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                      THE WORLD’S NAVIES IN THE
                           BOXER REBELLION

                             (CHINA 1900)




[Illustration: DEFENDERS OF LEGATIONS.

_Frontispiece_]




                                 THE

                            WORLD’S NAVIES

                                IN THE

                           BOXER REBELLION

                             (CHINA 1900)


                                  BY
                        LIEUT. C. C. DIX, R.N.


                         _With Illustrations_


                                LONDON
                          DIGBY, LONG & CO.
                18 BOUVERIE STREET, FLEET STREET, E.C.
                                 1905

                        (ALL RIGHTS RESERVED)




CONTENTS


  Chap.                                                           Page

     I. PRELUDE                                                      9

    II. THE BOMBARDMENT AND STORMING OF TAKU FORTS                  27

   III. FIRST SIEGE OF TIENTSIN                                     46

    IV. SEYMOUR’S DASH FOR PEKIN                                    70

     V. RELIEF OF TIENTSIN                                          95

    VI. RELIEF OF SEYMOUR                                          113

   VII. PEI-YANG—SECOND SIEGE OF TIENTSIN                          130

  VIII. CAPTURE OF TIENTSIN NATIVE CITY                            155

    IX. SCENES IN THE CAPTURED CITY: TIENTSIN LOOTED               176

     X. SUMMARY: FINAL PREPARATIONS FOR ADVANCE:
          FIGHTING AROUND TIENTSIN                                 193

    XI. ADVANCE TO PEKIN                                           211

   XII. CAPTURE OF PEKIN AND RELIEF OF LEGATIONS                   228

  XIII. STORY OF THE SIEGE OF THE LEGATIONS                        247

   XIV. THE TROOPS COMPARED                                        270

    XV. RETURN OF NAVAL BRIGADE—PEH-TANG AND SHAN-HAI-KWAN         301




                              DEDICATED

                                  BY

                           KIND PERMISSION

                                  TO

                  The Right Honourable Earl Spencer
                              K.G., P.C.

                 (_Late First Lord of the Admiralty_)

          IN GRATITUDE FOR HIS HAVING GIVEN ME A NOMINATION
             FOR THE NAVY, AND FOR THE GENEROUS PATRONAGE
             OF HIS LORDSHIP, AND HIS LATE FATHER, TO MY
                GRANDFATHER AND GREAT-GRANDFATHER, WHO
                  HAD THE HONOUR MEDICALLY TO ATTEND
                    THE HOUSEHOLD AT ALTHORP PARK,
                        FOR NEARLY A CENTURY.




PREFACE


In placing this little book before the public I well know its many
shortcomings. The notes from Which it was compiled were made on the
spot, and in the feverish excitement of the times. But the subsequent
duties and examinations of a British Midshipman left me very little
time to devote to its completion. Hence the delay in publication, and
the probability that some mistakes may have crept in. It has no claim
to be historical, but rather to be interesting and anecdotal, being
largely interspersed with incidents which occurred between June and
October 1900. Names have been excluded as far as possible for the
very best reasons, and an endeavour has been made throughout neither
to overstate the mistakes and excesses of other nations, and our own
share in the proceedings, nor to understate their gallantry and our
own discrepancies. The personal pronoun is, I know, objectionable.
My excuse for using it as often as I do, is that one man has but one
pair of eyes, and I plead some little interest on the occasions when
I feel compelled to use it. I believe that chapters 1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8,
9, 10, 11 (more or less) and 14 will be fairly free from errors, as
I was present at the events which took place in them. For the other
chapters I cannot personally vouch, but trouble has been taken in
compiling them from either letters or narratives of eye-witnesses.
I take this opportunity of thanking all my fellow-officers and
others who have very kindly helped me in this way, or in the no less
important illustrative work. The latter are mostly from photographs
by officers with the Brigade. In conclusion, I trust that in my
endeavour to get interest into incident, I have not, however
innocently, trodden on the corns of any one associated with our
Brigade.

                                                            C. C. DIX.




The World’s Navies in the Boxer Rebellion

(CHINA, 1900)




CHAPTER I

PRELUDE


I do not propose to do more than touch lightly on the causes which
led up to the great Boxer outbreak in June 1900 A.D., but some
misapprehension may be removed, and the reader of this volume may be
led to more easily understand the state of affairs which obtained
immediately before hostilities broke out, if a short explanation be
given.

One hears many different opinions as to the reason of the Boxer
outbreak, which every one will admit was the most important “casus
belli” between the European Powers and China, and which eventually
plunged the north of China into a sanguinary war which was waged on
both sides with great fierceness.

The missionaries, the Dynasty, and the universal hatred of the
“foreign debbel” have all come under notice as the possible causes of
the trouble, but there is no room to doubt that the last is the real
one, and in fact the only one at all supportable.

Everything seems to point to the fact that the Empress had long since
desired to see the back of the troublesome foreigner, and although
she sent her troops for the apparent reason of putting down the
Boxers, there can be no doubt that she saw in the new movement a
splendid opportunity for “ousting” all Europeans, thereby gaining a
new place in the affections of her people, and a new lease of life
for the Manchu Dynasty.

If this supposition be correct, she played her hand with marvellous
cunning.

Imperial troops were sent against the rebellious(?) people, and in
the middle of the fight that ensued, half of them would change sides,
while the other half would amuse themselves by firing heavily into
the mob with blank cartridges.

One General indeed did attack and defeat the Boxers, but he was sent
for to Pekin, and was lucky to only lose his rank.

A very common question is “who were the Boxers?” and the answer
is almost invariably, “Oh, some society or other which was formed
for the expulsion of foreigners.” This may be all right as far as
it goes, but they were more than that. At the beginning of June
they were about 90 per cent of the male population in the affected
provinces, between the ages of fourteen and sixty. They were fanatics
of an extraordinary type, and declared that by virtue of certain
drills, which they assiduously practised, they were immune from harm
at the hands of their enemies.

In this belief they were in no wise shaken by their first defeats,
for they said that those who fell had not been sufficiently attentive
to their ritual, and they exhorted each other to further efforts,
lest a like fate should overtake others. It is only half right to
say that they were formed for the expulsion of foreigners, for the
movement was quite semi-religious, and their doctrine violently
anti-Christian in the first place,—ergo, anti-foreign in the second.

There is no doubt that considerable numbers of Chinese may be among
the long roll of martyrs which China gave for the Christian faith,
a short eighteen months ago; and doubtless their only half-human
captors would serve up something quite devilishly exquisite by way of
torture to those native converts who fell into their hands.

The headquarters of the society was in Shantung, but thanks to an
enlightened and powerful Viceroy, in the person of Yuan-Shi-Kai, they
had to move from his province, and so became the more numerous and
powerful in the neighbouring province of Chihli, in which is situated
the capital.

They soon succeeded in completely terrorising all the inhabitants
who did not join their standard of their own free will, or rather of
the madness born of mob violence. Here let it be understood that no
one is more addicted to secret societies, or less addicted to mob
violence, than a Chinaman. This sounds anomalous, but is nevertheless
true. But once let loose a Chinese mob on the object of their hatred,
and they compare very favourably with an Abu Klea Dervish, that is
to say, that it is necessary to have “Maxims” to stop them. Again,
a Chinaman would much rather argue any contested point out to a
finish, knowing his own ability to “save face”; but once let him get
pig-headed or obstinate in an unobtrusive sort of way, and it is well
to go for a poleaxe.

The over-running of Chihli province brings the time of year up to the
end of May, and it was not till then that the ministers of the Powers
realised what a formidable movement was on foot. As a matter of fact,
the ministers met on the 28th of May to consider the necessity of
taking steps for their own safety, also for the protection of all
Europeans, Americans, Japanese, and native Christians who were then
in Pekin.

The outlook was far from reassuring. Fengtai, a station on the
Pekin-Tientsin line, in close proximity to the capital, was in
flames, railway communications with Tientsin had ceased, and it was
believed that Boxers were even then employed in tearing up the rails.

The ministers decided to inform the Tsung-li-Yamen that they were
asking their respective naval and military chiefs for Legation
guards, and to beg them to afford the means of transport. The
Tsung-li-Yamen, as usual, attempted to gain time by lies and
procrastination; but in view of the uncompromising attitude of the
British minister, they gave their grudging assent on the morning of
the 31st May.

On the 29th May the general feeling of suspense was somewhat
alleviated by the discovery that the line itself had not yet been
damaged, and a train arrived from Tientsin with some officials who
insisted on the resumption of traffic.

However, the attitude of the populace did not become any more
friendly, and the soldiers who had been looked upon as possible
protectors, now showed their true colours, by their bombastic and
menacing demeanour. At length some Europeans were stoned, and
threatened with weapons in broad daylight in the streets; and it
was with feelings of relief that the foreign residents welcomed the
guards, who to the number of 337, with several machine guns, arrived
at the station at about 7 p.m. on May 31st.

Their arrival had an immediate effect, and for a day or two the
situation became tolerably bearable.

Unfortunately their presence only intimidated the rowdies of Pekin
and its nearest suburbs, and people kept flocking into the Legations
from outlying districts, each with some tale more pitiable than the
last.

On the 2nd of June news came of the desperate flight of the
thirty-three Europeans from Pas-ting-fu, which resulted in the safe
arrival of twenty-six of their number at Tientsin, and the still more
desperate plight of Mr Norman, who, after the murder of his fellow
missionary at Yung-Ching, had been taken prisoner to a village hard
by, there to be dealt with by perhaps the most fiendishly cruel
people on earth.

Everything that was possible under the circumstances was done
to save the unfortunate Englishman, but we know that protests
were of no avail, and that he was done to death in a manner only
to be conjectured. On the 4th June the storm broke, and railway
communication was again interrupted,—more stations were burnt, and
the whole countryside was ablaze.

Another meeting was convened, and after the Russian Minister had
explained that a party of Cossacks, which had been allowed to go out
to meet the Pao-ting-fu refugees, had been repulsed, and compelled
to retreat to Tientsin without meeting the fugitives, the step was
taken which gave the name to this volume. The ministers decided to
telegraph instructions to their several Admirals, and inform them
what turn they thought the present crisis would assume, and also to
ask them to take the necessary steps for the relief of the Europeans
should all communication be stopped. On the 5th June Sir Claude
Macdonald had an extraordinary interview with the Tsung-li-Yamen,
and during the conversation one of the illustrious body fell asleep,
while the Legation interpreter was explaining something to the
minister. Nothing was to be got from such men as these, who, even
though they were headed by no less a person than Prince Ching, were
at this juncture unable to make headway against the mob, and who,
in fact, no longer voiced public opinion. Contradictory rumours
emanating from the summer palace, where the Empress was, concerning
the whole question, were freely circulated, and the Empress herself
sent General Nieh against the Boxers, and followed up her order
with another one, telling him that on no account was he to allow
the Imperial troops to fire on them. A member of the useless
Tsung-li-Yamen went so far as to taunt the minister by saying that
he expected all the army would be Boxers in a day or two. In view of
what occurred so soon afterwards, it was a significant statement to
make.

It was eventually decided to petition the Throne, but after
considerable discussion, it was resolved to wait until the 9th of
June, as it was deemed inadvisable to demand an audience until
the ministers had received the necessary authority from the home
governments, to insist upon compliance. On the 8th June there was no
change for the better in the situation, and Sir Claude telegraphed to
Admiral Seymour to ask him for a further detachment of seventy-five
men. It was on this day that definite news was received that General
Nieh had withdrawn his troops to Lu-Tai, where there were immense
stores of rice, and that the Boxers, finding themselves unopposed,
had reached Yangtsun, an important walled town on the river, about
30 miles from Tientsin. Here they burnt the bridges, and began to
tear up the rails, and it was finally realised that all hope of
further communication with Tientsin was delayed for weeks. On this
same day a massacre of native Christians took place at Tung-Chow, and
some students were attacked out by the racecourse.

In consequence of these acts, and sundry trustworthy rumours that
Tung-fu-Hsiang, the general commanding the Kansu troops then in the
district, had given out in public that he was only waiting for orders
from his superiors—meaning the Empress,—on receipt of which he would
proceed to treat the foreigners in the same fashion as he had treated
the unfortunate Mohammedans some four years previously, the ministers
immediately telegraphed to the Admiral, and informed him that the
situation was extremely critical, and that unless reinforcements
immediately advanced on Pekin, it was within the bounds of
probability they might arrive too late to save the Europeans.

Even at this stage, the foreign ministers strove to put off the
inevitable, and at a meeting that afternoon the majority of them
supported the view that all available news pointed to a more
favourable issue than Sir Claude Macdonald had been led at first
to suppose. They agreed, however, to telegraph to their respective
Admirals at 2 o’clock on the following afternoon, if no signs were
forthcoming that the ferment was subsiding.

Sir Claude, on his part, telegraphed to Sir Edward Seymour to inform
him of the decision of his colleagues; but so certain was he about
the turn of events, that he sent another telegram at 8 p.m. to Mr
Carles, the British consul at Tientsin, which informed him of the
deadly peril of the situation, and begging him to urge the senior
naval officer to make all arrangements for an immediate advance on
Pekin.

That evening, the 9th, all the outlying mission stations were handed
over to the Chinese Government for safe keeping, till the troubles
were over; the British Legation again became a place of refuge for
many Europeans, and all possible means were utilised to put the place
in a state of defence. While this drama, with, as it turned out, such
a tragic sequel, was being enacted within the capital, a no less
interesting one was taking place at Taku. As early as May the 30th,
ships representing nearly every nation were collecting at the seaward
gate of the capital.

The British representatives were the “Orlando” and the “Algerine,”
and a hundred marines were landed from the two ships by four o’clock
in the afternoon. At half-past nine that night eighty more men were
dispatched to Tientsin by river, a distance of some sixty odd miles,
in answer to a telegram which demanded further reinforcements.
By this time Tientsin was trembling with suppressed excitement,
and a most enthusiastic scene took place on the occasion of the
already mentioned Pekin guards’ departure. The next three days
passed comparatively quietly, but a feeling of unrest pervaded the
atmosphere, and some incendiaries attempted the destruction of the
Chartered Bank. The attempt was foiled.

On the 1st June the unfortunates who were endeavouring to escape
from Pao-ting-fu were heard of for the first time, and there was no
lack of volunteers to seek them and bring them back. Besides the
twenty-five Cossacks, two search parties, composed of civilians,
were formed and succeeded in bringing them in on the 2nd. Safe the
majority of them certainly were for the present, but their condition
was pitiable, and the affair was not altogether satisfactory, as it
was found that the reverse sustained by the Cossacks would act as a
further incentive to all the rowdies in the neighbourhood.

On the 3rd, Admiral Seymour inspected the guards at Tientsin; and,
being aware of the necessity of preparedness, he sent up a field gun
and caused considerable numbers of bluejackets and marines to hold
themselves in readiness for service. Outside the bar was gathered a
huge fleet, and as each ship arrived, so did the guards in Tientsin
increase in numbers.

On the 4th the native servants and others began to leave the
settlement, and several of them besought their masters to go while
there was yet time. “For,” they assured them, “the foreigners are
to be utterly exterminated on the 19th,” which was, it will be
remembered, the date of the last massacre of Tientsin in 1870.

In spite of these gloomy assurances, no general exodus took place
from the settlement, and civilians, many of whom held posts under the
government, and whose opinions were listened to with respect, were
among the most positive that there would be no general rising. Even
the most pessimistic clung to the hope that the Imperial army would
protect them, if ever matters came to a head.

On the 6th an adventurous party determined to reconnoitre the line
in the direction of Pekin, and managed to reach Yangtsun without
hindrance. Here the train was boarded by General Nieh, who, it will
be remembered, had been sent to deal with the Boxers armed with all
sorts of contradictory orders.

The train proceeded for another fifteen miles, until, on reaching
Lo-fa, bodies of Boxers were descried vigorously hacking down the
telegraph poles, whilst others were burning sleepers and other
railway material, in a similar energetic manner. This was enough for
the cautious old Chinaman, and he politely but firmly refused to go
further. His manner on the return journey betokened great alarm, and
it was evident that he quite believed, in common with the majority
of Chinese, that the Boxers were invulnerable. Be this as it may, an
extraordinary rumour reached Tientsin on the following day, to the
effect that he had engaged and defeated the Boxers with a loss of
four hundred killed. An air of truth was given to this theory by the
statement that he had been censured for his act, and had retired on
Lu-Tai, where he was sulking with his army. This last is probably
entirely untrue, for no traces of any engagement were to be seen
when the British Commander-in-Chief arrived on the scene a few days
afterwards, except three harmless villagers, who were probably shot,
not because they belonged to the rebellious faction, but for the
opposite reason. Hundreds of bullets, with the appearance of being
newly extracted from their cartridge cases, were found buried by the
fires where Nieh’s men had evidently encamped; and on the whole there
are no grounds for hoping that he taught his, at that time supposed,
opponents, such a salutary lesson as had been stated.

The next day another train left for the same purpose as the last,
and it was found that during the night the Boxers had rendered it
impossible to advance beyond Yangtsun without large repairs. However,
it was surmised that the track was safe up to Yangtsun, and that a
way might be forced along the line to Pekin by a sufficiently large
force with the necessary repairing tools.

[Illustration: TAKING THE ADMIRAL TO THE FINAL CONFERENCE ON H.M.S.
“CENTURION.”

  [_page 22._]

In consequence of this report it was decided by the various senior
naval officers, at a conference on board the “Centurion,” that it
was no use waiting until matters got worse, and that the Powers
would therefore land brigades early next morning, and that the
whole force under Sir Edward Seymour would try to push their way
through to the aid of the beleaguered Legations. Amidst immense
enthusiasm the sailors got ready for service, and the tugs belonging
to the ‘Taku Tug and Lighter Company’ having been requisitioned,
the force was landed at an early hour on the morning of the 10th.
They left Tientsin on the same morning, and during the day more
reinforcements were poured into the settlements from the now almost
denuded fleet. On this date also fifty bluejackets were sent to
Tongshan to protect the important railway works at that place. The
work of the Naval Brigade was beginning.

On the 11th, trade in the settlement practically ceased; once busy
thoroughfares were now desolate, and a sort of hushed expectancy took
the place of the usual busy stir in the town. Armed men, however,
were at this time of more importance than any number of Chinese
hawkers, and a valuable addition to the powers of resistance arrived
in the person of Commander Beatty, D.S.O. and a hundred and fifty
men, shortly followed by two “Maxims.” The day was spent in drawing
up a more elaborate system of defence than had been thought necessary
before, and an attempt was made to overawe the natives by a march
round the suburbs.

In the afternoon there occurred the first piece of official
interference on the part of the Viceroy, who refused to allow a
train to proceed up the line, which was packed with German troops.
Now the Germans, when on active service, don’t understand this
sort of treatment, and the disorderly mob which, as is usual on
these occasions, quickly gathered, was swept out of the way by the
display of fixed bayonets, backed by the evident intention of using
them if needs be. On this display of force, the Viceroy no longer
withheld his permission for the train to proceed, and the Germans
reached their destination without further molestation. From this date
communication practically ceased with the fleet, but 1770 Russians
just managed to arrive in the nick of time, before ingress was
finally barred.

Naturally the landing of a brigade, and the supplies necessary
for its maintenance, entailed a large amount of work on the sadly
depleted crews of the fleet outside the bar; but nobody was idle, and
the work of equipping a further force was steadily proceeded with.
Orders for stores, ammunition, men, and even cruisers followed one
another with astonishing rapidity, and it was decided to telegraph
to the General commanding troops at Hong-Kong to hold part of
the garrison in readiness for immediate shipment to the troubled
province. Meanwhile the Chinese were by no means idle; large stores
of rice and munitions of war were daily poured into the strong forts
at the mouth of the river. As a further step, they proceeded to
mine its mouth, and it became apparent that they intended to block
the only means of communication with the interior, and with the
soon-to-be-allied gunboats, which were already anchored some distance
up the waterway.

On the 15th a tug was dispatched in charge of a midshipman about
thirty miles down the coast, to rescue some missionaries who were
reported to be in distress; and in the evening the expectant fleets
heard that Sir Edward Seymour had been in touch with the Boxers.

The Naval Brigade’s work had commenced!

Conferences had been a matter of daily occurrence for some time,
and on the morning of the 16th, on board the Russian Flagship, at a
conference which proved to be the most momentous of all, the Admirals
agreed that the situation was such as to demand immediate action,
which should take the form of an allied occupation of the Taku Forts.
Accordingly an ultimatum was sent to the general in command, to the
effect that if they were not evacuated by midnight 16th June, the
allied forces would bombard and storm them.

During the morning the tug returned, the officer having successfully
performed his task, and having reached his destination just in time
to baulk the Boxers, who were in pursuit, of their prey.

Such, then, was the situation at noon on June the 16th, and it may
be doubted whether any host of peasants, for whatever reason, had
ever raised such a hornets’ nest about their ears before.

Let it be remarked before closing this prelude that the date was
ill chosen. Those in the plot had meant that matters should reach
a climax in the middle of November, when the river would have been
frozen, and all hopes of sending aid futile. Their scheme failed for
two main reasons. One was the drought which threatened starvation
to thousands of the poorer classes, and which was, as a matter of
course, laid at the door of the hated foreigner; the other was that
not only the ringleaders of the movement, but even the Government
themselves, had lost all control over the minds and bodies of the
fanatical Boxers, whose placards, which contained a great deal about
“killing foreigners,” were now posted up broadcast in every village.




CHAPTER II

THE BOMBARDMENT AND STORMING OF THE TAKU FORTS


The Taku Forts are four in number, two being situated on each side
of the mouth of the Pei-Ho river. To seaward of them stretch large
expanses of treacherous mud, just covered by the sea at high water;
stakes have been driven into the slime for several hundred yards from
the bottom of the embankments, and landing is quite impracticable at
any state of the tide. On the landward side stretches a large plain,
intersected with small canals and irrigation works, and immediately
to the rear of the forts are the villages of Tong-Ku and Ta-Ku
respectively. The only other things to attract attention are the
small naval yard at Taku, and the pilot village at the mouth of the
river, which has been built on the right bank.

Tong-Ku is about 3 miles up the river, and here are the railway
station, coal stores, and the necessary landing stages for lading
or unlading the merchant steamers which in some cases ply as far
as Tientsin. The forts are protected against men-of-war, of a size
larger than gunboats, by the bar, which is eleven and a half miles
to seaward, and on which the depth of water varies from two feet to
seventeen feet, at different states of the wind and tide. The trade
of the place, which is important, has to be taken from Tong-Ku out to
the ships lying about fourteen miles away, and this is done by the
fleet of tugs and lighters belonging to the ‘Taku Tug and Lighter
Company,’ which at present enjoys the monopoly.

This company and the railway are both British concerns, and before
the outbreak, were both in a flourishing condition.

The forts themselves, the N., N.W., S., and New forts—the first two
on the right bank and the others on the left bank,—were immensely
powerful. Strong as they were in 1860, modern ordnance had made them
practically impregnable; and to the ordinary observer it seemed that
any attempt to forcibly occupy them would involve enormous losses of
ships and men, and might end in disaster.

Had the defence of these positions been entrusted to any but Chinese,
the lives and property of Europeans in the whole of Northern China
would at this date have been of no account. The walls and parapets
were constructed of mud mixed with chopped straw, a mixture which
seems impervious to shell fire; they were constructed by a German
syndicate, and a covered road connected the N.W. and N. forts. The
armament was composed of guns of all sorts, sizes, and dates, but
with heavy, modern, quick-firing guns the Chinese were extremely well
supplied, and although the ancient armament did but little damage, it
interfered in no way with the general impregnability of the positions.

At the naval yard were four new German-built destroyers with an
estimated speed of thirty-five knots; they mounted six 3-pr. Q.F.
guns each, and were capable of doing great damage if handled by
officers with any self-reliance or ability; there was also a gunboat
in dock, but she was probably denuded of her crew, and took no part
in the subsequent proceedings.

From this it will be seen that the forts and the destroyers together
comprised a formidable force against which the Allies could only pit
the following:—

H.M.S. “Algerine,” a three-masted sloop, mounting six 4-in. Q.F.
guns and several smaller Q.F. and machine guns, totally unprotected
against gun fire, except her guns, which were fitted with shields.
She has a speed of about thirteen and a half knots.

H.M.S. “Fame” and “Whiting,” two destroyers, each mounting one 12-pr.
Q.F. and five 6-pr. Q.F., with a thirty knot speed.

The “Iltis” (German), with six 4.1-in. Q.F. guns, several pom-poms
and other smaller Q.F. guns; also unarmoured, and very similar to the
“Algerine,” but with a higher freeboard and slightly higher speed.

H.I.R.M.S. “Gilyak” (Russian), a new gunboat: one 4.7-in. Q.F., and
six 12-pr. Q.F.—a pretty little ship which impressed the observer
with a power she was far from possessing.

H.I.R.M.S. “Bobre” (Russian), an old steel gunboat, heavily built
and clumsy to look at, mounting one 9-in. B.L., one 6-in. B.L., and
several machine guns.

H.I.R.M.S. “Koreetz” (Russian) a similar vessel to the last, but with
the heavier armament of two 8-in. B.L., one 6-in. B.L., and one or
two other guns of no importance. This ship had the heaviest, though
probably the least efficient armament of any of the allied squadron
yet mentioned.

“Lion” (French), an ancient old gunboat mounting two 5.5-in. B.L. and
a few very old-pattern machine guns.

[Illustration: H.M.S. “CENTURION”—MARINES GETTING READY TO LAND.

  [_page 31._]

H.I.J.M.S. “Atago” (Japanese), an old iron gunboat mounting one 8.2
M.L. and one 4.7, with a few obsolete machine guns.

U.S.S. “Monocacy” (American), an entirely obsolete wooden
paddle-wheel steamer, with only M.L. smooth-bore guns for her main
armament, and but three or four “Colt” machine guns. From this force
must be deducted the useless “Monocacy” for the above very good
reasons, and the “Atago,” which was full of explosives, and landed
the majority of her crew for the storming party.

Thus the Allies had only five _unprotected_ gunboats, mounting a
fairly heavy armament, it is true, but of necessity so disposed that,
as a rule, not half the guns would bear on the enemy at once. Another
and more serious handicap was the extreme narrowness of the river,
about two hundred yards, and the impossibility of escape should the
attack fail.

Immediately the decision of the Admirals had been made known, all
became bustle and activity on the ships outside the bar. Officers and
men vied with one another in the work of getting everything ready to
equip the storming party, and every one was strapping up blankets,
filling water-bottles, buckling on bandoliers, cutlasses, revolvers,
and all the other man-killing paraphernalia which sailor and soldier
alike carry. All hands were happy, except the unfortunate few who,
for various reasons, were unable to go, and not even the ceremony of
being presented with a field-service dressing by the doctor, brought
a thoughtful face to the eager men.

Of rough, rude jests there were plenty. A brawny bluejacket looked
at the small package containing gauze, lint, and bandage, and asked,
“’Ere, Bill, what’s this for?” “Why, to tie up the Chinamen, of
course.” “Well, this won’t be big enough when I’ve finished with
’em; give me another dozen.” And so it went on until the “fall
in” sounded, and the various ships’ detachments fell in on the
“Barfleur’s” quarterdeck to receive the good wishes of the unlucky
minority, and a few words of sound advice from the Rear-Admiral. At
precisely 3.25 p.m. the tug “Fa-Wan” left the “Barfleur,” flying
the white ensign, with three hundred and twenty officers and men on
board, or in the boats towing astern. On the way ashore the men were
told off into separate companies; the Commander formed his staff; and
then, for the first time, men began to realise what was in front of
them; and so, when the forts came into view, they came in for a good
deal of attention.

Whatever the men thought, only one sentiment was expressed “The
Admiral is in danger, our shipmates are in danger, and as a small
beginning to relieve them we’re going to take those forts.” No doubt
it was generally felt that the force was comparatively puny; but, for
cogent and self-evident reasons, the Indian army was yet thousands of
miles away, and after all it was right that the Commander-in-Chief
should be relieved by the Navy; beside which there was a chance of
avenging the repulse of some forty years back for the second time.

As soon as details on the forts became distinguishable to the naked
eye, the Chinese gunners were seen to be standing to their guns, and
a range-finder, which had been placed in position since noon that
day, was manned by a crowd of laughing Chinese, whose sole cause for
merriment appears to have been, as they thought, the entrance of the
“foreign devils” into their well-laid trap. Their folly cost them
dear!

The tug ran alongside the “Algerine,” and the work of trans-shipment
was quickly over. Ammunition boxes were opened up, bandoliers and
pouches filled, food was served out, and then men were billeted to
sleep in different parts of the upper deck. By the time this work
had been finished, the night had fallen, and half an hour afterwards
the pipe went “Hands up anchor.” The “Algerine” weighed, and moved
a few hundred yards up the river to take her preconcerted position.
This simple move no doubt had a great effect on the issue of the
engagement, as far as the “Algerine” was concerned, for the Chinese
had doubtless trained their guns on her when she was in her former
position, and they must have known her range to a few yards. She was
the van ship in the line, with the “Iltis,” “Gilyak,” “Koreetz,”
“Bobre,” and “Lion” astern of her, in the order named. At this time,
however, the “Iltis” and “Lion” had not taken up their positions;
and as there was some chance of them being torpedoed by the four
Chinese destroyers as they moved down the river, the captain of the
“Algerine” directed the captains of our two destroyers to move up the
river and seize them at 1.30 a.m.

As the pre-arranged hour for starting the bombardment was 2 a.m., and
as there were few who felt sleepily inclined, the spare hours were
given up to discussing whether the Chinese would accept the ultimatum
and run, or whether the allies would find themselves engaged in a few
hours’ time. This was decided in a most abrupt manner, for at 12.50,
or one hour and ten minutes before the allies were going to start,
a shell shrieked over the “Algerine” in unpleasant proximity to her
topmasts. This was followed by an almost simultaneous fire from every
gun that would bear on the little squadron. In the midst of this
storm the most perfect discipline prevailed on board the British
ship. Quickly and quietly the storming party were got down into the
boats ready alongside, the guns’ crews closed up to their guns, and
the “Algerine” fired the first shot of retaliation in an incredibly
short space of time.

An incident worthy of mention occurred during the first hail of
shell. A man on the “Algerine’s” poop saw a figure climbing leisurely
aloft; he hailed it with “Where are yer goin’? are yer goin’ to do a
bloomin’ sleep in the cross-trees?”

“No, I ain’t exac’ly tired just now; I’m doin’ the correc’ thing,
though; I’m just goin’ to nail the bloomin’ colours where they can
see ’em!”

This very naturally created a laugh. Other jokes were cracked, and
half deaf, men worked their guns for six hours with a fixed grin on
their countenances, born half of amusement, half of the indefinable
something which steals over men on coming face to face with death for
the first time.

For the first hour of the bombardment the storming party were lying
alongside the “Algerine” in boats, and immediately before landing,
which took place without mishap at 2.30 a.m., a ration of hot cocoa
was served out to each man.

Much happened in this first hour; at one o’clock, or ten minutes
after the commencement of the engagement, the “Gilyak” turned on
her searchlight, and very naturally she became the object of the
undivided attention of the enemy’s gunners. Three shells struck her
almost immediately; a steam pipe was severed, a magazine exploded,
and the third projectile entered her bows on the waterline. Her fore
compartment filled, and if the depth of water had been greater there
is good reason to suppose that she would have foundered; as it was,
her searchlight was extinguished, and she became nearly incapable of
further action.

[Illustration: H.M.S. “BARFLEUR”—BLUEJACKETS LANDING.

  [_page 36._]

A neat piece of work, encompassing the capture of the hostile
destroyers, had also taken place. As soon as the forts commenced
firing, the “Whiting” and “Fame” weighed, and proceeded up river at
a distance apart of three hundred yards, this being the distance
between the second and fourth destroyers. Each towed a whaler manned
by a boarding party of twelve men and one officer. The idea was
to pass well out in the stream, to give the enemy the idea that our
boats were only intent on proceeding up river, and when the “Fame’s”
bow should be abreast of number four, and the “Whiting’s” of number
two, to sheer in and board them, each whaler boarding number three
and number one respectively. This was effected most successfully.
After a trifling resistance and the exchange of a few shots the crews
were driven overboard or below hatches, with the loss of a few killed
and wounded. Our casualties were nil, and beyond a slight twist to
the “Fame’s” bow, neither the prizes nor our destroyers suffered
any injury. The enemy were ready, and yet displayed an entire lack
of resource and pluck. Their ammunition was on deck, and torpedoes,
minus their warheads, in the tubes; and it is difficult to estimate
the damage that they might have inflicted had they been in the hands
of men of action instead of nerveless cowards.

Immediately after their capture the “Iltis” and “Lion” moved down
river and took up their positions in the line of gunboats, and as
there was a good deal of sniping at the prize crews from the naval
yard, the four little ships slipped their cables and were towed
up beyond Tong-Ku. On their way they had to pass a mud battery,
which fired at them without fear of a reply, as it lay between our
destroyers and the Russian gunboats. It was here that the “Whiting”
was struck, and it was at first supposed that the little battery had
been the cause of the trouble, but it was afterwards found that the
projectile which tore through her side, and lodged in one of her
water-tube boilers, was a 5-in. shell, which makes it practically
certain that it was fired from one of the forts. Luckily it did not
burst, and beyond damaging several tubes and putting the boiler
out of action, it caused no damage. By 5 a.m. the four prizes were
berthed securely at Tong-Ku, and the “Fame” and “Whiting’s” share
in the action ceased when they convoyed a tug, with despatches and
stores for Tientsin, past a fort twelve miles up the river, the
garrison of which looked threatening.

It had been arranged that the storming party were not to make any
forward movement until the heavy guns in the N.W. fort had been
effectively silenced by the fire from the gunboats; so the whole
force lay down somewhat in the order in which they were going to
commence the advance, and watched the duel with breathless interest.
The actual land force engaged was 904 officers and men, and as it
was proposed by the German and Japanese Commanders that the British
senior officer should direct the operations, the honour fell to
Commander (now Captain) Cradock of H.M.S. “Alacrity.” The composition
of the force was as follows:—

British—23 officers, 298 men; Japanese—4 officers, 240 men; German—3
officers, 130 men; Russian—2 officers, 157 men; Italian—1 officer, 24
men; Austrian—2 officers, 20 men; together making the above total.

The first advance commenced at about three o’clock in the morning;
the distance being 1300 yards. The British, Japanese, and Italians
(the latter having brigaded themselves with our men), were in the
fighting line, with the Germans, Austrians, and Russians for supports
and reserves. The plan of attack was to advance in extended order to
within fifty yards of the moat on the north front, then swing to the
right, charge along the military road between the river and moat on
the west face, and endeavour to force an entrance at the west gate.

Once into the outer fort, it was expected that the enemy would
either flee or surrender. If not, an entry into the inner fort was
to be forced as opportunity offered. The advance continued until the
fighting line reached a point about a thousand yards from the fort,
when it became evident that the fort had suffered but slightly from
gun fire, and that the majority of its guns were still intact. An
attack under these conditions would have entailed serious losses,
and it was decided to wait until daylight, more especially as the
intervening ground was not well known. Dawn broke about 4 a.m., and
was heralded by a tremendous explosion in the South fort; a lucky
shot had pierced a magazine, which blew up and wrought immense
damage. As soon as it was light too, the firing from the “Algerine”
became superb, and the firing from the other vessels gained
considerably in accuracy. Shot after shot fell right on top of the
guns in the N.W. fort; and although the Chinese gunners returned
again and again to their work, and fought their guns most pluckily,
it was impossible to stand before such a well-directed fire; and by
4.30 this fort was silenced. A moment to reflect on the probable
effects of a naval engagement, and the line of stormers advanced.
Immediately the gunboats ceased their fire, and almost as immediately
two Chinese field guns commenced shelling the advancing lines. But
our chaps were tired of waiting, and had the fire been ten times as
hot, nothing would have stopped them. Drill-book tactics fell to the
ground. The force started at a steady double, halted at 800 yards,
and fired two volleys; the same at 500 yards; once more at 300
yards; then ‘the charge’ was sounded! The order “supports into the
fighting line”; “fix bayonets”; and away we all dashed, gradually
converging on the N.W. corner of the fort. The area over which
the attack passed was hard mud, quite flat and without a vestige
of cover. At about 200 yards from the moat, however, there was an
extensive stretch of impassable ground, and this necessitated a
certain amount of crowding in order to reach the road which ran along
the river bank. It was here that most of the casualties occurred,
but without a check the British and Japanese fixed bayonets, gave
several cheers, and went at them baldheaded, rushing the west gate,
and soon finding themselves in possession of the outer fort. Some
little delay, just sufficient to allow the majority of the enemy to
escape pell-mell in the direction of Peh-tang, took place here; and
it was some minutes before the inner fort was gained. As we went in
they went out, and nearly all opposition ceased. There was a race for
the two flag-staffs: the Chinese yellow Dragons were torn down, and
amidst an outburst of cheering the White Ensign was hoisted, closely
followed by the red Sun of Japan. I used my pistol for the first time
here. My lieutenant and myself were standing in the square cheering
our flag going up, with our men taking cover in a passage, when two
Chinese nipped out of a gateway about twenty yards away, and came for
us with fixed bayonets, firing their magazines as they marched, from
the hip. My lieutenant had emptied his revolver and was drawing his
sword to defend himself when I chipped in and “bagged the brace.”

No sooner did the enemy in the South and North forts recognise the
fall of the inner fort, than they turned several guns on to the
occupants, but the gunboats were by this time moving down the river,
except the damaged “Gilyak”; and the British and Japanese sailors
retaliated with two captured guns, gradually causing the Chinese fire
to diminish.

There was no time to be wasted, and in a quarter of an hour the force
was on the move again, marching along the covered way between the
N.W. and N. forts.

While still a quarter of a mile from the N. fort a deafening
explosion, followed by an immense column of dust and smoke, was heard
and felt in the direction of the “Iltis.” So great was the shock,
that it was distinctly heard, and the effects clearly visible to the
fleet fourteen miles away. A shell from the “Algerine” had exploded
a 6-inch gun magazine, and for some time the air was so thick with
dust that the men belonging to the landing party could scarcely see.
They, however, jumped on to the mud parapet, and commenced to cheer
the gunboats, but were driven down again by a shell which landed
just below them. The moral effect of a disaster like this must be
tremendous, but the gunners redoubled their fire, and two minutes
later the “Iltis” got badly ‘hulled’ several times, and lost heavily.
The “Algerine,” owing to her by this time almost point-blank range,
only got struck in her cowls and upper works, and her loss in men was
comparatively small.

From that moment the Chinese in the North fort lost heart, and no
resistance was offered; so that in ten minutes’ time the Germans
entered by one gate, the British by the landward gun ports; and the
allied flags were hoisted over the last fort on the left bank of the
river.

An unexpected amount of opposition was offered by a single 6-inch
Q.F. Armstrong in the South fort, but the captured guns in the last
position, in conjunction with the gunboats, succeeded in silencing
it after a desperate duel. The gun shield was found to have been
struck seven times, and the cement emplacement was literally torn to
pieces by shell fire. If the other guns had been served with the
same devotion as this one, and those of the first fort to fall, the
allies’ losses must have been doubled at least.

Boats were procured without delay, immediately the shell fire ceased,
and the British force crossed the river to attack the largest and
most powerful of all the enemy’s strongholds. Not a shot was fired!
The two explosions referred to had caused terrific damage to the
fort itself, and these, together with the heavy bombardment, had
entirely unnerved the Chinamen, who fled precipitately as soon as the
bluejackets effected a landing. The heavy guns mounted in the New
fort luckily would not ‘bear’ during any part of the engagement, and
these too surrendered without firing a shot.

By seven o’clock the storming party were back on board their
respective ships to get some breakfast, before landing again to make
good the terms of the ultimatum.

The engagement had lasted for six hours, and the Chinese had lost at
least 650 men. The official despatch gives the Chinese loss in the
N.W. and N. forts at 100, and quite 150 more must have perished in
the explosions, and under the heavy shell fire to which the South
fort was subjected. The allies’ loss was altogether 172 officers
and men, most of them being wounded. An hotel in the little pilot
village, at the mouth of the river, was turned into a hospital, and
here the British wounded received every attention possible under
fairly favourable circumstances. The next thing to be done was the
forming of garrisons for the forts, and the making of dispositions
whereby the European force might follow up this, their first
brilliant success.




CHAPTER III

THE FIRST SIEGE OF TIENTSIN


By the siege of Tientsin is meant the siege of the European
settlements by the Chinese, not, as might be supposed, the siege of
the native walled city by the allies; this latter event not taking
place until the settlements had successfully withstood the attack of
some 30,000 Chinamen for two successive periods, broken by the first
relief, of altogether a calendar month.

[Illustration: NATIVE QUARTER, TIENTSIN _(from Pontoon Bridge),
destroyed because dangerous to Europeans on account of harbouring
Chinese soldiers_.

  [_page 46._]

The settlements are built on the right bank of the river, to the
eastward of the native city, and abut on the Chinese suburbs. They
and the native city alike are enclosed by the same mud wall, a
structure about 12 feet high, and broad enough on the top for four
men to walk abreast, called “Sankolinsin’s folly.” Four miles to
the north-eastward of the British settlement was the large and
important arsenal known as the Pei-Yang; a mile and a half to the
south-westward was a smaller arsenal called Hi-Kuan-Su; and six
and a half miles to the northward was the large and valuable military
store, which went by the name of the Hsi-Ku arsenal. All these
positions were already full of Imperial troops by the 15th of June,
and as we know, the whole country was swarming with semi-religious
fanatics.

On the night of the 15th a great part of the French settlement,
which lay nearest to the city, was burnt by Boxers, and the troops
spent the night under arms. A train with a searchlight, which had
been cleverly fitted up at very short notice by an engineer from the
British flagship, patrolled the line till daybreak, and 200 Russians
were sent to a station situated half-way between Tientsin and Taku,
with orders to keep the line open and prevent damage being done to
the buildings. Inside the settlement the people were busy building
barricades in the streets, loopholing walls, and placing staging for
riflemen to stand on behind them. On the night of the 16th an attack
was made in force by the Boxers, who deliberately burnt the native
suburbs lying between the city and the settlement, doing pounds’
worth of damage to their own people in the futile attempt to burn
out the foreigners. After a time they incautiously moved across the
Russians’ front, and immediately came under a steady fire, which,
together with the fire of two guns, drove them over towards the
British settlements. Here they were similarly dealt with by our
sailors and marines; and about 5 a.m. they drew off, having suffered
heavily.

On Sunday, the day that the Taku Forts fell, a repairing train, which
had been sent out to clear the line, was fired upon by Imperial
troops, whereupon an armoured train was despatched to the spot with
200 Russians, who put them to flight after losing a few men. At two
o’clock on the same day the first shells came whizzing over the
settlement, and it was generally recognised for the first time, by
the commanding officers, that the existing state of affairs virtually
meant war with China. The prospect was hardly brilliant; inside the
settlement was a mixed force of 2400 men, with nine field guns, and a
few machine guns; outside were 15,000 Imperial troops, with immense
numbers of modern quick-firing guns. Their ammunition was of the
best, and practically unlimited, and they had the dreaded Boxers
at their back. The perimeter to be defended was about five miles
long, of which one-third was partially protected from a rush by the
mud wall, as much more by the river, while on the third side, the
Chinese houses were so close that it was practically indefensible.
Ammunition was very limited in quantity, and the only thing from
which encouragement could be drawn, was the fact of having several
hundred women and children to defend against the execution of the
hideous threats printed on the multifarious posters which had been
sent to all the Chinese in the settlement, to induce them to leave
before too late. A further source of weakness was the railway
station, which was actually isolated on the opposite bank of the
river, and which had to be held at all costs. This arduous task fell
to the Russians by reason of their numbers. Much loss of life was
undoubtedly saved by a very smart little engagement which took place
as soon as shelling commenced.

Opposite the eastern end of the British portion of the bund
stood some tin-roofed barracks, surrounded by a wall, where a
number of embryo officers and some hundreds of Chinese troops had
established themselves. With them were a battery of Krupp guns, and
it was doubtless their intention to open fire on the settlement
at point-blank range as soon as they got their orders from the
authorities. Luckily those orders had not arrived at the time that
the first gun was fired, and in the interval, their calculations
were upset by an attack on the position by the British marines.
The representatives of this fine corps, supported by some British
and German bluejackets, crossed the river and stormed the building.
The Chinese, a great many of whom corresponded to our military
cadets, called themselves the “Fight-to-the-death Boys”; they acted
right well up to their boast, for very few escaped! The effect was
decisive, and in half an hour after a desperate hand-to-hand fight,
the enemy fled, numbers being killed as they ran; the building was
burnt and the guns captured. On this day the fifty bluejackets, who,
with a lieutenant and two midshipmen, had been sent to guard Tongshan
on the 10th, arrived at Pei-ta-ho. Their little expedition had not
been devoid of interest. Tongshan is the seat of the most important
railway works in the north of China; it is situated on the branch
line to Shan-Hai-Kwan, and was right in the path of the rising. As
its fall would involve enormous pecuniary loss to the company, a
guard had been asked for, and the above-named force had left Tientsin
with that purpose.

Their troubles commenced early, for at Lutai, a place half-way
between Tong-Ku and their destination, the train stopped for water.
Had it not been for the order to avoid showing themselves as much
as possible, it is probable that they would never have left the
place alive, for there was a large force of Imperial troops at the
station with orders to open fire should any European force attempt
to detrain. This incident should suffice to show how the Chinese
government kept faith with the foreigners, because at that time it
was distinctly understood that the allied forces and the Imperial
troops were working together for the suppression of a common
nuisance. The bluejackets reached Tongshan that evening, where they
received an enthusiastic welcome from the small community who seemed
rather unnecessarily alarmed. However that may have been, they
could not do enough for the officers and men, who found excellent
accommodation and a good meal awaiting them.

At a first glance the situation seemed to be not especially
dangerous, but the attitude of the Chinese troops in the vicinity put
a different complexion on matters. Of these, there were 300 encamped
half a mile away, whereas the Europeans numbered twenty-four, of whom
twenty-three were men and one a woman; the men were rather nervous,
and the lady very ill. The first step taken was to send the lady to
Pei-ta-ho by a special train. This very naturally raised an argument,
but it was pointed out that the force had been sent to protect
them, and if they chose to oppose the measures which the commanding
officer thought necessary, well, the force would go away. Nothing
more was said. The next thing done was to commandeer 50 mauser rifles
and 30,000 rounds of ammunition, which were going up country to the
Chinese. These were served out to the civilians, and orders were
given that all hands were to sleep in the main compound at nights;
positions were assigned to them, and the place was put into a state
of defence.

During the next day the Chinese troops left, and the day was spent
in building flanking towers round the wall, and in otherwise
strengthening the position. Their main compound was in the shape
of a stringed bow, and was surrounded by an 8 foot high wall;
when loopholed and completed it would have been a hard nut to
crack without artillery, but against guns, the defence would have
undoubtedly broken down. During the third night a compound adjoining
the main building caught fire, and in the middle of this excitement
a man was seen galloping about on horseback. His horse was promptly
shot and he was taken prisoner. His explanations, however, seemed
to be _bona fide_; and he stated that he had come from a camp near
by, to ascertain the cause of the conflagration, when he had been
fired upon and his horse killed. He was remunerated and released. The
fire gradually burnt itself out, and for the next few days there was
neither alarm nor excitement.

One morning, however, the dull distant booming of heavy guns from
the direction of Taku made it evident that something out of the
ordinary was afoot; and when a European arrived by train from that
direction, all hands eagerly awaited his news. It was none of the
best; he reported that the allies were attacking the Taku forts,
that a furious bombardment was proceeding, and that the allies at
present appeared to be making but little impression on the forts. He
also volunteered that three of the gunboats had been sunk—a thing
that had only occurred in his imagination—that the forts at Peh-tang
had shelled his train, and that troops had searched it at Lu-Tai,
telling the Chinese driver and stokers that if they had found any
European on board, they would have killed every one with him. He had
escaped by hiding in the coal box. This was alarming enough, and
steps were taken to flee to Pei-ta-ho, where the “Humber” was in
readiness to take refugees on board. But worse was to come, for at
9.15 a telegram was received from the above mentioned town, saying
that General Ma, with 5000 men and 18 guns, was on his way south,
and might be expected at Tongshan at 10 a.m. Praying seemed about
the only thing to have recourse to now; but to use a platitude—“God
helps those who help themselves”—so it was determined to do all that
lay in their power to prevent Ma and his troops from remaining at
Tongshan. Steam was raised in an engine, and a train was prepared
in an out-of-the-way siding, and held in readiness for an immediate
start in either direction. Should all arguments fail, it was decided
to take up a position at point-blank range alongside the arrival
platform, where it would be possible to create enormous havoc amongst
the crowded troops, who, placed in such a position, would in all
probability lose their heads and flee. However, the unexpected
happened, and on two Chinese servants in the telegraph department
telling the commanding officer news had just been sent that his
presence was essential further south immediately, and moreover that
if he stopped at Tongshan his firemen and drivers would desert, he
promptly put guards on his engines and steamed gaily off. The last
that was heard of him was that he was detraining five miles away,
having no doubt come to the conclusion that he had been duped. In
half an hour’s time the Europeans were beyond his reach, for on his
departure they immediately proceeded in the opposite direction.

It seems rather ungrateful and rude to recapitulate the
idiosyncrasies of some of the civilians who were so very kind to
our men, and who were so loyal to their commander; but the idea of
runaways taking all their household gods with them in such a crisis
has its funny side, and it required in some cases a good deal of
argument to make them relinquish their pianos and chests of drawers
to the tender mercies of the Chinese. Having cut both wires and
rail in their rear, they headed for Pei-ta-ho, and their escape
from an extremely dangerous and difficult position was brought to a
successful issue at seven o’clock on the night of the 17th.

After this somewhat lengthy digression—which I trust will be excused
as much on account of the fact that the events recorded took place
at the same time as the opening days of the siege of Tientsin, as
that they are interesting—we will return to Tientsin, which we left
at a successful conclusion of the attack on the Military College.
As may be imagined, the defenders and citizens of Tientsin were
immensely elated at the result of their initial engagement, but on
the morrow they were to be attacked instead of attacking, and to be
attacked with such vigour, and in such numbers, that their powers
of endurance were tested nearly to the breaking strain. At a very
early hour on the morning of the 18th the enemy’s snipers occupied
the huts on the opposite bank of the river, and were only turned out
by two officers who crossed in a sampan and set fire to the village,
causing their temporary retirement, and giving the sailors time to
throw up breastworks all along the bund. These defences consisted of
bales of merchandise of all kinds: wool, silk, cotton goods, sugar,
rice, and peanuts,—the sentries’ posts among the latter being much
sought after, for the peanut is not unpleasant to the taste, and is
highly nutritious. At five o’clock a.m. a British officer left in
command of an armed train, and in virtual command of 300 Russians,
with orders to relieve and bring back the large Russian guard at
Chin-Liang-Ching; and some two hours afterwards a determined attack
was made on the Russians at that station.

The attack took the form of a semi-circle, and the enemy brought
10,000 men and many guns into action. The defence at first consisted
of 800 Russians, but at eight o’clock the fighting became so
desperate that they sent in for reinforcements. The only force
that could be spared for that purpose was two companies of our own
bluejackets, who quickly marched up to the threatened point, and
deployed on the Russian left. For four hours the rifle and shell fire
was incessant, and though there was abundant cover, the number of
casualties was rapidly increasing. The Chinese thought the time had
come for an advance, and began to press on the left flank; but our
men held their position with the utmost tenacity, and their fire was
so steady and effective that no ground was lost. Nevertheless at 2
p.m. the situation was as nearly desperate as possible, and when the
Russian guns, in the act of unlimbering, got three beautifully aimed
shells right amongst the battery and were forced to retire without
firing a shot, it looked as though nothing could save the station. A
gun of sorts was absolutely essential, and it came in the form of a
nine-pounder muzzle-loader, a disgrace to the glorious service which
at that time had to use them, and which was trundled up by a gun’s
crew from H.M.S. “Orlando,” by hand. Whatever critics may have said
about the weapon, there can only be one verdict about the skill and
devotion of the men fated to use it. It was superb. Teed up like a
golf ball in front of the platform, the mark of every hostile gun,
it was fought to such purpose that it indisputably turned almost
certain defeat into a grand victory. To show what the fire was like,
it is only necessary to mention that five “Number ones” went down in
as many minutes, and at the end of a short half hour, two officers
and two men were still working the piece alone. Its fire not only
kept down that of several hostile guns, but also effectively checked
the advance of the infantry, who were fain to take cover among the
numerous mounds to be found over the several acres of ground between
the opposing forces. All chance of a Chinese success was now at an
end, and, when the trainload of Russians returned about 4 o’clock,
having failed to reach Chin-Liang-Ching owing to the destruction of
the permanent way, the commanding officer, Colonel Wogack, felt able
to take the offensive. The whole force fixed bayonets, and under a
withering fire commenced their advance. On this occasion the enemy
did not wait, but, dismayed as much at the stubbornness of the
defence as at the impetuosity of the attack, broke and fled through
a village in their rear. So disorganised were they that the means of
egress became blocked with struggling humanity, and at this point
their loss was enormous. The bayonet was employed in clearing the
village, and in twenty minutes from the commencement of the advance
resistance had ceased. The village was burned and the exulting
troops returned to barracks, having administered a salutary lesson
to the Chinese. This engagement cost the enemy some 500 killed and
wounded: the loss of the allies being 230.

After the action the Russian colonel recognised the gallantry of
our men in a kindly speech, in which he said that he had on that
day witnessed the traditional pluck and endurance of the British
bluejacket, and that he was proud to have commanded such men;
further, that he hoped for the sake of civilisation that Great
Britain and Russia would always march side by side. The rest of the
evening was spent by the one side in building or completing defences,
and by the other in mounting guns in closer and more advantageous
positions, and when darkness had closed in, all the women and
children were sent into the cellars of the town hall, as well as
those residents whose houses had already become untenable, or whose
position rendered them liable to destruction.

The next day, 19th, was a day of unsuccessful attacks on both
sides. It was found that the enemy had mounted two guns on the mud
wall to the eastward, which were doing great damage to the British
concession, and it became necessary to dislodge them. A force of
130 bluejackets, under Commander Beatty, was told off to operate
in conjunction with 400 Russians, and it was decided that our
force should deliver the frontal attack at 10.30 a.m., by which
time the Russians were to have come up on our left and turned the
enemy’s right flank. Like many other carefully laid plans, this one
miscarried. To begin with, the Russians were late: they delivered a
semi-frontal attack instead of carrying out the preconcerted flanking
movement, and finally they lost all touch with our companies. From
that moment the affair became hopeless, the fighting line consisted
of but fifty men, who, although they advanced until all their
officers were wounded with the exception of one midshipman, were
ultimately compelled to retire, having effected nothing. In this
disastrous attack Commander Beatty was severely wounded twice in the
left arm, and a midshipman also received two wounds which eventually
proved fatal. However, it was imperative that those two guns should
be silenced, and a 9-pr., the hero of the previous day, was brought
in to the bund in front of the Consulate. During the duel which
ensued, Lieut. Wright, the gunnery lieutenant of the “Orlando” was
dangerously wounded by a shell which burst almost in his face; his
life was despaired of, but he made a miraculous recovery, and lived
to receive his well-earned promotion. It is to be deeply regretted
that this valuable officer died recently, doubtless from the after
effects of his terrible injuries. The 9-pr. was again handled with
exemplary skill, and eventually caused the retirement of the enemy,
who took their guns with them.

While these events had been going on to the northward of the
settlement, similar but opposite movements were taking place to
the southward. The Chinese brought guns out of the south gate of
the native city, and shelled the west face of the settlements. On
being engaged by the two guns on our south-westerly defences, namely
another 9-pounder and a 6-pounder Q.F., they turned their attention
to our gunners. An artillery engagement ensued which lasted till
our magazines, which had been dug in the base of the mud wall, were
exhausted, when our two guns ceased fire. This was interpreted by the
Chinese as an acknowledgment of defeat, and an attack was made on
the emplacement under cover of a bend in the wall. About 70 Imperial
troops got to within 300 yards of the guns under cover, when they
rushed towards them, keeping up a brisk fire as they came. Things
looked critical, for there was not a single round of ammunition left
for the 6-pr., and only three or four for the 9-pr.; besides which
the total force consisted of only one midshipman and eight men. The
officer and four men manned the gun; the other four maintained a
steady fire with their rifles. A single shrapnel was sufficient; it
burst full in the face of the advancing Chinamen, who bolted and were
pursued by the remaining rounds until out of range. This finished
active operations for the day, which had been slightly in favour of
the Europeans.

In view of the probable failure of ammunition and stores, it was
determined to endeavour to communicate the existing state of affairs
to the outside world. Volunteers were called for, and Mr James Watts,
a young Englishman, expressed his willingness to ride through the
Chinese forces and make his way to Taku with despatches. None could
have been better fitted for the duty. Young, plucky, possessing a
perfect knowledge of the country, and possibly the finest rider in
the east, Mr Watts undoubtedly had all the qualities necessary for
its successful performance. A guard of three Cossacks went with him,
and they had one spare horse between them. They started their ride at
nightfall, and were seen and pursued almost as soon as they had left
the settlement. The alarm was passed from village to village, and it
was found necessary to deviate considerably from the line decided
upon, in order to avoid the crowds of Chinamen who simply swarmed for
some miles round Tientsin. In one village Mr Watts was recognised,
and his name was shouted out, coupled with the most awful threats by
the erstwhile servants and grooms who had all become Boxers. Luckily
for the little troop, when the Imperial forces had passed, they had
firearms to fear no longer, and the most expeditious methods of
dealing with the mobs of armed peasants was to charge down on them
sword or revolver in hand. The pursuit was kept up till the four
horsemen hove in sight of Taku, which was reached safely next morning
after a ride of nearly fifty miles.

At dawn on the 20th, the Chinese opened a fierce bombardment,
bringing a 2-inch Krupp gun into use for the first time. One of the
fifty pound shells from this weapon struck the hospital, and piercing
the wall, fell in the passage outside the window of a ward full of
wounded officers. Luckily it did not explode, and beyond the shock,
which naturally affects one’s nerves when lying wounded in bed, no
harm was done. During the morning the French settlement suffered very
severely from a concentrated shell fire, and by the end of the day
there was hardly a habitable house in it. Practically no reply was
made by the Allies’ artillery, consisting as it did of small and
sometimes antique weapons, with a very limited supply of ammunition
which was carefully husbanded to stem any rush on the part of the
enemy. An attempt was made to silence the 5-inch, by mounting a Maxim
on the roof of a house and firing at the flash, but the big fellow
took no notice of its puny opponent’s angry mutterings, and went
on sullenly the whole night. Next morning the enemy turned their
attention to the south-westerly defences again, and when they had
tried unsuccessfully to elicit a reply from our two guns in that
direction, they vented their spite on the wool-mills, which were
held by a midshipman with forty men. These quickly had to leave
the buildings, and entrenched in the open in front of them, the
midshipman and several men having been wounded by splinters at almost
the first discharge. At half-past ten the mill was set on fire, and
blazed furiously, sending up dense masses of black smoke, as the
flames caught the large quantities of wool and dye which were stored
in the buildings. Machinery to the value of £100,000 was destroyed,
and the main building was completely gutted. Immediately the effect
of their shell fire became apparent, large masses of troops poured
out of the south gate of the city, and it looked as though the
Chinese were going to press their advantage. However, at this
moment, our two guns woke up, and burst a few shells among them, and
on the arrival of our reinforcements, the enemy desisted from further
operations, having done considerable damage, but without gaining any
military success.

For some time it had been suspected that the enemy had snipers
concealed about the settlement itself, and it became amply proved
when, in the afternoon, no less than seven were found concealed
in a large “godown,” all supplied with rifles and a quantity of
ammunition. These men were instantly shot, but nothing seemed to
check the system of espionage which enabled the Chinese to know
the time and meaning of every movement which took place inside the
settlement. As certainly as the Europeans fell in, even were it only
for the purpose of inspecting arms, so surely did shells commence
to fall among the houses around them; and although all spies and
signallers who fell into the hands of the allies were summarily
dealt with, this annoying power of foresight, which spoilt many a
projected surprise, served to harass the defenders, until the native
city finally fell into our hands. The only apparent way of stopping
this nuisance seemed to be the expulsion of every Chinaman in the
settlement, but as they all professed to be either native Christians
or faithful servants, this course of action did not commend itself
to the Provost-Marshal. There can be no doubt that if the step had
been taken, nine-tenths of them would have been slain, after torture,
by their countrymen.

On the 22nd June every one was kept in a flutter of excitement all
day. In the early morning a courier arrived from Pekin, bringing
the news of the death of the German minister, Baron von Ketteler,
and stating that the Europeans had been ordered to leave within
twenty-four hours. The man stated that he was only one of many
couriers who had endeavoured to reach Tientsin, and that he knew that
two had been caught by the Boxers. He himself had been caught by
some Imperial troops, but he had destroyed his message, and they let
him go after a close cross examination. None of the other couriers
came in, so it must be supposed that they too were caught, and
suffered death for their faithfulness to their European masters. In
the afternoon troops were seen advancing from the direction of Taku,
and hopes rose high; but heavy firing was heard, and the troops,
who were a small force of Russians and Americans, fell back. This
naturally caused some disappointment, but it was felt that at last
some movement for the relief of the place was on foot, and it was
optimistically supposed that the retiring column was merely the
advance guard of a powerful force, who would easily overcome the
Chinese opposition on the morrow. In the evening the bombardment of
the settlement suddenly ceased, and a very heavy fire was heard to
the north-westward.

Most of the Chinese guns were withdrawn, and opened fire in the
opposite direction; from which it was conjectured that the Admirals’
force was returning, and was being hotly engaged some six miles away.
The distant firing ceased about eleven o’clock, only to open again
furiously at dawn, when the Chinese again bombarded the settlement.
Contrary to their usual custom, they failed to attack our outposts
in the early morning, and it was generally felt that they were
bewildered at the presence of the two forces to the north-westward
and south-eastward of them, both of which were feeling for an opening
in the cordon. At nine o’clock troops were again seen to be advancing
from the south-eastward, and by ten o’clock an engagement was taking
place around the Pei-Yang arsenal, and in the villages between
this position and the river. All the troops in the settlement were
immediately moved about, to give the enemy the impression that they
were about to be attacked in rear, which would have been done had it
not been for the Allies’ paucity of numbers. At any rate the movement
probably bore some fruit, for the Chinese were on the run by eleven
o’clock, and by noon a column of 750 British, Americans, and Italians
arrived in the German Concession, leaving a force of 1150 Russians
and Germans on the other bank of the river. The Chinese, dispirited
at the result of the morning’s work, ceased their bombardment, and
the first siege of Tientsin was over.

What a change had taken place in the short fortnight that the
bluejackets had been in garrison. On their arrival they found a busy,
prosperous, and pretty European town, whose inhabitants vied with
each other in getting up amusements and sports for the men. Prettily
dressed women and children were everywhere in evidence, and by their
presence greatly added to the success of the various entertainments.
The officers were all billeted in the houses of civilians, who
appeared to be only too pleased to have them. The English and German
clubs both threw open their doors to the visitors, and it was felt
on all hands that if this was war, well, “Vive-la-Guerre.” Now,
however, trade was at a standstill, and the recreation ground which
had recently been prepared for a cricket match, was one of the
principal links in the chain of defence. Hardly a house but had been
struck by shells, the valuable contents of the warehouses going to
form barricades to keep out the bullets which lay thick about every
street, and studded every tree and wall. It was indeed a different
spectacle. Women and children were to be seen no longer, and the two
clubs were both turned into hospitals, which by this time were nearly
crowded with wounded officers and men. Instead of the abundance of
fresh food which had been the rule, there was now none; bully beef
and ship’s biscuits had taken the place of fresh mutton and new
bread. This is not mentioned as a hardship, but merely to indicate
the change that had taken place; for the sailors thrive even in peace
time on a certain amount of this substituted diet, besides which
they never grumble, so long as they understand the logic of the
situation, which in this case was palpable. The first siege was over
and the garrison had been reinforced, in fact doubled, but for many
days to come there was no certainty about the ultimate safety of the
settlements.




CHAPTER IV

SEYMOUR’S DASH FOR PEKIN


It will be remembered that Admiral Seymour had suggested that an
International Brigade should immediately start for Pekin on the 9th
June, and that not only had his colleagues agreed to the step being
taken, but had entrusted the command to him. The following account of
what took place came from the private diary of a brother officer who
served with the column, and is therefore, like the account of most of
the other operations, the story of an eyewitness. So many times is
one asked the question, “Why ever did Seymour try to relieve Pekin
with but 2000 men? Of course the thing was bound to be a failure,”
that one gets tired of giving the somewhat lengthy explanation
necessary to dissipate their ignorance; but enough has been said
in the previous chapters to show that no interference was believed
possible from the Imperial troops, in which case the force was
undoubtedly adequate. On the Continent the attempt was stigmatized,
by one whose eccentricity is well known, as “folly”; but this was not
the opinion of his Nationals on the spot, who were well to the fore
in all the fighting which took place, and who, by their courage and
bearing, set an example unhappily not often followed by some of the
other Continental contingents. Apart from this, it must be noted with
pride by all Britons, that the first step taken to help the European
ministers and the other foreigners in Pekin, originated with one of
their own countrymen, who conducted the hazardous enterprise with the
greatest intrepidity and skill.

It was believed that two days’ work, with a sufficient force, would
put the damaged railway line in sufficiently good order to allow of
the passage of trains, and on the 10th June five trains started with
a total force of 2060 men, composed of British, Germans, Japanese,
Austrians, Americans, French, and Russians. With the force went a few
engineers, and any available space was occupied by sleepers and other
plant for repairing purposes. On the 10th the trains made about 36
miles’ headway, and it was never doubted that the other 50 would be
negotiated in a day or two. Repairing the line, however, was found to
be killing work; but after a few miles of digging and plate-laying,
the pace at which the work was finished increased, and had it not
been for the fierceness of the sun and the scarcity of water, still
more might have been got out of the men, who seemed to enjoy the
novel experience. The bridges, of which there are a good number,
were the most difficult to repair; the Boxers had built huge fires
underneath them, which not only burnt the sleepers, but warped the
rails.

[Illustration: REPAIRING THE LINE OUTSIDE TIENTSIN.

  [_facing page 72._]

[Illustration: CHARRED SLEEPERS AND WARPED RAILS ON THE LINE OUTSIDE
TIENTSIN.

  [_facing page 72._]

On the 11th, the railway got worse and worse; the rails had been torn
up by hundreds of yards, and the permanent way had been destroyed as
far as it lay in the Boxers’ power. Several small bodies of Boxers
were seen in the distance, evidently waiting for the trains to pass
by before recommencing operations on the line. All the stations
which were passed had been burned and looted, and on arriving at
Lo-fa, the Boxers were found in strength. The British from the first
train got out and engaged them; several villages were cleared, and
forty of the enemy, who fought with fanatical courage although only
armed with swords and spears, were slain. Owing to repeated acts of
treachery, it was found necessary to slay all the wounded who did
not throw away their arms, several of our men having narrow escapes
from men shamming death. All the inhabitants of the surrounding
villages were either Boxers or had decamped, so the houses were burnt
and looted; grain, kettles, and bowls being among the most useful
articles found in them. Owing to the condition of the line, and the
little engagement referred to, only 10 miles’ progress was made; but
there were as yet no pessimistic opinions aired, though as a rule
these are common enough at the first sign of difficulties. On the
next day the line was worse still, and it was found impracticable
to advance more than a paltry four miles. This put a different
complexion on matters, for only two days’ provisions had been
brought, and recourse was had to the pigs and chickens which were
very plentiful in the villages. The well water, in several places,
was discovered to be poisonous, and in consequence of the general
impurity of all the water to be found, it was all boiled before being
used for drinking. Some of the glory of war was infused into the
day by decorating the trains with banners, which had been captured
from the Boxers in the engagement of the afternoon before; they were
nearly all of triangular shape, red in colour, and with various texts
and mottoes on them in black characters. A trolly was sent on ahead,
manned by eight of our marines, whose duty it was to scout; they got
surrounded by mounted Boxers, and killed twenty of them. As usual,
the enemy treated rifle fire with supreme indifference, and only fell
back on the advance of a company of bluejackets.

On Wednesday the 13th, Lieutenant Smith, the gunnery lieutenant of
the “Aurora,” was sent on ahead with fifty sailors, for the purpose
of exploring the line, and to guard against surprise. The men were
in light marching order and only carried a hundred rounds apiece,
with one day’s food and water-bottle. After proceeding for two or
three miles, they were attacked by about 1800 sword and spearmen.
A joss-house was hastily fortified, and six rushes of the enemy
were repulsed with heavy loss—about 150. On the retirement of the
Chinese for the sixth time, the ammunition was found to be getting
low, so the little force withdrew, and fought its way back without
any casualties. Unfortunately it was found necessary to abandon the
provisions. The whole day was spent in repairing the sidings and
line at Lang-Fang, a large and completely ruined station. A train
got through from Tientsin with a welcome mail, and stores of various
kinds, and reported that there were signs of the line having been
again tampered with in the rear; but that it was expected a good
service of trains would soon be running backwards and forwards which
would alone suffice to prevent any serious damage being done, unless
the Boxers used explosives, of which they did not possess any.

On Thursday, the trains were attacked by 2000 Boxers, who surprised
and cut to pieces five Italians on picket duty, who were playing
cards instead of keeping watch. On they went, charging Maxims
and magazine rifles as though it was an everyday matter; never
wavering, never stopping except to go through their bullet-charming
gesticulations, they just came on at a trot yelling “Tow-ah! Tow-ah!”
(Kill! Kill!) with a calm disregard of death which was as absurd
as it was pathetic. As an officer present with the foremost Maxim
said, “It seemed awfully unreal, this mowing down of men but a few
yards off.” They never got past the first train, whose crew were
mainly British. All around it they lay, and just in the wake of the
Maxim they lay in heaps. This gun had done its work well, the big
leaden bullet crushing, and rendering nerveless, any one that it
hit, whereas the humane nickel-coated bullet failed altogether to
stop these pertinacious swordsmen, unless it struck a vital spot.
At last the limit of fanaticism was reached, and the enemy retired,
having suffered terribly. Meanwhile a still more hotly contested
conflict had been waging at Lo-fa, where Lieutenant Colomb and fifty
men had been left in a fortified house, which they called “Fort
Endymion” after the name of their ship. They were attacked by 3000
Chinamen, but after some hard fighting, they drove the enemy off with
a known loss of 150 killed. An interesting feature of the attack
was the bringing of two prehistoric guns into action by the Boxers,
from which they fired railway bolts and smooth stones. The first
casualties, with the exception of the Italian picket, were caused by
these extraordinary weapons; one man being wounded through the right
lung by a stone.

[Illustration: SEYMOUR’S COLUMN—ARMOURED TRUCK WITH RAILWAY COOLIES.

  [_facing page 77._]

[Illustration: CARRIAGES OCCUPIED BY SEYMOUR’S COLUMN FOR TEN DAYS.

  [_facing page 77._]

On the 15th a train went back, and found that the line in rear of
Lo-fa was again completely torn up, and that there was no chance of
getting any more news from Tientsin; so the force once more found
itself with only two days’ provisions, and a quickly diminishing
supply of ammunition. Suspicion began to grow that the Regular troops
would soon commence active opposition to the advance; and it was felt
that, although Pekin would certainly be reached as long as there were
only sword and spearmen to contend with, considering the state of
the line, it would be well-nigh impossible if the troops abandoned
their hitherto neutral attitude. The expected 48 hours to Pekin
had already extended to a week; and beyond the fact of having got
half-way, and having slain some hundreds of Boxers with practically
no loss, the force was in a rather worse predicament than after the
first day’s work.

[Illustration: SEYMOUR’S COLUMN—SERVING OUT GROG.

  [_page 77._]

On the 16th, the first train retired to Lo-fa, where the garrison
of “Fort Endymion” was relieved, and work was commenced again
on the rear part of the lines to try and open the all-important
communications. By dint of unstinted labour, eight miles were
repaired, and Yangtsung was reached again in the evening. The other
trains remained at Lang-Fang, and a fortified position near the
station was held by German sailors, and christened “Fort Gefion.”
All private stores were finished, and the service rations were used
for the first time. These were eked out with chickens, and the
everlasting black pigs which appeared to own no master, and roamed
the country at will. Needless to remark, they had not yet developed
the man-eating propensities for which they afterwards became noted.

The Yangtsun railway bridge was found to be totally destroyed;
it is the most important bridge on the whole line, being a fine
iron structure bridging the Pei-Ho river, half a mile below the
town from which it takes its name. On the 18th, those in the first
train endeavoured to get everything ship-shape for further service.
This was satisfactorily accomplished with the exception of perfect
cleanliness, which was rendered doubly hard by the total drying up
of most of the wells in the vicinity, which obliged one to wash both
one’s belongings and one’s self in the muddy and corpse—glutted
river. Those who performed the latter operation, in a somewhat
squeamish and perfunctory manner, little dreamt that very shortly
they would no longer hesitate to wash in it, but would be only too
glad to drink it as it was!

In the evening the other trains came down from Lang-Fang, to say
that “Fort Gefion” had been attacked, and that Imperial troops had
participated in the engagement.

It appears that the German garrison were unexpectedly attacked
by 4000 riflemen. Some British and French sailors moved to their
assistance, and in the course of some hard hand-to-hand fighting, 400
Chinese soldiers were killed. The total Allied loss was 6 killed and
48 wounded. At last the blow had fallen, and a foe by no means to be
despised had for the first time appeared on the scene.

The task had become well-nigh hopeless, and, as the lesser of the two
evils, it was decided to retire on Tientsin by way of the river.

A German detachment made a smart capture of some junks which were
making off, full of railway sleepers, and into them were placed the
wounded and what stores were left. The retirement was commenced on
Tuesday afternoon, the whole force being on the left bank of the
river, and the junks being towed by the railway coolies and the
prisoners. Before starting, all gear, except the food, ammunition,
and clothes which the men were wearing, was buried; among other
things that were thus lost being the officers’ full-dress uniforms,
which were brought because it was expected that on the arrival of the
force at Pekin there would have been ample occasion to wear them.
Three miles’ progress was made before dark, the men now proceeding
in heavy marching order, with half rations for two days in their
haversacks.

The first bivouac was miserable enough; damp mists rose from the
river, and in an hour or two’s time blankets became saturated, and
sleep out of the question. The mosquitoes on the river itself were
in countless numbers, and the wounded suffered terribly from their
attacks. On the morrow, resistance was met at each village, the
enemy, in most cases, being composed of both Imperial troops and
Boxers. These villages were taken at the bayonet’s point, one after
another, and the force pushed on as quickly as possible to the next;
the same sort of bayonet charge, the same kind of opposition to be
overcome, a few casualties on each side, a few captured rifles, and
the village was burnt. This last, although a tiresome and disgusting
task, was a military necessity; nevertheless it was a pitiful sight
to see old men and women wailing by the side of their burning houses,
left to their fate by their younger relations. In no single case were
these unfortunates molested by any of the British force, but in one
village, where two middle-aged men were captured after having been
seen fighting a few minutes previously, two sailors began to thrash
them with their fists. This of course was immediately stopped by an
officer, who, not understanding the position, began to upbraid the
offenders, finishing with words to the effect that the force were
not fighting with “peaceful villagers.” The men desisted, and having
saluted, were walking off, when one remarked: “Yes, I know them
peaceful villagers—peaceful villagers wot sells us chickens by day
and snipes by night.” During the day, a one-pounder Hotchkiss was
captured after the retreat of the enemy, who withdrew it as soon as
the charge commenced, and somewhat carelessly hid it in a swamp to
the rear of the village.

The Chinese cracker trick, which is really an exceedingly good
imitation of heavy independent rifle fire, was used a good deal by
the Chinese about this period; but when the first position was taken,
of course the burnt crackers told their own tale, and the tremendous
fire from the enemy’s trenches frightened no one again. Towards
evening the Allies made their first acquaintance with the “Jingal,”
a weapon on which, until quite recently, even the Imperial troops
had placed great reliance; they now formed the Boxers’ artillery. A
“Jingal” is nothing more nor less than a huge rifle, fashioned like
a modern Mauser without the magazine; they fire a very large leaden
bullet, the impulsive force being a proportionately large charge of
black powder. Of course their weight makes them too great a load for
one man, so they are carried and manned by two, or sometimes three.
In some cases the village carpenter had been requisitioned to make
them into guns of position, which was done by adopting the swivel
system, putting them on the top of large stakes which were firmly
driven into the earth.

After another uncomfortable bivouac, the force got under arms again
early next morning, and were marching in a long column by the river
bank, when a line of cavalry were perceived on the left front about
3 miles off. They were screened by a fringe of trees, and on account
of the distance no one was able to make them out sufficiently clearly
to be certain of their nationality. However, it was decided from
their formation, and the size of their horses, that they were Russian
Cossacks. The Russian colours were hoisted, and in answer came a
well-directed shell, which burst in unpleasant proximity to the
Germans. This was followed by others, and, in twenty minutes’ time
the column found itself heavily engaged with General Nieh’s army,
8000 strong, with four batteries. The column was disposed in the
following the manner; the Germans, Russians, and Japanese were on the
right side of the river, and the rest of the force on the left. The
natural features of the ground and all important points are mentioned
in the account of the battle which follows.

The forces on the left side took cover under a sand-bank, and the
British cleared No. 1 village and occupied it. It was soon seen that
No. 2 village was full of the enemy, and as our guns were kept fully
occupied by their artillery, so were unable to prepare the assault by
shell fire, the British with some Americans therefore again charged
and captured it. The Chinese fire at this point was very heavy and
well directed, and during the brief rush many casualties occurred,
among them being Captain Jellicoe—the British flag-captain, who
was dangerously wounded through the lung. At one time it seemed as
though the village would not be taken owing to the want of numbers,
but after a slight check, which was made under cover of some banks
about 100 yards from the point of attack, the sailors again pressed
forward, and the Chinese fled. No time was given to them to prepare
No. 3 village, and without a pause the charge was continued, ending
in the utter rout of the enemy, with heavy loss.

The allied line by this time consisted of British, Americans, and
French, all advancing on the Chinese infantry, with one flank resting
on the said sand-bank. The Chinese gradually retired over the other
end of it, and from its crest opened a steady fire. Two companies
of the “Centurion’s” men and some thirty Americans, the whole under
the direction of Captain M‘Calla, U.S.N. (a fine old Civil War
veteran), were sent to turn the enemy’s flank, which was done most
successfully. The enemy again lost heavily, and had the outflanking
force stayed where it was, all would have been well, but the men were
kept charging until they found themselves far in advance of the
supports, with No. 4 village in front of them, strongly occupied by
Imperial troops, and with a heavy fire coming from across the river
from the Chinese position on that side, whose occupants had not yet
been evicted by the Russians and Germans.

There was nothing for it but to retire, and with further loss in
officers and men, the force managed to extricate itself, with its
dead and wounded, from a somewhat delicate position. The battered
remnant of those companies were sent to be junk guard, and the fresh
men who had at present done nothing were moved up to the fighting
line. This advent had an immediate effect, and the Chinese, fighting
stubbornly and losing heavily, were pushed back steadily for about
4 miles. A defensive position, the best there was, was chosen for
the junks and field hospital, and as it was four o’clock in the
afternoon, the rear-guard halted, and prepared to bivouac. For three
more hours the advance guard pursued the flying foe, until the men
were in danger of becoming exhausted, when the halt was sounded, and
they retired on to the already mentioned position.

It is not too much to say that the British did practically all the
fighting, and with the exception of the Germans and Americans, the
other forces were hardly engaged. The men had been on the march for
sixteen hours, twelve of which had been spent in fighting; they were
without water to drink, and without time to eat, and even on their
return the Pei-Ho was the only refreshment obtainable. Five hours’
rest (not for the whole force, for some had to go on picket duty—an
arduous task for which some contingents had no great liking), was
all that was vouchsafed to the weary men, and at one o’clock next
morning the “Fall in” was sounded, and once more the column headed
for Tientsin. By this time there was so little ammunition left for
the field guns, that they were all placed in junks, and little enough
room did it leave for the wounded, whose numbers had been nearly
doubled by the previous day’s fighting. At 3 a.m. some firing took
place in the immediate front, and the marines (British) came upon a
Chinese outpost, who after the first few shots fled, leaving their
rifles. They had been placed on the outskirts of a small Chinese
town, which proved to be absolutely deserted.

Sleepy and with empty stomachs, plodding along through the oppressing
quietness where all should have been bustle and life, was a weird,
uncanny experience. It is on such occasions, in the grey of the early
morning, going to who knows what fate, with that awful feeling of
expectancy hanging over every one that the nerves get distraught and
the imagination, if allowed to wander, makes such jumpy creatures of
the finest men; so it was with feelings of relief that the force once
more found themselves in the open, and again marching along the river
banks. On leaving the town, the head of the force was challenged from
the other side of the river, from what in the puzzling light looked
like a wood. An interpreter went forward, and explained that the
force was friendly to the Chinese government, and desired nothing
better than to be allowed to pass on into Tientsin peaceably. A
conciliatory and satisfactory answer was given to this request, and
the force was moving on, when suddenly a tremendous artillery and
musketry fire was opened on them! Nothing but the darkness saved
the head of the column from total annihilation. As it was, however,
the force lay down and replied, as well as it was possible, to the
tremendous fire from the opposite bank.

Just before this happened, the junk with the guns foundered, and the
others broke adrift, and bid fair to drift right into the middle
of the enemy. Several of the poor wounded were shot again, as they
lay in agony fully exposed to the perfect hail of bullets which was
poured into them; and it looked as though they would be butchered to
a man. However, two splendid men, one from the “Centurion” and one
from the “Orlando” swam over the river and succeeded in towing them
back to the friendly refuge of a bend in the river, where they at any
rate got some shelter afforded by the bank.

One field gun and four machine guns were saved, but five field guns
and five machine guns were at the bottom of the river, and thus the
force was practically without artillery. In addition to this, most
of the foreign contingents were almost out of ammunition, whilst our
own stock was rapidly dwindling, till there were only a few boxes
in reserve. However, desperate plights are only to be coped with by
desperate measures, and it was decided that part of the force should
cross the river and charge the arsenal, for such was the enemy’s
position discovered to be, when objects became distinguishable. To
the comparatively fresh Russians the task was offered, but the honour
was refused, and eventually the whole of the British marines with 40
bluejackets were led over the river above the bend, and prepared for
the assault. There was cover available up to 200 yards of the arsenal
walls, and such was the surprise of the Chinamen at seeing some 200
marines and sailors advancing at the double, cheering lustily, that
they deserted the northern wall almost before they could fire a shot.
In the meantime the German sailors had moved down opposite to the
river gate of the arsenal, and by their fire, managed to keep under
that of the enemy’s field pieces from that direction. Fighting of
the fiercest description took place inside the enclosure, and for
some time the British barely held their own, possessing neither the
numbers nor the local knowledge of the enemy, who were able to harass
them considerably from buildings and other positions which our men
did not understand how to get at, because of the somewhat complicated
arrangement of the houses and moats, which were here, there, and
everywhere in the arsenal grounds.

After about an hour’s hard fighting, the place was cleared, and the
enemy’s guns were manned by our men and turned on to a village about
a mile away, into which the majority of the defenders had escaped.
Desultory fighting also took place on the left bank of the river,
and it was not until 3 p.m. that the whole force had crossed, and
had got the various positions assigned to them. Before this had
happened, the small British garrison had to repel repeated attempts
made by the Chinese infantry to retake the place; the Chinese loss in
their several advances being great. The first care, when the enemy
finally retired, was for the wounded, and these were all placed in as
comfortable quarters as could be found in the existing circumstances.

By four o’clock it was recognised what a prize had been captured.
It was a military store known as the Hsi-Ku arsenal, being about a
mile in circumference, along the whole length of which ran a mud wall
about 15 feet high and 12 feet broad on the top. The store-houses
were at the south end of the enclosure, and by virtue of a high
brick wall which enclosed them, were made into an inner line of
defence. Other houses were scattered here and there, and were used
as temporary barracks, etc. Confidence was completely restored by
this successful capture, and it was felt that had there been a
sufficiency of food and ammunition, the column might make an almost
indefinite resistance. Friday night passed comparatively quietly, but
at daybreak on Saturday the Chinese made another determined attack.
They actually charged right up to the south-west corner, and some
even got into the long rushes inside the embankment. Some marines,
under Captain Beyts of the “Centurion,” were marching to take up
their positions on the wall when they were surprised by these daring
spirits, and in the hand-to-hand fighting which followed, this
officer was unfortunately slain. The main attack was beaten off, but
the enemy did not cease to threaten others until about eleven o’clock.

At the first opportunity, the stores were examined, and to the
inestimable delight of all, there was found in them 15 tons of rice,
an almost unlimited supply of medical comforts and stores (which
had run out with the allies so completely that the pugarees from
the officers’ and marines’ helmets had all been used for bandages),
besides forty-five .303-in. Maxims, with 7,000,000 rounds of
ammunition, thousands of Mannlicher repeating carbines and rifles
(also with ammunition), and large numbers of excellent quick-firing
field guns, which included two pom-poms. The discovery was of such
value that it was difficult for one to believe one’s own eyes. Here
was Lee-Metford ammunition enough to last the British force for
months; modern repeating rifles sufficient to re-arm all the rest of
the force whose ammunition was low—which was immediately done—guns,
and machine guns, in such numbers that it would have been possible
to mount one at every fiftieth yard; and food which, though it was
better suited to the Chinese stomach than to that of Europeans,
nevertheless, would serve to keep the whole force alive for some
weeks.

One of the miserable sand-storms, which occur with some frequency in
the summer months in this district, raged all Saturday afternoon,
greatly adding to the general discomfort. Nothing had been heard
from Tientsin, now only just above six miles distant, and it seemed
as though the force would have to stand a somewhat lengthy siege.
During the afternoon a well was dug, from which the men were able to
get some comparatively good drinking water, for the first time for
days; the only other work that was done being the mounting of guns,
and the removal of the wounded into the now empty field gun store.
At night rockets were fired and blue lights burned, but no response
came from Tientsin, and it was feared that the settlements were in
as dire need as the Admiral’s column. That the country swarmed with
troops was known from the story of a wounded prisoner, who admitted
that the attempts to retake the place had been made with twenty-five
battalions (nominally) 500 men in each, but probably of not more
than 300 to 400, and that the troops were much discouraged at their
non-success and heavy losses. The last attack had been pressed with
the utmost determination, and European tactics had been employed
throughout. The troops employed were men with a reputation second
only to that of the Shantung army, which is commanded by that able
and clear-sighted viceroy, Yuan-Shi-Kai; and it speaks volumes in
their favour that they should have fought as well as they did, after
their enormous losses in the previous engagements.

On Sunday morning the defence was rearranged, the British and Germans
sharing the three most dangerous walls, the Americans and Russians
the fourth wall, while the French and Japanese did sentry work,
picket duty, and defended the inner line. Some tents were discovered,
and were pitched forthwith; they afforded a welcome shelter from the
sand which penetrated everywhere else. The enemy amused themselves
with a long-range fire until ten o’clock, when they attacked the
Americans and Russians on the north front. Their fire caused several
casualties among the British on the west bank, entirely enfilading
them, so the greater part of them reinforced the Americans, and in
a short time the attack recoiled and fizzled out. Their snipers,
however, were very busy all day, and it was only by choosing picked
shots and placing them in advantageous positions that the men could
get any rest from their annoying fire. In the afternoon, the native
city and some forts further down the river were vigorously shelled,
but they appeared to be busily engaged in the opposite direction,
and only occasionally replied. The wounded were given a treat in the
shape of some horseflesh for dinner; it had belonged to a Chinese
officer, who was shot with his horse during the morning’s attack. It
was unfortunate that no more was procurable, for the wounded numbered
230, and what is one horse among so many?

The total losses up to date had been 62 killed and 230 wounded,
including—British, 27 killed, 97 wounded; Germans, 12 killed, 62
wounded; Russians, 10 killed, 27 wounded; Americans, 4 killed, 28
wounded; Italians, 5 killed, 3 wounded; Japs, 2 killed, 3 wounded;
and French, 1 killed, and 10 wounded, out of an original force of
2066, composed of British 915, Germans 450, Russians, 312, French
158, Americans 112, Japanese 54, Italians 40, Austrians 25.

Day broke on Monday 25th without any alarm, and the only signs of the
enemy were a small force of infantry, and a strong column of cavalry,
who were descried at the other side of the railway embankment.

At about half-past eight, two of the forts down the river were seen
to be shelling in a direction neither towards the settlements nor
Seymour’s arsenal, and it was conjectured that a relief force was
coming at last. Seymour immediately shelled the forts and native
city vigorously, trusting or desiring to assist the hoped-for
relievers, and managed to draw the fire of two or three guns on to
his own position. At half-past nine, sharp rifle fire was heard,
and the Chinese cavalry were seen to retire, followed by their
infantry, who did not appear to take any part in the engagement;
and shortly afterwards the head of a European column was seen
advancing unmolested across the plain on the other side of the
river in the direction of the arsenal. Half an hour after this the
forces had joined hands, and thus a march, which, if only for the
gallantry of the men and resource of the officers who made it,
deserves to remain famous, was rapidly drawing to what was perhaps
only a semi-successful conclusion. The attempt to reach Pekin had
failed, but the great damage done to the enemy, both in human life
and in warlike stores, together with the immensely difficult but
masterly withdrawal, served to almost turn the scale in favour of the
Europeans.




CHAPTER V

OPERATIONS FOR THE RELIEF OF TIENTSIN


The days following the forcible occupation of the Taku Forts were
spent in destroying all useless and superfluous Chinese stores, such
as small-arm ammunition, loose powder, or shells for the guns, which
were too old for use; in fact any war material which might prove
useful to the Chinese in the very improbable event of the forts again
changing owners. The South forts were occupied by the Russians and
Germans, the North fort by the Japanese, and the North-west fort by
the British and the twenty-five Italians who had fought in the line
with our men on the day before.

More gruesome work than the destruction of stores had first to be
attended to. The Chinese dead, some of them hideously mutilated
by shell fire, had to be buried, and the necessary hurry with
which this was carried out, rendered it impossible to do it in a
more decent manner than to throw their corpses into the river.
In addition to this work, the forts had to be put into a state of
defence, as it seemed impossible to imagine that the Allies would
be left in peaceable possession of the much vaunted “impregnable
Taku Forts”! All modern guns not seriously damaged were prepared
for instant use, and when necessary, fresh magazines were dug for
each of them. The magazines were perhaps the one radically bad part
of the internal arrangements, and it will be remembered that two
had been exploded during the bombardment. Even more important than
defensive qualities were the health and cleanliness of the men,
and steps were immediately taken to ensure both. All rubbish and
dirt, of which there was a supply now too great for the demand, but
which had decreased with the change of masters, was burnt. A new
system of washing was arranged, and the cleanest houses were used
as barracks. The officers took the Chinese officers’ quarters, and
an idea may be got of the state of the other buildings when it is
stated as a fact, that sleep, even in the officers’ rooms, was quite
impossible on account of the numberless specimens of the nimble flea.
Water and provisions were easily obtained from the fleet, and all
water-communications being now open, the procuring of these luxuries
soon became a matter of mere routine.

The life was not altogether without excitement. On the first evening
the Japanese did not turn up to take over their fort, so forty-four
English bluejackets had to go and pretend to defend a position nearly
half a mile in circumference. Naturally their position was the cause
of the greatest anxiety to Commander Craddock, who was indefatigable
in his efforts, and was busy all night mounting Maxims, getting
ammunition, and making plans with the commanders of the gunboats
to repel any possible attack. However, no attack was made, and the
Japanese arrived during the next day.

One evening during this period, some nervous Italian sentry
discovered an imaginary enemy, and for some time after the report
of his rifle, and the hasty retreat of the foe (a dog), one of the
gunboats—not the “Algerine!”—indulged in heavy-gun practice at
apparently nothing! As one can imagine, this kind of life began
to pall on men who were eager to see more fighting, and all hands
heartily wished that the much talked of advance to Tientsin would
commence. Of this there seemed to be but little likelihood, for the
total forces at the disposal of the Allies did not exceed a thousand
men, and even then, a garrison for the forts had to be deducted from
this number, in addition to which there seemed to be a very general
idea that the detachments at Tientsin were having a right royal time
of it; or even supposing that they were fighting, they were in all
probability capable of looking after themselves.

So much for ideas, which were not allowed to last long, for one
morning Mr Watts rode in with his dispatches, which explained the
desperate fight the garrison were maintaining, and asked for more
men, more guns, and more ammunition. The authorities, already rather
alarmed by the somewhat incoherent yarn of the men who had tried to
come down in the “Spray,” immediately grasped the situation, and
the “Terrible” happily arriving at the same time as a shipload of
Russians, a relief force was forthwith formed. The adventures of
the “Spray” party had been extraordinary. At the time when urgent
need of communicating with the outside world became manifest, these
brave fellows, seven in number, volunteered to take a little steam
launch and endeavour to run the gauntlet by river. They seemed doomed
to failure at the outset, for they ran ashore, and stuck fast when
only just a few miles past the lines of the Chinese army. All their
efforts to get the boat off were unavailing, and in due course they
were discovered by some Boxers, who immediately went off to rouse the
neighbourhood. When night fell there were quite a large number of
these blood-thirsty gentlemen on the bank, and it was decided that
it was better to desert the boat than to fight with practically no
chance of success. Accordingly, taking advantage of the gloom caused
by the disappearance of the moon behind some clouds, the whole party
slipped quietly over the gunwale, and swam to the opposite bank to
that on which they could just distinguish the Boxer sentries. Hardly
had they done so when the Boxers dispatched a body of men over to
the stranded launch, and, having poured paraffin all over it, set
it ablaze. By means of this light the fugitives were spotted, and
an extraordinary chase ensued. Luckily the Boxers were absolutely
without firearms, while the little party were all armed with rifles
and bayonets, without which all of them would doubtless have been
killed within an hour or two.

The distance to Taku from where the Europeans had landed was about
twenty-five miles, but this was quite doubled eventually, by the
necessity of having to avoid villages and other parties of Boxers,
which were to be seen in all directions. The narrowest escape of all
the many that befell this little band, occurred when in desperation
they hid in a large clump of rushes to get some rest. Evidently
they were suspected of being in the vicinity, however, and a party
of Boxers searched the rushes, thrusting their pikes into all likely
corners, but luckily without discovering the runaways. An attempt
to get food also nearly proved disastrous. One of the civilians,
who used to shoot a great deal in the neighbourhood, said he knew a
Chinaman whom he had often befriended, and who would perhaps give
them some native cakes and tea. On arriving at his hut, however, and
making his request, backed by the promise of many dollars, the man
turned scarlet with rage, and said, “What? tea and cakes indeed, why
I’m going to kill you;” and immediately sped off in the direction
of the nearest village to get assistance. After many other similar
vicissitudes, the party arrived at Taku on the morning of the 20th in
an utter state of collapse.

[Illustration: ROYAL WELSH FUSILIERS LEAVING H.M.S. “TERRIBLE” ON
BOARD THE “FAME.”

  [_Page 100._]

[Illustration: AUTHOR AND DETACHMENT FROM H.M.S. “BARFLEUR” FOR DUTY
IN TIENTSIN.

  [_page 100._]

[Illustration: “FAME” LANDING ROYAL WELSH FUSILIERS.

  [_page 100._]

To revert to the relief force: The “Terrible” had on board 300 Royal
Welsh Fusiliers, and 40 of the Royal Engineers; and these, with
250 English bluejackets from the North-west fort, and 23 Italians,
entrained for Tientsin on June 21st under the command of Commander
Craddock. An hour or two previously, about 1000 Russians, 150
Americans, and 250 Germans had entrained for the same destination,
bringing the total force up to just 2000 men. With the British
train was a specially constructed water tank, and provisions
sufficient to last five days. Bad luck pursued the train from the
beginning, for not five miles from Tong-Ku the engine left the
rails, and a mishap occurred which might have had extremely serious
consequences. In the course of its erratic wanderings the engine
upset the first two trucks, on one of which was the water tank, the
other being full of officers and men. The damage to human life and
limb was happily nil, beyond a few more or less severe contusions,
but the precious water tank had to be left, and it was only by dint
of hard work, and the loss of a couple of hours’ time, that the
expedition was able to resume its journey. Without further incident
the train arrived at a point eighteen miles from Tientsin, where the
line had been slightly destroyed, passing on their way the garrison
of Russians at Chin-Liang-Ching. This place, it will be remembered,
had previously been the object of a train expedition from Tientsin
which failed at first owing to the state of the line, but which had
succeeded at length in reaching it. They had remained undisturbed
during the whole of the past very exciting week. Here the force spent
the night, and received the news that the Russians and Americans,
who had attempted to push their way through to the settlements
without waiting for the British, had been defeated and repulsed with
the loss of an American machine gun and some men.

The next morning the force was engaged in clearing all the
neighbouring villages, which were full of Boxers. These it was not
safe to leave on the rear of the column’s advance, which had been
fixed for the morrow (23rd). The trains also managed to get six
miles nearer Tientsin, reducing the distance to be marched to twelve
miles. On the same day another train left Tong-Ku with two 6-pr.
Q.F. guns, a quantity of ammunition and provisions, and with orders
to convey details to the respective forces. It was a mixed crew who
took their places in it; five British, with a naval engineer officer
running the engine, five American marines, and seven Russians, the
whole under the charge of an English midshipman. They stopped at the
scene of the disaster of the previous day, and took on board the
eleven men who had been clearing the line, and who had done wonders,
even to the righting of the overturned water cart. Some six miles
further on Boxers were seen burning the line; fortunately they did
not see the train until too late, when they bolted into some rushes
near the line. A lesson was necessary, so the train was stopped,
the midshipman and several men detrained and, after a short search,
discovered and slew one of the delinquents, who had a can of oil
on his person besides several boring implements for damaging the
sleepers. From the moment of re-starting till Chin-Liang-Ching was
reached, nothing happened worthy of recording; but on arriving there
those in the train could for the first time hear continuous firing,
and the burning villages, and dense clouds of smoke, proved to be an
infallible index to the position of the main body.

On reaching Commander Craddock’s force, which had just returned from
a hard day’s skirmishing, the men were engaged in cooking a meal
preparatory to a few hours’ rest before the advance next morning.
The position chosen for the night’s bivouac was a splendid one.
On the right was the railway embankment and a canal, in front was
another canal spanned by a substantial bridge, on the left was a high
bank, and in rear was a village which unfortunately was burning. The
Russians and Germans under Major-General Stoessel were two miles in
advance, and lay in the open; but the English and Americans, after
having first seen to the comfort of their officers, built themselves
extremely comfortable shakedowns. During the day a Mohammedan priest
had been captured, and on being assured of his safety, told Mr
Watts, who was returning to Tientsin in the capacity of guide and
interpreter to the column, that eight miles in front lay General Ma
and 15,000 of the most efficient Imperial troops; which piece of news
seemed likely to militate largely against the expressed intention of
dining in Tientsin on the morrow.

The only diversion during the night was a pleasant surprise. The
camp was roused about midnight by a train’s whistle, and it proved
to be 150 men of the 1st Wei-Hai-Wei regiment, and a 12-pr. Q.F. gun
under Lieutenant Drummond of H.M.S. “Terrible.” Having detrained, the
Chinese regiment accompanied the force when they started at 3 a.m. on
the 23rd; a guard of about fifty men and the gun being left behind to
guard the camp, so that there might be somewhere to fall back on in
case of a reverse.

The British and Americans and Italians were on the left side of the
railway embankment, and when in extended formation, their left flank
rested on the river bank, where several villages were situated, which
had to be cleared on the way.

[Illustration: “TERRIBLE’S” 12-PR. Q.F. GUN ON IMPROVISED MOUNTING
USED AT THE RELIEF OF LADYSMITH.

  [_page 104._]

The Russians and Germans deployed on the other side of the
railway, in a large plain which extends from the coast nearly to
Pekin, and with them went their artillery, a six-gun battery; the
only gun on the British side being a 12-pr. from the American
man-of-war “Monocacy.” As usual the transport was the great
difficulty, and the officer in charge expresses himself as follows:

“The arrangements, although as good as possible under existing
circumstances, were meagre in the extreme; I can speak feelingly on
this matter. I happened to be in charge of the impedimenta, which,
although it only consisted of a big water cart and a heavy load of
ammunition, and could be stowed on two Pekin carts, was nevertheless
much too heavy for the mule and the donkey which were the only
beasts of burden obtainable. In a civilised country I should have
certainly been summoned by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty
to Animals, for the mule had been more or less severely wounded by a
bullet, and eventually died. However, war is hardly a civilised game,
and I determined to do my best. Before a mile had been passed the
convoy—a high-sounding title, which in this case applied to myself,
two men, and two beasts—had grown extremely unpopular with the
commanding officer, who can have had no idea of the difficulties to
be contended with; and had, in addition, fallen half a mile astern
of the fighting line, owing to the incapability of the united efforts
of us three men and the two animals to drag the carts through sand
nearly up to the axle bars. From our point of view the situation was
first ludicrous and then alarming; from the commanding officer’s
standpoint, it must have been more than aggravating the whole time,
for he was a man who took the greatest trouble to perfect every
detail conducive to success, and had in this case been baulked by the
necessity for quick action, which rendered it impossible to improve
on the existing arrangements.

“Before we had gone four miles, a desultory musketry fire was heard
on the right, which soon increased to a tolerably heavy fusilade.
As yet the main advance was unimpeded, but as no forward movement
became apparent from the wing on which the firing was going on, and
as it was essential that touch should be kept along the whole line,
it was decided to await developments in that quarter. By this time we
were almost out of sight of the fighting line, and a bad sand-storm
was sweeping in our faces. Suddenly a mounted man was seen to cross
the railway embankment and gallop in our direction. He proved to be
a Cossack, who by his gestures seemed to want us to reinforce some
one. Perhaps we were mistaken; perhaps he was the possessor of a
pretty wit, or the third alternative suggests itself, perhaps he
was mad. At any rate I pointed to my two men, and violently shook
my head, then to the mule (now just at the point of death) and said
“can do,” whereat the Cossack seemed offended, and then as a few men
commenced to snipe at us, I lured him off his pony, took his place,
and galloped off to report the situation to Commander Craddock. He
very kindly rode back with me, and instructed me as to the best path
to take, and gave me instructions to do the best I could for my
convoy. I accordingly got permission from the major in command of
the Fusiliers to take an officer and twelve men of his regiment, and
a similar number of Royal Engineers under Lieutenant Browne, R.E.,
as a rear-guard. These were perforce turned into packhorses, and we
started again. In about two minutes from our new start one of the
escort got a bullet through the knee, and added materially to the
weight of the ammunition cart until a stretcher was got for him, when
we at last picked up the force, who were temporarily checked opposite
the Pei-Yang arsenal.

“We found that the Germans and Russians had tried to take this
position, but had been repulsed and driven over on to our side of
the railway line. From the embankment their guns vigorously shelled
the arsenal, and so far succeeded in keeping down the enemy’s fire,
as to allow of our men crossing a canal, and continuing their
advance. From this moment the state of the roads was so much better,
that we managed to keep our proper distance from the firing line, and
the thirsty men refilled their water-bottles at the first halt.”

Underneath the bridge nearest to the arsenal, the Chinese had placed
two 500lb. observation mines, upon which two tired American marines
thought fit to sit; but the Chinese did not explode them, and the
wires were cut before any damage was done.

[Illustration: TIENTSIN TOWN HALL.

  [_page 108._]

It now became impracticable for the German and Russian troops to
continue their advance along the right of the line, as they would
have been in the open, with a hostile force of three times their
number operating on their right flank, as well as being subjected
to the fire from the field guns in the arsenal; so they covered the
advance of the rest of the force who were engaged with the enemy in
some entrenched villages in front. The Chinese were in force and
under excellent cover, when suddenly the red ensign was distinguished
flying over the Tientsin town hall, the sight of which proved to be
a magnificent stimulant to the allies. Several men fell in the
open, but the village was rushed without heavy loss, and the work
of clearing the streets was begun. For some time it was warm work,
and two companies of our sailors were placed in a difficult position
from which they were cleverly extricated. As the men passed through
the village it was burnt, which completely nullified the possibility
of an attack in the rear, and as the houses began to grow fewer, and
the open country appeared, the Imperial troops broke and fled. The
few last streets were like a battue, and in this instance the much
vaunted fearlessness of the Boxers, who at last had the courage to
remain to the end, was severely tested.

Some fanatics certainly “came” for the companies with swords, and one
man had the temerity to hurl a ‘stinkpot’ at a lieutenant, but these
were quite the exceptions, and were quickly dispatched. For the most
part the Boxers had remained only to run at the last, or die; often
the former, more often both. Quarter was neither asked for nor given,
for in the Boxer proclamations were passages relating to European
women and children which put them on a par with incarnate devils
without human feelings.

At length the work was finished, and once more the men left the
village for the open. But before departing two incidents happened,
one pathetic, the other weird. An old man was led right down the
fire-swept street towards one of our companies by a little boy aged
about four. The poor old fellow was blind, and his grandson seemingly
preferred to trust our men rather than any one else. Who knows?
perhaps he was right. Needless to say he was unharmed, and led out
of the burning village safely. In the other case, a bluejacket just
about to bayonet a man in the back, who had rushed at him with a
sword and then fled, remarked, “No, I’m blowed if I do, it’s a dirty
way of doing it,” and shot him instead.

When clear of the village the settlements were in full view, and the
intervening mile or so was soon passed. Some of the staff crossed
the river in sampans, while the rest of the force made their way up
the bank, and arrived at the ruined military college, just in time
to catch the last of the Imperials, who were by this time in full
flight from our extreme right, where they had attempted to rally on
deserting the left and centre. A raft of logs was swung over the
river, and the tired but elated men scrambled over into the relieved
town, amid cheers and general congratulations. The pleasure of the
meeting was mutual, for it was doubted if the garrison could hold
out so long, in addition to which, the gratification of the relieving
force, at meeting old shipmates and friends, was quite as keen as
that of the defenders. The twelve miles had been traversed in eight
hours, which seems an unconscionably long time, when the fact of the
fighting, not having been very severe, is taken into consideration.
But it must be remembered that the ground over which the march had
taken place was mainly sand, that a blinding sand-storm had been
blowing in the men’s faces, and that the opposing force was greatly
superior in point of numbers and position. Only those who have
experienced a heavy sand-storm in the middle of a hot summer day, can
sufficiently appreciate the second cause of our tardy march.

In view of the after events, “The relief of Tientsin” seems almost a
misnomer, but by this action much-needed guns and reinforcements had
been brought in, and the communications to Taku had been cleared, and
henceforth, through the military incapacity of the Chinese generals,
they remained open.

The Russians encamped on the left bank of the river, and, in
consequence of their presence, the station could in future only be
attacked from two sides instead of three. Instead of the terrible
uncertainty which the Allies had felt about themselves on the day
before, there was now a conviction that the eventual relief of Pekin
was only a matter of time. But as Seymour was still unheard of, and
his whereabouts unknown, his relief would evidently have to be their
next task.

[Illustration: TIENTSIN AGAIN PEACEFUL.

  [_page 112._]




CHAPTER VI

THE RELIEF OF SEYMOUR


The remainder of that day, and the whole of the next, were spent
in complete rest. After the events of the last week, it seemed
difficult to realise that anything out of the ordinary was afoot.
There was no shelling, no attack on the outposts—in fact nothing but
the everlasting sniping during the hours of darkness, which merely
ensured the watchfulness of the sentries. Women were again seen about
the streets, and a few little children walked about with the air of
supreme indifference to their strange surroundings. Every one knew
that this was only a lull before the storm of the bombardment, and
another siege; but it was felt that the worst was over, and that the
Chinese blockade would never again be as effective as heretofore.
Relievers and relieved met and exchanged experiences at the bar of
the German club, which was still open, and of which all officers
became honorary members. Dinner parties were given by the lucky
ones whose stores of tinned luxuries had not already vanished, it
being rightly held that it was well to make the most of the impromptu
truce, which existed only that the Chinese might collect enough
_morale_ to again assume the offensive. In the evening the “Terrible”
12-pr. came in, escorted by a small body of the Hong-Kong regiment,
who arrived at the relieving force’s last camp only a few hours
after the commencement of the advance. This regiment is composed
almost entirely of Pathans, who were enlisted in India for service
at Hong-Kong. Their arrival at this stage of the operations enabled
them to claim to be the first Indian troops on the spot; but as a
matter of fact there were twelve Sikh policemen in Tientsin, who all
volunteered for military service, and took part in the recent defence.

On the 24th June a native runner got through from the
Commander-in-Chief, and his news was to the effect that the Admiral
was in Hsi-Ku arsenal, hard pressed, and with many wounded. He
requested a force of 2000 men to extricate him. This message was
more cheering than many had dared to hope for. Nearly every one had
given the Admiral’s party up for lost, the best that they had hoped
for being that he might be shut up in Pekin with his force, and
in all probability be undergoing the same kind of mental anxiety
that had lately befallen themselves. However, Hsi-Ku was only six
miles away, and it was believed to be a defensive position of great
strength. A force of the required strength was immediately raised
and organised, it was composed as follows: Russians 1000, with three
Maxims and two guns; British 600, with two Maxims; and 300 Americans,
Germans, Japanese, and Italians, making the total within a hundred
of 2000. Colonel Shirinsky, a Russian officer of some distinction,
was in command of the whole force, and he decided that the various
contingents should rendezvous at his camp at midnight, intending to
make a night march and attack the enemy, who were expected to offer
a stern opposition at dawn. In the evening the 12-pr. and a 6-pr.
shelled the western arsenal, known as the Hi-Kuan-Su, and set it on
fire, several unimportant explosions taking place in consequence of
the proximity of houses containing ammunition. The departure of the
column took place from the town hall at 11.15 p.m., and was quite
affecting, the British moving off first, amid feminine cheers and
cries of “Good luck,” “Mind you bring him back,” closely followed by
the Americans.

Some difficulty was experienced in crossing the river, for the
bridge, which the Russians had promised to have ready, was not
nearly finished, and it proved to be a risky business getting over
the half planked-in junks in the darkness. Another delay was caused
on the other side by the stupidity and carelessness of the guide,
who lost his way at the very beginning of the march, and took some
time to correct his mistake. However, the rendezvous was reached
about 1 a.m., and fortunately the Russians had themselves only just
taken up their positions. From their camp the rays of the gunboats’
searchlights were plainly visible in the mouth of the river thirty
miles away, and a bluejacket remarked laughing, that it showed
fellow-feeling “for them chaps to try and light us on our way.” In a
quarter of an hour the combined force moved forward, and for about
a mile and a half skirted the mud wall, when they turned off into
the country in the supposed direction of the bridge over the Lutai
Canal. After marching in this direction for some time without finding
it, it became evident something was wrong, so a halt was called, and
the Russian colonel sent out a reconnaissance party to ascertain its
whereabouts. It turned out that it had been passed unnoticed on the
left flank, and was about half a mile in rear of the force, so the
men had to retrace their steps. But on reaching it, it was found
to have been made almost impassable for infantry, and it was soon
evident that the Russian guns would have to remain behind; in fact
there were grave doubts about the practicability of getting even the
Maxims over. Search parties immediately moved up and down the canal
banks, and returned with two sampans, which solved the difficulty
of the men’s passage, and it was found that the two together were
capable of transporting the Maxims also. The Russian sappers, too,
helped to replace planks and sleepers on the wrecked iron frames of
the bridge itself, and the passage did not occupy more than an hour
altogether. It was not, however, effected quite peaceably, for the
force was spotted by two of the little land forts near the river,
about two miles away, and these promptly opened fire on the bridge
with four guns. Their shooting, however, was high, and the shrapnel
were bursting in a cemetery to the rear. If the Chinese had known
this they would have probably ceased firing, as the spirits of their
ancestors are nearly sacred to them. As it was, such ancestral
spirits as were in that cemetery must have rested uneasily that
morning, and bemoaned their fate at this unlooked for visitation of
the “great north wind,” or some other similar fantasy.

An interesting incident happened when the crossing was about half
finished. The torpedo lieutenant of H.M.S. “Endymion” rode towards
the forts to find out if possible something about the strength and
position of the enemy, when suddenly some twenty Chinamen fired at
him from behind cover at a distance of not more than 30 yards. Their
nerves, however, must have been in a wretched condition, for he was
not even touched, and the only thing for him to do seemed to be to
ride straight at them, which he did, whereupon they straightway
bolted, leaving one man a prisoner in his hands.

Here of course was a fund of information ready to hand, but there was
no interpreter nearer than the main body, now some 600 yards away
behind a massive embankment. Accordingly this young officer made
it clear to his prisoner in a way that naval officers can do, even
without an interpreter, that he wished him to run by his stirrup or
take the consequences, and then started to canter slowly back. But
the Chinese who had fled recovered from their fright, and proceeded
to open fire on him as he retired. For some minutes there was no
result, when suddenly they managed to hit their comrade, who fell
shot through the leg, the officer safely regaining shelter under a
brisk fire. The wounded Chinaman after this, one can imagine, did
not hold the prowess of his fellow soldiers in much respect, and who
can blame him. War is sufficiently exciting at all times, without any
necessity for being shot by one’s friends, to render it more so.

When the whole column had crossed the canal, the men rested
under cover of the railway embankment, while the Russian scouts
reconnoitred the country ahead. No reply was made either to the
enemy’s shell fire or to their now pretty heavy musketry fire, both
of which were harmless to our perfectly invisible companies; but the
two Russian guns, which had to remain behind, were ordered to find
a position from which to knock out some of the hostile guns. After
a short “stand easy,” the scouts returned with the news that the
road was open, with the exception of a strong body of cavalry, who
were slowly retiring about 2 miles away. Advancing about 300 yards
further, the head of the column came to a gap in the embankment
which exposed it to a warm fire. The Russians crossed first, the
British next, and then the Germans and Americans. There were several
casualties, but surprisingly few considering the range—only some 500
yards. Another half mile and the cover again came to an end, the
British arriving at the dried-up river bed just in time to see the
final retreat of the Chinese cavalry, and to hear stentorian cheers
from the Russians, who had discovered that the cluster of trees on
the plain on the left front was no other than our lost Admiral’s
position. This was indeed good news. Some excitement was caused by
the appearance of seven Chinese mounted scouts in an osier bed on the
left, who, however, on being discovered, galloped safely off with
the exception of one man, who together with his horse was shot after
an enormous expenditure of ammunition. On leaving the river bed the
force marched in five long lines towards the arsenal, the intervals
between the men being about five paces. The Chinese gunners, who
had expended a quantity of ammunition with no effect whatever, now
entirely failed to grasp the situation, and instead of shelling the
necessarily large target in the open plain, proceeded to turn their
guns on to Seymour’s arsenal with some result. In a few minutes,
however, the British, German, and Italian ensigns were plainly
distinguishable, and it became apparent that the least half of the
relieving party’s arduous mission, that of reaching the besieged
Admiral, was practically accomplished. By ten o’clock the two
forces were exchanging cheers across the river to the accompaniment
of segment shell from the Chinese, and five minutes later the
commanding officers of the various contingents were conversing with
their Nationals among the besieged force, while the commanding
officers of the two columns were already arranging for the withdrawal.

Meetings such as these are rather overpowering, there is so much to
be said, such a lot of hand-shaking, which is all the worse because
of the amount of real pleasure put into the grip, and such numbers
of friends to be congratulated, that the conversation rarely gets
beyond “Hallo, old man. Awfully glad you’re still going,” from the
reliever; and from the relieved, “Thanks, old chap, very pleased to
see you; but I say, have you got a cigarette on you? I’ve not had a
smoke for days!” And having lighted up, they proceed, by some tacit
understanding, to discuss any other subject in the world except
the past and future slaying of Chinamen. It had been hoped to get
back to Tientsin before dusk, but this was found to be out of the
question, owing to the lack of transport for the wounded, and other
difficulties which could not be overcome on the spur of the moment;
so it was decided to commence the retirement at 2.30 a.m. next
morning.

It was soon seen that, although the enemy had allowed the relieving
column to arrive almost without opposition, they were not going to
allow the Europeans to effect all the necessary preparations for
their coming departure, without making themselves as objectionable
as possible. The arsenal was shelled without ceasing by the hostile
guns in the land forts and native city, and at eleven o’clock a
hitherto unnoticed force commenced a most harassing long-range fire
from a position on the railway embankment. An attempt was made to
dislodge them by Maxim fire, and with this object three Russian
Maxims each deliberately fired a long belt of ammunition without
stopping, at an invisible object about 2000 yards away, needless
to say without having the desired effect. So a mixed force, mostly
British, were sent out to dislodge the intruders, which was promptly
done. Unfortunately there were several casualties among the Russians
and the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who had to advance across half a mile
of perfectly flat plain before the Chinese took themselves off. After
this, strong pickets were posted all along the railway line, and the
work of making a pontoon bridge, to allow the passage of the wounded,
was quietly proceeded with.

In the meantime the Russian Colonel sent back word that he desired
a force should be sent out if possible to keep the country open on
the other side of the canal, to minimise the risk of being attacked
on the return march on the morrow. Not only was this done, but our
12-pr. in Tientsin succeeded in silencing two guns which, it was
seen, might harass the retirement. The effect of this was excellent.
While the wounded were being conveyed across the river to be put
under the friendly shelter of an enclosed graveyard close by, other
parties were shelling the surrounding villages and forts, in order
to ensure a quiet night from sniping; while yet a third party under
the gunnery Lieutenant of H.M.S. “Centurion” were making plans for
the demolition of the arsenal on leaving. It was decided to destroy
everything, even the valuable guns and ammunition, because the
fighting force would only be the same size as it was on the day of
the relief, and it would have to protect a large convoy. Nearly the
whole of the Admiral’s party were needed to carry the stretchers,
and so, although armed, were scarcely to be considered as fighting
men on that occasion. As it became gradually dark more pickets were
sent out, those on the railway embankment were strengthened, and as
the whole of the wounded had crossed the river, the men began to make
themselves as snug as possible for the night. It proved to be one of
the most indescribably comfortless nights that it is possible to
imagine. The sky was filled with a dull red glare from the immense
numbers of burning houses; and this sight, with the monotonous sounds
of howling curs, and distant gun fire, was so uncanny as to arouse
all the superstition in one’s mind. In addition to this it was very
damp and very cold, and as the men of the relieving column had not
even their blankets with them, they suffered severely from the chill
night air, and the miasma which rose in mists from the tainted river.
The weirdness and the personal discomfort in fact were so great, that
another possible reason for the restlessness which prevailed need
hardly be taken into consideration. But there were very few there
that night who did not expect that the Chinese would attack the camp
in force before morning; and, indeed, it says but little for their
general’s military knowledge and initiative, that they should have
let pass such a chance of attacking so comparatively small a force,
which was in the open, and much hampered with wounded. Interesting
as it would be to assign to them a reason for this and similar
disastrous errors of judgment, it is outside the pretension of this
little sketch to do so, though it would be most instructive to talk
over this and other events of the campaign with an intelligent and
truthful Chinese staff officer.

After this weird and restless night, at 2.30 a.m. the camp was
roused, and the men were allowed to light their fires and brew their
cocoa. There was no need for secrecy—the Chinese knew our position
and intentions perfectly already, and the plain was soon alight
with camp fires around which clustered the damp and shivering men.
The arrangements as to the stretchers and carriers worked without a
hitch, and at 3 a.m. the retirement commenced. Two officers belonging
to H.M.S. “Centurion” stayed behind to start the fires, which it
was hoped would entirely destroy the immense stores of ammunition
and small arms, unfortunately but necessarily to be left. This
somewhat hazardous duty was successfully performed, and before dawn
broke, the column saw huge clouds of smoke rising from the Arsenal,
which had proved to be Seymour’s salvation. Fires had been lit in
five different places, and, from the apparent fierceness of the
conflagration, it seemed as though its destruction must have been
complete. We now know, however, that this was not quite the case; the
heavy-gun ammunition and the field guns having escaped.

The march to Tientsin proved to be extremely tiring and tedious,
the men of the Admiral’s force being naturally unable to keep up
any great pace in their wretched condition, and with their comrades
to carry. When the retirement started, most of the stretchers had
a looted rifle or two beside the occupant, but very few of them
ever got into Tientsin; the only thing of interest which was kept
being one of the new captured Maxims, which has since been given to
the officers and men of H.M.S. “Endymion.” Had fighting not been
expected, of course the men of the relieving column would probably
have dragged back some of the many useful guns from the arsenal; but
under the circumstances it would have been inadvisable to add to
the impediments of the already heavily encumbered force. The order
of march was as follows: The advance guard of Russians, several
hundred yards ahead of any one, then another strong body of the
relieving force, next came the long straggling line of stretchers
with the sick and wounded, round which were the “reliefs” for the
carriers, and last of all came the rear-guard, composed entirely of
British and Americans. The convoy moved at a snail’s pace, and it
was seven o’clock before the bridge over the canal was reached. Here
was evidence that the Russian sappers had been busy; for the bridge,
which had only been roughly repaired on the previous crossing, now
presented a thoroughly mended and passable appearance. From here,
too, the settlement had been kept clear of any disturbing element by
the Russians from Tientsin, so that all anxiety ceased at this point,
and once more the allies were able to marvel at the extraordinary
mixture of acuteness and imbecility which the Chinese leaders
possessed in such a marked degree.

A shorter, and not so circuitous, route was taken on the return
journey, and the badly battered station was reached about 11 a.m.
Once again the force was within easy range of hostile guns, but so
demoralised were the enemy at the allies’ run of success, that they
preferred to sulk behind their city walls, rather than renew the
attack.

The enthusiasm among the Europeans was immense, and both columns
were cheered to the echo; the excitement only abating as it became
apparent that heavy losses had been suffered by the Admiral’s force.
On the whole, the inhabitants had reason to be much more gay than
sad, for during the last three days the garrison had been trebled,
the place itself and Seymour’s column, had both been rescued from
exceptionally tight corners, and the Chinese had tasted the bitter
humiliation which follows defeat. From another aspect the outlook was
not so bright. Nearly all the Admiral’s men were in sore need of a
prolonged rest, which was evident from the way the men collapsed,
now that the strain was over. Collapse is perhaps rather too strong
a word; what is meant is that, whereas before, the men had scorned
to utter complaint, they now felt it a duty to themselves to consult
the doctor about the stomachic complaints from which they were nearly
all suffering, and which had been brought on by precarious food
supply, and the impure water which they had been compelled to drink.
In addition to this, there were many more mouths to feed, a matter
not to be lightly dismissed from mind at that time; and lastly, the
Chinese would be able to concentrate their whole efforts on the
capture of the settlements, without having two large forces employed;
one in trying to keep out the relief force, the other in endeavouring
to overwhelm the Admiral.

Sir Edward Seymour was now the senior officer in Tientsin, and
took over the command of the place. Affairs in Tientsin since
the relief force had started, had not been altogether devoid of
interest. The Commissioner of Customs had received a note from Sir
Robert Hart to say that the Legations had been commanded to leave
Pekin in twenty-four hours, and the letter was dated the 19th. This
very naturally caused the greatest alarm about the persons of the
Ministers and the Legation Guards; for after Seymour’s experiences,
every one knew what the order meant. If the command had been obeyed
it simply spelt disaster, for once outside the city walls an army of
30,000 men would have slain them to a man! Another item of interest
had been the arrival of a further detachment of the Chinese regiment.
A fine, well set up, smart body of men, who seemed to have about as
much objection to slaying their brother Chinese, as had the rest of
the Allies, who were by this time getting rather bitterly disposed. A
few shells were fired into the settlement towards evening, and it was
noticed that the rifling of one of the heaviest was getting worn, for
his projectiles used to turn over and over, making a most weird noise
as they did so. But even these idiosyncrasies were insufficiently
alarming to drive away sleep from the weary men of Seymour’s column.




CHAPTER VII

PEI-YANG, SECOND SIEGE OF TIENTSIN


The next day, June 27th, the Russian General decided that it was
necessary to take the large eastern arsenal, about three and a
half miles away, as it was known that it sheltered large bodies
of the enemy, besides commanding the railway communication to
Taku. Immediately the Commander-in-Chief heard of the project, he
offered British assistance, but the Russian General replied that he
felt able to take the place without aid, and so orders were given
that the British would be granted a day’s rest, after the arduous
operations of the last few days. This was welcome news, and officers
and men changed all their apparel, and made themselves comfortable
preparatory, as they thought, to having a good day’s sleep.

At 11 a.m., however, the “general assembly,” was sounded, and orders
were given that the utmost dispatch was necessary. In an incredibly
short space of time, 500 of the naval brigade, two companies of the
Wei-Hai-Wei regiment, and 50 American marines, under Major Waller,
were under arms, and ready to proceed in any direction. It transpired
that the Russians had been brought to a standstill by shell fire,
while yet at extreme rifle range, and that their own fire had been
rendered singularly ineffective by a very annoying mirage, which
made it next to impossible to judge ranges at all accurately, or to
discern any details at the point of attack.

When the force got under way, the diversity of uniforms caused much
amusement. The marines were in their shirt sleeves, except those
from the “Terrible,” who still donned their khaki, which they had
worn in South Africa only a few months before. The bluejackets were
in their ordinary blue ‘jumpers,’ but a great many of the officers
had indulged in the luxury of a clean white duck uniform, which of
course they had no time to change; so they perforce had to remain by
far and away the most conspicuous objects on the fields. On their
way, the force passed the 12-pr. from the “Terrible,” which had
been ineffectively shelling the position at 5000 yards’ range, and
was waiting for more ammunition. This arrived just as they passed,
and the gun began to drop shells with great accuracy on the base
of the large chimneys, which betrayed the whereabouts of the powder
manufactory, and other store-houses and workshops.

Advancing under cover of the line, which connected the arsenal with
the railway, the reinforcing column reached a point where the cover
ceased, and it became necessary to deploy under fire. On the British
right lay long lines of white-coated Russians, with three maxims and
a battery, and it was thought from their distance to the arsenal—some
3,000 yards—that they had delivered an attack, but had been beaten
off. This proved not to have been the case. They had merely exceeded
even their usual slowness in the attack, and had fired volleys
steadily for some time at an object, the detail of which, as I have
said, was invisible. Eventually, finding that the Chinese meant to
stay, their commanding officer had sent in for reinforcements.

As they were all under some sort of cover, and our men were obliged
to lie down in the open on a perfectly flat plain, it wasn’t long
before the Chinese turned their undivided attention to the British,
and subjected them to a well-directed shrapnel fire from two field
guns, mounted in the south-west corner of their position.

After waiting for ten minutes, a message was sent to the Russian
General that the British wished to advance to within effective range.
The reply to this was to the effect that the advance would begin
in five minutes. Ten minutes passed, but no advance, so another
message was sent saying that the British would advance alone, if the
Russians did not move forward in ten minutes’ time. The same reply as
before was received; but as no movement became visible for a quarter
of an hour, and several men had been hit by shrapnel bullets, the
“advance” was sounded and the line swung forward. Before the sound
of the bugle had died away, there was a tremendous explosion in the
arsenal, caused either by the “Terrible’s” 12-pr., which was now
making beautiful shooting, or by the Chinese themselves. Our gun had
also knocked out a small quick-firer, which had greatly harassed the
Russians, and had temporarily silenced one of the two guns, which
were playing on the left of the advance.

It was not long before the enemy understood that the British, were
trying to envelop their extreme right, which would be one of their
lines of retreat, and the first signs of this discovery were the
almost entire cessation of firing on their left, and a corresponding
increase on the British line of advance, which, however, gradually
became normal as they got nearer and nearer.

The loss in the Chinese trenches was probably inconsiderable, for but
little firing was indulged in; the trenches afforded excellent cover,
and of course the mirage was another great source of protection. The
advance was a quick one, and it was with difficulty that the men
could be restrained from charging when the fire began to grow hot,
and casualties to take place. When the fighting line was within 300
yards of the walls, bayonets were fixed and the “charge” was sounded.
This proved too much for the enemy, who could be plainly seen to be
leaving the walls in twos and threes, and who appeared to be all
making for the right of their position. Unfortunately for them, the
marines had pushed far enough forward to inflict heavy loss on them
as they ran, and the Chinese, who at first attempted to retain some
kind of order in their retreat, were compelled to scatter, and became
a disorganized mob. At this juncture some 4000 Boxers attacked the
left of the British line in the rear, and were not noticed until
they were within a quarter of a mile. It was lucky they had not come
on before, for the line had had their hands quite full with the
task of turning the enemy out of his position in front, and any
confusion must have greatly helped the enemy in their retreat, even
if it had not resulted in the attack being rolled back. As it was,
the Chinese regiment, who were in support, coolly turned about, and
drove them back handsomely, by a well-directed fire which inflicted
some loss. The only regrettable incident in this little diversion was
the slaying and dismemberment of two wounded marines, who in some
unaccountable manner had been missed by the stretcher parties and
left in the rear, right in the path of the Boxers, into whose hands
they fell. That they had made a fight for it, was evident by the
dead bodies of two Boxers, one of whom had been shot, and the other
bayoneted.

All that was left of these poor fellows was interred on the spot.
Once inside the ramparts, all opposition ceased, and the only
casualty which occurred there, was to a bluejacket, who was killed by
some lurking Chinaman, who fired through a window of a hut at a range
of about two yards. The man died instantly, but his death was avenged
by his slayer being bayoneted by a couple of bluejackets, who rushed
into the house and brought out his dead body.

So eager were the last party of the enemy to escape from the
Russians, who by this time had entered on the other side, that they
rushed madly across the front of a strong party of British, whom they
did not observe until too late. Many were slain. As usual the want
of cavalry was severely felt, and it was a heartbreaking scene to
see the masses of fugitives, numbering in all about four thousand,
streaming across the plain in a hopeless rout, without being able
to launch a few squadrons of lancers at them to complete their
discomfiture. It was hopeless to follow them with infantry alone, and
the men had to content themselves with lining the deserted walls,
and pouring in a hot fire until they realised that the Chinese were
out of range. Of course the Russians claimed the lion’s share, and
promptly took the place into their possession, and began to loot it
thoroughly.

In the buildings of the naval college were some magnificent
astronomical instruments, besides models, and a splendid library of
standard works, all in English, but to the ignorant Russian soldiery
they had no monetary value, and so too often their fate was to be
bayoneted, or hammered to pieces by the butts of their rifles.

The British force withdrew as soon as the enemy were out of sight,
and it had become evident that the allies were in undisputed
possession of the arsenal; and the Russians were left in sole
command, with the proviso that the Union Jack should be kept flying
as long as the place was in European hands.

The day’s operations had been very important, for besides the immense
moral effect it must have had on the enemy, who had been turned out
of a good strategic and defensive position, it practically made
the Russian and German camps on that side of the river immune from
attack. The moral effect was so great, moreover, that for two days
the enemy appeared to be entirely cowed, and no further operations,
except the usual desultory bombardment, were indulged in by either
side.

The allies took advantage of the rest, and sent down most of the sick
and wounded of Seymour’s column to be attended to at the fleet. On
arriving there, they were immediately sent down to Wei-Hai-Wei, where
there were better arrangements for their comfort. Reinforcements
arrived in the shape of a regiment of Japanese infantry, and on the
29th the men from H.M.S. “Alacrity” rejoined their ship. On the 30th
too, the station again became the scene of a desperate struggle
culminating in another Chinese reverse.

The enemy’s guns commanding this important position were extremely
well placed. The guns themselves were completely hidden, but the
gunners from their emplacements could just see the roofs of the
station buildings, of which they had the range so accurately that
they repeatedly made the place too warm for the Allies’ infantry, who
perforce had to take to trenches in the open.

Up to this time, however, the Chinese had made no attempt to cut
the river communications, and guns and troops were steadily being
landed at Taku and sent up to the front by tugs and lighters. On
the 30th the Governor-General of Port Arthur arrived, in the person
of Vice-Admiral Alexieff, so that Tientsin was beginning to reach
the unenviable state of having so many commanding officers of the
same rank, that it was always uncertain how the various necessary
dispositions of one force would be received by the others; in fact it
was a case of the proverbial “too many cooks, etc.”

About this time, the enemy received large reinforcements, matters
looked very serious again, and martial law was proclaimed.

On July 2nd, the British headquarter barracks “Barfleur” had an
extremely narrow escape from fire. The ‘godown’ next door caught
alight in some unaccountable manner, and burned with the utmost fury,
causing great anxiety for the safety of the food and ammunition in
the barracks.

It was a miserably wet day, and the men could procure practically
no appliances to get it under, but although the barrack roof and
shutters caught fire and smouldered, the excellent work done by all
hands saved the building, and in three or four hours the ‘godown’
burnt itself out. The flames had not been in progress for ten minutes
before it became quite evident what were the contents of the house;
thick streams of boiling sugar poured out of the windows, doors,
and every crevice in the wall, until at last the bund in front of
the barracks, and the spacious yard behind, were veritable ponds of
molasses, about a foot deep. An attempt was made to clear up the
mess made by the still warm mixture, but it proved abortive, so much
so that an unwary company of little Japs got literally stuck in it,
looking for all the world like so many flies on a fly-paper. In the
evening Midshipman Donaldson died of his wounds, two in number, which
he received in his first engagement. He had been shot in the neck,
and again through the right lung, the latter proving fatal at the
commencement of the rainy season, which had been expected for a week
or so.

On the 3rd, matters took a turn for the worse, and the enemy
became more pressing in their attacks, and more steady in their
bombardment. The fighting at the station was constant and severe, and
had it not been for the reinforcements, it looked as if the defence
must have been worn down under the incessant strain. The women and
children all went down to Taku by command of Admiral Seymour, except
a few who elected to continue their work of mercy in the hospitals,
and who were allowed to remain.

On the night of the 4th, a strong body of the enemy arrived from
the southward, and proceeded to burn the two magnificent country
houses out by the racecourse, which, needless to say, were owned by
Europeans, but which had been untouched as yet. The same force formed
a camp in the racecourse,—which, with its surroundings, was a very
strong natural position,—and continued to harass the concessions from
it with artillery. The enemy also closed in on the settlement with
their other guns to such an extent, that a determined effort was made
on Friday to dislodge some of them. The most annoying gun of all was
a 6-pr. which was mounted within 500 yards of the French settlement,
but whose exact position was not clear; so a reconnoitring party was
sent out to discover its whereabouts, the troops being two companies
of bluejackets from H.M.S. “Barfleur,” part of the Wei-Hai-Wei
regiment, and some Americans who were kept in reserve. The movement
was successful, and the enemy unmasked their position, a brisk rifle
fire being maintained for about an hour, when, having discovered the
enemy’s strength, numbers, and dispositions, the Europeans retired
without loss.

In the afternoon, the native city was subjected to a concentrated
fire from every gun that the Allies possessed, and surmising that
the Chinese would be paying more attention to the bombardment than
to the French settlement, it was decided that the gun which had been
located in the morning should be attacked in the afternoon, when
the bombardment was at its height. At one o’clock, fire was opened
on the city from twenty-five guns. Thirteen of these were British:
five 12-pr. from the “Terrible”; four 7-pr. M.L. (an Indian mountain
battery); two 14-pr. Krupps captured from the enemy at the taking
of Taku forts; one 6-pr. Q.F. naval gun; and one 9-pr. M.L., also
naval. Six of the others were Japanese, and the remaining six were
French. The enemy made a spirited reply to the bombardment, and their
artillerists made some excellent practice, hitting the sand bags
around the naval guns several times. The 6-pr. had its back-sight
shot away, and a pickaxe lying in the gunpit was also destroyed. The
casualties, considering everything, were ridiculously small, and
although the enemy’s fuses were accurately set, and the number of
blind shell but few, yet the fire proved singularly ineffective.

The effect of the Allies’ fire, on the contrary, was soon visible.
The pagodas dotted all over the city, which were used by the Chinese
as look-out towers, crumbling up and falling in, burning themselves,
and setting light to other buildings, was indeed a sharp reminder of
the past three weeks, when the Allies had been impotent to reply. The
city, like all other Chinese towns, was densely built, and thickly
populated; and under the fire, which lasted for four hours, many of
the inhabitants must have lost their lives. One very sad incident
occurred at the height of the artillery duel. The shells used by
the captured Chinese guns were of a variety known as ringed shell,
and were of an excessively sensitive nature. To prevent accidents,
while loading they had a plug in the head of each, which acted as a
safety arrangement until the weapon was fired. In some way this had
become displaced in one of them, and on placing it in the breech it
exploded, blowing one of the marine gunner’s arms off, and wounding
several others. The two guns were not afterwards employed; they are
now filling the position of trophies at Whale Island—the Naval School
of Gunnery near Portsmouth. About half-past two, another move was
made in the direction of the object of the morning’s reconnaissance;
the composition of the force being the same, with the addition
of a 9-pr. gun for which it was hoped to find a position, whence
the enemy’s gun could be silenced, before starting the attack.
Unfortunately the Chinese had evidently anticipated some movement
of the kind, for they had reinforced their position strongly, and
fighting commenced before the attacking force had got 300 yards away
from the French settlement. It soon became evident that a hopeless
task lay before them; the position for their gun, which had been
selected carefully in the morning, was now full of the enemy, and the
houses in their front were positively teeming with Imperial troops
who kept up a hot fire on anything in the shape of a hat, boot, or
rifle that was visible. A flanking movement was impossible because
of the very limited space in which they fought, and for the same
reason only a very small number of the troops engaged could come
into action. This did not apply to the enemy, because the Allies
were in reality attacking the vertex of a triangle, whereas the
Chinese were defending the base. The Wei-Hai-Wei regiment was in the
fighting line, and fought most doggedly for some time, but finding
it impracticable to advance, and the casualties becoming rather
heavy, the whole force fell back on the French barricade, their rear
protected by the two companies of seamen from the “Barfleur,” who
retired by sections, firing as they went, until the whole force moved
into safety. It was just before the retirement commenced that the
officer in command of the fighting line (Major Bruce) was severely
wounded, at the same moment that Midshipman Esdaile received two
wounds which shortly proved fatal.

The Chinese were so unaccustomed to seeing the backs of the Allies,
that they screwed up enough courage to commence a charge which was
never finished, because those in rear saw the prompt death which was
meted out to the first of their comrades who broke cover.

On reaching the barricade, the men took shelter, and waited for a
counter attack. There were very angry men behind the barrier of
merchandise that afternoon; their anger was expressed by their rather
curious words; they talked about having to retire, in language one
does not use in conversation with friends, and but little of which
would be found in any dictionary. They got slightly better humoured
when some of the officers, who were equally worried, and who only
expressed their annoyance in slightly milder terms, began to talk
about the bayonet; but they relapsed into their usual excellent
self-control, when this proposal was negatived, as being too
desperate a remedy to employ for the mere gratification of the men’s
passions. The barricade was manned, and all Chinamen who showed
themselves became the objects of much attention.

After waiting for some time, two Boxers, armed only with swords, ran
round a corner about 100 yards away, and appeared to be endeavouring
to urge the Imperial troops to charge. Their instant fate, however,
must have had a diametrically opposite effect!

When everything became quiet, the force marched back to barracks,
very sick at the non-success of their venture. However, the gun did
not again fire from this position, so it may be supposed that the
Allies had succeeded in frightening the enemy pretty badly, even if
they did not inflict any very great loss upon them.

The next two days were spent in mounting two 4-in. guns which arrived
from the “Algerine” and “Phœnix,” while the Chinese endeavoured to
drive the Allies’ guns off the mud wall near the wool-mill. Although
shelled from five different places, the guns were excellently served,
and succeeded in silencing three of the hostile guns which had
advanced to within but little more than 2000 yards’ range.

On the 8th poor young Esdaile was buried, and laid close to
Donaldson, the other midshipman who had died from wounds a few days
previously—whose greatest friend he had been. The two had been
inseparable in life, and by some fatal decree it was ordained that
death should claim them alone, out of all the midshipmen landed, many
of whom were more or less severely wounded.

The cemetery was but 200 yards from the gas-works, and during the
funeral service, the Chinese were most persistent in trying to
destroy the light supply. Luckily, they could not see the gasometers,
and so had to fire by guess-work; and although the houses and
walls in their immediate vicinity suffered heavily, the gas-works
themselves were untouched.

Now for the first time it was noticed that the enemy were threatening
the river, and as the importance of keeping this only means of
communication open was vital, the Japanese General proposed to
intercept the movement, drive the enemy back, and if possible let the
day’s work culminate in the capture of the Hi-Kuan-Su arsenal, which
it will be remembered was a small arsenal about a mile and a half to
the westward.

Accordingly, at half-past two on the morning of the 9th, a force of
2200 men, comprising Japs, British, and Russians, left by the Taku
gates to endeavour to surprise the enemy in his advanced positions.

At about four o’clock the first shots were fired a mile before the
racecourse was reached, and in a few minutes the engagement became
general. After a brief struggle the Japs shelled them out of their
trenches, and driving them back across the plain, managed to get into
them with their cavalry, who, despite the paucity of their numbers,
charged through and through the fugitives, and slew some 240.

Much surprise and chagrin were felt at the total disappearance, for
a time, of the enemy’s guns, which had been located the evening
before, but after a brilliant bayonet charge in a village—in which
not a shot was fired, but 150 Chinamen lost their lives—the guns were
discovered, half hidden under some rubbish.

The next thing to be done was to change front to the right, and
attack the arsenal, which was only about three-quarters of a mile
distant. It was first subjected to a heavy shell fire from the
Japanese and Indian artillery, who burst clouds of shrapnel all over
its face, and who were in turn shelled by two very small, but very
diligent, quick-firing field guns. The latter had bad luck, for
although they kept up an exceedingly rapid and very accurate fire,
the damage done to the Allies was practically _nil_. The shells
appeared to be too small to do any considerable damage, even if
exactly placed, and became, as the day went on, contemptible as far
as danger went, though admirable in their pertinacity and the skill
with which they fled to their harmless destination.

When the way had been prepared by the artillery, the advance
commenced, the British and Japanese making the frontal, the Americans
a flank attack. The resistance was trifling, and the arsenal was
taken possession of at about ten o’clock. From the cover of the walls
the enemy were harassed in their retreat by rifle and gun fire, but
it is improbable that their losses were at all heavy. It was at first
proposed to garrison the place, but eventually it was decided to
abandon it, for many reasons.

Unfortunately, that part which faced the native city was not defended
by any wall, or entrenched in any way, and as the distance was but
about 2000 yards, it was open to long-range rifle fire which would
soon have made it untenable, to say nothing of the enemy’s artillery,
which could have speedily demolished every building.

Then again, there would have been the communications to keep open,
which, although it would have been a comparatively easy task, was
imposing needless work on the troops; consequently, after everything
of military worth had been destroyed, the force began their return
journey. They were assiduously shelled from the precincts of the
city, and fired upon by concealed snipers for the whole distance, and
unfortunately lost several men.

Soon after this, on the arrival of further reinforcements, it was
rumoured that plans were being matured, by the carrying out of which
the native city should be stormed and occupied.

Accordingly, no one was much surprised when, two nights later, orders
were given to the naval brigade to be ready to march out with the
Russians at 2 a.m. The British, Japanese, and Americans were to
attack the southern gate, while the French and Russians were to have
operated on the other bank of the river. The men were called at a
quarter past one, and, as the old adage that “an Englishman fights
best on a full belly” is still very true, they were fed preparatory
to departure.

Unfortunately the message to start never came: instead came a Russian
who “was very sorry, but would every one go to bed again, as somehow
or other their sappers hadn’t been able to prepare the way.” As one
of the officers remarked, “This was disquieting news, for to turn
in at 2 a.m. with one’s belly full of boiling porridge, is not half
such fun as scrapping with Chinamen, nor is it so healthy.” Be that
as it may, the haunting nightmare, which it may safely be inferred
visited that officer, was not allowed to have a free hand in the
headquarter barracks that morning, for suddenly the enemy opened on
the settlement with a terrific shell fire, which capsized one of
the chimneys over the officer’s sleeping room, and filled the whole
place with dust and smoke. One shell burst in the men’s quarters,
and by the extraordinary fatalism which pursued the “Centurion’s”
men throughout the operations, the only man hit belonged to that
ship. He, poor fellow, was the only “Centurion” man in barracks.
Even this alarm was not the last, for at four o’clock a marine,
breathless and capless, rushed in, and reported that the station
was being attacked by a large force, who were fighting with more
than their ordinary bravery, and who were gradually enveloping the
position. B company “Barfleurs”, and the company of the Hong-Kong
regiment were immediately despatched to reinforce the defenders,
who consisted of the “Terrible’s” marines and some Frenchmen, whose
ammunition was practically exhausted. The Pathans crossed the river
and advanced by a somewhat circuitous route along the railway line,
on to which all the empty trucks had been shunted from the station,
and which afforded good cover. On this occasion, however, the trucks
were tenanted, and a sergeant had just time to yell “Chinese in the
trucks!” when he was shot dead, and a heavy fire was opened on to the
remainder of the company. Without a moment’s hesitation the Indians
went in with the bayonet, and within a minute or two this part of the
enemy were in full retreat. B company moved up by a more direct path,
being greeted, while crossing the river, by a shrapnel which burst
right above the company, but, marvellously enough, hit no one.

On arriving at the station, matters were found to be even worse than
the man had said. Some of the enemy were ensconced behind a bank some
30 yards to the front, and their fixed bayonets could be seen as
they moved to and fro, evidently summoning up courage for a charge,
in the event of which the little garrison would only have escaped
annihilation by a miracle. But little firing was going on, our men
husbanding their last nine rounds each for the final rush, and the
enemy evidently not liking to expose their valuable carcases to take
aim. Certainly the enemy in the rear had been keeping up a hot, but
comparatively innocuous fire, whilst those in front occasionally
“eased off” without taking any aim at all; perhaps invoking Joss to
find a satisfactory resting-place for their bullets.

On the arrival of reinforcements, however, the Chinese finally made
up their minds that it wasn’t good enough, and at once commenced
to retire. As it was now getting light, and they had 100 yards of
open ground to traverse, they lost heavily from the deliberate and
accurate fire which burst out with renewed vigour from the station,
and the open was quickly strewn with more of war’s victims. The
retreat was not continued very far, and on reaching the excellent
cover afforded by the graves, already mentioned, they resumed a
galling rifle fire before again withdrawing. Immediately they had
retired, their artillery opened fire, and the Allies had again to
leave the locomotive shed, the walls and roof of which were by this
time absolutely pulverized; and it would be rash on the part of any
one to hazard an estimate of the number of shell marks which it
bore. Very soon, however, the Japs and Russians sent detachments
of men to the threatened point, and all fear of the success of the
Chinese attack was at an end. Towards eight o’clock the enemy planted
banners on two of the biggest mounds as a sign of defiance, but
finding that they attracted our fire, they soon hauled them down and
began to retire sullenly under cover of a heavy shelling from our
guns. With the exception of the first fight at the station, this,
which proved to be the last, was the most severe. Up to date the
enemy’s tactics had been childish in the extreme, and each previous
attack had been heralded by a terrific storm of rifle fire. On this
occasion, however, they had presumably got into position to resist
the projected Russian attack of the night before, and, finding
themselves so close to the coveted station, attacked it vigorously on
ascertaining that the movement had fallen through. This is of course
merely conjecture, but there is much to be said for such a line of
argument, for their knowledge of every move, and indeed every plan,
inside the settlement, throughout both sieges, was little short of
marvellous.

The 11th was passed amidst a storm of shells from both sides, the
4-in. gun, mounted out towards Pei-Yang arsenal, having a two hours’
duel with four guns mounted close to the banks of the canal at a
range of 4000 yards. Three of the four were silenced, but the fourth
gave as good as it took till the very end, when the cessation of fire
was mutual. The next day was the exact opposite of its predecessor,
there was no early morning fighting, and even shelling did not begin
until the evening. It was a Heaven-sent rest, for much remained to be
done in the way of fatigue work and gun mounting, to prepare for the
morrow, which was the day chosen to assume the offensive and attack
the native city. A German 6-in. gun arrived, but was not mounted, and
although carpenters were busy constructing a mounting for the 4.7-in.
which arrived on the 11th, and the engineers made an emplacement
and magazine for it, the work could not be finished in time to take
part in the great effort of the morrow, and was abandoned. Admiral
Seymour and the remainder of his brigade went down to Taku by river
in the afternoon, thereby just missing the hardest battle in the
naval brigade’s experience, and an operation which proved to be the
most important—in fact the turning-point of the whole campaign. Their
departure was the last thing of importance which took place in the
period 27th June to 12th July, between which dates began and ended
the second siege of Tientsin.




CHAPTER VIII

CAPTURE OF TIENTSIN NATIVE CITY


Two o’clock on the morning of July 13th saw bodies of men, totalling
rather more than 6000, moving quietly to their appointed rendezvous;
from which they were to set out to fight what proved to be the
fiercest battle of the war, a battle against heavy odds, and one in
which every advantage lay with the opposing forces. The object in
view was the capture of the native city, without which the advance
to Pekin might be indefinitely delayed, and which was, equally with
the capture of the Taku Forts, the most important operation of the
many which finally resulted in the relief of the Legations. The
native city itself, besides being surrounded by a high and solid wall
which was impervious to the attacks of the Allies’ light artillery,
was also the most important city in the north of China, with the
single exception of Pekin. It was the centre of the huge Fur trade,
and in fact was the outlet to 90 per cent. of the entire trade of
two provinces. The population was about a million souls, and it was
garrisoned by regular troops to the computed number of 12,000, with
another 10,000 Boxers as armed auxiliaries. The latter had nearly all
got rifles of types from the newest Mannlichers to old single-loading
Mausers, with which, even if they were not adepts in the art of rifle
shooting, they at least kept up an astonishingly heavy fusilade.
They appeared to labour under some misapprehension about the use of
sights, which they seemed to believe denoted the muzzle velocity
of the projectile, rather than the number of yards at which it was
desired to kill a foreign devil. Thus, seeing a man say about 200
yards away, they thought that if they put up their sights to about
1800 yards, they stood more chance of hurting him than they would do
if content with the proper range.

[Illustration: GUN AND ENSIGN CAPTURED AT TIENTSIN.

  [_page 156._]

Unfortunately this did not apply to the Regulars, who on this
occasion, urged on by threats and bribes, used their weapons more
effectively than was looked for, judging by their past behaviour.
Even before the troops had started the enemy had somehow or other
got the news, and shells began to fall pretty frequently in the
German concession, which was the quarter fixed for the gathering of
the British, Japanese, Americans, and French. The representatives
of these powers were entrusted with the attack on the south gate of
the city, after they had driven back the enemy from the Hi-Kuan-Su
arsenal, which was already occupied again by the Chinese. The
Russians and Germans were told to capture all the batteries and forts
on the other side of the river, and then to catch the enemy as he
retreated from the north gate and fled, as every one confidently
expected he would, along the river bank to Hsi-Ku arsenal, the scene
of Seymour’s relief, which had also been re-occupied by Ma’s men. To
the superstitious the day appeared to be an unhappily chosen one, for
not only was it the thirteenth of the month, but it laboured under
the somewhat grave disadvantage of being a Friday, two misfortunes
upon which an officer was flippant enough to pass some facetious
remarks, as the naval brigade headed the British force out of the
Taku gate.

The total number of men engaged was about 5000, British 710, Japanese
1500, French 900, Austrians 45, and Americans 900, who were on the
south-west side of the river, the Russian and German contingent being
on the north-east. The first line of advance assumed the form of
a sweep, and took the force clear of the enemy’s artillery fire,
which had been absolutely non-effective in the darkness. In silence
the troops marched on the racecourse position, which was found to
be untenanted. On reaching the open plain, and heading for the
Hi-Kuan-Su arsenal, the force was split up into five columns, each
making for the gate of the arsenal by converging routes.

The day soon broke, and simultaneously the opposing artillery
commenced a tremendous fire; that of the Allies being directed
at the city wall, at the south gate pagoda, and at any guns that
were visible; while the enemy divided their attention between the
advancing columns and the Allied guns. In the otherwise deathlike
quiet of the summer’s morning, a series of roars, and distinctly
visible flashes, created an extraordinary impression on the infantry,
who seemed to feel that this was only the prelude to something
compared to which the everyday occurrences of the last six weeks
would altogether pale into insignificance. It was so unusual, this
artillery duel—which was being waged so fiercely and at such a
distance as to be without a sound of rifle fire or a sight of the
enemy—which every now and again burst forth into a sustained fire,
only to be succeeded by a storm of rifle bullets and the almost
inevitable attack, followed by the Allies’ steady reply, ending in
the repulse of the Chinese, and the destroying of houses by shell
fire. The present was all so different: the defenders had assumed the
offensive; the long hoped for and long expected day had come, and
the possibility of capturing the enemy’s headquarters found the men
in such a determined mood that the possibility augured a certainty.
The Chinese did not make a prolonged resistance at the arsenal, and
the Japanese were quickly in full possession. The British, Americans,
and Austrians were following them, when all at once the air seemed
alive with bullets, and the British who had formed the Japanese
supports, being neither able to locate the fire nor to see the enemy,
immediately extended and lay down. Not so the Americans, however,
who came swinging by the rear of the prostrate British, and suffered
heavily; the experience gained was costly but profitable, for they
likewise immediately assumed the prone position. Then ensued one of
those trying half hours that seem to come in most engagements. With
no enemy in sight, and no possible chance of retaliation, the men
lay there restless yet eager. Bullets fell so thickly that the air
seemed, to use a Scotch expression, like a “kist full of whistles.”
With the force were six horses, five of which were killed in the
first few minutes. Nor were they the only loss, for here Captain
Lloyd of the Marines was mortally wounded in the throat, while yet
relating his experiences of the Seymour column. Almost his last words
were to the effect that, having come safely through that trying time,
he feared not for his safety then. The conduct and the courage of the
men were splendid. They showed the utmost confidence that the order
which regulated them to lie on the fire-swept plain, and prevented
them from gaining the shelter of the arsenal walls, only some two or
three hundred yards in front, was only given, that something more
important to the main issue should first take place before their work
began. At last the tension was removed, the order to advance was
given, and with what feelings of relief the men rose, formed into
line, and marched coolly up to the walls, can be better imagined
than described. Only two men were lost whilst in the erect position,
whereas the small British naval force alone, on rising, left one
officer dead and some twenty wounded men in the doctor’s hands.
Naturally the interval had not passed without incidents occurring
which in some measure affected the result of the battle. The first
was a terrific explosion on the other side of the city, which proved
to have been caused by the demolition of a dynamite store, either
by British guns or Russian bullets. The effects of the explosion
were somewhat curious; a squadron of Cossacks were dismounted, and
it was said that the Russian General was himself slightly injured by
the falling _débris_. Many windows in the settlement were broken at
a distance of two miles, and where the Naval Brigade were lying in
their previously described position, the vibration was extraordinary,
at a distance of about three and a half miles. A thin column of white
smoke rose perpendicularly in the still air, and gradually flattened
out into a mushroom-like pall; perchance the only pall to the coffins
of several of the enemy.

Another noticeable event was a minor explosion on the south side of
the city, occasioned by a shell from the 12-pr. on the mud wall. It
burst in a small-arm magazine, and caused an outbreak which finally
developed into a serious fire, sounding for all the world like
hundreds of crackers going off, as the fire reached box after box
of ammunition. One thing was noticeable during that inactive half
hour, in which one had nothing to do but think; it was the manner
in which the wounded men behaved on receiving their bullet. What
a lot some actors might learn if they only would take the risk of
being eye-witnesses! There would be less of the tragic fall on to
one’s back, and less still of the fixed stare at the drop scenery.
In reality, it is only the slightly wounded who betray any emotion
whatever, and this is nearly all of a facial type; their utterances
are usually not fit for publication. The more seriously wounded seem
to be numbed, and their phlegm seems wonderful in such circumstances;
no whining, no apparent excitement, a very common remark with
bluejackets being “’ave got! get a stretcher, Bill”—practical if
callous. Those who figure in the day’s casualty list as mortally
wounded, if speech remain to them, generally seem to have had some
premonition of the coming disaster,—they are “fey.” Their feelings
are expressed by “I felt it coming,” or “Them——have got me at last,”
and so on. When the Brigade reached the arsenal, it was seen that the
Japanese were pressing an attack in skirmishing order on the left
front, the Americans were discovered to be about to start to the
right front in force, while the straight and exposed road joining the
arsenal with the south gate of the city, was held by a mixed force of
French and Japanese numbering in all about a hundred, who had pushed
up to within 600 yards of the gate, in order to take advantage of the
cover afforded by some half-dozen huts. This small body had two guns
with them, but these speedily became inoperative through lack of
ammunition, and the extreme danger, which lay in making an attempt to
bring a further supply from the rear, rendered them useless for the
remainder of the day.

By half-past nine, the day had grown unpleasantly hot, and the men of
the British contingent contrived to snatch a few minutes’ rest under
the shadow of the mud wall, which proved to be an efficient sunshade,
as well as a valuable shield. The furious musketry and artillery duel
continued without cessation, and it seemed likely that the Japanese
and Americans, devoid of all cover as they were, might be compelled
to retire. Certain it is, that any further advance seemed fraught
with such dangers that it was improbable the city would fall during
the daytime. One may, therefore, judge of the surprise caused by a
message to General Fukushima, that some Japanese troops had already
gained a footing inside the walls. At the time it struck every one
as being too improbable to be correct, but immediate action was
necessary to support any body of men who might have won their way
in, and on the earnest desire of the Naval Brigade’s commander to be
given the post, the order was given that two companies of marines,
and a company of bluejackets, should advance down the central road
straight to the gate, and that another company of bluejackets should
be sent to the aid of the Americans, who appeared to have suffered
a serious check in their advance on the S.E. corner of the wall,
and on the suburbs in their immediate front. With the first-named
detachments went a half company of the Chinese regiment, who seemed
every whit as keen on the chance of some desperate street-fighting
as the sailors. The whole body marched through the captured arsenal
and found, on the other side, a Japanese field battery, pounding
away for all it was worth, at the south gate, receiving in return a
heavy shell fire, and an equally heavy, but ill-directed rifle fire.
This of course dashed the story, that the gate had fallen, to the
ground, and on leaving the friendly cover of the houses, it became
apparent that the party to be reinforced would not be reached without
an advance, in which the elements of excitement and danger were not
lacking, and in which the latter largely predominated. There were
some 1200 yards to be covered, the ground to be crossed consisting of
a straight, flat road about 15 yards wide, with canals on each side
of it; at the other end, at a range of about 1900 yards, were 3000
riflemen with several guns, the whole in comparative safety; and the
only opportunity for a spell of rest offered itself in the shape of
two small huts about half-way. The marines led in single file at the
double, and the other companies taking the movement up, there was
soon a long Khaki and blue snake on the road, to serve as a target
for the Chinamen. Scarcely had the rear of the line left cover, when
the comparatively peaceful road became dotted with bullets, which,
with the splashes in the adjacent canals, went to make the onlooker
hold his breath with anxiety to see how long the fire would be in
taking effect. It was not long, first one, and then two others,
falling forward; but on the whole the casualties were surprisingly
light during the first half of the journey. The looked-for rest at
the half-way hut, which had held forth such an alluring prospect,
turned out to be most uncomfortable, as the spot was semi-enfiladed
from a walled prison on the left, and two more casualties took place.
About three minutes saw the men again advancing, and as they emerged
from the little stopping place, a withering fire came from the
suburbs, the prison, and innumerable loopholes in the top of the city
wall.

The Chinese must have been considerably upset at the general trend
of events, for they missed an opportunity such as but seldom falls
to the lot of any number of snugly entrenched troops. Every man
should have been hit, so great was the expenditure of ammunition;
but although the casualties were rather more numerous—three men being
killed, and an officer and a dozen or so others wounded,—on the whole
the force again escaped lightly. It was during the second advance
that Midshipman Guy of the “Barfleur” gained his V.C. for bandaging a
wounded man under this heavy fire, and eventually carrying him back
to shelter, where unfortunately his wounds proved fatal. Everything
comes to an end, and at last the houses were reached. These proved
to be big enough to shelter the whole force, as well as the mixed
detachments already there; the total number would be about 300,
comprising Japanese, French, Austrians, marines, bluejackets, and
some of the Chinese regiment. So crowded were the men at first, that
those who were not energetic enough to explore for themselves, had to
lie out in the rear of the centre house, a position which was open
to fire from two sides; and it was not until a Frenchman and one of
the Chinese regiment had been killed, that some of them began to
look about them, and to make the most of the ample cover that there
was. In order to eliminate the objectionably long term “the Author,”
and to facilitate the flow of incident, I, who happened to be one of
the midshipmen with the party, propose to take up the thread of the
narrative:—

The wounded with us suffered frightfully, being without bandages
and also without water, this latter being so near and yet so very
far, for two men who crawled down to the muddy canals to fill
water-bottles were both shot in the head; and in addition to our
other troubles, a field gun made our position its objective, before
we had been there an hour. Unlike the majority of gunners who served
the Chinese artillery, the No. 1 of this gun made the most execrable
shooting, and the first ten shells flew all more or less wide of
the mark. The eleventh, however, entered the roof of one of the
houses and burst in the little central courtyard, which luckily was
untenanted. I have still in my possession the base and fuze of this
shell, which so nearly levied toll on the crowded men just on the
other side of the four enclosing walls. Half a minute passed, and we
were still waiting for the twelfth, when our 12-pr., a mile and a
quarter away, woke up, and caused the retirement of the tormentor.
But for this relief at the eleventh hour, there can be no doubt that
our position would have shortly become untenable. For the next few
hours we laboured to put the position in a state of defence, but the
fire became so hot, if even as much as an arm were shown, that it was
impracticable to get much done. A Frenchman and a marine who were,
contrary to orders, sniping from an improvised loophole, both got
hit, the former fatally.

A very plucky exhibition of despatch-carrying was shown by three
Japanese mounted orderlies, who were trying to reach the officer in
command of the small Japanese detachment who shared our quarters,
or to be more accurate, whose quarters we shared. They had come
from the arsenal, and had reached the half-way hut safely. Here
they dismounted, and one remounting, galloped towards us lying low
in his saddle. He had barely got 50 yards when horse and man were
rolled over lifeless. The second also rode to his death, but without
a moment’s hesitation the third took his horse by the bridle, and
leading it, managed to reach us safely amidst great excitement,
only to lose his horse, which took fright at some bullet graze and
galloped back whence they had come, pursued by a shower of bullets.

About the same time as this, another incident occurred with even
more fatal results to the parties concerned. Lieutenant Oliphant,
with two of the Chinese regiment and two mules, had already twice
taken ammunition to the hard-pressed Americans, and he once more
essayed the same task. In less than half-a-minute from the time of
his leaving cover, men, mules, and ammunition lay in a heap on the
ground, inert and lifeless. There is an adage which has it that “The
third time does it.” It did!

The Americans for their part had suffered heavily, and for some
reason, perhaps the comparative laxity of discipline which obtains
in their service, they were beginning to show loss of _morale_, an
adjunct of vital importance to troops in adverse circumstances.
One man was heard to say “Guess I don’t mind scrapping of a kind,
but may I go back and scrap in the Philippines for the rest of my
mortal life, rather than any more of this.” He was so evidently in
earnest that it was rather laughable, and one of the petty officers
belonging to the company of bluejackets who had been sent to their
support, took occasion to assure him that he would get used to
it like himself, who had had that sort of amusement nearly every
meal-time for four weeks! Undoubtedly their share of the fight had
been an arduous one. They had to advance over difficult open ground,
they had lost five officers, and though it appeared that they might
have cleared the villages in their front with a little dash, it would
perhaps have been a hazardous operation to undertake, considering
their loss in men and _morale_. Failing an advance, there was nothing
for them to do but hang on to their position until darkness, in
order to prevent our centre from being enveloped by troops from
the enemy’s left; to retire by daylight was, besides being bad
strategy, demoralising and extremely dangerous. Thus this weary day
dragged on, until at four o’clock in the afternoon, there seemed to
be even less chance of getting into the city than had been the case
at ten o’clock in the morning. At four o’clock, as no communication
or further orders had been received either from General Dorward or
Captain Burke, I was sent back with a note to each of them, asking
for instructions in the one, and for a doctor—whom I met on the
way—and food, water, stretchers, etc., in the other. My appearance
was of course the signal for a furious but badly aimed fusilade,
which continued until I had reached the arsenal, which I did after a
most exciting run. I had only left our position about five yards when
a bullet grazed my hand and took the skin off two of my knuckles,
and I’ll bet I beat all records for the 100 yards. On my way, after
this, a Frenchman passed me, bent on a similar errand in the opposite
direction. He, poor fellow, when within 5 yards of me, fell with a
splash into one of the canals. There was just time to glance at him
before hurrying onwards, the result of the investigation being more
flattering to Chinese marksmanship than one would have imagined,
his wounds numbering two, either of which would have been sufficient
to kill him. I had reason to feel sorry for the poor chap, because
perhaps one had been meant for me! In the arsenal, preparations were
being made for the night, and it was not without some seeking that
the General was found, returning from personally placing the Royal
Welsh Fusiliers in an excellent position for repulsing any attack
on the left flank. In the rear were three thousand of the enemy’s
infantry, and some cavalry and guns; with these the Japanese cavalry
were in touch, but their presence in the vicinity necessitated very
careful dispositions being made. Two companies of sailors were sent
to occupy some few houses, in reality a tiny village, commanding
the road, the only possible line of approach for cavalry, and their
absence from the arsenal, which was to all intents our base, created
a great scarcity of men there. This was however remedied by the
return, under cover of darkness, of the Americans and the company of
our sailors. Our wounded were also sent back to safety, and a cartful
of water and food, which returned with me to our position on the
road, served the double purpose of conveying provender in the outward
trip, and being a comfortable conveyance for them on the homeward
one.

The Allies’ arrangements were, that the main force of Japanese
should press their attack right home on to the suburbs underneath
the walls, and should occupy them, until plans had been completed to
blow open the south gate, which it was proposed to do at four in the
morning; also that our mixed force should maintain its position until
the explosion was heard, when we were to immediately rush forward
straight for the gate, which, together with the south wall, we had to
occupy. We, in turn, were going to be relieved by the Americans and
the other troops, who were all going to hurry up at the given signal.
The utmost confidence prevailed, and after every one had partaken of
some food and drink, it was felt on all hands that a great success
awaited us on the morrow. Sentries were posted, positions assigned to
the various contingents in case of a sortie, and the men lay down to
get as much rest as possible. According to custom, a heavy fire was
maintained by the Chinese all night long, but, with two exceptions,
the night passed quietly. One was the wounding of a marine by a
chance bullet, the other was caused by a party of Frenchmen who, on
it commencing to rain, tried to crowd into a hut which was being
used by some of our officers. On being cleared out they were most
indignant, seeming to think that six feet, by ten feet, by six feet
was ample accommodation for about thirty human beings, and they
assured us that they were “bons camarades!” Perhaps they were, but,
with the exception of a couple, they had to find shelter elsewhere.

At 4 a.m. the explosion took place as arranged, as we knew it must,
for the Japanese, gallant little souls! broke their engagements to
none, and showed their backs to nothing. We immediately stood to
arms, and in five minutes’ time were running through the burning
gateway to fulfil our share in the general plan. The Japanese were
seen to be engaged in some half-hearted street-fighting, which was
becoming rapidly less; and organised resistance soon ceased. Next
in, were our marines, and the Chinese regiment; after them the
French. The manner in which these excitable men behaved was almost
contemptible. They planted their little tricolors all along the
south wall, they shook each other by the hand, six buglers mounted
the wall and blew a fanfare of trumpets, and finally, to their shame
be it said, they fired volleys into masses of fugitives pouring out
of the west gate, among whom were many women. By their behaviour,
an outsider would have judged that to them, and to them alone,
belonged the credit of the city’s fall. For some hours the various
troops were engaged in clearing the city, and the villages on the
north side of it, which were full of snipers who kept up a brisk
fire until turned out of it by the Japs, who pushed right on and
helped the Russians take the city fort, which was the last point of
resistance. The Russians and Germans on the other side of the river,
had experienced the same serious opposition on the 13th, and had but
partially succeeded, like ourselves; but in a similar manner the
morning of the 14th brought better luck, and by noon on that day the
city with all its surroundings was undisputedly in the hands of the
Allies.

To the Japanese belongs the lion’s share of the credit, the
Russians and British probably being their most able assistants.
This victory, the most costly as it was the most decisive, was also
the turning-point from defence to attack,—in fact, it must always
remain the most important movement in the whole campaign, opening
the way, as it did, for the advance on Pekin, which for several
reasons could never have been begun until the Chinese had been forced
to evacuate their great stronghold. The severity of the fighting
may best be judged from the casualty list, which numbered 775, of
whom the greater number were Japanese and Russians, the remainder
being mainly composed of Americans, British, and French. The Naval
Brigade’s share in the day’s fighting was alluded to in the General’s
despatches in a most complimentary manner, and the services rendered
by the company who went to the assistance of the 9th U.S. infantry,
were also gracefully acknowledged by the American Senate.




CHAPTER IX

SCENES IN THE CAPTURED CITY. TIENTSIN LOOTED


When once resistance had ceased there was time to look about one,
and it was a scene worth remembering that met the eyes, if only it
had been possible to shut out some of the hideous effects of the
last two days’ fighting. From the top of the wall one saw a large,
densely-built city which at first only seemed to boast of three
roads, one encircling the whole, and the other two equally dividing
it into four parts, meeting at the centre, where their intersection
was marked by an imposing-looking structure, which might have been
either pagoda or gate. In its most peaceful days it is improbable
that any one thought it beautiful. “Striking” is perhaps the word
which would have been employed by a globe-trotter. However, Tientsin
was unlike itself on the morning of July 14, and had it ever been
striking, it was then doubly so. The first thing to be noticed
was the gate of entry, which was blazing furiously, together with
what remained of a fine pagoda which had been built on the top of
it. The latter had been literally pulverised by shells, and had been
burning for some hours. Though nearly burnt out, it caused great
inconvenience to the troops, who were compelled for the time to lie
in its vicinity. A glance at the wall also bore testimony to the
accuracy of the Allies’ artillery fire; and although the projectiles
were for the most part too small to inflict any great structural
damage, yet here and there the ramparts had been swept clear away
for several feet at a time. Twenty-three shell marks were distinctly
visible on the south gate walls, and on what remained of its pagoda,
and it must be admitted that the Chinese who defended this and the
neighbouring portions of the wall, showed a tenacity not to be
gainsaid.

[Illustration: MAIN ROAD—TIENTSIN.

  [_page 176._]

It is doubtful whether, with the exception of a few in the suburbs
and prison, the enemy lost as many as thirty men from rifle fire on
the whole of the 13th; for the wall was so thick, and the loopholes
so small, that even the possibility of a stray bullet finding a
fleshy resting-place was almost precluded.

Shells, however, had done their work elsewhere, as destructively to
material and perhaps more so to life, as they had done on the walls.
They had burst promiscuously when once they had passed over the
walls; and from what the Allies had seen of promiscuous shelling it
was not held to be particularly dangerous; but here the conditions
were somewhat different. Hardly a shell could pitch without landing
on a roof, and then the houses were of a much more inflammable nature
and densely packed with human beings.

From this, and from the general appearance of the town, it may be
assumed that the actual damage done in the last twenty-four hours’
incessant shelling was nearly equal to that which was the effect
of many days’ dilatory bombardment on the part of the Chinese. The
casualties, which were the result of it, were undoubtedly heavier
than those which occurred in the settlements, from a similar cause,
during the whole month’s siege. The further one went into the city,
the more horrible were the scenes with which one was confronted.
Shrapnel, common shell, and lyddite had spared no one; every type was
to be found there lying where they fell, killed, one might almost
say, by an accident,—male and female, old men and little naked
children. Brutalised as one gets when fighting against a merciless
foe, it makes one shudder even now to look back on it! The numbers
were largest towards the north gate, but in this case men were
looking on the bodies of their proper enemies, the paid soldiers
of the hostile government; and, after gazing on the scene just
pourtrayed (one hundred times more lightly than the reality, out of
respect for the feelings of those who peruse this chapter) there was
for them no room for sentiment. Rather sad too was the sight of the
ten or twelve corpses, all laid on hastily improvised stretchers, to
be seen in most of the courtyards of the Yamens, which had evidently
been turned into hospitals for the occasion. Some of these had been
attended to while still alive, but the bandages were put on in a
careless and slovenly manner, and testified neither to the skill nor
the attention of the native doctors. No wounded were found in these
places, which points to the fact that the Chinese, even in their
hasty retreat, retained some of the cohesion without which any body
of armed men quickly becomes a rabble.

There was plenty of evidence to prove that anarchy had reigned
supreme for the last day or two; many houses had been forcibly
entered, and their less valuable contents strewn about the streets;
and the severed heads of several Boxers were to be seen hanging
to poles by their pigtails, which showed dissension had been rife
between the Regulars and their fanatical Auxiliaries. All sanitary
arrangements had been disregarded, and a most unpleasant reek of
decomposing garbage offended the senses at every turn.

The fire brigade, if such a thing existed, had naturally decamped on
the fall of the south gate, and the Allies found the town on fire in
a dozen places, notably in the N.W. and S.E. quarters. The reason
that these two quarters suffered most heavily in this respect, while
the N.E. and S.W. quarters enjoyed comparative immunity, is easily
explained, when it is understood that the majority of the Allies’
guns were facing the N.W. to S.E. diagonal, so that should a shell
just top the wall, it perhaps created a fire in the S.E. corner,
whereas, if elevated for another three or four hundred yards, it had
a similar chance of doing so in the N.E. corner.

There was a good deal to be done, one of the most important things
being the barring of ingress to any one but Europeans. To ensure
this, all the gates were guarded, and all outgoing Chinamen were
searched, and permitted to go, while all candidates for admission
were searched and turned back.

A rather grim incident occurred during the police work at the north
gate. The Japanese were guarding the bridge outside the walls when
two Chinamen came along, dressed like coolies, and begged for
admission. This was at once refused; whereupon the two men tried to
shove past the guard. Of course such temerity was fatal; they were
leapt upon and thrown to the earth, after which they were searched;
on each were found arms and ammunition, and both were immediately
“despatched,” and their bodies hurled into the river. Some one near
by, expressed the opinion that it was rather an arbitrary method of
dealing with them; but by every rule of war their fate was deserved.
They were spies with arms concealed on them, and by their eagerness
to get inside the gates, it may be supposed that some plan was to be
carried through to the detriment of the troops in possession, which
was only frustrated by their timely end. It was, however, noticeable
that later candidates carried themselves with more submission than
the two whose fate had been just witnessed.

The first thing that the British did, when the city had been
cleared, was to seize a number of the junks which crowded the river
along the northern wall, as well as two steamers, one a convenient
little launch, the other a paddle steamer which, though tried for
some time, eventually proved useless. The junks were expected to
be of great assistance in the forthcoming advance on Pekin, and
although some were too big for the higher reaches of the river, yet
many proved of inestimable value in conjunction with the transport
arrangements for the above named expedition. Guards were placed on
every gate, and by two o’clock it was possible to withdraw some of
the troops to the settlement. No sooner was personal safety assured
than the city became full of people, all bent on plunder,—in fact the
looting of Tientsin had begun. LOOT, a word which had seemed to have
died a natural death in favour of “commandeer,” is only a polite way
of talking about the act of transferring some one else’s property
to one’s own pocket, or as it happened in this case, to one’s own
rickshaw. It was now the one topic of conversation, the one aim of
every one able to roam the streets of Tientsin, unfettered by orders
or scruples; and it is safe to say that every one, except the British
soldiers and sailors, and other troops on duty, indulged in this
pursuit at the earliest opportunity and to the fullest extent. This
is not meant to mislead people into thinking that the British did no
looting, but merely to point out that at first it was the intention
of the British authorities not to allow it, a moral desire which was
at last overcome by the example set by every one else, including
civilians, who had taken no share in the fighting, but who saw a
chance to recompense themselves for any loss they had sustained by
Chinese shells. When the British forces did start, however, nearly
everything of any value had been taken; and as only two days were
allowed, there was no time to search under floors, and in hollow
walls, which were the hiding places for the bulk of the hidden
bullion. Be this as it may, it can safely be said that there were
but few in the brigade who had not the word “loot” lightly engraved
on their hearts by the 15th, by which time it was proposed to divide
the city into spheres of influence under military command. The word
“lightly” is used advisedly, for their looting was of the gentlemanly
order, and not accompanied by threats, outrage, and even murder,
which was unfortunately the case with at least two of the other
European contingents. It was extraordinary to see the trust reposed
in the Japanese, British, and Americans. The house-holders would
ask for flags, and a guard to protect them from some of the others;
and hundreds of little home-made flags fluttered from the doorways
and windows in every direction. One writer on the subject remarks
with surprise, on the number of Japanese and French flags that were
shown. A little thought would have shown him that they are in the
first place ridiculously easy to imitate, the first one needing but
a red blob on a white ground, and the second a little red ink, a
clear white stripe, and a stripe of the ordinary blue ink, make a
very fair tricolor. The first were also shown with the earnest desire
to propitiate, the second because, not being able to make British
or American ensigns, they thought that any protector was perhaps
better than none. Now so much has been said and written on the great
evils of looting, and especially on the looting of Tientsin, that a
summing up of the case by one who was to a certain extent “in the
know” can hardly be inappropriate or uninteresting. To begin with,
the evidence of many of those who have written articles to the papers
in denunciation of the authorities, or of the allied troops, is worth
but little, as it is more than probable that, by infringing some
of the rules, they lost what they themselves had looted, and their
bitter feelings may be accounted for by the fact that although it is
occasionally “better to have loved and lost than never to have loved
at all,” it is certainly not better to have looted and forfeited,
than never to have looted at all. Thus a proportion must be deducted
from the ranks of “conscientious objectors” whose argument is that
the transferment of some one else’s property to oneself is never
permissible, except it take the form of an exchange, a sale, or a
gift; also that the recognised law in civilised warfare is that
looters will be shot.

On the other side of the argument are to be found of course all the
participators, and a multitude of people who envy the latter their
good fortune, but whose envy does not go far enough to cause them
to act protector of the down-trodden, through the medium of the
press. These very rightly say, that in the first place the Tientsin
looting was not an incident in civilised warfare at all; “devilishly
cruel” has been already applied to the Chinese in this book, but the
superlative has not yet been coined which would adequately describe
the treatment of women and the wounded who fell into their hands.
Then again the power to “save face” is so highly thought of in China,
that had Tientsin not been looted, and had it not been decided to
alter the face of the city in other ways as well, it is probable that
one of the most valuable lessons of the whole war would have remained
untaught. Another excellent excuse was the fact that quite a third
of the city was in flames, in which case, had no looting taken place,
thousands of valuables would now be no more, whereas they have gone
to gladden the hearts of the womenfolk, and to brighten the rooms of
every nation of any importance from Japan westward to America.

After all, there is precedent without end, for in nearly every
instance where a city has fallen by direct assault, and where there
has been only flight, not surrender, on the part of the defenders,
the town has been sacked. The force of example need hardly be quoted
as an excuse, because it amounts to an admittance of moral weakness,
and in no case do two wrongs make a right. But War itself is hardly
an ideal state of affairs, and it is harsh to blame a little easing
up of discipline within strict limits, after a bloody and bitter
conflict, brought to a successful issue solely by the discipline and
devotion of the troops engaged. If further argument is necessary, it
remains to be said that by far the greatest thieves were the Chinese
themselves, who as soon as they found they were not noticed in the
general scramble, were untiring in their endeavours to make their
fortune at the expense of others; and these men, not even excepting
the civilians from the settlement, were undoubtedly those whose
measure of success was greatest. As a proof of how partial the sack
of the city really was, a well-known Chinese Tientsin banker remarked
quite recently, that of thirty-eight banks of importance, and the
treasury, only the latter and one of the former had been touched,
thanks to the innate “wile” of the owners, who invariably take the
greatest pains to put their wealth out of sight. Given the desire
and power to loot, it only remains to be told the method employed by
the various nations, and for the loot to be described, to gather a
fairly accurate idea of the scene. The arrangement at first had been
to allow looting to be proceeded with until noon on the 15th, when it
would be suppressed; and all loot found in the possession of people
who had broken the rule would be forfeited to a common fund to go to
the troops who had done the fighting.

To begin with the British: there were bluejackets, marines,
infantrymen, engineers, Indians, and the Chinese regiment, most of
whom were working in parties, which in many cases had officers with
them. In this they differed from any other nation, and it was a
wise step to take. It at least ensured the absence of the slightest
brutality, and it minimised the risk of collision with other troops,
which was always to be reckoned with, in the then state of men’s
minds. A dispute at that time over a pawnshop, a fur cloak, or
an ornament, must have had very serious consequences, as the men
were all fully armed, and each nationality was as suspicious and
jealous as possible of the others. As a matter of fact the British
troops proved comparatively unsuccessful as looters. They started
late, behaved so quietly, and seemed to have no idea of the value
of anything, except actual money or sycee, which latter it may be
explained was bar silver moulded into 4lb. ingots worth about £7,
10s. each. Then again, although either the treasury or the salt
commissioners’ Yamen might have fallen into their hands, they allowed
themselves to be passed by the Japanese and Americans respectively.
The British civilians, however, supplied all deficiencies and
made most successful hauls. In order not to hurt innocent and
“conscientious objectors’” feelings, it must be mentioned that only
those who looted are spoken of, and not all and sundry, as might have
been assumed from the foregoing sentence. They, of course, knew the
very houses to go to, they knew the value of every article, they had
their own servants, and in some cases their own conveyances to carry
their gear from the spot where it was found to their residences, in
fact for them not to have made the best of it would have shown a
lack of grasp of the situation to be wondered at.

The Japanese were stern but humane looters; they saw what they
wanted, took it and went, and unless molested or baulked they hurt no
one. The Americans were also a free-and-easy lot of fellows; they too
demanded, not asked, and they too were harmless if not crossed. It
may be said that the same humane line of action that was followed by
these three nations during the whole campaign was carried out to the
letter in the demoralising times during the looting of Tientsin. It
is not proposed to discuss the ways of the other nations; not that it
is to be supposed for one instant that they are all tarred with one
brush. For instance, the Russians and Germans did not participate in
the looting of Tientsin proper, and the Austrians and Italians were
so small in numbers, that their looting power suffered in comparison
to the troops of other countries; while to enlarge on the undoubted
prowess possessed by _l’infanterie de la marine_, although it would
only be to endorse what has already been said, would probably raise
a storm of indignation and gesticulation to which the author has
neither time nor inclination to reply. The supply of loot itself was
nearly if not quite equal to the demand. Sycee abounded, furs and
silks were so common that anything except sable and mink were trodden
underfoot, and none but the most beautiful embroideries were thought
worth the space they occupied. Rolls of the most beautiful silk,
worth pounds, were treated as if they had been calico; astrakhan,
squirrel, and fox skins were left to the Chinese who had been too
tired to run away. Silver watches simply bored one, and on asking
the time from a stranger he would probably give you a couple of this
type of timepiece. Gold and enamel watches were there also; watches
set with pearls, and eighty-guinea gold repeaters, were all to be
got; but these mostly came out of houses, not from the shops. Of
silver articles of jewellery there were literally sacksful, but only
the lucky few managed to get hold of gold rings with jewels in them,
of which there was a more limited supply. In real Jade bracelets
and ornaments there were several fortunes, but the ignorance of the
men for the most part was responsible for these being either thrown
down, or left to fall into the hands of some lucky officer. Even the
looting had to end, and by noon on June 15th there were pickets out
guarding the approaches to the British concession, with orders to
allow no one to retain any plunder except French subjects, whose
consul or commander had not fallen in with the general plan. Many
curious things happened, some folk coming in with dignity, striving
for a place; on their features could be seen “Avarice satisfied”
as plainly as possible. Others, in ignorance of the law, came and
conversed with the officer of the picket, and assured him that there
was plenty left, and if only they had a hay-cart instead of a broken
rickshaw, the former would have been just as full as the latter.

On being apprised of the state of affairs, entreaty and invective
held the ring in turn against all comers for quite a time. Some, more
wily, who possessed a knowledge of French, tried to palm themselves
off as Frenchmen. About this is a curious story to be told, first
mentioning that a similar story is current, which had quite a
different ending, but which, in all other respects, tallies with this
one. Several rickshaws came along under the charge of two or three
men, who, when stopped by a military picket, jabbered away in French,
shrugged their shoulders, lifted their hands, and twirled their
moustachios to such an extent that they were allowed to pass; but,
unfortunately, they “struck” a naval picket, under the command of a
very small, but very officious midshipman, who considered it to be
nothing less than sinful to allow such a haul to escape his clutches,
so he ordered the party to barracks for investigation. They didn’t
want to go a bit, and at last their French broke down when they had
got half-way, and found that, owing to the young officer having but
an imperfect knowledge of the language, it was impossible—quite
impossible—to persuade him to alter his mind by arguing in French.
Finally, the loot and its erstwhile owners parted company, the latter
swearing volubly, but in English. And yet there are people who say
that the British Naval Officer’s greatest failing is his want of
knowledge in foreign tongues! Incidents of the same sort followed
each other in quick succession, and by the night of the 15th the
looting of Tientsin was at an end.




CHAPTER X

A SUMMARY OF WORK DONE. PREPARATIONS FOR FINAL ADVANCE. FIGHTING
AROUND TIENTSIN DURING THE SAME.


Much had now been done towards ensuring the safety of European life
and property in the North, but much yet remained to do. To begin
with, the fate of the Legations in Pekin was still unknown, and all
the last runners to get through were the bearers of more and more
hopeless messages, which contained prayers for a speedy relief; and
as the safety, or rather want of safety, of the Ministers had been
responsible for every move on the part of the Allies, it will be seen
that, even apart from political considerations, and they were many,
the relief of Pekin was now a matter of the greatest importance; in
fact, it was merely the end to which all other operations had been
the means. The Taku Forts had been taken, not because a rising at
Tientsin was feared, but because it was necessary to have a base
resting on the sea, from which supplies and men could be sent to
Admiral Seymour, who, of course, had the safety of the Ministers
almost solely at heart, when he at first commenced his splendid but
unavailing attempt to reach the capital.

After that first success, we have seen how Tientsin settlements were
attacked by the enemy, and how, after a gallant defence, they were
relieved by the column from the forts, who had been reinforced from
Port Arthur and Hong-Kong. Immediately after—in fact, at the same
time as all this was taking place—we have followed Seymour’s march
and ultimate retirement, and the relief of Tientsin brings us to his
relief, which followed on the next day. Then comes the second siege
of Tientsin, with its extraordinary aggressive defence, during which
all outlying Chinese arsenals and positions were stormed and taken,
until at last Tientsin city alone remained. This stronghold itself
was attacked and fell, and there seemed likely to be a prolonged
rest on both sides, for it had already been proved that to advance
on Pekin with anything but an overwhelming force was useless, and it
may be confidently asserted that the Chinese would not have resumed
offensive tactics for some time, on account of extreme exhaustion—the
word being used in the sense in which it is applicable to an army,
rather than in its physical meaning. But all the operations had taken
time, and during the month that had elapsed from the commencement of
the war, troops were hurrying from Kiel, Marseilles, Spezzia, Fiume,
India, the Philippines, Japan, and Port Arthur, and a number of these
had already landed at Taku.

It became evident that the sailors’ work as infantrymen had finished,
and they once more found themselves employed as “Handymen,” mounting
two 4-in. Q.F. on field carriages, getting junks ready for the army,
unloading lighters, doing all the fatigue work—in fact, tidying
up, so that the soldiers might have a flying start. This kind of
thing represents the dregs of active service, but the men had the
satisfaction of knowing that they were going to be represented by
six guns and a battalion of marines, and they worked to such purpose
that it may be doubted whether any army corps has ever landed to find
such a perfect preparation, or their initial task in such a nearly
finished condition. As many men as could be spared went down to their
ships to recruit their health for the fortnight before the advance
was to commence, but a company were shortly recalled to Tientsin,
and received orders to construct a battery on the south face of the
settlements, to ward off a possible attack from the south-westward,
where it was reported the enemy were massing in great numbers. Work
was commenced on the night of arrival, and by the next evening, by
dint of much labour, the following guns were in position, ready for
use: seven 6-pr. Q.F., three 9-pr. M.L. field guns, three Maxims, and
a five-barrelled Nordenfelt. It might be termed a scratch pack, but
such was their position, that they were capable of holding off any
number of infantry, and might have successfully dealt with artillery
up to three thousand yards.

The first British troops to arrive were the 7th Rajputs, and some
of the 1st Bengal Lancers; they caused a great impression by their
soldierly bearing, and were eyed with curiosity by the other European
soldiers. After them came Sikhs, Bengal cavalry, Madras pioneers, and
Baluchis, all of whom impressed the onlooker as preferable allies
rather than antagonists. The troops of other nations were quickly
on the scene, and Tientsin gradually became a huge camp of armed
men. The life was not an unenjoyable one; fresh food in plenty was
again obtainable, the native hawkers came back in small numbers
with fruit and vegetables, and in the evenings two bands played for
about an hour. There was also a prospect of some perfectly quiet
nights, which had been the great exception for some time past, and
which remained in the prospective stage even now, for the mosquitoes
worried one more than the sound of a rifle or shell fire; and while
one can get used to the latter evil in but a short time, it is next
to impossible to accustom oneself to the attacks of myriads of the
former, whose bites are irritable for days. An interesting piece
of work was the discovery and reclaiming of Seymour’s 9-pr. M.L.
guns, which had been thrown into the river during the retirement.
They were found in an arsenal inside the city when it fell, and
were dragged back in triumph to the settlement, where they were
painted Khaki colour and placed on the steps of the Town Hall,
which they still adorn. It is not to be supposed that the troops
had an easy time; they were constantly drilling, the horses were
being got into condition after their voyages, portable filters were
made from congues and sand and charcoal, the former being obtained
and prepared—in fact, everything possible was done to ensure a
start at the first moment that the Allies’ numbers would reach the
required total, said by some to be 25,000, by others 40,000 at
least. The British went a long way ahead in the matter of junks,
for they secured a junk yard with about eighty new junks in it—an
extraordinary capture, considering the way in which other nations
usually forestalled us in matters of this sort. As a matter of fact,
only about half the junks were available for use, owing to the fact
that they, being new, opened their seams and sank immediately they
were floated; however, the ones which had been taken on the river
provided ample accommodation for the British contingent. The work
of collecting junks off the river was a task not looked forward to
by either officers or men, consisting, as it did, of turning whole
families out into the banks, from what had been their sole living
place; but the orders were to get junks, and empty ones are not found
floating about in war-time even in China. One certainly was seen
floating by itself, and, being of a suitable nature and size, it was
immediately boarded. It was, however, tenanted by eight corpses of
people who had met violent deaths,—and was therefore allowed to go on
floating. Sights like this, and others yet more horrible, were only
too common, and it is not to be wondered at that the “junk parties,”
as they were called, were glad when their labours finished, and a
sufficient number had been collected.

The allied Commanders usually met every day to discuss their plans,
and to fix the probable date of starting, when an event happened
which altered all existing arrangements. A message arrived, which
again urged the necessity of the utmost despatch, or it would be too
late. This, at least, showed that things were fearfully critical
inside the Capital, and it found a responsive echo in the Commanders’
breasts, so that it was decided to leave Tientsin on August 5th,
which date was afterwards altered to the 4th.

Of course the advance had been preceded by a reconnaissance to
ascertain where the enemy intended making his first stand, to
discover his numbers, and to make him, if possible, disclose the
strength of his position. This had all been done by the Japanese on
the 21st of July, and when at last the little army moved out of the
settlement, it was felt that everything possible had been done to
ensure the success of the enterprise.

When the relief force had left, the troops in the settlement,
consisting of Japanese, Indians, and a few Americans, French, and
Russians, and a small Naval detachment, still had plenty to do;
scares began again immediately, and a new system of defence had to be
arranged. The British were busily employed in perfecting the south
battery, and all the other nations were working at similar tasks.

The lines had been greatly enlarged since the fall of the City, and
included all the space enclosed by the mud wall, which encircled
the native City as well as the settlements, and which was held by
Japanese at several points on the right bank of the river—notably at
the Taku gate and the Hi-Kuan-Su arsenal. The suburbs on the other
bank were held by the Russians, who also occupied the flanking forts
to the north-westward, as far as, and including, the Hsi-Ku arsenal.

Down at Taku the utmost activity prevailed. The 6th U.S. cavalry
disembarked and proceeded to Tientsin, but were not able to join in
the advance, owing to the condition of their horses; the Italian
Bersaglieri also landed, and shortly arrived in Tientsin. They
looked workmanlike and smart, and their rate of marching was really
astonishing.

Another thing which occupied a good deal of attention at Taku was the
completing of two 4-in. Q.F. guns on improved carriages of Captain
Percy Scott’s original design. These eventually turned up too late,
and although they were sent to the front, they were never brought
into action.

News was received from the front by field telegraph, but a more
certain way was getting it first-hand from the midshipman in charge
of the “Barfleur’s” steam Pinnace, who had orders to keep touch with
the army, to bring back sick and wounded, and to keep the river clear
for the peaceable passage of junks. This involved plenty of hard
work, during which one young officer got a bad touch of sunstroke and
was sent to hospital; but another took his place, and the excitement
and responsibility served to make hard work seem very pleasant.

For the benefit of those readers who, not understanding what a
“manned and armed” boat is, and who might reasonably be inclined to
think that an unarmed boat would be useless and even dangerous, it
must be explained that the boat carried a 3-pr. Q.F. gun in the bows
and a Maxim in the stern, which would have enabled her to hold off
any inconsiderable parties of the enemy who might be met with.

As bad luck would have it, the boat drew too much water for the
upper reaches of the river, so that it was impossible to go much
above Yangtsun; she was also very slow, and when no longer able to
communicate with the army, the need of her services soon ceased.

One incident occurred at this time which showed the true feeling
of some of the Foreign troops towards the British. Just above the
English settlement was a pontoon bridge, guarded and worked by a
French picket, who were always extremely obstinate about opening it
after dark. One night the steam pinnace came down from Yangtsun
about one o’clock, with, as usual, several sick and wounded on board;
and on hailing the picket and asking that the bridge might be opened,
the officer met with a flat refusal. He replied that it was a case of
necessity, as there were men who might die for want of assistance on
board; but a corporal replied: “Oh yes, you’ve always got wounded,
haven’t you?” Rather angry, the English officer replied that he
would report him to his superior officer in the morning, whereupon
he was told that he better go and do it himself, and that he might
stay on the other side of the bridge all night unless he opened it
himself. This he attempted to do, but the heavy planks, which had to
be drawn from side to side, proved to be too much for him and the two
men, which were all that could be allowed out of the boat. At last
he demanded that if assistance was not forthcoming in two minutes’
time he would destroy the bridge by throwing the planks into the
river, which would have to be replaced in the morning. Beyond oaths
and gesticulations, no reply was vouchsafed from the other bank,
so, at the expiration of two minutes, over went number one plank
after a great struggle. Terrific gesticulations and fearful oaths,
followed by another refusal to the demand for assistance, led to
the disappearance of plank number two, leaving only number three.
This appeared to sober the corporal somewhat, and he, with four men,
crossed the remaining plank and dragged it over, leaving just room
for the boat. Of course the officer and bluejackets embarked, and
told the Frenchmen to get to their side of the river over the boat;
but this led to such a storm of abuse from them, who had evidently
imagined that the British in their turn were going to replace the
plank, that the watch was again requisitioned, and, at the expiration
of the same interval of time, the boat went ahead, leaving two of the
five in safety, two in the water, and one cursing on the wrong side
of the river. Representations were made to the proper authorities
next day, and not only was a new bridge, capable of more easy
manipulation, built, but on subsequent passages the officer of the
boat met with nothing but civility.

A similar unpleasantness occurred to the first midshipman of the
boat—only on this occasion it was with the Russians, and diplomacy,
instead of high-handed dealing, in this case gained the day. The
same argument about right-of-way began one day, and it was not
until several hours had been wasted that the boat was allowed
to pass. Determined that this sort of thing should not happen
again, the midshipman, on his next arrival at Tientsin, obtained
an imposing-looking blue envelope, and having filled it with bulky
papers, wrote the Russian General’s name on it. Once more there was
the same difficulty, but after a lot of trouble the soldiers on guard
brought an officer who talked just enough English to understand what
the envelope purported to be. He was immediately all politeness, and
begged that he might have the supposed despatches, which he would
forward immediately; but, as they were not despatches at all—and even
if they had been, the officer might have forgotten to open the bridge
after all—the midshipman, while thanking him for his kindness, begged
him not to press the point, as he had had the strictest orders not to
let them out of sight until safely delivered. The bridge swung open,
the boat passed through, and so most probably did the “despatches,”
which were flung into the river when out of sight.

Three or four days after the army’s departure, the most extravagant
stories went round that 40,000 Boxers with guns were coming to attack
the settlement in a day or two. But few people believed this effort
of some one’s diseased imagination. It must be owned, however, that
another exodus of natives took place, many of whom were notably
faithful to their European masters, and who had in the past risked
much for their sake. At any rate, so persistent did the rumours
become, that it was decided to send a reconnaissance out to the
south-westward to gain some idea of their truth. Accordingly, a force
of cavalry—chiefly Americans, but partly Indian—was sent out to
discover what truth there might be in the matter.

They rode for seven miles without seeing any enemy, but, on
approaching some villages at this distance, a heavy fire was opened
on them from Rifles and Jingals, and it became certain that the
villages were held in force.

It was noticed, however, that there were no Imperial troops among
the enemy, who showed no signs of organisation, though even a horde
of well-armed peasants would be able to make things very unpleasant
for cavalry in a village; and having discovered what was wanted,
the force retired to Tientsin. During the retirement one of the
American horses took fright, and threw its rider heavily, who lay
stunned within short range of the enemy, and, had it not been for the
presence of mind of Lieutenant Gaussen of the 1st Bengal Lancers, who
rode back, picked him up, and carried him to safety, a regrettable
incident might have occurred. On the night of the reconnaissance
several shots were fired into the Hsi-Ku arsenal by snipers, and a
Japanese sentry was killed: shots were fired at other points also,
and it was clear that the enemy were going to pursue their old
sniping tactics if left in the vicinity. Therefore, acting on the
news which had been gathered, a little expedition was determined on,
the results of which might be expected to clear the neighbourhood
altogether of any enemy. The strength of the force was about 1,500,
consisting of 700 Indian infantry, 200 Japanese infantry, 500 of the
6th U.S. cavalry, 100 Bengal lancers, and two guns. The movement
was meant to be a secret, but details leaked out, and, as the Naval
Brigade were so small, they found, to their disgust, that they had
been left out. However, they were represented by two officers, who
simply appeared to “happen” upon the troops as they started, and
who attached themselves as non-official gallopers to the staff. The
men of the Brigade were told that they were much too valuable to be
thrown away as infantrymen, but the sailors refused to see things in
that light, arguing that, having borne the brunt of the campaign,
and having suffered some four hundred casualties, they ought to be
allowed to see the thing through. The plan of action was that the
guns and infantry should turn the Boxers out of each village in
turn, and that every time an opportunity occurred, the cavalry should
charge them as they fled. The first part of the programme was carried
out perfectly, but the second part failed in some degree through
an extraordinary mistake on the part of the American cavalry, who,
on being ordered to charge, dismounted and poured in a singularly
ineffective fire from their carbines, probably accounting for twenty
men where they might have accounted for two hundred. The Bengal
lancers, few as they were, rectified the error to some extent by
executing a brilliant charge, in which one hundred and eighty of the
enemy were slain. The ground was almost perfect for cavalry work—a
long flat sandy plain, intersected here and there by ditches, but
so shallow that the majority would be little more than a foot in
depth—and the only excuse the Americans could urge would be that
either the order was misunderstood by them, or that their training
has been on the lines of mounted infantry.

The day ended in the utter rout of the Chinese, and in the
destruction of seven villages, which further forwarded the work of
decentralisation. The Allies’ total loss was under fifty; that of
the enemy possibly four hundred. Several prisoners were also taken
and brought back to the settlement, where they were tried by a
mixed tribunal on two or three charges. Some were executed, others
released, while the remainder became servants in the different
barracks, and performed any odd jobs which required attending to.
This absolutely ended any fighting around Tientsin, and the work
of the troops in garrison gradually got lighter and lighter, until
affairs reached the verge of boredom. The heads of departments
had plenty to do. For instance, four nations started field-force
post-offices, which, by-the-bye, were largely patronised by
stamp-collectors; and the governing of Tientsin city also took much
careful consideration and management.

It was wonderful to notice the difference in the place since it had
fallen. The streets were positively clean in places—no dead bodies,
no obnoxious smells, any number of inhabitants, not even any looting.
All this made the place almost unrecognisable. The extreme easiness
of duty, and the fact that time began to hang heavily on the hands
of officers and men, were responsible for the more energetic spirits
beginning to look around them for some pastime which would afford
both amusement and exercise.

In the course of conversation with civilians it became known that
the autumn Snipe were now in, and that good bags of Longbills
might be made in the vicinity with a little trouble. The primary
trouble of finding the birds was obviated by one of the officers
of an Indian regiment, who had noticed a likely marsh while out on
the aforementioned reconnaissance. This proved to be only about a
mile and a half outside the lines, and as the whole district was now
absolutely quiet, several officers took advantage of the opportunity
to not only keep themselves fit, but to replenish the larder with
good fat Snipe, which were a most acceptable change for breakfast
after a somewhat protracted course of the everlasting sardine. Every
afternoon several guns visited the marsh which had been the scene
of one of the earlier combats, and in addition to bringing back
sometimes ten or twelve couple of birds, such articles as rifles,
jingals, and sword bayonets were frequently added to the bag. How
enjoyable it was to be killing, or even frightening, something a
little less imposing when in the bag than human beings; and how
absurd it seemed to be once more using a 12-bore instead of a rifle
or 12-pounder on the actual ground which only a month ago was strewn
with the bodies of men who had fallen in action! Needless to say long
practice with the one weapon had not improved one’s shooting powers
with the other, but it is interesting to record that the last shot
fired at Tientsin was a peaceable one excepting only those occasions
on which the Allied troops, tiring of fighting no one, turned their
weapons on each other. At last, just as August ended, the first part
of the Naval Brigade returned from the front, which proved to be the
beginning of the end for the senior service.




CHAPTER XI

ADVANCE TO PEKIN


The force which left the settlement on the afternoon of August 4th,
was by many considered to be far too small for the task in front of
it; it only numbered between 16,000 and 17,000 men, and suffered
from many disadvantages common to mixed forces. There were so many
chiefs, with as many different ideas; there was a great lack of
efficient transport among some of the forces; the weather was either
scorching hot or very wet; and, finally, there were supposed to be
four times as many Chinese between Tientsin and Pekin as European
troops which had left the former place; but when everything had been
said and done, there was the same desire burning in each breast of
the 16,000, and there was a keen rivalry between the forces, which
plainly told that each would exert himself to the utmost for the
honour of his country. The start was hardly auspicious, for although
the weather was perfect when the last column left Tientsin, before
the first companies had reached Hsi-Ku arsenal, where was to be the
first night’s bivouac, the rain was coming down in torrents; and as
the men were without tents, the prospect was altogether miserable.
With the certainty of a general engagement on the morrow, the troops
did the best for themselves that they could, and lay down in the mud
near the posts which they were to occupy in the morning’s fighting.
The Chinese position lay to the direct front, at a distance of
under four miles; it was immensely strong, and had been chosen with
such care that every eventuality seemed to have been allowed for.
Unfortunately, as had already happened so often, the utter want of
good officers, and the limited amount of backbone remaining in his
troops, rendered all the skilful dispositions of the Chinese General
of no avail, and all his miles of entrenchments, the work of weeks,
useless. The Japanese lay on the right of the allied force, the
British in the centre, and the Russians on the left,—the Americans,
who were to have worked in the centre, did not turn up in time to
take any serious part in the engagement. At half-past four, the ball
was opened by the Chinese artillery, who began to fire aimlessly in
the direction of Hsi-Ku arsenal. Shortly after this, the Japanese
pushed straight to the front, and in face of some slight opposition,
stormed the outlying Chinese trenches; the enemy withdrew to their
main defences, and the battle opened with severe musketry fire from
both sides. The Japanese artillery was hard at work from the very
beginning, but the British guns had as yet taken no part. At last
the Royal Artillery came into action near the river embankment, and
as usual they did not forget their wonderful parade-ground movements
under fire; it might have been a competition, so smartly was every
action performed. They immediately came under a hot fire, and lost
a few men; and although their shooting was everything that could be
desired, the position was not a favourable one, and they soon moved
away to the left. The enemy’s guns presently began to show signs of
being overmatched, and an infantry advance became possible. This the
Japanese led, and with extraordinary gallantry swept right down on
to the trenches, which were simply blazing with hostile fire, taking
the first one with the bayonet, and then waiting for reinforcements
and a short rest. The advance became general, and the Chinese guns
began to shift their positions preparatory to withdrawing, and,
at length beginning to realise that they were beaten, the infantry
became more and more unsteady, and also evinced a strong desire to
be off. Two more brilliantly executed attacks transformed their
ideas into action, and they commenced to flee. The cavalry was
immediately launched at the fugitives, and the Japanese getting
among the retreating artillery, succeeded in capturing six guns. The
Indian cavalry fared hardly so well. A change seemed to have come
over the Chinese officers, and for once they retreated with, instead
of before, their men, and managed to keep some sort of formation
and discipline among their companies. Three times the cavalry were
forced to sheer off from the compact bodies of riflemen, who seemed
to instinctively understand that foot soldiers in close order have
nothing to fear from horsemen, and time after time they turned to
their front, and received the lancers with such steadiness that it
would have been foolhardiness to press the charge right home. An
opportunity, however, at length came, and it was fully demonstrated
that broken infantry stand no chance whatever against some of the
finest horse soldiers in the world, who, no matter how long they have
been compelled to delay their attack, had proved themselves capable
of waiting for the supreme moment when cohesion is lost in the ranks
of the defeated, and a defeat becomes a rout. Even when the day was
irretrievably lost, here and there parties of the enemy offered a
stubborn resistance, doubtless with a view to the escape of their
remaining guns. The Naval guns had taken but a small part in this
important action; but although labouring under several disadvantages,
the work they did was rather surprising. For many reasons, notably
that they had to keep near the river in order to be ready for instant
embarkation, also that their chief role was meant to be that of a
Siege battery, the guns were left at a prohibitive range for the
ordinary field guns. In addition to this the enemy were not visible
to the men laying their guns; but by firing on a bearing, the range
being taken by officers up ladders and trees, they managed to create
considerable havoc among the groups of the flying enemy at the
beginning of the retreat. The Chinese fled towards Pekin, leaving a
strong body of infantry, to check pursuit, in the village of Peitsang
itself. These gave a lot of trouble, but were eventually ousted by
the Japanese, who indeed may almost lay claim to the whole credit of
the victory,—the hardest-fought battle, and the one with the most
important results, of any that took place with the China field-force,
as the relieving army was called. An attempt was made to pursue the
enemy, but eight hours’ fighting had taken the sting out of the
horses; and when it was absolutely certain that there was no chance
of any counter attack, it was decided to bivouac for the night. The
Allies lost in this engagement nearly 500 men, more than half of whom
were Japanese. The Chinese lost about the same number, in addition to
eight guns, their camp, and large quantities of food and ammunition.
During the night the troops lay down near the site of the Chinese
camp, the French and Russians joining forces with the remainder, as
the ground on their side of the river was too difficult to negotiate
in any extended formation. A squadron of Bengal lancers was sent out
during the night to bring news of the enemy, and on their return they
reported that they were in force at Yangtsun, some 12 miles further
on. Acting on this, the whole force moved at six o’clock, leaving 50
men of the 7th Rajputs under an English subaltern and a Native major,
to form a guard on the fine of communications.

A march of 10 miles brought the Allies again within touch of the
enemy, who were in great force, and once more in a well-chosen,
formidable position. Their point covered nearly two miles, and their
infantry were protected by two lines of carefully dug trenches, which
for the most part lay along the railway embankment, and the face of
the village on the opposite bank to the fortified city of Yangtsun.
This time the British and Americans were given the post of honour,
with the Russians in close support, the Japanese resting after their
magnificent impetuosity of the day before. The way for the attack was
prepared by the artillery, of which the Allies had three batteries in
action, British six guns, Americans a like number, and the Russians
four. It was their duty to crush eighteen hostile guns, and then
to turn their attention to the trenches. While the artillery duel
was being decided, the infantry deployed under good cover at about
1800 yards’ range, and worked their way to within 1000 yards of the
enemy’s position, before they became seriously engaged. Then it was
found that the Chinese had disposed their trenches in the form of a
wedge, and the inevitable crowding took place, the fire grew heavier,
and something, that was almost a check, seemed to have occurred from
the slowness of the advance. As a rule Foreign officers have been
lavish in their praise of our Indian troops; but one, an officer of
high standing, has stigmatised them as being “probably of not much
use against European troops.” Had he, however, seen the way the 1st
Sikhs, 24th Punjab Infantry, and others, on this occasion hung on
to their ground, and eventually joined the Americans in the dashing
charge they made, he would probably have paused before expressing his
opinion in the public press. The Chinese waited not for the bayonet,
but fled to the position in front of the village, whence they again
opened a heavy fire. This position, however, was dominated by the
one they had evacuated, and the Russian guns, in conjunction with
the infantry, soon had completed their rapid flight. Their retreat
on this occasion was not so orderly as the first stages of their
retirement from Peitsang, but they managed to save part of their
artillery, which retired as soon as it became evident that it was
outclassed. The enemy’s loss was again heavy, amounting to at least
1000 men, of whom nearly 100 perished at the hands of the Indian
cavalry who followed in pursuit. Six guns were captured, besides
standards, rifles, and more stores. The Allies’ loss amounted to
170, nearly all of whom were British and Americans, truly a slight
cost to pay for a victory which finally demoralised the Chinese, who
never again plucked up heart to offer another pitched battle. This
was almost entirely due to the untiring energy of the Japanese,
Indian, and Russian cavalry, who from this day kept in constant touch
with their rear-guard. The remainder of the 7th August was spent in
resting men and horses, some of the Naval Brigade taking advantage of
the opportunity to search for all the gear which had been abandoned
by Admiral Seymour. The exact spot where all the clothes, etc.
had been buried was found, but everything had been dug up, and no
traces of the last European visit were visible, with the exception
of the burnt and ruined trains, which had been left at the exact
spot at which they were abandoned. Doubtless some portly mandarin is
still wearing the Admiral’s full-dress clothes, and his children,
perchance, appear on swell occasions in the Sunday-go-to-meeting
garb of British midshipmen. But even so, it is doubtful if the old
gentleman has got much the best of the bargain, for it is at least
as certain that some of such midshipmen’s female relations are
wearing Mrs Mandarin’s best sables! After this conspicuous victory
it was decided to march again on the 8th, but in such a wretched
condition was the French transport and commissariat, that the French
had to be left behind to reorganise them. This delay deprived them
of the honour of sharing in the final attack on the outside walls of
Pekin, though, as will be seen, they took part in the operations in
the city itself. The force was now cut down to Japanese, British,
Russians, and Americans, and for some inexplicable reason the order
of marching decided on was arranged so that the British marched last,
which was rather a serious matter, inasmuch as it meant marching in
the heat of the day, and the heat of those days was considerably
more than uncomfortably hot. To hazard a guess, it may be presumed
that the intense jealousy which prevailed between the Russians on
one side, and the British and Japanese on the other, was sufficient
to account for it. Indeed, matters at one time became so bad that
it appeared as if each nation would have to act independently in
the rush for Pekin. Foreseeing a _fiasco_ if this happened, General
Gaselee is reputed to have said that the British would march last
rather than endanger the success of the whole expedition. This is
of course only a rumour, but there is a saying in the Navy, “If you
want to know, go to the ship’s cook”; and as there is some truth
occasionally in camp rumours, this one is given for what it is worth.
The forward march was resumed at 7 a.m. on the 8th, Tsi-Tsun being
the next halting place.

The day passed without any fighting, but was the hottest and most
uncomfortable of the many hot and uncomfortable ones which were
endured during the whole period which the Allies took to reach Pekin.
Nearly every one suffered severely, even the Indian troops dropping
out of the ranks with alarming frequency. The Marines too suffered
terribly, and the only men who escaped the effects of the sun to any
great extent were the Japanese and Russians, all of whom displayed
the greatest endurance. It was thought that some opposition might
be encountered at Tsi-Tsun, which was not reached till 6.30 p.m.,
but not a shot was fired, and the troops camped with the knowledge
that the enemy were entrenched near Ho-si-wa, 7 miles further on.
With a possible action in view, the Naval guns were ordered to march
at 3.30 to take up a position 5 miles higher up the river, and this
was accordingly done after very hard work over an unknown country,
in the darkness; but when the main body arrived at half-past eight,
they were disgusted to find that their efforts had been fruitless,
as the Chinese had struck their camp, and evacuated their position,
during the night. They were, however, quickly pursued, and a small
affair ensued, but all attempts on the part of the Allies to force
a general action proved unavailing. An interesting feature of the
march was a small cavalry action between the Indian cavalry and the
famous Tartars’ cavalry. While the matter lasted, the fighting
was very spirited, but it ended disastrously for the Tartars, who,
outmanœuvred, overridden, and eventually unnerved, fled from the
field having suffered heavily. At 4.30 p.m. Ho-si-wa was occupied by
the Japanese, after some further trifling resistance.

The town had been entirely sacked by the Chinese soldiery, who had
lately made a practice of devastating all towns and villages through
which they passed, and who had on this and other occasions caused a
very great loss to their own countrymen. Had the force arrived at
Ho-si-wa three hours later, the advance would have been seriously
retarded, for it was discovered that the banks of the river had been
tampered with to such an extent that another hour or two’s work
would have sufficed to pierce them, in which case the water level
would undoubtedly have sunk about two feet, thus necessitating the
future transportation of stores by land—a task by no means to be
lightly undertaken, with the limited means at hand. The Chinese
were extremely fond of this mode of harassing the advance, and one
of these occasions gave rise to a very plucky action on the part
of a midshipman with the Naval Brigade. Some lock gates had been
forced open against the current, and had been held open by large
hawsers and strong stakes which had been driven into the mud;
broken glass, bricks, and other rubbish were also requisitioned to
back up the stakes. It can be thus seen that it would be a very
dangerous task to dive and clear away the various impediments at the
bottom of the river, for so great would be the rush of water that
in all probability the hawsers would carry away and nip any one who
attempted it. However, the river was wasting itself into a canal, and
over the surrounding country, and the water was getting lower and
lower, so a midshipman volunteered to close the gates, which he only
succeeded in doing after two or three hours’ constant diving into 9
feet of muddy water!

A move towards the next town, by name Matao, was made by the Japanese
on the 10th, and everything pointed to a stand being made at this
place. The naval guns were placed in junks, and also started in
the early morning, the rest of the force marching at 4 p.m. The
difference in the time of starting is accounted for by the fact that
by river the distance to Matao is 30 miles, whereas by land it is
only 8 miles. But such is the nature of the country, that it was
considered preferable to take the longer route, rather than perform
the herculean labour necessary to get the guns on their heavy field
carriages overland. Had an action, in which they might have been
needed, been imminent, the guns would have got there somehow or
other, but in this case nothing of the sort was expected, and the
matter resolved itself into one of expediency. At Matao there was
practically no stop, and the force pushed on a few miles further to
Shan-Matao, being quite unmolested on the march. Here they passed a
quiet night, and started at 3.30 a.m. on the 11th, with the intention
of occupying Tung-Chow. It was not anticipated that any serious
opposition would be met with on the march, but Tung-Chow was a town
where there were valuable food-stuffs and other supplies, so that it
appeared to be probable that the Chinese might make some attempt at
defending it. A few miles before Tung-Chow was reached the cavalry,
who were some distance ahead of the infantry, came under a hot fire
from a village near the road. The remainder of the troops coming up
had no difficulty in turning the enemy out, who were found to be the
rear-guard of the main army, and who fled towards Tung-Chow.

The villagers, of whom the great majority were Mahommedans, were loud
in their professions of friendliness to the Europeans, and it is
quite probable that their display of sentiment was genuine, for not
only had the Chinese troops committed all sorts of excesses during
their short stay, but the memory of the ruthless severity with which
the Mahommedan rebellion of a few years ago was suppressed, doubtless
still lingered with them. The Japanese, with extraordinary energy,
pushed on without even waiting for a mid-day meal, and pursued the
Chinese until within shell fire of the walls of Tung-Chow. They then
opened fire from several batteries, and gave the enemy no rest for
an hour and a half, when, eliciting no reply, they waited for the
rest of the army, who arrived late in the afternoon. Soon after their
arrival, the Chinese commenced a totally ineffective fusilade, which
they kept up until dark, when everything became quiet.

About one o’clock on the morning of the 12th, the Allies moved
forward to the attack, and by three o’clock the Japanese sappers had
blown up the south gate. An hour later, the whole force marched into
the town, not having had a shot fired at them since nine o’clock.
The previous evening’s firing had evidently been a blind, for the
enemy had fled towards Pekin before the attack commenced. The 12th
was spent in rest, and, as was only to be expected, when the troops
found themselves with nothing to do in a captured town, a little
looting was done. It took, however, the mildest form, because it
was impossible to carry anything more than articles of absolute
necessity, or valuables of the lightest description, and, as most
of these articles had already been stolen by the Chinese soldiers,
there was nothing much left to take. A great part of the morning was
taken up by transferring all the stores, which had come up by water,
to various kinds of vehicles, for it was no longer possible to rely
on the river as a means of transport. On the night of the 12th, a
reconnaissance was made towards Pekin by a battalion of infantry and
most of the cavalry, who found that all the enemy had retired within
the gates, and that the country to the capital was clear; so it was
decided to move on without delay.

The final march commenced the morning of the 13th, and by the
afternoon the whole army was drawn up within 3 miles of the city
walls. An amusing incident occurred on this day:—

It appears that half a company of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers had lost
their bearings the night before, and after some wandering about, had
arrived in sight of Pekin itself. Being somewhat weary, they calmly
bivouacked and waited for the Army, by whom they were found safe and
undisturbed some hours afterwards. Now at last had arrived the night
before the Army’s great effort. It found 12,000 tired and thirsty
men outside Pekin, not one of whom but felt confident that his next
Bivouac would be inside the walls. How they and their Generals
managed to assure this is worthy of another chapter.




CHAPTER XII

CAPTURE OF PEKIN AND RELIEF OF LEGATIONS


The Allied Generals met for the last time on the afternoon of the
13th to make their final dispositions. It was agreed that the
Russians should take the right, the Japanese the centre, and the
British and Americans the left. This arrangement came as a surprise
to the British, for knowing the intense eagerness of the Russians
to be the first into the city, it was supposed that they would have
chosen the weakest spot in the defences for their point of attack,
whereas it was generally considered that the position they had taken
up would certainly bring them in front of the most severe opposition.
It was suggested in some quarters that they had argued that behind
the strongest walls would be the smaller force, and _vice versa_, so
that they might hope to overpower the enemy first, and then force an
entrance, whilst the rest of the force would be unable to do either
one or the other. We shall see how they fared. In the evening each
force sent out reconnoitring parties towards the walls, that of the
Russians being exceptionally large, and including guns. These (the
Russians) pushed forward so far without being discovered, that what
was intended for a reconnaissance, at length became an attack of an
unusually gallant and daring character.

After a brisk bombardment at short range, the Tung-Pien gate was
forced, and the comparatively smaller body of Russians found
themselves the first troops to enter the Chinese city. Their position
was by no means secure,—in fact, unless supported at daylight they
would be compelled to retire with the loss of their guns, but it
was determined to maintain their foothold till the morning, when
it was hoped that the main body would arrive. Daylight came, and
with it a tremendous fusilade from the enemy which caused many
casualties, but the Russian commander hung on with splendid tenacity,
and finally welcomed large American reinforcements. During this
important episode, the Chinese made a sortie in some force from their
centre, which was beaten back by the Japanese, who, disturbed at
their bivouac, decided to push straight on to the walls. At Pekin,
as elsewhere, the little “Japs” managed to get into the thick of
whatever fighting happened to be going on, and during the day they
were heavily engaged along their whole front. Their persistence did
not have its reward until 8 p.m., when their Sappers blew up two
gates, and thus they won their way in. Thanks to the precipitancy
of the Russian right, the British entered the Shan-huo gate almost
unopposed. The Chinese had mistaken the Russian advance guard for
the main attack, and had practically deserted their right to cope
with it. The British took immediate advantage of this, and forced
their way right through to the Tartar walls. Heavy fighting was here
expected, but no Chinese troops were in the vicinity, and a signal
was got through to General Gaselee to march up the Sluice—a waterway
with an aperture through the walls—which was done.

Their advance was unimpeded except by snipers, and at about 2 p.m.
a handful of 1st Sikhs and 7th Rajputs broke their way through the
rotten Water-gate, and rushed to the Legations, which were but a
few hundred yards away. Great as was the excitement then, it became
even greater when General Gaselee, his Staff (among whom was a Naval
officer), and men from the 24th Punjab Infantry, 1st Sikhs, and
Bengal Lancers, rode up and greeted the Legation folk whom they had
done so much to relieve. The Legations had been reached, but it must
not be supposed that nothing remained to be done. The Chinese were
still resisting the entry of the other forces, and had as yet shown
no intention of leaving the British and Americans in undisturbed
possession of the various gates, portions of the various walls, and
other defences which they had occupied. Before, however, relating
how the complete occupation of this wonderful four-in-one City came
about, there are some impressions to be placed on record, about
the looks and feelings of relievers and relieved in the Legations.
Naturally enough the first wave of enthusiasm was unreserved—people
wept for joy, laughed for the same reason, members of the relieving
force were kissed and petted—in fact exactly the same thing happened
as always has, and always will happen, at the successful termination
of an Historical Siege. As usual, too, the relievers were astonished
at the clean, almost immaculate appearance of many of the women and
several of the men. The contrast was certainly extraordinary; on
the one hand a gathering of people who looked at first sight as if
they had been picnicing, instead of having borne parts in a long
and dangerous Siege. On the other a body of men ragged, dirty, and
unshorn, who by their appearance could not possibly have been doing
anything else for the last ten days but march and fight. It was not
until one looked closer that it was possible to realise that these
comparatively spotless men and women were tired and worn, and that
their white faces and wan looks proved that they had been through as
much and more than their ragged but healthy-looking relievers, whose
worst enemy had been the sun, and who perhaps could have marched the
same distance and fought the same battles straight over again. There
were not many among the besieged who could have stood the strain
of the Siege over again and lived! Their appearance gave rise to
ridiculous, fictitious, and wicked suggestions. One often heard it
questioned whether they had such a bad time after all, or, as one
man put it,—“Plenty to drink, enough to eat, lots of games, and some
first-class shooting! Where’s the hardship? In fact, what more does
one possibly want?” Other people go to the opposite extreme, and
thank Providence that a general Massacre did not come off. The only
explanation that suggests itself is this. The Empress doubtless aimed
at the death of the Europeans in the Capital, including of course the
Ministers; but she also knew that, were it proved that she or her
troops had had a direct hand in the matter, the revenge that would
be taken by the powers would be so awful that the game was not worth
the candle. How then was the matter to be accomplished? Well, she had
already pleaded incapability to keep the Boxers in hand, therefore,
if they could burn or destroy the Legations and their occupants, she
would help them at a distance with her troops and their rifles and
artillery. Then it could not be said that her soldiers had actually
slain the Ministers—in fact she could prove that it was by her orders
that eggs and vegetables were taken to them, almost nightly, for a
fortnight. It may be said that Imperial troops did actually attempt
to storm the defences. Granted: but in such a way that whilst any
loss on the part of the defence constituted a great weakness, and
therefore, by making these attacks they made the task of the Boxers
easier and easier, they did not attempt to push their effort right
home; or, from what I have been told by one of the Officers engaged
in the defence, they must have inevitably succeeded. Why then did the
Boxers not succeed? Because there are limits to human endurance: a
bullet in the right place is one of them. In other words, because a
badly organised and badly armed mob can never hope to close with a
highly disciplined, steady, and well-armed body of men a tenth of
their own size.

Before an hour had elapsed after the Legations had been reached
by the British, it became necessary to dislodge a large number of
snipers who had taken up an advantageous position in the Mongol
market. This was effected by a bayonet charge by the 1st Sikhs, who
suffered but slightly during the operation. Other positions were
captured and occupied, and by nightfall the Chinese and Tartar cities
were almost entirely in the hands of the Allies. There now remained
the Imperial and Forbidden cities to be cleared, and the Peh-tang
Cathedral to be relieved.

The next day, the 15th, was a day of hard fighting, hideous mistakes,
and the beginning of an era of suspicion and jealousy even more
marked than had been the case during the march. Some of the hardest
fighting was accomplished by the Americans, who advanced from
their overnight position at the Chien-men gate, straight along the
approaches to the Forbidden City. This move gave rise to several
errors, and much jealousy. Among the former might be mentioned the
French firing on the advancing Americans with artillery, and causing
several casualties. General Chaffee himself rode back to expostulate,
but the combined facts that the French had done nothing during the
advance, that they had arrived late, and were also intensely anxious
to have a hand in the capture of the forbidden city, had impressed
themselves so deeply in the mind of the French General, that for some
time he refused to understand the niceties of the situation, and to
the protestations of the American General, merely answered, “For the
honour of France was not to be served by occasioning the death of his
Allies,” and desisted from further firing. The Russians also betrayed
their jealousy by endeavouring to share some of the American glory by
jointly occupying some of their positions; but General Chaffee would
have none of it, and occupied the whole of the approaches to the
Palace from the Chien-men. In consequence of this move on his part,
a conference was held, at which it was decided to delay any entrance
into the Forbidden City until all Nations could enter it together.

It must be noticed that no such stipulation was in sway when General
Chaffee and his men fought their way right up to the very gates; and
this officer has been held up to the severest censure for drawing
his men off at the critical moment, after heavy loss attendant on
constant fighting! Rather should all praise be given him for his
forbearance, for doubtless such a prize would have led to endless
complications, which were eventually averted by the idea of marching
through the city together, and then evacuating it for good, leaving
it in the hands of the eunuchs and other palace attendants who were
still inside. Other clearing was being carried out by the Russians
and Japanese in the north and east, and the British to the south; but
the most important work done during the day was the relief of the
converts and the others in the Peh-tang Cathedral.

When a true history of that Siege comes to be written it will prove
even more wonderful than the siege of the Legations. Besieged at
the same time as the Legations, the inmates of this once beautiful
Cathedral consisted of over 3000 non-combatants, protected by a
garrison of 40 marines and 3 officers. Of the latter, 30 men and
2 officers were French, the remainder Italian; their total rifles
numbered just under fifty, and their supply of ammunition was very
small. Among the 3000 non-combatants were 6 priests, the others being
Chinese converts, and the whole being under the direction of Père
Favier, a French Roman Catholic Bishop, who behaved with the utmost
courage and devotion throughout. At the first alarm, this brave man
armed as many of his converts as were willing, with home-made spears
and other hand-to-hand weapons, which, though they were of no avail
against firearms, served to deal with any Boxer rush, which was all
that was at first anticipated. However, as we know, the Imperial
troops joined hands with the rabble, and, on June 19th, a gun was
brought to bear on the main gate, which it duly blew off its hinges,
but such an effective fire was maintained by the handful of Marines,
that the Chinese abandoned their gun and left it in the open some 200
yards away. A Sortie was promptly made, and, with a small casualty
list, the weapon and some ammunition were dragged back in triumph.
Sorties were, after this success, of constant occurrence, and it was
rarely that arms or other warlike material of the greatest value was
not found and brought back. For days the Garrison were subjected
to a hot rifle and artillery fire, then came war rockets and hand
grenades, and at last the enemy started Mines. One of these exploded
with horrible effect; and another one, the same day, also blew up
several houses in its vicinity. The defenders took to countermining,
and discovered, and destroyed, several unfinished Mines, with such
success that it was hoped that this new and more terrible danger was
finished with; but in the middle of July, a third explosion took
place, which caused the deaths of nearly a hundred people, besides
doing further enormous structural damage. So things went on; the
French commanding officer being slain, and many other casualties
taking place, until it would seem that Human endurance must reach its
limit. But no, not a murmur of disloyalty, not a grumble, although
the food supply had been cut down, until on August 8th it had almost
reached its end, and the miserable ration of two ounces per diem was
all that remained.

On August 15th, it was realized that relief was near, for the furious
cannonading could be heard, and the Chinese were seen to be running
hither and thither, in an unusual and alarmed manner; but would it be
in time? One day’s provisions were left: two ounces of rice remained!
It is impossible to state the feelings of those people when the
Japanese, closely followed by the French and the British Marines,
arrived, and they realised that it was all over. It is perhaps just
possible to imagine their state of mind, but it would be folly for
any one who did not participate in the Siege, to attempt to set it
down. It will seem almost incredible that no attempt was made by
the French to relieve their fellow countrymen on the 14th; when
first an entrance had been effected, but such indeed was the case,
and so for twenty more weary hours had the half-starved Garrison
to wait, and hope, and fight. On the morning of the 15th, General
Frey seems to have awoke to his responsibilities, and he asked for
assistance, which was forthcoming from the Russians and British.
The force reached the Cathedral without encountering any serious
opposition, at which much surprise was felt, until it was discovered
that the ubiquitous Japanese had already raised the Siege. In point
of fact, a Japanese officer and one man had already entered the
defences, but the French may claim the actual honour, shorn of much
of its value as it certainly was, of being the first body of troops
into the precincts of the Cathedral. Then was enacted one of the
many dark scenes staged by this civilising army, and especially by
the troops of what we are asked to believe is the gayest, politest,
and most chivalrous of the so-called civilised Nations. During the
movements of the various troops a body of Chinese, some 200 strong,
had been driven up a blind alley from which there was no escape. Here
they were discovered by the French, and slain every one,—not by the
French alone but by the so-called Christian Chinese converts, who,
though so weak that they could hardly crawl, were still possessed
of the eminently Christian idea of killing one of their erstwhile
tormentors in cold blood. The fighting was over. As for the looting,
it was Tientsin over again, only on a larger scale, with more murder,
outrage, and rape than had been dreamt of at the latter place. The
same degrading scenes were once more everywhere visible, and Pekin
was full of men pillaging in every direction. The same excuses as
before were deemed to be good enough. The other powers were all
eagerly helping themselves to the ownerless valuables, and so good
intentions seem to have vanished, and with the exception that our
men did not behave like Vandals, they looted like the rest. In
fairness to the English-speaking races, and to the Japanese, it must
be said that while they contented themselves with taking unclaimed
property, the charges of brutal murder, the ravishing of women, and
wanton destruction, were only too often proved against the soldiery
of Russia and France. Indeed it may be said that the bestiality
displayed by some of the troops of these two powers, beggars
description. Excuses, or perhaps explanations would be a better
term, can be found for the troops as a whole: the infamous cruelties
invariably practised by the Chinese themselves, and the effect
such practices exercise on the temper of an army; the confusion
existing among the different nationalities, and the infectious
example set by the worst of them; and finally the violent reaction
and moral breakdown of even civilised peoples, after a long period of
intense strain. It is satisfactory to know that even writers with a
strong Anglophobe tendency clear our men of the graver charges, and
personally, I have over and over again heard the news of such deeds
as recounted above, received with the most unqualified expressions of
disgust by the men of the Naval Brigade.

In addition to this indiscriminate looting, the various Powers
settled down to a little policy of “Grab who can grab,”—a game
played with much success by the Russians and Japanese, who each
secured valuable prizes. All this sort of thing, however, had to
end, and the city was divided up into spheres, in each of which one
Nation ruled supreme. Proclamations were issued for the purpose of
reassuring those of the inhabitants who still remained; and in four
or five days’ time everything was working more or less smoothly once
more. But what of the prime mover in this extraordinary scene? What
of the Empress and the Court? They had escaped by a mere matter of
a few hours, and had fled westward to no one knew where, with a
huge following of troops and servants. One more act—a farce this
time, after so much tragedy,—and we may leave Pekin for good, for
the Navy had nearly finished their part, and were about to return
to their ships. For a fortnight after all fighting had ceased, the
“Forbidden City” bogie continued to worry the various ministers and
commanding officers. In 1860 the forbidden city had been spared,
and in consequence the Chinese to this day laugh at the idea of
any foreign troops ever having entered the gates of Pekin at all.
This time it was hoped that at any rate the palace would be burnt
to the ground; but to this there were grave objections and powerful
objectors. Should this step be taken, it was more than probable that
all hopes of getting the Empress and her Court back to Pekin would
prove futile, in which case there would have been no one to treat
with, no one with any power to assume authority, which in turn would
have meant endless confusion if it had not actually rendered it
necessary to pursue the Empress over nearly the half of Asia. It was
eventually decided that, pending the arrival of Field Marshal Von
Waldersee, the only thing that should be done was to order a military
procession, which should move through the city from end to end. This
gave rise to a question as to the respective numbers to be engaged,
and also to the more important one, as to who was to have the honour
of leading the others through the almost sacred precincts. The first
was easily dealt with, and it was soon agreed that ten per cent. of
the total force of each nation present would suffice to show the
various flags, and would also be a very fair division of numbers.
The other point was more difficult, Japan claiming the honour by
reason of her superiority in numbers on the spot, and also because
she was generally allowed to have done the most during the relief
expedition. Russia, on the contrary, said that the Campaign must be
taken as a whole, and that everything being considered, she had the
prior claim. It must have caused much heartburning, but eventually
Japan acquiesced in this, and the numbers and order of the troops
which took part were roughly as follows: Russian 800, Japanese 800,
British 400, American 400, French 200, German 200, Austrian 100, and
Italian 100, which may be said to have been a very fair division
of honour. It may be interesting to give all the important actions
during the Campaign, and to express from a British point of view
the various claims to precedence. To begin with the Taku forts, it
must be allowed that the order of the powers engaged would read:
1st British, 2nd German, 3rd Japanese and Russian. The relief of
Tientsin: 1st Russian, 2nd British, 3rd German and American. The
first siege of Tientsin: 1st Russian, 2nd British. Admiral Seymour’s
column: 1st British, 2nd German, 3rd American. Relief of Seymour: 1st
Russian, 2nd British. Capture of Pei-Yang arsenal: 1st British, 2nd
Russian. Second siege of Tientsin: 1st Japanese, 2nd British (because
of her guns), 3rd Russian. Capture of Native City: 1st Japanese,
2nd British and Russian, 3rd German and American. Relief of Pekin:
1st Japanese, 2nd British and American, 3rd Russian. So that, out
of nine important military events, allowing for the bracketing of
two Powers in some cases, the British gain 3 firsts and 6 seconds;
the Russians 3 firsts, 2 seconds, 3 thirds; the Japanese 3 firsts, 1
third; the American 1 second and 3 thirds; and the Germans 2 seconds
and 2 thirds. From this it will appear as though the British were
entitled to a voice in the matter of priority, but all the actions
mentioned were not of equal importance, and to the Russians and
Japanese belong the greatest credit for their share in the whole
campaign. On the morning of the 26th, the 250 or so inmates of the
Forbidden City surrendered to the Japanese, and on the morning of
the 28th, the great ceremony was to take place. At about 8 a.m. the
Russian General, General Linevitch, rode along the British line and
passed a few complimentary remarks about the conduct and bearing of
the troops, and immediately after this the 12th Battery of Field
Artillery fired a salute as the Tien-an-Men was swung open. General
Linevitch was the first to enter the Imperial City at the head of his
contingent, and the rest of the Allies followed in the order agreed
upon. Half a mile was passed before the Wu-Men was reached, and once
its threshold had been crossed, the Forbidden City had been defiled
by the presence of barbarians. Of the actual procession there is not
much to tell. As a spectacle it was a failure. Bronzed men, in war-
and travel-stained uniforms, constitute a very different effect to
any of the processions we are in the habit of viewing from 10-guinea
stands at home.

The Russians were determined to create an impression, and mounted
large guards at the gates both of ingress and egress; from this
point of vantage they behaved like the “gods” at a theatre when
there happens to be a show of foreign flags. Of course the French
were received with immense enthusiasm, such cheering greeting their
appearance that all the half-hearted cheers accorded to the other
nations sounded almost like an insult. The ceremony passed off
quietly, the last to leave being the Ministers and Generals, and
once more the Forbidden City resumed its normal condition. Europe,
America, and Japan had taken their moral revenge—it had been a
curious one.




CHAPTER XIII

STORY OF THE SIEGE OF THE LEGATIONS


This short but historical Siege may be said to have commenced on
June 10th, the day on which Prince Tuan was appointed to the Yamen.
From the first this high official had shown marked Boxer tendencies,
and his first actions were by no means reassuring to the ministers.
The usual calls, demanded by etiquette, were left unpaid, and to the
end of the Siege he remained unknown to the foreign representatives.
Between the afternoon of the 10th and the night of the 14th the
situation grew rapidly worse, the Summer Legation was burnt, the
Japanese Secretary was brutally murdered, and the serious news
filtered through to Sir Claude Macdonald that the Burg-li-Yamen
had decided to attack Admiral Seymour’s relief expedition with the
Imperial forces. Then the first military move came from the enemy,
who made several half-hearted attacks on the Legation pickets, all
of which, however, were beaten off. Several decrees were then
issued, all affecting anger at the anarchy which now reigned supreme,
and directing the military to take steps to ensure the safety of
the persons of the ministers and their families. This was done by
posting troops round the Legations, who, being in entire sympathy
with the mob, caused unnecessary friction, and added to, rather than
detracted from, the difficulty of the situation. A small affray
took place between some Chinese and Germans ending in favour of the
latter; and at other points there seemed to be a likelihood of the
same thing happening; but nothing more occurred till the 19th. In the
meantime several peace-members of the Government called and discussed
the situation with our Minister, apologising for what had already
happened, and promising to do their best to check the anti-foreign
movement.

On the 19th, however, the Yamen notified all the Legations that
they considered the attitude taken up by the Powers about the Taku
Forts constituted an act of War, and demanded that the Legations
should leave for Tientsin within twenty-four hours. An answer was
immediately dispatched protesting the inability of the Ministers
to leave at such short notice, and requesting an interview on the
morning of the 20th. To this the Chinese vouchsafed no reply, and
after a discussion lasting some minutes, the German Minister, Baron
Von Ketteler, disagreeing with his colleagues, decided to make his
way to the Yamen accompanied by his secretary. On his way, as every
one knows, he was shot dead by a Chinese soldier in full uniform, and
the secretary was severely wounded.

Shortly after this atrocity, a reply from the Yamen was received, in
which no mention was made of the Minister’s death, and in which was
expressed the regret of the Yamen that it was not considered safe for
the Ministerial body to go to an interview, and concerning the short
notice to leave, that it was now impracticable. At 4 p.m., in spite
of the assurances of the Government, the troops opened fire, and the
first serious fighting of the nine weeks’ Siege commenced. During
the troublous times just recorded, barricades were erected at every
point where there was any necessity for them, but these had been only
of a temporary nature; they were now strengthened considerably, and
a preconcerted plan was carried out by which all outlying pickets
were withdrawn, all women and children accommodated in the British
Legation, and the area of defence defined and condensed. The British
Legation was crowded with refugees, 900 Europeans living there
during the siege, the normal number being only 60. The day was spent
in provisioning the place and in making all possible defensive
preparations. At this time the strength of the combined guards was 18
officers and 389 men, composed as follows:

            Officers   Men

  British,      3      79
  German,       1      51
  Russian,      2      79
  Austrian,     5      30
  American,     3      53
  French,       2      45
  Japanese,     1      24
  Italian,      1      28

This force does not include 1 officer and 30 men (French), and 1
officer and 10 men (Italian), who were detached to guard the native
Christians in the Peh-tang Cathedral. In addition to these there
were 125 irregular volunteers who were armed with any available
rifles. The artillery at the disposal of the Allies was one Italian
1-pr. Q.F. with but 120 rounds, while the British, Americans, and
Austrians, had one machine gun each. None of the guards had more than
300 rounds per man, so that the resources of the foreigners, from an
offensive point of view, were positively paltry.

The first man to fall was the Professor of English at the University.
He fell a victim to a very misplaced belief in the Chinese, and was
killed by cavalrymen whilst returning from delivering a message to
Prince Su.

On the 21st, the work of completing the defences was as vigorously
proceeded with as the strenuous endeavours of the enemy to break
through them would admit; but on the whole the day was a victory for
the enemy, for the Austrian barricade was carried, and the French
and Austrians who had been defending it were compelled to retreat
to the French Legation. The Kansu troops behaved with a certain
fierce gallantry, and, although losing heavily, managed to burn the
Austrian and Dutch Legations, the Chinese Bank, and part of the
Customs quarter. Prince Ching’s men behaved in a friendly manner
all day, and on one occasion fired heavily into the Boxers, but
Tung-fu-Hsiang’s men appeared imbued with a most fanatical hatred of
everything foreign. During the day all members of the garrison not
actively engaged in the defence, occupied their time by organising
various committees, such as the Fortification Committee, Food Supply
Committee, etc., etc., all of which eventually were of the greatest
assistance, and did wonders towards the safety, not to say comfort,
of the defenders.

In the evening the Austrian commander took over supreme military
command; but on the morning of the 22nd, a rumour having spread that
the American Legation had been abandoned, without taking steps to
confirm the information, he ordered all the Legations east of Canal
Street to be abandoned. There was a stampede. Italians, Austrians,
French, and others all rushed alike to the British Legation, and a
position of extreme danger was created. Before it was too late the
mistake was rectified, and all the forces were sent back to their
posts, which were re-occupied with but little loss. After this Sir
Claude Macdonald was asked by the other Ministers to take supreme
command, which he promptly did.

Before the Italians could reach their post, their Legation was found
to be burning furiously. In consequence, it had to be permanently
evacuated, and the Italians and Japanese subsequently occupied the
Su-Wang-Fu, a fine inclosure of about 14 acres, which afterwards
played an important part in the defence, although at first it was,
through force of circumstances, but inadequately garrisoned. This
latter fact formed at the time one of the greatest dangers to the
defence; but the holding of this position was unavoidable, as, had
it been left unoccupied, the remaining positions would have been
seriously endangered.

Another weak spot was the Hanlin library, which, had it been fired,
would have caused the greatest danger to the British Legation. Plans
were formed to destroy it, but explosives were lacking, and so an
opening was made into it in order that offensive operations might
be made against any one using it as a sniping-ground, or in case
the enemy should themselves determine to fire it. In spite of all
precautions, however, the great library was set on fire the next day,
and almost entirely gutted; in fact, the Legation itself was only
saved by the extraordinary efforts of the defenders, who even managed
to save a few of the extremely valuable works with which the building
was stocked.

Further incendiary efforts were made by the enemy all along the
line, some of which were partially successful; the Russo-Chinese
bank was burnt down, the Russian Legation was set on fire—but the
conflagration was promptly extinguished, and the Americans were
called upon to repel a determined attempt of a similar kind. The
enemy’s artillery, too, was very active all day, and did considerable
damage to the defences; but in spite of this, at the end of the day,
the advantage lay undoubtedly with the Europeans.

The 24th was a day of three desperate sorties. Early in the morning
the Chinese occupied a portion of the Tartar wall behind the
American Legation, whence they could have fired with great effect
into the Germans and Americans who were defending the barricades and
buildings at this point. They were, however, driven off and pushed
back a considerable distance by a brilliant charge, in which they
lost somewhat heavily. Almost at the same time the enemy effected a
lodgment in the stables of the British Legation. A bayonet charge
was made, and the enemy were routed with really severe loss, and a
considerable area of cover was destroyed. In this affair, which had
a most salutary effect, Captain Halliday was severely wounded, one
marine was killed, and several other minor casualties took place. The
officer mentioned accounted for three of the enemy after receiving
his wound, and, refusing all assistance, continued to direct his men
to the attack. It is gratifying to remark that he has since received
the Victoria Cross as a reward for his gallantry on this occasion.

The third sortie was made by the Japanese colonel, in command of a
mixed force, who effectually cleared the Customs buildings, causing
the enemy further loss.

During the afternoon a barricade was commenced on the Tartar wall,
which was constructed under a heavy fire by Chinese converts, who
showed great zeal in their work, and who lost upwards of eight of
their number in carrying out this hazardous operation.

On the next day (25th) the Government made some sort of attempt
to open up communications with the besieged, but the attempt was
thwarted by Tung-fu-Hsiang’s men, who fired on the bearers of the
decree, which curiously enough stated that the Imperial troops were
solely to be employed for the defence of the Legations. The only
effect which this peaceful attempt had, was to cause a gradual
cessation of fire until about midnight, when once more the noisy
faction gained the upper hand, and the Chinese again opened fire,
this time from behind more substantial cover than they had before
been using.

With the exception of a smart attack on the French Legation in the
evening, the 26th was passed quietly, but the next two days more than
supplied any want of excitement. First the American Legation needed
reinforcements, and then the Japanese needed more men to effectively
deal with a strong party who were endeavouring to break into the Fu.
And they managed to break in, but most of them were carried out! In
the evening the troops egged on the Boxers to the assault; this,
like all other Boxer attacks, failed disastrously.

The 28th was a day given up almost entirely to artillery. The enemy
bombarded the Hôtel de Pékin and the stable quarters, and endeavoured
to breach the north wall by firing into it at 20 yards’ range. The
fire was most destructive, and ceased only just in time. The reason
for this respite was probably only the enormous loss in gunners
sustained by the Chinese in this absurdly close-range bombardment.

The 29th was perhaps one of the worst days through which the besieged
had passed. It was a day of general attack, which was beaten off with
the greatest difficulty, and with a loss of life and ground nearly
all round. Two sorties, which went out in the early morning, achieved
practically nothing, and the harassing day which followed was brought
to a close by a tremendous musketry fire, which continued till
midnight.

On July 1st the Germans suffered heavily from a surprise, and the
French were actually driven out of their Legation. This left the
already hardly-pressed Germans in a most critical position, which
was only relieved by the prompt measures taken by the British and
American Marines. In the afternoon a very gallant but futile attempt
was made to capture a small Krupp gun which had been making things
unpleasant for the defenders of the “Fu.” Owing to the impossibility
of thorough reconnaissance of the ground in front of our positions,
unforeseen difficulties presented themselves at every turn, and the
attacking party lost rather heavily.

The 2nd was passed in strengthening the defences, and in watching
the Chinese build a huge barricade about 50 yards away from our
northern position, and other threatening redoubts and structures, all
of which were nearer than their predecessors. A great effort became
necessary, and it was made on the following morning by a force of all
Nationalities. In one furious charge the Allied force swept over the
enemy’s defences, drove him out, and occupied his whole position,
thus giving a welcome relief to the Legations. The total loss, owing
to the darkness, was trifling, being only 2 killed and 6 wounded.
During the day the British flag was shot down, and to hoist it again
was at the time impossible, so the staff was lowered bodily and the
flag was nailed to the mast. Among those who helped to replace the
mast, it is interesting to note, were the representatives of three of
the Great Powers. The next two or three days passed without anything
occurring of very great or immediate importance to the besieged;
but a runner was sent out on the 4th, and he was, as it turned out
to be, the first successful one. The enemy, too, mounted four old
7-pounders, with which they opened fire from the Imperial City wall.
It proved, however, to be very harmless, and the crews lost so
heavily from our rifle fire and that of the invaluable Italian gun,
that they went right out of fashion after a very small period of
activity.

On the 6th took place another disastrous little Sortie, in the
hope of capturing a piece of artillery, and three of the Japanese
bluejackets lost their lives in the attempt. On this day the American
flag was shot away, and the Russian ensign also had to be moved to
escape a like disaster. A very sad event happened on this day. A
Russian Consular student, whose mind had become unhinged consequent
on the events of the past fortnight, left the French barricade and
ran towards that of the Chinese, where he was shot down. It affords
some satisfaction, however, to be able to state that eleven Chinamen
were killed while trying to gain possession of his dead body. It
was now found that the Italian gun had expended nearly all its
ammunition. This was unfortunate in the extreme, but was to some
extent remedied by the armourer belonging to H.M.S. “Orlando” who
by utilising the percussion cap of a ·45 revolver cartridge, and
the powder from some Russian shells, refilled the empty cases, the
projectile part of the contrivance being cast from Pewter vessels
which had been found in the neighbouring houses. And it may be of
interest to remark that so perfect were these amateur shells that
seventy-six were afterwards used without one miss-fire, and with very
fair results as to shooting and effect. It was on this day the Boxers
and Imperial troops quarrelled and fought a few skirmishes, much to
the hurt of the former.

The 8th was made famous by the discovery of a very ancient old cannon
by some Chinese converts whilst employed on fortification work. It
was dried out, scraped and cleaned, and eventually got ready for
service, despite the fact that its trunnions were missing. Such other
disadvantages as the lack of sights, ammunition, sponge, and rammer,
etc., were quickly got over, and very shortly it fired its first
shot, after at least forty years of subterranean slumber. Naturally
the practice was erratic, but it was nevertheless very useful at
point-blank ranges.

The Fu was hard pressed in the morning, and a new scheme of
garrisoning it was drawn up, to relieve the strain on the Japanese
and Italians, who had suffered severely in its defence.

The next three days passed with the usual bombardment and ceaseless
rifle fire, the “International” as the new—or rather very old—gun was
called playing a giant’s part in the awful din, though “its bark was
worse than its bite.” Under cover of this prolonged row, the enemy
pushed forward their barricades, and even went so far as to construct
a sandbag battery in the Imperial Carriage Park. This battery was
the scene of a plucky little action on the part of Sergeant Preston,
R.M.L.I., who noticing that the artillery had planted a flag actually
touching our advanced post, made a dash for it, in company with the
“International’s” gunner, and seized it. A storm of firing broke
out at this audacious feat, and the sergeant was wounded by some
splinters of stone. He was unable to retain his hold of the coveted
object, and fell back stunned, but the American gunner hung on
tenaciously, and the succeeding tug-of-war resulted in the flag and
half its staff being captured by the Allies. The French sailors in
a very similar manner captured a large silk standard from one of
General Ma’s regiments.

The 13th, the day of the fall of Tientsin city, with all its
accompanying fighting, was perhaps the day of the severest fighting
which the hard-pressed inmates of the Legations withstood. As usual
the position most ardently assailed was the Fu, where the little
garrison of Japanese, Italian, and British were literally shelled
out of their position, which they had defended in the most stubborn
manner. Once behind the next line of defences, the Allies staved off
any further advance on the part of the enemy with comparative ease,
but other parts of the line were in dire straits.

In front of the Germans the Chinese left their barricades, and
charged into the open with great bravery. They were met, however,
with a withering fire, and turned to fly. Whilst they were yet
wavering, the Germans received a reinforcement of ten Russians, and
the combined party charged with the bayonet. This was too much for
the enemy, who fled in disorder, leaving one of their standards and
many dead.

The attack on the French position was more deadly and more
successful. In the early forenoon two muffled crashes were heard in
the direction of the Minister’s house, and it speedily became known
that the house, together with that of the Secretary of Legation,
had been entirely destroyed by the well-timed explosion of two
mines. This caused the French also to fall back on the next inner
line of defence with some loss. It was, however, ascertained that
the Chinese sappers blew considerably more of their precious selves
to glory than the number of Frenchmen they killed, which was only
two. Notwithstanding this fact, the Chinese seemed very elated at
the result of their labours, and taking encouragement from the noise
and smoke, attacked a position to the left of the one where they had
suffered their reverse at the hands of the Germans and Russians.
Here they were met by a strong post of Americans, who were, most
inopportunely for the enemy, just changing guard, and who quickly
sent them to the rightabout.

On the whole, the day had been disastrous for the defenders, who had
lost ground at two points, and whose numbers had been decreased by
fourteen (five killed and nine wounded). The Chinese, however, did
not get off scatheless, and it is probable that their casualties
mounted up to at least 150 from all causes.

The 14th and 15th passed comparatively quietly, after this fierce
attack, but the noise of pick and shovel betrayed the enemy’s
intentions of springing some more mines upon the defenders, and
steps were taken to foil this measure by countermining. This work
was done by Chinese converts, under the guidance of a volunteer from
the I. M. Customs. It was now arranged that the Japanese in the Fu
should be relieved for some hours’ sleep by our Marines, and that the
transfer should take place early next morning. This transfer must
not be confounded with the slight alterations in the scheme of the
defence of the Fu before mentioned. But this necessary arrangement
cost the life of Captain Strouts, R.M.L.I., the commanding officer of
the British guard; for whilst returning from posting the relieving
sentries, he was fatally wounded in the groin, and died within three
hours. This was a very serious loss to the defence, as this officer
had been of the greatest service and had repeatedly distinguished
himself by his fearless behaviour. His death might be termed very
hard luck, as it was on this day that the extraordinary truce began,
which lasted for four days. It is rather difficult to assign any
good reason for the almost total cessation of hostilities on the
part of the Chinese, who indeed appeared to be almost embarrassingly
friendly for a day or two; but suffice to say it enabled the garrison
to repair their shattered defences and to take further precautions
against mines.

For four days there was no firing of any sort, and a kind of
intercourse sprang up between the Besiegers and Besieged. On the
18th a messenger arrived from Tientsin with the news of the fall of
the City, and the organisation of a powerful relief column. This, of
course, was welcomed by all, although many were disappointed that the
force was not already on its way. On the same date the enterprising
Japs had started a Market for eggs and vegetables, which were very
acceptable to the hospitals, women and children, all of whom had
suffered severely from the want of fresh and nutritious food. It
gradually leaked out that this friendliness was due to the disturbing
news from the south-east, and that it would only continue until the
authorities had decided which course they were going to pursue in the
future. Accordingly, no one was very surprised that the supply of
food began to decrease more and more, until on the 24th it had ceased
altogether. At this time desultory firing began again at any exposed
units or bodies of men, and the keenest look-out was kept on the
Enemy’s movements.

On the 28th July a further disappointment was in store for the
Europeans, as a messenger got through from Tientsin with a note to
the effect that the Main body was not even then under way, and
urging the garrison to still further efforts. The Chinese General
commanding, too, suavely suggested an immediate and unconditional
surrender, pointing out the utter futility of further resistance.
A strong reply only elicited a more insistent letter, which again
brought forth a still more indignant answer. On the 29th the Chinese
commenced a large and important barricade at the east end of the
north bridge, which bridge had up to now been swept by the fire
of two of our positions. Notwithstanding a brisk rifle fire, the
barricade was completed by midnight, and this necessitated several
traverses being made to nullify the effect of the fire from behind
it. By the 2nd of August the state of the northern and eastern
defences was very satisfactory, and steps were then taken to improve
those on the west. A very important and strong position was gained by
a sortie in the shape of some strong buildings forming the eastern
side of the Mongol market. In its turn this position became the
scene of as desperate assaults as the shell- and bullet-stricken
Fu, so long and well defended by the devoted Japs, Italians, and a
few British marines, had ever experienced. Chinese sappers could
be distinctly heard running mines all over the place, or rather
all under the place, but their efforts were spoilt, as much by
the supineness and dilatory conduct of the master brain, as by
the undaunted preparedness of the besieged. Again a messenger got
through, this time with a budget of letters, almost amounting to a
mail, stating that the relief column had got as far as Peitsang where
they had defeated the Chinese. This news exercised a very beneficial
effect on the spirits of the garrison. After these little excitements
came a lull till August the 9th, when a furious fire was directed
against the Fu, upon which, however, so strenuously had every one
worked, it made but small impression.

In the meanwhile, news came in that some Shansi troops had arrived
who had registered a vow to take the Legations within five days;
we shall see how they fared! With the 10th came another tremendous
fusilade against the whole of the defences, and further encouraging
messages from Generals Gaselee and Tukushima, this time naming the
14th as the probable day of relief. On the 12th the enemy showed
many signs of restlessness, and they again opened with their
artillery, which had been almost unheard since the truce. Eventually
they pressed forward on all sides with great impetuosity—indeed
so impetuous were they that they overturned one of their large
barricades. For this absurd rashness they paid very dearly, and
among the dead was the Brigadier-General of the Shansi column. Poor
fellow, he will register no more braggart vows! That day, a day of
serious fighting, ended in the utter repulse of the enemy, who had
nowhere gained so much as a foot of ground. The 13th was ushered
in by sharp firing, and the day was practically a replica of the
one before. Once again did the Shansi braves attempt to storm the
defences; once again did they get hurled back with indescribable
gallantry; and so the fight waged through the day, and the whole
night, until early next morning came a lull, when, “Listen! Yes! no
doubt of it. Hurrah! hurrah! hurrah!” the first sounds of firing were
heard beyond the walls. The Chinese heard it and understood; an angry
and deafening fire broke out from their barricades for a few minutes,
and they were gone, gone to endeavour to stem the advance of outraged
civilisation, at this very moment clamouring against their gates. How
this failed has been told already, and by 3 p.m. on 14th August the
British Legation had welcomed the British General and many of his
splendid Indian troops. The troops of other nationalities gradually
gained their footing in the city, and thus came to an end a siege
unlike anything yet recorded in history.

In such a huge myth as Pekin, it can be gathered that all resistance
was not immediately crushed; and it was not till two days later that
a body of our marines and French troops effected the rescue of the
splendid defenders of the Peh-tang Cathedral who, as has been shown
in a previous chapter, were even more hard put to it than their
equally gallant _confrères_ in the Allied Legations.

Much has been said about the “Fu,” but below is a return of the
killed and wounded in this position alone:

                      Killed. Wounded.
  British                2       11
  French                 1        2
  Russians               -        2
  Japanese               9       21
  Italians               7       11
  Chinese (converts)    18       85
  Austrians              1        1
                        --      ---
                        38      138

The total killed during the Siege was only sixty-six. It will be
seen, therefore, that the reports of the fighting in this spot are
not exaggerated.

In conclusion let me add a list of the Marine detachments officers’
casualty list, which was as follows:

                      Officers Arrived.  Killed.  Wounded.
  British                     3             1        2
  Italians                    2             -        2
  Russians                    2             -        -
  Japanese                    2             1        1
  Germans.                    1             -        -
  French                      3             2        1
  Austrians                   4             1        2
  Americans                   2             -        1
                             --            --       --
                             19             5        9




CHAPTER XIV

A SHORT COMPARISON OF THE TROOPS


A few notes on the equipment, methods, formations, and arms used
by the different contingents seems to be not out of place; and as
our friends the enemy had such a lot to do with the campaign, it is
merely courteous to treat them first. They must be considered in
two quite different classes—the Boxers, and the Regular Army. The
former were the cause of the whole trouble, and comprised a large
percentage of the total male population of Chibliat at the beginning
of the outbreak; but their fanaticism rapidly waned as their power
decreased, and by the middle of August they became despised even
by the Chinese troops, who had once held them in great dread. An
extraordinary feature about their composition was the large number
of immature youths and senile old men who flocked to their banner.
Their arms consisted of swords and spears, until towards the close
of the Tientsin campaign, when they were largely armed with old
rifles: a chance of wasting an exceptional amount of ammunition which
was eagerly seized upon by these ignorant peasants, who doubtless
succeeded in expending considerably more than the ton of lead which
is somewhere named as each man’s allowance before he is struck. Thus
it proves that as foes they were contemptible.

Without formation, without arms, with readers as ignorant as the
common ruck, all that they could hope to do was to murder the few
outlying missionaries that stuck to their missions, and to burn their
residences over their dead bodies. Women and children became, once
their male protectors had been accounted for, an easy prey to the
inhuman murderers, who afterwards gloated over their mangled and
unrecognisable corpses. Before bitter experience had taught these
ruffians a lesson, they were daring in the extreme, and looked down
on the Imperial troops with great disdain; but having been placed in
the forefront of the engagement on one or two occasions, and having
suffered accordingly, they lost their contempt for death surprisingly
quickly, and losing spirit, were seen to real advantage for the last
time in their attacks on the Peh-tang Cathedral.

Among other incidents of their earlier share in the Campaign must
be mentioned their attacks on Seymour’s column, in which they
displayed wonderful faith in the efficacy of their supposed charms,
and a still more wonderful fearlessness. In the matter of dress
each one pleased himself, but there was a “rig” which proclaimed a
Boxer immediately, and which was affected by those able to get the
necessary materials. Made, as nearly all Chinese clothes are, of
cotton, with the typical Mancha jacket, and loose baggy trousers
caught in at the ankle with strings, their attire was in colour blue
with a red sash, red waistbands, and red anklets. The leaders were
distinguishable by the large amount of yellow they wore, as did the
Buddhists among them, and a final distinctive mark were their red and
black standards. These gaudy flags had various mottoes on them; and
on seeing a literal translation of one of them, one is not inclined
to believe that “Live and let live” chanced to be inscribed on any
of the others. The sum total of their achievements from beginning
to end amounts to very little, consisting as it did of murdering a
hundred or so defenceless Europeans; a thousand certainly, probably
thousands, of equally defenceless Chinamen, who had either offended
them or refused to join them; and doing thousands of pounds’ worth
of damage to railway, telegraph, and house property, irrespective of
their owner’s nationality.

Very different in every respect were the regular troops. These were
of the best in China,—in fact the troops of Generals Nieh, Ma,
and Tung-fu-Hsiang are second only to those of Yuan-Shi-Kai, the
enlightened governor of Shantung, who, as some think luckily for
the Europeans, preferred to sit on the gate and watch the trend of
events, before taking any decisive and possibly disastrous move. He
is a very able and progressive man, who doubtless saw the futility
of attempting to cope with the world in arms, and so maintained a
most correct attitude throughout. Many if not most of the troops who
confronted the allies were foreign trained, it being an interesting
fact that among the first instructors who were employed by the
government was a naval gunnery instructor from H.M.S. “Cambridge,”
also that among the British force during the attack on the Taku Forts
was a gunner who had served the Chinese in the late Chinese-Japanese
War. Their tactics and movements were certainly somewhat out of
date, and consisted for the most part of parade movements, but
several times the “attack” was carried out as laid down in the
drill book, with the exception of the “Charge and Cheer,” without
which, of course, the attack is doomed to failure against an enemy
who is always disobliging enough to wait for “close quarters.” The
efficiency of the various armies was to a great extent impaired by
the diversity of their arms, and a great deficiency in knowledge of
the simplest strategy. Another point, and an important one, was the
utter want of ability to lead their men which was markedly displayed
throughout by their company officers. Their general officers seemed
capable of drawing their men up to an engagement skilfully, their
guns were well posted, and their defensive positions good almost
without exception; yet when the range became close there always
appeared to be no one in command of the fighting line; the men acted
independently, and what had often promised to be an overwhelming
attack gradually fizzled away to a bloody repulse.

The movement of a Chinese army must prove a terrible imposition on
the people of the district through which it moves, for it lives
entirely on the country, and it is doubtful if military mandarins are
more honest in their dealings with inferiors than other officials;
which means that the army leaves a track of desolation wherever it
goes. For the greater part of the campaign the Imperial troops
were well fed, but towards the latter stages of the retreat from
the Allies, they appear to have been actually starving, and in two
instances government granaries were burst into and robbed by the
famished men. Their arms were generally excellent, but the ammunition
supply must have been a sore trial to whoever was responsible for it.
I have seen the following types of firearms in use by Chinese troops
myself, and doubtless others. Sniders, Springfield, Martinis, Marlin,
three kinds of Winchesters, three kinds of Mausers, one Mauser
carbine, two kinds of Mannlicher, one Mannlicher carbine, and by the
Boxers several kinds of Jingals, Sniders, Marlins, and Winchesters.
As a matter of fact the arms which were used by far the most were
the best Mauser and Mannlicher magazine rifles, and whoever did look
after the ammunition supply was an excellent organiser, for the
enemy had always a seemingly unlimited amount. On several occasions
millions of rounds of small arms ammunition were destroyed at a time;
but although at all times extremely wasteful, and often firing all
through a pitch dark night, they never ran short up to the end.

It is a much debated point whether the Chinese are good rifle shots.
Some undoubtedly are, but taking into consideration that the
Europeans were generally the aggressors over open country, and always
in great numerical inferiority, it would seem that, as their fire
was always exceedingly heavy and sustained, the Allies should have
suffered more. And yet, glancing at the statistics of the fighting
outside Tientsin, and seeing 775 casualties in one day, nearly all
from rifle fire, the fact is brought home to one that the Chinese
soldiery were not the contemptible foemen that they were supposed
to have been by people ignorant alike of their training and arms.
The infantry uniform was usually blue or black in colour, with red
and yellow facings. Instead of showing his regiment and battalion on
shoulder straps, like his European _confrère_, the Chinese soldier
has a white parchment, circular in shape, sewn on to his chest and
back, which at any range under 400 yards makes an ideal bullseye;
and doubtless this idiotic idea was responsible for the death of a
great number of them. In shape their uniform approaches very nearly
to the national dress, and is admirably adapted to free movement
of the limbs. Their headgear was usually missing, but consists of
either the little round Chinese hat; or a species of sun hat white
in colour. Their boots were of the Wellington variety, into which
their trousers were tucked; they had _papier maché_ soles, and
either cotton or velvet uppers lined with canvas. These boots were
both serviceable and comfortable, but owing to the smallness of a
Chinaman’s foot, when compared to a European’s, it was seldom that
any of the Allies were able to replace their worn-out footgear from
any captured stock. Their accoutrements were simple, consisting only
of a leather belt, on which were carried their ammunition pouches,
the frog for their bayonets, and an entrenching tool, very similar to
the Wallace spade used by the British. Some carried their ammunition
in woollen bandoliers, but the majority were armed with clip-loading
rifles, and so pouches Were the usual form of carrier to be met with.
Their heavy marching order I am unable to describe, never having seen
a soldier, either living or dead, so attired. This is explained by
the fact that, like the Allies, their radius of action was limited to
a few miles round their position, and there was no need of carrying
even food with them for more than twenty-four hours. They carried no
water-bottle for presumably the same reason. Finally, the Chinese
infantryman of to-day only wants good leading to become a formidable
foe. With a little more training in addition, there is every reason
to believe that they would become a fighting force worthy to rank
with our excellent Indian troops.

A different state of affairs is disclosed on coming to discuss the
artillery. Here is a thoroughly well-trained and efficient branch of
the army, of whom many of the Allied officers spoke with considerable
respect, and who, having excellent weapons, used them with effect in
nearly every engagement. Their fortress artillery was of the best,
comprising guns of the following sizes and denominations: 6-in.
Armstrong Q.F., 6-in. Krupp Q.F., 4.7-in. Krupp Q.F., 9.4-in. Krupp
B.L. (nominally Q.F.), 8.2-in. Krupp Q.F., 5-in. B.L. on Vavasseur
mountings, and many other breech and muzzle-loading guns of but
little value. Their field guns consisted of 3.8-in. Q.F. Krupp,
17-pr. and 15-pr. batteries, 6-pr., 3-pr., and 1-pr. batteries, all
of a modern type, and for the most part turned out by the great
German gun factory at Essen. In addition to these, they had several
1-pr. Maxims (Pom-Poms), and in one arsenal alone a large number
of Maxims were found, and taken or destroyed. It is impossible to
estimate the numbers of each type above mentioned, but their guns
were very numerous, and, as in the case of small arms, the supply
was good and in plenty; and when it is added that the officers chose
good positions for the guns and handled them well, and the gunners
were quick at picking up ranges, and accurate in their fire when the
range had been found, it goes without saying that the Allies found
them a nuisance, the only mitigation of which lay in their capture or
destruction.

Of the cavalry but little was seen. They were somewhat _en evidence_
during the relief of Admiral Seymour’s expedition, when they shaped
but poorly; and on one occasion they gave battle to the Bengal
Lancers, who entirely defeated a body of Tartars several times as
numerous as themselves. They are armed with good German-made swords
and excellent magazine Mannlicher carbines, large stores of each
weapon being taken at Hsi-Ku arsenal. They were well-mounted on hardy
Tartar ponies, well led, and should be a serviceable body of troops.
The Chinese soldier then, may be said to be a fair infantryman, a
good gunner, but a poor cavalryman. In each case there is room for
much improvement, not so much among the rank and file, as among the
company leaders and the “Brain” of the army.


BRITISH.—At first sight it may seem unnecessary to touch upon either
the equipment or the internal economy of any British Force; but it
is an unpleasant fact that but few Englishmen really know what a
bluejacket looks like even on board his ship, and still fewer have
any idea of his organisation when “clearing up decks” ashore in the
out-of-the-way parts of the world, in which his services as a soldier
are more often required than is commonly supposed. Thus the matter
becomes of interest; and as the looks and methods of the soldiers,
both British and Indian, are more easily read about, and therefore
more widely known, it is only proposed to treat of the Naval Brigade
and the Chinese regiment, which latter was at the time the growth
of little more than a year. The organisation of a body of seamen
working ashore is much as follows: A battleship, on receiving orders
to land every available man for service like the one we are dealing
with, would probably have the following numbers told off: Marines 80
to 100, four companies of bluejackets consisting of one lieutenant,
two midshipmen, with fifty petty officers and men each. Two Maxim
guns, crews consisting of two officers and twelve men each; two
field guns, crews consisting of eighteen men and two officers each.
In addition to these there would be officer commanding and staff,
officer commanding marines and staff, one doctor, two sick-berth
attendants with medical necessities, four or five signalmen,
buglers, blacksmiths, armourers, carpenters, cook’s mate, an officer
of the accountant branch, and two or three subordinates, one ship’s
corporal, and a strong stretcher party of stokers under an engineer
officer. Thus it will be seen that each battleship can with ease
land 450 men, and is turned out as a complete unit, the men being
under their own officers, and self contained in every detail. A
bluejacket’s arms are identical with those used by the army, but
his accoutrements differ somewhat widely. One of the most important
differences is the number of rounds carried, and another one is the
method of carrying them. In the one case the bluejacket carries 160
cartridges, and the soldier or marine nominally 70, which latter
number, however, is, always augmented by stowing other packets of
ammunition on the person, in the haversack, etc. In the other case
the bluejacket is provided with braces on to which two bandoliers
are fastened, one going across the body, the other passing along
the belt which carries the haversack, bayonet, water-bottle, and
the two ammunition pouches. These two pouches carry—one 60 rounds,
the other 40; the bandoliers 25 each, which with 10 rounds in the
magazine of the rifle, total 160. Now the marines have only two
pouches, both carried in front on the belt, in each of which are
carried 30 rounds. The reason for this smaller supply of ammunition
is not quite obvious, unless it be that the Army always have an
ammunition and baggage train, whereas the Navy endeavour to carry as
much as possible on their persons. It is a point open to debate as
to which equipment is the better, but the bandolier system has great
advantages. The cartridges are more easily got at in a hurry, and men
are not apt to lose half their ammunition by leaving their pouches
open. This generally occurs when advancing to the attack by rushes,
and a serious wastage occurs. The fault of the bandolier seems to
be that it smothers the men on a long march, by which is meant that
it allows of no air passage inside their jumpers. Another point of
difference is the gaiter. The navy wear a stout brown canvas legging,
very serviceable and much more comfortable than the stiff black
leather one worn by the marines, though not so supporting as the
more modern puttie. Our men landed in blue serge uniform, and this
is the usual fighting rig; the alternatives being white duck—which
is, of course, too conspicuous, and was dyed khaki with Condy’s
fluid, until some of the real article was forthcoming. The marines
for the most part landed in their working rig, and generally fought
in their shirt sleeves, the exception being the detachment from the
“Terrible,” who wore the khaki they had used whilst fighting in South
Africa. Their equipment is so nearly akin to the infantry as to
require no description.

Warehouses were used as barracks, and all the routine was carried
out in a naval manner as much as possible. There was the fo’c’sle,
the quarterdeck, forward and aft, just the same as on board ship,
the time was registered by striking bells (in this case empty 4-in.
cartridge cases) and all orders were given by the pipe,—in fact it
was quite evident that the men had in no wise changed from sailor to
soldier, just because they were fighting off their own element. For
a hospital the British had the English club, and the way that the
many cases were treated by a very short-handed staff, with almost
no appliances, was little short of marvellous. In this respect the
British force compared very favourably with all other nations, until
the main body of the Japanese army arrived. When moving out from
the defences for any distance, the men always carried forty-eight
hours’ provisions. These consisted of tinned meat and ship’s biscuit,
palatable and sustaining; each man carried his water-bottle capable
of containing about a quart, and it must be noted that several of
the ship’s companies were supplied with the obsolete wood pattern,
which were not especially satisfactory. The commissariat was run by
assistant paymasters, and worked smoothly and efficiently throughout,
the only wants being vegetables, fresh provisions, and good water
in any quantity. The position of the author makes it not only out
of place, but impossible, to criticise the methods, tactics, or
strategy of the Naval Brigade; but he may be allowed to express an
opinion that in keenness, discipline, pluck, and powers of endurance,
they, bluejackets and marines, were second to none. Good alike in
attack and defence, it is probable that the results achieved by
their labours were at least as important as those obtained by the
representatives of any other power. The role played by them in this
Campaign was almost entirely that of infantrymen, but of course there
were occasions when they used their guns. These consisted of two
4-in. Q.F. naval guns on modified “Scott” mountings, several 12-pr.
muzzle-loading field guns, which although a disgrace to the service,
were used on several occasions with great effect, several 6-pr. Q.F.
(used in trains), Maxims and Nordenfelts. The part of artilleryman
too was played with striking success at Taku Forts, and speaking
generally, the guns of the Brigade may be said to have done work of
exceptional merit throughout.

The Wei-Hai-Wei regiment was, it can hardly be gainsaid, a great
success. Only eighteen months enlisted, they were sent to a
neighbouring province to fight under their new officers, against
possibly their own flesh and blood, and the way they did it makes
Gordon’s praise of the Chinese fighting man easily understandable.
A part of them had already been tried a few months before, when
there was a small rising at Wei-Hai-Wei, in connection with the
delimitation of the frontier line, and on this occasion they showed
an extraordinary devotion to their officers, and a pride in their
discipline worthy of great praise. A story is told to the effect
that on the day following a skirmish with the disturbing element,
one of the privates asked for a day’s leave to go and bury his
father. On being questioned as to the truth of the matter, he assured
the officer that it was correct, saying, “Oh yes, me shootee him
yesterday.” On the present occasion the desire to go to the front was
so keen, that crowds of them used to wait on the shore for a ship to
come to take them to Taku, and some of them becoming disappointed,
deserted. It is worthy of remark that not one deserter took even
a cartridge belonging to the Government away with him, and they
must have deserted in a state of nudity. Their uniform consists of
a neat Khaki suit—tunic and knee breeches—a sailor straw hat, blue
putties, and serviceable boots. The queue is worn coiled up beneath
the hat. The men are very big, finely built fellows who carry
themselves and their uniform well, so that the _tout ensemble_ is
smart and workmanlike. The winter uniform consists of a blue turban,
blue serge uniform, shaped as before with a red cummerbund, and a
warm grey overcoat in addition. Their appearance in this uniform is
exceptionally clean and businesslike. For arms each man carries one
of the excellent Martini-Metfords, a single loader of the same bore
as the Lee-Metford and Lee-Enfield rifles, but having the old Martini
triangular (section) bayonet. The service water-bottle and other
fittings are carried in the same way as the infantry. Their share
in the campaign was somewhat small owing to lack of numbers, but
whenever called upon, they fought well, marched well, drilled well,
and behaved creditably always.


The FRENCH forces with whom the Naval Brigade had anything to do
consisted for the most part of the Infanterie de la Marine, and some
Tonquinese troops. Some of the regular line regiments, and some
excellent artillery, arrived in time to take a not very glorious
share in the relief of Pekin, but as they had no opportunities of
working with the Naval contingents, it is not proposed to attempt a
description of them. The French Marines, as they were fallaciously
called, were clad in a hideous ill-fitting suit of blue cotton.
They wore a white helmet trimmed with blue, likewise hideous, and
generally worn with the back side foremost. Their heavy marching
order was of the heaviest description, and in common with the uniform
already mentioned, went far to create a slovenly and unsoldierlike
appearance. Their arms consisted of the Le-Bel rifle, an 8-shot
magazine weapon, differing from the majority of magazine rifles in
that the magazine is after the old Winchester type, carrying the
cartridges up underneath the barrel, and unsatisfactory, because each
round fired must materially alter the balance of the weapon. Their
ammunition was carried in side pouches, and they had a serviceable
water-bottle. The bayonet was totally unlike any used by the various
other troops, and was a most cruel-looking article. About 18 inches
long, with a white metal handle, and a good method of attachment, its
extraordinary feature lies in the blade. It can be likened to nothing
better than a long steel used for sharpening knives, yet it was not
so thick, and it had four deep grooves running along it from the base
to within an inch of the point. It certainly looked a very deadly
weapon, but appears to lack strength. Also, unlike our sword-bayonet,
which seems to be the commonest type in use, it is quite useless for
any other purpose but man-killing, as it has no edge. The hospital
and transport arrangements seemed good, and the behaviour of the
men, until all danger was over, was all that could be desired.
Unfortunately, however, there appeared to be a great diminution of
discipline after each engagement, and still more so when affairs at
Tientsin had quietened down. The men seemed to lack the much vaunted
qualities of the French _piou-piou_ to a most lamentable degree,
and on the only occasion on which a really hard march was called
for, before the dreary advance to Pekin, the men straggled terribly.
Their native troops, mostly Annamites, were small, of poor physique,
and compared in no way favourably with our strapping Wei-Hai-Wei
regiment. They were dressed in a sort of Khaki, and armed with an old
single-shot carbine with a long sword-bayonet. Their headgear was
a board, from which fell a neck covering of Khaki cloth, and their
footgear was usually wanting—by which it is not meant to infer that
no boots were provided, but that they preferred to march barefooted.
The detachment accompanied the French force as artillery, but seemed
to be usually employed at fatigue duties, at which they probably
excelled. It is at least likely that they were more useful thus,
for the little mountain battery which they occasionally laboriously
carried about, was as much use as our battery of 7-prs., manned by
the Hong-Kong artillery. Of them it was said by a French officer,
“_Ils n’aiment pas être tués_.” Whether he expected any one to affect
great surprise, or whether it was his way of saying that they were a
little “cold-footed,” may be left to the imagination of the reader.


RUSSIANS.—Considering the vast amount of experience the Russians
must have gained by their long occupation of, and constant service
in, Asiatic territories, it is surprising that their equipment was
perhaps the least adapted to the climatic conditions of the country,
and their accoutrements the least serviceable, of all the Allied
forces. This is the more strange when it is probably true that, with
the exception of our own troops, those of Russia do more service,
akin to active service, than those of any other country. It also
certainly seems to be a rash statement which I have seen made, in
view of the actual fact, that, after the Japanese, the Russians stood
the very trying march to Pekin the best. If so, it would seem to be a
case of superior adaptability rather than natural suitability; but of
this let more competent critics judge.

The infantry uniform consists of a white cap, with a nearly
vertically straight peak, and would seem to give little or no
protection to the head. On the upper part of their body they wear
a white smock, taken in at the waist by their cartridge belt, and
reaching below their hips. Then a pair of baggy trousers, tucked into
a pair of Russia leather boots reaching to the knees. The trousers
are either a very dark green or black. The various regiments are
distinguished by their shoulder straps, which are of various colours,
and on which are marked the number of the regiment. The method
employed of carrying cartridges is in one way rather exceptional.
There is a bandolier, reaching across the chest, which is simply
a series of pockets, into which are thrust loaded clips and loose
cartridges, all mixed up anyhow, with no attempt at arrangement. Two
pouches are also carried on the belt, which also contain clips and
cartridges. Their rifle is the “Mouzin.” It is loaded by the clip
system, each clip taking five cartridges, but the men carry only a
very limited number of clips, and have therefore to use the one clip
over and over again. This of course may not be the regulation idea,
but it was commonly, and in fact invariably, resorted to in China.
It appears objectionable in that it necessitates loading twice, and
moreover should a clip get at all dented, it would become difficult
to manipulate. There can be little doubt that the Lee-Metford, with
its 10-round magazine, would prove superior in rapidity of its fire
in any long engagement at close quarters, where magazine fire was
much resorted to. The bayonet is a long triangular one, which was
nearly always kept fixed, and it was a very noticeable fact that
not more than five men in each company had scabbards, and these,
where they existed, were of the flimsiest leather, and without any
steel cap to prevent the point from coming through. Only about ten
per cent. of the men were provided with water-bottles of a uniform
pattern. The rest carried flasks, beer bottles, lemonade bottles,
in fact anything that would hold water, suspended from their belts
with a piece of string. From this it may be gathered that their
equipment was very easily visible, of a very rough description, and
certainly neither the most formidable nor the most comfortable of
those amongst the Allies. The men themselves are brave and stolid
soldiers, excelling at defence rather than attack, in which latter
they are extremely slow, losing many men from gun fire while still
out of effective rifle range, and yet not appearing anxious to close.
A defect in their organisation appeared to be that the regiments were
under officered, and that the “non-coms” had not that command over
their men which they ought to have, when their commissioned rank is
placed _hors de combat_. The Russian bluejackets were dressed in a
somewhat similar style to ours, and their arms and accoutrements
were identical with those used by the army. To sum them up, it was
remarked in Tientsin, with great truth, that the Russian soldier in
battle was a splendid man, but afterwards a licentious brute. This,
though a very comprehensive accusation, was only too true on many
occasions in North China.


AMERICANS.—It is doubtful whether there was a more sensibly clothed
or better armed body of troops in China than the Americans. The
Marines wore soft brown felt hats, a blue flannel shirt, warm and
comfortable, and Khaki knickers with dust-coloured leggings. The
regulars dispensed with the shirt and wore a Khaki tunic instead.
Both forces wore brown lace-up boots with exceedingly soft and
comfortable uppers. The men carried blankets and ponchos for the
bivouac, the latter being merely a waterproof cape with a hole
for the head, comfortable, very light, useful, and, if necessary,
capable of being folded up and put in one’s pocket. The rifles used
were the Lee straight pull, and the Krag-Jorgensen, perhaps the
worst and the best types of rifle at the front. The first, a rather
complicated clip-loading rifle, firing a bullet of such a small
bore, and light weight, that it was a hopelessly inadequate stopping
weapon: this was only used by a small contingent of Marines straight
from the Philippines, who had had no opportunity of being re-armed.
The Krag-Jorgensen, on the other hand, is a .300 bore rifle, with a
magazine containing ten shots. The whole mechanism lends itself to
simplicity and speed, jams are infrequent, and structurally the rifle
is capable of standing a large amount of wear and tear. With these
advantages, in addition to very accurate sighting, the champions of
the Krag-Jorgensen may well claim that the American army possess the
most formidable rifle in existence. The bayonet is similar to ours,
but, whereas, our bayonet is fixed underneath the rifle barrel in the
same straight line, the American bayonet is fixed on the side of the
barrel, and horizontally to it. Their ammunition was mostly carried
in bandoliers round the waist. These are made of woollen material,
and are double all the way round. The water-bottle is of metal, very
large and most serviceable. The American cavalry were horsed on
very heavily built chargers which were not at all suitable to the
country. Their accoutrements differed but little from the infantry.
Of course riding-breeches and top boots took the place of knickers
and leggings, otherwise the dress was the same. They were armed with
carbine and sword, which, according to British ideas, never was an
ideal cavalry armament, and is now perhaps less so than ever. The
American organisation was undoubtedly good and thorough, but in
many cases the personal element spoilt everything. For instance,
whilst their hospital corps was better off for stores, instruments,
etc., than our own, we had fewer amputations by many, and no cases
of Gangrene, as against twenty or more which they had, a sad case
of which occurred after the severe fighting outside Tientsin City.
Leonard, a lieutenant of marines, was shot below the elbow. The arm
was amputated above the elbow, soon after which Gangrene set in,
making another amputation necessary. Again Gangrene supervened,
and a further operation was performed. But thanks to a splendid
constitution and indomitable pluck, this fine young fellow and
gallant officer survived not only the wound, but the drain and strain
of the operations it necessitated. Much more might be said and many
more incidents told of the American forces, but the brightest page in
their annals in China was the famous fighting at Pekin, where both
infantry and artillery distinguished themselves, and added a page to
the military history of their army of which no American will ever be
ashamed.


THE JAPANESE.—As was to be expected, the Mikado’s nation took a
large part in the Chinese imbroglio. Not only did Japan send the
largest contingent, but the _personnel_ perhaps excelled more than
that of any other nation. There are many reasons why this should
have been so, principally because the Japanese have once before
engaged in a war with China, whereby the officers and men gained
great experience of Chinese methods—a valuable asset totally lacking
among many of the other Forces, and an experience which, from the
first, ensured suitable organisation and equipment, and which the
British Indian troops, and the Russians in a lesser degree, alone
could hope to equal. Thus it was that, departmentally at any rate,
the young Eastern nation outshone its European _confrères_. There
were other reasons which led up to the result that the troops of
our new Ally came out of the war with such a monumental prestige.
It must be remembered that officers and men were for the first time
engaged shoulder to shoulder with their brothers-in-arms from the
West, and this alone was sufficient to put them on their mettle, and
to cause such patriots as they are to strain every nerve to uphold
the honour of their country. Their transport arrangements were
both sufficient and efficient, one point to be noticed being the
carrying of large numbers of Japanese coolies on board to do all the
disembarking, re-embarking, and general fatigue duties inseparable
from the moving of an army corps. The men themselves were excellent.
Small and compactly built as they were, there was such a little
difference in size between them, it was a common joke that the whole
Japanese army were out-fitted by a ready-made firm who only made one
size of clothing. They were armed with an 8-shot Magazine rifle, a
weapon something on the lines of a Le-Bel, but differing essentially
in many ways. To begin with, the bore is nearly square, though the
bullets are conical, and the bayonet is a small edition of ours,
more slightly built and with a somewhat different attachment. The
rifle is called the “Murata” after its inventor, who by the bye, was
a Naval lieutenant. Their uniform consisted of a black tunic, white
German cap, white trousers, white spats, and serviceable boots. As
far as colour went, it was too visible, and the Japanese authorities
have decided henceforth to adopt Khaki. Their ammunition is carried
in pouches and on the person. Besides his weapons, the infantryman
carries a water-bottle and a day’s ration always when going out to
fight. The men march well, shoot well, are well disciplined, and
know no fear of anything; add to this skilful and fearless leaders,
and we have worthy rivals to our British infantry. Though small,
the Japanese have a decided _penchant_ for close quarters and cold
steel—yet another link between our Armies.

The cavalry are perhaps the weakest branch of the service, not on
account of any human deficiency, but rather because of the small size
of the horses. These are not altogether suitable for several reasons,
among others that, being entire horses, they are exceptionally
savage, and in camp cause great trouble as well as many casualties.
Then again, on account of their lack of weight, they are unsuitable
for shock tactics. This, however, did not prevent them from carrying
out one of the most effective charges in the campaign, nor did it
prevent them from rendering scouting services beyond all praise,
during the advance on the capital. Their weapons were the sword and
carbine. They appeared to be well trained, and with no defects except
those already mentioned.

The Japanese artillery are armed with a Q.F. gun, throwing a shell
of about 14 lb. weight. They are smart and efficient. The uniform
worn by them hardly differs from that worn by the infantry. The
hospitals, both base and field, were wonderfully good, prompt and
skilful attention being received by all the wounded, who were
certainly better off in this respect than those of any other nation.
From these few remarks it may be seen that we are allied to a Nation
with an Army strong in numbers, well skilled in war, brave to a
fault, and still further allied to our Army by many points of close
similarity. It should be mentioned that the behaviour of the Japanese
troops was exemplary, and that in this respect they could give points
and a beating to nearly all the other troops engaged. Among many
equally gallant actions performed by Japanese troops, one stands out
pre-eminent. It was the storming and blowing up of the south gate of
Tientsin, the deciding move in the most important engagement of the
war. In days to come the Japanese will talk of it as we talk of our
sappers at the Cashmir gate, Delhi!


The other nations engaged in the campaign were ITALY, AUSTRIA, and
GERMANY, but although the services of the representatives of the
first two named were valuable at a time when every rifle counted,
their numbers were too small to admit of an excuse to describe them,
and in doing so to spoil more paper. Even Germany hardly shone in
the operations, notwithstanding her shriek of vengeance, and the
soul-stirring speeches made by the Kaiser to his departing troops.
They, however, deserve some mention, even were it only because Field
Marshal Von Waldersee was the Commander-in-Chief, recognised by all
the Powers concerned. He, with most of the German troops, arrived too
late for any serious fighting, but for the rest of the operations he
showed the greatest capacity and tact, and did much not only to bring
the campaign to a close, but to preserve at any rate the semblance
of a Peace between the Allies, who, immediately after the fighting
was over, began to quarrel amongst themselves. The “Iltis” too, at
Taku forts, wrote a glorious page in the naval history of her empire,
which was added to by the devotion and gallantry of the German
sailors under Seymour. In conclusion, it may be said that it was
Germany’s misfortune, not her fault, which forbade her taking a more
glorious share in the work of punishing China, against whom she had a
more genuine grievance than most of the other Powers.




CHAPTER XV

RETURN OF NAVAL BRIGADE, PEH-TANG AND SHAN-HAI-KWAN


After the events recorded in the twelfth chapter, it became certain
that the Navy’s share of work on shore had been completed. However,
the Brigade with its guns remained in Pekin for about a week before
the order was received to return to shipboard. This was recognised to
be inevitable now that the Army had come, and, on the whole, the men
were ready to welcome the change back to their proper role. The Pekin
Brigade embarked on junks at Tung-Chow, and after a very uneventful
journey, arrived at Tientsin on the 3rd of September. Here they
picked up the remainder of the Force with the exception of Captain
Bayley, R.N. (provost-marshal), and his personal staff, and returned
to their ships on the following day, in tugs and lighters. Thus, on
the 5th September, the only representatives of the senior service
ashore were the Blue Marines, a hundred in number, who were left to
garrison the North-west fort, until the time came for its demolition,
and the three officers and two men at Tientsin. A most satisfactory
thing was it to grip one’s messmates by the hand again, and receive
their congratulations on one’s safe return, a feeling marred only by
thoughts of the missing, about whom many questions had to be asked
and answered. Outside the bar, quite close to the fleet, lay the
“Salamis,” on board of which were upwards of 300 men of the New South
Wales and Victoria Naval forces. It was hoped that these fine fellows
would be in time for the occupation of Pasting-fu, which operation
was about to be undertaken by a combined British and French force.
Most of them did take part in this movement, but unfortunately,
either the policy of “Let’s get there first, never mind existing
arrangements,” or an utter lack of appreciation of combined movement,
was responsible for the fact that, when the British force arrived
in front of the town, it was but to see tricolors floating at every
point. The place had fallen, with a very slight resistance, and was
occupied, because it was the headquarters of the Boxer movement, and
the scene of many early atrocities.

To the eastward of Taku, distant about seven miles, lay some other
powerful forts called Peh-tang. The arrangement which had allowed
them to exist during the past three months had been an eminently
common-sense one, when it is considered how the Allies were pressed
for time and men. It was simply this, “You don’t hit me, and you
won’t get hurt,” an arrangement fulfilled to the letter by both
sides. It was, therefore, with feelings of surprise that I, having
finished some duty which took me to Tientsin, and having a day or
two to look round, heard that the French, Russians, Germans, and
Austrians had decided to break the agreement, and attack the forts.
I went down to Tong-Ku with the French officers, and hoped to be
allowed to go with them, but on arrival I found that our two 4-in.
Q.F. guns were being brought up to entrain, and that the Marines
from the fort were to be their escort. This was much better, and I
immediately attached myself to the officer in command of the latter,
and we waited impatiently at the station for the guns. To every
one’s great disgust, the only available trucks were not large enough
to take the improvised field mountings, and the Russian officer in
command of the station would not allow them to be broken. This, of
course, did away with the necessity of an escort, and much to their
disgust, the “Joeys” were marched back to the Fort at two in the
morning. However, by dint of hard walking, a Marine officer and
myself managed to see enough of the action to justify a very short
account of it.

The Allies attacked from the direction of Taku, and numbered in all
about 2600, with a battery of howitzers (Russian) and some French
and German artillery. The engagement commenced at about one o’clock
in the morning, with occasional shots from the forts; but it was
not until daylight that the heavy Howitzer battery replied, and the
fight became general. After a somewhat protracted bombardment, a
general advance took place, and the Force was almost unopposed from
this time. Indeed, so slight were the losses of the Allies, that
it at one time seemed as if the whole affair was a “put up job,”
and this supposition was further strengthened by a temporary lull
in the proceedings at about eight o’clock. The advance was again
continued about 9 a.m., and by 10.30 it appeared as if the Forts
had been evacuated. Up till now, the attacking Forces had been
beyond the range of effective rifle fire, but at eleven o’clock, a
bridge about 2000 yards away from the nearest fort was demolished,
and shortly afterwards the trouble commenced. The small company of
Austrian bluejackets was marching along quickly, when a tremendous
explosion took place, and the head of the company was literally blown
to pieces. A sailor had trodden on a contact mine, and the result
was—one officer killed, one wounded; three men killed and twelve
wounded, three of whom afterwards expired. This was the first of a
series of explosions, several of which took effect, the most notable
being that which caused the death of a Russian Engineer Officer, who
had been indefatigable in his exertions to find and destroy these
deadly weapons before they could do any harm; one, more cunningly
hidden than the rest, practically blew the poor chap to pieces.

No further opposition being encountered, the two forts were
successfully occupied by one o’clock, when it was clearly
demonstrated that the Chinese had left some hours since. It is
doubtful if the enemy lost more than a dozen men in this ridiculous
action, while the loss of the Allies was but slightly larger. It
should be mentioned that the British were carefully prevented from
taking part in this action by the lack of proper intelligence, and
by being thwarted at every turn by the Russians, who only sent word
to the Australian brigade when it was too late to leave Tientsin.
Curiously enough, but perhaps for the same reasons, neither the
Japanese nor Americans participated, but it must be admitted that,
but for the use of land mines, the affair was neither very difficult
nor particularly exciting.

A more interesting, and, to the British, a much more satisfactory
affair, shortly happened at Shan-Hai-Kwan. This place is situated
between 150 and 200 miles to the north-eastward of Taku, and is
the site of some more very powerful forts. It is also a railway
terminus, and once had some slight strategical importance on account
of being the place where the Great Wall of China comes down to meet
the sea. It possesses no Naval value, being an open roadstead, and
ice-bound during the winter months. It became imperative to take the
forts on account of the valuable line of communication afforded by
the railway, and because of the possibility of the place becoming a
rallying centre for the enemy. The “Whens” and “Hows” were the reason
for many conferences between the Admirals; and it became evident
that, to them, it appeared to be a difficult and risky matter, and
one, moreover, likely to entail severe loss on the attacking fleet.
This conclusion having been arrived at, the difficulty arose of
choosing a leader who would make all the arrangements, and hold
himself responsible for the result.

[Illustration: H.M.S. “BARFLEUR.”

  [_page 307._]

[Illustration: RAILWAY CROSSING GREAT WALL AT SHAN-HAI-KWAN.

  [_page 306._]

I have heard, but refuse to be responsible for the statement, that
both the French and German admirals were asked if they would care
for the task, but declined on various grounds, and that then Sir
Edward Seymour was requested to deal with it, and at once accepted
the responsibility. What credence can be placed in the former part of
this I do not know, but the latter part of it is undoubtedly true,
and the British Commander-in-Chief took the work of organisation in
hand forthwith. As far as the arrangements became public, it was
believed that Admiral Seymour intended to employ none but armoured
ships for the bombardment, and the fleet would probably consist of
H.M.S. “Centurion,” “Barfleur,” and either “Aurora” or “Orlando,”
the first two being battleships and the others armoured cruisers;
“Navarin” and “Sissoi Veliky,” (Russian battleships), two German, one
French, “D’Entre Casteaux” one Japanese “Tokiwa” (armoured cruiser),
one Austrian battleship, and one Italian armoured cruiser, being
a total of, roughly speaking, a dozen heavily armed ships. Before
sailing, however, the “Pigmy,” a small gunboat, was sent on ahead,
with a political officer on board, who was told to endeavour to
parley with the Chinese commanding officer. So the little ship stood
right in under the forts and lowered a boat, when to the captain’s
surprise the Chinese were seen to be streaming out at the back of
the forts, and running up to the hills. He immediately grasped the
situation, and sent one officer and seventeen men ashore to garrison
the five big forts, and to hold them against all comers. He then
went back to Taku as fast as possible, and told the Admiral what
had happened. Was there ever such a ridiculous situation? The forts
had been taken by that powerful and important ship H.M.S. “Pigmy,”
and were at that moment held by the overpowering force of one Naval
officer and seventeen bluejackets; whilst at Taku were waiting a
dozen or so leviathans, with 7000 men at least on board, who as
yet were not aware that they had been baulked of their prey by the
aforesaid gunboat of considerably under 1000 tons! However, the news
had not to be told just yet, and in an hour’s time the “Pigmy” was
hurrying back for all she was worth, packed with Marines to assist
the so-called Garrison. At last she disappeared over the horizon,
and then the secret was let out. Sparks and clouds of smoke were
soon issuing from the funnels of the Fleet’s cruisers, and one by
one, as they raised enough steam to move, they got under weigh for
Shan-Hai-Kwan to see what had really happened. What had happened
was as equally ridiculous as the rest of the farce, for during the
night much tramping was heard around No. 1 Fort, as if an army had
come down to retake the place. And, as a matter of fact, this is
more or less what the noise represented; for the force turned out
to be 4000 Russians, who in their guileless way, had turned up from
goodness knows where, to surprise and capture the forts, without a
word to any of her very good Allies! “Halt! who goes there?” and the
column halted out of sheer surprise. “Who are you,” from the other
party. “The officer commanding the British garrison of Shan-Hai-Kwan
forts,” and so on, till at last the Russian colonel, smelling a rat,
asked to go in. “Very sorry, strictly against my orders, you’d better
encamp in the open to-night.” Sounds of much discontent from outside,
and then, still being dissatisfied about the _bona-fides_ of the
occupation, the column began to solemnly march round each fort, only
to be challenged time after time by the active sentries, who, by dint
of hard running, passed and re-passed each other, with the effect
that the forts appeared to be strongly held. The Russian column,
therefore, retired to the railway station, where they encamped until
authority arrived to give the forts up to the Allies. This was done,
the British laughing heartily for some days to come, at the “capture
of the Shan-Hai-Kwan forts”.

Now, it may be gathered from the recent half-hearted operations,
that the enemy had had more than enough of the struggle, and indeed,
from this time to the conclusion of hostilities, the campaign
degenerated into the hunting down of robber bands, the destruction of
Boxer strongholds, and the almost vain endeavour to prevent actual
collision between the Powers. Tientsin seemed to be the chief place
for the important affrays, which might have led to more serious
consequences had it not been for the prompt measures taken for their
repression. A drunken Russian officer was shot dead by a German
patrol, English officers were pulled out of their Jinrickshaws,
two Russians were shot by an American sentry, a British patrol was
attacked by 250 French and Germans, every member of it was hurt,
but seven killed and eleven wounded was the bill on the other side.
Without American assistance, it is extremely doubtful whether it
would have won its way back to barracks. A mad Sepoy killed a
comrade, and then rushed to the Russian barracks, where he killed
a warrant officer, and wounded three men. This led to an affray
between some of his own comrades, who were chasing him, and the
Russians, who imagined that they were being attacked, which only
resulted in further loss.

And so on, and so on; with incidents like the Tientsin railway
siding, to set the world’s Press on the jabber about War. It appears
that some dispute arose over the piece of ground in question,
which ended in Russia placing double sentries on it. The British
immediately did likewise, to prevent any advance from the further
side. Matters stood like that, until the Russians put half a company
there, when half a company of Indian troops immediately faced them.
This was really rather critical, as but four or five yards separated
the two bodies, who stood, with loaded rifles and fixed bayonets,
eyeing each other with the greatest suspicion. At this time, the
French soldiers off duty used to come up in considerable numbers and
make use of the most filthy expressions anent our Indian troops,
calling them coolies, and worse. This so enraged the men, who
throughout the latter part of the campaign had affected to utterly
despise the French, that it was evident that white soldiers would
have to be employed, and, no others being available, a detachment
of Royal Marine Artillery, than whom no finer body of men exist,
was brought from the forts at Taku. The changing of the guard was
effected by night, and when the French arrived next morning, they
were much astonished to find themselves faced by a body of men who,
even on the colour question, could hardly be called coolies. This
little incident, together with the efficient police work afterwards
carried out by the Australian sailors, completed the work of the
Naval Brigade, and except to the officers and men who took part in
the operations, the China Campaign means but little.

Not much remains to be said. How the Rising nearly spread to the
Yangtse, but was stopped by the powerful Yangtse Viceroys, is common
knowledge. A Fleet, of course, gathered at Wusung at the first
sign of trouble, and a few little things are worth recording. For
instance, the Chinese were completing the armament of the powerful
Yangtse forts with feverish anxiety, and, on one occasion, they found
some difficulty with the mounting of a 15-cm. “Krupp.” A certain
officer happening to notice this, took charge of the party with the
greatest assurance, and, Hey Presto! down came the whole show, much
to every one’s disgust. On another occasion two midshipmen managed
to crawl into the Forts, and had a good look round before they were
discovered and ejected. After this, the Chinese threatened to shoot
at any football parties near the Forts, and the Fleet’s playground
had also to be shifted. Occasionally the Chinese navy used to show
up, and it was a funny sight to see a Chinese cruiser passing up the
river, with the guns of one of our armoured cruisers laid for her
waterline as she passed, and following her up until out of range. An
equally funny sight must have been one of our tiny river gunboats
lying under the 12-in. guns of the up-river forts, pretending that
she was only waiting for the big ’un to start hostilities, before
knocking down the whole place. While things were still a little
touchy, Chinese New Year arrived, and it was rumoured that on that
night the forts would open on the fleets. Every preparation was made,
but nothing happened, and eventually the fleets quietly dispersed to
their respective spheres to give that much-needed leave which all
their hard-worked crews so thoroughly deserved.

The Naval Brigades had done their work. Who shall say it was not as
satisfactory as it was important, or that the British Contingent was
found wanting in any way from first to last? The same traits which
have made it the envy of the World—the initiative, the daring, the
dash—found ample scope in China, and were equally conspicuous there,
as they have ever been elsewhere, when Duty called for their display,
in upholding the glorious traditions of the Senior Service, and of
our ever increasing Empire.


FINIS




INDEX


  Admirals’ Conference, 22, 306.

  — Decision of, 25.

  “Alacrity,” H.M.S. (_See_ British War Vessels.)

  Alexieff, Vice-Admiral (Russian), 138.

  “Algerine,” H.M.S. (_See_ British War Vessels.)

  Allied Troops, 39, 48, 59, 71, 95, 100, 115, 147, 187, 206, 220, 269,
        304.

  — — Relative strength of, 219.

  American assistance, 310.

  — War Vessels, “Monocacy,” 31, 105.

  — Troops, 292. (_See also_ Allied Troops.)

  — — Arms and equipment of, 292.

  Arsenals—
    Hi-Kuan-Su, 47, 157, 200.
    — Burning of, 115.
    — Capture of, 146.
    Hsi-Ku, 47, 89, 200, 206, 213.
    Pei-Yang, 46, 67, 107, 153.
    — Taking of, 130.

  “Atago.” (_See_ Japanese War Vessels.)

  “Aurora,” H.M.S. (_See_ British War Vessels.)

  Australian Sailors, 312.

  Austrian Troops, 299.


  Bayley, Capt., R.N., 301.

  Beatty, Commander, D.S.O., 23, 59.

  Betts, Capt., R.N., 89.

  Bluejackets. (_See_ British Troops.)

  “Bobre.” (_See_ Russian War Vessels.)

  Boxer Rebellion, Causes of, 9.

  — — Outbreak, 15.

  Boxers, 10, 270.

  — Headquarters, 11.

  — Arms, 270.

  — Dress, 272.

  British Troops—
    Arrival of, 196.
    Bluejackets, 281.
    Organisation of, working on shore, 280.
    Arms and accoutrements, 281.
    Barracks and Hospital, 283.
    (_See also_ Allied Troops.)

  British War Vessels—
    “Alacrity,” 39.
    “Algerine,” 18, 29, 34.
    “Aurora,” 74, 307.
    “Barfleur,” 32, 140, 307.
    “Centurion,” 22, 83, 307.
    “Fame,” 30, 36, 37, 38.
    “Orlando,” 18, 57, 307.
    “Pigmy,” 308.
    “Spray,” 98.
    “Terrible,” 98, 100.
    “Whiting,” 30, 36, 37, 38.

  Brown, Lieut., R.N., 107.

  Bruce, Major, 144.

  Burke, Capt., 170.

  Burg-li-Yamen, 247.


  Campaign—Important actions of, and claims to precedence in, 243.

  “Centurion,” H.M.S. (_See_ British War Vessels.)

  — Conference on, 22.

  Chaffee, Gen., 234.

  Carles, Mr, British Consul, Tientsin, 18.

  Chibliat, 270.

  Chien-men Gate, 234.

  Chihli, 12.

  China, Empress of, policy, 232.

  Ching, Prince, 15, 251.

  Chinese Army, Movement of, 274.

  — Regular Troops, 273.

  — Imperial Troops, Infantry, 276.

  — as rifle shots, 275.

  — Uniform, 276.

  — Arms and accoutrements, 275, 277.

  — Artillery and field guns, 278.

  — Cavalry, 279.

  — First instructors, 273.

  — Tactics and efficiency, 273.

  — Guns captured, 142.

  Chin-Liang-Ching, 56, 58, 101, 103.

  Colomb, Lieut., R.N., 76.

  Comparison of troops, 270.

  Cracker trick, 81.

  Craddock, Commander, R.N., 39, 103.


  Donaldson, Midshipman, 146.

  Dorward, Gen., 170.

  Drummond, Lieut., R.N., 104.


  Empress of China, policy, 232.

  Esdaile, Midshipman, 144, 146.


  “Fame,” H.M.S. (_See_ British War Vessels.)

  “Fa-Wan” Tug, 32.

  Favier, Père, 236.

  Fengtai, 13.

  Forbidden City, 244, 245.

  Fort “Endymion,” 76, 77.

  Fort “Gefion,” 77, 78.

  French War Vessels—
    “Lion,” 30, 34, 37.
    “D’entre Casteaux,” 307.

  — Troops, 287.

  — Arms and accoutrements, 287.

  Frey, Gen., 239.

  Fu, 255, 257, 260.

  — Killed and wounded in, 268.

  Fukishima, Gen., 163.


  Gaselee, Gen., 220, 230.

  Gausson, Lieut., R.N., 205.

  German Troops, 299. (_See_ Allied Troops.)

  German War Vessels—
    “Iltis,” 30, 34, 37, 299.
    “Gilyak.” (_See_ Russian War Vessels.)

  Guy, Midshipman, gains V.C., 166.


  Halliday, Capt., 254.

  Hanlin Library (Pekin), 252.

  Hart, Sir Robert, Letter from, 128.

  Hi-Kuan-Su Arsenal. (_See_ Arsenals.)

  Hong-Kong Regiment, 150.

  Ho-si-wa, 231, 222.

  Hotel de Pekin, 256.

  Hsi-Ku Arsenal. (See Arsenals.)


  “Iltis.” (_See_ German War Vessels.)

  Indian Troops, 216, 196, 218. (_See_ Allied Troops.)

  Italian Troops, 299. (_See_ Allied Troops.)


  Japanese War Vessels—
    “Atago,” 31.
    “Tokiwa,” 307.

  — Market, 264.

  — Transport, arms, and accoutrements, 296.

  — Troops, 295. (_See_ Allied Troops.)

  Jellicoe, Capt., wounded, 83.

  Jingal, description of, 81.


  Kansu Troops, 251.

  Ketteler, Baron Von, German Minister, 66, 249.

  “Koreetz.” (_See_ Russian War Vessels.)

  Krag-Jorgensen, 293.


  Lang-Fang Station, 74, 77, 78.

  Legation Guards, 250.

  Legations, relief of, 231.

  — Siege of, 247.

  Leonard, Lieut. A. M., 294.

  Linevitch, Gen., 245.

  “Lion.” (_See_ French War Vessels.)

  Lloyd, Capt., R.M.L.I., 160.

  Lo-fa, 21, 72, 76, 77.

  Losses, 93, 268.

  Looting in Tientsin, 182.

  — — Pekin, 240.

  Lu-Tai, 16, 21, 50.
    Canal, 116.


  Ma, Gen., 53, 104, 273.

  M‘Calla, Capt., U.S.N., 83.

  Macdonald, Sir C., 247.

  — Interview with Tsung-li-Yamen, 15.

  — Telegrams to Seymour and Carles, 18.

  Marine Detachments Casualty List, 268.

  Matao, 223.

  Ministers, meetings of, 17.

  — Telegrams of, 18.

  “Monocacy.” (_See_ American War Vessels.)


  Naval Brigade’s First Encounter, 25.

  — — Return, 301.

  Nieh, Gen., 16, 20, 82, 273.

  Norman, Mr, 14.


  Oliphant, Lieut., 168.

  “Orlando,” H.M.S. (_See_ British War Vessels).


  Pas-ting-fu, 15, 19.

  Pathans, 150.

  Peh-tang, 41, 53.

  — Cathedral, 236, 268.

  Pei-Ho River, 27, 77.

  Pei-ta-ho, 50, 53.

  Pei-Yang Arsenal. (_See_ Arsenals.)

  Père Favier, 236.

  Peitsang, 266.

  Pekin: Explanation of small Relief Force, 70.

  — Failure to reach, 94.

  — Advance of Relief Force to, 199, 211.

  — Losses during Siege of, 269.

  — Brigade, 301.

  — End of Siege of, 267.

  — Gates of—
    — Chien-men, 234, 235.
    — Shan-huo, 230.
    — Tien-an-Men, 245.
    — Tung-Pien, 229.
    — Wu-Men, 245.

  — Military procession through, 243.

  — Looting in, 240.

  — Forbidden City, Surrender of, 244.

  — Forbidden City, entry of, 245.

  — Imperial City, entry of, 245.

  “Pigmy.” (_See_ British War Vessels.)

  Preston, Sergt., R.M.L.I., 260.

  Prince Tuan, 247.

  — Su, 250.

  — Ching, 15, 251.

  — Tung-fu-Hsiang, 17, 251, 255.


  Russian Forces, 289. (_See_ Allied Troops.)

  — Uniform, 290.

  — Arms and accoutrements, 290, 291.

  — Legation fired, 253.

  Russian War Vessels—
    “Bobre,” “Gilyak.” “Koreetz,” 30.
    “Sissoi Veliky,” 308.
    “Navarin,” 307.

  Russo-Chinese Bank burnt, 253.


  Salamis, 302.

  Scott, Capt. Percy, R.N., 200.

  Seymour, Admiral Sir Edward, 307.

  — Expedition starts, 22.

  — Relief of, 113.

  — Request for Troops, 114.

  Shan-Hai-Kwan Forts, 306, 309.

  Shan-huo Gate, 230.

  Shan-Matao, 224.

  Shansi, 266.

  Shantung, 12.

  Shirinsky, Col., 115.

  “Sissoi Veliky.” (_See_ Russian War Vessels.)

  Smith, Lieut., R.N., 74.

  “Spray,” H.M.S. (_See_ British War Vessels.)

  Stoessel, Gen., 103.

  Strouts, Capt., R.M.L.I., 263.

  Sycee, 188.


  Taku, 27, 99, 100, 111, 138, 154, 200.

  — Forts, Description of, 27, 28.

  — — Gate, 147, 157, 200.

  — — Ultimatum to, 25.

  — — Bombardment of, 34.

  — — Taking of, 42.

  “Terrible,” H.M.S. (_See_ British War Vessels.)

  Tientsin, First Siege of, 46.

  — Operations for Relief of, 95.

  — Relief Force, start to, 100.

  — Retirement to, 78, 125.

  — Station fight, 151.

  — Taking of Native City, 155.

  — Blowing up gate of, 173.

  — Looting in, 182.

  — Allied Commanders in, 198.

  — News of fall of, 264.

  — Affrays at, 310, 311.

  “Tokiwa.” (_See_ Japanese War Vessels.)

  Tong-Ku, 27, 38, 102.

  Tongshan Railway Works, 23, 50, 51, 54.

  Transport Difficulty, 105.

  Troops, Order of Precedence in various engagements, 243.

  — Comparison of, 270.

  Tsi-Tsun, 220.

  Tsung-li-Yamen, 13.

  — Sir C. Macdonald’s Interview with, 15.

  Tuan, Prince, 247.

  Tung-Chow Massacre, 17, 224.

  — Occupation of, 225.

  Tung-fu-Hsiang, Gen., 17, 251, 255.

  Tung-Pien Gate. (_See_ Pekin Gates.)


  Viceroy, Chinese, 24, 92.


  Waldersee, Von, Field Marshal, 242.

  Waller, Major, U.S. Marine Artillery, 131.

  War Vessels—
    American. (_See_ American War Vessels.)
    British. (_See_ British War Vessels.)
    French. (_See_ French War Vessels.)
    German. (_See_ German War Vessels.)
    Japanese. (_See_ Japanese War Vessels.)
    Russian. (_See_ Russian War Vessels.)

  Watts, Mr, ride with Despatches, 62, 98, 104.

  Wei-Hai-Wei Regiment, 104, 131, 140, 143, 285.

  Welsh Fusiliers, 100, 122, 171, 226.

  “Whiting,” H.M.S. (_See_ British War Vessels.)

  Wogack, Col., Russian, 58.

  Wounded sent to Wei-Hai-Wei, 137.

  — Incidents during conveyance of, 201.

  Wright, Lieutenant, R.N., wounded, 60.

  Wusung, 312.


  Yamen, 247.

  Yangtse Viceroys, 312.

  — Forts, 312.

  Yangtsun Railway Bridge, 16, 20, 22, 77, 201.

  Yuan-Shi-Kai, Viceroy, 12, 92, 273.

  Yung-Ching, 14.


PRINTED BY M’LAREN AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH




ERRATA


  PAGE       11.—In par. beginning “A very common
                  question is,” etc., _read for_ “they were
                  9000.” “they were about 90 per cent.”

   “     15, 19.—_For_ “Pas-ting-fu,” _read_ “Pao-ting-fu.”

   “         18.—_For_ “Charles,” _read_ “Carles.”

   “         49.—In par. beginning “Opposite the eastern
                  end,” after the word “stood” _read_ “some
                  tin-roofed barracks, surrounded by a wall,
                  where a number of embryo officers and
                  some hundreds of Chinese troops,” etc.

   “        162.—After words “of a facial type,” _insert_
                  “their utterances are usually” before the
                  words “not fit for publication.”

   “        170.—_For_ Captain “Burkesor,” _read_ “Burke.”

   “        200.—_For_ “Bersagliea,” _read_ “Bersaglieri.”

   “        205.—_For_ “Gausson,” _read_ “Gaussen.”




                 In Crown 8vo, Cloth Gilt. Price 6s.

                           RUSSIA OF TO-DAY

                                  BY

                          E. VON DER BRÜGGEN

                      Translated by M. SANDWITH


The Times says:—“Few among the numerous books dealing with the
Russian Empire which have appeared of late years will be found more
profitable than Baron von der Brüggen’s ‘Das Heutige Russland,’ an
English version of which has now been published.”

Illustrated London News says:—“Baron von der Brüggen may be
congratulated on having produced a work which, while it undoubtedly
paints the present condition of Russia in very sombre colours, is
nevertheless free from exaggeration. His description of the finances
of the country, and his exposure of the juggleries of M. Witte, are
masterful and convincing; nor can his picture of the condition of
the peasantry be said to be overdrawn. His logic and his facts are
inexorable.”

Leeds Mercury says:—“It will be some time before this book is
superseded. That is the highest tribute we can pay to a compilation
that for fairness, clearness of statement, and exactitude of
knowledge, it would be hard to find a parallel to.... No one can
study it without profit and instruction.”


          Crown 8vo, handsome Cloth Gilt. Price 7s. 6d. net

                             THE MEMOIRS
                                  OF
                           GERALD O’CONNOR

           Of the princely house of the O’Connors of Offaly
                      in the Kingdom of Ireland

                      By WILLIAM O’CONNOR MORRIS

   County Court Judge and Chairman of Quarter Sessions of Roscommon
      and Sligo, and sometime Scholar of Oriel College, Oxford.

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London: DIGBY, LONG & CO., 18 Bouverie St., Fleet St., E.C.




  TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

  Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
  corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences within
  the text and consultation of external sources.

  Some hyphens in words have been silently removed, some added,
  when a predominant preference was found in the original book.

  Except for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text,
  and inconsistent or archaic usage, have been retained.

  Pg 66: ‘Baron von Kettler’ replaced by ‘Baron von Ketteler’.
  Pg 99: ‘and swan to the’ replaced by ‘and swam to the’.
  Pg 200: ‘Hi-Kwan-Su arsenal’ replaced by ‘Hi-Kuan-Su arsenal’.
  Pg 226: ‘however, he mildest’ replaced by ‘however, the mildest’.
  Pg 230: ‘Punjaub Infantry’ replaced by ‘Punjab Infantry’.
  Pg 234: ‘the Monjol market’ replaced by ‘the Mongol market’.
  Pg 285: ‘one deserter ook’ replaced by ‘one deserter took’.
  Pg 286: ‘red cummerband’ replaced by ‘red cummerbund’.
  Pg 293: ‘jambs are infrequent’ replaced by ‘jams are infrequent’.
  Index: ‘Burkesor, Capt’ replaced by ‘Burke, Capt’.
  Index: ‘Charles, Mr, British Consul’ replaced by
         ‘Carles, Mr, British Consul’.
  Catalog: ‘Das Hentige Russland’ replaced by ‘Das Heutige Russland’.