Not long after the Xinhai Revolution broke out in 1911, William Kahler, a Briton, travelled to Sonjiang county, about 40 kilometres from downtown Shanghai, where he found a deserted tomb.

In his book "Chinese Chips", Kahler wrote down his feelings about what he saw, since the mausoleum he had found had been built for General Frederick Townsend Ward more than 30 years earlier.

Originally from Salem, Massachusetts, Ward had created what came to known as the "Ever Victorious Army" by training Chinese soldiers in Western military techniques to fight against the Taiping troops who were attacking Shanghai.

It was said that in September, 1862, Ward was wounded accidentally by soldiers on his own side when he was leading his forces to counter-attack the Taiping troops at Cixi, 15 miles from Ningbo. During this battle, Ward had to abandon his position and died soon afterwards. He was 30 years old.

Several years later, Li Hongzhang, a famous Qing general, made a request to Emperor Tongzhi to give an imperial order to build a memorial hall in memory of those who were killed in the battle against the Taiping rebels.

In 1877, the mausoleum was built in the southwestern part of Songjiang county. Having heard of this structure before arriving in Shanghai, Kahler made a visit to the mausoleum.

As he and his companions approached the gateway they encountered a beggar, who had wrapped himself in a straw mat and fallen asleep. They had to wake up the beggar to ask him how to enter the mausoleum since the entrance door was closed.

Finally, the gatekeeper arrived and let them into the building. However, what they saw in the hall disappointed Kahler and his companions - there was simply a coffin placed in one corner.

In the mausoleum, Kahler found a memorial tablet inscribed in Chinese: "For the Great Captain Ward". Behind the hall was a deserted graveyard overgrown with weeds.

The gatekeeper told them that visitors seldom came to the site, except for some old officials of the bygone Qing Dynasty.

Although the gatekeeper was not paid for his work, he made some money by renting the place to local families to hold private ceremonies. Kahler also discovered that the gatekeeper was using the mausoleum as a place for Taoist priests to hold their religious rites.

General Ward had served the Qing Dynasty faithfully but why was his burial place was in such a miserable condition? His evil doings in Songjiang had led to this bad end.

In August, 1860, Ward led his "Ever Victorious Army" against the Taipings and seized Songjiang, which was used as Ward's headquarters.

In 1861, when the Taipings counterattacked to win Songjiang back, Ward sent his soldiers to burn down houses of local people in order to impede the attack of the Taipings. In addition, he ordered his army to plunder grain and silver from the local people on the pretext of being short of soldiers' pay and provisions.

Due to his crimes in Songjiang, it was no wonder that no one visited his grave after his death.

(The authors are from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences)