The Second Opium War: British, French, Russian and American troops landing at Taku, 21 August 1860; Signing of the Peace Treaty; and Bombardment of the Taku Forts by the British and French ships

Three years into the Second Opium War, which would result in a second defeat for the Qing Empire, hostilities opened once again in June 1859 as British, American and French ships tried to force their way up the heavily defended Pei-ho (today the Hai River) and past the Taku forts in order to establish their diplomatic legations in Peking. On 21 August 1860, a joint allied force mounted an attack on the five Taku forts on the banks of the Pei-ho, probably the subject of these three watercolours. After a number of hours of heavy fighting, a truce was agreed between the two sides in order to remove the dead and wounded. A Franco-British delegation was dispatched to the small village of Shuiku, where the officials met with the viceroy of Petcheli. Following the agreement, the Chinese forces evacuated the forts and withdrew to Tien-tsin before retiring to Peking. On 22 August, the allied forces crossed the Pei-ho and occupied the remaining Taku forts on the north bank. The route to Tien-tsin lay open. Prior to the allied arrival in Tien-tsin, on 31 August, two Chinese plenipotentiaries arrived to open peace negotiations. On 7 September, after a week of discussions based on the same articles as the Treaty of Tien-tsin from 1858, the signing fell through when it transpired that the Chinese ambassadors did not have the capacity to engage with the imperial court. The negotiations had been merely a delaying tactic to allow the Chinese emperor to organise the defence of Peking. Anglo-French forces would enter Peking on 6 October, and Lord Elgin ordered the burning of the Summer Palaces on 18 October. The Convention of Peking which followed legalised the opium trade and conceded Kowloon to the British.