The Battle of Whampoa was fought between British and Chinese forces at Whampoa Island (modern-day

Pazhou Island Pazhou is a subdistrict of Haizhu in southeastern Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, in China. , formerly Whampoa Island, has a total area of and is the site of Pazhou Pagoda. Its eastern bay was formerly the chief anchorage for ships pa ...

) on the

Pearl River The Pearl River, also known by its Chinese name Zhujiang or Zhu Jiang in Mandarin pinyin or Chu Kiang and formerly often known as the , is an extensive river system in southern China. The name "Pearl River" is also often used as a catch-a ...

near the city of Canton (Guangzhou),

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) ...

, China, on 2March 1841 during the First Opium War.Ouchterlony 1844, p. 120

Battle

On 2March 1841, Commodore

James Bremer Sir James John Gordon Bremer (26 September 1786 – 14 February 1850) was a Royal Navy officer. He served in the Napoleonic Wars, First Anglo-Burmese War, and First Anglo-Chinese War. In China, he served twice as commander-in-chief of British ...

, commander-in-chief of British forces, sent Capt.

Edward Belcher Admiral Sir Edward Belcher (27 February 1799 – 18 March 1877) was a British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer. Born in Nova Scotia, he was the great-grandson of Jonathan Belcher, who served as a colonial governor of Massachusett ...

of the '' Sulphur'' to reconnoitre the Junk River. The ship was towed by three of the '' Wellesley''s boats under Lt. Richard Symonds. As they approached the northeast end of Whampoa Island, a Chinese

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 ...

of about 25 guns, which were masked by thick tree branches, opened fire on the ships.''Bulletins of State Intelligence'' 1841, p. 348 Lt. Symonds immediately cut the tow line, the boats sailed towards the shore and the boat crews landed. The battery was defended by 250 Manchu Tartar troops. They fled for shelter in the neighbouring jungle, but were dislodged by artillery from the ''Sulphur''. After the British captured the forts, the guns were destroyed and the works and magazines blown up. Bremer reported 15 or 20 Tartars killed. One British seaman from the ''Wellesley'' died from wounds after being shot through the lungs with

grapeshot Grapeshot is a type of artillery round invented by a British Officer during the Napoleonic Wars. It was used mainly as an anti infantry round, but had other uses in naval combat. In artillery, a grapeshot is a type of ammunition that consists of ...

. Bremer resigned the command of the land forces to Maj. Gen. Hugh Gough, who joined the fleet on board the '' Cruizer''. Former 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 ...

wrote in his diary entry for 2March: "I hear that the English rebel ships have already forced their way to the fort at Lieh-te. Early in the morning I went to talk things over at the General Office in the Monastery of the Giant Buddha."Waley 1958, p. 141

Notes

;Footnotes ;Citations

References

*
Bulletins of State Intelligence
'. Westminster: F. Watts. 1841. *Belcher, Edward (1843).
Narrative of a Voyage Round the World
'. Volume 2. London: Henry Colburn. *Bingham, John Elliot (1842).
Narrative of the Expedition to China, from the Commencement of the War to Its Termination in 1842
' (2nd ed.). Volume 2. London: Henry Colburn. *Hall, William Hutcheon; Bernard, William Dallas (1846).
The Nemesis in China
' (3rd ed.). London: Henry Colburn. *Ouchterlony, John (1844).
The Chinese War
'. London: Saunders and Otley. *Waley, Arthur (1958). ''The Opium War Through Chinese Eyes''. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press. . {{refend 1841 in China Whampoa Whampoa History of Guangzhou Whampoa March 1841 events Amphibious operations involving the United Kingdom Events in Guangzhou