Boxer Rebellion

[tigre]

Hello to all ; you're welcome Chris . More. The ill-fated expedition to Peking (Beijing) 1900.

The first train was pushing a wagon armed with a gun in front of the locomotive. Already in Tientsin began the activities of the rebels, who tried to destroy the rails, but could still be dispersed without bloodshed. In any case, however, it was necessary to leave a security detachment here to maintain the rearward link, and therefore 400 men were left behind, including two German officers and 50 men under the command of Kapitänleutnant Kühne. For this the sight of many mutilated corpses of Chinese railway workers along the railway line reminded them of the seriousness of the situation and the implacable brutality of the rebels, stopping at the Dangtsin station that same night to restore the railway line that had been destroyed in several places.

This was successful, and on June 12, the expedition arrived in Lufa. A detachment of English sailors was left behind in the burning station building. They turned it into a fort and named it after the ship "Fort Endymion". The rest of the troops continued, and at 2 hours they arrived at Liangfang, about 40 km from Peking / Beijing, where information was collected about the great destruction of the railway and they were forced to stay for several days.

The boxers had all the parts that were necessary, so a repair was out of the question. The crew of the "Gefion" (German ship) was given the task of repairing the station and maintaining it. As it was previously done, they established a fort that was baptized as "Fort Gefion". In Liangfang, a supply train reached the Expeditionary Corps, but it was a very doubtful signal that the next, more important train, which apart from food and ammunition included material for the construction of tents, would no longer arrive, but was forced to return to Tientsin.

From a fugitive from Beijing, Lord Seymour learned that General Li received the order of the government, to avoid, under any circumstances, the entry of the Allied Landing Corps in Beijing, so that it is ready to face the regular imperial troops in a short period. The supplies and ammunition were already very small, and the lack of drinking water began to feel sensibly, since the wells were poisoned by the bodies thrown into it. On June 13, the Russian and German detachments were ordered to return to the next Lufa station to recognize and provide drinking water. The latter was successful, even very little resistance was found.

On the contrary, the boxers carried out a raid against the trains and "Fort Gefion", but they were rejected with great losses. At 6 o'clock in the evening the funeral of the first fallen soldiers took place, namely, five Italian sailors who had been ambushed in the forest and cut into pieces.

Sources: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin ... MDLOG_0001
https://www.ebay.de/itm/China-Lt-Friedr ... 0013.m1986

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Chris Dale]

Good work, thanks for the updates. I hope this will be an ongoing history for our readers.
Chris

[tigre]

Hello to all ; More. The ill-fated expedition to Peking (Beijing) 1900.

On June 14, the troops were able to carry out general laundry and take a bath for the first time after landing; Meanwhile, work was being done tirelessly on the restoration of the destroyed railway line. Repeatedly on this day, the rioters attempted to attack the workers' units and the security units with swords and spears. However, they were successfully rejected by the crew of the "Gefion", the French and the Italians, and the next day, on June 15, the allies defended themselves by acting offensively against the rebels.

The crews of the "Hertha" and the "Kaiserin Augusta" carried out an incursion towards the south, before which the Chinese carried out a quick retreat, without offering an energetic resistance; in the process, five flags and some prisoners fell into the hands of the Germans. A reconnaissance carried out simultaneously by the crew of the "Hansa" marching on the railroad had the same successes, but it had to be said that the destruction was very significant in many places. In addition, it turned out that the rail connection with Tientsin was interrupted, so the withdrawal line had been significantly threatened.

Despite the arrival of a messenger from Peking, through which the ambassadors called for immediate and urgent help, a council of war convened on June 16 decided to withdraw. Already Liangfang and Lufa stations were left. However, Lord Seymour, who came forward, felt that the destruction of the railway network was not so strong as to cause a complete break in the connection with Tientsin and justify the withdrawal.

Schleunigst, therefore, gave the order to Captain Usedom, who with the Germans, Russians and English again occupied the two stations of Liangfang and Lufa. This order, which removed the uncertainty and fluctuations at a stroke, could have been fatal to almost the entire landing corps. After Lufa and Liangfang were reoccupied, the adjacent villages were destroyed on June 18, to clear the entire area. In the afternoon of the same day, the situation of the allies was extremely dangerous.

Sources: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin ... MDLOG_0001
https://www.ebay.de/itm/China-Lt-Friedr ... 0013.m1986

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; More. The ill-fated expedition to Peking (Beijing) 1900.

The destruction of the railway towards Beijing advanced considerably, and it was also shown that the rebels had received considerable reinforcements from the imperial troops, the right flank was threatened by regular cavalry, the left by strong contingents of regular infantry. In general they were kept under control by the well-directed fire of the Germans, but the infantry attacked the left flank of the allies. The British started there to hesitate when the men of the "Hertha" under the command of Captain von Usedom executed a massive counterattack and launched themselves at the attackers, and the Chinese withdrew, a chase could not be carried out due to the difficult terrain. This action had cost the Germans 1 dead and 15 wounded, which was a great burden for the troops, since the ambulances were far from sufficient and the seriousness of the situation left no doubt as to the need for the allies to execute a quick withdrawal. Half an hour after the battle, the British, the Russians and the Germans, having suffered 10 dead and 51 wounded, departed back to Pangtsin to join Lord Seymour, who had already left before.

At first, Lord Seymour had not yet decided to return to Tientsin; He did not want to leave stone unturned to bring salvation and help Europeans in Peking. But the impressions obtained by the behavior of the enemy, which was reinforced by the regular troops, the threat of a shortage of ammunition and provisions, forced the Council of War called on June 19 to pronounce firmly on the continuation of the withdrawal. After the dead had been buried with military honors, the march to Tientsin began at 4:00 p.m. The Oberleutnant Röhr of the "Hansa" managed to get five reeds to carry the luggage and the wounded, which was a great relief for the marching troops, but also forced them to march along the peiho to protect the barges.

The Germans and the Russians continued on the right, the remaining troops on the left bank. Surrounded continuously by a hostile environment, on a sandy terrain without roads, with torrential rain or terrible heat, the march was slow. There was a lack of drinking water and the troops had to ration the consumption of it. The difficulties increased further on June 20, when it was recognized that all the settlements were hostile to them and all should be taken by assault, with the Germans losing two wounded.

On June 21, the Imperial forces were pressing hard, while the Allies arrived in Peitsang under violent shrapnel. The last place was also heavily occupied by the imperial troops, and it resisted fiercely. The battle lasted all afternoon and the entire landing corps was assembled on the left bank of Peiho, to execute a joint attack that managed to take Peitsang and open the way. This day again cost the Germans 14 wounded, including the Käpitänleutnant Schlieper and the Leutnant v. Zerssen. The difficulties, which increased with each step, gave rise to the conviction that the nights would be used to continue the march.

Sources: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin ... MDLOG_0001
https://www.ebay.de/itm/China-Lt-Friedr ... 0013.m1986

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; More. The ill-fated expedition to Peking (Beijing) 1900.

So this took place on June 22 at dawn, at 01:00. The Germans marched to the forefront. When they approached the town of Hsiku (northwest of Tientsin), suddenly from the other shore they received intense artillery fire, at the same time from the walls of the Arsenal in Hsiku fire of infantry weapons. While the German battalion engaged against the Arsenal and fought the enemy there by fire, the Leutnants v. Bülow, Roehr and Hilmers, with volunteers, crossed the Peiho, which was quite fast at this point, in the middle of the enemy's fire, and assaulted the enemy's battery under cries of hurray.

The Chinese elements fled, the Germans immediately directed the 6 weapons conquered first to the fleeing troop, then to the arsenal, which was now captured in a joint storm. Since it proved to be a good base and offered some protection against superior attacks, Lord Seymour decided to stay here and defend himself until Tientsin's relief arrived. Therefore, the expedition prepared to sustain a defense at all costs. But even during this activity, the Chinese renewed their attacks and especially pressured the two British battalions, until a vigorous counter-attack by the "Hertha" crew succeeded in defeating the enemy. Unfortunately, this day cost the Germans another great loss, suffering 6 deaths, including the Korvettenkäpitän Buchholz, and 16 wounded, including the seriously wounded Leutnant von Krohn and Leutnant Lustig.

At Arsenal they found, as a welcome booty, large quantities of rifles and last model pistols, a large part of the weapons were still packed in boxes. In addition, millions of cartridges and large amounts of food, especially rice. The wounded could be accommodated reasonably well in the covered rooms, so that all the conditions for a defense of several days were present. But the most necessary attempt on the part of the English to establish contact with Tientsin in the afternoon of the same day failed, and the next day on June 23, the Chinese renewed their attack.

But it was rejected with the captured weapons, which were now ready to be used, with great losses of the enemy. This was the last Chinese operation against the landing corps, because perhaps the opponent probably recognized the superiority it had now equipped with his own weapons (captured in the Arsenal). Unfortunately, however, the allies lost 24 dead and 6 wounded that day, the Leutnant Pfeiffer on the German side.

On June 24, the French renewed in vain the attempt to reach Tientsin, it failed in the face of considerable resistance. It was not until June 25 that, by hoisting the German flag, it was possible to attract the attention of a Russian-German expeditionary force that had penetrated beyond Tientsin, thus achieving relief from the landing corps. On June 26, Lord Seymour, who had destroyed the entire arsenal and buried the dead with military honors, was able to continue the march back to Tientsin, where they still arrived on the night of that same day.

Sources: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin ... MDLOG_0001
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1900-DATED-P ... 2448291617

Cheers. Raúl M .

[danebrog]

Not exactly my playground...but much entertaining! Thank you for the efforts!

[stevebecker]

Mate,

Yes thank you.

Its an area that not much is known, mostly form the movie (55 days at Peking) .

I have an Australian civy with the defences in Peking and we sent a war ship there to help, but I dont think we saw much action.

S.B

[tigre]

Hello to all ; thanks for your support danebrog and S.B . More. The ill-fated expedition to Peking (Beijing) 1900.

That was the end of the expedition. In total, it had 61 deaths and 223 wounded in action, only to the Germans it cost 11 dead and 57 wounded, some of which later succumbed to their wounds; the participating crews suffered indescribable difficulties and efforts, and yet nothing was achieved. Perhaps the losses would have been less if the Chief had not changed his decision to return on June 15, where he lost a full day. But consider the situation of Admiral Lord Seymour. The ambassadors demanded urgent help, and he was only a scant 30 kilometers away from them.

It would be a mistake to blame him for his hesitant behavior; As long as he had some hope to achieve his purpose, he had to try. The Chinese were considered cowards and were not equal opponents to the allies despite their superiority. Therefore, it was reasonable to continue the audacious enterprise and put pressure on Peking / Beijing despite all the dangers that threatened it.

The grave error was that the Landing Corps was formed, equipped and provisioned so hastily that the operation failed. However, we must admire the chiefs and soldiers. Through unknown areas, without reconnaissance troops, without usable maps, disturbed by a warm temperature, then dry, and then wet, partly by prolonged downpours, without sufficient food and shelter, marching on sandy ground, always plagued by hostile control and under fire from enemy cannons that could not be answered; forced to conquer almost every step, hampered by the transport of many wounded, returned to Tientsin in order.

Sources: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin ... MDLOG_0001
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1900-DATED-P ... 2448291617

Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; More. The bombardment and storming of the Taku Forts.

General situation

Meanwhile, in other places, the allies had had to fight hard. Already in the railway displacement of the Seymour Landing Corps in Tientsin showed that the hostile behavior of people continued to spread. The rebel gangs swept the streets of Tientsin, murdering and looting in a brutal manner, threatening the lives and property of many foreigners. When the Chinese regular troops began to bombard the city with artillery, when the railway between Tientsin and Tongku was interrupted, and at the same time it was reported that the crews of the Taku forts were being reinforced, the Allied admirals considered that the situation was becoming dangerous. An energetic intervention seemed necessary.

If the foreigners and the small garrisons in Tientsin did not want to follow a similar destination to the besieged in Beijing / Pekín, the allies had to maintain unrestricted traffic in the Peiho. However, this was not guaranteed, while Taku forts, which completely dominated the entrance to Peiho from both banks, were held by a Chinese garrison whose conduct made the allies more and more impressed because they felt no fear of impeding forcibly entering the Peiho River. This perception was confirmed when, on June 15, from the "Iltis" it was observed that the Chinese put mines in Peiho's mouth. On the afternoon of June 16, at 17:00 hours, a war council of all the commanders of the warships anchored in the Peiho estuary, aboard the Russian cruiser Rossia, decided to issue an ultimatum to the Chinese general and to the commander of the Taku forts, by means of which all the forts should be temporarily cleared until 02:00 o'clock in the morning.

Only the US commander refused to take responsibility for the consequences of a refusal, as he was instructed to enter only if the lives and property of US citizens were directly threatened, while the remaining commanders decided to take the forts by force in the event of that did not meet the requirements. According to this decision, all preparations were made. Since the shallow waters of the Peiho estuary did not allow the navigation of the heavier naval units, they had to remain at a distance of up to 8 nautical miles in the open bay, so the allies depended to carry out the planned operation, only of the landing corps, of the unprotected gunboats and of the small cruisers.

In this way were available: the gunboat "Iltis" (Germany), the gunboats "Bobr", "Giljak", the small cruiser "Koreetz", the torpedo boat "Gaidamack" (Russia), the gunboat "Lion" (France), the small cruiser "Algerine", the torpedo-destroyer "Whiting", "Fame" (England).

This flotilla was anchored on the night of June 16 / 17 between Tongku and Taku, ready to go into action at any time after the expiration of the ultimatum to begin the bombing of the forts.

The Forts.

The Taku Forts were four, located on each side of the mouth of the Peiho River. From them to the sea were large tracts of treacherous mud, simply covered by the sea at high tide; Stakes have simply been stuck into the silt several hundred meters from the bottom of the embankments, and the landing was quite impracticable at any stage of the tide. On the terrestrial side a great plain extended, intercepted with small canals and irrigation works, and immediately to the rear of the forts are the villages of Tong-Ku and Ta-Ku, respectively. The only other things that attracted attention are the small naval yard in Taku and the pilot village at the mouth of the river, which had been built on the right bank.

The fortresses were protected against warships, larger than the gunboats, by the bar, which is eleven miles away towards the sea, and in which the depth of the water varies from two feet to seventeen feet, in different states of the wind and the tide. The fortresses themselves, the North, Northwest, South and New Fort, the first two on the right bank and the others on the left bank, were immensely powerful. The walls and parapets were constructed of mud mixed with cut straw, a mixture that seemed fit against fire.

In the naval yard there were four new German built destroyers with an estimated speed of thirty-five knots; that they mounted six quick-fire guns of 3 pounds each, and were capable of great damage if they were governed by officers with self-confidence or skill; there was also a gunboat on the dock, but it was probably dismantled from its crew and did not take part in the subsequent procedures.

Sources: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin ... MDLOG_0001
THE WORLD'S NAVIES IN THE BOXER REBELLION (CHINA 1900)

Cheers. Raúl M .

[danebrog]

Interesting. Thank you!

[tigre]

Hello to all ; you're welcome danebrog . More. The bombardment and storming of the Taku Forts.

The Landing Corps.

In fact the assault of the forts should be the task of an international landing corps, under the command of Kapitän z. S. Pohl, the Commander of the SMS "Hansa". On the night of June 15 to 16, at 02:00 in the morning, the German Admiral transported the reserve landing corps of the "Hansa", "Hertha" and "Gefion" 120 men, to which joined 20 Austrians under the Linienschiffsfähnrich Stenner, with boats towed by steam launches to Tongku, where the troops arrived on June 16 at 09:30 hours.

To this landing corps, already in Tongku joined 329 Japanese sailors in the afternoon of the same day. The next morning it was reinforced by 200 Russian infantrymen, 250 English sailors and 24 Italians. The first task was to maintain the important station of Tongku and the movements to Tientsin, since the rumors were made more and more numerous, that the Chinese of Lutai and Peitang prepared an operation against this station. Therefore, the corps was placed in a defensive position and was later occupied by 150 Japanese when the landing corps marched on the forts of Taku.

As expected, the Chinese commander's response was negative. It was said that, at his request, he had received a response from Beijing that specified: "Kill all Europeans, blow up all the ships in the air, do not expect anything else". Even before the ultimatum had expired, on the night of June 16 to 17, around 00:50, all the Chinese fortresses opened fire on the flotilla in the river. And shot after shot followed.

In the dark night it shone incessantly, disappearing the projectiles on the ships, for the moment, the shots passed long. There was still no damage. The fortresses initially located only the English and Russian ships while the German and the French gunship were anchored upstream in Tongku. At 02:00 o'clock sharp, the "Iltis" sailed downstream at full steam and took the second place behind the "Algerine". The "Lion" followed. Now, the higher allied naval commander, the Korvetten-Kapitän Laus of the "Iltis" ordered the fire to be answered and the Russians and French fired on the south forts and the Germans and the English against the forts to the north.

Sources: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin ... MDLOG_0001
THE WORLD'S NAVIES IN THE BOXER REBELLION (CHINA 1900)

Cheers. Raúl M .

[danebrog]

my small contribution: Friedrich Carl Peetz photographs, 1900

Collection comprises a photograph album with 127 black-and-white photographs (several are hand tinted; most are 4.5 x 6 in.) mounted on 22 boards. The album probably belonged to Friedrich Carl Peetz, most likely an officer in the German Navy (Kaiserliche Marine) and crew member of the S.M.S. Hertha during the Boxer Rebellion. The images were mostly taken in Tsingtao (Qingdao), Chefoo (Yantai), Hong Kong, Peking (Beijing), and Shanhaiguan during the Boxer Rebellion in 1900. The photographs document the German involvement in the Rebellion and primarily depict damage to the Taku Forts, German ships (all are identified) and crew, and temples and other historic buildings visited by the Germans in Beijing and other locales in China. Photographs have German captions written in pencil.

https://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/fin ... 41854e350f

[tigre]

Very interesting collection . Cheers. Raúl M .

[tigre]

Hello to all ; more. The bombardment and storming of the Taku Forts.

The bombardment.

Around 3:30 in the morning it began to light up and also began to improve the aim of the Chinese weapons. In particular, they fired their shots at the "Iltis", which they had recognized as the guide ship. However, the latter surpassed the "Algerine" to approach, due to the lack of long-range guns, to the nearest first fort of the north and with its 3.7 cm guns, beat the Chinese crews. Of course, the "Iltis" was exposed to enemy fire due to proximity, suffered serious damage and, unfortunately, significant losses.

However, it is a miracle that the completely unprotected gunboat, which only had a thin armored protection around its machinery, was not destroyed. The ship received 21 direct hits from 12 to 21 cm guns, much of which fell inside and in the ship. Fortunately, the Chinese detonators were in very poor condition as a result of poor storage, so at least not all the projectiles exploded. After all, a blow to the boiler systems could have left the "Iltis" incapacitated for action, so only the superstructures suffered under fire: the bridge, the map room, the control system and the machine telegraph.

The loss of lives was severe. After the death of Oberleutnant z. S. Hellmann and 7 men, at 06:00 a grenade exploded near Captain Lans, breaking both bones of his left leg, while he received 25 small wounds caused by splinters in the legs, chest and face. However, Captain Lans maintained the leadership of the ship, leaning on the handrail of the bridge. This brave resistance of the German gunboat turned the unequal fight in favor of the allies. Due to the effect of the machine guns, the activity of the Chinese artillerymen gradually diminished, although it can not be denied that they endured with great courage and appreciable perseverance under the furious fire.

Already at 03:30 in the morning, the fighting capacity of the first fort of the north was quite low, only fired a 12 cm cannon, although all the gunships now gathered their fire in the same place. At 04:15, finally, this was silenced and, therefore, the fort was ready for the assault. This success was reported by the "Iltis" to the Landing Corps in Tongku with a black ball raised on the front mast, while Captain Pohl had assembled his small detachment of 820 men east of Tongku and still under cover of darkness it approached 600 meters from the north fort.

Sources: https://digital.staatsbibliothek-berlin ... MDLOG_0001
THE WORLD'S NAVIES IN THE BOXER REBELLION (CHINA 1900)
https://www.ebay.at/itm/Kanonenboot-Bom ... SwuShaWK3a

Cheers. Raúl M .

[Xavier]

good read tigre, keep it coming...