Siege of Beijing
In the summer of 1900 an international military force marched on Beijing, liberating Westerners and Chinese Christians under siege
Chinese and European Christians are besieged by Boxer rebels in the country’s capital
Captain John T. Myers of the US Marines surveyed the situation along the Tartar Wall enclosing the Legations quarter of Beijing, where 2,800 international civilians, diplomats, Chinese Christian converts and Western soldiers had taken refuge from the estimated 80,000-strong force of Boxers and elements of the Chinese army that were bent on their destruction.
“The men all feel they are in a trap and simply await the hour of execution,” wrote Myers. The situation did indeed appear bleak. Sporadic combat inflicted casualties and sapped the strength of the British, American, Japanese, French, German, Italian, Austrian and Russian defenders. An international relief force under British Vice Admiral Edward Seymour had already been thwarted by stiff Chinese resistance and had turned back to the port of Tientsin with heavy casualties.
Rather than overwhelming the handful of Western troops that numbered no more than 900, the Boxers laid siege to the Legation district, an area only 3.2 kilometres (2 miles) long and 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) wide. Another band of refugees was marooned at Beitang 4.8 kilometres (three miles) away, where 43 French and Italian soldiers, 33 priests and nuns and about 3,000 Chinese converts had sought refuge in the Catholic church.
The Siege of the International Legations had begun on 20 June 1900, and British minister Sir Charles Macdonald had taken command of the Western forces with American diplomat Herbert Squiers as his deputy. Ronglu, the Chinese commander, actually opposed the Boxer movement, which possibly explained his reluctance to mount an overwhelming assault. Nevertheless, the situation within the Legation district became more desperate with each passing day. Boxers initially tried to burn the defenders out. Then they attacked the Fu, a large palace that dominated the area, but were thrown back by Japanese marines.
The Germans were driven from the Tartar Wall on 30 June, leaving the Americans temporarily alone. Reinforced, Captain Myers led 26 British, 15 American and 15 Russian soldiers in a night attack that surprised the Chinese, ejected them from the wall and saved the Westerners from annihilation.
On 4 August a powerful Western force known as the Eight-nation Alliance marched from Tientsin. General Sir Alfred Gaselee led its 3,000 British Commonwealth soldiers and was nominally in charge of the entire 20,000man army. The route to Beijing stretched
160 kilometres (100 miles) through hostile countryside. Searing heat took its toll, and many soldiers were incapacitated or died of heat exhaustion.
A day after its march began, the Western army defeated the Chinese at Beicang, and on 6 August the Chinese were again defeated at Yangcun. A week later the relief force arrived outside Beijing. British, American, Russian and Japanese contingents were each ordered to assault one of the city gates, and early on 14 August Russian cannon tore open the Tung Pein gate, which was actually assigned to the Americans. 30 Chinese were dead, and the Russians lost 26 killed and over 100 wounded in the ensuing melee, which lasted several hours. The Japanese also met stiff resistance. Meanwhile, the Americans moved roughly 200 metres (655 feet) south of their assigned gate and scaled the city’s nine-metre (30-foot) outer wall, entering Beijing and moving towards the Legation district.
The British found their assigned gate virtually undefended and waded through a canal to reach the Legations quarter. As they raised the 55-day siege at 2.30pm, the British were warmly welcomed by the rescued civilians, many of them donning their best clothes to greet their liberators. The Americans fought their way to the district, arriving two hours later. Remnants of the Boxer force still controlled parts of Beijing but were driven off the next day. The Americans lost seven killed and 29 wounded in that engagement. Beitang was relieved on 16 August, and Dowager Empress Tz’u-hsi and her ministers fled Beijing, taking refuge in the city of Xi’an.
The battle for Beijing broke the back of the Boxers, and the movement waned. On 7 September 1901 the signing of the Peking (Beijing) Protocol formalised terms for keeping the peace. Raising the Siege of the International Legations cost the Eight-nation Alliance 60 dead and over 200 wounded. 55 soldiers died and 135 were wounded as they held the district and awaited rescue. Dozens of civilians were killed or wounded, while exact casualty figures among the Boxers and Chinese troops are unknown but are believed to have been heavy.