The Battle of Shanghai (太平軍二攻上海) was a major engagement of the Taiping Rebellion that occurred from June 1861 to July 1862. British and French troops used modern artillery on a large scale for the first time in China. Cannon-fire inflicted heavy casualties on the Taiping forces, whose commander Li Xiucheng was wounded in the left leg by a shot fired from a cannon.
Shanghai had been occupied by the initial wave of the Taiping Rebellion in 1851 but...
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The Battle of Shanghai (太平軍二攻上海) was a major engagement of the Taiping Rebellion that occurred from June 1861 to July 1862. British and French troops used modern artillery on a large scale for the first time in China. Cannon-fire inflicted heavy casualties on the Taiping forces, whose commander Li Xiucheng was wounded in the left leg by a shot fired from a cannon.
Shanghai had been occupied by the initial wave of the Taiping Rebellion in 1851 but was recovered by the Qing in February 1853.
In June 1860, a Taiping army of 20,000 led by Lai Wenguang had attacked Shanghai and reoccupied it for five months before withdrawing. In early 1861, Li Xiucheng was in control of Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces, commanding over 600,000 Taiping troops. He aimed to capture the large but isolated city, one of the most important cities under the Qing government and home to an international port. At Li Xiucheng's request the UK and France had promised to maintain neutrality.
By 11 June 1861, the Taiping...
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