Tonkin War developed out of a tussle between France and China for influence in Vietnam. Following a number of engagements, diplomatic exchanges between Li Hongzhang and Captain Ernest Franois Fournier produced a tentative agreement that China would withdraw from Tonkin and legally recognise a French protectorate. Negotiations, however, eventually broke down and the French launched an attack on Fuzhou on 23 August 1884.
Foreign military observers, including the two American authors of this report, saw the engagement as a chance to evaluate the success of recent Chinese attempts to modernise the imperial navy. For the Qing empire, the Battle of Fuzhou was a disaster, the French fleet of eight ships outgunning its eleven vessels, all of which were eventually sunk. The defeat "paved the way for the dynasty's downfall".
The eight plates are after sketches made during the battle and show several Chinese ships before and after they were sunk.