geeky
In 1900, the city of Tientsin, in northern China, consisted of two adjacent, but very different sub-divisions. To the northwest was the ancient high-walled Chinese city, one mile wide on each side. Southeast, one to two miles away, along the Hai River, was the treaty port and foreign settlements. About one million Chinese lived within the walled city and in satellite communities outside the wall. About 700 foreigners lived in the foreign settlements, mostly European merchants and missionaries, along with tens of thousands of Chinese servants, employees, and businessmen. Among the civilians living in the foreign settlement were future President Herbert Hoover and his wife Lou Henry Hoover.
In early June 1900, in response to the growing threat of the Boxers, a militant, anti-foreign and anti-Christian peasant movement, six countries with interests in China sent 2,400 troops to Tientsin to guard the foreign settlements. Another 2,000 troops were under the command of Admiral Edward Hobart Seymour along the railway line between Tientsin and Peking. Those men were attempting to march to Peking to protect the foreign community there. The allied military force was composed of soldiers, sailors, and marines from Great Britain, the United States, Japan, France, Russia and Germany.
Thousands of Boxers converged upon Tientsin and on June 15, they rampaged through the walled city destroying Christian churches and killing Chinese Christians. On June 16, a mob of partially armed Boxers advanced on the foreign settlement. They were driven off with heavy casualties by the defending troops. The Chinese army near Tientsin stood by and awaited orders from Peking to either support the Boxers or protect the foreigners. Because of the June 17 attack by the foreign armies, the Qing government of China took the side of the Boxers and ordered the army to attack the foreign settlements. The Chinese began bombarding the foreign settlement with artillery on June 17.
The Chinese army numbered an estimated 15,000 in Tientsin. They were supplemented by the Boxers, but the number of Boxers was diminishing rapidly. The army were led by general Nieh Shih-ch'eng, who was considered one of the ablest Chinese officers. Most of the Chinese army action against the foreign settlements consisted of a daily artillery barrage. The army fired an estimated 60,000 artillery shells at the foreign settlements. However, most of the shells failed to explode on impact due to inefficiency and corruption in the Chinese ammunition factories. The shelling did less damage that might otherwise have been expected.
On June 21, 131 US Marines and 400 Russians made a desperate attempt to reinforce Tientsin by following the railway from the coast to the city. Only two miles from the city they were ambushed by the Chinese and forced to retreat. Additional Western soldiers were sent from ships offshore and rushed up the railroad to Tientsin. Five thousand reinforcements reached Tientsin on June 23. Their arrival caused the Chinese to withdraw from their position on the east. The Chinese army continued to besiege three sides of the Tientsin foreign settlements. On June 26, a force of 2,000 sallied from the settlements and rescued Admiral Seymour and his 2,000 men who were surrounded six miles away. Most of Seymour's force of sailors returned to their ships. Reinforced, the coalition of allied soldiers in the foreign settlement began planning an assault on the walled city of Tientsin to defeat the Chinese army.
The allies had underestimated the capability of the Chinese forces at the beginning of the siege. The walls of Tientsin were 20 feet high and 16 feet thick. The Chinese had about 12,000 soldiers within the city or in nearby forts and they were armed with artillery, machine guns, and modern rifles.
Herbert Hoover, who was based in the city as a mining engineer, agreed to guide the Allied forces through the local terrain. Early in the morning of June 13th, Hoover, with the US Marines, guided the three columns of British, American, Japanese and French troops to the approaches to the South Gate. When the lead troops came under fire, Hoover was permitted to withdraw from the action and return to Tientsin where the civilian population was waiting to be evacuated. However, Hoover and his wife remained in Tientsin to care for the wounded.
The attack went poorly for the Allies. The main effort against the South Gate became pinned down in an exposed position under Chinese fire from within the city. The Chinese again unleashed a torrent of fire upon the Allies. Severe losses were incurred by the Allies. The allied troops were held down in the mud by the constant Chinese fire. Herbert Hoover led American Marines to assist the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, but they hit a swamp, where Chinese guns targeted them. The Chinese kept the guns firing up to the night, for over five hours.
Eventually the attacks were called off. The Japanese soldiers attempted to blast away the South Gate and at 3:00am the following morning the Japanese army met with success. A gate was opened and Japanese soldiers poured through the open gate followed by the British and Americans. The Chinese defenders managed to escape, but General Nieh Shih-ch'eng, was killed in the fighting.
Allied troops behaved badly inside the city, looting and raping. The Germans and Russians were reported to have behaved savagely. Reportedly they bayoneted their rape victims. Disgusted by this conduct, American Marines attempted to restrain the Germans, with little success. The Allies covered up their atrocities by labeling all Chinese dead as Boxers. The Japanese were reported to be the best behaved of the foreign soldiers.
After the victory at Tientsin, the foreign soldiers decided that the advance on Peking should be delayed until sufficient forces were collected. A second relief expedition to Peking finally got under way, August 4, with a total of 18,800 men. Herbert Hoover meanwhile left China to work in Australia with Bewick, Moreing & Co. where he assumed responsibility for the company's Australian operations and investments.