The First rout of the Jiangnan Battalion () took place between 1853 and 1856 when the Qing government raised the

Green Standard Army The Green Standard Army (; Manchu: ''niowanggiyan turun i kūwaran'') was the name of a category of military units under the control of Qing dynasty in China. It was made up mostly of ethnic Han soldiers and operated concurrently with the Manchu ...

to fight against the

Taiping Heavenly Kingdom The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, later shortened to the Heavenly Kingdom or Heavenly Dynasty, was an unrecognised rebel kingdom in China and a Chinese Christian theocratic absolute monarchy from 1851 to 1864, supporting the overthrow of the Q ...

. The action involved Qing forces surrounding the city of

Nanking Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...

, the capital of the

First rout of the Jiangnan Army Group

After the

militia successfully occupied Nanking in the southern territory of

Jiangnan Jiangnan or Jiang Nan (; formerly romanized Kiang-nan, literally "South of the River" meaning "South of the Yangtze") is a geographic area in China referring to lands immediately to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, incl ...

, within ten days First Class Senior Gen.

Xiang Rong Xiang Rong (; 18019August 1856) was a Chinese military general and politician. He was born in Wuxi County, Chongqing, and was promoted from the rank of a foot soldier during the later years of the Qing dynasty (16361912). He was involved in early ...

, in command of 10,000

troops, surrounded the walls of the city. The remnants of the former Qing garrison defending Nanjing were barricaded outside city walls inside the

Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum The Ming Xiaoling () is the mausoleum of the Hongwu Emperor, the founder of the Ming dynasty. It lies at the southern foot of Purple Mountain, located east of the historical centre of Nanjing. Legend says that in order to prevent robbery of the to ...

. Alongside Xiang Rong, the

was led by Second Class Senior Gen. Her Chyun and Lt. Gen.

Zhang Guoliang Zhang Guoliang (; 1810 – April 1860), born in Guangdong, was a Field Marshal for the Qing dynasty. He was born in Gaoyao, Zhaoqing, Guangdong, China, although Qing state that he is from Meixian, Guangdong. He was originally a bandit in Guangxi ...

. The leaders of the Taiping forces were

Shi Dakai Shi Dakai (1 March 1831 – 25 June 1863; ), born in Guigang, Guangxi, also known as Wing King () or phonetically translated as Yi-Wang, was one of the most highly acclaimed leaders in the Taiping Rebellion and a poet. Early life Shi Dakai wa ...

Yang Xiuqing Yang Xiuqing () (died September 2/3, 1856), was an organizer and commander-in-chief of the Taiping Rebellion. Early life Yang Xiuqing's family were farmers from Xincun near Jintian, Guangxi, but he lost his parents at a young age. According ...

Qin Rigang Qin Rigang (秦日綱, 1821 – 1856), né Qin Richang (秦日昌), was a Hakka military leader of the Taiping Rebellion, known during his military tenure as the King of Yen (燕王). He served under Hong Xiuquan's Taiping Administration and led ...

() and

Li Xiucheng Li Xiucheng (; 1823 – August 7, 1864) was a military rebel commander opposing the Qing dynasty during the Taiping Rebellion. He was born to a peasant family. In 1864, he was captured and interrogated following the third and final Battle of ...

. The

regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a standin ...

numbered 80,000 troops and the Taiping Rebellion militia force had 460,000 men.

Outcome

On June 1 the Nanjing army tried to stop Taiping forces but

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an eastern coastal province of the People's Republic of China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its ca ...

Jeer Hungar (), the Mayor of Nanjing and their entire army of 7,800 were totally wiped out, with Jeer Hungar being killed by an artillery bomb. The Qing army lost another battle later in the month and the remaining 36,000 troops retreated north. On August 9

committed suicide by hanging himself, although others claimed he had a fatal overdose of opium due to the pain of his battle wounds in Danyang.

References

Draft History of Qing The ''Draft History of Qing'' () is a draft of the official history of the Qing dynasty compiled and written by a team of over 100 historians led by Zhao Erxun who were hired by the Beiyang government of the Republic of China. The draft was publ ...

*1. Tucker, Spencer (2017). ''The Roots and Consequences of Civil Wars and Revolutions: Conflicts That Changed World History''. Santa Barbara, California: ProQuest. pp. 225. {{ISBN, 9781440842948. *2. Wacks, Gabriel (2018).
"All Under Heaven: The Royal Court of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom"
'. pp. 31–32. *3. ^ Tucker, pp. 228.

Foreign relations of the Qing dynasty 1856 in China

History of Nanjing Green Standard Army

First rout of the Jiangnan Army Group

Outcome

See also

References