Lord Elgin orders the destruction of the Summer Palace in Beijing as reprisal for murder of hostages

Angered by the imprisonment and murder of British and French negotiators and their escorts, the British chief diplomat Lord Elgin gave orders that the sprawling Summer Palace outside of Beijing be burned in retaliation and as a warning against using hostages in diplomat relations.  A fine was also levied.  Several thousand Allied troops fired the palace, which burned for three days and left only a few surviving outbuildings intact.(By John Osborne) 
Source Citation
The Annual Register or a View of the History and Politics of the Year 1860 (London: F. & J. Rivington, 1861), 270.
    Date Certainty
    Exact
    Type
    US/the World
    How to Cite This Page: "Lord Elgin orders the destruction of the Summer Palace in Beijing as reprisal for murder of hostages," House Divided: The Civil War Research Engine at Dickinson College, https://hd.housedivided.dickinson.edu/index.php/node/33925.