Pescadores Campaign

Pescadores Campaign
Part of the Sino-French War
French warships bombard Chinese positions around Makung, 29 March 1885
Date March 1885 Location Pescadores Islands Result French victory
Belligerents
France	Qing dynasty
Commanders and leaders
Admiral Amédée Courbet	Chou Shan-chu Cheng Ying-chieh
Strength
six warships 400 marine infantry one artillery section	2,400 men and shore batteries
Casualties and losses
5 killed 12 wounded	300 killed 500 wounded

The Pescadores Campaign which took place in late March, 1885, was one of the last campaigns of the Sino-French War (August 1884–April 1885). It was fought to capture a strategically important island group off the western coast of Formosa (Taiwan). Admiral Amédée Courbet, with part of the French Far East Squadron, bombarded the Chinese coastal defences around the principal town of Makung (馬公) on Penghu Island (澎湖島) and landed a battalion of marine infantry which routed the Chinese defenders and occupied Makung.

The Pescadores were occupied by the French until July 1885 and Admiral Courbet, by then a national hero in France, died aboard his flagship Bayard in Makung harbour during the occupation.

The Pescadores Islands, also known from their Chinese name as P'eng-hu (澎湖), were an important transit stop for reinforcements to the Chinese army under the command of Liu Ming-ch'uan (劉銘傳) confronting the French in northern Taiwan around Keelung (基隆), and their capture would prevent further reinforcements from reaching Taiwan. Courbet had wanted to mount an expedition to capture the Pescadores for several months, but the feasibility of the operation depended on the progress of the Keelung Campaign. Colonel Jacques Duchesne's defeat of Liu Ming-ch'uan's forces and capture of the key Chinese position of La Table on 7 March 1885 finally disengaged Keelung, allowing the French to detach troops from its garrison for a descent on the Pescadores.

Courbet's flotilla consisted of the ironclads Bayard and Triomphante, the cruisers d'Estaing and Duchaffaut, the gunboat Vipère and the troopship Annamite. His landing force consisted of an understrength battalion of marine infantry (400 men as opposed to the usual complement of 600 men) under the command of chef de bataillon Lange and a marine artillery section of two 80-millimetre mountain guns (Lieutenant Lubert).

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