Battle of Canton (1857)
| Battle of Canton | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Second Opium War | |||||||
 The British capture of Ye Mingchen on 5 January 1858 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 United Kingdom France | Qing Dynasty | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Michael Seymour Charles van Straubenzee Charles Rigault de Genouilly | Ye Mingchen | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 5,679[1] | 30,000[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
|
15 killed, 113 wounded[2] | 200–650 casualties (est.)[3][4] | ||||||
The Battle of Canton was fought by British and French forces against China on 28–31 December 1857 during the Second Opium War.
Although the British Royal Navy had destroyed the Chinese junks during the summer, an attack on Canton was delayed by the Indian Mutiny.[5] British and French troops reconnoitred the city on 22 December.[6] The battle began with a naval bombardment on 28 December and the capture of Lin's Fort one mile inland,[4] and the next day troops landed by Kupar Creek to the south-east of the city.[6] The Chinese had thought that the attacking forces would try to capture Magazine Hill before they moved on the city walls, but on the morning on 29 December after a naval bombardment ending at 9am French troops climbed the walls with little resistance. They had arrived at the wall early so faced fired from their own guns.[4] Over 4700 British and Indian troops and 950 French troops scaled the city walls, with 13 British and two French dead.[5] The walls were occupied for a week, then the troops moved into the streets of the city on the morning of 5 January.[6] Some reports estimate tens of thousands of Chinese were killed or captured and nearly 30,000 homes were burned down,[7] although other sources put Chinese casualties at 450 soldiers and 200 civilians.[4]
Commissioner Ye Mingchen was captured and taken to Calcutta where he died a year later.[4] Once the British and French had occupied the city they established a joint governing commission.[8] Partly due to the battle and subsequent occupation - the Chinese wanted to avoid a repeat of the battle in Beijing - the Treaty of Tientsin was signed on 26 June 1858, ending the Second Opium War.[8][7]
References
- ^ a b The London Gazette: p. 1021. 26 February 1858. Issue 22104.
- ^ The London Gazette: p. 1026. 26 February 1858. Issue 22104.
- ^ Cooke, George Wingrove (1858). China: Being "The Times" Special Correspondence from China in the Years 1857–58. p. 357.
- ^ a b c d e Elleman, Bruce A. (2008). Naval coalition warfare: from the Napoleonic War to Operation Iraqi Freedom. Routledge. ISBN 0-415-77082-3.
- ^ a b Raugh, Harold E. (2004). The Victorians at war, 1815-1914: an encyclopedia of British military history. ABC-CLIO. p. 100. ISBN 1-57607-925-2.
- ^ a b c Carter, Thomas (1861). "Capture of Canton". Medals of the British Army, and how they were won. Vol. 3. Groombridge and sons. p. 186.
- ^ a b Santella, Thomas M. (2007). Opium. Infobase Publishing. pp. 32–33. ISBN 0-7910-8547-3.
- ^ a b Harris, David (1999). Of battle and beauty: Felice Beato's photographs of China. University of California Press. p. 16. ISBN 0-89951-100-7.