98 



CHINA. 



pany marched overland to Tientsin, suffering great 

 hardships, and was at last escorted into the foreign 

 settlement by a strong rescue party. An earlier 

 attempt at relief had failed, the party, escorted 

 by 30 Russian soldiers, having returned with the 

 two officers and several men wounded. Three 

 American missionaries at Kalgan made their peril- 

 ous way across Mongolia to Kiachta and thence 

 to Europe by the Siberian Railroad. Other mis- 

 sionaries who attended a convention at Tungchau, 

 having been warned by the Taotai that the sol- 

 diers he had obtained to protect them were un- 

 trustwiirtliy. were brought away by a party of 

 armed missionaries from Pekin. After the depar- 

 ture of the missionaries the college and mission 

 buildings and the imperial post office at Tungchau 

 were wrecked. The Taotai became the virtual 

 prisoner of the Boxers, who compelled him, like 

 the Chochau magistrate, to sign decrees at their 

 dictation. 



When the Boxers at Chochau were making 

 preparations to march on Pekin the Chinese party 

 at court obtained a majority in the Grand Council 

 in favor of sending Gen. Nieh with his troops to 

 suppress them. Yung-Lu, however, induced the 

 Empress to commission two mandarins of high 

 rank to precede Nieh and secretly reassure the 

 Boxer leaders, and when Nieh dispersed some 

 bands and killed 500 Boxers he was recalled and 

 reprimanded. 



Unsuccessful Relief Expedition. Foreign 

 war ships began to assemble at Taku only a day 

 or two before the legation guards were sent up 

 to Pekin at the request of the ministers. A score 

 of ships were anchored there when the request 

 came on June 9 from the British and American 

 ministers for more guards, as the situation was 

 most serious. The naval commanders had been 

 instructed at the beginning of the month to con- 

 sult as to any concerted action that might become 

 necessary, the ministers having urged their re- 

 spective governments to give their officers such 

 discretion at the suggestion of M. Pichon. A con- 

 siderable force of marines -of the various nation- 

 alities had been landed and taken up to Tientsin 

 when the call for additional guards was made. 

 The commanders and consuls held a conference in 

 regard to the message, and the French consul 

 agreed with his Russian colleague that the infor- 

 mation was not sufficient to justify an act 

 amunting to forcible intervention withovit orders 

 from their governments. Capt. McCalla said: 

 " My minister is in danger and asks for help. I 

 am going." Admiral Seymour agreed with this 

 decision, and the other commanders, being unwill- 

 ing to leave the initiative to Great Britain and 

 the United States, decided to take part in the 

 expedition. The Chinese authorities, after first 

 refusing, consented to furnish railroad transport. 



Marines and seamen were landed from the ships 

 the next morning, others were detached from the 

 force already at Tientsin, and the expedition set 

 out in four trains, the last one, holding the French 

 and Russians, being delayed till the following day. 

 The mixed force was composed of 915 British, 

 350 Germans, 104 Americans, 300 Russians, 158 

 French, 54 Japanese, 40 Italians, and 25 Aus- 

 trians; total, 1,846 men. The British had 3 

 9-pounder muzzle-loaders, 3 Maxims, 3 Norden- 

 feldts, and, mounted on a truck in front of the 

 first train, a 6-pounder Hotchkiss quick firer; the 

 Americans had a 3-inch fieldpiece and a Colt 

 automatic gun; the Russians a field gun, the 

 Italians a machine gun, and the Germans 2 ma- 

 chine guns. The trains passed through Peitsang 

 and Yangtsun without misadventure and reached 

 Lofa the same afternoon, having been detained 



only by a small break, which was quickly re- 

 paired, but the stations had been burned by 

 Boxers. At Lofa the track was badly torn up r 

 and the forenoon of June 11 was spent in mend- 

 ing it. The work of repairing was done by sailors, 

 mostly British, German, and American, with the 

 assistance of coolies that the Japanese and British 

 had brought from Japan. The commanding offi- 

 cers, after conferring, announced that the purposes- 

 of the expedition were to reopen railroad commu- 

 nications with Pekin and thus insure the safety 

 of their legations and national interests in that 

 city, and to assist the Chinese Government to- 

 restore peace and order. Admiral Seymour com- 

 manded in chief, and on each train the senior 

 officer was in command. Beyond Lofa working 

 parties repaired the tracks ahead, making slow 

 progress because the rails were torn up and often 

 twisted. Only two or three miles had been re- 

 paired when a large body of Boxers advanced 

 boldly to attack the troops. After misunderstand- 

 ing of orders and much confusion the men were 

 formed in line as the Boxers, who themselves had 

 stopped to go through a fantastic ritual, rushed 

 forward, brandishing their swords and spears, but 

 they were checked before coming into close quar- 

 ters by a fusillade that killed 35 and put the rest 

 to flight. Beyond Lang-Fang the troops were 

 attacked by another body of Boxers who had 

 torn up the tracks at that point just before. 

 Again there was confusion among the commands 

 of the different nations. The Boxers rushed 

 rashly up to the bayonets, and were not driven 

 off until a Maxim gun was brought into action; 

 yet they did not hurt a single man, although 

 they left 102 dead on the ground. The guard 

 attached to the construction train killed 25 in 

 another fight. No loss was sustained by the allies 

 until 5 Italian pickets were killed on June 14 

 while guarding Lang-Fang station. The Boxers, 

 600 strong, advanced on the station up to within 

 25 yards of the line of British tars, braving the 

 volleys of the latter and the fire of a German 

 Maxim, which killed a quarter of their number 

 before they retreated. The roadbed beyond was 

 destroyed, and the expedition gave up hope of 

 reaching Pekin by the railroad, but planned, if 

 Anting could be made, to dash through by a 

 forced march. On the same day 1,500 Boxers 

 attacked the guard left at Lofa station, and were 

 driven off by the aid of re-enforcements that were 

 sent back, losing over 100 and wounding 2 men 

 with missiles from an old cannon. Other largr 

 bodies of Boxers were seen in the rear, and thes< 

 tore up the track, destroying communication! 

 with Tientsin. Ahead the railroad was completely 

 wrecked. On June 18 the troops at Lang-Fang 

 were attacked by a force of 5,000, in which were 

 many imperial troops and a large body of cavalry. 

 These were the mutinous Mohammedan soldiers 

 of Tung-Fuhsiang's army, who had left Pekin to 

 check the advance of Admiral Seymour's expedi- 

 tion. The troops formed in line, consisting of 

 Germans, Russians, British, and Japanese, com- 

 manded by Capt. von Usedom, a German. They 

 advanced in skirmishing order and quickly scat- 

 tered the Boxers who came in the first line and 

 charged with their usual futile courage. Behind 

 them were the Chinese soldiers, who delivered a 

 heavy fire from magazine rifles. They also \vcn 

 stopped, but renewed the attack when the Euro 

 pea ns started back for the train. The Germans 

 faced about quickly and, taking a position ii 

 advance of the others, got a cross fire on the Chi- 

 nese which forced them to retreat hastily, leaving 

 many banners and over 400 slain, while the losses 

 of the allies were 7 killed and 48 wounded. After 



