Ch 30 - The Last Hope for Freedom

Days of Thunder

The Boxer Uprising threatened the lives and property of foreigners in China, including the foreign Legation Quarter in Beijing. An eight-nation alliance formed the China Relief Expedition to rescue the foreign legations in the capital and put an end to the uprising.

By late May 1900, a full-blown crisis in China appeared imminent. On May 28, Boxers burned several stations along the Belgian-built rail line between Beijing and Baoding. The next day, rebels destroyed the Imperial Railway shops at Feng Tai, a principal rail junction just southwest of Beijing. The European railway workers left Baoding and set out for Tianjin by river. Boxers pursued the evacuees and killed four of them. Fearing they were being isolated, the foreign legations quickly telegraphed Tianjin for help, ordering ashore the legation guards stationed aboard ships at Taku Harbor, the roadstead just 40 miles down-river from Tianjin.

The American cruiser U.S.S. Newark, under the command of Captain Bowman H. McCalla, anchored at the Taku roadstead on May 27 carrying a double strength detachment of Marines. At 4 a.m. on the morning of May 29, Captain McCalla sent twenty-three marines, five sailors and the ship's junior medical officer ashore under the command of Marine Captain Newt T. Hall. Three hours later, Marine Captain John "Handsome Jack" Twiggs Myers brought ashore a second detachment of twenty-five marines from the U.S.S. Oregon. The 56 officers and men were armed with a 3-inch landing gun and two Colt machine guns in addition to their normal weapons. Captain McCalla and the ship's paymaster took a train into Tianjin to arrange temporary quarters for the Marines.

Because the local railroad officials would not sell train tickets to an armed force without permission from the provincial viceroy, the American force had to ride 40 miles up the Pei Ho River aboard junks towed by a commandeered steam tug. When they reached Tianjin at around 10:30 p.m. that Tuesday evening, almost every foreign resident gave the Marines a grateful and enthusiastic welcome, complete with free beer and "lusty cheers for Uncle Sam." Mr. Herbert Hoover, a 25 year-old American mining engineer, later recalled, "I do not remember a more satisfying musical performance than the bugles of the American Marines entering the settlement playing, There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight." The American detachment reinforced the 25 British Royal Marines who had been stationed in Tianjin for several months.

Additional troops from Great Britain, Russia, France, Germany, Austria, Italy and Japan arrived in Tianjin close behind the Americans. It became obvious that the troops had to press on to Beijing as soon as possible, but the small legation protection force remained in Tianjin waiting for the needed permission to travel to Beijing. With final preparations made, Captain McCalla ordered his men out of Tianjin at 4.30 p.m. on the afternoon of May 31. The column assembled at the railroad terminus just outside the city at about 11:00 p.m., where it ran into its first snag.

Local Chinese railroad authorities stalled all attempts to move the large military force out by train. When a British officer threatened to hang the stationmaster, two trains were hurriedly readied to transport the troops to Beijing. The small combined military force of 22 officers and 423 enlisted men from the United States Marine Corps, the British Royal Marines, Russia, France, Italy, and Japan set out for the Chinese capital under orders to protect the lives and property of foreigners in the city.

The first troop trains arrived in Beijing on June 1, where they were met by legation representatives and thousands of silent Chinese. According to Captain Myers, "The dense mass of Chinese which thronged either side of the roadway for the 4 miles from the station to the Chien Men gate was absolutely silent - a silence which seemed more ominous than a demonstration of hostility would have been." Navy Captain McCalla's detachment of sailors reached Beijing by June 3, followed by troop contingents from Britain, Russia, Japan, France, and Italy. German and Austrian troops reached the Legation Quarter by June 5. As the soldiers, sailors and marines took positions to defend their frightened countrymen, the vast crowds of curious Chinese onlookers gave no hint of the terror to come.

Equipped with rations for five days, two large ship's breakers of water and 27,720 rounds of ammunition, Captain Myers and his Marines settled down in quarters in the rear of the Russian bank which adjoined the legation compound. The detachment posted guards and established a daily routine of drills and exercises. On June 2, after his men were established in the legation, Captain McCalla returned to Tianjin. The last train from Tianjin passed through Beijing on June 5.

Emboldened by the court's recent endorsement, Boxer rebels cut the rail line between Beijing and Tianjin on June 6 and began cutting telegraph lines, effectively isolating the Qing capital from the rest of the world. The situation appeared critical and with the Qing court now totally dominated by ultraconservatives, foreign diplomats reached the unavoidable conclusion that the court intended to kill every foreigner in Beijing.

The commanding officers of the various legation guard units had yet to devise a plan for common defense. At Captain Myers' request, the British marine commander called a meeting on June 7, where it was decided that in the event of a major attack, all noncombatants and all provisions would be sent to the British legation, which offered the best protection. They also ordered barricades built across all streets leading into the Legation Quarter. No Chinese would be allowed entry without a pass. The commanders agreed to hold all the legations as long as possible.

Later that day, Manchu General Tung Fu-hsiang's wild, undisciplined, anti-foreign Moslem troops, removed from Beijing in the winter of 1898-99 at the insistence of the legation ministers, entered the capital accompanied by hoards of Boxers armed with swords and spears. The Boxers boldly paraded through the streets in their uniforms, openly declaring their mission was to exterminate the foreigners. Sir Claude MacDonald the British Minister in Peking wired Admiral Seymour at Taku and requested that he advance on Peking.

Nearly 4,000 people from 18 countries, including Chinese Christian converts crowded into the foreign Legation Quarter and prepared to fight for their lives. On June 8, Edwin H. Conger, U.S. Minister to China, requested additional guards be sent to protect a number of American missionaries and Chinese refugees from Tungchow and outlying districts of Beijing who had gathered in the Methodist Mission. Feelings of unrest deepened in the city and foreigners were openly insulted in the streets. In what appears to have been the first blood-letting in the growing crisis, a student interpreter named H. H. Bristow pulled a pistol and shot and killed a Chinese man on June 8.

In Tianjin, Royal Navy Vice Admiral Sir Edward Hobart Seymour, commander in chief of the British China Station and the senior officer present, commanded an eight nation force of some 2,500 men. Navy Captain McCalla, second in command, had reinforced his naval contingent with 50 more sailors and a couple of squads of Marines.

It was very clear that the legations in Beijing needed much more help. On the evening of June 9, Admiral Seymour received a cablegram from British Minister Sir Claude MacDonald in Beijing advising him that, "unless those at [sic] Pekin were relieved soon, it would be too late." That evening, at a meeting with senior officers to discuss a course of action, commanding officers of the international forces could not agree on the timing for an advance on Beijing. British General Alfred Gaselee favored moving quickly before the rainy season got underway. Captain McCalla announced, "I don't care what the rest of you do. I have 112 men here, and I'm going tomorrow morning to the rescue of my own flesh and blood in Peking. I'll be damned if I sit here 90 miles away and just wait."

At 9:30 a.m. on the morning of June 10, Admiral Seymour's China Relief Expedition (CRE) left a small contingent of troops to defend Tianjin and set out aboard five trains for Beijing. The CRE included 915 British officers, seamen and marines, 450 German, 312 Russian, 158 French, 112 American, 54 Japanese, 40 Italian, and 25 Austrian troops, a total of 2,066. The column had to repair damaged railroad tracks as it marched forward. Ironically, the most important man in the column proved to be a single American sailor who had once worked as a railroad section hand. He was the only man in the entire force who knew how to set a fishplate and spike a rail. Within a week, Admiral Seymour's column had covered 65 miles and was just 25 miles from the besieged capital.

From June 10 through June 12, legation guards set up defensive positions along a portion of the massive city wall, a 45-foot high, 40-foot wide structure that bordered Beijing to the north of the legation district. The women ripped up all their expensive silks, curtains, and dresses to sew up colorful sandbags. One observer reported, "I never saw such fancy sand bags. Some of 'em were even trimmed with lace!"

With tensions on the rise in Beijing, any incident held the potential for disaster. On June 11, Japan's embassy chancellor, Sugiyama Akira, set out for the railway station just beyond the city's south gate to greet the expected arrival of Admiral Seymour's relief column. One of General Tung Fu-hsiang's troops shot and killed the chancellor. The lone soldier who fired the shot acted without orders, apparently to settle an old grudge that arose from Sugiyama's efforts to help one of the reformers in the abortive "Hundred-day Reform" to escape to Japan. Even though the empress published a decree the following day to express her sorrow over the man's death at the hands of outlaws, it was well known throughout Beijing that the killing was done by regular Qing troops.

On June 12, Germany's foreign minister, Baron Klemens August Freiherr von Ketteler had a run in with a Chinese man believed to be a Boxer and held the man's young son hostage. Word of the incident infuriated the Chinese who went on a thee day rampage. The next day, two young Boxers wearing their characteristic red headbands and waving swords walked at the head of a large crowd that appeared on Legation street. German sentries opened fire on the two men and, with German Minister Baron von Ketteler in the lead, chased after them, capturing one of the men. The crowd was finally dispersed in front of the American Legation when the U.S. Marines pushed their heavy Colt gun into the street. The incident heightened the excitement among the Chinese.

Heady with their recent successes, large groups of Boxer rebels rampaged into Beijing, burning churches and foreign residences and killing Chinese converts on sight. At around 5 p.m. on June 13, Boxers set fire to the chapel adjoining the Methodist Mission, completely destroying the building. Within an hour, marines managed to clear the streets in the Legation Quarter and set up rough barricades. During the night, all of the outlying missions and churches were set ablaze, including the British legation summer quarters in the West Hills near Beijing. The lone exception was the Peitang Cathedral, where French and Italian guards were protecting Roman Catholic priests, nuns and Chinese converts.

Early on the morning of June 14, a large number of Chinese Christians from the districts surrounding the Nantung Cathedral appeared at the legation barricades. Most were badly wounded or horribly burned. They brought tales of numerous atrocities committed by the Boxers. Normally, they were not welcomed in the foreign legations, but in this case they were taken in. The most serious cases were given medical attention by American and Russian surgeons before being sent to the French Legation.

In a plea for additional help, Edwin H. Conger, U.S. Minister to China, reported to the State Department on June 14 that Beijing was, "...in the possession of a rioting, murdering mob, with no visible effort being made by the Government in any way to restrain it. ... In no intelligent sense can there be said to be in existence any Chinese government whatsoever."

To the frightened occupants of the Legation Quarter, every Chinese was a Boxer and fair game for killing. On the afternoon of June 14, German minister von Ketteler, while out hunting, stalked a group of Boxers performing their customary exercises. Without provocation, the German hunting party opened fire on the group, killing seven and wounding twenty. That same day, a small squad of Russian and American troops left the Legation Quarter to rescue Christians still hiding among the burning buildings. They escorted some 150 Christians to safety after shooting a number of Boxers and looters in the process.

The night of June 14 was filled with intense anxiety as Chinese cries of "Kill!" "Kill!" echoed through the streets until early the next morning. In their fury, the Boxers even pillaged the residence of their supporter at the Qing court and dragged other high Chinese officials into the streets for public humiliation.

A squad of British and American marines, reinforced by Austrian and Japanese troops, set out on June 15 to rescue a group of Chinese Christians allegedly hiding in the northeastern part of the city. The squad did not find any Christians, but did come across a temple where a large number of Boxers were apparently holding a meeting. They surrounded the temple and killed 45 of the Boxers in a brief fire fight.

The following day, on June 16, the Qing government called the first of four separate imperial councils to deliberate the question of war or peace with the foreigners. At one of these Grand Council meetings, Yuan Chang, Vice-President of the Court of Sacrifices, and Hsu Ching-cheng, Senior Vice President of the Board of Civil Office, courageously implored the Empress Dowager to reconsider issuing orders for the extermination of all foreigners. With China's best interests in mind, the two men pointed out the fatal, even criminal nature of such a decree. Despite their sincere criticism, the Empress Dowager Tz'u Hsi responded to a memorial from Yu-hsien, the Governor of Shanxi, with a secret decree that said, "Slay all foreigners wheresoever you find them;  even though they be prepared to leave your province, yet they must be slain." The stunning edict was sent to all high provincial officials.

Yuan Chang and Hsu Ching-cheng had already incurred the displeasure of the empress by speaking out against her support for the Boxers. Fearing the decree would precipitate the indiscriminate slaughter of foreigners all over China, the two men literally took their own lives in their hands and secretly altered the text of the decree before it was dispatched from Beijing. They changed the words "slay all foreigners" to read "protect all foreigners," and the words "must be slain" to read "must be protected." It is impossible to know just how many foreigners owe their lives to this covert editing of an imperial decree, but the heroic act of these two Chinese patriots probably saved the lives of thousands of foreigners in various parts of China.

Generally, provincial officials acted on the content of the "altered text" memorial with one notable exception;  Yu-hsien, the governor of Shanxi Province. Perhaps puzzled by the tone of T'zu Hsi's decree, he sent another memorial to the Empress, presumably restating his anti-foreign position and his unyielding support for the Boxers. In response, the Empress Dowager sent him a second decree, one that left no doubt as to her position. In it, she said,

"I command that all foreigners, men, women and children, be summarily executed. Let not one escape, so that my empire may be purged of this noisome source of corruption, and that peace may be restored to my loyal subjects."

Yu-Hsien, called the "butcher of Shanxi" by Westerners, took her words to heart and unleashed the Boxers on a wild and violent campaign throughout the province. Almost all of the massacres against foreigners took place under his jurisdiction, often by his own hand. It is not unreasonable to think of Yu-hsien as the entire Boxer movement wrapped up in a single man, for it seems his ultimate plan was to rid China of foreigners.

Meanwhile, Boxers torched Watson's Drug Store in south Beijing on June 16. Exploding chemicals rapidly spread the fire into the city's wealthiest business district. The spreading flames totally destroyed the outer doors of the Chien Men gate. At around 5 p.m. the next evening, a fire was set on Legation Street, just half a mile from an American barricade. Russian guards immediately started down the street and promptly shot the man who lit the fire. Two hours later, the fire was brought under control.

In response to repeated calls of concern from foreign officials in Beijing and Tianjin about the spreading violence, the Qing government took little or no action against the Boxers. The impact of the "altered text" memorial created a conflict of intent and confusion as to how to deal with foreigners and the Boxers. As the violence spread to several northern provinces, provincial leaders and the Chinese imperial court reacted inconsistently, sometimes fighting to protect foreigners and Christians and at other times doing nothing at all. In just over a month, the imperial court discovered the alteration of the Empress Dowager's first decree against foreigners. The next day, Yuan Chang and Hsu Ching-cheng were arrested and summarily beheaded.

The attitudes of the Western Powers about China took on a more ominous tone. Little hope was held out for those trapped in the legations and the Qing court was held directly responsible for the lives of their citizens in the legations. The European reaction was quick in coming and a number of Western nations began to mobilize troops for dispatch to Beijing. As the West tried to mobilize a relief force, each government issued its own pious declarations proclaiming its desire to rescue the embattled legations, all the while suspiciously eyeing the motives of the others. None could decide whether this was to be a relief expedition, a punitive measure against the Chinese, or, as many of them suspected, an opportune situation through which to increase their own holdings in China. Such feelings of mutual suspicion coupled with the lack of knowledge about the true situation in Beijing only added to the confusion.

After the Boxers cut the last telegraph lines between Beijing and Tianjin, the fate of foreigners in the capital and that of Vice Admiral Edward Seymour's expedition became a grave mystery to the outside world. Eleven diplomatic missions including 12 foreign ministers, some 450 legation troops, 475 foreign-born men, women and children, 2,300 Chinese Christians and about 50 personal servants along with an international army of some two thousand men had simply dropped out of sight.

On June 17, allied naval guns bombarded the Taku forts and took control of the area around the roadstead. The Chinese may have assumed that the foreign military force moving up from Tianjin would become an occupation force. The Empress Dowager Tz'u Hsi used the attack as a convenient pretext for dropping her long-standing facade of concern for foreigners in China. She already believed that in order to protect her own weakening dynasty she had to back the Boxer Uprising against foreigners. The day after the Taku bombardment, the Tsungli Yamen, which heretofore had been full of assurances or friendship and protection, suddenly changed its tone.

The foreign ministers in Beijing received word from the Qing government that a state of war would soon be in effect. The Empress Dowager commanded the imperial court on June 19 to order the foreign ministers and their staffs in Beijing to leave the country. Accordingly, the Tsungli Yamen issued an ultimatum to the foreign ministers stating that unless all foreigners left Beijing within 24 hours, their safety could no longer be guaranteed. The Chinese did offer safe transit to Tianjin for all foreigners who were ready to move on the morning of June 20. From then on the situation rapidly got completely out of control.

With the Empress Dowager's hostile intentions now exposed for all to see, the day after she issued her "eviction notice," foreign ministers in the Legation Quarter held a morning meeting on June 20. They decided to decline the offer to leave Beijing. They would rather sit tight and defend the legations rather than risk being slaughtered trying to escape to the coast without military protection. In an attempt to delay the order, the ministers sent a letter to the Tsungli Yamen requesting a meeting that very day. There was no reply.

Following the minister's meeting, German Minister Baron von Ketteler, accompanied by his interpreter set out in two sedan chairs to visit Chinese officials at the Tsungli Yamen, located on Hatamun Street, some distance beyond the legation's defensive perimeter. Not long after the two men left, von Ketteler's interpreter showed up at the American legation, badly wounded. He reported that dozens of General Tung Fu-hsiang's Moslem troops lined Hatamun Street and that one of them had shot Baron von Ketteler in the back and killed him. More gunfire erupted and the interpreter was hit making his escape from the area.

The Germans immediately dispatched a detachment to recover the minister's body, but General Tung's cavalrymen drove them back from area before they could reach him. Baron von Ketteler, it seems, was killed by a lone sharpshooter as revenge for the imprisonment and killing of a young Boxer boy, the killing of seven Boxers and wounding twenty others while on a hunting trip days earlier.

It was obvious to everyone in the Legation Quarter that the crisis had finally come. All the women, children and noncombatant men were sent to the British Legation. The building, designed to comfortably accommodate only 60 people, was packed with 473 frightened people huddled together for safety. All available food supplies, including the contents of every foreign store and several Chinese stores stocked with wheat and rice inside the legation defensive perimeter, were commandeered and taken to the British Legation. Ten men from each of the foreign guard units in Beijing, including some 15 Marines under Captain Myers, were assigned to protect the legation and its contents. With no word about Admiral Seymour's relief expedition to Beijing, the legations frantically prepared for the worst. Everyone imagined he would be the next victim.

Intelligence gathered by legation spies indicated that Boxers were pouring into Beijing through all the city gates, each gate guarded by Imperial troops. Throughout the city, Boxers were mingling among the Chinese troops and seemed to be on good terms with them. Beginning around 4 p.m. on June 20, 1900, General Tung Fu-hsiang's Moslem troops opened fire on the legation defenders in a rather disorganized attack. By this time, any hope that the Qing Imperial government would step in to put down the trouble had long since been erased.