Battle of Canton (1857)

The **Battle of Canton** (December 28, 1857 - January 1,1858) was a battle of the Second Opium War. The French and British attacked the Chinese city of Canton. The city fell on January 1, 1858 and the Europeans took over.

## Background 
The Second Opium War was a conflict between the United Kingdom and China. Other Western countries, including the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Second French Empire helped the English. The War began after an event called the "*Arrow* incident." The English used the incident as an excuse to start the war. The Second Opium War is sometimes called the "Arrow War."

The British had several goals in the war. Some of these were:
* making opium trading legal
* making bigger the coolie trade
* opening all of China to merchants 
* ending taxes on goods such as tea and silk 
In 1856, the Qing Dynasty only let  merchants trade in certain cities. Goods like tea and silk had to be shipped to those trade cities, and were taxed on the way. The British did not want to pay the extra taxes for shipping things across China.

The Chinese had executed a French missionary named Father August Chapdelaine in Guangxi province. This made the French very angry. The French joined the English in fighting the Chinese.

On October 8, 1856, the Chinese arrested 12 crewmembers of a ship named *Arrow*. The Chinese authorities believed that the *Arrow* was smuggling salt. The *Arrow* was owned by Chinese people, but it was registered with the British. Harry Smith Parkes was the British Consul in Canton. He sent a letter to the Chinese Imperial Commissioner (governor), Ye Mingchen. Ye replied that the *Arrow* was a Chinese ship. He claimed that Parkes and the British had no jurisdiction (no right to interfere.) Ye offered to return the arrested sailors, but Parkes refused. Parkes demanded an apology for the insult. Ye replied there was no need for an apology because there was no insult. The British decided that the Supplementary Treaty of the Bogue had been broken. On October 27, 1856, the British Royal Navy attacked Canton.

### Battle of Canton (1856) 
The first battle of Canton started on October 23, 1856. Three British warships entered the Bocca Tigris, the waterway that leads to Canton. They captured the forts that were protecting the city. Ye saw the warships, but did not want to fight them. He moved his navy back away.

On October 25, the British navy surrounded the city. Ye ordered all trade with the British to stop.

Admiral Michael Seymour, the commander of the British navy, sent Ye a message on October 27. Seymour demanded that the British be allowed to enter Canton. Before this, foreigners could not enter the city itself. If they wanted to do business or trade they had to do so in the suburbs or harbor. Ye did not answer. Seymour ordered his ships to shoot at the government offices. Ye made a declaration that he would pay 30 pieces of silver for each British person killed.

Ye still had not answered on October 28. The Britlish artillery attacked and destroyed the Southern wall of Canton. Soldiers invaded Ye's  office. The soldiers wanted to capture Ye, but they could not find him. They occupied  Canton for a short while. They had to leave because they did not have enough soldiers or resources to keep control of the city.

## Battle of Canton 
When the news was sent to London, the British government had a big argument on whether to wage war against China. The parliament voted against the proposal. But the British prime minister Palmerston broke up the House of Commons and held an election. His party won the election, so the policy passed. He ordered  Lord Elgin to be a new diplomat with China.

Just in time, the French government said their churchman were killed by the Chinese government. It joined the British government and sent armies. English and French armies entered into an alliance.

In  October, 1857 the British army general had a plan to invade China. They decided to attack from the south of China, Canton. They would then proceed to attack along the North of China, and proceed to keep moving towards Peking.

Before they went, the Russian minister advised them that only occupying Canton would not make the Qing dynasty give up, and that the better way to make them give in would be by moving  to Peking. However, the English-French armies still stuck with their first decision, which was to attack Canton. Lord Elgin talked with Seymour and the other generals about their plan. They were certain that they could take Canton.

In December 28, the war began. The alliance army had about 5,500 men, 700 French soldiers, and an additional 20 warships. They landed near Canton and approached the city. The alliance army opened fire at the governor's office (Yeh's workplace). The Qing army retreated, but Ye was still sitting in his office and reading the paper.

## Fall of Canton 
On December 29, the government office finally was destroyed by gunfire. The wall of Canton was also lost to the war. Around 2 p.m. in the afternoon., the battle ended. The English-French armies emerged victorious and occupied Canton, and 15 casualties were reported.

On January 5, after the occupation of Canton, Ye was unwilling to leave and was caught in Yamun by the English army. The English brought Ye on their ship to Kolkata, India.

## References 
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