Battle of Palikao

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Battle of Palikao


caption=Cousin-Montauban leading French forces during the 1860 campaign.
partof=Second Opium War
date=21 September 1860
place=Baliqiao
result=Decisive Anglo-French victory
combatant1=flagicon|United Kingdom United Kingdom
flagicon|France French Empire
combatant2=flag|Qing Dynasty
commander1=James Hope Grant
Charles Guillaume Cousin-Montauban
commander2=Sengge Rinchen
strength1=10,000 combatants
strength2=30,000 combatants
casualties1=1,000 (French casualties)
casualties2=25,000|The Battle of Palikao, or Battle of Baliqiao (French: Le Combat de Palikao, Chinese: 八里桥之战, lit. "Battle of the Eight-Mile Bridge"), was a decisive action fought at the bridge of Baliqiao, eight miles from Imperial Palace in Beijing, by British and French forces during the Anglo-French expedition to China (Second Opium War), on the morning of 21 September 1860. It allowed Western forces to take the capital Beijing and eventually defeat the Qing Empire. [Mourre, p.500]

Battle

The combined Anglo-French force which had recently occupied Tianjin engaged a Chinese army numbering some 30,000-strong at Baliqiao. A fierce battle ensued, with the Anglo-French force inflicting massive losses on the Chinese Qing army and invading Beijing thereafter. [Boulger, p.383]

On the Chinese side, Sengge Rinchen's 10,000 troops including elite Mongolian cavalry were completely annihilated after several doomed frontal charges against concentrated firepower of the Anglo-French forces.

Historians estimate the losses on the Chinese side as about 25,000. The French, in contrast, lost only 1,000 soldiers. The French troops were led by Charles Guillaume Cousin-Montauban, who was then awarded the title of "Count of Palikao" by Napoléon III. The British land forces were commanded by Sir James Hope Grant. ["Grant, Sir James Hope" in Encyclopædia Britannica, 11th edition]

Aftermath

With the Qing army devastated, Emperor Xianfeng fled the capital, leaving his brother, Prince Gong, to be in charge of negotiations.

The Anglo-French forces entered Beijing on 6 October. Anglo-French troops in Beijing began looting the Beijing Summer Palace and Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan) immediately (it was full of valuable artwork). After Harry Smith Parkes and the surviving diplomatic prisoners were freed, Lord Elgin ordered the Old Summer Palace be burnt down starting on 18 October. The destruction of the Forbidden City was even discussed, as proposed by Lord Elgin to discourage the Chinese from using kidnapping as a bargaining tool, and to exact revenge on the mistreatment of their prisoners.Endacott, George Beer. Carroll, John M. [2005] (2005). A Biographical Sketch-book of Early Hong Kong. HK University press. ISBN 9622097421]

The Qing court agreed to all Western demands, including the payment of indemnities, the acceptance of foreign diplomats at the imperial court in Beijing, and the liberalisation of the Opium trade.

Notes

References

*Mourre, Michel (1968) "Dictionnaire D'histoire Universelle" Éditions universitaires
*Boulger, Demetrius Charles (1893) "China" Kessinger Publishing ISBN 1417916273

Further reading

*Luxembourg, Rosa "The Accumulation of Capital" Chapter 28: The introduction of the commodity economy [http://www.marxists.org/archive/luxemburg/1913/accumulation-capital/ch28.htm]

External links

* [http://baike.baidu.com/view/588765.htm Battle of Palikao] zh icon