July 19, 1864 · Jiangsu Province Theater
July 19, 1864
After two years of siege, Nanjing — the Taiping Heavenly Capital — fell on July 19, 1864. Hong Xiuquan had died on June 1, possibly of illness, possibly by suicide with poison, leaving his teenage son as nominal Heavenly King. Li Xiucheng organized the final defense with increasingly scarce supplies and a garrison weakened by disease and starvation. Zeng Guoquan's forces detonated mines beneath the city walls and breached the fortifications on July 19. What followed was one of the largest mass killings in Chinese history: Zeng Guofan reported to the Qing court that not a single Taiping surrendered — 'those who have surrendered belong to another category' — meaning the Hunan Army massacred virtually every defender and large portions of the civilian population. Estimates of those killed in the fall and immediate aftermath range from 30,000 to 100,000.
Commanders