Battle of Canton

Warbox
conflict=Battle of Canton
partof=First Opium War
campaign=


caption=Location of Canton, now known as Guangzhou, within China
date=May 21, 1841
place=Canton, Guangdong
result=British victory
combatant1=Great Britain
combatant2=Qing Dynasty

commander1=Major Beecher
Lt Hadfield
Hugh Gough
commander2=
strength1=unknown
strength2=unknown size of imperial army, 12,000+ civilians
casualties1=unknown
casualties2=unknown

The Battle of Canton was fought on May 21, 1841 between Great Britain and Qing Dynasty, during the First Opium War. The British captured the city with an amphibious attack.

Background

Guangzhou, then known as Canton, was one of the only ports in China opened to foreign countries, mostly European, for trade. In the early stages of trade, foreign countries needed many things from China, like spice, silk and pottery. On the other hand, China needed fewer objects from these foreign powers. As a result a great trade imbalance was created.

The trade imbalance ended when opium was shipped into China. Opium was unknown to China, and it became very popular as soon as it was introduced. Many previously well-off Chinese spent their whole fortune on opium, and they worked less and less. The number of people using opium in China grew rapidly, to the point that the trade imbalance shifted in the foreign countries' favour.

Eventually, Chinese officials tried to end the opium trade altogether by destroying a large amount of opium in the Chinese ports. This triggered the First Opium War.

In January 1841, the Royal Navy started bombarding Chinese ports near Guangzhou, and successfully created many beachheads. Local Chinese officials were forced to surrender, and signed local peace treaties with the British. When the local officials brought these peace treaties to Beijing they were punished for their failures. Qing refused to acknowledge these peace treaties, neither did they acknowledge any China territories were lost. Instead, they sent in more troops to drive back the British.

Battle

On May 21 Chinese forces tried a night ambush on the British positions, but they were repelled. The British continued the bombardment and conquest of Chinese coastal cities.

On May 24 the British started to conquer Canton. They successfully took over Tsinghae. They then took over 4 Chinese cannon forts around the cities. This allowed the British to bombard the city at will. The city surrendered afterwards, paying the British 6 million Chinese dollars at the same time. As a result, Canton was not totally destroyed. But afterwards, many civilians were outraged at the looting (and possible raping) by the British. Qing forces might also have looted their own people in the chaos.

On May 28 Chinese reinforcements from the other provinces started to retreat out of Canton. At the same time the British also retreated.

On May 30 a Chinese civilian army of around 8,000 men attacked the retreating British forces. Major Beecher died to wounds or sickness. The British managed to regroup and strike back at the Chinese. But heavy rainfall came, greatly limiting the British shooting abilities. The Chinese engaged in melee combat with the British, forcing them to retreat. Eventually, Hadfield and his men were trapped and could not make it back to camp. Finally, the British sent reinforcements and helped Hadfield break though. The British reported only 2 men dead, while Chinese civilians reported over 100 British killed. This incident became known as the "San Yuan Li Incident" (三元里事件).

On May 31 the Guangdong governor met with British commander Hugh Gough, and at the same time a civilian army of around 12,000 men arrived from the north. Gough hence concluded that the civilian army was not part of the Qing army. The civilian army departed upon the request from the Guangdong governor.

By June 1 all British forces left the Canton area.

Aftermath

The battle of Canton had a minor effect on the First Opium War, but it had a major effect on the civilians. This is one of the first time that civilians took matters into their own hand, under the decaying Qing.

Stories about this incident started spreading throughout China. Qing showed in this battle that they were powerless at stopping the British invasion. And at the same time, a group of civilians were successful at damaging the British. Whatever the truth is, Chinese civilians began to believe that taking matters into their own hands was a feasible method to protect themselves against any oppressor. These beliefs contributed to the massive rebellions and anti-foreigner movements within the Qing Dynasty later on.

External links

* [http://cyc6.cycnet.com:8090/xuezhu/his_study/content.jsp?n_id=6285&pageno=1 Beginning of Qing 's Lost of Territory to Foreign Powers] zh icon