The action involved Qing forces surrounding the city of Nanjing, the capital of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom.

After the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom militia successfully occupied Nanjing in the southern territory of Jiangnan, within ten days First Class Senior Gen. Xiang Rong, in command of 10,000 Green Standard Army troops, surrounded the walls of the city.

The remnants of the former Qing garrison defending Nanjing were barricaded outside city walls inside the Ming Xiaoling Mausoleum.

The leaders of the Taiping forces were Shi Dakai, Yang Xiuqing, Qin Rigang (秦日綱) and Li Xiucheng.

On August 9 Xiang Rong committed suicide by hanging himself, although others claimed he had a fatal overdose of opium due to the pain of his battle wounds in Danyang.