| Battle of Chapu | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the First Opium War | |||||||
 Map of the battle of Chapu | |||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||
 Qing China | |||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Changxi | |||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 8,000–10,000 troops [3] | |||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Battle of Chapu | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 乍浦 之 戰 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 乍浦 之 战 | ||||||
| |||||||
The Battle of Chapu was fought between British and Qing forces at Chapu (present-day 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 (863 men) and right (969 men), 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 city's defences. In Gough's own words: "The enemy were completely taken by surprise; as usual, they were unprepared for anything except a frontal attack. 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." [6]
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. Not without cost and Gough lost one of his most accomplished field commanders Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Tomlinson who was killed personally leading a breaching party of the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot. [7]
The British did not remain in Zhapu long. They captured the city's ordnance and destroyed its arsenals before moving on to attack Wusong. [8]
Hailing, the Manchu commander at Zhenjiang, received the report of Zhapu's surrender on June 18. [9] The Manchus committed mass suicide[ where? ] while the Han Chinese discussed the situation with the British. [4] When hostilities[ which? ] ceased, Chinese official Yilibu returned sixteen kidnapped British soldiers to Gough in "recognition of his courtesy in releasing the Chinese captured at Chapoo".[ clarification needed ]
The First Opium War, also known as the Anglo-Chinese War, was a series of military engagements fought between the British Empire and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of their ban on the opium trade by seizing private opium stocks from mainly British merchants at Guangzhou and threatening to impose the death penalty for future offenders. Despite the opium ban, the British government supported the merchants' demand for compensation for seized goods, and insisted on the principles of free trade and equal diplomatic recognition with China. Opium was Britain's single most profitable commodity trade of the 19th century. After months of tensions between the two states, the Royal Navy launched an expedition in June 1840, which ultimately defeated the Chinese using technologically superior ships and weapons by August 1842. The British then imposed the Treaty of Nanking, which forced China to increase foreign trade, give compensation, and cede Hong Kong Island to the British. Consequently, the opium trade continued in China. Twentieth-century nationalists considered 1839 the start of a century of humiliation, and many historians consider it the beginning of modern Chinese history.
Field Marshal Hugh Gough, 1st Viscount Gough, was a senior British Army officer. After serving as a junior officer at the seizure of the Cape of Good Hope during the French Revolutionary Wars, Gough commanded the 2nd Battalion of the 87th Regiment of Foot during the Peninsular War. After serving as commander-in-chief of the British forces in China during the First Opium War, he became Commander-in-Chief, India and led the British forces in action against the Marathas defeating them decisively at the conclusion of the Gwalior campaign and then commanded the troops that defeated the Sikhs during both the First Anglo-Sikh War and the Second Anglo-Sikh War.
General Sir Hubert de la Poer Gough was a senior officer in the British Army in the First World War. A controversial figure, he was a favourite of the Commander-in-Chief of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) on the Western Front, Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig, and the youngest of his Army commanders.
General Sir Charles John Stanley Gough, was a senior British Indian Army officer and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.
The Second Battle of Canton was fought between British and Chinese forces in Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong province, China, in May 1841 during the First Opium War.
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The Battle of First Bar was fought between British and Chinese forces at First Bar Island and its surrounding area in the Pearl River, Guangdong province, China, on 27 February 1841 during the First Opium War.
The Battle of Whampoa was fought between British and Chinese forces at Whampoa Island on the Pearl River near the city of Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong, China, on 2 March 1841 during the First Opium War.
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The Battle of Chinkiang was fought between British and Chinese forces in Zhenjiang (Chinkiang), Jiangsu province, China, on 21 July 1842 during the First Opium War. It was the last major battle of the war. The Chinese force consisted of a garrison of Manchu and Mongol Bannermen. In command of the British forces was Sir Hugh Gough. Leading one brigade was future British field marshal Sir Colin Campbell. The British capture of this stronghold allowed them to proceed to Nanjing. Fought near the confluence of the Grand Canal and Yangtze River, the battle effectively blocked operation of the Caoyun system, a transport network vital for the movement of grain throughout the empire. As a result, the Daoguang Emperor decided to sue for peace and agreed to sign the Treaty of Nanking, which brought hostilities to an end. Mass suicide was committed by the Manchu Bannermen who were defending the city.
Zhapu, alternately romanized as Chapoo or Chapu, is a town under the administration of Pinghu, in the north of Zhejiang Province, China. It is located along the northern shore of Hangzhou Bay in the southeastern part of Pinghu and borders Haiyan County to its south and southeast. The town covers an area of 54.4 square kilometers and has a population of 54,000.
The Sanyuanli incident was a military conflict between regular troops of the British Army and an irregular force made up of Chinese militia and local citizens that took place around Sanyuanli village on the outskirts of Canton on the 29 May 1841 after the Second Battle of Canton at the time of the First Opium War (1839–1842). Regarded by the British as a minor skirmish, to the Chinese it is regarded as a live example of a spontaneous uprising by the indigenous Chinese people in response to the actions of an actively aggressive invading foreign power since 1644.
Lieutenant General Sir James Holmes Schoedde KCB was a British Army officer who became colonel of the 2nd Regiment of Foot and the 55th Regiment of Foot.
HMS Cruizer was a Snake-class ship-sloop launched in 1828 for the British Royal Navy. The ship was built as a revival of the retired Snake-class ship-sloops. The Navy converted her to a brig in 1831, back to a ship in 1840, and sold her at Bombay in 1849.
Nicholas Ralph Tomlinson (1803–1842) was a British Army infantry officer who commanded Her Majesty's 18th Regiment of Foot during the First Anglo-Chinese War. He was the second son of Vice Admiral Nicholas Tomlinson and his wife Elizabeth who lived in the county of Essex.
Chen Huancheng was a 19th-century military leader of Qing China. He served as the provincial military leader in Jiangnan Province before being killed in the First Opium War.
