| Western Expedition | |||||||||
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| Part of Taiping Rebellion | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
.svg){kind=small} Qing dynasty | Taiping Heavenly Kingdom | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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The Western Expedition (Chinese: 太平天國西征) was a campaign by the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom against the Qing dynasty during the Taiping Rebellion.
The Western Expedition was conceived by Yang Xiuqing shortly after the fall of Nanjing.[1] It was intended to march along the Yangtze River and ultimately meet with the concurrent Northern Expedition in Sichuan.[2] The Taiping believed that such a pincer movement could capture all of western and northern China.[3] It was also intended to, in conjunction with the Northern Expedition, relieve pressure on the Taiping's holdings caused by the Qing's formation of the Northern and Southern Fronts.[4]
The Western Expedition left Nanjing on May 19, 1853.[5] Less than a month later, it recaptured the city of Anqing on June 10, 1853.[6] At that point, the expedition split into three separate armies.[7] The first army, led by Hu Yiguang, traveled north to conquer Anhui.[8] The second, led by Lai Hanying, traveled south to conquer Jiangxi. The third, led by Zeng Tianyang, attacked a number of cities south of the Yangtze.[9] Hu Yinguang successfully captured Luzhou, the government's new capital of Anhui, on January 14, 1854.[10] In doing so, Hu defeated a small force led by Jiang Zhongyuan, who subsequently committed suicide.[11] Lai was less successful, as he was unable to take Nanchang, Jiangxi's capital.[12] Lai was replaced by Wei Jun and Shi Zhenxiang, who moved into Hubei and Hunan, ultimately capturing Xiangtan on April 24, 1854.[13] The Western Expedition succeeded in capturing Pengze, Hukou, and Jiujiang.[when?][14] It also defeated Zeng Guofan in battle, leading him to attempt suicide on two separate occasions.[15] The Western Expedition ended in March 1856 when it was recalled to Nanjing to reinforce the besieged city.[16]
The Western Expedition had limited success.[17] Although a number of key cities within a fertile recruiting ground had fallen, the Western Expedition was ultimately unable to capture the whole of western China or the upper Yangtze.[18] The Taiping's original, rapid drive transformed into a push-and-pull struggle, which provided the Qing with time to recover and build-up new armies with new leaders who ultimately doomed the rebellion.[19]
In 1856 Shi Dakai launches a second western expedition destined for Sichuan. This other campaign also fails when he surrenders in 1863.