1.
First Opium War
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European silver flowed into China when the Canton System, instituted in the mid-18th century, confined the sea trade to Canton and to the Chinese merchants of the Thirteen Factories. The British East India Company had a monopoly of British trade. The British East India Company began to auction opium grown on its plantations in India to independent foreign traders in exchange for silver, the opium was then transported to the Chinese coast and sold to local middlemen who retailed the drug inside China. This reverse flow of silver and the numbers of opium addicts alarmed Chinese officials. In 1839, the Daoguang Emperor, rejecting proposals to legalise and tax opium, Lin confiscated around 20,000 chests of opium without offering compensation, blockaded trade, and confined foreign merchants to their quarters. The failure of the treaty to satisfy British goals of improved trade, in China, the war is considered the beginning of modern Chinese history. Direct maritime trade between Europe and China began in 1557 when the Portuguese leased an outpost at Macau, after the Spanish conquest of the Philippines, the exchange of goods between China and western Europe accelerated dramatically. From 1565, the annual Manila Galleon brought in enormous amounts of silver to the Asian trade network, from 1700–1842, Guangzhou came to dominate maritime trade with China, and this period became known as the Canton System. Official British trade was conducted through the auspices of the British East India Company, the British East India Company gradually came to dominate Sino-European trade from its position in India. From the inception of the Canton System in 1757, trade in goods from China was extremely lucrative for European, however, foreign traders were only permitted to do business through a body of Chinese merchants known as the Cohong and were restricted to Canton. Foreigners could only live in one of the Thirteen Factories, near Shameen Island, while silk and porcelain drove trade through their popularity in the west, an insatiable demand for tea existed in Britain. However, only silver was accepted in payment by China, which resulted in a trade deficit. From the mid-17th century around 28 million kilograms of silver were received by China, principally from European powers, Britain had been on the gold standard since the 18th century, so it had to purchase silver from continental Europe and Mexico to supply the Chinese appetite for silver. Attempts by a British embassy, a Dutch mission, Russias Golovkin in 1805, by 1817, the British realized they could reduce the trade deficit as well as turn the Indian colony profitable by counter-trading in narcotic Indian opium. Opium was produced in traditionally cotton-growing regions of India under British East India Company monopoly, both areas had been hard hit by the introduction of factory-produced cotton cloth, which used cotton grown in Egypt. The opium was auctioned in Calcutta on the condition that it be shipped by British traders to China, Opium as a medicinal ingredient was documented in texts as early as the Tang dynasty but its recreational use was limited and there were laws against its abuse. British sales of opium began in 1781, and sales increased fivefold between 1821 and 1837, by 1820, just when the Qing treasury needed to finance the suppression of rebellions, the flow of silver had reversed, Chinese merchants were now exporting it to pay for opium. The imperial court debated whether or how to end the opium trade, Napier was instructed to obey Chinese regulations, communicate directly with Chinese authorities, superintend trade pertaining to the contraband trade of opium, and to survey Chinas coastline
2.
Guangdong
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Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the Peoples Republic of China. The provincial capital Guangzhou and economic hub Shenzhen are among the most populous, the population increase since the census has been modest, the province at 2014 end had 107,240,000 people. Since 1989, Guangdong has topped the total GDP rankings among all divisions, with Jiangsu and Shandong second. According to state statistics, Guangdongs GDP in 2014 reached RMB6,779 billion, or US$1.104 trillion, since 2011, Guangdong has the highest GDP among all provinces of Mainland China. The province contributes approximately 12% of the PRCs national economic output, Guangdong also hosts the largest import and export fair in China called the Canton Fair in Guangdongs capital city Guangzhou. Guǎng means expanse or vast, and has associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD226. Guangdong and neighbouring Guangxi literally mean expanse east and expanse west, together, Guangdong and Guangxi are called Loeng gwong. During the Song dynasty, the Two Guangs were formally separated as Guǎngnán Dōnglù and Guǎngnán Xīlù, one should note that Canton, though etymologically derived from Cantão, refers only to the provincial capital instead of the whole province, as documented by authoritative English dictionaries. The local people of the city of Guangzhou and their language are commonly referred to as Cantonese in English. Because of the prestige of Canton and its accent, Cantonese sensu lato can also be used for the phylogenetically related residents, Chinese administration and reliable historical records in the region began with the Qin dynasty. After establishing the first unified Chinese empire, the Qin expanded southwards and set up Nanhai Commandery at Panyu, the region was independent as Nanyue between the fall of Qin and the reign of Emperor Wu of Han. Under the Wu Kingdom of the Three Kingdoms period, Guangdong was made its own province, for example, internal strife in northern China following the rebellion of An Lushan resulted in a 75% increase in the population of Guangzhou prefecture between 740s–750s and 800s–810s. As more migrants arrived, the population was gradually assimilated to Han Chinese culture or displaced. Multiple women originating from the Persian Gulf lived in Guangzhous foreign quarter, together with Guangxi, Guangdong was made part of Lingnan Circuit, or Mountain-South Circuit, in 627 during the Tang dynasty. The Guangdong part of Lingnan Circuit was renamed Guangnan East Circuit guǎng nán dōng lù in 971 during the Song dynasty, Guangnan East is the source of Guangdong. As Mongols from the north engaged in their conquest of China in the 13th century, the Battle of Yamen 1279 in Guangdong marked the end of the Southern Song Dynasty. During the Mongol Yuan dynasty, large parts of current Guangdong belonged to Jiangxi and its present name, Guangdong Province was given in early Ming dynasty. Since the 16th century, Guangdong has had extensive links with the rest of the world
3.
Hong Kong Island
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Hong Kong Island is an island in the southern part of Hong Kong. It has a population of 1,289,500 and its density is 16, 390/km². The island had a population of about 3,000 inhabitants scattered in a dozen fishing villages when it was occupied by the United Kingdom in the First Opium War, the Central area on the island is the historical, political and economic centre of Hong Kong. The northern coast of the forms the southern shore of the Victoria Harbour. The island is home to many of the most famous sights in Hong Kong, such as The Peak, Ocean Park, many historical sites, the mountain ranges across the island are also famous for hiking. The northern part of Hong Kong Island, together with Kowloon and Tsuen Wan New Town and their combined area is approximately 88.3 square kilometres and their combined population is approximately 3,156,500, reflecting a population density of 35, 700/km². The island is referred to locally as Hong Kong side or Island side. This style was applied to many locations but is now only heard in this form and Kowloon side. Hong Kong Island comprises the following suburbs/localities of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Island is not part of the Islands District, Hong Kong island became a colony of the British Empire when their forces defeated the Chinese in the First Opium War. The island was populated by only a few thousand people when British empire colonized it, the Second World War was a dark period for Hong Kong. In the 1930s, the British anticipated a Japanese attack on Hong Kong, as Wong Nai Chung Gap was a strategic important place of defence, large-scale defensive works were constructed there, including anti-aircraft batteries, howitzers, and machine gun nests. The Battle of Hong Kong began on 8 December 1941, British, Canadian, Indian armies and the Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Forces resisted the Japanese invasion commanded by Sakai Takashi, which began eight hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. However, the Japanese were able to control of the Hong Kong skies on the first day of attack. The defenders retreated from the Gin Drinkers Line and consequently from Kowloon under heavy aerial bombardment, on 18 December, the Japanese had conquered North Point, reaching Wong Nai Chung Gap on the next day. However, Allied forces there were defeated by the Japanese on 23 December. As Wan Chai Gap had also fallen that day, the British had no choice. Hong Kong was surrendered on 25 December 1941, thereafter often called Black Christmas by locals. The Governor of Hong Kong, Mark Young, surrendered in person at the temporary Japanese headquarters, on the floor of the Peninsula Hotel
4.
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was established as a sovereign state on 1 January 1801 by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland. The growing desire for an Irish Republic led to the Irish War of Independence, Northern Ireland remained part of the United Kingdom, and the state was consequently renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Britain financed the European coalition that defeated France in 1815 in the Napoleonic Wars, the British Empire thereby became the foremost world power for the next century. The Crimean War with Russia and the Boer wars were relatively small operations in a largely peaceful century, rapid industrialisation that began in the decades prior to the states formation continued up until the mid-19th century. A devastating famine, exacerbated by government inaction in the century, led to demographic collapse in much of Ireland. It was an era of economic modernization and growth of industry, trade and finance. Outward migration was heavy to the colonies and to the United States. Britain also built up a large British Empire in Africa and Asia, India, by far the most important possession, saw a short-lived revolt in 1857. In foreign policy Britain favoured free trade, which enabled its financiers and merchants to operate successfully in many otherwise independent countries, as in South America. Britain formed no permanent military alliances until the early 20th century, when it began to cooperate with Japan, France and Russia, and moved closer to the United States. A brief period of limited independence for Ireland came to an end following the Irish Rebellion of 1798, the British governments fear of an independent Ireland siding against them with the French resulted in the decision to unite the two countries. This was brought about by legislation in the parliaments of both kingdoms and came into effect on 1 January 1801, however, King George III was bitterly opposed to any such Emancipation and succeeded in defeating his governments attempts to introduce it. When the Treaty of Amiens ended the war, Britain agreed to return most of the territories it had seized, in May 1803, war was declared again. In 1806, Napoleon issued the series of Berlin Decrees, which brought into effect the Continental System and this policy aimed to eliminate the threat from the British by closing French-controlled territory to foreign trade. Frances population and agricultural capacity far outstripped that of the British Isles, Napoleon expected that cutting Britain off from the European mainland would end its economic hegemony. The Spanish uprising in 1808 at last permitted Britain to gain a foothold on the Continent, after Napoleons surrender and exile to the island of Elba, peace appeared to have returned. The Allies united and the armies of Wellington and Blucher defeated Napoleon once, simultaneous with the Napoleonic Wars, trade disputes, arming hostile Indians and British impressment of American sailors led to the War of 1812 with the United States. The war was little noticed in Britain, which could devote few resources to the conflict until the fall of Napoleon in 1814, American frigates inflicted a series of defeats on the Royal Navy, which was short on manpower due to the conflict in Europe
5.
East India Company
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The company also ruled the beginnings of the British Empire in India. The company received a Royal Charter from Queen Elizabeth I on 31 December 1600, wealthy merchants and aristocrats owned the Companys shares. Initially the government owned no shares and had only indirect control, during its first century of operation the focus of the Company was trade, not the building of an empire in India. The company eventually came to rule large areas of India with its own armies, exercising military power. Despite frequent government intervention, the company had recurring problems with its finances, the official government machinery of British India had assumed its governmental functions and absorbed its armies. Soon after the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, London merchants presented a petition to Queen Elizabeth I for permission to sail to the Indian Ocean, one of them, Edward Bonventure, then sailed around Cape Comorin to the Malay Peninsula and returned to England in 1594. In 1596, three ships sailed east, however, these were all lost at sea. Two days later, on 24 September, the Adventurers reconvened and resolved to apply to the Queen for support of the project, the Adventurers convened again a year later. For a period of fifteen years the charter awarded the newly formed company a monopoly on trade with all countries east of the Cape of Good Hope and west of the Straits of Magellan. Anybody who traded in breach of the charter without a licence from the Company was liable to forfeiture of their ships and cargo, the governance of the company was in the hands of one governor and 24 directors or committees, who made up the Court of Directors. They, in turn, reported to the Court of Proprietors, ten committees reported to the Court of Directors. According to tradition, business was transacted at the Nags Head Inn, opposite St Botolphs church in Bishopsgate. Sir James Lancaster commanded the first East India Company voyage in 1601, in March 1604 Sir Henry Middleton commanded the second voyage. Early in 1608 Alexander Sharpeigh was appointed captain of the Companys Ascension, thereafter two ships, Ascension and Union sailed from Woolwich on 14 March 1607–8. Initially, the company struggled in the trade because of the competition from the already well-established Dutch East India Company. The company opened a factory in Bantam on the first voyage, the factory in Bantam was closed in 1683. During this time belonging to the company arriving in India docked at Surat. In the next two years, the company established its first factory in south India in the town of Machilipatnam on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal
6.
Qing dynasty
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It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted almost three centuries and formed the base for the modern Chinese state. The dynasty was founded by the Jurchen Aisin Gioro clan in Manchuria, in the late sixteenth century, Nurhaci, originally a Ming vassal, began organizing Banners, military-social units that included Jurchen, Han Chinese, and Mongol elements. Nurhaci formed the Jurchen clans into an entity, which he renamed as the Manchus. By 1636, his son Hong Taiji began driving Ming forces out of Liaodong and declared a new dynasty, in 1644, peasant rebels led by Li Zicheng conquered the Ming capital, Beijing. The Ten Great Campaigns of the Qianlong Emperor from the 1750s to the 1790s extended Qing control into Central Asia, the early rulers maintained their Manchu ways, and while their title was Emperor, they used khan to the Mongols and they were patrons of Tibetan Buddhism. They governed using Confucian styles and institutions of government and retained the imperial examinations to recruit Han Chinese to work under or in parallel with Manchus. They also adapted the ideals of the system in dealing with neighboring territories. The Qianlong reign saw the apogee and initial decline in prosperity. The population rose to some 400 million, but taxes and government revenues were fixed at a low rate, corruption set in, rebels tested government legitimacy, and ruling elites did not change their mindsets in the face of changes in the world system. Following the Opium War, European powers imposed unequal treaties, free trade, the Taiping Rebellion and the Dungan Revolt in Central Asia led to the deaths of some 20 million people, most of them due to famines caused by war. In spite of disasters, in the Tongzhi Restoration of the 1860s, Han Chinese elites rallied to the defense of the Confucian order. The initial gains in the Self-Strengthening Movement were destroyed in the First Sino-Japanese War of 1895, in which the Qing lost its influence over Korea, New Armies were organized, but the ambitious Hundred Days Reform of 1898 was turned back by Empress Dowager Cixi, a conservative leader. Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries competed with reformist monarchists such as Kang Youwei, after the deaths of Cixi and the Guangxu Emperor in 1908, the hardline Manchu court alienated reformers and local elites alike. The Wuchang Uprising on October 11,1911, led to the Xinhai Revolution, General Yuan Shikai negotiated the abdication of Puyi, the last emperor, on February 12,1912. Nurhaci declared himself the Bright Khan of the Later Jin state in both of the 12–13th century Jurchen Jin dynasty and of his Aisin Gioro clan. His son Hong Taiji renamed the dynasty Great Qing in 1636, there are competing explanations on the meaning of Qīng. The character Qīng is composed of water and azure, both associated with the water element and this association would justify the Qing conquest as defeat of fire by water
7.
James Bremer
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Sir James John Gordon Bremer, KCB, KCH was a British Royal Navy officer. He served in the Napoleonic Wars, First Anglo-Burmese War, in China, he served twice as commander-in-chief of British forces. Born in Portsea, Portsmouth, Bremer joined the Royal Naval College as a student in 1797, while serving in the East Indies, he became commander of HMS Rattlesnake in 1807. He was promoted to captain in 1814 and was nominated a CB the following year, after becoming commander of HMS Tamar, he was sent to Melville Island, Australia, in 1824 to establish a colony. Under his leadership, the north coast of Australia from 129° to 135° longitude was claimed as British territory, Bremer served twice as commander-in-chief of British forces in the First Anglo-Chinese War from 1839 to 1841. During the war, he took possession of Hong Kong Island for the United Kingdom in 1841. He was made a KCB the same year, in 1846, he was appointed second-in-command of the Channel Fleet and was superintendent of Woolwich Dockyard from which he retired in 1848. He died in 1850, having risen to the rank of rear-admiral, Bremer was born on 26 September 1786 in Portsea, Hampshire, England. He was the son of Royal Navy Lieutenant James Bremer and his wife Ann. In 1794, he joined the Royal Navy as a volunteer on board the flagship of HMS Sandwich at the Nore of Rear-Admiral Skeffington Lutwidge. On 8 October 1797, he became a student of the Royal Naval College in Portsmouth, until July 1805, Bremer served in the flagship of HMS Isis under Vice-Admiral James Gambier and Rear-Admiral Edward Thornbrough, on the Newfoundland and North Sea stations. Shortly after passing his examination, he was appointed sub-lieutenant of the gun-brig HMS Rapid, on 3 August 1805, he became a lieutenant on board HMS Captain as part of William Cornwallis force in pursuing a French fleet in Brest, France. On 9 May 1806, Bremer was appointed to HMS Diana of Captain Thomas James Maling in the Mediterranean Station, on 6 October, he served on board HMS Imogen of Captain Thomas Garth in the Mediterranean. On 28 May 1807, he was appointed to the Psyché of Captain William Wooldridge in the East Indies and he became a captain on 7 June 1814. On 4 June 1815, he was nominated a Companion of the Most Honourable Military Order of the Bath, on 18 September 1823, Bremer was appointed commander of HMS Tamar. In February 1824, he was sent to Melville Island, Australia, the site was intended as a military settlement to secure British trade in the region. It was hoped that a market would open to British merchants in the Malay Archipelago, in June 1824, Bremer arrived in Sydney where he spent a month collecting troops and stores. On 24 August 1824, he left Port Jackson, Sydney, on board the Tamar, accompanied by the Countess of Harcourt, the ships transported Royal Marines and 44 convicts guarded by the 3rd Regiment
8.
Junk (ship)
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A junk is an ancient Chinese sailing ship design that is still in use today. Junks were used as seagoing vessels as early as the 2nd century AD and they evolved in the later dynasties, and were used throughout Asia for extensive ocean voyages. They were found, and in numbers are still found, throughout South-East Asia and India. Found more broadly today is a number of modern recreational junk-rigged sailboats. The term junk may be used to cover many kinds of boat—ocean-going, cargo-carrying, pleasure boats and they vary greatly in size and there are significant regional variations in the type of rig, however they all employ fully battened sails. The term ultimately stems from the Chinese chuán, also based on and pronounced as in the Min Nan variant of Chinese, or zhōu and it entered the English language in the 17th century through the Portuguese junco from the Malay jong or Javanese djong. The modern Standard Chinese word for a wooden cargo vessel is cáo. That said, there are divergent views on this, Pierre-Yves Manguin, amongst others, most scholars consider it was the early Song Dynasty before the fully developed hull forms and rigs were in regular use in offshore trade. The fully developed junk design exhibited innovative, though very little further developed sail plans. There is no evidence that these were adopted in Western shipbuilding by direct emulation, in this case, as in so many others, parallel invention, often in response to quite different hydrodynamic, aerodynamic or technical stimuli, is the historically better evidenced explanation. The structure and flexibility of junk sails make the junk fast, the sails of a junk can be moved inward toward the long axis of the ship. In theory this closeness of what is called sheeting allowed the junk to sail into the wind, in practice, evidenced both by traditional sailing routes and seasons and textual evidence junks neither could nor sail well into the wind. In the typical junk these were both ill-adapted to windward work because, put simply, junks were neither intended to nor designed to work to windward. The sails include several members, called battens, which in principle could provide shape and strength but in practice, because of the available materials and technology. The sails can also be easily reefed to accommodate various wind strengths, the battens also make the sails more resistant than other sails to large tears, as a tear is typically limited to a single panel between battens. In South China the sails have a curved roach especially towards the head, the main drawback to the junk sail is its high weight caused by the 6 to 15 heavy full length battens. With high weight aloft and no keel, junks were known to capsize when lightly laden due to their high centre of gravity. The top batten is heavier and similar to a gaff, in principle junk sails have much in common with the most aerodynamically efficient sails used today in windsurfers or catamarans
9.
Battle of Chuenpi
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The First Battle of Chuenpi was fought between British and Chinese ships at the entrance of the Humen strait, Guangdong province, China, on 3 November 1839 during the First Opium War. The British Hyacinth and Volage opened fire on Chinese ships they perceived as being hostile, for foreign ships to be allowed to dock in Canton for trade, Chinese authorities required a signed bond agreeing not to trade opium. It also interfered with their free trade goal, in October 1839, the Thomas Coutts cargo ship under Captain Warner arrived in Canton from Singapore. The ship carried cotton from Bombay, and, since Warner was not trading opium and he held a legal view that Elliots ban on the signing was not valid under English law. Before Warner left China, Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu gave him a letter addressed to Queen Victoria in which he disapproved the use of opium and requested the opium trade to stop. After arriving in London, he handed the letter to a co-owner of the Thomas Coutts, after Palmerstons office refused to see him, Warner forwarded the letter to The Times, which published it. Viewing Warners defiance as a threat to his authority, Elliot ordered HMS Hyacinth, after a second British ship, the Royal Saxon, tried to defy Elliots blockade on 3 November 1839, the Volage under Captain Henry Smith fired a warning shot across the Royal Saxons bow. In response, Chinese war junks under Admiral Guan Tianpei moved out to protect the Royal Saxon, after Elliot gave in to Smiths pressure for an attack, the more maneuverable British ships approached the Chinese vessels and fired broadsides at them from starboard. One Chinese fire raft immediately sank, and a war junk exploded after its magazine was struck, after the first run, the Volage and Hyacinth turned and repeated the same maneuver using their port broadsides. The stationary guns on the Chinese vessels could not be aimed effectively, one junk was blown up, three were sunk, and several others were damaged. Faced with superior firepower, the Chinese fleet sailed away except for Kuans 12-cannon flagship, since it posed a minimal threat, Elliot ordered Smith to stop firing, allowing the damaged flagship to sail off. The Volage sustained light damage on its sails and rigging, one British sailor was wounded and 15 Chinese were killed. The Royal Saxon sailed on to Canton and Elliot returned to Macau, the Battle of Chuanbi, perhaps more than any other conflict during the Opium War, vividly revealed the underlying free-trade tensions
10.
Battle of Canton (May 1841)
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The Second Battle of Canton was fought between British and Chinese forces in Canton, Guangdong province, China, in May 1841 during the First Opium War. Canton was the port in China open to foreign countries, mostly European. This unequal situation ended in the late 18th century when opium was shipped into China from plantations in India owned by the British East India Company. The number of people using the drug in China grew rapidly, in 1839 matters came to a head when Chinese official Lin Zexu tried to end the opium trade altogether by destroying a large amount of opium in Canton, thereby triggering the First Opium War. In response to Zexus actions, in January 1841 the Royal Navy bombarded Chinese positions near Canton, local officials surrendered and signed peace treaties with the British. When they brought these peace treaties to Beijing they were punished for their failures, the Qing Dynasty government refused to acknowledge the treaties, nor did they acknowledge any Chinese territory had been lost. Instead, they sent in troops to drive back the British. On May 21 Chinese forces attempted an ambush on British positions in the hills to the north of Canton but were repelled. By 2,00 am on the 24th a contingent of naval and land units under Maj. Gen. Hugh Gough assembled, the right column, towed by the steamer Atlanta, comprised around 330 men of the 26th Cameronian, Madras Artillery and an officer of the Engineers. They were to attack and hold the factories with support from the men-of-war anchored on the Canton River, the left column towed by Nemesis consisted of more than 700 troops drawn from regiments that included the 49th Foot, 27th Madras Infantry and Bengal Volunteers along with 380 Royal Marines. The right column reached its objective by 5,00 pm under Maj. Pratt of the 26th Cameronians, who held his men ready for defensive or offensive action. The large number of troop-carrying vessels under tow by Nemesis slowed her progress and she did not reach the next to the village of Tsing-Hae, some five miles up river. Gough landed with the 49th Foot and carried out reconnaissance while other troops unloaded artillery from the ships. At 3,00 and already under bombardment from the two Western forts, British troops set up a battery, two 5½ mortars, two 12-pounder howitzers and two nine-pounder guns, then returned fire. Meanwhile, the 18th Royal Irish under Maj. Gen. Burrell, ellis to cover the right and rear. When the advance sounded, the attacked, captured the four forts with comparatively small losses. To the northeast, a force of about 4,000 enemy troops--by Goughs reckoning--advanced across the paddy fields. They were repelled by the 49th, then at 3,00 pm on the 25th the Tatar General Yang Fang arrived and rallied the Chinese
11.
Battle of Chinhai
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The Battle of Chinhai was fought between British and Chinese forces in Chinhai, Zhejiang province, China, on 10 October 1841 during the First Opium War. The Chinese force consisted of a garrison of Manchu and Mongol Bannermen, the British capture of this city allowed them to seize Ningpo unopposed on 13 October. Hall, William Hutcheon, Bernard, William Dallas, london, Saunders and Otley The Chinese Repository
12.
Battle of Chapu
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The Battle of Chapu, Chapoo, or Zhapu was fought between British and Qing forces at Zhapu on the northern shore of Hangzhou Bay during the First Opium War. Before the attack, the British commander, Major General Hugh Gough divided his forces into three, a column of infantry on the left and right, with artillery in the centre, Gough accompanied the right column, which landed first on May 16. The remaining troops moved round to the rear of the enemy thereby cutting their communications with Zhapu, meanwhile, the accompanying steamers began a bombardment of the citys defences. In Goughs own words, The enemy were taken by surprise, as usual. They gave way on all sides and took to flight, with the exception of a body of some 300 Tartar troops who seized a small joss-house, and held it with indomitable pluck and perseverance. Multiple assaults proved necessary to capture the joss-house with casualties suffered on both sides, eventually it fell and after each of the gates had been captured, the city fell to the British, the British did not remain in Zhapu long. They captured the citys ordnance and destroyed its arsenals before moving on to attack Wusong, hailing, the Manchu commander at Zhenjiang, received the report of Zhapus surrender on June 18. Mass suicide was committed by the Manchus while the Han Chinese discussed the situation with the British, when hostilities ceased, Chinese official Yilibu returned sixteen kidnapped British soldiers to Gough in recognition of his courtesy in releasing the Chinese captured at Chapoo. The Life and Campaigns of Hugh, First Viscount Gough, Field-Marshal
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