Chapter XVI: Preface: To the Sixth Volume (15)

"Missionaries in Peking began collecting together into the
larger mission compounds for common protection. Many ladies
went for safety into the British Legation. Railway
communication was now severed and the telegraph communication
threatened. Our isolation was being completed. In the country
disaffection spread to the districts to the east of Peking,
and the position of the American missionaries at Tung-chau
became one of great danger. It was decided to abandon their
great missionary establishments, and with the native
Christians that could follow them to come into Peking. They
asked for an escort, but Mr. Conger felt himself compelled to
decline one, on the ground that he did not venture to send the
small body of men that he could spare from the Legation
through so dangerous a district. Protection must be looked for
from the Chinese Government. What soldiers could not be sent
to do one fearless American missionary succeeded in doing.
Late in the evening of June 7 the Rev. W. S. Ament, of the
Board Mission, left Peking in a cart, and with 20 other carts
journeyed 14 miles to Tung-chau through a country palpitating
with excitement. It was an act of courage and devotion that
seemed to us who knew the country a deed of heroism. His
arrival was most opportune. He brought safely back with him to
Peking the whole missionary body then in Tung-chau—five men,
including the author of 'Chinese Characteristics,' 11 ladies,
and seven children, together with their Christian servants. …

"More troops were sent for to reinforce the Legation guards in
Peking, but they were sent for too late. Already many miles of
the railway had been torn up, and it was hopeless to expect an
early restoration of communication. … The Empress-Dowager and
the Emperor, who had been for some time past at the Summer
Palace, returned to Peking, entering the city at the same hour
by different gates. Large escorts of cavalry and infantry
accompanied them; Manchu bannermen in large numbers were
posted on the walls. It was noticeable that the body-guard of
the Empress was provided by the renegade Mahomedan rabble of
Tung-fuh-siang, who had long been a menace to foreigners in
the province. The return of the Court was expected to have a
tranquillizing effect upon the populace. But this was not the
case. Students were attacked when riding in the country; our
race-course, grand stand, and stables were burnt by 'Boxers'
armed with knives; Europeans could not venture along the
streets outside the foreign quarter without being insulted.
People were saying everywhere, 'The foreigners are to be
ended.' Streets were being patrolled by cavalry, but there was
every fear that the patrols were in league with the 'Boxers,'
who were marching through the streets bearing banners
inscribed 'Fu Ching Mieh Yang.' 'Protect Pure (the Dynasty),
exterminate the foreigner.'

"The London Mission and the Society for the Propagation of the
Gospel handed over their buildings to the Chinese authorities,
holding them responsible for their safe keeping, and all
missionaries and their families went to the British Legation.
The American Board Mission likewise delivered over their
valuable property to the Government and fell back upon the
great Methodist Episcopalian Mission near the Hata Mên Gate,
beyond the foreign quarter. Tung-chau missionaries and their
families and several hundred Christian converts were already
gathered there. Steps were at once taken to fortify the
compound. Under the direction of Mr. F. D. Gamewell deep
trenches were cut, earthworks thrown up, and barbed-wire
entanglements laid down.
{116}
Watch was kept and sentries posted, provisions laid in, and
all preparations made to withstand a siege. Twenty marines and
a captain from the American Legation were sent as a guard, and
some spare rifles were obtained from the British Legation.
Converts were armed with pikes and knives, and a determined
effort was to be made in case of attack. The mission was,
however, absolutely at the mercy of any force holding the high
city wall and Hata Mên Gate. Without the power of reply the
small garrison could have been shot down from the wall, which
is little more than a stone's throw from the nearest point of
the compound. Shell-fire such as was subsequently used against
the Legations would have smashed the buildings into fragments.
All the Maritime Customs staff and their families living in
the East City, a mile or more beyond the foreign quarter, the
professors and teachers of the Tung-wen-Kuan, Dr. Dudgeon, Mr.
Pethick, the secretary of Li Hung Chang, and others, were
forced to abandon their homes and come in for protection.
Preparations for defence went on at all the Legations, for it
was now inevitable that we should have to fight. A 'conseil de
guerre' was held, attended by all the military officers, and a
plan of defence determined. The palace and grounds of Prince
Su, opposite the British Legation, were to be held for the
Christian refugees, and an area was to be defended some half a
mile long by half a mile broad, bounded by the Austrian and
Italian Legations to the east, the street running over the
north bridge of the canal to the north, the British, Russian,
and American Legations to the west, while the southern
boundary was to be the street running at the foot of the great
City Wall from the American Legation on the west, past the
German Legation on the east, to the lane running from the Wall
north past the French Legation, the buildings of the
Inspectorate General of Customs, and the Austrian Legation.
All women and children and non-combatants were to come into
the British Legation. Each position was to be held as long as
possible, and the final stand was to be made at the British
Legation. No question of surrender could ever be entertained,
for surrender meant massacre.

"On the 10th it was announced that reinforcements were on the
way and that they were coming with the approval of the Viceroy
and of the Chinese Government, an approval more readily
accorded since it was known to the Viceroy that the troops
could not come by train. More than one of the Ministers was so
confident that they were coming that carts were sent to await
their arrival at Machia-pu, the terminal railway station at
Peking. … Then Government gave its first public official
recognition of the 'Boxers' by announcing that the notorious
chief of the 'Boxers,' Prince Tuan, had been appointed
President of the Tsung-li-Yamên. Prince Ching was superseded
but was not removed from the Yamên. One harmless old Chinese,
Liao Shou-hêng was sent into retirement while four rabidly
anti-foreign Manchus entirely ignorant of all foreign affairs
were appointed members. The last hope of any wisdom springing
from the Yamên disappeared with the supersession of Prince
Ching by the anti-foreign barbarian who, more than any other
man in China, was responsible for the outbreak. The following
morning most of the Europeans rode to Machia-pu to await the
arrival of the foreign troops. They waited, but no troops
came, and then rode back past the jeering faces of hordes of
Chinese soldiers. Our security was not increased by this
fiasco.

"Soldiers sent to guard the summer residences of the British
Legation in the Western Hills left their posts during the
night. The buildings had been officially placed under the
protection of the Imperial Government. In the pre-arranged
absence of the soldiers the buildings were attacked by
'Boxers' and entirely burnt to the ground; the soldiers
witnessed if they did not assist in the burning. But worse
events were to happen that day. In the afternoon news passed
through Peking that Mr. Sugiyama, the Chancellor of the
Japanese Legation, had been murdered by soldiers. He had been
sent by his Minister a second time to Machia-pu to await the
arrival of the troops. Passing unarmed and alone in his cart
beyond the Yung-ting Mên, the outer gate on the way to the
station, he was seized by the soldiers of Tung-fuh-siang,
dragged from his cart, and done to death in the presence of a
crowd of Chinese who witnessed his struggles with unpitying
interest and unconcealed satisfaction. …

"On the 12th a deputation, consisting of Chi Hsiu, a member of
the Grand Council and newly appointed to the Yamên, Hsu
Ching-chêng, the ex-Minister, the 'Boxer' leader Chao
Shu-chiao, and another Manchu, called upon the British
Minister. Chi Hsiu made a long address, his theme being the
enduring nature of the friendship between China and England
and the duty which China has always recognized as a sacred
obligation to protect the members of the Legations who were
her guests and the strangers within her walls. Chi Hsiu
assured the Minister that the movement was at an end, that all
was now tranquil, and that there was no more reason to fear.
Yet the very next day Baron von Ketteler himself captured a
'Boxer' from amid the crowd in Legation-street. He carried the
consecrated headpiece, and was armed with a sword. Round his
waist he had a belt containing a talisman of yellow paper
smeared with mystic red symbols by which he was rendered
'impermeable to foreign bullets.' And in the afternoon the
'Boxers' came down in force from the north of the city and the
burning of foreign buildings began. The cry arose that the
'Boxers' were coming. Every man ran to his post, a cordon was
established round the foreign quarter and no one was allowed
to pass. Guards were on watch at all the Legations, but their
numbers, spread over so many posts, were very inadequate, and
they were still further reduced by the guards detached for
duty at the Pei-tang Cathedral, where, three miles distant
within the Imperial City, were gathered in the one great
compound Mgr. Favier, the Bishop, his coadjutor, Mgr. Jarlin,
the missionaries and lay brothers, the sisters of charity, and
a vast concourse of Christian refugees, estimated at 2,000,
who had fled from the massacre in the country. A guard of five
Austrians was sent to the Belgian Legation. The Austrians with
their machine gun commanded the Customs-street leading to the
north: the Italians with a one pounder commanded the
Legation-street to the east. The British with their
Nordenfeldt swept the Canal-street to the north and the
North-bridge, the Russians were on the South-bridge, while the
Americans with their Colt machine gun had command of
Legation-street to the west as far as the court facing the
Imperial Palace. The Russians, having no gun, dropped their
heavy ammunition down the well.

{117}

"As darkness came on the most awful cries were heard in the
city, most demoniacal and unforgettable, the cries of the
'Boxers,' 'Sha kweitze'—'Kill the devils'—mingled with the
shrieks of the victims and the groans of the dying. For
'Boxers' were sweeping through the city massacring the native
Christians and burning them alive in their homes. The first
building to be burned was the chapel of the Methodist Mission
in the Hata Mên-street. Then flames sprang up in many quarters
of the city. Amid the most deafening uproar the Tung-tang, or
East Cathedral, shot flames into the sky. The old Greek Church
in the north-east of the city, the London Mission buildings,
the handsome pile of the American Board Mission, and the
entire foreign buildings belonging to the Imperial Maritime
Customs in the East City burned throughout the night. It was
an appalling sight. Late in the night a large party of
'Boxers' bearing torches were seen moving down Customs-street
towards the Austrian Legation. The machine gun mounted was in
waiting for them. They were allowed to come within 150 yards
in the open street near the great cross road, and then the
order was given and the gun rained forth death. It was a
grateful sound. The torches disappeared. They had come within
a restricted space, and none, we thought, could have escaped.
Eagerly we went forth to count the dead, expecting to find
them in heaps. But there was not one dead. The gun had been
aimed very wide of the mark. Two hundred yards north of the
'Boxers' there is a place where 30 ft. above the level road
the telegraph wires crossed to the station. Next morning they
were found to have been cut by the Austrian fire. The only
persons who suffered injury were possible wayfarers two miles
up the street. There can be little doubt that this fiasco
helped to confirm the Boxers in a belief in their
invulnerability.

"The Tung-tang, or East Cathedral, having been burned, it, was
clear that the Nan-tang, the South Cathedral, was in danger.
Père Garrigues, the aged priest of the Tung-tang, had refused
to leave his post and had perished in the flames. But the
fathers and sisters at the Nan-tang might yet be saved. Their
lives were in great peril; it was necessary to act quickly. A
party of French gentlemen, led by M. Fliche of the French
Legation and accompanied by M. and Mme. Chamot, rode out at
night, and early the following morning safely escorted to the
hotel every member of the mission—Père d' Addosio and his two
colleagues, a French brother, five sisters of charity, and
some twenty native nuns of the Order of Josephine. They were
rescued just in time. Scarcely had they reached a place of
safety when the splendid edifice they had forsaken was in
flames. … It continued burning all day, the region round it,
the chief Catholic centre of Peking, being also burnt. Acres
of houses were destroyed and the Christians in thousands put
to the sword. …

"On the 15th rescue parties were sent out by the American and
Russian Legations in the morning, and by the British and
German Legations in the afternoon, to save if possible native
Christians from the burning ruins around the Nan-tang. Awful
sights were witnessed. Women and children hacked to pieces,
men trussed like fowls, with noses and ears cut off and eyes
gouged out. Chinese Christians accompanied the reliefs and ran
about in the labyrinth of network of streets that formed the
quarter, calling upon the Christians to come out from their
hiding-places. All through the night the massacre had
continued, and 'Boxers' were even now shot redhanded at their
bloody work. But their work was still incomplete, and many
hundreds of women and children had escaped. They came out of
their hiding-places crossing themselves and pleading for
mercy. It was a most pitiful sight. Thousands of soldiers on
the wall witnessed the rescue; they had with callous hearts
witnessed the massacre without ever raising a hand to save.
During the awful nights of the 13th and 14th Duke Lan, the
brother of Prince Tuan, and Chao Shu-Chiao, of the
Tsung-li-Yamên, had followed round in their carts to gloat
over the spectacle. Yet the Chinese Government were afterwards
to describe this massacre done under official supervision
under the very walls of the Imperial Palace as the handiwork
of local banditti. More than 1,200 of the poor refugees were
escorted by the 'foreign devils' to a place of safety. Many
were wounded, many were burnt beyond recognition. All had
suffered the loss of every thing they possessed in the world.
They were given quarters in the palace grounds of Prince Su,
opposite the British Legation. Among them was the aged mother
and the nephew of Ching Chang, recently Minister to France,
and now Chinese Commissioner to the Paris Exhibition. The
nephew was cruelly burnt; nearly every other member of the
family was murdered. A Catholic family of much distinction—a
family Catholic for seven generations—was thus almost
exterminated and its property laid in ashes. It was announced
this day that only 'Boxers' might enter the Imperial City. The
Government was rushing headlong to its ruin.

"On June 16 a party of twenty British, ten Americans, and five
Japanese, with some Volunteers, and accompanied by
Lieutenant-Colonel Shiba, the Japanese military attache,
patrolled the East City, visiting the ruins in the hopes that
some Christians might yet be in hiding. But to our calls
everywhere no reply was given. Refugees, however, from the
East City had managed to escape miraculously and find their
way, many of them wounded, to the foreign Legations, seeking
that protection and humanity that was denied them by their own
people. As the patrol was passing a Taoist temple on the way,
a noted 'Boxer' meeting place, cries were heard within. The
temple was forcibly entered. Native Christians were found
there, their hands tied behind their backs, awaiting execution
and torture. Some had already been put to death, and their
bodies were still warm and bleeding. All were shockingly
mutilated. Their fiendish murderers were at their incantations
burning incense before their gods, offering Christians in
sacrifice to their angered deities. They shut themselves
within the temple, but their defence availed them nothing.
Everyone of them, 46 in all, was in 'Boxer' uniform armed with
sword and lance. Retribution was swift; every man was shot to
death without mercy. In the afternoon a fire broke out in the
foreign drug store in the native city outside the great gate
of the Chien Mên.
{118}
It was the work of 'Boxers,' done while the soldiers were
looking on. In order to burn the foreign drug store and do the
foreigners a few pounds worth of damage, they did not hesitate
to jeopardize by fire property worth millions of pounds, and that
is what happened. Adjoining buildings took fire, the flames
spread to the booksellers' street, and the most interesting
street in China, filled with priceless scrolls, manuscripts,
and printed books, was gutted from end to end. Fire licked up
house after house, and soon the conflagration was the most
disastrous ever known in China, reducing to ashes the richest
part of Peking, the pearl and jewel shops, the silk and fur,
the satin and embroidery stores, the great curio shops, the
gold and silver shops, the melting houses, and nearly all that
was of the highest value in the metropolis. Irreparable was
the damage done. …

"During the night the Americans, fearing an attack from the
street at the back of their Legation, kept the street clear
till daybreak. During one of the volleys four of the
Tsung-li-Yamên Ministers called upon the American Minister.
They were blandly assuring him that all was now quiet, that
there was no need for further alarm, that great was the
tenderness of the Throne for men from afar, when a rattle of
musketry was heard which rendered them speechless with fear.
They hurriedly went away. Assurances of the Throne's
tenderness did not deceive us. Our barricades were everywhere
strengthened and defences systematically planned, for rumour
was quick to reach us that the relief forces had been driven
back to Tien-tsin, and this did not add to the security of our
position. Inside the Imperial City wall, within one hundred
yards of the British picket on the north bridge a large
Chinese camp was formed. Peking was in a state of panic, all
the streets near the foreign quarters were empty, and people
were fleeing from the city. There was a run on the banks, and
the Ssu-ta-hêng, the four great banks, the leading banks of
Peking, closed their doors, and paper money was not in
circulation. The Palace of Prince Su was occupied by the
refugees, and its defence, the most important of all and a
vital one to the British Legation, was entrusted to Colonel
Shiba and Japanese marines and volunteers.

"The crisis was approaching. On the morning of June 19 Mr.
Cordes, the Chinese Secretary of the German Legation, was at
the Yamên, when the secretaries told him that the allied
fleets had taken the Ta-ku forts on June 17. This was
remembered when at 4.30 in the afternoon an ultimatum was sent
to the foreign Ministers. It was a bolt from the blue. They
were to leave Peking within 24 hours. 'A despatch,' they
wrote, 'has arrived from the Viceroy Yu Lu, forwarding a note
which he has received from the doyen of the Consular body in
Tien-tsin, the French Comte du Chaylard, to say that, unless
foreign troops are at once permitted to land at Tien-tsin, the
allied fleets will bombard the Ta-ku forts. As this is
equivalent to a declaration of war, the Tsung-li-Yamên
herewith notify the foreign Ministers that they must leave
Peking within 24 hours, otherwise protection cannot be
guaranteed to them. They will be given safe conduct and
transport.' It was quite in accordance with Chinese custom
that a despatch saying that the seizure of the Ta-ku forts had
been threatened should be sent after the seizure had been
effected. What is distasteful to them to say they avoid
saying. A meeting of the diplomatic body was at once held. It
was decided to accept the ultimatum. They had been given their
passports by the Chinese Government; what other course was
open to them? … Word was passed round that preparation had to
be made to leave Peking the following day. Mr. Conger, the
American Minister, asked for 100 carts; and his Legation spent
most of the night making preparations. No packing was done at
the British Legation, for it was there considered
inconceivable that China should insist upon sending the
Ministers their passports. Only two days before, in the
'Peking Gazette' of June 17, it had been officially announced
that the road to Tien-tsin was unsafe. … When the decision of
the Diplomatic Body became known in Peking the most profound
indignation was everywhere expressed at so unworthy a decision
and the most profound astonishment that such a course of
action should have received the support of M. Pichon, the
French Minister 'Protecteur des Missions Catholiques en
Chine,' and of so humane a man as Mr. Conger, the American
Minister; for to leave Peking meant the immediate abandonment
to massacre of the thousands of native Christians who had
trusted the foreigner and believed in his good faith.

"Early on the morning of the 20th a meeting of the Diplomatic
Body was held at the French Legation. No reply had been
received from the Tsung-li-Yamên to the request for an
audience, and the proposition that all the Ministers should go
to the Yamên found no seconder. Had it been carried out, there
would have occurred one of the most appalling massacres on
record. Two chairs later left for the Yamên. In the first was
the German Minister, Baron van Ketteler, who had this
advantage over the other Ministers, that he spoke Chinese
fluently. In the second was the Chinese Secretary of the
German Legation, Mr. Cordes. News travels quickly in Peking.
Not many minutes later my boy burst into my office—'Any man
speakee have makee kill German Minister!' It was true. The
German Minister had been assassinated by an Imperial officer.
The Secretary had been grievously wounded, but, running for
his life, shot at by a hundred rifles, had escaped as if by a
miracle. A patrol of 15 men under Count Soden, the commander,
went out to recover the body. Fired on by Chinese soldiers
from every side, they were forced to retire. … There was no
more question about leaving for Tien-tsin. Later in the day
the Yamên, evidently indifferent to the gravity of the
position created by the Government, sent an impudent despatch
to the German Legation to the effect that two Germans had been
proceeding in chairs along the Hata Mên-street, and at the
mouth of the street leading to the Tsung-li-Yamên one of them
had fired upon the crowd. The Chinese had retaliated and he
had been killed. They wished to know his name. No reply was
sent, for it was felt to be a mockery. Only too well the Yamên
knew whom they had murdered. Weeks passed before the body was
recovered, and it was not until July 18 that any official
reference was made to the murder. In the course of the morning
a despatch was sent to the Diplomatic Body in reply to the
answer they had sent to the ultimatum of yesterday.
{119}
The country, it said, between Peking and Tien-tsin was overrun
with brigands, and it would not be safe for the Ministers to go
there. They should therefore remain in Peking. It is difficult
to write with calmness of the treachery with which the Chinese
were now acting. Four p. m. was the hour given in the ultimatum
for the Ministers to vacate their Legations, but the ultimatum
had been rescinded, and the Ministers invited to remain in
Peking. Thus it was hoped that they would be lulled into a
false security. Chinese soldiers were secretly stationed under
cover at every vantage point commanding the outposts. At 4 p.
m. precisely to the minute, by preconcerted signal, they
opened fire upon the Austrian and French outposts. A French
marine fell shot dead through the forehead. An Austrian was
wounded. The siege had begun.

"At this time (June 20), at the opening of the siege, the
total strength of the combined Legation guards consisted of 18
officers and 389 men, distributed as follows:

"American.
Three officers, Captain Myers in command, Captain Hall,
Surgeon Lippett, and 53 marines from the Newark.

"Austrian.
Five officers, Captain Thomann, the Commander of the Zenta,
Flag-Lieutenant von Winterhalder, Lieutenant Kollar,
two mid-shipmen, and 30 marines from the Zenta.

"British.
Three officers, Captain B. M. Strouts in command,
Captain Halliday, Captain Wray, and 79 men R. M. L. I.
-30 from H. M. S. Orlando and 49 from Wei-hai-wei.

"French.
Two officers, Captain Darcy and Midshipman Herbert, and
45 marines from the D'Entrecasteaux and Descartes.

"German.
Lieutenant Graf Soden and 51 marines of the
3rd Battalion Kiao-chau.

"Italian.
Lieutenant Paolini and 28 blue-jackets from the Elba.

"Japanese.
Lieutenant Hara and 24 marines from the Atago.

"Russian.
Two officers, Lieutenant Baron von Rahden and Lieutenant
von Dehn, and 79 men—72 marines from the Sissoi Veliki and
Navarin and seven Legation Cossacks.

"Total,
18 officers and 389 men.

"In addition the French sent Lieutenant Henry and 30 men to
guard the Pei-tang Cathedral, and the Italians detached one
officer, Lieutenant Cavalieri, and 11 men for the same humane
mission. To this insignificant force of 18 officers and 389
men of eight nationalities the entire foreign quarter had to
trust for its defence. Fortunately several visitors or
residents had received military training, and they at once
went on the active list and rendered invaluable service. … A
volunteer force numbering altogether 75 men, of whom 31 were
Japanese, was enrolled and armed with all available rifles.
They added greatly to the strength of the garrison, taking
watch and watch like the Regulars, fighting behind the
barricades, and never shrinking from any duty imposed upon
them. There was also an irregular force of 50 gentlemen of
many nationalities, who did garrison guard duty in the British
Legation and were most useful. They were known, from the
gentleman who enrolled them, as 'Thornhill's Roughs,' and they
bore themselves as the legitimate successors on foot of
Roosevelt's Roughriders. Armed with a variety of weapons, from
an elephant rifle to the 'fusil de chasse' with a picture of
the Grand Prix, to all of which carving knives had been lashed
as bayonets, they were known as the 'Carving Knife Brigade.' …
Such were the effective forces. They were provided with four
guns, an Italian one-pounder with 120 rounds, an American Colt
with 25,000 rounds, an Austrian machine gun, and a British
five-barrel Nordenfelt, pattern 1887. Rifle ammunition was
very scanty. The Japanese had only 100 rounds apiece, the
Russians 145, and the Italians 120, while the best provided of
the other guards had only 300 rounds per man, none too many
for a siege the duration of which could not be foreseen.

"Punctually, then, at 4 o'clock Chinese soldiers began firing
upon us whom they had requested to remain in peace at Peking.
And immediately after the Austrian Legation was abandoned. No
sufficient reason has been given for its abandonment, which
was done so precipitately that not an article was saved. It
was left to the mercy of the Chinese, and the guard retired to
the corner of Customs-lane, leading west to the Prince's
Palace. This involved the sacrifice of Sir Robert Hart's and
all the Customs buildings, and hastened the advance of the
Chinese westward. As previously arranged, the American mission
buildings had been abandoned in the morning, for they were
quite untenable. All the missionaries, their wives, and
families crossed over to the British Legation. Converts to the
number of several hundreds joined the other refugees. The
captain and 20 American marines returned to the American
Legation. By an error of judgment on the part of the captain
the mission was finally left in a panic. Almost nothing was
saved, and nearly all the stores accumulated for a siege were
lost. The British Legation was now thronged. Rarely has a more
cosmopolitan gathering been gathered together within the limits
of one compound. All the women and children were there, all
the missionaries, American, British, French, and Russian, all
the Customs staff, the French, Belgian, Russian, American,
Spanish, Japanese, and Italian Ministers, and their families,
the entire unofficial foreign community of Peking, with the
exception of M. Chamot, who remained in his hotel throughout,
though it was in the hottest corner of the besieged area. …
French volunteers bravely stood by their own Legation, and the
Austrian Charge d'Affaires and Mme. von Rosthorn remained there
as long as there was a room habitable. Mr. Squiers, the first
Secretary of the American Legation, with Mr. Cheshire, the
Chinese Secretary, and Mr. Pethiek, the well-known private
secretary of Li Hung Chang, stayed by the United States
Legation, and the staff of the German Legation also kept
stanchly to their posts. … At the British Legation
fortification began in real earnest, the refugees working like
coolies. Sand-bags were made by the thousand, and posts
mounted round the Legation. A way was knocked through the
houses to the Russian Legation, so that the Americans, if they
had to fall back, could pass through to the British Legation.
During the day every Legation was exposed to a continuous fire
from surrounding house-tops, and in the case of the British
Legation from the cover in the Imperial Carriage Park. Chinese
put flames to the abandoned buildings, and the Belgian
Legation, the Austrian Legation, the Methodist Mission, and
some private houses were burned.

{120}

"June 22 opened disastrously. The evening before, Captain
Thomann, the Austrian commander, announced that as the senior
officer he had taken command in Peking. This morning, hearing
from an irresponsible American that the American Legation was
abandoned, he, without taking steps to verify the information,
ordered the abandonment of all the Legations cast of
Canal-street, the detachments to fall back upon the British
Legation. There had been no casualties to speak of, none of
the Legations had been attacked, and every commander who
received the order to retreat regarded the action as madness.
Peremptory orders were sent to the Japanese to abandon the
Prince's Palace or Fu (as I shall henceforth call it), and
they retired to their Legation. In the British Legation
nothing was known of the order when, to the amazement of all,
the Italians, Austrians, and French came running down
Legation-street, followed a little later by the Japanese, and
subsequently by the Germans, who recalled their post on the
wall and marched without a shot being fired at them down under
the wall to Canal-street. Americans and Russians, learning
that all east of Canal-street had been abandoned, saw
themselves cut off, though their communications had not even
been menaced, and retreated precipitately into the British
Legation. It was a veritable stampede—a panic that might have
been fraught with the gravest disaster. Prompt action was
taken. Captain Thomann was relieved of his command, and Sir
Claude MacDonald, at the urgent instance of the French and
Russian Ministers, subsequently confirmed by all their
colleagues, assumed the chief command. The French and
Austrians reoccupied the French Legation, but the barricade in
Customs-street was lost. One German only was killed and the
position was saved, but the blunder might have been
disastrous.

"It was obvious from the first that the great danger at the
British Legation was not so much from rifle-fire as from
incendiarism, for on three sides the compound was surrounded
by Chinese buildings of a highly inflammable nature. Before
time could be given to clear an open space round the Legation,
the buildings to the rear of Mr. Cockburn's house were set on
fire, and as the wind was blowing strongly towards us it
seemed as if nothing could prevent the fire from bursting into
the Legation. Water had to be used sparingly, for the wells
were lower than they had been for years, yet the flames had to
be fought. Bullets were whistling through the trees. Private
Scadding, the first Englishman to fall, was killed while on
watch on the stables near by. Men and women lined up, and
water passed along in buckets to a small fire engine that was
played upon the fire. Walls were broken through, trees hastily
cut down, and desperate work saved the building. It was the
first experience of intense excitement. Then the men set to
with a will, and till late at night were demolishing the
temple and buildings outside the wall of the Legation. Work
was continued in the morning, but when it was proposed to pull
down an unimportant building in 'the Hanlin Academy that abuts
upon the Legation to the North, the proposition was vetoed.
Such desecration, it was said, would wound the
susceptibilities of the Chinese Government. It was 'the most
sacred building in China.' To lay hands upon it, even to
safeguard the lives of beleaguered women and children, could
not be thought of, for fear of wounding the susceptibilities
of the Chinese Government! So little do the oldest of us
understand the Chinese.

"A strong wind was blowing from the Hanlin into the Legation,
the distance separating the nearest building from the
Minister's residence being only a few feet. Fire the one and
the Minister's residence would have been in danger. Suddenly
there was the alarm of fire. Smoke was rising from the Hanlin.
The most venerated pile in Peking, the great Imperial Academy,
centre of all Chinese learning, with its priceless collection of
books and manuscripts, was in flames. Everyone who was off
duty rushed to the back of the Legation. The Hanlin had been
occupied during the night by Imperial soldiers, who did not
hesitate, in their rage to destroy the foreigners, to set fire
to the buildings. It was first necessary to clear the temple.
A breach was made in the wall, Captain Poole headed a force of
Marines and volunteers who rushed in, divided, searched the
courts, and returned to the main pavilion with its superb
pillars and memorial tablets. Chinese were rushing from other
burning pavilions to the main entrance. They were taken by
surprise and many were killed, but they had done their evil
deed. … To save the Legation it was necessary to continue the
destruction and dismantle the library buildings. With great
difficulty, with inadequate tools, the buildings were pulled
down. Trees endangering our position were felled. An attempt
was made to rescue specimens of the more valuable manuscripts,
but few were saved for the danger was pressing. Sir Claude
MacDonald, as soon as the fire was discovered, despatched a
messenger to the Tsung-li-Yamên, telling them of the fire and
urging them to send some responsible officials to carry away
what volumes could be rescued, but no attention was given to
his courteous communication. The Dutch Legation was burned on
the 22nd, and next day Chinese soldiers set fire to the
Russo-Chinese Bank, and a greater part of the buildings were
destroyed, involving in danger the American Legation. Chinese
volunteers were called for. They responded readily, worked
with much courage exposed to fire from the wall, and the
Legation was saved. All the buildings back from the bank to
the Chien Mên (the main gate between the Chinese and Tartar
cities facing the entrance to the Forbidden City) seemed to be
on fire. Then all the Customs buildings were fired, so that
flames were on every side, and the smoke was tremendous, while
the fusillade was incessant. An Italian and a German died of
their wounds. The first American was killed, shot from the
wall, then a Russian fell. They were dropping off one by one,
and already we were well accustomed to the sight of the
stretcher and the funeral. Wounded were being brought in from
every Legation to the hospital in the British Legation. …

{121}

"Then a new terror was added to the fears of the besieged, for
the Imperial troops mounted a 3 in. Krupp gun on the Chien Mên,
the gate opposite to the Forbidden City, and began throwing
segment shells from a distance of 1,000 yards into the crowded
Legation. The first shell struck the American Legation, others
burst over the British compound, while others crashed into the
upper rooms of the German Legation. It was known that the
Chinese had ten similar guns in Peking, while we had nothing
with which to answer their fire, and no one ever knew where
the next gun might be mounted. Immediately all hands dug
bomb-proof shelters for the women and children. Rifle fire
also played on the Americans from the wall quite close to them
at a distance of a few hundred feet only, whence, safely
sheltered by the parapet of the wall, men could enfilade the
barricade which was held by the Americans on the street
running east and west under the wall. The barricade became
untenable, and to occupy the wall was a paramount necessity
which could no longer be delayed. … Down in the besieged area
the enemy pressed upon every side. Again they attempted to
fire the British Legation from the Mongol market on the west;
but a sortie was made by British Marines and Volunteers, and
the Chinese were driven from house to house out of the market.
The work was dangerous, and Captain Halliday was dangerously
wounded, while Captain Strouts had an extraordinary escape,
the bullet grazing the skin above the carotid artery. The
sortie was entirely successful; some rifles were captured, and
ammunition, which was more precious than silver. The buildings
were then fired by us, the fire being kept under control,
which cleared a long distance round the west of the Legation.
Fortification proceeded without intermission and all the
defences of the besieged area quickly gathered strength. For
the first time in war, art was a feature in the fortification.
Sandbags were of every colour under the sun and of every texture.
Silks and satins, curtains and carpets and embroideries were
ruthlessly cut up into sandbags. In the Prince's Fu the
sandbags were made of the richest silks and satins, the
Imperial gifts and accumulated treasures of one of the eight
princely families of China. In the Prince's Fu the Chinese
made a determined attempt to force their way into the Palace
in their frenzy to slaughter the native Christians. In the
angle of the wall in the northeastern court of the Palace they
made a breach in the wall and rushed wildly in. But the
Japanese were waiting for them and from loopholes they had
made opposite rolled them over like rabbits, driving them
helter-skelter back again. Some 20 were killed, and but for
the unsteadiness of the Italians who were assisting the
Japanese the execution would have been greater. The Chinese
were driven back, but the same evening they threw fireballs of
petroleum over the wall and set fire to the building. Flames
spread to the splendid main pavilion of the Palace. The
Japanese in their turn were driven back, and the Christians
escaping from the burning building overflowed from the Fu into
all that quarter lying between the Palace grounds and
Legation-street.

"On June 25 a truly Oriental method of weakening our defence
was attempted by the Chinese. Up to 4 o'clock in the afternoon
the shooting of rifles and field guns had been continuous,
when suddenly bugles were sounded north, east, south, and
west, and, as if by magic, the firing ceased. It was under
perfect control—Imperial control commanded by responsible
central authority. The silence abruptly following the
fusillade was striking. Then an official of low rank was seen
to affix to the parapet of the north bridge near the British
Legation a board inscribed with 18 Chinese
characters:—'Imperial command to protect Ministers and stop
firing. A despatch will be handed at the Imperial Canal
Bridge.' A placard whereon was written 'Despatch will be
received' was sent by one of the Chinese clerks employed in
the Legation, but when he approached the bridge a hundred
rifles from the Imperial Palace gate were levelled at him. The
despatch was never received. The artifice deceived no one.
Treachery was feared, vigilance was redoubled. Sandbags were
thrown on positions which during fire were untenable. So that
when at midnight the general attack was made upon us we were
prepared, and every man was at his post. The surprise had
failed. As firing had ceased so it began. Horns were sounded,
and then from every quarter a hail of bullets poured over us,
sweeping through the trees and striking with sharp impact the
roofs of the pavilions. No harm was done though the noise was
terrific. Great steadiness was shown by the men. They lay
quietly behind the sandbags and not a shot was fired in reply.
It was suggested as an explanation of this wild firing that
the shots were to kill the guardian spirits which were known
to hover over us. Similar fusillades took place at the
American Legation and at the French Legation, and with the
same result. During the armistice the Chinese had availed
themselves of the quiet to throw up earthworks in the Carriage
Park alongside the British Legation, in the Mongol market
between the British and Russian Legations, and at both ends of
Legation-street facing the Americans on the west and facing
the French Legation corner on the east.

"Our isolation was now complete, and the enemy's cordon was
constantly drawing closer. Every wall beyond the lines was
loopholed. Not only was the besieged area cut off from all
communication with the world outside Peking, but it was cut
off from all communication with the Pei-tang. No messenger
could be induced for love or money to carry a message there.
Bishop Favier and his guards must have been already hard
pressed, for they were exposed to the danger not only of rifle
and cannon, but of fire and starvation. The small garrison
detached from the guards was known to be inadequately supplied
with ammunition. It was known, however, that the danger of the
situation had long been foreseen by Monseigneur Favier, who,
speaking with unequalled authority, had weeks before the siege
vainly urged his Minister to bring troops to Peking. When the
crisis became inevitable and Christian refugees poured into
the city the Bishop endeavoured to buy arms and ammunition, so
that there was a hope, though a faint one, that the Chinese
themselves had assisted in the defence. So with stores. Large
quantities of grain were stored in the Pei-tang, but whether
sufficient for a siege for a garrison of 3,000 souls was not
known. Their condition was a constant source of anxiety to the
Europeans within the Legations, who were powerless to help
them. Watch was kept unceasingly for any sign of the disaster
that seemed inevitable—the massacre and the conflagration.

{122}

"Towards evening of the 28th a Krupp gun was mounted in the
Mongol market, not 300 yards from the British Legation, and
fire was opened upon a storeyed building occupied by marines
in the south court of the Legation. Fired at short range, the
shells crashed through the roof and walls. For an hour the
bombardment continued, but no one was injured, though a crack
racing pony in the stables below was killed, and next day
eaten. It was determined to capture this gun, so in the early
morning a force consisting of 26 British, ten Germans, ten
Russians, five French, and five Italians, and about 20
volunteers made a sortie from the Legation to try and capture
the gun and burn the houses covering it; but the attempt was a
fiasco. The men got tangled up in the lanes so that the reserve
line with the kerosene marched ahead of the firing line; there
was a Babel of voices, no one knew where to go, the captain
lost his head and set fire to the houses in the rear and the
men retreated pell-mell. … The Chinese, however, were alarmed
and removed the gun. Meanwhile both French and German
Legations had suffered heavily. …

"On the 29th the French Legation was hard pressed. One of
their officers, the midshipman Herbert, was shot.
Reinforcements were hastily sent from the Fu, and the attack
was repulsed; but some of the outer buildings of the Legation
were burned, and the French had to retire further into the
Legation. In this siege it was striking what a powerful part
petroleum was made to play. Already the French Legation had
suffered more severely than any other Legation; of their 45
men 16 had been killed or wounded. Krupp guns had been mounted
not 50 yards to the eastward, and the eastern walls of the
pavilions were being gradually and systematically battered
into ruins. All day now and until the cessation of hostilities
shells were pounding into the French Legation, into Chamot's
hotel, and from the Chien Mên on the wall, promiscuously,
everywhere. Much property was destroyed, but, though the
shells burst everywhere and escapes were marvellous, few
people were hit. Bullets whistled in the Legation compounds.
Surgeon Lippett was talking to Mr. Conger in the American
Legation when he was hit by a bullet that smashed the thigh
bone. Had the bullet not struck the surgeon it would have hit
the Minister. Mr. Pethick was sitting at a window of the
American Legation fanning himself when a bullet pierced the
fan. A civilian was wounded in the British Legation, and a
marine, Phillips, was killed while walking in the compound.
A fragment of shell fell on a patient inside the hospital.

"The cordon was drawing closer. In the Fu nearly one-third of
the buildings had been abandoned and the Japanese retired to a
second line of defence. Shells were fired by the hundred. On
the 29th 70 shells were thrown into the British Legation. The
difficulty of holding the American and German barricades on
the city wall was increasing. The positions were very much
exposed. A Krupp gun was brought close to the American
barricade. The Russo-Chinese Bank and all the buildings near
were occupied by Chinese troops, the walls being loopholed and
lanes barricaded. And all were so close that you could not
look through a loop-hole without being shot at. Yet the
American barricade, with its mixed guard of Americans,
Russians, and British, had to be held at all hazards;
otherwise the Krupp gun could be brought down the wall and
play havoc upon the Legations, the furthest of which—the
British—was at its nearest point not 400 yards distant. Still
more exposed than the American barricade was the outpost on
the wall held by the Germans. At first they had been
reinforced by the French and Austrians, but the needs of the
French Legation were equally pressing and the guards were
withdrawn and a small picket of British sent to aid the
Germans. … In the morning of July 1 the Chinese climbed up the
ramp and surprised the guard. The order was hastily given to
retire, and the picket, shaken by its losses of yesterday,
left the wall. The German non-commissioned officer who gave
the order was severely blamed for thus abandoning a position
that he had been ordered to hold. Withdrawal left the
Americans exposed in the rear. They saw the Germans retire,
and in a panic fell back to the Legation, rushing pell-mell
down the ramp. Nothing had occurred at the barricade itself to
justify the retreat, although two men had fallen within a few
hours before. Yet the wall was the key of the position and had
to be maintained. A conference was held at the British
Legation, and as a result orders were given to return to the
post. Captain Myers at once took back a strong detachment of
14 Americans, ten British, and ten Russians, and reoccupied
the barricade as if nothing had happened. The Chinese,
ignorant that the post had been evacuated, lost their
opportunity. Then the guard in the French Legation was driven
a stage further back and M. Wagner, a volunteer, was killed by
the bursting of a shell. …

"It was a day of misfortunes. In the afternoon the most
disastrous sortie of the siege was attempted. A Krupp gun,
firing at short range into the Fu (i. e., the Prince's
Palace), was a serious menace to our communications. Captain
Paolini, the Italian officer, conceived the idea that he could
capture the gun if volunteers could be given him and if the
Japanese could assist. … By this ineffective sortie our small
garrison was reduced by three men killed, one officer and four
men and one volunteer wounded. Fortunately it was no worse.
The gun that was not captured was brought up again next day
into play and continued battering down the Fu walls. The enemy
were working their way ever nearer to the refugee Christians.
Their rage to reach the Christians was appalling. They cursed
them from over the wall, hurled stones at them, and threw
shells to explode overhead. Only after the armistice, when we
received the 'Peking Gazette,' did we find that word to burn
out and slaughter the converts had come from the highest in
the land. The Japanese were driven still further back. Already
they had lost heavily, for upon them had fallen the brunt of a
defence the gallantry of which surpassed all praise. When the
siege was raised it was found that of the entire force of
marines only five men had escaped without wounds; one was
wounded five times. Colonel Shiba early raised a force of
'Christian volunteers,' drilled them, instructed them, and
armed them with rifles captured from the enemy. They made an
effective addition to the Japanese strength. …

{123}

"At daybreak on July 3, the Chinese barricade on the top of
the wall near the American outpost was successfully stormed by
a party of British, Americans, and Russians, under the leadership
of Captain Myers, Captain Vroublevsky, and Mr. Nigel Oliphant.
… The position was intolerable. It was imperative to rush the
barricade and drive out the Chinese; nothing else could be
done. An attack was planned for 3 in the morning, and before
that hour a strong force of British was sent over from the
legation. The combined force assembled for the attack
consisted of 26 British marines under Sergeant Murphy and
Corporal Gregory, with Mr. Nigel Oliphant as volunteer, 15
Russians under Captain Vroublevsky, and 15 Americans, all
being under the command of Captain Myers. When asked if they
came willingly one American begged to be relieved and was sent
below. This left the total force at 56, of whom 14 were
Americans. So close were the Chinese that it was only a couple
of jumps from our barricade to their fort. There was a rush to
be first over, the fort was stormed, and dashing round the
covering wall the 'foreign devils' charged behind the
barricade. Taken by surprise the Chinese fired in the air,
fled incontinently, and were shot down as they ran along the
open surface of the wall. Captain Vroublevsky and his
detachment acted with especial gallantry, for their duty it
was to attack the Chinese barricade in the front, while the
British and Americans took it in the rear. Two banners marked
'General Ma' were captured. Fifteen Chinese soldiers of
Tung-fuh-siang were killed outright and many more must have
been wounded. Some rifles and ammunition were captured. Then
the allied forces, exposed to a heavy fire, retired within
what had been the Chinese barricade and employed it against
the enemy who had built it. Captain Myers was wounded in the
knee by tripping over a fallen spear, two Americans, Turner
and Thomas—one having accidentally jumped on the wrong side of
the barricade—were killed, and Corporal Gregory was wounded in
the foot. News of the successful sortie gave much pleasure to
the community. Chinese coolies were sent on the wall, and a
strongly intrenched redoubt was built there; the camp was made
safe by traverses. Unfortunately, the wound of Captain Myers
proved more serious than was at first suspected, and he was
not again able to return to duty. The services of a brave and
capable officer were lost to the garrison; his post on the
wall was taken most ably by Captain Percy Smith and other
officers in turn.

"Most of the shelling was now directed against the French and
German Legations and Chamot's Hotel. The hotel was struck 91
times and was several times set on fire, but the flame was
extinguished. Work continued there, however hot the shelling,
for food had to be prepared there for half the community in
Peking, Russians, French, Germans, and Austrians. The energy
of Chamot was marvellous. He fed the troops and a crowd of
Christian refugees, killed his own mules and horses, ground
his own wheat, and baked 300 loaves a day. Shelled out of the
kitchen he baked in the parlour. His courage inspired the
Chinese, and they followed him under fire with an amazing
confidence.