Battle of Chuenpi (1841)
Lithographed sketch by a Royal Marines officer depicting the advance of British ground forces at Chuenpi, ca.1843
| date | January 7, 1841 |
|---|---|
| place | Humen , China |
| output | British victory, Chuenpi Convention |
| consequences | Charles Elliot declares the cession of Hong Kong Island to the United Kingdom |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 3 ships of the line 3 frigates 2 paddle wheel frigates 1 corvette 2 sloops 1 mortar ship 1500 men 3 cannons |
15 war junks 2000 men 2 cont |
| losses | |
|
38 wounded |
277 dead |
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During the Second Battle of Chuenpi , British ships and ground troops attacked the Chinese coastal defense in the Bocca Tigris off the city of Canton on January 7, 1841 . The British forces inflicted heavy losses on the Chinese defenders. As a result, the Chinese commander-in-chief Qishan agreed to negotiations with the British, which, however, failed due to the rejection of Emperor Daoguang .
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During the First Opium War , the British expedition fleet under the General Plenipotentiary Charles Elliot tried to force diplomatic and economic concessions from the Chinese Empire through military action. The main place of the conflict was initially the trading city of Canton, from which the imperial special envoy Lin Zexu had expelled the Europeans in order to curb opium smuggling. After the first skirmishes of the war, Lin was deposed by Emperor Daoguang and he entrusted Qishan with the resolution of the conflict in southern China. Yishan strengthened the coastal defense at Canton with around 8,000 men.
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On the morning of May 7, 1841, three British ships, the Calliope , Hyacinth and Larne , sailed in front of the fort on the Cape Sand off Canton. They opened fire on the fort from their 52 cannons. At the same time, four paddle steamers brought 1461 British ground troops ashore about four kilometers to the southeast. The soldiers established an artillery battery on a hill and also took the fort under fire from the land side, while the infantry attacked on the flank of the fort. Around half of the fort's defenders were killed or wounded, including fort commander Chen Liansheng . The resistance of the defenders then collapsed. While the battle was still ongoing, the paddle steamers penetrated Yangcheng Bay and destroyed eleven Qing ships and captured 82 cannons.
At the same time to attack the Sandkap the British ships were Samarang , Druid , Columbine , and Modeste against the fort at Großkap ago. The defenders of the fort were quickly put to flight by the fire of the ship group's 106 cannons.
consequences
The Chinese side put their losses at 277 dead and 467 wounded. The British reported 38 wounded. The day after the battle, British naval commander James Bremer appeared off Hengdang Island . There was the focus of the Chinese defense and the commander of the coastal defense of Canton Guan Tianpei . Bremer offered the Chinese again negotiations and threatened to continue the fighting. As a token of goodwill, he released the prisoners from the previous day's battle. Due to the military balance of power, Guan recommended his superior Qishan to start negotiations in order to buy time. When these failed with the non-ratification of the Chuenpi Convention , the war continued at the end of February with the British general attack on the coastal defense in the Battle of the Humen .
The defeat and the negotiations brought Qishan into disrepute with the emperor. In particular, he was portrayed as a traitor and saboteur of the defense against the British by other high Qing officials such as Yuqian . On the Chinese side there was a rumor that the ground troops deployed by the British were Chinese Yong who defected to the British due to Yishan's misconduct.