During the Second Opium War, an Anglo-French expedition landed in China and marched towards Peking in order to force the compliance of the Treaty of Tientsin.
On 13 August 1860, during the attack on the Taku Forts—大沽炮台, in Chinese, or dàgū pàotái—Chinese troops captured two British soldiers and a group of coolies.
(Some contemporary accounts record the latter as Sikh soldiers from India, and indeed the poem refers to "dusky Indians") The details of the subsequent events are not well-recorded, but according to reports in The Times, one Private John Moyse, of the 3rd (East Kent) Regiment (commonly known as "the Buffs") refused to kowtow to his captors.
Garnet Wolseley, who was present at the taking of the Taku forts, insisted that "The man belonging to the Buffs was either killed, or 'died of drink,' as the Chinese say."
"His mind, indeed, seemed to be unbalanced, as in addition to the untruths he told, he talked utter nonsense about what he pretended he had overheard his captors say.