March 1862 · Jiangsu Province Theater
March 1862
The Taiping Loyal King Li Xiucheng launched a massive offensive in early 1862, sweeping through Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces with forces estimated at over 100,000 men in an attempt to seize Shanghai and its foreign-trade revenues. Li's forces came within miles of the city's walls on multiple occasions. The defense was mounted by a combination of Li Hongzhang's newly organized Huai Army, the small Western-officered Ever Victorious Army under American mercenary Frederick Townsend Ward, and British and French forces protecting the foreign settlements. Ward's EVA, equipped with modern artillery and drilled in Western tactics, proved highly effective in combination with the larger Chinese forces. The Taiping advance was eventually halted, and the foreign powers effectively committed themselves to Qing survival.
Commanders