CHAPTER VIII

IN THE FAR EAST : THE BOXER RISING

H.M.S. Terrible 's Welcome in the East - Hong Kong's Lavish Hospitality - News of the Boxer Outbreak - Orders at last ! - Arrival at Taku - Tientsin's Plight - The Relief Column - Long-range Guns left behind - A Neglected Base - Anomalies of the Situation - Useless Appeal to the Admiral - Belated Use of the Rejected Guns - Capture of Tientsin - Relief of the Legations.

ON board a man-of-war things happen quickly and are quickly forgotten. Twenty-four hours after leaving Durban, we had all settled down to our ordinary routine again and both officers and men were anxious to resume their work at naval gunnery. Those who had landed had had practical experience of a good telescope gun sight, and had learned that if a gun is truly pointed the shot will hit the mark aimed at.

On arriving at the Island of Mauritius on the 2nd April, 1900, we found a wonderful reception prepared for us. Both officers and men were most liberally entertained. I stayed at Government House with Sir Charles and Lady Bruce, and nothing could have exceeded their kindness and hospitality. At Colombo, where we arrived on the 16th, we again met with a most charming reception. We sailed for Singapore on the 22nd and en route we resumed our instruction in gunnery. In the Navy, competition is everything,

128

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RECEPTION AT SINGAPORE

and the Terrible's one idea was to beat the Scylla�s 80 per cent, of hits on a target.

As the officers and ship's company had been working very hard in perfecting themselves in gunnery, I thought I would give them a chance of showing what they could do. Targets were prepared, and on the 27th April I anchored in the Straits of Malacca about twenty miles from Singapore, to carry out heavy gun practice. Just as we were going to start, I received an urgent telegram from Singapore saying that they had prepared a reception for us, and asking me if I would arrive on the morrow. I could not say no, so our practice had to be given up. This meant that after eight months in commission we had not fired a shot from our guns, or in any way prepared ourselves for a naval engagement. Singapore gave us a great reception. For four days balls, banquets, and entertainments of every description took place. The civil and military authorities left nothing undone in entertaining my officers and men, and the Governor, Sir Alexander Swettenham, kindly asked me to stay with him at Singapore's magnificent Government House.

One of the guests at the house was Sir Alexander's brother, Sir Frank Swettenham (then Resident-General of the Federated Malay States). I had the honour of taking him up to Hong Kong in the Terrible. He was clever and capable, and I often wondered why he was not given a more important post during the war. He knew well the East, and Eastern manners, and was a skilled diplomatist.

On the 8th May, 1900, we steamed through

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THE BOXER RISING

the Ly-ee-mun Pass and met with a most wonderful reception. From the Pass to the anchorage off the town of Hong Kong, the water was solid with steam launches, junks and boats of every description, all decorated with flags, and all contributing to a medley of sound by cheering, blowing steam whistles or letting off Chinese crackers. In China noise is regarded as a signification of joy ; on this occasion it was rather a source of grief to me, for it is a difficult passage from the Pass to Hong Kong for a ship of such deep draft as the Terrible. A rock that most ships steam over had to be steamed round. With such a volume of sound dinning our ears my navigator and I had a difficulty in hearing one another.

On our anchoring Sir John Carrington came on board and presented me with the following address :-

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"THE SALT OF THE SEA"

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THE BOXER RISING

that the remainder of the commission was to be gaiety and amusements. We had about ten days of it, and then I received a letter indicating that the Boxer rising was a serious matter and I anticipated that the Navy would again be called upon to assist the Army. Every day we expected orders to go north, so I mounted up four long 12-pounders in readiness. Nevertheless, no orders came ; with a serious war going on, we were left for weeks at Hong Kong to amuse ourselves with dancing and dinner parties.

At last, on the 15th June, orders came for the Terrible to proceed to Taku and take up three companies of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers. We left the next day, and during the passage made arrangements for landing men and guns as might be required.

At daylight on the 21st June, 1900, we arrived at Taku, and found a large fleet there of all nationalities. The general state of affairs was very serious. The Commander-in-Chief, Admiral Sir Edward Seymour, had left his ship on the 10th of June to take command of an international expeditionary force consisting of 2000 officers and men, of whom 900 where British seamen and marines from the Fleet. The object of the expedition was to reach and relieve Peking, which was besieged by the Boxers ; it was feared that if they gained possession of the city all the Europeans would be massacred.

We learned that the Admiral had got north of Tientsin with his force by rail, but that since the 13th, that is three days after he started, nothing had been heard of him. Tientsin, garrisoned by

133

THE TIENTSIN RELIEF COLUMN

about 3000 troops, was closely besieged by the Boxers and all communication was cut off. The garrison were in dire want of food and ammunition, and they had no guns of either power or range to reply to the heavy bombardment from the superior Chinese artillery. It was Ladysmith over again.

The Taku forts that guard the entrance to the Peiho River, on which Tientsin is situated, had been taken by the allied forces, but a small fort a little higher up the river was still in the Boxers' possession. Hence the river could not be used by boats to communicate with Tientsin, and the railway was useless because it had been partially destroyed by the Boxers. Such I found to be the state of affairs when we arrived.

I was glad to be able to inform Admiral Sir James Bruce, who was the senior British naval officer, that we had four 12-pounders ready to land, which would be equal in range to any of the Chinese guns that were bombarding the European settlement at Tientsin.

To my amazement the Admiral informed me that one gun would be sufficient. It was to be landed in the morning and go with the relief column under General Stössel.

The Tientsin relief column started on the following morning, its composition being as follows :- 1200 Russians, 30 Italians, 150 Americans and 550 British (300 Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 150 seamen, 100 Marines, with one long-range 12-pounder gun).

It was well known that the Tientsin garrison had no guns except obsolete, muzzle-loading

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THE BOXER RISING

9-pounders. It was equally well known that the Chinese were bombarding the city with heavy, long-range, modern Krupp guns.

The one arm that Tientsin wanted was the long-range artillery which I had provided, but which the Admiral would not send up. I was told to go away to Chefoo and take the three guns with me. Before leaving I landed at Tongku, the base of operations, and had a look round in company with Captain Wise of the U.S.A. Navy. He pointed out that here was a base with no Commandant, no one in authority, no one to regulate the landing of troops, no accommodation for the sick and wounded sent down from the Front, no one to look after stores, no reserve of ammunition, in fact, no provision of any kind. His time was fully employed in looking after the train service, and he asked me if I would come on shore and put things straight. I had been Commandant for so long that I was not anxious to perform the duties again, but in the national interest I promised to write and offer my services to the Admiral. I explained to this American officer that on account of jealousy I did not think the services of the Terrible would be used if they could possibly be done without. He said at once, "Oh, then that is why the guns that you had ready have not been sent to the Front." I informed him that not only were they not accepted, but I was told to take them away with me. He expressed himself forcibly and to the point, ending up by saying, "The freak will cost them some lives and some unpleasantness in Tientsin."

We then discussed other anomalies of the

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CAPTURE OF A FORT

situation. The supposed invulnerable Taku forts, mounting about 150 guns, were built to prevent anyone entering the Peiho River, and so getting to Tientsin. We had captured the forts and wanted to go to Tientsin. Why did we not take a small fort, almost in sight from where we were standing, which was blocking our use of the river ? Captain Wise declared that fifty men could do it, and he was perfectly correct. A boat's crew of ten men subsequently took it ; the Chinese all ran away. The second anomaly was that for fourteen days the railway which we required so badly was unavailable as the Boxers had destroyed certain parts of it. On this point my companion remarked : "It is your railway. Why does your Admiral not wire to Japan for a shipload of sleepers and metals ? They could have been here before this ? "

On my return I put all the points before the Admiral and made another effort to get the other three guns sent up to help Tientsin. The appeal was useless. The Admiral would neither send up any more guns, nor order material to repair the line, and he expressed himself quite satisfied with the arrangements at the base. Consequently the Tientsin European settlement was almost entirely destroyed by the Chinese guns. The Russians, taking advantage of our apathy, repaired the railway line, and then claimed it, and we had great difficulty in regaining its possession.

I took the three guns away in the Terrible to Chefoo, and while we were there, occupying ourselves once more with dances and dinner parties, we learned of Tientsin's very severe bombardment. The Terrible was next ordered to Wei-hai-wei,

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THE BOXER RISING

which meant taking the guns still further away from where they were so urgently wanted. The Times thus commented on the incident :

Later on, when the European settlement at Tientsin had been mostly destroyed and many lives lost, the other three 12-pounders which I had prepared were sent for in a great hurry. The allied troops there mustered 12,000 men, and it was decided to attack the native city from whence the bombardment had issued. As the result of hard fighting on the 13th and 14th of July, the Chinese were driven out and the city was captured.

Where our guns were placed the country was very flat, making spotting difficult. We overcame this obstacle by placing two long ladders one

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THE ARMY'S THANKS

against the other and perching the spotter with a telescope on the top.

Brigadier-General Dorward, who commanded the British forces, wrote : "The success of the operations was largely due to the manner in which the Naval guns were worked by Lieut. Drummond of H.M.S. Terrible, the accuracy of their fire alone rendering possible steady fire on the part of the troops against the strong Chinese position and largely reducing the number of casualties."

I anticipated that after the capture of Tientsin my officers and men would return to the ship, but the value of artillery in war had been learned (somewhat expensively), and it was decided that the four 12-pounders should go with the relief force to Pekin.

The international relief force, consisting of English, American, Russian, Japanese and French troops, with the four guns from the Terrible, left Tientsin on the 3rd August, 1900. Pekin was reached on the 15th, and the Legations, which had been gallantly defended for two months, were relieved. On the 7th of September officers and men who had been to Pekin rejoined the Terrible.

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