THE STORY OF THE SIEGE
After a short rest Sandwich continued his story.
“All day the Chinese kept coming up to our barricade. Many of them
got upon the roofs of the houses near and called out to us professing
friendship, and we were obliged to put up sign–boards, warning them in
Chinese against approaching too near to our outposts. Evidently the
soldiers themselves believed that there was an end to fighting, for
some of them actually sold their rifles and ammunition to the Japanese
at fifteen dollars apiece. Letters again passed between us and the
Chinese. Mr. Conger was allowed to send out a message in cypher. He
said that we had been besieged over a month, and that, unless strong
measures were taken at once, we were all in danger of being massacred.”
“Well, that message really did get through,” Rex said. “It was the
first positive information that was received in Tientsin that the
Legations still held out. So convinced were the military authorities
that the Legations had fallen that there was no talk of sending a
relief party, and it was proposed to wait till an army forty thousand
or fifty thousand strong was collected. However, the receipt of
Congerʼs message made a great stir, and, as I told you, Gaselee and
Chaffee said that the English and Americans would go on whether the
others did or not, with the result that things were really pushed on in
earnest from that moment.”
“The generals had no idea of the stuff we were made of,” said
Sandwich. “However, to continue my story. The Chinese now requested
that the foreign troops should stop hostilities and abandon the Tartar
Wall. To this Sir Claude Macdonald replied by a recital of the events
of the past month, and said that he could not retire from the wall,
as the Chinese had repeatedly used it as a vantage–ground from which
to attack us. He repeated his assurance that the Chinese would not be
fired upon unless they first attacked us, and he added a request that
vendors of fruit and ice should be granted leave to sell their wares to
us.
“We had all still very great doubts as to whether this state of things
would continue, and the next morning there was a general expectation
that fighting would again begin. The Chinese soldiers, however,
fearlessly approached our barricades, showing an absolute confidence
that we should observe the truce. One of their wounded soldiers
actually came in and had his wound dressed by the foreign doctor.”
“During the day a secretary arrived from the yamen to interview
the Ministers. He was received outside the gate. He said that the
government wished to protect foreigners, and that the German Ministerʼs
body had been recovered from the hands of those people who had murdered
him and enclosed in a valuable coffin.
“On that day a Chinaman who had been sent into the city returned with
the news that General Nieh was dead, and that on July 14th the foreign
troops took the native city at Tientsin. This news was duly posted.
No doubt was felt that the armistice was the result of the capture of
Tientsin. That completely explained matters. It had evidently been
regarded as certain that the Chinese troops at Tientsin would be able
to hold that city against all attacks, and prevent any foreign troops
from moving up towards Pekin. It must have been a frightful blow to
them to learn that a place which they considered impregnable had been
captured after but one dayʼs fighting. It must have been an awful facer
for Prince Tung and the war party, and Ching and the moderates had
evidently again come to the front.
“The armistice continued. A few Chinese came in every day with eggs to
sell, which they generally brought hidden in their clothes, declaring
that some people had been beheaded for dealing with us. As, however,
they continued to come, this was considered only as a device for
raising the price. The eggs were a great boon to the besieged, for
many of the children suffered greatly from want of proper nourishment.
Twice the yamen sent in a present of fruit and vegetables. These were
an immense treat, and were divided with scrupulous fairness. Each time
two melons fell to our share, and were eaten with solemn and almost
religious state. It was something like what I have heard takes place
when a party of connoisseurs assemble to discuss two or three bottles
of Imperial Tokay of a famous year.
“But while this curious interlude lasted occasional shots were fired
at us, and several men were wounded. The Chinese, moreover, though
apparently so friendly, continued to strengthen and enlarge their
barricades, and it was unsafe to move across open spaces in the
defended quarter.
“Now that our anxiety on our own account had lessened, we had time to
think of the defenders of the French cathedral. It was evident that the
armistice that we were enjoying was not shared by them, for from time
to time we could hear outbursts of distant firing. The French Minister
had endeavoured in vain to communicate with his countrymen, and beyond
the fact that they still held out we knew nothing. Meanwhile letters
were constantly received from the yamen, all urging us to leave the
city and to retire to Tientsin, or at least to give up the Christian
refugees. To these requests answers were returned in language of
the greatest moderation, explaining the difficulties of the course,
pointing out that the attacks on the French cathedral continued, and
that shots were frequently fired on the Legation; never positively
refusing to do as the Chinese wished, but always making excuses for not
doing so. This method was in so far successful that the negotiations
were kept up until the allied army were within a dayʼs march of the
city.
“On July 27 the yamen tried to induce the Ministers to send all the
Chinese converts out of the Legations. Pekin, they said, was perfectly
peaceful, and as so large a number of converts crowded into so small a
space in the hot weather must be causing us considerable inconvenience,
they advised that they should now return to their homes in peace and
resume their usual occupations. As the coolies, however, had rendered
invaluable service during the siege, exposing themselves frequently to
danger and labouring with unwavering zeal until evidently exhausted, it
was, of course, out of the question that they could be abandoned, and
the chief replied that as shots were still fired into the Legations,
and the North Cathedral was still being attacked, he could not
understand the assertions of the yamen that it would be safe for the
Christians to leave the Legations, and asked for further information.
“The time passed very slowly with us. Colonel Shiba had bribed one
of the Imperial guards and he supplied us daily with news, which
afterwards turned out to be a pack of lies. On July 26th he reported
that the allied troops had reached Yang–Tsun on the eighteenth, and
that on the twenty–fourth they had fought a battle ten miles south of
Tsai–Tsun in which the Boxers were defeated. On the twenty–fifth the
force was at Ho–Hsi–Wu and had fought a battle lasting five hours, the
Chinese losing in killed and wounded twelve hundred men. Reports on
the twenty–seventh confirmed that news and said that there was a panic
at Tung–Chow. All this of course caused a lot of excitement, but on the
twenty–eighth a rumour spread through the Legations that a messenger
had arrived with a letter from the British Consul at Tientsin. Of
course everyone went to the Bell Tower to hear the contents of this
letter. It said that twenty–four thousand troops had landed and that
there were nineteen thousand at Tientsin, that the Boxer power had
exploded there and that there were plenty of troops on the way if we
could keep ourselves in food. You never saw such a mad crowd as were
assembled on that tower. Here were we expecting to be relieved in two
or three days, and now no one could say when the relief would arrive.
The abuse poured on the British consul was absolutely unbounded. We
afterwards learned that we had reasons to be grateful rather than
the reverse. Had he told us the truth, that the officers at Tientsin
were at that moment actually discussing whether it was possible to
make any advance until the rainy season was over, had he sent this
news, there is no saying what would have happened. The disappointment
would have been so great that we should probably have attempted some
desperate action, with the result that all the Europeans would have
been massacred and also the Christian Chinese, to whom the handful of
fighting–men available would have been absolutely unable to afford
protection. Fortunately, however, we did not know this, and spent our
indignation upon the unfortunate consul, who, I hope, is none the worse
for the objurgations heaped upon his head.
“But though the disappointment was great, the news woke us up, and an
order was at once issued for every household to send in a list of all
the stores in its possession, of tea, sugar, white rice, and other
luxuries. Up to that time, as you know, only rice, flour, and meat had
been supplied from the general store, every household having used what
it had collected at the beginning of the siege.
“On the same day the Chinese government issued an edict condemning
two of the progressive members of the yamen to death. There was some
fighting also, the Chinese persisting in erecting barricades across
the north bridge, which enabled them to enfilade the canal. We did not
succeed in preventing them from doing this. All sorts of rumours came
in, but what they all meant no one could tell; some of the reports
were of the wildest nature. The only certain news we got was that
portions of the regular army had left, to aid in repulsing the relief
column. Another effort was made by the Chinese to get Sir Robert Hart
to telegraph to reassure the Foreign Minister as to the situation in
Pekin. This he refused to do, as such reassuring news might induce
them to pause before sending out a relief force. On the 1st of August
Colonel Shiba received a letter from Tientsin which changed the whole
aspect of affairs. It was dated Tientsin, and said that the advance of
the troops was delayed by difficulties of transport, but that the start
would be made in two or three days.
“During all this time we had not been idle. We had strengthened the
wall round the Legation and had dug a deep trench inside the west wall,
to cut any mines that the Chinese might attempt to drive from that
quarter. We omitted one spot, however—the kitchen of the studentsʼ
mess—and it was precisely at this spot that the Chinese afterwards
drove a mine. One of the customs staff declared that he heard men
digging in that quarter, but no one believed him, Another defensive
measure was the occupying and barricading of the ruins of the houses on
the Legation side of the market. A mail came in with several letters
on the 2nd of August. The reports were contradictory, but it really
seemed that the column was at last starting. The supplies had been
all stopped now and we were beginning to feel famine, especially the
Christian Chinese, who were fed on a mixture of a little grain, chopped
straw, and other fodder. It was a very bad time. Except the building
of the new defences there was nothing to be done. A good deal of
sharp–shooting was kept up, but the want of work made the delay hard
to bear. The nurses were now suffering from sickness brought on from
overwork.
“At five oʼclock on August 10th a messenger arrived bearing letters
from General Gaselee to Sir Claude and from General Fukushima for
Colonel Shiba. Both letters were very brief. They were dated August
8. ʻA strong force of allies is advancing,ʼ one said, ʻtwice defeated
enemy. Keep up your spirits.ʼ The other confirmed this news, and
mentioned the thirteenth or fourteenth as the probable date of their
arrival at Pekin.
“You may imagine the enthusiasm that this news excited. It was the
first intimation we had received that the column had left Tientsin. The
attacks now became much more vigorous, and on the eleventh the attack
on the French and German Legations was more severe than anything we had
experienced. The attack on the Mongol Market was also very warm. And
all the time this was going on, the Chinese government were writing
letters complaining of the attacks made upon them by the defenders.
Towards evening the firing became even more furious; there was a
general call to arms, and every man turned out. The fusillade died away
a little at midnight. At half–past two the boom of heavy guns and the
rattle of musketry were heard, and every man and woman in the Legation
got up to hear the welcome sound which told that the relief force had
arrived outside the city.”
“The enemy then made a last desperate attack. Everyone rushed to his
post again, but although the firing was tremendous and we could hear
the Chinese officers shouting to their men to charge, nothing came
of it, and towards morning the fire died away to the usual desultory
sniping. Everyone remained in a state of expectancy until, as you know,
at two oʼclock the troops made their entry. There, I think, Bateman, I
have given you a very full account, and shall expect as detailed a one
from you.”
“You certainly deserve it,” Rex said with a laugh, and he then told
in full detail the story of his entry into Tientsin, the situation
there, the account he had received of the taking of the Taku Forts,
the defence of the city, the capture of Tientsin, and the march of the
relief column. “There,” he said when he concluded, “I think we have
both a pretty good idea of what has taken place since we last met.
Now I must go out and see for myself the points where the fighting
has been fiercest.” Wandering about, Rex learned more of the fighting
of the past two days. The fire kept up was something tremendous, but
the Chinese troops could not be persuaded to leave their shelters.
Their officers in vain shouted: “We are many, they are a mere handful;
come on!” But the soldiers shouted back in return: “No good.” Every
word could be plainly heard, for the barricades held by the Customs
volunteers in the Mongol Market were only ten or fifteen yards from the
Chinese. In the Fu the same thing was going on. Positions held by the
Italians and Japs were each of them only twenty yards, and the extreme
outpost held by Customs volunteers was but ten yards, from the Chinese
barricades.
In the Fu they had hit on a happy expedient. They got a huge supply of
empty petroleum–tins, and when the Chinese attack was at its hottest,
they set the Christian Chinese to hammer on them with sticks. The
din was something tremendous, and the Italians added to it with wild
shouts. Astounded at this terrible uproar, and ignorant of what new
weapon of destruction was being brought against them, the Chinese fire
dropped at once, and did not reopen for some time.
In the Mongol Market five Customs volunteers stood behind their
loopholes, close up to the Chinese position, and as they watched
the Chinese officers trying in vain to urge their men forward, they
chaffed them with invitations to come in and see the place, and then,
when they did not come, advised them to go home and nurse the babies.
Nevertheless, fighting with the enemy both in the Fu and in the Mongol
Market was a matter of grim earnest. If the barricades there had
been carried, those positions must also have been abandoned, and all
communication between the British and Russian Legations would have been
cut off.
The morning after the troops entered, two mines heavily charged were
fired. If the troops had been one day later, there is no saying what
the consequences might have been. All with whom Rex had chatted were of
opinion that the Chinese were deterred from attacking, not by our rifle
fire, but by a superstitious fear that we were keeping some secret
means of destruction in reserve. Whether it was that we had mined the
ground everywhere, and would blow them all into the air as soon as they
crossed our barricades, or whether they feared some unknown, but even
more terrible form of death, could not be said, but the men who were
ready to endure the deadly fire of our rifles could not be got to make
a rush against a position where only some fifteen or twenty men faced
them. The Chinese kept up their straggling fire all day, and among
others one English lady was hit in the arm, this being the first time
that a woman had been struck since the siege began. Rex learned that
out of a total strength of nineteen officers and three hundred and
eighty–eight men, including volunteers, thirteen officers were killed
and wounded, and sixty–seven men killed and a hundred and sixty–seven
wounded. Fighting still went on, but great surprise was expressed
that the French did not make any attempt to go to the relief of their
countrymen in the North Cathedral.
In the evening, Rex went into the Fu, where the Japanese were for the
most part quartered, and enquired of General Fukushima if there was
anything that he could do.
“No, I do not think there is anything at present. When we once get out
into the city I shall be very glad of your services again. You can, if
you like, go with a force I am sending out in the morning to relieve
the French missionaries. We know they must be in extreme danger, and
it would be a scandal if we allowed them to be massacred after we have
entered the city.”
Accordingly the next morning Rex started with the Japanese. They made
a long detour and approached the cathedral from the other side. They
attacked and drove off the Chinese on that side and really raised the
siege, but at the same time they heard heavy firing on the other side,
and found that the French and Russians had arrived there. Fukushima
therefore halted his men, being willing to give the French the
opportunity of being the first to relieve their countrymen.
The garrison had had indeed a terrible time, and in spite of the entry
of the allied force, the attack had been maintained up to the very
moment of their relief. The Japanese had met with resistance on coming
through the gate that separated the cathedral quarter from the palace
of the Empress. Here they came upon a number of Boxers, who were so
occupied by their attack upon the cathedral that they had scarcely
noticed the arrival of the relieving force. Taken by surprise, a
good many of them were hemmed in, and a machine–gun was trained upon
them with terrible effect. Fighting was kept up through the various
streets, and continued until they reached the cathedral. The garrison
at first refused to admit this unknown band of swarthy warriors, and
some explanations had to be exchanged before they could be brought to
understand that they had been relieved.
The Catholics would never have remained in possession of the cathedral
had not the Chinese municipal officers assured them that they would
be altogether undisturbed. When the Boxers first appeared near the
cathedral, the governor asserted that he had special orders to protect
the cathedral. The regular troops there consisted only of thirty French
and twelve Italian marines, who at the last moment, when the danger of
the situation could no longer be winked at, had been spared from the
slender garrison of the Legations to aid in the defence. This was the
force that was called upon to defend the circuit of the walls of the
great French establishment, whose circumference amounted to nearly a
mile. Within this circle there were no fewer than three thousand five
hundred people, the larger portion of whom consisted of children from
the orphanages. The adults were formed by the fathers into a body,
and armed with spears made by fastening knives to the ends of long
poles. The eight muskets, which were all the firearms they had, were
distributed among the different sections.
The Chinese authorities threw off the mask on the 10th of June, and on
that day the Chinese regulars and Boxers surrounded the place, cut the
telegraph wires, and completely isolated it.
At the head of the defence was Mgr. Favier, the heroic bishop, who
by his courage, self–devotion, and zeal, kept up the spirits of the
defenders through the darkest days of the siege. He was the soul of
the resistance. Under him were six priests, who organized the work of
defence and set a noble example to the others. The converts were set
to work with pick and spade to assist in the defence, and the whole
defensible area was quickly surrounded with trenches and barricades.
Ammunition was unfortunately very short, but the priests set some
of the converts to manufacture powder and bullets. The shot was not
difficult to make, as lead and pewter could be obtained from the roofs
and vessels, but both sulphur and charcoal were very scarce. After
many failures, however, some thousands of rounds were manufactured.
These would have been of no use for distant fighting, but they were
sufficient for what at times was almost hand–to–hand work.
The Boxers burnt all the houses in the neighbourhood, threw inflammable
pots into the convent and upon the roof of the cathedral, and
maintained a continuous fire of musketry and artillery. Fortunately the
fire was principally directed against the cathedral, and though that
building was sorely battered, but little harm was done to the defenders.
Continual messages were shouted to the converts calling upon them to
come out. One note, which was thrown into the trenches on an arrow, ran
as follows: “You Christians shut up in the Peitang, reduced to die in
misery, eating the leaves of trees, why do you so obstinately resist?
We have cannon and mines, and can blow you all up in no time. You are
deceived by the devils of Europe. Return to the ancient religion of the
Fu, hand over Mgr. Favier and the rest, and your lives shall be saved
and we will supply you with food. If you do not do this, your women and
children will be cut to pieces.”
But although these attempts continued throughout the siege not one of
the converts evinced the slightest desire to give in. The worst form
of attack was that of mining. The enemy successfully exploded one huge
mine, blowing up several buildings, and killing no fewer than eighty
children and injuring a still greater number. Four tons of gunpowder
were said to have been used, and the result was a huge round hole
like the crater of a small volcano, measuring in diameter, from bank
to bank, fully ninety feet. Even this did not shake the courage of
the defenders, but it warned them of what they had to expect, and all
available hands were at once set to work digging very deep trenches to
prevent the Chinese from mining under the buildings. In spite of these
efforts, however, four mines were exploded inside the compound, but
another, which would have been almost as formidable as the first, was
prevented from doing the damage that it would otherwise have done by
one of the other trenches, though over seventy people were injured by
the explosion.
Several other mines besides those exploded were met by countermines
driven by the besieged. One mine, however, had escaped observation.
This was driven under the foundations of the cathedral, and had the
relief been delayed but a day or two longer it would have been fired
and would probably have caused the death of a vast number of people,
for the building was throughout the siege used as a hospital.
Towards the end of the siege the garrison was greatly annoyed by
rockets. These were fired by an ingenious gun, and directed by the
Chinese themselves. They rendered any passage across the enclosure
dangerous, and set fire to many buildings. Once a brilliant sortie was
organized and carried out by the handful of marines and a number of
spear–armed converts. They succeeded in capturing a field–piece and
some ammunition, the latter being invaluable during the siege.
But the greatest enemy with whom the garrison had to contend was
hunger. Gradually the ration of rice served out to the converts was
reduced, and at the end, although but two ounces of rice was all that
could be allowed to the Chinese converts, even this would have failed
in the course of another two or three days. This miserable ration was
eked out in every way. Every green thing, every blade of grass, was
pulled up, cooked, and eaten. The last few starving animals, before
they were killed, had stripped the bark off the trees as high as they
could reach.
The little party of marines had lost heavily. The captain had been
killed early in the siege. The lieutenant fell on the 30th of July. He
was but twenty–three, but his cheerfulness and devotion had done much
to maintain the spirits of the besieged. He had worked night and day,
and his death caused the deepest regret among the garrison. Eleven of
the soldiers were also killed and most of the others were wounded.
Mgr. Favier wrote: “We wept but once during the siege, and it was on
this day. So terrible was the pinch of hunger that half–wild dogs which
fell upon the dead Boxers lying round the entrenchments were killed and
eaten.” The suffering was so great that one has to go back to the siege
of Leyden for a parallel. The defenders, when relief arrived, were
almost skeletons, living spectres scarce able to drag themselves along,
and their rescuers, on viewing the shattered defences, the numerous
pits made by the exploded mines, and the worn and pallid forms of the
defenders, were astonished that they had been able to hold out so long
against a horde of well–armed and determined assailants. Gallant as was
the defence of the Legations, there could be no doubt whatever that it
was as nothing compared with that of the cathedral.
As things began to settle down a little the pressure in the Legations
was relaxed, the Chinese converts in the Fu and in the British Legation
moved out and established themselves in the deserted houses near.
Supplies began to come in, especially to the British Legation, where
the natives quickly learned that they would be fairly treated. The
Japanese were also well supplied, but no native would enter the Russian
quarter. The attempts of Russia to pose now as the friend of China
were wholly fruitless. Putting aside the atrocities the Russians had
committed there, the natives had become well aware of the horrible
massacres they had perpetrated in Manchuria, and their occupation of
that province had excited so deep a feeling of animosity that even had
their behaviour been good at Pekin they would still have been regarded
with the greatest mistrust.