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.
