With the Allies to Pekin: A Tale of the Relief of the Legations

by G. A. Henty

“Yes, it was very severe. As far as actual fighting went, you were not in it here at all. For eight or nine days we were bombarded by any number of guns. The French settlement, which was nearest to the enemy, may be said to have been completely destroyed, the cathedral and mission–houses burned, and the rest of the houses practically knocked to pieces. Our quarters were pounded pretty heavily, but not to the same extent. We were exposed to a continuous fire from the ruins of the Chinese college on the other side of the river, and from all the houses that remained on that side. Of course we had barricades erected at the ends of all the streets, but nevertheless it was not altogether pleasant to walk about in the showers of bullets and shot and shell which came practically from all directions. The hottest fighting was at the railway–station, where it went on night and day.

“Well, when large reinforcements came up, we took the offensive. The Russians and French did not do much, but the Japs, the Americans, and our fellows had some very hard work. At the end of the first day things looked pretty bad. We were established in the suburb outside the town, but farther than that we could not get, and indeed there was some question whether we should not fall back after dark. This, however, was negatived, but that it should have been even proposed showed that we were really in a tight place. Fortunately, during the night the same question was discussed by the Chinese, and they concluded that as it was evident that we did not intend to go they had better do so, and the greater portion of them accordingly marched away. In the morning we carried the gate between us, the Japs doing most of the fighting, and as soon as we were in, the Chinese bolted like sheep.

“We found that our artillery fire had been most destructive in the town, and that a large portion of the place was in ruins. This, however, was principally the work of the Chinese themselves, who, during the first stage of the affair, acted like madmen. No one knows how many of the people suspected of being friendly to us were massacred; some put it at tens of thousands. At any rate, it was a great many thousands, and the river was literally full of corpses. Besides killing these people they sacked and set fire to their houses, and this way an enormous amount of damage was done.

“The allies, it must be confessed, did a lot of looting. The Japs, all agreed, behaved best; we and the Americans very fairly; but the Russians, who had done practically nothing towards the taking of the town, acted in a most brutal way. Moreover, they actually wanted one of their number appointed governor. Fortunately, the other Powers would not agree to this, and in the end a commission of three—a Russian, a Jap, and an Englishman—were appointed to manage things. A lot of the Chinese were enlisted as policemen, and in a day or two the place, which was littered with dead, was got into some sort of order. If this had not been done, there certainly would have been a pestilence.”

“But what about Seymourʼs force?”

“They had to fight their way back, and were getting into great straits for provisions, when, luckily enough, by a sudden attack, they captured the arsenal of Hsi–Ku, five miles north of the native town. Here they found a tremendous quantity of weapons and stores, and a big supply of rice, and although the Chinese tried to recapture the place, they were able to hold it without much difficulty until, when the reinforcements came up from the sea, a strong body went out and relieved them. They could hardly have fought their way down without aid, for they had some hundreds of wounded, and a large number of the fighting–men would have been required to carry them.”

“And how about the capture of the Taku Forts?”

“Well, I will tell you all about that later. Of course, I did not see that; we were cut off from the sea for some days.”

“And what were you doing all that time?”

“I joined the volunteers—every able–bodied man did so—and helped in beating off several attacks on the barrier. I also had a part in some of the fighting at the railway–station, which was about the hottest thing in the whole affair; indeed, we were only saved by the fortunate arrival of a party of Sikhs who came out to take the place of the garrison, and even with their aid it was a close thing, for the Boxers fought with the greatest pluck, and even crossed bayonets with us.