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479:, as they had successfully done the year before. This time, though, the heavy boom stopped the British gunship cold. As the advance of the British fleet stalled, the matting was removed from the portholes, revealing the fort's defenders, and the fort's guns opened fire. “On the Admiral’s reaching the first barrier the forts suddenly swarmed with men, and a terrible fire from very heavy guns was opened... from all the forts.” - American Commodore Josiah Tattnall
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were able to make it to the trenches found them filled with a mixture of mud and water too thin to walk on and too thick to swim through, soaking their ammunition and further exposing them to fire. As night fell, those who were finally able to reach the fort's walls found themselves trapped under the fort's walls, as the defenders dangled sizzling fireworks on long poles over the edge of the wall to illuminate them to the archers above.
46:
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That evening, when the rate of fire from the
Chinese guns finally slackened, the British determined to bring up their reserve forces and launch landing parties for a direct assault. The strength of the Hai River's flow required a ship to tow the infantry boats, as otherwise the soldiers would exhaust
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s bow gunner. Under heavy fire from the fort, her hull eventually burst, sinking the ship into the mud and killing all of the crew but one. The rest of the
British fleet was similarly devastated—two ships were forced to run aground, and two others were sunk in the river by the fort's cannon. Others
511:
The landing had been delayed for so long that
British landing parties were forced to come ashore at low tide, hundreds of meters from the Chinese fort's walls. There, the British marines slipped and stuck in the muddy riverbanks, where they were shot to pieces by Chinese gunners. Those British who
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On the morning of June 25, 1859, the
British could see that the Chinese fort's defenses were somewhat improved from the previous year. However, there did not appear to be many defenders, they did not see the flags and gongs that might indicating an impending battle, and the portholes for the guns
545:
Sengge
Rinchen rejoiced in his well-earned victory, writing to the Emperor that while the British and their allies might return with more ships, with one or two more victories "the pride and vainglory of the barbarians, already under severe trial, will immediately disappear."
449:
was constructed across the river to further restrict the movement of
British ships. This second boom was made of full-sized tree trunks, connected with heavy chains. Two rows of ditches were dug in front of the forts' walls, filled with water and mud, and an
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which was also attempting to navigate past the forts, decided to assist and towed several loaded boats upstream into the battle. This act of military assistance was arguably a violation of the official neutrality between the United States and China.
549:
The
Emperor was cautious, stating that the foreigners "may harbor secret designs and hide themselves around nearby islands, waiting for the arrival of more soldiers and ships for a surprise attack in the night or in a storm."
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were covered in matting. Local informants indicated to them that the fort was manned only by a skeleton crew. Even when, as an experiment, they cut through the first boom, they encountered no resistance.
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of iron spikes placed immediately behind it. Finally, Sengge
Rinchen ensured the Chinese defenders and their cannon were trained and equipped to resist the coming British ships and their landing parties.
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By sunrise the next morning, over four hundred
British were dead or wounded, including twenty-nine officers. Chinese casualties were reported to be minimal.
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515:
One boat managed to gather a handful of the wounded, but it was struck by a well-aimed cannon shot. It broke in half and sank, drowning all on board.
442:, a brother of Genghis Khan. He took to this task with ardor, repairing and improving the coastal defenses in preparation for the British arrival.
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The battle not only was a loss for the
British, it caused them to have to assemble another massive fleet of 18,000 troops which fought in the
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Platt, Stephen (2012). Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War
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542:, three times rather than experience what they'd just suffered at the hands of Sengge Rinchen at the Taku forts.
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to take charge of coastal defense. Sengge Rinchen hailed from a rich lineage - the 26th generation descendant of
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557:. The battle also delayed the next British attack for 13 months, which extended the war for another year.
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attempted to retreat as the fort's smaller guns picked off their officers and men from the shore.
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arrived on scene and assisted the French and British in their attempted suppression of the forts.
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Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War
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Elliott, Mark C. "The Limits of Tartary: Manchuria in Imperial and National Geographies."
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George Battye Fisher, Personal Narrative of Three Years' Service in China, pp. 190-193
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wrote that this was possibly the worst defeat the British had suffered since the
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The Victorians at War, 1815-1914: An Encyclopedia of British Military History
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The British then attempted to ram the second boom with their admiral's ship,
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Monarchs and Ministers: The Grand Council in Mid-Ch'ing China, 1723–1820.
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534:. One of the battle's survivors declared he would rather relive the
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View of the Taku Forts, mouth of the Peiho river, on 25 June 1859
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T.F. Tsiang, "China after the Victory of Taku, June 25, 1859," "
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Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1991.
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Emperor and Ancestor: State and Lineage in South China.
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themselves with rowing before reaching land. Commodore
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The India-China Opium Trade in the Nineteenth Century
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398:) was a failed Anglo-French attempt to seize the
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803:The Life and Letters of Samuel Wells Williams
526:An American interpreter and missionary named
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580:s river basin, known as the Hai River today.
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719:"The Second Battle of the Taku Forts"
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503:, commanding the chartered steamship
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844:Battles involving the United Kingdom
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854:Battles involving the United States
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630:New York: Simon and Schuster, 1993.
628:Chinese Civilization: A Sourcebook.
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482:The first salvo decapitated the
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864:Naval battles of the Opium Wars
859:Battles of the Second Opium War
605:A gun battery of the Taku Forts
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1:
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494:Chinese gun in the Taku forts
434:appointed the Mongol general
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800:Williams, Frederick (1889).
725:(in Chinese). Archived from
593:Map of the attack on 25 June
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7:
540:charge of the Light Brigade
388:Second Battle of Taku Forts
31:Second Battle of Taku Forts
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825:American Historical Review
555:Third Battle of Taku Forts
428:First Battle of Taku Forts
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742:Raugh, Harold E. (2004).
693:. McFarland. p. 126–127.
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849:Battles involving France
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536:1854 Battle of Balaclava
648:Platt, Stephen (2012).
532:1842 retreat from Kabul
414:. A chartered American
619:Bartlett, Beatrice S.
538:, with its disastrous
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148:Commanders and leaders
528:Samuel Wells Williams
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222:Casualties and losses
765:Senggelinqin chuanqi
746:. ABC-CLIO. p. 100.
689:Janin, Hunt (1999).
261:32 killed or wounded
21:Battle of Taku Forts
19:For other uses, see
810:. pp. 302–312.
808:G. P. Putnam's Sons
656:. Alfred A. Knopf.
501:Josiah Tattnall III
445:A second, stronger
234:3 gunboats grounded
179:Josiah Tattnall III
637:59 (2000): 603-46.
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469:
869:Conflicts in 1859
663:978-0-307-27173-0
626:Ebrey, Patricia.
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62:24-26 June 1859
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99:Belligerents
36:Part of the
368:Zhangjiawan
238:345 wounded
205:11 gunboats
838:Categories
614:References
576:The Pei-ho
426:After the
422:Background
402:along the
400:Taku Forts
348:2nd Canton
333:Macao Fort
313:1st Canton
247:23 wounded
161:James Hope
142:Qing China
72:Taku Forts
522:Aftermath
416:steamship
404:Hai River
256:1 wounded
245:12 killed
236:81 killed
202:(on land)
76:Hai River
505:Toey-Wan
396:第二次大沽口之戰
254:1 killed
190:Strength
67:Location
767:, p. 97
763:Zhang,
484:Plover'
408:Tianjin
392:Chinese
373:Palikao
228:Britain
212:60 guns
196:Britain
163: (
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477:Plover
459:Battle
452:abatis
394::
241:France
200:1,160
134:
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110:
87:Result
16:Battle
672:Notes
644:2007.
578:'
440:Qasar
323:Bogue
216:forts
210:4,000
80:China
748:ISBN
695:ISBN
658:ISBN
447:boom
386:The
59:Date
406:in
166:WIA
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