The Battle of Changsha was fought in the early years of the

Taiping Rebellion The Taiping Rebellion, also known as the Taiping Civil War or the Taiping Revolution, was a massive rebellion and civil war that was waged in China between the Manchu-led Qing dynasty and the Han, Hakka-led Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. It lasted fr ...

throughout 1852. After defeating Qing forces in

Guangxi Guangxi (; ; Chinese postal romanization, alternately romanized as Kwanghsi; ; za, Gvangjsih, italics=yes), officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (GZAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the People's Republic ...

, the Taipings advanced into neighboring

Hunan province Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi t ...

. The city was heavily defended and a delay in the Taiping advance allowed Qing forces to reinforce the city. The first attempt to advance north was stopped at an ambush at the Suoyi ford in the

Xiang River The Xiang River is the chief river of the Lake Dongting drainage system of the middle Yangtze, the largest river in Hunan Province, China. It is the 2nd largest tributary (after Min River) in terms of surface runoff, the 5th largest tributar ...

, where over 10,000 Taiping sailors and soldiers were killed. The Taiping army recruited miners from the local area to build

siege tunnels A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...

in an effort to breach the city walls. However, only three of the ten tunnels built ended up reaching the walls. Eventually, most of the surrounding area and rivers were captured by the Taiping rebels. In September, the West King

Xiao Chaogui Xiao Chaogui (; 1820 – September 1852) was an important leader during the early years of the Taiping Rebellion against the Qing dynasty of China. He was a sworn brother to Hong Xiuquan, the leader of the Taipings, and claimed to serve as a mout ...

attempted to boost morale by hoisting banners and donning his royal robes on the battlefield, but was spotted by a Qing gunner and killed. With the death of one of the original Kings, by November, Hong Xiuquan called off the siege and Taiping forces continued north down the Xiang river towards

Wuchang Wuchang forms part of the urban core of and is one of 13 urban districts of the prefecture-level city of Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. It is the oldest of the three cities that merged into modern-day Wuhan, and stood on the ri ...

Hubei Hubei (; ; alternately Hupeh) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, and is part of the Central China region. The name of the province means "north of the lake", referring to its position north of Dongting Lake. The prov ...

Later engagements

In 1855, the Taiping

Western Expedition The Western Expedition () was a campaign by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom against the Qing dynasty during the Taiping Rebellion. Planning The Western Expedition was conceived by Yang Xiuqing shortly after the fall of Nanjing. It was intended to ...

succeeded in capturing Changsha and much of Hunan. However, in 1856,

Zeng Guofan Zeng Guofan, Marquis Yiyong (; 26 November 1811 – 12 March 1872), birth name Zeng Zicheng, courtesy name Bohan, was a Chinese statesman and military general of the late Qing dynasty. He is best known for raising and organizing the Xiang A ...

’s

Xiang Army 150px, Zeng Guofan, the leader of the Xiang Army The Xiang Army or Hunan Army () was a standing army organized by Zeng Guofan from existing regional and village militia forces called '' tuanlian'' to contain the Taiping Rebellion in Qing China ...

retook Hunan for the Qing dynasty.

References

{{coord missing, Hunan

Changsha Changsha (; ; ; Changshanese pronunciation: (), Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is the capital and the largest city of Hunan Province of China. Changsha is the 17th most populous city in China with a population of over 10 million, an ...

1852 in China Changsha