Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Ward, Frederick Townsend 1831-1862

Military officer; born in Salem, Mass., Nov. 29, 1831; became a sailor; went to Shanghai, China, in 1860, when the Taeping rebels were being victorious everywhere. He recruited a band of men from various countries and their services were accepted by the government. He first captured the walled town of Sungkiang, in which there were 10,000 rebels, in recognition of which he was created a mandarin of the fourth degree. He next dispersed the rebels around Shanghai and later prevented them from taking that city. Afterwards he was made admiral-general and created a mandarin of the highest grade, married the daughter of a powerful native, and was named Hwa. When Captain Wilkes removed the Confederate commissioners from the Trent and war seemed probable between the United States and England, he planned the seizure of the British warships and merchant vessels in Chinese waters. At the outbreak of the Civil War he tried to close up his affairs in China in order to enlist in the National army, and made an offer of $10,000 to the United States government, but before he received an answer was mortally wounded in an action at Tsekie, and died in Ningpo,. Sept. 21, 1862.