The Broadway expedition was a British military expedition that explored the Broadway River (present-day

Xi River The Xi River (; ) or Si-Kiang is the western tributary of the Pearl River in southern China. It is formed by the confluence of the Gui and Xun Rivers in Wuzhou, Guangxi. It originates from the eastern foot of the Maxiong Mountain in Qujing ...

) in

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...

province, China, on 13–15 March 1841 during the

First Opium War The First Opium War (), also known as the Opium War or the Anglo-Sino War was a series of military engagements fought between Britain and the Qing dynasty of China between 1839 and 1842. The immediate issue was the Chinese enforcement of the ...

. The river was also called the ''Inner Passage'' or ''Macao Passage'' as it served as an intricate channel from the Portuguese colony of

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

to the Chinese city of Canton (Guangzhou). The expedition was the first time a European vessel traversed the passage, and was believed by the Chinese to be inaccessible to foreigners due to the shallowness and intricacy of the channel as well as the forts along the banks. The iron steamship ''

Nemesis In ancient Greek religion, Nemesis, also called Rhamnousia or Rhamnusia ( grc, Ῥαμνουσία, Rhamnousía, the goddess of Rhamnous), was the goddess who personifies retribution, a central concept in the Greek world view. Etymology The n ...

'' had a shallow draught of , which was a major advantage in navigating the river.Bernard & Hall 1847, p. 138 Despite being over 600

tons burden Tons can refer to: * Tons River, a major river in India * Tamsa River, locally called Tons in its lower parts (Allahabad district, Uttar pradesh, India). * the plural of ton, a unit of mass, force, volume, energy or power :* short ton, 2,000 pound ...

, the ship was able to navigate through a river that frequently had less than 6 feet of water and through mud in areas of only . Operations began on the morning of 13 March in Macao.Bernard & Hall 1847, p. 139 Captain James Scott commanded the fleet, which consisted of HMS ''Samarang'' and the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

steamships ''Nemesis'' and ''Atlanta''. A further three boats accompanied the ''Nemesis''; two from the ''Samarang'' and one from the ''Atlanta''. On board the ''Nemesis'' of Captain William Hall was Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent of British Trade

Charles Elliot Admiral Sir Charles Elliot (15 August 1801 – 9 September 1875) was a British Royal Navy officer, diplomat, and colonial administrator. He became the first Administrator of Hong Kong in 1841 while serving as both Plenipotentiary and Chief S ...

, Deputy Superintendent of Trade Alexander Johnston, and interpreters John Morrison and Robert Thom. A British officer wrote that the interpreters' "knowledge of the language and their good judgment frequently enlisted in our favour the people of the country, who might have offered great annoyance, and they were often able to mitigate the hardships even of war itself."

Forts captured

List of forts captured (and the number of guns) in chronological order on 13 March: *Motow – 13 *Tei-yat-kok – 12 to 14Bernard & Hall 1847, p. 141 *Houchung – 14 to 15; defended by nine war

junks A junk (Chinese: 船, ''chuán'') is a type of Chinese sailing ship with fully battened sails. There are two types of junk in China: northern junk, which developed from Chinese river boats, and southern junk, which developed from Austronesian ...

of which seven were destroyed and two escaped; 28 guns capturedBernard & Hall 1847, p. 142 *Fie-shu-kok – 7 Further up the river, the fleet reached the trading town of Heangshan (

Zhongshan Zhongshan (; ) is a prefecture-level city in the south of the Pearl River Delta in Guangdong province, China. As of the 2020 census, the whole city with 4,418,060 inhabitants is now part of the Guangzhou–Shenzhen conurbation with 65,565,622 i ...

). The ''Nemesis'' was in chase of the two junks, which had earlier escaped and were followed by several

mandarin Mandarin or The Mandarin may refer to: Language * Mandarin Chinese, branch of Chinese originally spoken in northern parts of the country ** Standard Chinese or Modern Standard Mandarin, the official language of China ** Taiwanese Mandarin, Stand ...

boats. One junk was captured; it carried four guns.Bernard & Hall 1847, p. 143 *Sheongchap – 8 On 14 March: *Kong-how (or Hong-how) – 9 On 15 March: *One war junk – 7Bernard & Hall 1847, p. 146

Gallery

File:Canton River and adjacent islands.jpg, Map showing the track of the ''Nemesis'' from Macao and the forts captured File:Macao Passage.jpg, ''Macao Passage, Canton River''

References

{{reflist

Bibliography

*Bernard, William Dallas; Hall, William Hutcheon (1847).
The Nemesis in China
' (3rd ed.). London: Henry Colburn. *Bingham, John Elliot (1843).
Narrative of the Expedition to China
' (2nd ed.). Volume 2. London: Henry Colburn.

Forts captured

Gallery

References

Bibliography

Further reading