Battle of Kowloon The Battle of Kowloon was fought between British and Chinese ships in Kowloon , China , on 4 September 1839 . It has been called " the first shot of the First Opium War " . Background . On 7 July 1839 , seamen from the " Carnatic " and " Mangalore " , both owned by Jardine , Matheson & Co . , landed in Kowloon . They were joined by colleagues from other British and American ships . After a group of sailors consumed the rice liquor " samshu " , a local named Lin Weixi in the village of Tsim Sha Tsui was beaten in a drunken brawl and died the next day . On 15 July , Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China , Charles Elliot , offered rewards of $ 200 for evidence leading to the conviction of those responsible for the murder and $ 100 for evidence leading to the instigators of the riot . He also gave $ 1 , 500 in compensation to Lin ' s family , $ 400 to protect them against extortion of that money from what he called the " lower mandarins " , and $ 100 to be distributed among the villagers . Unlike English common law , Chinese law held the community , rather than the individual , responsible . Imperial Commissioner Lin Zexu demanded the death of the culprit and was prepared to accept any sailor , whether innocent or guilty , to settle the matter . On 12 August , under an Act of Parliament of 1833 , Elliot began a court of criminal and admiralty jurisdiction on board the " Fort William " in Hong Kong harbour , with himself as judge and a group of merchants as the jury . Two men were found guilty of rioting , fined £15 each , and sentenced to three months labour to be served in England . Three men were found guilty of assault and rioting , fined £25 each , and sentenced to six months imprisonment in similar conditions . However , the Act was under review and after arriving in England , they were set free on the grounds that the trial held no jurisdiction . Elliot invited Lin to send observers to the trial , but none came . Without the handover of a man to the Chinese , Lin was not satisfied with the proceedings . He viewed the extraterritorial court as an infringement of China ' s sovereignty . On 15 August , Lin issued an edict that prevented the sale of food to the British . The Chinese labour serving the British in Macao was withdrawn the next day . War junks arrived in coves along the Pearl River and notices above the fresh water springs warned that they were poisoned . On 24 August , the Portuguese Governor of Macao , Don Adraio Accacio da Silveira Pinto , announced that the Chinese ordered him to expel the British from the colony . He warned Lancelot Dent of the British hong Dent & Co . that the Chinese planned to seize the British dwellings in Macao . On 25 August , former Superintendent John Astell proposed to Elliot that all British boats evacuate to Hong Kong . By the end of the month , 2 , 000 people in over 60 ships were in Hong Kong harbour , without fresh food or water . The ships held European merchants , lascar s , and dozens of British families . The " Volage " of Captain Henry Smith and the " Hyacinth " sailed to Hong Kong on 30 August . Elliot warned Kowloon officials of escalating conflict if the embargo continued . Battle . On 4 September , Elliot sailed to Kowloon in the cutter " Louisa " for food supplies , with a small - armed vessel the " Pearl " , and a pinnace from the " Volage " of Captain Smith who accompanied him . Upon arrival , there were three anchored Chinese man - of - war junks , whose presence prevented the regular supplies of food . Elliot sent interpreter Karl Gützlaff in a small boat with two men to the centre junk which Elliot thought was the commanding vessel . Gützlaff carried two documents that he translated from Elliot . They included demands for food shipments to be restored and a plea not to repeat poisoning the colony ' s water springs . After a Chinese spokesman read the messages , he told Gützlaff that they lacked the authority to renew food shipments and they directed him to another junk where a naval officer was said to reside . There , Gützlaff restated his request to allow people to come out and sell provisions . He repeatedly went back and forth between the two parties , repeating details of the conversation with Elliot . After five or six hours of what Elliot called " delay and irritating evasion " , he sent a boat of people on shore with money to purchase supplies , which they accomplished , but were then obliged by authorities to return the provisions . In his report , Elliot wrote that he felt " greatly provoked " upon hearing this and opened fire on the junks , which returned fire with help from the shore battery . They engaged for almost half an hour before the British ships ran low on ammunition and sailed away . After replenishing their cartridges , the " Louisa " and " Pearl " re - engaged the junks , which retreated to their former position . The battle ended in a stalemate . Three British were reported wounded and " several " Chinese were killed . Aftermath . During the evening , Elliot and Smith discussed continuing the battle next morning to destroy the three junks and deploy men to attack the battery , but Smith acceded to Elliot ' s recommendation not to do so . Elliot wrote that an attack would destroy the village and cause " great injury and irritation " to the inhabitants . He circulated a paper on shore the following day which stated :