were captured and handed over to the British. October 22 On October 22, Commander Hay in the Phlegethon, with some of the boats, went to destroy the remaining pirate ships. That day the Qing navy destroyed four junks and after regrouping with Hay, they sunk two more. Clearly defeated; Shap Ng-tsai took two third-rate and four fourth-rate junks with his 400 remaining men and retreated further up the river. That marked the end of the combat. A total of fifty-eight junks were destroyed with an estimated 2,400 killed or wounded and about 300 captured. Over 1,200 pirate guns were also captured. One significant factor of the battle was that not one man under Hay's command was killed or wounded but the Chinese and Vietnamese did suffer some casualties. All of the expedition ships were damaged in some way including at least three of the armed boats which were raked by cannon fire. Aftermath The battle was a major success in the fight against Chinese pirates in the mid 19th century. Commander Hay and several men under him later received recognition for their action in the fight and on January 20, 1850, Hay was promoted to the rank of captain and later admiral before becoming a Privy Counsellor in the 1870s. With his fleet destroyed Shap Ng-tsai ended his career as a pirate and accepted an officer's position in the Chinese navy. He and Commander Hay later served against each other during the Second Opium War of 1856 to 1860. See also Golden Age of Piracy References Notes Bibliography Piracy in the South China Sea 1849 in Vietnam Conflicts in 1849 Tonkin River Tonkin River Tonkin River Haiphong Tonkin River October 1849 events