Battle of Ningpo facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Battle of Ningpo
Part of the First Opium War
A British illustration of the battle of Ningpo
Date 10 March 1842 Location Ningbo (Ningpo), Zhejiang, China Result British victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom British East India Company	Qing China
Commanders and leaders
Sir Hugh Gough	Yijing
Strength
700	3,000
Casualties and losses
5 wounded	500–600 killed

The Battle of Ningpo was an important fight during the First Opium War. It happened when Chinese forces tried to take back the city of Ningbo (also called Ningpo) from the British. The British had captured Ningbo easily after winning a battle nearby. A Chinese army, led by Prince Yijing, tried to get the city back. But they were defeated and many Chinese soldiers were hurt or killed. The British eventually left Ningbo the next spring.

Why the Battle Happened: Background of Ningbo

Before the First Opium War started, Ningbo was a big city with about 250,000 people. British warships from the Royal Navy often visited it.

British Sailors Captured

In September 1840, after the war began, a British warship called HMS Kite got stuck near Ningbo. The sailors who survived were captured by Chinese forces. They were paraded through the city and countryside in small cages. This harsh treatment of the captured sailors made the British soldiers angry when they later occupied Ningbo.

British Capture Ningbo

The next year, in October 1841, the British won a tough fight at Chinhai. After this victory, they sent a ship called HMS Nemesis up the Yong River. They wanted to see if their big ships could sail on it. When they found out the river was deep enough, a British fleet sailed to Ningbo.

On October 13, British troops marched into Ningbo without any fighting. They played music and took over the city. Capturing Ningbo was a step in the British plan to attack Nanjing (Nanking). Their bigger goal was to capture Beijing (Peking) by moving up the Grand Canal.

British Control of Ningbo

When the British took over Ningbo, some soldiers were very angry about how the Kite sailors had been treated. They started to take things from the city without permission. However, many British leaders stopped their soldiers from doing this.

Changes in the City

The British burned down the prison where the Kite sailors had been held. They also took the city's money, which was a lot – over £160,000. They also made people pay 10% more in taxes.

Because the Ningbo police had left, local Chinese criminals also took things and demanded money from people. Many citizens were angry and showed it by throwing trash at British soldiers who were alone. The British commanders, Sir William Parker and Sir Hugh Gough, said they did not approve of the looting or bad treatment of Ningbo citizens.

However, Anglo-Irish soldier Sir Henry Pottinger arrived in January 1842. He was happy about taking things from the city. He ordered that all Chinese ships, food, and other property be taken. This included the bell from the main Pagoda, which was sent to India as a prize.

New Rules and Spies

Pottinger also put a German missionary named Karl Gutzlaff in charge of the city's laws. Gutzlaff made sure the new rules were followed strictly. He even hired spies to watch the city and its people. This helped British officials charge higher taxes to richer citizens. The British also opened the public grain storage. They sold grain to local people at low prices.

Chinese Plans to Retake Ningbo

After losing Ningbo, the Daoguang Emperor sent his cousin, Prince Yijing, to Suzhou (Soochow). His job was to gather men to take back the city and "drive the English into the sea." But most of these new soldiers were not well trained or ready for battle.

Despite this, Prince Yijing ordered his army to attack. They had several small fights with British troops outside Ningbo, but they lost every time. The Chinese camp became very strict about security. They feared British spies and wanted to keep anyone disloyal away from Prince Yijing.

Plans were made to recapture the city and destroy the British warships in the Yung River. One strange idea was to tie firecrackers to monkeys and throw them onto the ships! Another idea was to use fire rafts to set the warships on fire. Both of these plans were dropped before the actual battle.

The Battle of Ningbo

Prince Yijing led over 3,000 Chinese soldiers in the attack on Ningbo. The original plan was to attack with nearly 50,000 troops, but most of them did not arrive in time. The British force in the city was also small, with fewer than 700 soldiers.

Warning and First Shots

However, the Chinese attack plan was discovered. A group of local boys who were friends with the British warned them about the coming attack.

On March 10, around 4:00 AM, a British guard saw a Chinese soldier moving towards the western city gate. The guard shouted "Wei lo" (which means "go away" in Cantonese). The soldier finally replied "Wei loa moa" (meaning "will not go") before being shot and killed. Some Chinese soldiers had misunderstood their orders and only had knives during the battle.

Attacks on the Gates

The Chinese attacked the southern and eastern city walls. They pushed back the British soldiers at the southern city gate. At the western city gate, Chinese soldiers led by Tuan Yu-Fang approached the walls. They saw that the gate was open and seemed unguarded, so Tuan ordered them to capture it.

But the British had a trick. They had placed bombs under the gate and left it open on purpose. This was to make it look like they were not defending it. When the Chinese soldiers entered, the bombs exploded. One hundred attacking Chinese soldiers were killed in the blast. This forced them to stop their attack there.

Meanwhile, at the southern city gate, the Chinese attackers had pushed the British soldiers back into the city streets. But 150 British soldiers, led by Sir Hugh Gough, fought back. The British used a cannon right in the city street. The Chinese were forced to retreat. They had between 500 and 600 soldiers killed, while the British had only 5 wounded. Historians have noted that heavy rains and mud made it hard for the Chinese to bring in more soldiers quickly during the battle.

What Happened After: Aftermath

After the battle, the British stayed in Ningbo until the next spring. Before leaving, they took things from the city one last time. The defeated Chinese armies went back to the town of Cicheng (Tz’uch’i), which was eighteen miles north of Ningbo.

Challenges and Changes

The wounds suffered by Chinese soldiers, from shrapnel and bullets, were very hard to treat. During the final part of the British control, crime in Ningbo increased a lot. Parts of the city were even set on fire. The British government punished many local citizens who were found guilty of these crimes.

The Treaty of Nanking in 1842 officially ended the war. This treaty said that Ningbo would become one of five "treaty ports". These ports would always be open for foreign trade. After the war, Ningbo became part of the British sphere of influence in China.