TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.

All changes noted in the [ERRATA] at the back of the book have been applied to the etext. Each change is indicated by a dotted gray underline.

Some minor changes to the text are noted at the [end of the book.] These are indicated by a dashed blue underline.

THE WORLD’S NAVIES IN THE
BOXER REBELLION
(CHINA 1900)

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Repairing the Line outside Tientsin.

[facing page 72.

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.

Seymour’s Column—Armoured Truck with Railway Coolies.

[facing page 77.

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.

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.

Royal Welsh Fusiliers leaving H.M.S. “Terrible” on board the “Fame.”

[Page 100.

Author and Detachment from H.M.S. “Barfleur” for Duty in Tientsin.

[page 100.

“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.

“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.

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.

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.