The First Battle of Chuenpi () was a naval engagement fought between British and Chinese ships at the entrance of the

Humen The Humen, also Bocca Tigris or Bogue, is a narrow strait in the Pearl River Delta that separates Shiziyang in the north and Lingdingyang in the south near Humen Town in China's Guangdong Province. It is the site of the Pearl River's discharge i ...

strait (Bogue),

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

province, China, on 3 November 1839 during the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

. The battle began when the British frigates HMS '' Hyacinth'' and HMS '' Volage'' opened fire on Chinese ships they perceived as being hostile.

Background

For foreign ships to be allowed to dock in

Canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ente ...

(Guangzhou) for trade, Chinese authorities required a signed bond agreeing not to trade opium. Captain

Charles Elliot Admiral Sir Charles Elliot (15 August 1801 – 9 September 1875) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first Administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief Su ...

, Chief Superintendent of British Trade in China, ordered British ships not to sign the bond because if opium was found, the cargo would be confiscated and the perpetrators executed. This in turn interfered with the trade of British merchantmen in China.Elleman, Bruce A. (2001). ''Modern Chinese Warfare, 1795-1989''. London: Routledge. pp. 18–20. . In October 1839 a cargo ship, the ''Thomas Coutts,'' under the command of captain Warner arrived in Canton from Singapore. The ship carried cotton from

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

, and, since the captain was not trading opium, he defied Elliot's request and signed the Chinese bond. He held a legal view that Elliot's ban on the signing was not valid under English law.Hanes, William Travis; Sanello, Frank (2002). ''The Opium Wars: The Addiction of One Empire and the Corruption of Another''. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks. pp. 68–70. . Indiaman Thomas Coutts

Before Warner left China, Imperial Commissioner

Lin Zexu Lin Zexu (30 August 1785 – 22 November 1850), courtesy name Yuanfu, was a Chinese political philosopher and politician. He was the head of states (Viceroy), Governor General, scholar-official, and under the Daoguang Emperor of the Qing dynas ...

gave him a letter addressed to

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previ ...

in which he disapproved the use of opium and requested the opium trade to stop. After arriving in London, he handed the letter to a co-owner of the ''Thomas Coutts'', who asked for an appointment with

Foreign Secretary The secretary of state for foreign, Commonwealth and development affairs, known as the foreign secretary, is a Secretary of State (United Kingdom), minister of the Crown of the Government of the United Kingdom and head of the Foreign, Commonwe ...

Lord Palmerston. After Palmerston's office refused to see him, Warner forwarded the letter to ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' ( ...

'', which published it. Viewing Warner's defiance as a threat to his authority, Elliot ordered and to be positioned south of the Chuenpi

battery Battery most often refers to: * Electric battery, a device that provides electrical power * Battery (crime), a crime involving unlawful physical contact Battery may also refer to: Energy source *Automotive battery, a device to provide power t ...

on 27 October to blockade any other British ships bound for Canton.

Battle

After a second British ship, , tried to defy Elliot's blockade on 3 November 1839, ''Volage'' under Captain Henry Smith fired a warning shot across the ''Royal Saxon''s bow. In response, Chinese war

junks A junk (Chinese: 船, ''chuán'') is a type of Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails. There are two types of junk in China: northern junk, which developed from Chinese river boats, and southern junk, which developed from Austronesian ...

under Admiral

Guan Tianpei Guan Tianpei (; 1781 – 26 February 1841) was a Chinese admiral of the Qing dynasty who served in the First Opium War. His Chinese title was "Commander-in-Chief of Naval Forces". In 1838, he established courteous relations with British Rear-Admir ...

moved out to protect ''Royal Saxon''. After Elliot gave in to Smith's pressure for an attack, the more maneuverable British ships approached the Chinese vessels and fired

broadside Broadside or broadsides may refer to: Naval * Broadside (naval), terminology for the side of a ship, the battery of cannon on one side of a warship, or their near simultaneous fire on naval warfare Printing and literature * Broadside (comic ...

s at them from

starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which ar ...

Smith wrote, "I did not conceive that it would be becoming the dignity of our flag, the safety of the merchant shipping below, and my own character, to retire before such an imposing force, sent out at that moment evidently for the purpose of intimidation." According to a Chinese account by

Wei Yuan Wei Yuan (; April23, 1794March26, 1857), born Wei Yuanda (), courtesy names Moshen () and Hanshi (), was a Chinese scholar from Shaoyang, Hunan. He moved to Yangzhou, Jiangsu in 1831, where he remained for the rest of his life. Wei obtained the ...

, "five of our war-ships went to preserve order on the sea-board" and "the English mistook our red flags for a declaration of war, and opened fire;—for in Europe a red flag means war, and a white one peace."Parker, Edward Harper (1888).
Chinese Account of the Opium War
'. Shanghai: Kelly & Walsh. pp. 10–11. One Chinese fire raft immediately sank, and a war junk exploded after its

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

was struck. After the first run, the ''Volage'' and ''Hyacinth'' turned and repeated the same maneuver using their

port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as H ...

broadsides. The stationary guns on the Chinese vessels could not be aimed effectively. One junk was blown up, three were sunk, and several others were damaged. Faced with superior firepower, the Chinese fleet sailed away except for Kuan's 12-cannon

flagship A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the ...

, which returned fire. Since it posed a minimal threat, Elliot ordered Smith to stop firing, allowing the damaged flagship to sail off. The ''Volage'' sustained light damage on its

sail A sail is a tensile structure—which is made from fabric or other membrane materials—that uses wind power to propel sailing craft, including sailing ships, sailboats, windsurfers, ice boats, and even sail-powered land vehicles. Sails ma ...

s and

rigging Rigging comprises the system of ropes, cables and chains, which support a sailing ship or sail boat's masts—''standing rigging'', including shrouds and stays—and which adjust the position of the vessel's sails and spars to which they ar ...

, and the

mizzen-mast The mast of a sailing vessel is a tall spar, or arrangement of spars, erected more or less vertically on the centre-line of a ship or boat. Its purposes include carrying sails, spars, and derricks, and giving necessary height to a navigation ligh ...

of the ''Hyacinth'' was hit by a 12-pound (5.4 kg) ball. One British sailor was wounded and 15 Chinese were killed.

Aftermath

The ''Royal Saxon'' sailed on to Canton and Elliot returned to

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

. Historian Bruce A. Elleman wrote, "the origin of this battle was not even between the British and the Chinese, but was really as a result of the British Navy fighting to stop one of Elliot's own British ships that had refused to uphold his free-trade principles. The 'Battle of Chuanbi,' perhaps more than any other conflict during the Opium War, vividly revealed the underlying free-trade tensions."

References

{{reflist 1839 in China Chuenpi 1 Chuenpi Military history of Guangdong Chuenpi 1 November 1839 events