2-979-068 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

Plan of the Attack on the Forts and Batteries of Canton, Nov.12 and 13, 1856, (1857). British naval officer: '...we have had a job to take some forts called the Bocca Tigris, containing 500 of the largest guns I ever saw - none less than ten inches bore, and some of the brass ones thirteen inches. We towed the Nankin into action, the [H.M.S.] Barracouta towed the Calcutta (the flag-ship). After two hours' firing we manned boats of squadron, and took the two large forts on Wanlong Island, containing 100 guns each. The moment the men got on shore the Chinese took to their boats, and those the boats would not hold took to the water. An immense number of them were drowned from its being spring tide; many were picked up in our boats and landed. We began the action on the 12th at seven a.m., and finished it yesterday by noon, with very little harm done to us or the ships'. From "Illustrated London News", 1857.