hezhang: "He has joined his elder brother in loyal common effort and served the state with zeal. On this occasion no extraordinary reward was given, so that Hongzhang's merit would not appear self-serving and he could reward his officers and soldiers and lift the army's morale. When victories follow at Changzhou and Jinling and the great enterprise is completed, he should share rich rewards with Guo Songlin, Liu Mingchuan, and the like. Hezhang advanced on Changzhou, joined Liu Mingchuan in the assault, routed the relieving rebels, and lifted the siege of Benniu. In the fourth month of the third year he captured Changzhou, received the yellow riding jacket, and was appointed intendant of the Gan-Liang circuit in Gansu. That winter Zeng Guofan transferred his army to Hubei.
17
四年，以甘肅回亂棘，命赴本任，鶴章以傷發未行。 尋疾甚，國籓為奏請開缺，留襄營務。 未久，乞病歸，遂不出。 以捐助山西賑金，加二品銜。 光緒六年，卒於家。 曾國荃疏陳：「李鴻章平江蘇，鶴章與程學啟各分統一路。 請將戰績宣付史館，於立功地建專祠。」 允之。 子經羲，官至云貴總督。
In the fourth year, with the Muslim rebellion in Gansu growing acute, he was ordered to take up his post, but Hezhang's old wounds flared and he did not go. His illness soon grew severe; Guofan memorialized to leave his post vacant and kept him to assist with camp affairs. Before long he took sick leave and went home, and never held office again. For contributing to Shanxi famine relief he received added second-rank insignia. In the sixth year of Guangxu he died at home. Zeng Guoquan memorialized: "When Li Hongzhang pacified Jiangsu, Hezhang and Cheng Xueqi each commanded a separate column. I request that his battle record be sent to the Historiography Institute and that a dedicated shrine be built where he earned his merit." The request was granted. His son Jingyi rose to governor-general of Yunnan and Guizhou.
18
弟昭慶，初從曾國籓軍，淮軍既立，國籓留五營，令昭慶領之，駐防無為、廬江。 同治元年，從鴻章至上海，解常熟圍，克嘉興、常州，皆在事有功。 四年，國籓督師剿捻匪，昭慶總理營務，統武毅、忠樸等軍。 及鴻章代國籓，令赴前敵擊賊，馳逐鄂、皖、東、豫之間，累擢至記名鹽運使。 捻匪平，留防江、淮。 十二年，卒，贈太常寺卿。
His younger brother Zhaoqing first served under Zeng Guofan; when the Huai army was formed, Guofan kept five battalions under Zhaoqing's command, garrisoning Wuwei and Lujiang. In the first year of Tongzhi he followed Hongzhang to Shanghai, helped lift the siege of Changshu, and took part in capturing Jiaxing and Changzhou with merit in each. In the fourth year, when Guofan commanded the campaign against the Nian, Zhaoqing oversaw camp affairs and commanded the Wuyi, Zhongpu, and other armies. When Hongzhang replaced Guofan he was sent to the front, pursued the rebels across Hubei, Anhui, Shandong, and Henan, and was repeatedly promoted to expectant salt transport commissioner. After the Nian were suppressed he remained to garrison the Yangzi and Huai regions. In the twelfth year he died and was posthumously made Vice Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices.
19
吳毓蘭，安徽合肥人。 咸豐十年，粵、捻合擾皖北，毓蘭以從九品偕兄毓芬集團練助剿鳳、潁間，從解壽州圍，擢縣丞。 同治元年，李鴻章率師援上海，毓蘭從軍東下，克柘林、奉賢、南匯、川沙、青浦、金山，皆與有功，擢知縣。 二年，克嘉定，解北新涇、四江口之圍，加同知銜，領華字副營。 擊賊吳江八斥、牛尾墩、同里等處，進克平望、黎里，調守嘉善。 三年，率所部從總兵程學啟攻嘉興，戰於合歡橋。 毓蘭率槍船冒險渡河，先破賊卡，繞出賊營后，立拔之。 進抵城下，賊以巨砲拒河口，學啟被傷，毓蘭率先鋒攻益厲，掘河口架橋濟師，晝夜環攻，轟陷城垣百餘丈。 賊死抗不下，賊酋黃文金自湖州來援，力擊走之，遂克嘉興。 毓蘭緣梯先登，擢直隸州知州，賜花翎。
Wu Yulan was from Hefei in Anhui. In the tenth year of Xianfeng, when Taiping and Nian rebels jointly ravaged northern Anhui, Yulan, a subordinate ninth-grade officer, joined his elder brother Yufen in raising militia to fight between Fengyang and Yingzhou, helped lift the siege of Shouzhou, and was promoted to assistant magistrate. In the first year of Tongzhi, when Li Hongzhang marched east to relieve Shanghai, Yulan followed the army and helped capture Zhelin, Fengxian, Nanhui, Chuansha, Qingpu, and Jinshan; for his share in these victories he was promoted to magistrate. In the second year he captured Jiading, helped lift the sieges at Beixinjing and Sikoujiang, received added subprefect rank, and took command of the Huazi Auxiliary Battalion. He fought rebels at Bachikou, Niuweidun, and Tongli in Wujiang, advanced to capture Pingwang and Lili, and was transferred to garrison Jiashan. In the third year he led his troops with Major-General Cheng Xueqi to attack Jiaxing and fought at Hehuan Bridge. Yulan led gunboats across the river under fire, stormed a rebel barrier first, swung around behind the camp, and took it at once. At the city walls the rebels used heavy guns to block the river mouth; when Xueqi was wounded Yulan led the vanguard in a fiercer assault, dug at the river mouth and threw bridges across, and attacked night and day until more than a hundred zhang of wall were breached. The defenders fought to the death; when the rebel chief Huang Wensui came from Huzhou to relieve them Yulan beat him back and the city fell. Yulan was first up the ladders, was promoted to magistrate of Zhili prefecture, and received the peacock feather.
20
調守溧陽，降賊屯城中，勢岌岌，突有金壇賊至，毓蘭與兄毓芬議乘賊初至破之，設伏以誘。 賊敗走烏鴉嶺，毓蘭與毓芬兩路夾擊，擒斬無算。 窮追至建平境，陣斬賊目林得英、黃有才，擒黃金龍。 溧陽既定，調守長興。 時大軍已破湖州，毓蘭偵賊將竄泗安鎮，與毓芬夜率健卒八百冒雨疾走，潛渡觀音橋，賊不意兵至，棄糧械而走。 追至泗安，降者數千，敘功擢知府。 四年，調守揚州，移廬州。 五年，回屯揚州。 追論平浙西功，以道員選用。
Transferred to garrison Liyang, with surrendered rebels encamped in the city and the situation precarious, rebels from Jintan suddenly appeared; Yulan and his brother Yufen planned to strike before they could settle in and laid an ambush to lure them. The rebels were routed toward Wuyaling; Yulan and Yufen struck from two directions and killed or captured beyond counting. Pursuing into Jianping territory, they killed the rebel officers Lin Deying and Huang Youcai in battle and captured Huang Jinlong. After Liyang was secured he was transferred to garrison Changxing. The main army had already taken Huzhou; learning the rebels would flee toward Si'an Town, Yulan and Yufen led eight hundred picked men through the rain on a night march, crossed Guanyin Bridge in secret, and caught the enemy unprepared so they abandoned their supplies and fled. He pursued them to Si'an, where several thousand surrendered, and for his merit he was promoted to prefect. In the fourth year he was posted to garrison Yangzhou and then transferred to Luzhou. In the fifth year he returned to encamp at Yangzhou. His role in pacifying western Zhejiang was reviewed afterward and he was selected for appointment as circuit intendant.
21
六年，捻匪賴文光敗竄至揚州，為毓蘭所獲，以道員記名簡放。 七年，尋加布政使銜。 十年，李鴻章調充海防營務處，筦天津機器局。 光緒六年，授天津河間兵備道。 濱海多盜，毓蘭按名捕置諸法。 修南運河、子牙河堤，及千里堤灣，靜海、軍糧城河道，興水利。 八年，卒，優恤，附祀曾國籓天津專祠，揚州建專祠。
In the sixth year the Nian leader Lai Wenguang, beaten and fleeing, reached Yangzhou and was captured by Yulan; he was placed on the list for appointment as circuit intendant. In the seventh year he soon received the nominal rank of provincial administration commissioner. In the tenth year Li Hongzhang assigned him to the coastal defense camp administration and put him in charge of the Tianjin Machine Works. In the sixth year of Guangxu he was appointed military defense intendant of Tianjin and Hejian. Bandits were numerous along the coast; Yulan hunted them down by name and punished them according to law. He repaired the South Canal and the Ziya River dikes, the Qianli Dike bend, and the waterways at Jinghai and Junliangcheng, promoting irrigation and flood control. In the eighth year he died; generous mourning favors were granted, he was given a place in Zeng Guofan's dedicated shrine at Tianjin, and a dedicated shrine was built for him at Yangzhou.
22
論曰：金國琛為羅、李舊部。 黃淳熙后起，獨立一幟，雖非楚籍，并為湘軍名將。 淳熙戰勝殞身，國琛遭忌鎩羽，皆未盡其才。 吳坤修、康國器起於令尉，功施爛然。 李鶴章才績出眾，堪膺大用，后竟不出。 吳毓蘭以擒獲巨憝顯名。 功名之際，遭際固難測哉！
The historians comment: Jin Guochen belonged to the old following of Luo Zeyuan and Li Xubin. Huang Chunxi rose later and commanded a force of his own; though not a Hunan native, both were acclaimed generals of the Hunan army. Chunxi won his battles but died in the field; Guochen met jealousy and was cut down in his career; neither fully realized his abilities. Wu Kunxiu and Kang Guoqi rose from minor local posts, and their achievements shone brilliantly. Li Hezhang's talent and record were outstanding and fit for high office, yet in the end he never returned to service. Wu Yulan won fame for capturing a great rebel leader. At the turning point of fame and achievement, how impossible fortune is to foresee!