[1] In 1847, having returned to Xinning, he trained a militia of approximately 2,000 men to combat Yao tribesmen and other disaffected locals.
[1] After the Taiping Rebellion began in earnest, Jiang was recalled from morning to assist Grand Secretary Sai-shang-a in quelling the insurrection.
[1] Jiang's volunteers were known as the Chu Yong (楚勇) and represented the first contingent of Hunanese to fight outside Hunan during the war.
[1] It was also the first in a wave of local forces led by the gentry which would eventually subdue the Taiping and served as a model for those to follow.
[1] Five miles north of Quanzhou, Jiang dammed the Xiang River near the Suoyi ford and set an ambush for the Taiping navy.
[1] Jiang assisted in defending Changsha and the Taiping eventually abandoned their siege of the city, travelling northward along the Yangtze.
[6] Jiang then led a small force to Luzhou, the temporary capital of Anhui which was being threatened by the Taiping.
[6] Outnumbered and insufficiently provisioned, Jiang was unable to hold the city in the face of improved Taiping siege-mining.