THE RELIEF OF ADMIRAL SEYMOUR’S PARTY
The transport carrying the regiment to which Gilbert was attached
arrived at Nagasaki on July 2. She dropped anchor in the place assigned
to her by the harbor-master, and her chief officer went ashore at once
for despatches.
The sights to be seen in the large harbor of the Japanese
sea-port interested Gilbert greatly. Strange craft were floating
there,--curiously carved junks with their huge, awkward sails, broad
merchantmen, and _cascoes_ filled with fruits and fish and other
commodities, all offered for sale to whoever might buy. Not far from
the transport lay the British torpedo-boat destroyer _Whiting_, having
on board a number of veteran soldiers from Ladysmith, South Africa,
men who had gone all through the terrible campaign against the Boers.
Russian, French, German, and Italian warships were also in evidence;
and the number of national flags floating there were a spectacle in
themselves.
“We have struck the Allies at last,” was Captain Banner’s comment. “I
have already counted ten different flags, not to mention the banners
belonging to the Japanese shipping.”
“Or the Banner we are carrying,” put in Major Morris, by way of a joke.
“Don’t, major! That pun on my name is old enough to vote,” answered the
captain of Company A.
“Then it is time it was buried,” said the major, promptly. “I’ll never
pun on your name again.” And he never did.
All the soldiers were anxious for news from shore; and this was not
long in coming, in the shape of newspapers, letters, and cablegrams.
“General Chaffee has left San Francisco with the first American troops
for China, on the transport _Grant_,” said one of the captains,
spreading the news. “He is coming direct to Nagasaki; and he will be
followed by four or five thousand other men, from Cuba, New York, and
elsewhere.”
The _Grant_ carried the Sixth United States Cavalry, eight hundred
strong, and about three hundred sailors and marines.
The news from the front was most conflicting. Admiral Seymour, in
command of the expedition which had gone to the relief of Pekin, was
rumored to be somewhere beyond Tien-Tsin, and surrounded by the enemy.
The foreign quarter of Tien-Tsin had been bombarded by the Boxers and
Chinese government troops for over a week after the taking of the Taku
forts, and the sufferings of the Americans and others had been almost
beyond belief. During the bombardment, women and children had been shut
up in Gordon Hall, and shot and shell had rained down on all sides. At
this time there was an American circus in the city; and the men of the
show took up rifles, buckled on cartridge belts, and went to the walls
with the few troops in the place, to hold the enemy in check.
The relief of Tien-Tsin was largely due to the efforts of one man to
get word of what was going on to the allied powers having warships and
soldiers in the Gulf of Pechili. When the bombardment of the foreign
quarter of the city was at its height, nine men from the various
legations took a boat and started for Taku for help. This boat was
attacked by the Chinese; and those in it had to run the craft ashore
and take to the bushes and woods, in order to escape with their lives.
In Tien-Tsin it was rumored that the nine men had been killed, and that
it would prove certain death to anybody undertaking to get through the
Chinese lines. Yet the task was undertaken by James Watts, a youth of
twenty-two, the son of a Taku pilot.
“I’ll get through, if it costs me everything but my life,” said young
Watts. “I’ve outwitted the Chinks before, and I can do it again.” He
left Tien-Tsin at nightfall on the swiftest horse the city possessed.
The ride was one long to be remembered; for it covered a distance of
forty to forty-five miles, through a territory thick with Boxers and
other Chinese, all anxious to take his life at sight. He left the
city with caution, but, once on the outskirts, rode with a dash and
daring that overcame many of the enemy with fright and surprise. Shots
innumerable were fired at him; but only one struck him, in the arm. He
was stopped six times, but in each instance literally rode over those
who sought to capture him.
When he arrived at Taku, he was ready to drop from exhaustion. But,
without waiting to obtain even necessary refreshments, he secured a
row-boat, and had some sailors take him out to the flagship of Admiral
Kempff of the United States Navy, to whom he told his story in detail.
Our admiral was quick to act on the information received, and word
was at once passed to the other warships and to the allied forces in
and around Taku and Tongku. A relief force was immediately organized,
consisting of four hundred Russian and one hundred American troops, the
latter under Major Waller.
The march of the relief force was steady, up the bank of the Pei-Ho,
but, as Tien-Tsin was neared, the resistance of the Chinese became
stronger; and on the second day out it looked as if the allied forces
would be surrounded and annihilated. But a force of one thousand
British troops came up soon after this, and after a hard fight the
relief guard entered the foreign quarter of Tien-Tsin.
This was as much as was known at Nagasaki when Gilbert arrived there;
but other movements of great importance had taken place, and some of
these were not yet finished. Arriving in Tien-Tsin, the relief column
discovered that Admiral Seymour’s command had only gotten to within
forty miles of Pekin, and had then had to retreat. Many of the number
would have been cut to pieces, had it not been for the bravery of the
American commander, Captain McCalla, and his fighting marines from the
_Newark_.
As soon after the entrance to Tien-Tsin had been made as possible,
another relief force went out from that city to look for Admiral
Seymour, this command being composed of some of the troops which had
just entered the city and some that had just come up from Taku. It
was reported that the Seymour party was intrenched nine miles from
Tien-Tsin. The relief force was less than two miles from Tien-Tsin,
when the Boxers hove in sight; and a desperate hand-to-hand encounter
ensued, in which many Russians and Japanese, as well as some Americans
and English, were killed. The Boxers were beaten, and fell back up the
river, where they were re-enforced by the Chinese regulars, and another
battle ensued. But the Allies were protected by the high railroad
embankment, and soon put the Chinese troops to flight by the accuracy
of their fire. After the contest, hundreds of lifeless Celestials were
found floating in the river.
The onward march of the relief column was now toward a large arsenal,
which, it was rumored, was filled with guns and ammunition. On sighting
the arsenal, it was discovered to be in the possession of the troops
under Admiral Seymour, who had taken it from the Chinese some days
before. The Celestials were doing their best to retake the buildings,
nine in number, when the relief column came up with a rush; and the
upholders of the Dragon were forced to withdraw, with another heavy
loss.
The new-comers were hailed with joy by those in the arsenal, who
had considered their position well-nigh hopeless, they having been
continually surrounded by large bodies of Chinese troops since the
start from Taku two weeks before. It was decided to abandon the arsenal
at once, and return to Tien-Tsin; and this was done, the building being
set on fire. Later on the Chinese tried to put out the fire, and many
were injured by the explosions of powder and dynamite which occurred.
“Do you know anything about the Chinese army,--I mean how it is
composed?” asked Gilbert of Captain Banner, as they continued to watch
the shipping in Nagasaki Harbor.
“I do, because that is another play on my name,” replied the commander
of Company A. “The Chinese army is made up of eight divisions, called
the Three Superior Banners and the Five Inferior Banners, and number
from two hundred thousand to three hundred thousand men. Each Banner
has ten army corps; and these are divided into _Lyanza_, of about two
hundred and fifty men each.”
“Then we have a pretty big crowd to whip,” was Gilbert’s comment.
“That is the Chinese army on paper. In reality, the standing army is
much smaller; for each viceroy of a province keeps as many troops as
suits him. The army is made up of the very scum of China, and a soldier
is an object of ridicule to the ordinary merchant or artisan.”
“I’ve heard that many Chinese officers go to war in their robes.”
“They do more than that,” put in an officer standing near. “They
take their big umbrellas as well, and on many a battlefield the head
officers have sat in the rear having tea served to them while the
fighting was going on. You see, there are so many of the pig-tails that
the slaughter of a few thousand of them now and then doesn’t disturb
those in authority in the least.”
“Sure, an’ that’s not encouragin’ fer us,” observed Dan Casey, who
stood by, drinking in the conversation with much interest.
“No; but I’ll tell you one thing, and that’s true,” said Captain
Banner. “I have it from a number of officers who have served in China.
The majority of the Chinamen rely on the signs they wear on their
breasts to protect them from the ‘foreign devils.’ When they see their
comrades shot down, regardless of these signs, nine out of ten throw
down their guns and take to their heels.”
“How many warships do you suppose are in these waters now?” said
Gilbert.
“Probably a hundred or more. I understand we have about fifteen, Russia
the same number, and England almost twice as many, while Germany and
France have a dozen or more, and Japan nearly half a hundred,” answered
Major Morris.
“And how many soldiers are there?”
“There is no telling. We have probably four or five thousand, here and
on the way; and England has twice as many. The majority of troops are,
of course, Russian and Japanese, since they were close at hand when the
trouble broke out,” concluded the major of the first battalion.