On to Pekin; or, Old Glory in China

by Edward Stratemeyer

The missionaries were the first to feel the pressure brought to bear by the Boxers, who, in secret conclave, determined that all foreigners must either be driven from the country or slain. Notices were posted on the churches and houses, ordering the missionaries to depart within a week or a moon or three moons, under penalty of death; and all merchants, traders, and travellers were also warned to leave.

A few paid heed to these warnings; but the majority decided that they had a right to stay, and remained. They had been guaranteed protection by the Chinese government, under treaties made with their home governments; and the missionaries were also promised protection by the Chinamen they had converted. But, when the storm broke, the converted Chinamen suffered as much as did those who had converted them.

What led to the first fight of 1900 it would be hard to say; but the troubles began early in the year, when Dr. Brooks, who had sheltered the German engineer for whom the Chinese were searching in his house, was murdered on January 2. This act was quickly followed by the slaying of a number of other missionaries and of foreigners generally, until by May the whole civilized world woke up to the fact that no white people in China would be safe unless they were defended by their own countrymen. The Chinese government could not suppress the Boxer movement, even if it felt so inclined, which was doubtful.

The greatest uprising was in the provinces of Pechili and Shantung, situated in the extreme east of the empire, on the Yellow Sea and the Gulf of Pechili. Here the Pei-Ho (Ho means river) empties into the gulf, with the forts of Taku on one side and the village of Tongku on the other. Back of the Taku forts is Taku village, and twenty-seven miles up the stream lies the important city of Tien-Tsin. From Tien-Tsin to Pekin is about eighty miles, but navigation on the river does not extend the entire distance.

Finding that they could not hold their own in the villages in which they were located, missionaries and other foreigners in and around Pekin and Tien-Tsin gradually congregated in the cities named, under the protection of their home consuls, until the various American, English, German, French, Italian, and other foreign legations became crowded with people all clamoring for aid, with Boxers on the outside howling that they be driven out or slain. By June 1 matters had reached an acute stage; and the outside powers felt that something must be done, or China would witness one of the most barbarous slaughters in the annals of history. No war was declared on China; but the government was given to understand that each outside nation intended to rescue its own people, no matter at what cost.

The first movement of the foreign nations, or the Allies, as they were termed, was from Tien-Tsin. All the nations had sent warships up to the Gulf of Pechili, and from these were landed a force of twenty-five hundred marines and soldiers, under the general command of Admiral Seymour of the British Navy, he being the highest in rank of any of the officers present. With this force were one hundred marines from the United States cruiser Newark, under the command of Captain McCalla.

News had come that the legations at Pekin were in a state of siege, and that all the foreign ministers were either murdered or about to be slain, and that hundreds of foreigners were already dead; and the object of the expedition was to relieve those at the capital. But the force was altogether too small for the purpose in view. It was stopped long before Pekin was in sight, and escaped total annihilation only by what seemed almost a miracle.

On June 15 it was decided by several of the European powers that it would be necessary to take possession of the railroad station at Tongku, so that communications could be opened with the advancing army by rail. In the mean time a strong force of Boxers and Chinese troops had taken possession of the Taku forts. As this was a menace to the warships in the harbor, orders were served that the Chinese must vacate the forts, or they would be bombarded. The Chinese paid no attention to the orders.

The American warships had no authority to attack at that time, so the bombardment of the forts was conducted by the European gunboats, the cruisers finding the water too shallow for them. Three Russian, one British, one French, and one German craft took part in the engagement. One of the Russian boats was badly disabled, and the Allies lost twenty men killed and had over sixty wounded. The Chinese loss was over four hundred, and after seven hours’ fighting the forts were stormed by the sailors and the Celestials fled. During the engagement the American vessel Monocacy was struck, but the shot did little damage.

The taking of the Taku forts aroused the Chinese as never before; and a retreat was ordered to the Chinese quarter of Tien-Tsin, and from this territory began an active bombardment of the foreign quarter of the city. The fighting was now on in earnest, and where it would end no man or nation could tell.