The months following the Battle of Chuenpi were relatively quiet. Charles Elliot had accepted the Chinese challenge on his own initiative, now he had to find out if his action was approved in London. After all, he did not expect to take an the Chinese Empire with a few warships; therefore, all he could do was wait for further instructions from England. Meanwhile, Lin decided to write a long letter to Queen Victoria on the immorality of opium trade; including a declaration that all relations between China and Britain would be severed. Britain was forbidden to trade with China as a punishment for her hostile acts. Other foreigners, however, were not implicated is long as they continued their observance of Chinese law. Elliot's dispatch on "The Siege of the Factories" and the news of the forced surrender of the opium had reached England. There was a fierce debate on whether Britain should declare war on China. [1] The peace faction argued that the British government should not disgrace herself by supporting a trade of shameful contraband, whereas the war faction contended that Britain should protect her subjects and her trading rights (carefully avoiding any mention of opium). In February 1840, Lord Palmerston, Secretary of Foreign Affairs, sent in ultimatum to the Chinese governsent, demanding reparation for surrendered goods and the imprisonment of British merchants, and security for the right of future British trade. A state of war would exist until all of Britain's demands were satisfied. The expeditionary force was to be organized by the Governor-General of India, Lord Auckland. He began by summoning the 18th Regiment (The Royal Irish) from Ceylon and the 28th Regiment (The Cameronians) from Fort William in Calcutta. They were joined by the 49th Regiment (Hertfordshires) a Bengali volunteer unit [2] , two Madras Artillery companies and two companies of sappers and miners. The land force totalled about 4,000 men. [3] The naval vessels numbered about 20, including three ships-of-the-line, two frigates and several other warships and armed steamers. When pitted against an empire of enormous manpower, such a small expedition was to be used as an army of demonstration. Its primary goal was to awe the Chinese with its force of arms. The expeditionary force was to assemble at the end of April at Singapore, the base of operations for the British fleet in the Far East. One forerunner of the expedition, the 44-gun frigate DRUID, was the first ship to arrive in Hong Kong. [4] Its appearance assured the British civilians that they were not forgotten by their government. Placed in command of the naval squadron was the Honourable Sir George Elliot, a cousin of the Superintendent in China. The two Elliots were to be joint plenipotentiaries of the expedition. Palmerston's instructions to Admiral Elliot were to blockade Canton, occupy Chusin (an archipelago at the south of the Yangtze), deliver a letter to the Minister of China, and to sign an agreement off the south of the Peiho [5] with a representative of the Imperial Government. The use of force was to demonstrate, not to conquer. The blockade of Canton was quickly established. This gesture did not leave such impression on the Imperial Government since the officials in the capital could care less about maritime activities in the South China Sea. The next task was to deliver Palmerston's letter to the Imperial government. It was not delivered in Canton as planned, instead the two plenipotentiaries decided to hand the letter over to Chinese officials on the Island of Amoy, which lies about halfway between Canton and Chusan. The letter was to be delivered by the 42-gun frigate BLONDE, commanded by Capt. Bourchier. A Mr. Thom, a British merchant [6] who understood Chinese, was ordered to approach the Chinese position on board the frigate's cutter, and to deliver the letter to the ranking Imperial official. Them carefully sent out a note explaining the nature of the white flag and the purpose of his visit. Apparently the note had no effect, for when he approached the shore, an angry mob gathered, making menacing gestures. Theo returned without landing. Next morning Thom tried again and this time the mob reacted even more violently. As soon as the envoy got within range, the Chinese fired a fusilade of arrows and cannon shots. The cutter started to withdraw in haste when the BLONDE let loose a broadside of 32-pound shots, killing half a dozen Chinese and putting the remainder to flight. After Them regained the BLONDE, Capt. Bourchier decided to send a message protesting the violence shown the envoy. He slipped the message in a battle, dropped it over the side, and saw a fisherman pick it up. He then set fire to a junk lying nearby and resumed his voyage with the rest of the fleet towards Chusan. The fleet was to rendezvous off Buffalo's Nose (see sap 3), about 30 miles south of Chusan. The whole fleet gathered an July 1st and advanced an Chusan the very next day. Its destination was the port of Tinghai, largest city on the island of Chusan. In Tinghai's harbor there stood a dozen war junks carrying pennants indicating in officer of considerable rank. Commander Brener decided to row over and negotiate. Thee's experience was not repeated, Bremer met with the commander of the Tinghai garrison, Chang Choa-Fa, and demanded the surrender of the Chinese forces. The Chinese commander rejected the English proposition and seemed determined to fight. The next morning the British expected to take Tinghai by force for the Chinese were seen strengthening their defenses. All the English warships took up line about 200 yards from the sea Nall, part broadsides bearing. An invasion force waited behind in longboats, consisting of part of the Caseronians, the grenadiers from the Royal Irish, the Royal Marines and the Madras Artillerymen with two 9-pdrs. They were opposed by Chinese war junks gathered right along the sea wall. By two o'clock, the Chinese showed no sign of surrender. At 20 minutes past the hour, Bremer ordered a single round to be fired an a guard tower. The shot was answered by the Chinese flagship. At once Bremer gave the signal to engage. For 10 minutes the whole British fleet fired away as the amphibious landing force raced toward their objective. British ships had been hit several times and one sailor was wounded. The Chinese had four war junks shot to pieces and the rest badly damaged. By the time the landing team reached the sea wall, the defenders had fled, leaving their dead and wounded. Commander Chang suffered a broken hip and was carried away. The assault force landed without further incidents. The grenadiers of the Royal Irish took Joss-House [7] Hill, which dominated the surrounding fields. A party of the Cameronians and a detachment of the Madras Artillery were entrusted with the task of taking Tinghai, less than a mile assay. They moved with difficulty along a single raised path, but their night advance was uneventful except for some cases of food poisoning and a minor fire in their camp. At first light the next morning the British on Joss House Hill saw streams of Chinese refugees hurrying out of the north gate of the city and guessed correctly that Tinghai had been left undefended. Several young officers ventured toward the south gate, drew no fire, and decided to go for it. They crossed the moat, climbed over the 20-foot high wall on a ladder, cleared the entrance of grain sacks and let in their compatriots. Tinghai became the first British possession in China. Most of the inhabitants left the city with the exception of the magistrate, who committed suicide. At that time the British found the Chinese practice of suicide rather than surrender surprising, but they soon learned in the next few months that suicide was a common Chinese reaction to the occupation of a town by foreigners. While the town was occupied without difficulty, the establishment of a base proved to be the gravest blunder made during the whole campaign. The campsite was chosen without consulting the regimental surgeons. The tents were being pitched in low-lying paddy fields, often surrounded by stagnant water. It was not a healthy environment in the great heat of the Chinese summer. A further error was made by allowing the Chinese to leave town and take their belongings with them. As a result, Tinghai was left an empty city which deprived the British of such-needed supplies and labor. The price for these blunders was to be paid in the coming months. The Opium War Part 1 Introduction The Opening Shot The First Expedition On to the Peiho Battle of the Bogue The Ransom of Canton Back to Table of Contents -- Savage and Soldier Vol. XIX No. 3 Back to Savage and Soldier List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 2004 by Milton Soong. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com