The Taku Forts (or Dagu Fort; Chinese: 大沽船坞; pinyin: dagu paotai) are forts located by the Hai He (Peiho River) estuary, in Tanggu District , Tianjin municipality, in northeastern China. They are located 60 km southeast of Tianjin City.

History

The first fort was built during the reign of the Ming Emperor, Jiajing, between 1522 and 1527. Its purpose was to protect Tianjin from foreign invasions. During the Opium Wars it was expanded and five big forts and 20 smaller ones were built.

Most of them were dismantled when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded China. Two forts remain today, one on the southern southern bank and the other on the northern bank of the Hai He. Dagu Fort was repaired in 1988 and opened to the public in June 1997.

Second Opium War

In 1856 Chinese soldiers boarded The Arrow, a Chinese-owned ship registered in Hong Kong flying the British flag and suspected of piracy, smuggling and of being engaged in the opium trade. They captured 12 men and imprisoned them. In response the British and French sent gunboats under the command of Admiral Sir Michael Seymour to capture the Taku Forts in May 1858. In June 1858, at the end of the first part of the Second Opium War, the Treaties of Tianjin were signed, which opened Tianjin to foreign trade.

In 1859, after China refused to allow the setting up of Foreign legations in Beijing, a naval force under the command of Admiral Sir James Hope attacked the forts guarding the mouth of the Peiho river. It was severely mauled and forced to withdraw under the cover of fire from an American naval squadron commanded by Commodore Josiah Tattnall.

In 1860, an Anglo-French force gathered at Hong Kong and then carried out a landing at Pei Tang on August 1, and a successful assault on the Taku Forts on August 21. On September 26, the force arrived at Beijing and had captured the city by October 6.

Soldiers who took part in Taku Forts assaults include

• Nathaniel Burslem - August 21, 1860
• Andrew Fitzgibbon - August 21, 1860
• Thomas Lane - August 21, 1860
• John McDougall (VC) - August 21, 1860
• Robert Montresor Rogers - August 21, 1860
• Edward Hobart Seymour - August 21, 1860
• John Worthy Chaplin - August 21, 1860

External links

• TAKU FORTS 1860