The Third Battle of Nanking was a decisive confrontation during the later stages of the Taiping Rebellion, which lasted from 1850 to 1864. The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom had established its capital in Nanking, soaring to prominence as a formidable anti-Qing movement led by Hong Xiuquan, who proclaimed himself the Heavenly King. By 1864, the Qing dynasty, heavily supported by foreign military advisors and their own military reforms, was slowly regaining control over territories lost to the Taipings. The Qing forces, led by General Chen Wenshu, aimed to reclaim Nanking through a well-coordinated return to the city. The siege began with intense artillery shelling and infantry assaults, featuring brutal street-to-street combat. The Taiping defenders, although tenacious, were weakened by internal dissent, starvation, and the overwhelming might of the Qing Army. In July 1864, after a lengthy and bloody siege, the Qing troops finally broke through the Taiping defenses, leading to a rout in the city and a significant shift in power dynamics in China. This battle was critical in the broader context of the Taiping Rebellion, marking the effective end of the Taiping Kingdom's resistance.