The Expedition to Canton was a British

punitive expedition A punitive expedition is a military journey undertaken to punish a political entity or any group of people outside the borders of the punishing state or union. It is usually undertaken in response to perceived disobedient or morally wrong behavio ...

that captured the forts along 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 ...

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 2–3 April 1847. Beginning at 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 in ...

Strait (Bogue), the British captured the forts leading up to the city of Canton (Guangzhou). The operation was in response to British subjects being attacked by the Chinese near Canton.

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 Delt ...

Governor John Davis demanded redress from Chinese Commissioner Keying. Unsatisfied with his reply, Davis ordered Major-General George D'Aguilar, the commander-in-chief of British forces in China, to seize the forts approaching Canton and to prepare for an attack on the city to force reparations on the spot. The forts were captured, but Canton was spared after Keying agreed to punish the culprits and to allow entry into the city.

Operations

On the afternoon of 1 April 1847, D'Aguilar received communication from Davis with orders to proceed to Canton with force. At midnight, the following forces were embarked: * HMS ''Vulture'' – 427 troops, 18th Royal Irish Regiment * HMS ''Espiegle'' – 149 troops, 42nd Regiment Madras Native Infantry *

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

steamer ''Pluto'' – 280 troops, 42nd Regiment *Hired armed steamer ''Corsair'' – 110 troops, 18th Regiment *Hired lorcha No. 1 – Armed as a gunboat, detachment of

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

with ordnance stores *Hired lorcha No. 2 – Detachment of

Royal Sappers and Miners The British Army during the Victorian era served through a period of great technological and social change. Queen Victoria ascended the throne in 1837, and died in 1901. Her long reign was marked by the steady expansion and consolidation of the Br ...

with tools, scaling ladders, and other materials British operations began with the capture of the Bogue forts. Listed are the number of ordnance captured at each site:D'Aguilar 1848, pp. 23–24 *Anunghoy Island – 208 *North Wangtong Island – 150 *South Wangtong Island – 109 Further up the Canton River past Whampoa Island, the British encountered a staked barrier and captured the following locations: *Pachow Fort – 64 *Wookongtap Fort – 41 * Napier's Island – 49 *Whampoa Creek – 65 In the final phase, the British captured the forts outside the city of Canton: *French

Folly In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-cent ...

– 38 *Dutch Folly – 23 *Rogue Fort – 26 *Zigzag Battery – 20 *Segment Battery – 30 * Shameen Battery – 56

Gallery

File:Pearl River sketch.jpg, Map of the expedition File:Vulture at First Pass of Canton River.jpg, HMS ''Vulture'' starting operations at the Bogue, 2 April File:Operations in the Canton River.jpg, Capture of Anunghoy, 2 April File:The Staked Barrier, Canton River.jpg, Attacking the batteries near the staked barrier above Whampoa Island File:Wookongtap & Whampoa Creek.jpg, Attacking the forts of Wookongtap and Whampoa Creek, 3 April File:French Folly Fort Blown Up.jpg, Royal Sappers and Miners blow up the French Folly Fort

Operations

Gallery

References

Further reading