On the morning of June 16th， at 6 o"lock， the men-of-war， beingsailing vessels， were towed into position by the steamers， so as to facethe Chinese lines at the short distance of 500 yards or less. While thismanoeuvre was being carried out， the Chinese began hostilities and as aresult of their first volley several of the British ships were hulled， threemen being killed and others severely wounded. As soon as the shipswere in position， how-ever， the British gunners showed their superiorityover the untrained， undisciplined， and badly equipped enemy. Thejunks were easily put to flight， and although the land forces put up abrave resistance， they were completely overwhelmed and compelled toabandon the forts.
When the British landed and advanced to Paoshan， the Chinesetroops in possession of the city retreated towards Soochow.
Viceroy Niu， in command of the Chinese forces， gives thefollowing quaint account of the fray： “Cannon balls innumerable，flying in awful confusion through the expanse of heaven， fell before，behind and on either side of him; while in the distance he saw the shipof the rebels standing erect， lofty as mountains. The fierce daring ofthe rebels was inconceivable; officers and men fell at their posts， everyeffort to resist and stay the onset was in vain， and a retreat becameinevitable.“The Chinese officer who showed the greatest bravery was ChinChang-ming， a Fukienese. He had been 50 years at sea and at the timeof the battle was 76 years of age. Even after the others had fled， heremained at his post undaunted， and assisted in serving the guns. Hisremains were afterwards buried in the City Temple of Shanghai and animage was erected in his memory.
Altogether about 200 Chinese lost their lives in the battle.
Advance on Shanghai
After the fall of the forts， the British ad-vanced on Shanghai byland and water. Lt.-Col. Montgomerie was in charge of a landingdetachment of about 2，000 men which p?oceeded across the fields，encountering no difficulties except those connected with transportingthe heavy guns across the innumerable creeks intersecting the country.
The villagers came out in crowds to see the unwonted sight of welldisciplined foreign troops With horses and artillery quietly makingtheir way to Shanghai， but showed no Unfriendliness.
After a time the detachment struck the Soochow Creek， thenknown as the Woosung River， and arrived at the stone bridge at Sinza，i.e.， “the new lock” or “canal gate.”
Crossing the bridge the troops passed through what is now partof the International Settlement towards the suburbs of the city. Whileso doing they heard the sound of firing on the left and saw a smallnative force in flight. When they came within sight of the walls a fewshots were fired by the defenders but no real resistance was made. Somesoldiers climbed over the wall at the North Gate， and opening it fromthe inside， admitted the troops. Inside the city they found a scene ofgreat confusion， as some of the people were fleeing by the other gatesand a rabble was engaged in looting.
The land force arrived first， but soon after its entry into the citythe masts of the warships on their way up the river came in sight. Thefleet， consisting of four fighting ships and four steamers to tow them，had left Woosung at eight o"clock in the morning， while a fifth steamer，the “Medusa，” conveyed Admiral Parker， Sir Henry Gougn an otherofficers.
There was no sign of opposition until the leading squadron cameopposite the present site of the Hongkew wharves， when it was greetedby a salvo， fired from a battery stationed on what is now the lawn ofthe British Consulate. From this position， Which commanded theapproach to the city， much damage might have been done， but onlya single volley was fired and that at such a distance that the missilesdid not reach the British vessels. The reply of the British silenced thebattery， and the Chinese garrison took to flight. This was the soundof firing that had been heard by the land force after crossing the SinzaBridge.
The ships passed on， finding plenty of water and dropped theiranchors in nine fathoms. A landing was effected close to the city， but aparty under Captain Cunynghame went ashore some distance from thewall near a temple， which was afterwards converted into the CustomHouse and which stood on The Bund until it was torn down to giveplace to the building erected in 1893.
In the city all signs of authority had vanished. Looting was theorder of the day and rich prizes were obtained from the pawn shops. Atfirst some of the British troops also engaged in plunder， and carried ona brisk trade selling their ill-gotten gains to the Chinese on the waterfront and over the walls of the city. This lasted， however， only untilstrong patrols of British troops were sent to restore order. After thatthe people who remained in the city went about their usual businesswithout disturbance， and there was no further fear of violence.
While the force occupied Shanghai. a survey of the upperWhangpoo River was made by a part of the fleet as far as the vicinityof Soochow. and Admiral Parker and some of his officers paid a visit toSungkiang.
The occupation of Shanghai lasted for only a week. On June 23rdit was evacuated， and the forces left to take part in the expedition upthe Yangtze. Some attempts were made by the Chinese to enter intonegotiations， but the British postponed the final settlement until theconclusion of the expedition.