On the 30th of May Sir E.H. Seymour, the British admiral on the China
station, received a telegram from Sir Claude Macdonald, the British
minister at Pekin, stating that the situation there had become very
grave, the China soldiers mutinous, the people very excited, and that
European life and property were in danger. Guards were immediately
despatched by train to Pekin, and these, numbering 337 of all nations,
among them 79 men and 3 officers of the British Marines, arrived
unopposed on the 31st. The position of the legations, however, soon
became extremely difficult, and on the 9th of June another telegram was
received by the admiral, stating that if relief did not reach the
Europeans in Pekin very soon, it would be too late.
The admiral at once put in motion all his available men, and the foreign
naval officers commanding on the station co-operated with him. By the
11th, four trains had reached Lofa station, some distance out of
Tientsin, containing over 2000 men, namely, 915 British (62 officers,
640 bluejackets, and 213 marines), 25 Austrians, 40 Italian, 100 French,
450 German, 54 Japanese, 112 Russians, and 112 Americans, all under the
command of the British admiral.
From this time onward there was continuous fighting. About six p.m.,
three miles outside Langfang, Boxers attacked Number 1 train, but were
repulsed. The next day, after repairing the line, the force advanced to
Langfang, but beyond this the line was found to be cut up and bridges
destroyed; and, as the necessary repairs would occupy some time,
Lieutenant Smith, RN, of HMS _Aurora_, was sent forward with 3 officers
and 44 men to prevent further damage if possible. He occupied a village
on the line next morning, and was at once attacked by Boxers. After
being driven off three times, they made a final and determined attack,
and about 450 charged in line with great bravery, but were again
repulsed with heavy loss; this fighting, however, had so reduced the
ammunition of his party that Lieutenant Smith was compelled to return to
the main body.
The next day, 14th June, the outposts came running in, closely followed
by Boxers, who made a determined attack upon the first train, with so
much courage that some of them, notwithstanding a tremendous fire,
actually reached the train before they were killed. An unfortunate
picket of five Italians on outpost duty were cut off and killed by this
party.
Meantime the Boxers were also gathering in the rear and damaging the
line from Tientsin, and attacked the guard left to protect the line at
Lofa. These succeeded in beating them off, and on the arrival of
reinforcements, sent back to their assistance, cut them up as they
retreated. All was of no avail, for while the force remained at
Langfang repairing the road forward, the enemy was busy in the rear
breaking up the line, and so cutting off communication with Tientsin,
and it now became clear that the attempt to reach Pekin must fail, as
provisions and ammunition were running short and it became necessary to
protect the rear.
The expedition was, in fact, now in a very critical position. All
attempts to send couriers back to Tientsin had failed, and it was cut
off from all communication with the outer world, the lines were broken
up in front and rear, the whole country was overawed by Boxers, and no
supplies could be obtained from the inhabitants.
It was therefore decided to desert the trains and march by the left bank
of the river to Tientsin, putting the wounded on board of some junks
which had been captured by the Germans. The latter had been
unexpectedly attacked on the 18th at Langfang by some 5000 of the enemy,
some of whom were undoubtedly imperial troops acting with the Boxers,
thus exploding the idea that the Chinese Government would assist the
Europeans against the latter. The Chinese on this occasion, though
armed with the latest type of magazine rifle, were driven off with a
loss of 400 killed, the allies losing only 6 killed and 48 wounded.
The retreat commenced on the afternoon of the 19th June, and it was
necessarily slow, as the junks could not be got along very fast, our men
not being accustomed to the craft, and the river shoals making the
passage in places difficult. The Chinese harassed and obstructed the
advance of the column on shore as much as possible, and villages _en
route_ had to be taken by the bayonet, and so persistent was the
resistance that on the 21st the column did not advance more than six
miles, and was brought to a dead stop at a place called Peitang, where
the enemy were in such a strong position that by the evening they had
not been dislodged from it.
It now appeared to be becoming doubtful whether the column, embarrassed
with the wounded, and with no reserves of ammunition, would succeed in
getting through to Tientsin; it was therefore determined, after a rest,
to make a night march, and, wearied with a continuous day's battle, the
column started again at one a.m. on the 22nd.
After it had gone about one and a half miles, the column was heavily
attacked from a village, but the bayonets of the marines soon cleared
this, not, however, without a serious loss. The junk which carried the
field-guns was sunk by a shot, and all but the Maxim guns lost.
This disaster was, however, destined to be retrieved in a very
unexpected manner. At four a.m. the force found itself opposite the
Imperial Chinese Armoury, near Hsiku; the allies were not at war with
the Imperial Government, by whom officially the Boxers were called
rebels, nevertheless the guns from the armoury opened fire upon them.
Major Johnstone, Royal Marines, with a party of bluejackets and marines,
crossed the river at a point where they were under cover of a village,
then, appearing suddenly with a cheer and with the sheen of glittering
bayonets, put the Chinese to flight, and captured two Krupp guns. At
the same time the Germans crossed over lower down, with similar results,
and the Armoury was taken. The Chinese, recovering from their panic,
made a determined attempt to retake the position by assault, under cover
of artillery fire, but were driven off with loss; but at the same time
the allies suffered severely also.
The force now settled down in the Armoury, which could easily be
defended and was well supplied with guns and ammunition, and the sick
and wounded were now in quarters which, compared with the holds of the
junks, must have seemed luxurious; and, but for the question of rations,
the force was now safe, but of these latter only enough for three days
and that at half allowances remained. Anxiety on this last account was
happily set at rest the next day, 23rd June, when, besides immense
stores of ammunition, which included war material of the newest pattern,
15 tons of rice were discovered.
All danger was now past. Several efforts had been made to communicate
with Tientsin, only five miles distant, but none of the native runners
had got through, till the 24th, when a force at once set out under the
Russian Colonel Shrinsky, who led a force of 1000 Russians; 600 British,
under Captain Bayly, and 300 of other nationalities then arrived at
daylight on the 25th. The arsenal, said to contain three million pounds
worth of military stores, was set on fire, and the united forces
returned to Tientsin the next day without further incident.
So ended the first expedition to relieve the legations in Pekin. The
failure was owing to the destruction of the railway and the fact that
the Imperial Chinese army, so far from assisting or even standing
neutral, took the side of the Boxers and opposed the expedition. That
it was not a disaster was owing to the wonderful manner in which
officers of no less than eight nationalities worked together, and the
courage and endurance of their men. The thought of the Chinese habit of
torturing their captives must have added to the natural anxiety of
depression on board the junks and to the terrible strain upon the
commander.