Editing Second Opium War (section)

===Second battle of Canton (1857)===
{{Main|Battle of Canton (1857)}}
[[File:1858, Canton Commissioner Yeh Men.jpg|thumb|The capture of Ye Mingchen after the fall of Canton]]

Throughout 1857, British forces began to assemble in Hong Kong, joined by a French force. In December 1857 they had sufficient ships and men to raise the issue of the non-fulfilment of the treaty obligations by which the right of entry into Canton had been accorded.<ref name="HCRE"/>{{rp|502}}{{better source needed|reason=century old source and conflict of interest|date=January 2022}} Parkes delivered an ultimatum, supported by [[Governor of Hong Kong|Hong Kong governor]] Sir [[John Bowring]] and Admiral Sir [[Michael Seymour (Royal Navy officer)|Michael Seymour]], threatening on 14 December to bombard Canton if the men were not released within 24 hours.<ref name=JYW/>{{Page needed|date=February 2021}}{{sfn|Hevia|2003|pp=32–33}}

The remaining crew of the ''Arrow'' were then released, with no apology from [[Ye Mingchen|Viceroy Ye Mingchen]] who also refused to honour the treaty terms. Seymour, Major General [[Charles van Straubenzee|van Straubenzee]] and Admiral [[Charles Rigault de Genouilly|de Genouilly]] agreed the plan to attack Canton as ordered.<ref name="HCRE">{{cite book |last=Porter |first=Maj Gen Whitworth |title=History of the Corps of Royal Engineers Vol I |year=1889 |publisher=The Institution of Royal Engineers |location=Chatham}}</ref>{{rp|503}} This event came to be known as the ''Arrow'' Incident and provided the alternative name of the ensuing conflict.<ref>Tsai, Jung-fang. [1995] (1995). ''Hong Kong in Chinese History: community and social unrest in the British Colony, 1842–1913''. {{ISBN|0-231-07933-8}}</ref>{{Page needed|date=February 2021}}

[[File:67th Foot taking fort.jpg|thumb|British troops taking a fort in 1860]]
Though the British were delayed by the [[Indian Rebellion of 1857]], they followed up the ''Arrow'' Incident in 1856 and attacked [[Guangzhou]] from the [[Pearl River (China)|Pearl River]]. [[Ye Mingchen|Viceroy Ye Mingchen]] ordered all Chinese soldiers manning the forts not to resist the British incursion. After taking the fort near Canton with little effort, the British Army attacked Canton.{{citation needed|date = September 2015}}

The capture of Canton, on 1 January 1858,<ref name=JYW/>{{page needed|date=November 2021}} a city with a population of over 1,000,000<ref>{{cite web |url=https://sagethoughts.files.wordpress.com/2011/08/the-anglo-french-occupation-of-canton.pdf |title=The Anglo-French Occupation of Canton, 1858–1861 |publisher=Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2022}} by less than 6,000 troops, resulted in the British and French forces suffering 15 killed and 113 wounded. 200–650 of the defenders and inhabitants became casualties.{{citation needed|date = September 2015}} [[Ye Mingchen]] was captured and exiled to [[Kolkata|Calcutta]], India, where he starved himself to death.{{sfn|Hsü|2000|p=207}}

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, there was a possible attempt to poison John Bowring and his family in January, known as the [[Esing Bakery incident]]. However, if it was deliberate, the baker who had been charged with lacing bread with [[arsenic]] bungled the attempt by putting an excess of the poison into the dough, such that his victims vomited sufficient quantities of the poison that they had only a non-lethal dose left in their system. [[Town crier|Criers]] were sent out with an alert, preventing further injury.<ref>John Thomson 1837–1921, [http://irc.aa.tufs.ac.jp/thomson/vol_1/mother/102.html "Chap on Hong Kong"], ''Illustrations of China and Its People'' (London, 1873–1874)</ref>

When known in Britain, the ''Arrow'' incident (and the British military response) became the subject of controversy. The [[British House of Commons]] on 3 March passed a resolution by 263 to 249 against the Government saying:

{{blockquote|That this House has heard with the concern of the conflicts which have occurred between the British and Chinese authorities on the Canton River; and, without expressing an opinion as to the extent to which the Government of China may have afforded this country cause of complaint respecting the non-fulfilment of the Treaty of 1842, this House considers that the papers which have been laid on the table fail to establish satisfactory grounds for the violent measures resorted to at Canton in the late affair of the Arrow, and that a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into the state of our commercial relations with China.<ref>''Speeches on Questions of Public Policy'' by Richard Cobden</ref>{{page needed|date=November 2021}}}}

In response, the Whig Prime Minister [[Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston|Lord Palmerston]] attacked the patriotism of the Whigs who sponsored the resolution, and Parliament was dissolved, causing the [[1857 United Kingdom general election|British general election of March 1857]].{{citation needed|date = September 2015}}

The Chinese issue figured prominently in the election, at which Palmerston won an increased majority, silencing the voices within the [[Whig (British political faction)|Whig faction]] who supported China. The new parliament decided to seek redress from China based on the report about the ''Arrow'' Incident submitted by Harry Parkes. The [[Second French Empire|French Empire]], the [[United States]], and the [[Russian Empire]] received requests from Britain to form an alliance.{{citation needed|date = September 2015}}