User:俠刀行/Battle of Taku Forts (1858)

First Battle of Taku Forts
	Part of the Second Opium War
	; Gun battery of the Taku Forts.
Date	May 20, 1858
Location	Taku Forts, China
Result	Anglo-French victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom; France	Qing Dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Rear Admiral Sir Michael Seymour	unknown

The First Battle of Taku Forts was the first invasion of Anglo-French alliance taking the Taku Forts on May 20, 1858. During the Second Opium War.

The British and French sent a squadron of gunboats, under Admiral Sir Michael Seymour, to attack China's Taku Forts. The battle ended as an allied success. However the first phase of the Second Opium War would end with the Treaties of Tianjin and the forts were returned to the hands of the Qing Army, leading to the Second Battle of Taku Forts.

Background edit

After the outbreak of the Second Opium War, the alliance captures a big harbor Canton during the battle of Canton. The British commander Michael Seymour hopes the achievement of the treaty of Tianjin, ordering an aggressive of the Taku Forts. Seymour decides the Taku forts as the target because it's the closer path to Peking.

On the other hand, Xianfeng Emperor received the news of Canton has been occupied until January 27, 1858.

On May 50.

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Elliott, Mark C. "The Limits of Tartary: Manchuria in Imperial and National Geographies." Journal of Asian Studies 59 (2000): 603-46.
Faure, David. Emperor and Ancestor: State and Lineage in South China. 2007.