Marines Hold the Line--and the Wall
By DAVID F. WINKLER
Dr. David F. Winkler is a historian with the Naval Historical
Foundation.
Within Asia, a radical group, with government connivance, engaged in a
terror campaign to rid the region of Western influence. Although the
scenario seems to be taken from contemporary headlines, this story--about
the Boxer Rebellion in China--took place a century ago.
At the end of the 19th century, bandit groups roamed the Chinese
countryside terrorizing villages. China's weak central government was
unable (or perhaps unwilling) to act effectively, though, so various
martial-arts groups literally took the law into their own hands to beat
back the bandits. Because of the indoctrination they received, many in
these groups, which became known as Boxers, believed they were
invulnerable to swords, spears, and more modern Western weapons.
Missionaries challenged these beliefs, and for that reason Christians
soon were being persecuted and attacked. Many Boxers also resented the
colonial powers that had undermined Chinese sovereignty through special
concessions. Floods, locusts, drought, and massive crop failures added to
the desperate situation that many peasants faced.
In May 1900, thousands of Boxers poured into Peking (Beijing), causing
fear within the foreign communities. On 30 May, responding to a request
from the foreign ministers, the local Chinese authorities allowed the
Americans, British, French, Italians, Japanese, and Russians to augment
their embassy guard forces. The next day, 337 men arrived from foreign
naval ships anchored off Taku (Dagu). Included in the contingent were 50
U.S. Marines, led by Captains John Myers and Newt Hall. Over the next few
days, reports of new atrocities against missionaries filtered into the
legations from the countryside, and the foreign ministers called for
additional reinforcements.
At Taku, Vice Adm. Sir Edward H. Seymour formed an international rescue
force of 2,056 troops, including 112 U.S. Marines, to move inland by train
on 10-11 June. However, the relief column met heavy resistance from the
Boxers northwest of Tientsin (Tianjin) and were forced to fight their way
back to that city.
In Peking, tensions escalated into rioting around the section of the
city hosting the cluster of foreign legations, and communications to the
outside world were cut. Inhabitants of the legations and refugees built
defensive positions. On 24 June, the Boxers attacked along the whole
legation perimeter, occupying "the Tartar Wall" across from the
American compound. The next day, a force of U.S. Marines led by Myers
seized the wall. The stalemate continued.
Reacting to the Chinese construction of a siege tower that would make
the American position untenable, Myers led a mixed group of 46 American,
British, and Russian troops during the early morning hours of 3 July and
took out the tower. The fighting continued, though, with the Marines
withstanding several attacks on 13 July alone.
On the night of the 14th, Hall sent Private First Class Daniel J. Daly,
an ex-New York City paperboy, to hold a forward position, while his fellow
Marines deployed into a new defensive perimeter. Daly fended off repeated
attacks throughout the night. As dawn broke, numerous dead Chinese lay
before Daly's position.
Fighting ceased on the following day when the Chinese offered to allow
the legations to withdraw--unarmed. The ministers delayed before
responding, to allow time to shore up their defenses.
Meanwhile, a larger second expedition, including the U.S. Army's 9th
Infantry Regiment, had rescued the Seymour expedition and secured Tientsin
as a logistical base for a move on Peking. Further reinforcements,
including the Army's 14th Infantry Regiment, then arrived. On 5 August, a
multinational force of over 14,000 troops began to move up the Pei Ho
River.
In Peking, the truce had ended on 28 July; knowing, though, that a
relief column was on the way, the Chinese redoubled their efforts to
reduce the legations. On 13 August, the U.S. Marines fought valiantly to
hold the Tartar Wall while the defenders of the other legations held their
sections against vicious attacks. The next day, the 14th Infantry Regiment
broke through to lift the siege. Later, 21 of the Marine defenders,
including Daly, were awarded the Medal of Honor.
At the insistence of the European legations, heavy indemnities were
imposed on the Chinese, and many of the Boxer leaders were executed.
"The invasion of the eight foreign powers" and the aftermath
added greatly to the already strong Chinese resentment against the Western
powers. For the Marines, though, the Boxer Rebellion set a standard for
combat excellence, and for individual heroism, that would be repeated
numerous times over the course of the following century. *
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Material derived from Richard O'Conner's The Spirit Soldiers: A
Historical Narrative of the Boxer Rebellion (Putnam, 1973).
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