The Ever Victorious Army (Chinese: 常勝軍; pinyin: cháng shèng jūn; Wade–Giles: Ch'ang2 Sheng4 Chün1) was the name given to an imperial army in late-19th–century China. The Ever Victorious Army fought for the Qing Dynasty against the rebels of the Nien and Taiping Rebellions.
The Ever Victorious Army consisted of Chinese soldiers trained and led by a European officer corps. Though the Army was only active for a few years, from 1860 to 1864, it was instrumental in putting down the Taiping Rebellion. It was the first Chinese army which was trained in European techniques, tactics, and strategy. As such, it became a model for later Chinese armies.
Famous quotes containing the words victorious and/or army:
“That through thy prowess and victorious arms,
Thy country may be freed from foreign harms;
And great Elisa’s glorious name may ring
Through all the world”
—Edmund Spenser (1552?–1599)
“These semi-traitors [Union generals who were not hostile to slavery] must be watched.—Let us be careful who become army leaders in the reorganized army at the end of this Rebellion. The man who thinks that the perpetuity of slavery is essential to the existence of the Union, is unfit to be trusted. The deadliest enemy the Union has is slavery—in fact, its only enemy.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)