{{Infobox military conflict | conflict = Battle of Chapu | partof = the First Opium War | image = Capture of Chapoo.jpg | image_size = 300 | caption = Map of the battle of Chapu | date = 18 May 1842 | place = Zhapu, Zhejiang, China | coordinates = {{coord|30|36|22|N|121|5|46|E|display=title}} | result = British victory | combatant1 = {{flagcountry|UKGBI}} *{{flagicon image|Flag of the British East India Company (1801).svg}} British East India Company | combatant2 = {{flagicon image|Flag of China (1862–1889).svg|border=no}} Qing China | commander1 = {{plainlist| *Hugh Gough *William Parker *Nicholas Tomlinson{{KIA}}}} | commander2 = Changxi | strength1 = {{plainlist| *8 ships<ref>''Bulletins of State Intelligence'' 1842, pp. 918–920</ref> *2,220 land troops<ref>Rait 1903, p. 263</ref>}} | strength2 = 8,000–10,000 troops<ref>''Bulletins of State Intelligence'' 1842, p. 916</ref> | casualties1 = {{plainlist| *13 killed<ref name="p. 265">Rait 1903, p. 265</ref> *42 wounded<ref name="p. 265" />}} | casualties2 = {{plainlist| *1,200–1,500 casualties<ref name="p. 265" /> *14 junks captured<ref>''Bulletins of State Intelligence'' 1842, p. 918</ref>}} | notes = }} {{chinese |t={{linktext|乍浦|之|戰}} |s={{linktext|乍浦|之|战}} |p=Zhàpǔ zhī Zhàn }}
The '''Battle of Chapu''' was fought between British and Qing forces at Chapu (present-day Zhapu) on the northern shore of Hangzhou Bay during the First Opium War.
== Battle == Before the attack, the British commander, Major General Hugh Gough divided his forces into three: a column of infantry on the left (863 men) and right (969 men), with artillery in the centre. Gough accompanied the right column, which landed first on May 16. The remaining troops moved round to the rear of the enemy thereby cutting their communications with Zhapu. Meanwhile, the accompanying steamers began a bombardment of the city's defences. In Gough's own words: "The enemy were completely taken by surprise; as usual, they were unprepared for anything except a frontal attack. They gave way on all sides and took to flight, with the exception of a body of some 300 Tartar troops who seized a small joss-house, and held it with indomitable pluck and perseverance."<ref>Rait 1903, p. 264</ref>
Multiple assaults proved necessary to capture the joss-house with casualties suffered on both sides; eventually it fell and after each of the gates had been captured, the city fell to the British. Not without cost — as Gough lost one of his most accomplished field commanders, Lieutenant Colonel Nicholas Tomlinson, who was killed personally leading a breaching party of the 18th (Royal Irish) Regiment of Foot.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Battle of|first1=Chapu|title=Online Collection National Army Museum, London|url=https://collection.nam.ac.uk/detail.php?acc=1957-05-3-1|website=collection.nam.ac.uk|accessdate=14 June 2017|language=en}}</ref>
== Aftermath == The British did not remain in Zhapu long. They captured the city's ordnance and destroyed its arsenals before moving on to attack Wusong.<ref>Rait 1903, p. 266</ref>
Hailing, the Manchu commander at Zhenjiang, received the report of Zhapu's surrender on June 18.<ref>Elliott, Mark (June 1990). "[http://scholar.harvard.edu/files/elliott/files/elliott_bannerman_and_townsman.pdf Bannerman and Townsman: Ethnic Tension in Nineteenth-Century Jiangnan]". ''Late Imperial China'' '''11''' (1): 51.</ref> The Manchus committed mass suicide{{where?|date=September 2016}} while the Han Chinese discussed the situation with the British.<ref name="p. 265" /> When hostilities{{which|date=September 2016}} ceased, Chinese official Yilibu returned sixteen kidnapped British soldiers to Gough in "recognition of his courtesy in releasing the Chinese captured at Chapoo".{{Clarify|date=September 2016}}
== Gallery == <gallery> File:Engagement at joss-house.jpg | Engagement at the joss house File:Joss House, Chapoo 1842.jpg | ''Joss House, Chapoo. Death of Col. Tomlinson'' File:Close of the attack on Chapoo.jpg|Close of the attack on Chapu </gallery>
== References == ===Citations=== {{reflist}}
===Bibliography=== *''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ttU1AAAAMAAJ Bulletins of State Intelligence]''. Westminster: F. Watts. 1842. *Rait, Robert S. (1903). ''[https://archive.org/details/cu31924088002120 The Life and Campaigns of Hugh, First Viscount Gough, Field-Marshal]''. Volume 1. Westminster: Archibald Constable.
{{Opium in China}}
Category:1842 in China Chapu Chapu Chapu Category:May 1842 Category:Mass suicides Category:Amphibious operations involving the United Kingdom Chapu Category:History of Jiaxing