Sengge Rinchen - Military Role

Military Role

Sengge Rinchen is mainly known for his role in a number of military campaigns in the mid-nineteenth century. In 1853, Sengge Rinchen stopped the northern expedition of Taiping army and captured one of its leaders, Li Kaifang. In 1855, Sengge Rinchen's status was elevated to Prince of the First Degree in recognition of this.

Four years later during the Second Opium War, he was appointed imperial commissioner in charge of leading the campaign against the British and French invasion. In 1859, he defeated the British and French forces at the Taku Forts. However, only one year later he slipped away to Peking with 150 cavalrymen, leaving his garrison at Taku Forts to fend for themselves against a second, larger force composed of 11,000 British and 7,000 French. When only one of the Taku Forts resisted, while the rest surrendered without a fight, Sengge fell back to defend Peking with 30,000 "invincible" Manchu cavalry combined with an entrenched garrison of 20,000 Chinese army. The Manchu cavalry was shy 28,000 men from its reputed strength, while his garrison ran away in face of artillery fire. Once Peking fell, Senge was subsequently transferred to fight against the Nian rebellions, which he fought successfully and earned him back all his former titles and ranks. In 1865, during a campaign against the Nian Shandong, Sengge Richen was ambushed by a group of Nian rebels and killed. The Nian rebellion was finally suppressed in 1868.