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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1900 CHINA RELIEF 1901 As the 19th Century drew to a close resentment of foreign intervention and inuence in China reached a boiling point. Since the First Opium War with Britain (1839-1842), China had been forced to accept the encroachment of European powers on its borders and Christian missionaries in its interior. In 1860, British and French troops marched on Peking and razed the Summer Palace in the aermath of the Second Opium War. By 1900, Russia dominated Mongolia and Manchuria. Great Britain held Hong Kong and had annexed Burma, on China's southwestern border. e French had seized Vietnam. e Japanese seized Korea and Formosa. ey and other European states claimed a variety of economic and political concessions along China's coast. Among the Chinese responses to this encroachment was the formation of “Boxers United in Righteousness.” e movement, with roots deeper in the 19th Century, developed in Shandong province, south of Peking. Encouraged by elements of the Imperial government, the Boxers became more aggressively anti-foreign. By mid-June 1900, they controlled much of the countryside around Peking. Foreign missionaries and Chinese Christians sought refuge in Peking. As unrest grew British Minister Sir Claude MacDonald requested troops from among the foreign forces on the coast at Taku. On 11 June 1900 an Allied force led by British Admiral Sir Edward Seymour was stopped half way between Tientsin and Peking; rst by Boxers and then by Imperial troops. By 13 June 1900, Boxers had begun to aack foreigners and foreign property within Peking. With Seymour's force isolated between Tientsin and Peking, Allied naval commanders decided to take the Taku Forts at the mouth of the Pei Ho River and the nearby railroad station at Tangku. Although some 100 U.S. Marines were with Seymour, Rear Admiral Louis Kemp, the re!” became the regiment's moo. Allied troops continued to pour into Tangku and Tientsin but no immediate move was made on Peking. Allied commanders, in fact, assumed that all foreigners in Peking had been massacred and, over-estimating the strength of the Chinese, they waited to build up a force of sucient strength to march on Peking and punish the Chinese. On 27 July 1900, two baalions of the 14th Infantry Regiment and Baery F, 5th Artillery, arrived from the Philippines. On 30 July 1900, the 6th Cavalry and a baalion of U.S. Marines arrived from San Francisco. With them came Maj. Gen. Adna R. Chaee, the commander of what was now, ocially designated, the “China Relief Expedition.” While events proceded at Tongu and Tientsin, 56 Marines and sailors fought beside some 270 European and Japanese troops defending the besieged Legation Quarter in Peking. It had been clear, since early June, that western missionaries and the diplomatic corps were in danger, but the siege proper began with the murder of German Minister Baron Clemens von Keeller on 20 June and the aack on the Legations the next day by Imperial troops. roughout the siege, the Americans, commanded by Marine Capt. John H. Myers, occupied a section of the Tarter Wall that overlooked the legations. e Marines’ tenacious defense of the wall for eight weeks ensured the survival of the Legation Quarter. Finally, on 3 August 1900, the Allied force of 18,600 at Tientsin set out for Peking. Gen. Chaee’s American contingent consisted of some 2,500 men; the 9th and 14th Infantry regiments, F Baery of the 5th Artillery, M Troop 6th Cavalry, and two baalions of Marines. A detachment of Marines stayed in Tientsin as a security detail as did the bulk of the 6th Cavalry, whose horses had not recovered from the voyage from California. During the ten-day march, the Boxers tried twice to stop the Allies but were pushed aside; the Allies’ major enemy was the stiing heat. On 13 August 1900, with the walls of Peking in sight, the contingent commanders agreed to use the next day for reconnaissance and preparations for a general assault on Peking on the 15th. at night, however, the Russians seized the Tung-pein Gate, an action that precipitated a general, uncoordinated assault on the city walls in the the morning. e 14th Infantry, leading the American advance, soon found itself beneath thre city wall to the leof the Tung-pein Gate. When the regimental commander, Col. Aaron Dagge, asked if anyone could scale the wall, Calvin P. Titus, a Musician in E Company said, “I’ll try, Sir.” e colors of the 14th Infantry soon broke out on the wall and the Americans surged up. is relieved the pressure on the Russians, who had been pinned down in the tower of the Tung-pein Gate. Fighting along the city wall the Americans nally reached the Legation Quarter at 5:00 p.m. e next day, Gen. Chaee sent the American force against the gates of the Imperial City, only to be called oby the assembled ministers just short of the last gate. American casualties for 14 and 15 August 1900 were seven KIA and 29 WIA. American troops remained in Peking until the following May as diplomats sorted out the aermath of what became known as the “Boxer Rebellion.” Despite American Minister Edwin H. Conger’s aempts to temper the Allies’ demands, demands, the selement imposed on the Chinese government required an indemnity of more than $300 million dollars. A substantial portion of the American share would eventually be used for scholarships of Chinese students studying in the United States. Ronald L. Spiller, PhD Edinboro University of Pennsylvania commander of U.S. Naval forces in China, initially refused to participate in the assault. e United States had no claim to concessions in China and, in Kemp's judgment, Imperial authorities had done nothing to justify this act of war. During the bombardment, however, Chinese troops red on the American gunboat USS Monocacy, onboard which were a number of American missionaries. Kempthen joined the operation. Allied forces took the Taku Forts on 17 June 1900. at aernoon Imperial troops surrounded and began to bombard Tientsin. On the railroad line between Tientsin and Peking, Imperial troops aacked Seymour's force. Outnumbered and outgunned he slowly fell back toward Tientsin. e siege of Tientsin continued for nearly three weeks as Allied reinforcements began to arrive oTaku. A detachment of the 1st Marine Regiment landed on 19 June 1900. On 6 July 1900, the 9th Infantry Regiment arrived from the Philippines and the rest of the 1st Marine Regiment arrived from Manila three days later. On 13 July 1900, Allied forces moved to lithe siege of Tientsin. By the end of the 14th, the city was secure. Among the 800 Allied casualties were 88 men from the 9th Infantry, among them the mortally wounded regimental commander, Col. Emerson Liscum. His dying words, “Keep up “I’ll try, Sir!” And with those words, Trumpeter Calvin P. Titus, E Company, scaled the wall at Tung Pien Gate. CAMPAIGNS There were three campaigns during the Boxer Revolt in China during 1900. e China Relief Expedition streamer is yellow with a narrow blue stripe on each side. e color yellow was restricted for use only by the Manchu rulers if China during the Ts’ing Dynasty (1644-1911). e color blue is emblematic of the east and of the blue dragon depicted depicted on the yellow imperial and other Manchu standards. 􀃕 TIENTSIN 1900 􀃕 YANG-TSUN 1900 􀃕 PEKING 1900 BELLIGERENTS 􀃕􀀃Americans 􀃕􀀃China 􀃕􀀃Great Britain 􀀃 􀃕􀀃France VERSUS 􀀃 􀃕􀀃Japan 􀃕􀀃Russia 􀀃 STATISTICS 􀃕􀀃Total U.S. Service Members 2,500 􀃕􀀃Bale Deaths 13 􀃕􀀃Non-mortal Woundings 43 1900 􀃕CHINA RELIEF E X PEDITION 􀃕1901 􀃕􀃕 􀃕 United States 45-star ag President William McKinley 1897 -1901 Portrait by Adolfo Muller-Ury Maj. Gen. Adna R. Chaee. Portrait by Cedric Baldwin Egeli. USS Monocacy aer she was hit by a Chinese shell at Tongku, China. From a stereoptican photograph. Typical sleeping quarters of an ocer in China. Photo of Lt. (now Captain) Stamford aer the bale of Yang Sing. Photo courtesyof U.S. Army. U.S. Marines in relief party in Peiping, China. Photo by Anna Graham Woodward. U.S. Marines ready to ght. Trumpeter Calvin P. Titus scales the wall at Tung Pien Gate. Titus was later awarded the Medal of Honor. Painted by LeAnn Fawyer, U. S. Army Military History Institute. 􀃕 􀃕 􀃕 First Bengal Lancers Lt. J. R. Gaussen rescues Cpl. Rasmus Rasmussen om the Chinese Boxers at Tientsen. Painting by H. Charles McBarron. China Relief Expedition soldiers included the 9th U.S. Infantry, 14th US Infantry, 6th U.S. Cavalry, Baery F 5th U.S. Artillery, and at the end of the campaign the 15th U.S. Infantry. Photo courtesy of DHAIG. © 2010 e Memorial for all Veterans of the Brazos Valley Le-Write Ink LtC. Calvin P. Titus