CHAPTER VII
WHAT CAUSED THE WAR
In this tale of a young soldier's experiences during the American army's first campaign in China, it is not my intention to go into the details of all that led up to the terrible outbreak in the Celestial Empire,—an outbreak which will probably be known as the Boxers' Uprising of 1900. Yet it will be well for us to glance over some of the events which had occurred immediately before the sailing of the troops from Manila, in order to understand the situation as Gilbert and his fellow-soldiers found it, on their arrival at Taku.
The real trouble dated back to years before, when China and Japan went to war, the result of which was that China lost her ancient dependency of Korea; and a general "mix up" resulted in Japan taking the island of Formosa, and Russia taking Manchuria, Port Arthur, and other strategic points. This was followed by England's occupation of Wei-Hai-Wei, and Germany's seizure of Kaio-Chau. And then these powers and others went even further, by establishing what were known as Spheres of Influence throughout the Celestial Kingdom.
In the past China had lost ground only in her outlying districts or territories. Now one of her original eighteen provinces was opened to the foreigners; and probably the Chinese felt as Americans might have felt had somebody tampered with the rights of the citizens living in one of our thirteen original States. Railroads were built against the Chinese will; and, because of resistance to the workers on the roads, two whole Chinese villages were razed, and the inhabitants driven forth, homeless.
The anti-foreign feeling had been strong; and now, as the Chinese saw the Europeans gradually closing down upon them, with here and there a number of Americans as well, the feeling against the "foreign devils"—as all people of white skin are called—grew hotter and hotter.
The missionaries were the first to feel the pressure brought to bear by the Boxers, who, in secret conclave, determined that all foreigners must either be driven from the countiy or slain. Notices were posted on the churches and houses, ordering the missionaries to depart within a week or a moon or three moons, under penalty of death; and all merchants, traders, and travellers were also warned to leave.
A few paid heed to these warnings; but the majority decided that they had a right to stay, and remained. They had been guaranteed protection by the Chinese government, under treaties made with their home governments; and the missionaries were also promised protection by the Chinamen they had converted. But, when the storm broke, the converted Chinamen suffered as much as did those who had converted them.
What led to the first fight of 1900 it would be hard to say; but the troubles began early in the year, when Dr. Brooks, who had sheltered the German engineer for whom the Chinese were searching in his house, was murdered on January 2. This act was quickly followed by the slaying of a number of other missionaries and of foreigners generally, until by May the whole civilized world woke up to the fact that no white people in China would be safe unless they were defended by their own countrymen. The Chinese government could not suppress the Boxer movement, even if it felt so inclined, which was doubtful.
The greatest uprising was in the provinces of Pechili and Shantung, situated in the extreme east of the empire, on the Yellow Sea and the Gulf of Pechili. Here the Pei-Ho (Ho means river) empties into the gulf, with the forts of Taku on one side and the village of Tongku on the other. Back of the Taku forts is Taku village, and twenty-seven miles up the stream lies the important city of Tien-Tsin. From Tien-Tsin to Pekin is about eighty miles, but navigation on the river does not extend the entire distance.
Finding that they could not hold their own in the villages in which they were located, missionaries and other foreigners in and around Pekin and Tien-Tsin gradually congregated in the cities named, under the protection of their home consuls, until the various American, English, German, French, Italian, and other foreign legations became crowded with people all clamoring for aid, with Boxers on the outside howling that they be driven out or slain. By June 1 matters had reached an acute stage; and the outside powers felt that something must be done, or China would witness one of the most barbarous slaughters in the annals of history. No war was declared on China; but the government was given to understand that each outside nation intended to rescue its own people, no matter at what cost.
The first movement of the foreign nations, or the Allies, as they were termed, was from Tien-Tsin. All the nations had sent warships up to the Gulf of Pechili, and from these were landed a force of twenty-five hundred marines and soldiers, under the general command of Admiral Seymour of the British Navy, he being the highest in rank of any of the officers present. With this force were one hundred marines from the United States cruiser Newark, under the command of Captain McCalla.
News had come that the legations at Pekin were in a state of siege, and that all the foreign ministers were either murdered or about to be slain, and that hundreds of foreigners were already dead; and the object of the expedition was to relieve those at the capital. But the force was altogether too small for the purpose in view. It was stopped long before Pekin was in sight, and escaped total annihilation only by what seemed almost a miracle.
On June 15 it was decided by several of the European powers that it would be necessary to take possession of the railroad station at Tongku, so that communications could be opened with the advancing army by rail. In the meantime a strong force of Boxers and Chinese troops had taken possession of the Taku forts. As this was a menace to the warships in the harbor, orders were served that the Chinese must vacate the forts, or they would be bombarded. The Chinese paid no attention to the orders.
The American warships had no authority to attack at that time, so the bombardment of the forts was conducted by the European gunboats, the cruisers finding the water too shallow for them. Three Russian, one British, one French, and one German craft took part in the engagement. One of the Russian boats was badly disabled, and the Allies lost twenty men killed and had over sixty wounded. The Chinese loss was over four hundred, and after seven hours' fighting the forts were stormed by the sailors and the Celestials fled. During the engagement the American vessel Monocacy was struck, but the shot did little damage.
The taking of the Taku forts aroused the Chinese as never before; and a retreat was ordered to the Chinese quarter of Tien-Tsin, and from this territory began an active bombardment of the foreign quarter of the city. The fighting was now on in earnest, and where it would end no man or nation could tell.
From Nagasaki the transport was to proceed to Taku, but further than that no one on board knew; for the future movements of the troops would depend entirely upon circumstances.
"We are out for some hot fighting, I am certain of that," said Major Morris to Gilbert, as the pair sat on the deck late on the afternoon of the second day out from Manila. It was cloudy, and there was a breeze blowing, which made it quite comfortable, considering they were in the tropics.
"I believe you, major; and I've been wondering if it wouldn't be a good plan to put the boys through some drilling. They have been going it rather as they pleased up at Tarlac."
"The colonel says he will begin drilling to-morrow. He wishes the boys to get their sea legs first."
"I've been wondering how the Chinese are armed. Are they as backward in that as in some other things?"
"Hardly. You see the war with Japan opened their eyes; and since that time they have been drilling their soldiers under the directions of European officers, and supplying them with the best rifles in the market. I understand, too, that their forts are supphed with Krupp guns."
"Then we won't have a walk-over."
"By no means, and for two reasons. First they are well armed, and in the second place there are so many of them that they may overpower the Allies by mere force of numbers. Nothing is known of Admiral Seymour's rellef party, and I shouldn't be surprised if he and brave Captain McCalla's men had been annihilated."
"Do you think we are bound for Tien-Tsin?"
"I think we are bound for the Pei-Ho. The government intends to get into Pekin, and save Minister Conger and his legation, as well as the other Americans. We may have a long fight to get there, though."
"Somebody said there had been a good deal of fighting around Tien-Tsin already."
"I don't doubt it; but you can't believe all that is reported, for the Chinese hold a good many lines of communication."
"It looks to me as if China was defying the whole civilized world."
"They don't want our religion or our people, and they don't want us to come over there and show them how to do things and to make improvements. They want to be left severely alone."
"But we have lots of Chinamen in our country."
"True enough; but the stay-at-home Celestial believes that his neighbor ought to stay at home, too. The average Chinaman, so I've heard, doesn't believe in moving about; and millions of them have never been fifty miles from home in their lives. They know absolutely nothing of the outside world, and our civilization is a closed book to them."
"Do you know how many troops the government intends to send to China?"
"I've heard that it is to be upward of ten thousand. General Chaffee is to leave San Francisco with some troops soon,—or he has left already,—and, when he arrives, he is to take command of the American forces on land."
"Why, I met General Chaffee in Cuba!" cried Gilbert. "He was one of the leaders in the Santiago campaign."
"Yes, and he is an old and experienced army officer to boot. I think he will prove the right man in the right place."
"He's all right, I reckon," put in a voice behind Gilbert at this juncture. "Lieutenant, you didn't expect to meet me as a fellow-passenger, did you?"
The young lieutenant turned swiftly, for the voice had a familiar sound. He was almost struck dumb to find himself face to face with Nuggy Polk and his boon companion, Jerry Nickerson.