Battle of the Bogue

Battle of the Bogue
Part of the First Opium War
The Nemesis attacking a masked battery and war junks behind Anunghoy Island on 23 February
Date 23–26 February 1841 Location Humen, Guangdong, China Coordinates: 22°47′55″N 113°37′15″E / 22.79861°N 113.62083°E / 22.79861; 113.62083 Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom British East India Company	Qing China
Commanders and leaders
James Bremer	Guan Tianpei (KIA)
Strength
12 ships 1,037 troops1	30 junks 2,000 troops1
Casualties and losses
5 wounded	500+ killed or wounded 419 guns captured
1 In North Wangtong only.

 United Kingdom

The Battle of the Bogue was fought between British and Chinese forces in the Pearl River Delta, Guangdong province, China, on 23–26 February 1841 during the First Opium War. The British launched an amphibious attack at the Humen strait (Bogue), capturing the forts on the islands of Anunghoy and North Wangtong. This allowed the fleet to proceed further up the Pearl River towards the city of Canton (Guangzhou), which they captured the following month.

After the Second Battle of Chuenpi on 7 January 1841, British Plenipotentiary Charles Elliot and Chinese Imperial Commissioner Qishan negotiated the Convention of Chuenpi on 20 January; a condition of which was that the port of Canton (Guangzhou) was to be opened for trade on 2 February. However, no proclamation for the opening of the port appeared. On 11–12 February, Elliot and Qishan met again at the Bogue. Elliot acceded to a further delay (not to exceed ten days) for the treaty to be fairly prepared. Commodore James Bremer, commander-in-chief of British forces, wrote in his dispatch:

I must confess that from this moment my faith in the sincerity of the Chinese Commissioner was completely destroyed, my doubts were also strengthened by the reports of the Officers I sent up to the place of meeting, who stated that military works on a great scale were in progress, troops collected on the heights, and camps protected by entrenchments, arising on both sides of the river, and that the island of North Wangtong had become a mass of cannon.

...
Wikipedia