The
impact of the bullets sent fragments of stone flying in all directions. Knifing through the air like tiny missiles,
they cut into any flesh they struck.
Peering over the wall, Captain John Meyers, United States Marine Corps
and commander of the American forces, watched the oncoming rush. It had been nine days since the siege had
begun on 20 June, 1900 and it looked like it was not going to end anytime soon.
There was no point in exposing
themselves to the rifle fire. They knew
where it was coming from. The Boxers had
marksmen posted on the roof tops of most buildings along the perimeter and in
hidden positions on the ground. Besides,
the real attack would not start until the “band”
began to play. To call it a band was actually a sarcastic
description of the tinny sound made by the various trumpets and drums which
heralded a new attack.
The
blaring of horns was soon accompanied by a cacophony of screams and shouts as a
new wave of the Black clothed Boxers began their assault. Armed with rifles, swords, and spears, the
fanatic followers of I Ho Ch’uan, carried long siege ladders with which to
scale the Tartar wall. At forty-five
feet tall and forty feet thick, the wall made an imposing barrier. Unfortunately, with only 409 armed troops to
guard a perimeter of 2,180 yards, every man was critical and unnecessary
exposure to the rifle fire was not allowed.
Firing through the crenellations, the US Marines and German Troops
assigned to hat section attempted to drive back the maddened mob. As the human wave crashed against the base,
the ladders were thrown forward and thumped against the wall.
Despite
all efforts, the Chinese reached the top where the fighting became hand to
hand. Bayonets and rifle butts struck
back against swords and spears. Under intense pressure, the Germans began to
falter. First by one’s and two’s then as a flood, the German troops fell back
from their section of the wall. Capt.
Meyers fully understood the ramifications of the loss of the wall. If the Boxers gained control of the wall,
their rifle fire would have made much of the Legation compound untenable.
Turing half of his command to the left, the Marines charged east along the wall
and struck the Boxers in the flank. The
fighting raged until dusk. When it was over the Americans still held control of
the wall but the lack of firing from the Legations had allowed the Boxers to
advance a barricade within a few hundred yards of the wall. As Captain Meyers sank to a seated position
behind the safety of the parapet, he wondered if they could hold the compound
long enough to be relieved. Unbeknownst
to Meyers, he would be seriously wounded the next day leading a desperate assault
outside the walls to drive back the Boxers from their barricades.
Background
The “Boxer
Rebellion” began in the north of China in early 1898. This peasant movement originally had as its
goal the driving out of both the Qing Dynasty which had controlled China for
centuries and all the foreigners who had come to reap the economic rewards of
China and to spread Christianity. Known
in China as the I Ho Ch’uan, which translated into Righteous and Harmonious Fist, the followers were tagged with the handle
of “Boxers” due to the rituals of boxing and calisthenics which they thought
made them impervious to bullets. By late 1899 the Boxers were taking their
vengeance out on all the foreign missionaries and Christian Chinese
converts. They murdered all they came in
contact considering them heretics. As
the Boxers influence spread throughout the country, the Empress Dowager Cixi
decided to save her dynastic heritage and made a deal with them. In exchange for support of their movement,
the Boxers agreed to drop their assault on the Qing Dynasty.
By
early 1900, the Boxer movement reached the capitol city of Peking (modern day
Beijing). Each of the foreign powers had
a minister, what we would refer to as an ambassador, which resided in the section
of the city referred to as the Legations. This area occupied a section of Peking
approximately two miles long and one mile wide.
These ministers included representatives from the United States, Great
Brittan, Austria, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, and Russia. With each day, the ring around the Legations
tightened. Acts of violence against
foreigners and Christians were rampant and eventually no one could venture out
into the city without an armed escort.
Eventually, all 900 foreigners and almost 2,800 Christian Chinese
barricaded themselves within the Legation Sector. Appeals to the Empress for protection were
ignored and often Imperial troops were seen standing by as the assaults took
place. Finally, after an ultimatum from
the Empress to leave the city, the Boxer siege of the foreign section of the
city began on 20 June, 1900 and was destined to last for 55 days. It was finally lifted during an assault by
the combined International relief forces on 14 August 1900.
The relief expedition
At the
urging of the American Foreign Minister in Peking, the US State Department demanded
the War Department send additional troops to defend the Legations. At the same time, all the other ministers
were issuing similar pleas to their Governments. The closest U.S. troops immediately available
were the units currently stationed in the Philippines. The U.S. was currently involved in putting
down a revolt by the Moro natives on the islands and it was determined that
only a small force of US Marines could be spared. All Additional troops would have to come from
the Continental United States. On 12
June, 1900 Major Littleton Waller with six officers and 101 U.S. Marines
boarded the USS Newark at the Cavite Naval Station in the Philippine Islands
and sailed for China.
Arriving
at the Chinese port of Taku on 18 June 1900, Waller and his troops were met by
two additional officers and thirty Marines from the USS Nashville. The eight officers and 132 US Marines
disembarked into an unfriendly city. There was a decided anti-foreigner feel
coursing through the population. The
small size of the landing force did not cause a general alarm within the city
and they landed without incident. Later,
when the main international force came ashore, it was met by fierce resistance
and was forced to take the port by siege. After consolidating their position
and landing all their supplies which included a Colt machine gun and a 3-inch
artillery gun, they began to move forward. In attempt to catch the Russian column of
about 400 troops already on the move, the Marines headed for the Taku railway
station. On 20 June 1900, the Americans
loaded up on railroad cars for the journey west.
The
trip was not an easy one. The Boxers had
torn up the track in several places which had to be repaired to proceed. The U.S. troops caught the Russians about
eight miles from Taku at the small hamlet of Tong-Ku. Disembarking from the train, the Marines and
Russians continued to advance to a point about twelve miles outside of the city
of Tientsin. About 2:30 in the
afternoon, the troops went into stopped and made camp. While unloading their gear, the Marines found
out the 3-inch gun they had been hauling was damaged to the point of
worthlessness. The road to Tientsin was
almost impassable and would have to be improved before continuing further. Not wanting to haul a useless artillery piece
and its accompanying ammunition, Waller decided to disassemble the piece and
throw the entire gun into a nearby canal thereby denying the Boxers its future
use. Once settled, a council of war was called
where, it was decided the Allies would await additional reinforcements before
advancing into the town. Even at twelve
miles distant, the firing could be heard from Tientsin where about 2,000 allied
troops were besieged while trying to hold the all-important railroad station
and protect the 4,000 Chinese Christians residing there. The foreigners in the city were barricade and
resisting the Boxer onslaught with the hope of being relieved. Unbeknownst to the Allied forces however, the
Empress had decided to take a part in the uprising. While not authorizing the use of Imperial
troops for the assault on the Legations in Peking, she had dispatched them to
stop any attempt to relieve the besieged foreigners in Tientsin or Peking.
June 21, 1900
At
approximately 2:30 in the morning on 21 June, 1900 Major Waller was again
summoned by the Russian Commander to a council of war. At the council, Russian Major-General Anatoly
Stessel informed the Americans he intended to march immediately toward Tientsin
in an attempt to relieve the besieged Westerners. Waller was struck by this change in
plans. He was under the impression their
advanced force was going to wait until they were reinforced. Currently, British Vice-Admiral Edward
Seymour was advancing with 2,000 sailors and marines representing the nations
of the Legations and was anticipated reach their position about dusk on the 21st. In reply, Stessel informed the assembled
officers that he had orders to relieve the Tientsin garrison regardless of the
cost. In his opinion, the volume of fire that could be heard indicated the
entrenched Russian and French forces holding the town were hard pressed. After much discussion, Waller relented and
agreed to join the advance.
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| US Marines - Peking, China |
As they
moved out, the Russian infantry provided the advanced scouts for the column. The Colt machine gun under command of First
Lieutenant W.G. Powell was placed at the head of the main force and was followed
by the remainder of the Russian troops.
The American Marines brought up the rear of the column. The combined force reached the outskirts of
Tientsin about 06:30 meeting little resistance along the way. Threading their way through the town, relief
column arrived at a point near the Imperial Arsenal about 7 am. As the leading files reached the building,
they came under sporadic rifle fire from a group of Boxers occupying a mud wall
along the right side of the rout of march.
As the column began to take fire, Waller ordered up a platoon of his
Marines to suppress the Boxers. Unlike
their Russian counterparts, the U.S. Marines were trained as marksmen. The accurate fire from their Kraig-Jorgensen
rifles killed several Boxers and sent the others flying for cover.
Within
a few minutes, the head of the column began to receive heavy fire from about
300 yards to its front. But instead of
the unorganized Boxers they anticipated sweeping aside, the Russians were facing
between 1,500 and 2,000 trained Imperial Troops who were entrenched in front of
the arsenal and were delivering accurate fire.
The Colt machine gun quickly went into action while the about 200 of the
Russians deployed to force the Chinese from their position. The entrenched Chinese were confident of
their position but the machine gun proved to be the equalizer. Unable to advance against the gun, the
Imperial Troops supported by Boxers began to move around to the flanks of the
Allied force. Rifle fire from the left flank caused the
Russians to extend their line in that direction in an attempt to keep from
being overrun.
While
the Russians were heavily engaged on their front and left flank, Waller
advanced his Marines to the right flank.
Using a stone wall as cover, the Americans attempted to drive back the
Chinese. As the US rifle fire increased,
the Chinese began to work their way toward the American right. This forced Waller to lengthen his line, side
stepping to the right to keep his flank secure.
This lengthening of the line thinned his Marines and made any attempt at
concentrated their fire on a weak spot ineffective. Waller was soon faced with his right flank becoming
completely enveloped and threatening to both cut off his retreat and get into the
rear of the Marines. Turning to an
officer standing close by, he instructed Lt. Wayne to refuse the right flank of
the line. Pivoting it at ninety degrees,
the American line was now bent at a right angle. With the right hard pressed,
about 100 Russian troops moved under the cover of the railroad embankment to
the far right of the American line in an attempt to stabilize it. The Allied lines
were now in a horseshoe shape with the enemy on three sides. With the wounded and dead mounting, the
situation was becoming desperate.
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| Colt Machine Gun |
The
pressure on the Russians became too much.
Slowly and then as a flood, the Russian troops began to break. Soon the front line was held by only 17
Russian soldiers and Lt. Powell’s machine gun crew. Even though the front line basically no
longer existed, the fire from the Colt machine gun kept the Chinese in their
trenches. Soon the remaining Russians
began to disappear. With their support
gone, Corporal Lannigan was killed. Within
a few minutes, the Private feeding the ammunition was wounded when the gun
jammed. Left without any options, Lt.
Powell moved quickly to disable the gun so it was unusable and grabbing the
wounded man drug him to the safety of the ever shrinking American perimeter.
By 8:15
the Chinese made a final push. With the
Russians in full retreat, Waller and his Marines were left to hold the
line. Unable to stem the tide, the
Marines fell back acting as a rear guard for the retreating column. The deadly accuracy of the Marine riflemen
reeked terrible damage on the advancing Boxers and Imperial troops. Firing and falling back, they made a stand at
any defensible position holding it as long as possible then retreating to the next. For four hours, the remainder of the original
132 U.S. troops fought the Chinese to a standstill while covering the
retreating Russian column. Arriving back
at their encampment about 2 pm, the Americans had been in constant combat for
five and one-half hours and covered a total of thirty miles. Admiral Seymour arrived that evening and the
next day, the combined force again assaulted the town with much better success.
During
the retreat, the Marines did not leave a single wounded man behind. Unable to recover their dead, they hauled
their wounded with them as they fought a running fight. The U.S. suffered four men killed in action
and nine wounded. During the action,
Lieutenants S.D. Butler, A.E. Harding, W.L. Jolly and Henry Leonard were cited
for gallantry above and beyond the call of duty. Each of these men braved
intense rifle fire to save the life of a gravely wounded man. Lt. Powell was cited for his composure
under fire and the direction of the Colt machine gun, while Lt. Wayne received
a citation for steadfast courage and leadership under fire. For his action in the Boxer rebellion, Waller
would eventually receive the Marine Corps Brevet Medal
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