Captain Stewart of the _Algerine_--Lieutenant-Commanders McKenzie
and Keyes--Commander Lanz of the _Iltis_--German shells for German
ships--Excellent practice of Chinese gunners--Inside the forts--A
characteristic letter--The journey by water from Taku to Tientsin--At
Tong-ku--Cossacks--Columns of black smoke.
The behaviour of Captain Stewart, of the _Algerine_, and
Lieutenant-Commanders McKenzie and Keyes, all three of the British
Navy, was magnificent, and elicited admiration from all sides.
Commander Lanz, too, of the German gunboat _Iltis_, behaved heroically
at the attack, receiving a severe wound in the leg, and twenty-five
other small wounds from splinters of shell and wood. The _Iltis_
herself, a gunboat of 900 tons, was hit by seventeen shells and one
shrapnel. It was evident, from the number of shots which struck her
funnel, that the Chinese were striving hard to send a shell through her
boilers. This they also tried to do with other gunboats, as we have
seen in the case of the _Whiting_. Curiously enough, according to an
interview with Captain Lanz, published in Japan, it appears that all
the shells that hit the _Iltis_ had been made in Germany, and were
fired from Krupp guns, of course of German manufacture.
The Chinese soldiers made excellent practice with their guns,
especially at the beginning of the fight, and their rifle fire was
also accurate, until the Allies got to close quarters. Possibly they
had previously measured the distances along the river, a course which
greatly helped them in obtaining the accurate range.
The outward appearance of the forts was not much changed by the
battle, for the effect of the shells on the earthworks could not be
distinguished except on close inspection. On entering the forts,
the case was somewhat different; the various buildings, sheds,
cannon--everything was wrecked and smashed, and every place was filled
by the mutilated bodies of men and horses, gashed in a fearful manner.
Rifles, spears, swords and drums, and thousands of cartridges, full and
empty, lay about on the ground. The dead bodies were invariably found
thickest near the big guns.
The effect of the shelling from the gunboats was appalling. Although
the forts fell in a few hours, the officers present in the fight were
unanimous in their praise of the unexpected way in which the Chinese
had defended themselves.
It is only fair to publish part of the official report written by
Commander Wise, of the _Monocacy_, to the United States Admiral Kempff.
The letter is perhaps somewhat vague in its construction, and
thoroughly characteristic in its American save-time style. It is
pleasant to notice that, whatever the orders from their Government in
the matter of co-operating in the engagement at Taku, the feelings of
the United States officers themselves on the gunboat did not differ
from those of all the other officers of the Allies.
[Sidenote: COMMANDER WISE’S LETTER]
“I was able to render the following assistance:
“First. A party of thirty-seven ladies and children, refugees from
the mission at Taku, who had fled hurriedly on the notification of
the bombardment. They came aboard last night at 9 +P.M.+, and are
still with me.
“Secondly. Also came two officers of H.M.S. _Barfleur_, who had come
down from Tientsin too late to get any English ship.
“Thirdly. As I was coming down river at 6 +A.M.+, an English
torpedo-boat towing a Chinese boat prize. I had not a small boat
to make a landing, so I sent the launch to run her line ashore,
for which thanks have been returned. I have taken on board and had
surgical attendance for the following: a Japanese soldier, with a
gunshot wound; a Chinese coolie, found close to the ship with arm
torn off by fragment of shell; a Russian soldier, with wound in the
hand.
“This place is deserted by every one; no trains, no telegraphic
communication on shore; but I had a ’phone from Mr. Pottengill, who
reports all quiet since first disturbance. I know nothing of the
fight, except that the forts were taken. I feel a natural regret,
shared no doubt by the officers, that duty and orders prevented the
old _Monocacy_ from giving her ancient smooth-bores a last chance.
“Very respectfully,
“+F. M. Wise+,
“Commander U.S. Navy, commanding.
“To the Second in Command,
U.S. Naval Forces on Asiatic Station.”
The journey by water from Taku to Tientsin was safe enough, except
that the people along the banks were continually sniping at the tugs,
and that on nearing Tientsin occasional shells burst on board. On one
occasion a shell burst in the stomach of a poor bluejacket, who was
peacefully talking to a friend, with the result that, when the smoke
vanished, there was not much left of the stomach nor of the friend.
The steam tugs plying between the two places were furnished with a
Maxim or a Colt automatic gun, which was freely used on the Chinamen
when any came in sight.
The trip up the Pei-ho was at no time a pleasant one between the
uninteresting, flat, muddy banks, of something in colour between a
ghastly raw sienna and a dirty grey. To the lack of beauty in the
scenery was now added the profusion of dead bodies, swollen to double
their normal proportions, and in a state of advanced decomposition,
which were floating down the river or had stuck in the mud close to the
banks. Dogs were tearing away at them, fighting among themselves over
the human meal. It was not a pretty sight, and made some people quite
sick.
At Tong-ku itself, the Pei-ho was alive with craft of all
kinds--gunboats, torpedo-boats, tugs, confiscated lighters and
junks--while the banks of the river swarmed with soldiers and sailors
of all nations. The Japanese, the British and Americans presented a
very smart and business-like appearance, the little fellows of Nippon
being fitted out in the most perfect manner. The Russians had landed in
great numbers. One could not help being struck at first sight by the
excellent condition of these extraordinarily sturdy men. Both officers
and men impressed one as being fellows with whom it would be preferable
to be at peace rather than at war, but in good manners and politeness,
too, they were second to none.
All the way up to Tientsin one saw squads of Cossacks riding their
ponies with characteristic long-stirruped saddles, and they seemed to
take special delight in setting villages on fire, especially when the
Chinese deserved it, as in one particular case which came under my
observation.
[Sidenote: DESOLATION]
The Chinese, who were being kindly treated, were cowardly enough
to murder two Russian officers who were purchasing food from them,
and whose bodies they afterwards mutilated. A party of Cossacks was
sent out at once to raze the village to the ground, a proceeding
which cannot fairly be blamed. The Russian knows only too well that
diplomatic representations to the Chinese are mere nonsense, as indeed
is the case with regard to almost all Asiatics. Force and fear are the
only things that count.
As we steamed up the river, high columns of black smoke rose
everywhere, on the right bank of the stream especially, whole villages
flaring up, set in flames by the Chinese or the Allies. It was a sight
of heartbreaking desolation, yet it was nothing to the spectacle that
lay before us when we reached Tientsin settlement.
What a sight! Houses destroyed by fire, others still burning, others
again in ruins. Walls and roofs pierced by shells; doors and windows
shattered; every street along the Bund and the Bund itself barricaded
with sand-bags, bales of cotton and wool, and furniture piled up high
to serve as cover.
There was no Chinese coolie to help one on with one’s luggage on
landing, and the new-comers, while struggling to land their heavy
baggage, had the additional excitement of being sniped at by Chinese
from the other side of the stream. I do not think the Chinese were ever
known to hit anybody in the course of this particular amusement of
theirs.