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.
[Illustration: ROYAL WELSH FUSILIERS LEAVING H.M.S. “TERRIBLE” ON
BOARD THE “FAME.”
[_Page 100._]
[Illustration: AUTHOR AND DETACHMENT FROM H.M.S. “BARFLEUR” FOR DUTY
IN TIENTSIN.
[_page 100._]
[Illustration: “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.
[Illustration: “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.
[Illustration: 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.
[Illustration: TIENTSIN AGAIN PEACEFUL.
[_page 112._]