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The Ever Victorious Army was formed under the Chinese imperial Authority and the commercial counters in Shanghai. It was formed by Frederick Ward, an American. During a time (I could not identify the exact time frame), besides the Occidental and Chinese soldiers, 200 to 300 Filipinos soldiers formed a "Bodyguard" group.

I am interesting in knowing why Filipinos people formed this group? I could not find, in my research, any explanation:

  • At that time, Philippines were not already under American control, they were under Spanish control
  • Frederick Ward did travel a lot, in Asia and Mexico, but apparently not in Philippines
  • I did not find any indication of a particular Filipinos immigration at that time, nor any specific fame about Filipinos being good soldiers
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    Can you provide a source for the presence of Filipinos in the Ever Victorious Army? A potential source of confusion seems to be the concurrent existence of the Ever Triumphant Army, supposedly comprised of Chinese and Filipino troops under the command of French officers. The literature mentions "Manilamen, natives of the Spanish Philippines who worked as international seafarers, who became involved in mercenary activities, especially in Shanghai."
    – njuffa
    Mar 9 at 20:53
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    Wikipedia: "Some 200-300 Filipinos were recruited by Frederick Townsend Ward as his personal and separate Bodyguard unit under the Ever Victorious Army against the Taiping rebels due to their fighting prowess which they showed during the group’s earlier campaigns. A Filipino and a former consulate policeman Vicente Macanaya became Ward's trusted aide-de-camp and was supposed to have succeeded the American after he died in one battle."
    – njuffa
    Mar 9 at 21:07
  • @njuffa THanks for this link I did not check it Would be nice still to have elements about why the FIlippinese were therein the third place
    – totalMongot
    Mar 9 at 21:34
  • Page 75 of The god from the West; a biography of Frederick Townsend Ward (1947, Doubleday) by Hallett Abend, gives the answer. In a nutshell: one of Ward's associates was a Filipino, and there was a large number of Filipino seamen in Shanghai. (See babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/… )
    – kimchi lover
    Mar 9 at 23:08

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