January 7, 1841 · Pearl River Delta Theater

The first major naval engagement of the First Opium War. British warships under Commodore Gordon Bremer destroyed a Chinese war junk squadron and captured the Chuenpee fort guarding the Pearl River approach to Canton. The Chinese defenders fought bravely but were outgunned by British steam-powered vessels and superior naval gunnery.

February 26, 1841 · Pearl River Delta Theater

British forces broke through the Bogue (Humen) Forts, the last major defensive line protecting Canton from the sea. Admiral Guan Tianpei, the Qing naval commander, refused to retreat despite the hopelessness of his position and died in command. British warships silenced the forts' guns in less than two hours.

May 27, 1841 · Pearl River Delta Theater

British forces under Hugh Gough stormed the heights overlooking Canton and compelled the Qing governor to pay a $6 million ransom to spare the city. Though technically a British victory, the ensuing Convention of Chuenpi satisfied neither side and fighting resumed within months. Local Cantonese organized anti-British militia that continued resistance for years.

August 26, 1841 · East China Coast Theater

British forces captured the important southern port of Amoy (Xiamen), defended by 9,000 Qing troops and 500 cannon. The battle was decided within three hours by naval bombardment coordinating fire from multiple directions simultaneously — a tactic the Qing defenders could not answer. The port's arsenal and harbor infrastructure were seized intact.

October 1, 1841 · East China Coast Theater

British forces recaptured Chusan Island, which had been evacuated under diplomatic pressure earlier in the year. The island became the main British staging base for the assault up the Yangtze River. Its deep harbor and sheltered anchorage made it ideal for assembling the fleet and land forces that would deliver the war's decisive blows.

May 18, 1842 · East China Coast Theater

British forces assaulted the walled city of Chapu defended by approximately 3,000 Manchu bannermen — the Qing's elite hereditary soldiers. The Manchu garrison, understanding that surrender meant social disgrace, fought to near extinction. Several hundred Manchu soldiers and their families killed themselves rather than surrender — the first indication that the Qing's Manchu core would resist to the death regardless of military logic.

June 16, 1842 · East China Coast Theater

British naval forces silenced the Woosung (Wusong) shore batteries guarding the Huangpu River approach to Shanghai. The fortifications had been strengthened with guidance from a visiting British merchant who ironically helped China improve defenses his own nation would destroy. The Woosung guns fell silent within ninety minutes of sustained British naval fire.

July 21, 1842 · Yangtze River Theater

The most bitterly contested battle of the First Opium War. British forces stormed Chinkiang (Zhenjiang), defended by a Manchu garrison that chose mass death over surrender — more than 1,000 Manchu soldiers and family members died in the fighting or took their own lives. The battle severed the Grand Canal at its Yangtze crossing, immediately threatening to cut Beijing's food supply and forcing the Qing court to accept negotiations.

January 5, 1858 · Pearl River Delta Theater

An Anglo-French force captured Canton at the opening of the Second Opium War following Commissioner Yeh Mingchen's defiant refusal to receive foreign ambassadors or make any concessions. Yeh — who had refused all communication with the British delegation for two years — was captured in his study surrounded by food, apparently believing in a prophecy that British forces would withdraw in fifteen days. He was shipped to Calcutta.

May 20, 1858 · North China Theater

Anglo-French forces stormed the Taku (Dagu) Forts guarding the Beihe River approach to Tianjin — and Beijing beyond. The forts fell in a single day, opening the road to the capital and compelling the Qing government to negotiate the Treaty of Tientsin. For the first time in the war, European forces threatened Beijing itself.

June 25, 1859 · North China Theater

China's only significant military victory of the entire Opium War era. The Qing garrison had rebuilt and significantly strengthened the Taku Forts, adding iron obstacles in the river channel. When British Admiral Hope led a gunboat assault without adequate reconnaissance, the attack was repulsed with heavy British casualties — 464 killed or wounded, including Hope himself. American Commodore Josiah Tattnall violated U.S. neutrality to rescue British sailors, uttering his famous line: 'Blood is thicker than water.'

August 21, 1860 · North China Theater

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.

September 21, 1860 · North China Theater

The final major battle of the Opium Wars. An Anglo-French force of 8,000 men destroyed the last Qing army defending the road to Beijing at the Palikao Bridge. General Sengge Rinchen's cavalry, armed with weapons generations behind their opponents, charged British and French lines in repeated assaults and was systematically destroyed by rifle and artillery fire. Emperor Xianfeng fled Beijing that same day with the imperial household, leaving his brother Prince Gong to negotiate the surrender.