WHAT CAUSED THE WAR
In this tale of a young soldier’s experiences during the American
army’s first campaign in China, it is not my intention to go into the
details of all that led up to the terrible outbreak in the Celestial
Empire,--an outbreak which will probably be known as the Boxers’
Uprising of 1900. Yet it will be well for us to glance over some of the
events which had occurred immediately before the sailing of the troops
from Manila, in order to understand the situation as Gilbert and his
fellow-soldiers found it, on their arrival at Taku.
The real trouble dated back to years before, when China and Japan went
to war, the result of which was that China lost her ancient dependency
of Korea; and a general “mix up” resulted in Japan taking the island of
Formosa, and Russia taking Manchuria, Port Arthur, and other strategic
points. This was followed by England’s occupation of Wei-Hai-Wei, and
Germany’s seizure of Kaio-Chau. And then these powers and others went
even further, by establishing what were known as Spheres of Influence
throughout the Celestial Kingdom.
In the past China had lost ground only in her outlying districts or
territories. Now one of her original eighteen provinces was opened to
the foreigners; and probably the Chinese felt as Americans might have
felt had somebody tampered with the rights of the citizens living in
one of our thirteen original States. Railroads were built against the
Chinese will; and, because of resistance to the workers on the roads,
two whole Chinese villages were razed, and the inhabitants driven
forth, homeless.
The anti-foreign feeling had been strong; and now, as the Chinese
saw the Europeans gradually closing down upon them, with here and
there a number of Americans as well, the feeling against the “foreign
devils”--as all people of white skin are called--grew hotter and hotter.
The missionaries were the first to feel the pressure brought to bear
by the Boxers, who, in secret conclave, determined that all foreigners
must either be driven from the country or slain. Notices were posted
on the churches and houses, ordering the missionaries to depart within
a week or a moon or three moons, under penalty of death; and all
merchants, traders, and travellers were also warned to leave.
A few paid heed to these warnings; but the majority decided that they
had a right to stay, and remained. They had been guaranteed protection
by the Chinese government, under treaties made with their home
governments; and the missionaries were also promised protection by the
Chinamen they had converted. But, when the storm broke, the converted
Chinamen suffered as much as did those who had converted them.
What led to the first fight of 1900 it would be hard to say; but the
troubles began early in the year, when Dr. Brooks, who had sheltered
the German engineer for whom the Chinese were searching in his house,
was murdered on January 2. This act was quickly followed by the slaying
of a number of other missionaries and of foreigners generally, until
by May the whole civilized world woke up to the fact that no white
people in China would be safe unless they were defended by their own
countrymen. The Chinese government could not suppress the Boxer
movement, even if it felt so inclined, which was doubtful.
The greatest uprising was in the provinces of Pechili and Shantung,
situated in the extreme east of the empire, on the Yellow Sea and the
Gulf of Pechili. Here the Pei-Ho (Ho means river) empties into the
gulf, with the forts of Taku on one side and the village of Tongku on
the other. Back of the Taku forts is Taku village, and twenty-seven
miles up the stream lies the important city of Tien-Tsin. From
Tien-Tsin to Pekin is about eighty miles, but navigation on the river
does not extend the entire distance.
Finding that they could not hold their own in the villages in which
they were located, missionaries and other foreigners in and around
Pekin and Tien-Tsin gradually congregated in the cities named, under
the protection of their home consuls, until the various American,
English, German, French, Italian, and other foreign legations became
crowded with people all clamoring for aid, with Boxers on the outside
howling that they be driven out or slain. By June 1 matters had reached
an acute stage; and the outside powers felt that something must be
done, or China would witness one of the most barbarous slaughters in
the annals of history. No war was declared on China; but the government
was given to understand that each outside nation intended to rescue its
own people, no matter at what cost.
The first movement of the foreign nations, or the Allies, as they were
termed, was from Tien-Tsin. All the nations had sent warships up to
the Gulf of Pechili, and from these were landed a force of twenty-five
hundred marines and soldiers, under the general command of Admiral
Seymour of the British Navy, he being the highest in rank of any of the
officers present. With this force were one hundred marines from the
United States cruiser _Newark_, under the command of Captain McCalla.
News had come that the legations at Pekin were in a state of siege,
and that all the foreign ministers were either murdered or about to
be slain, and that hundreds of foreigners were already dead; and the
object of the expedition was to relieve those at the capital. But the
force was altogether too small for the purpose in view. It was stopped
long before Pekin was in sight, and escaped total annihilation only by
what seemed almost a miracle.
On June 15 it was decided by several of the European powers that it
would be necessary to take possession of the railroad station at
Tongku, so that communications could be opened with the advancing army
by rail. In the mean time a strong force of Boxers and Chinese troops
had taken possession of the Taku forts. As this was a menace to the
warships in the harbor, orders were served that the Chinese must vacate
the forts, or they would be bombarded. The Chinese paid no attention to
the orders.
The American warships had no authority to attack at that time, so the
bombardment of the forts was conducted by the European gunboats, the
cruisers finding the water too shallow for them. Three Russian, one
British, one French, and one German craft took part in the engagement.
One of the Russian boats was badly disabled, and the Allies lost twenty
men killed and had over sixty wounded. The Chinese loss was over four
hundred, and after seven hours’ fighting the forts were stormed by the
sailors and the Celestials fled. During the engagement the American
vessel _Monocacy_ was struck, but the shot did little damage.
The taking of the Taku forts aroused the Chinese as never before; and a
retreat was ordered to the Chinese quarter of Tien-Tsin, and from this
territory began an active bombardment of the foreign quarter of the
city. The fighting was now on in earnest, and where it would end no man
or nation could tell.
From Nagasaki the transport was to proceed to Taku, but further than
that no one on board knew; for the future movements of the troops would
depend entirely upon circumstances.
“We are out for some hot fighting, I am certain of that,” said Major
Morris to Gilbert, as the pair sat on the deck late on the afternoon of
the second day out from Manila. It was cloudy, and there was a breeze
blowing, which made it quite comfortable, considering they were in the
tropics.
“I believe you, major; and I’ve been wondering if it wouldn’t be a good
plan to put the boys through some drilling. They have been going it
rather as they pleased up at Tarlac.”
“The colonel says he will begin drilling to-morrow. He wishes the boys
to get their sea legs first.”
“I’ve been wondering how the Chinese are armed. Are they as backward
in that as in some other things?”
“Hardly. You see the war with Japan opened their eyes; and since that
time they have been drilling their soldiers under the directions of
European officers, and supplying them with the best rifles in the
market. I understand, too, that their forts are supplied with Krupp
guns.”
“Then we won’t have a walk-over.”
“By no means, and for two reasons. First they are well armed, and in
the second place there are so many of them that they may overpower the
Allies by mere force of numbers. Nothing is known of Admiral Seymour’s
relief party, and I shouldn’t be surprised if he and brave Captain
McCalla’s men had been annihilated.”
“Do you think we are bound for Tien-Tsin?”
“I think we are bound for the Pei-Ho. The government intends to get
into Pekin, and save Minister Conger and his legation, as well as the
other Americans. We may have a long fight to get there, though.”
“Somebody said there had been a good deal of fighting around Tien-Tsin
already.”
“I don’t doubt it; but you can’t believe all that is reported, for the
Chinese hold a good many lines of communication.”
“It looks to me as if China was defying the whole civilized world.”
“They don’t want our religion or our people, and they don’t want
us to come over there and show them how to do things and to make
improvements. They want to be left severely alone.”
“But we have lots of Chinamen in our country.”
“True enough; but the stay-at-home Celestial believes that his neighbor
ought to stay at home, too. The average Chinaman, so I’ve heard,
doesn’t believe in moving about; and millions of them have never been
fifty miles from home in their lives. They know absolutely nothing of
the outside world, and our civilization is a closed book to them.”
“Do you know how many troops the government intends to send to China?”
“I’ve heard that it is to be upward of ten thousand. General Chaffee
is to leave San Francisco with some troops soon,--or he has left
already,--and, when he arrives, he is to take command of the American
forces on land.”
“Why, I met General Chaffee in Cuba!” cried Gilbert. “He was one of the
leaders in the Santiago campaign.”
“Yes, and he is an old and experienced army officer to boot. I think he
will prove the right man in the right place.”
“He’s all right, I reckon,” put in a voice behind Gilbert at
this juncture. “Lieutenant, you didn’t expect to meet me as a
fellow-passenger, did you?”
The young lieutenant turned swiftly, for the voice had a familiar
sound. He was almost struck dumb to find himself face to face with
Nuggy Polk and his boon companion, Jerry Nickerson.