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 merchants at Canton 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 British 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.
The Second Opium War, also known as the Second Anglo-Sino War, the Second China War, the Arrow War, or the Anglo-French expedition to China, was a colonial war lasting from 1856 to 1860, which pitted Great Britain, France, and the United States against the Qing dynasty of China.
Ersha Island, formerly Napier Island in English, is an island in the Yuexiu District of Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, China. It houses the American International School of Guangzhou elementary school campus, several apartment complexes, a badminton stadium, and a government sports training facility. Ersha Island is also home to the Guangdong Museum of Art and the Xinghai Concert Hall. It also contains several small parks: Chuanqi, Hong Cheng, Ershadao Sports Park, and Guangzhou Fazhan Park.
William Thornton Bate was a British Royal Navy officer and surveyor. He served in First Anglo-Chinese War and Second Anglo-Chinese War. He died during the Battle of Canton in 1857.
The First Battle of Taku Forts was the first attack of the Anglo-French alliance against the Taku Forts along the Hai River in Tianjin, China, on 20 May 1858, during the Second Opium War.
The Third Battle of Taku Forts was an engagement of the Second Opium War, part of the British and French 1860 expedition to China. It took place at the Taku Forts near Tanggu District, approximately 60 kilometers (36 mi.) southeast of the city of Tianjin (Tientsin).
The Second Battle of Chuenpi was fought between British and Chinese forces in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong province, China, on 7 January 1841 during the First Opium War. The British launched an amphibious attack at the Humen strait (Bogue), capturing the forts on the islands of Chuenpi and Taikoktow. Subsequent negotiations between British Plenipotentiary Charles Elliot and Chinese Imperial Commissioner Qishan resulted in the Convention of Chuenpi on 20 January. As one of the terms of the agreement, Elliot announced the cession of Hong Kong Island to the British Empire, after which the British took formal possession of the island on 26 January.
The Battle of the Bogue was fought between British and Chinese forces in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong province, China, on 23–26 February 1841 during the First Opium War. The British launched an amphibious attack at the Humen strait (Bogue), capturing the forts on the islands of Anunghoy and North Wangtong. This allowed the fleet to proceed further up the Pearl River towards the city of Canton (Guangzhou), which they captured the following month.
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.
Vice-Admiral Sir Thomas Herbert, KCB, was a British Royal Navy officer. He served in the Napoleonic Wars, War of 1812, and First Anglo-Chinese War. From 1847 to 1849, he was commodore of the South East Coast of America Station. Herbert served as Member of Parliament for Dartmouth as a Conservative from 1852 to 1857.
Admiral Sir Henry Smith was a British officer in the Royal Navy. He commanded the Aden Expedition in 1839 which took Aden as the first colonial acquisition of the reign of Queen Victoria. For this service he was appointed a Companion of the Order of the Bath. Smith was then sent to serve on the China Station, where he fired the first shot of the First Opium War at the Battle of Kowloon. He played an important role at the controversial Battle of Chuenpi later in the year, and as senior naval officer on the south coast of China fought the Battle of the Barrier. He later participated in the Battles of Second Chuenpi, the Bogue, and Canton, before forming part of the Amoy garrison after the Battle of Amoy. Having left China in 1843, he went on to command ships in the Mediterranean and then in the Baltic Sea during the Crimean War. Smith never served at sea again after obtaining flag rank in 1855 but became superintendent of the Royal Hospital Haslar and the Royal Clarence Yard. He was appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1873, retiring in the same year.
The Battle of the Bogue was fought between British and Chinese forces at the Humen strait (Bogue), Guangdong province, China, on 12–13 November 1856 during the Second Opium War. The British captured the forts in the Wangtong Islands on 12 November and the forts in Anunghoy Island the next day.
The Battle of Canton was fought by British and French forces against Qing China on 28–31 December 1857 during the Second Opium War. The British High Commissioner, Lord Elgin, was keen to take the city of Canton (Guangzhou) as a demonstration of power and to capture Chinese official Ye Mingchen, who had resisted British attempts to implement the 1842 Treaty of Nanking. Elgin ordered an Anglo-French force to take the town and an assault began on 28 December. Allied forces took control of the city walls on 29 December but delayed entry into the city itself until 5 January. They subsequently captured Ye and some reports state they burnt down much of the town. The ease with which the allies won the battle was one of the reasons for the signing of the Treaty of Tientsin in 1858.
The Battle of Canton was fought between British and Chinese forces at the city of Canton (Guangzhou), Guangdong province, China on 23 October to 5 November 1856 during the Second Opium War.
The Battle of Escape Creek was a naval engagement fought between the United Kingdom's Royal Navy and the Qing Chinese naval force on 25–27 May 1857 during the Second Opium War. Commodore Charles Elliot's squadron chased the war-junks at Escape Creek and then, once the British ships were grounded as the river narrowed, they chased them in the ships' boats until all the junks had been overhauled.
The Expedition to Canton was a British punitive expedition that captured the forts along the Pearl River, Guangdong province, China, on 2–3 April 1847. Beginning at the Humen Strait (Bogue), the British captured the forts leading up to the city of Canton (Guangzhou). The operation was in response to British subjects being attacked by the Chinese near Canton. Hong Kong Governor John Davis demanded redress from Chinese Commissioner Keying.
The Battle of Macao Fort was fought between British and Chinese forces in the Pearl River, Guangdong, China on 4 January 1857 during the Second Opium War. Macao Fort was located on an islet about 3 miles south of Canton (Guangzhou).
Events from the year 1857 in China.
Colonel Edward Aldrich was a British military engineer, architect and surveyor of the Corps of Royal Engineers who carried out the first detailed survey of Palestine together with John Symonds, RE.
United Kingdom 
Qing China 
