August 21, 1860 · North China Theater
August 21, 1860
An Anglo-French force of 17,000 men delivered the decisive campaign of the Second Opium War. Rather than repeating the failed frontal naval assault, the allied commanders landed infantry to attack the Taku Forts from the landward side while the navy engaged from the river. The Qing garrison was overwhelmed in a coordinated assault. The road to Beijing lay open.
Commanders