Interior of Taku Fort, China, 1860

Photograph by Felice Beato (1825-1907), 2nd China War (1856-1860), 1860.

The corpse-strewn interior of the fort is testament to the savagery of the fighting that took place there. The Chinese defenders suffered terribly, not only from the ferocity of the Anglo-French attack, but also because in their chaotic retreat from the forts they fell victim to their own defensive spiked ditches.

From a photograph album of 39 photographs.