Dagu Fort
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Taku Forts or Dagu Forts, also called the Peiho Forts are
fort A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
s located by the
Hai River The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea. The Hai River at Tianjin is formed by the confluence of five watercourses: the ...
(Peiho River) estuary in the
Binhai New Area Binhai, officially known as Binhai New Area (), is a sub-provincial district and state-level new area within the jurisdiction of Tianjin Municipality in the People's Republic of China. Binhai is intended to replicate development seen in ...
,
Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...
, in northeastern China. They are located southeast of the Tianjin urban center.


History

The first fort was built during the reign of the
Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...
Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu Youyuan (1476–1519), Prince of Xing, w ...
between 1522 and 1527. Its purpose was to protect Tianjin from attack by
wokou ''Wokou'' (; Japanese: ''Wakō''; Korean: 왜구 ''Waegu''), which literally translates to "Japanese pirates" or "dwarf pirates", were pirates who raided the coastlines of China and Korea from the 13th century to the 16th century.
sea raiders. Later, in 1816, the Qing government built the first two forts on both sides of the Haihe estuary in response to increased concerns about seaborne threats from the West. By 1841, in response to the First Opium War, the defensive system in Dagukou was reinforced into a system of five big forts, 13 earthen batteries, and 13 earthworks. In 1851, Imperial Commissioner
Sengge Rinchen Sengge Rinchen (1811 – 18 May 1865) or Senggelinqin ( mn, Сэнгэринчен, ᠰᠡᠩᠭᠡᠷᠢᠨᠴᠢᠨ) was a Mongol nobleman and general who served under the Qing dynasty during the reigns of the Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi em ...
carried out a comprehensive renovation of the forts, building 6 large forts: two on the south of the estuary, called "Wēi" (威-Might) and "Zhèn"(震-Thunder, Tremor, Quake), three to the north, "Hǎi"(海-sea), "Mén"(门-gate) "Gāo" (高-high), and the sixth, the "Shitoufeng" (石头缝-Stone Seam) Fort, was built on a small ridge on the northern shore. Each fort had three large guns and 20 small caliber guns. Forts were constructed of wood and brick with an external curtain of two feet of concrete, the layering designed to avoid spalling and minimize penetration by artillery rounds. The forts were around high, which located as they were in an exceedingly flat landscape, provided a critical vantage point.


Second Opium War

In 1856, Chinese soldiers boarded ''The Arrow'', a Chinese-owned ship registered in
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
flying the British flag and suspected of
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
, smuggling and of being engaged in the
opium trade Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...
. They captured 12 men and imprisoned them. Though the certificate allowing the ship to fly a British flag had expired, there was still an armed response. The
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
and French sent gunboats under the command of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour to capture the Taku Forts in May 1858. In June 1858, at the end of the first part of the Second Opium War, the
Treaties of Tianjin The Treaty of Tientsin, also known as the Treaty of Tianjin, is a collective name for several documents signed at Tianjin (then romanized as Tientsin) in June 1858. The Qing dynasty, Russian Empire, Second French Empire, United Kingdom, and t ...
were signed, which opened Tianjin to foreign trade. In 1859, after China refused to allow the setting up of foreign legations in Beijing, a naval force under the command of British Admiral Sir James Hope attacked the forts guarding the mouth of the Hai River. During the action, US Navy Commodore
Josiah Tattnall III Commodore Josiah Tattnall (November 9, 1795 – June 14, 1871) was an officer in the United States Navy during the War of 1812, the Second Barbary War and the Mexican–American War. He later served in the Confederate Navy during the American C ...
, who later served in the
Confederate Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the American ...
during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
, came to the assistance of the British gunboat , offering to take off their wounded. ''Plover''s commander, Rear Admiral James Hope, accepted the offer and a launch was sent to take off the wounded. Later, Tattnall discovered that some of his men were black from powder flashes. When asked, the men replied that the British had been short handed with the bow gun. His famous report sent to Washington claimed "
Blood is thicker than water Blood is thicker than water is a proverb in English meaning that familial bonds will always be stronger than other relationships. The oldest record of this saying can be traced back in the 12th century in German. History A similar proverb in Germ ...
". This was the first time the British troops needed American assistance after suffering major casualties from the Taku cannon barrage, and the first time that British and independent American troops fought side by side. In 1860, an Anglo-French force gathered at Hong Kong and then carried out a landing at Pei Tang on August 1, and a successful assault on the Taku Forts on August 21 after which Hospital Apprentice Andrew Fitzgibbon of the Indian Medical Establishment became the youngest recipient of the
Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...
at the age of 15 years and 3 months. The forts were severely mauled and General
Sengge Rinchen Sengge Rinchen (1811 – 18 May 1865) or Senggelinqin ( mn, Сэнгэринчен, ᠰᠡᠩᠭᠡᠷᠢᠨᠴᠢᠨ) was a Mongol nobleman and general who served under the Qing dynasty during the reigns of the Daoguang, Xianfeng and Tongzhi em ...
's troops were forced to withdraw. On September 26, the force arrived at
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and had captured the city by October 13.


Boxer Rebellion

After the
Battle of Taku Forts (1900) The Battle of the Taku or Dagu Forts was a short engagement during the Boxer Rebellion between the Chinese Qing dynasty military and forces belonging to Eight Nation Alliance in June 1900. European and Japanese naval forces captured the Taku ...
, most of the forts were dismantled when the Eight-Nation Alliance Forces invaded China during the Boxer Rebellion (1899–1901). Two forts remain today, one on the southern bank (the former "Wei" fort) and the other on the northern bank of the Hai River (the former "Hai" fort). Dagu Fort (on the southern bank) was repaired in 1988 and opened to the public in June 1997. Land reclamation has left it some considerable distance from the modern shoreline. Its restoration has not returned it to anything like the appearance it would have had when it was an active gun battery (see photo of the aftermath of the 1860 attack), but a number of cannons have been placed in the reconstructed gun embrasures to hint at its former use. An exhibition in Chinese recounts the history of the Opium Wars and the forts' role in them. Unrestored forts are visible to its north from Haifang Road.


Gallery

Image:Upper North Taku Fort.jpg, Interior of Angle of North Fort Immediately after Its Capture, 21 August 1860 Image:Taku_fort_model.jpg, Model of the Taku Forts in the Dagukou Fort Ruins Museum, Tanggu, China. Image:Taku_Fort_2006.jpg, View of the gun platform from outside the defensive works. Image:TakuFortPlaque.jpg, Dedication plaque at the Dagukou Fort Ruins Museum. Image:大沽口炮台3.JPG, View from inside the defensive works.


References

*Colin Narbeth, ''Admiral Seymour's Expedition & Taku Forts 1900'' (1980)


External links

* * {{Coord, 38, 58, 37.4, N, 117, 42, 19.3, E, source:jawiki, display=title Military history of China Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Tianjin Boxer Rebellion Forts in China Coastal fortifications