Butting Heads

As stated above, the Boer’s struck with the first major offensive of the war but, they were not really the first to fight, although, it is debatable if the US operation in China was really (at least initially) a part of the overall conflict. In my opinion I cannot justifiably see how it can be discounted since the seizure of Tientsin was one of the sparks that brought the war on in the first place. It is true that the objectives of Admiral Mahan’s ground troops had little to do with prosecuting the new conflict but, they adapted quickly enough.

When the US Navy’s “Great White Fleet” put in at Tientsin, they met little if any resistance. There were two Chinese destroyers anchored in the harbor but, neither resisted. One destroyer was about to put out to sea on a routine patrol when they first encountered the US screening ships. A shot was fired across the destroyers bow. She stopped, launched a long boat, and the destroyer, USS Porter, received the launch. The Chinese officer was quite apologetic as he requested to borrow some gunpowder so that he could return the salute. The officer was then informed he was a prisoner and that his ship would be seized by the US Navy. It was taken without incident as well as it’s sister destroyer that was tied up at dock with most of it’s crew who were still asleep.

Tientsin was a unique city in China because it was only half Chinese. The other half of the city was not only distinctly European in architecture but, in population as well. It had been a treaty port since the Opium Wars and the great powers of the time had built up their half of the city to let them feel more at home. To the Europeans, at least, Tientsin was every bit as important as Peking since it was the closest port to the Chinese capital. It’s rail line was the quickest way to get to the Forbidden City and the grand canal, along with it’s port, made it one of the most important transportation hubs in all of China.

US marines, cavalry, infantry, sailors, and artillery trains marched through the city streets and it was the Europeans who were really shocked. The Chinese citizenry saw no real change coming as a result of this latest invader and in many cases they were very welcoming of the Americans. The sudden influx of soldiers would mean their brothels, opium dens, hotels, and bars would get a sudden influx of money. The British Consulate was not so pleased and they managed to get off a warning to Hong Kong before the telegraph lines fell into American hands.

Mahan knew about this almost right from the start. He had expected such reactions from the Europeans but, thought little of it. Then he received word from Port Arthur, on 2 November, that the United States was at war with more than just the Quing Dynasty. By this time his troops had already been engaged in several battles. Mahan was faced with quite a dilemma.

The Taku forts sat all around Tientsin and controlled most of the approaches to the city. This included the canal, the river, the roads, and most important of all was the rail line that lead to Peking. Mahan had known from the start that these forts would have to be taken to allow him to move on Peking. He had been informed by many Chinese, not long after landing, that the Emperor was still alive and well. Mahan realized that this meant he would have to act fast if he wished to rescue Guangxu and depose the Dowager Empress.

Resistance at the forts was uneven. A few garrisons surrendered outright and their troops eagerly dropped their weapons and went home. Most of the garrisons tried to negotiate with the Americans. Their commanders wished to be paid to stand down and a few even wished to remain with their troops, in place, while allowing the Americans to “lease” the facilities. None of these offers were accepted by the American negotiator, George Armstrong Custer. While the Chinese officials were quite used to dealing western diplomats and, even soldiers, they were not used to dealing with Custer. They did not seem to be aware of the fact that a fight was exactly what Custer wanted. He got his wish.

By the second of November Custer had reduced most of the Chinese defenses. He had completely cleared a path up the rail line, demolished the forts along the river, and was in the process of cleaning out the ones guarding the canal. We know a great deal about these battles because Custer had his own contingent of reporters that were assigned to his headquarters. He made sure their dispatches got home in a timely manner by assigning his brother Tom to personally make sure this happened.

The most famous of these reporters was a man named James Creelman, who had the ear of William Randolph Hurst. Creelman’s sensationalized accounts of the fighting at the Taku forts would make front page copy in the early days of November when the only other war news in the United States was universally all bad. It made a hero of Custer who would be made, by congress, a Brigadier General by the end of the month. 

Custer already held that rank in the reserves (made so during the American 61) but, his regular Army rank had only just recently been elevated to Colonel. Custer was considered by many other officers in the US Army to be a loose cannon and many felt uncomfortable giving him anything more than a regiment to command. There had even been considerable efforts to block that but, the Chinese expedition was even more unpopular than Custer, and it gave him the chance to finally command the 7th US Cavalry.

It must have come as quite a blow to Custer when he was ordered by Mahan to reduce the forts he had already taken and fall back on the city. Custer was not ready to quit fighting yet, so he ordered his sappers to take their time in demolishing the forts along the rail line. Custer used that time to launch subsequent attacks on the forts that guarded the canal. Mahan was furious with him but found that he could say nothing due to the press that Custer was getting back home. The man had not exactly, technically, disobeyed Mahan’s orders and, besides, the admiral had far more serious concerns.

To Mahan, sitting in China, it looked very much as if the Confederates had prepared this attack for some time. After all, they struck at Washington and there was no reason to believe that their Asian Squadron, sitting in Hong Kong, would not be ready to strike at him. They now had the power of the British Navy on their side as well as the German’s Asian squadron which was currently consolidating their positions at Kiaochow. The Japanese were not yet at war but they were staunch British allies and Mahan had just taken away their war prize of Port Arthur.

There were considerable forces arrayed against the American fleet and Mahan did not have the luxury of dependable allies. The Russians were counting on the US fleet to be it’s primary naval arm in the Pacific. As a result, the Russians, had only scant naval forces in the region. The French had their naval bases located in Indo-China and Mahan had had almost no communications with them since he arrived in Asia. They not only lacked coordination but also, their enemies were firmly entrenched between them.

Given the strategic situation it is little wonder that Mahan chose to evacuate his prize and abandon his mission completely. His rear area was no longer secure and his lines of communication were now questionable. In a strange twist of fate his evacuation would not happen. Ironically, his would be enemy, the Dowager Empress, would make the choice for him.

One has to wonder why it was that Cixi would take the path that she chose. In essence, her coup against the upstart Emperor Guangxu was every success she could have hoped for. The boy Emperor was now under her control. Peking was all but devoid of foreigners and those very same invaders were now all fighting each other. Cixi had a blank check to do as she chose in northern China and Manchuria. She could have easily sat back and let the foreign devils weaken their position as she grew stronger. Unfortunately for China, patience was not one of Cixi’s virtues.

Most of the westerners that were now left in Peking were holed up in the Foreign Legations area. They had been cut off from most outside information but, they had been informed that the great powers were now at war. Prince Yuan had seen to it that they knew. It did not cause the division that he had hoped for. The people in their respective embassies were worried less about the larger war and more about the Kansu warriors that had them imprisoned in their own compounds. Survival was taking precedence over politics.

The British Ambassador, Claude Maxwell MacDonald, had become the de-facto spokesman for the westerners. He was trying his back door to China approach by indirectly sending appeals, for aide, to moderates in the Imperial Court. The problem with this approach was that those moderates were either all dead or afraid to speak out. Even Li Hongzhang was unusually silent on the matter. This only made Cixi recognize her new dominance even more and, as a result, she played her hand to squash any remaining dissension in her own court. She started by using the Legations as an issue to bring out any remaining dissent. On November the 5th she sent MacDonald a note that ordered all foreign legations to evacuate the capital by no later than the 10th.

MacDonald clearly saw this edict for what it was. He had little trouble convincing the other ministers of this. They were charged with the safety of a great number of civilians, both western and Chinese, and more than a few of these were sick and injured. They simply did not have the military forces to protect them while on the road. If the westerners abandoned the compound then they would be easy prey for the Kansu, and quite possibly even Imperial troops. 

MacDonald began a game of playing for time that he did not have. While he might have been safer in the compound his position there was untenable. He did not have the troops to hold the wall either and a protracted siege was out of the question since they lacked the food, water, and medicine to hold out. Their only hope was that a western army, any army, could reach the Chinese capital. So, while MacDonald quibbled with the normally slow Chinese Court, several Chinese Christians slipped out of the compounds and made their way towards the coast.

Admiral Mahan became aware of the situation in Peking three days later on the 8th of November and Custer had yet to comply with the evacuation order. Mahan quickly sent this information along to General Kuropatkin, in Port Arthur, along with what Mahan intended to do about it. Then Mahan visited the British consulate and spoke directly with the minister who was then allowed to contact Hong Kong. Mahan was hoping for a truce. He did not quite get it but, he did receive a curious promise from the British Minister to Japan, Ernest Mason Satow, that the Royal Navy would not attack military assets required for the relief of Peking. In return, Satow wanted Mahan’s word that his detainee’s from both Peking and Tientsin would be released once the operation was over. Mahan had been planning to do that anyway so he agreed. 

Satow was trying to buy time for the Royal Navy to consolidate. It was a deal that both he and Mahan could live with and one that the westerners in Peking needed to live. Kuropatkin was not a party to the deal but, he did not have to be. He was preparing his troops to invade the rest of Manchuria, so that he could drive on Peking, and there was little chance of him encountering anyone but Quing troops there anyway.

Custer must have been thrilled when he received the orders to advance on Peking. It was fortunate that he had been kept apprised of the situation and so, when the order was received late on the 9th, his troops had already been advancing up the railroad, towards the Chinese Capital, for six hours. Custer was promised relief by Russian troops within a week. By all accounts Custer took the notification of Russian help as a challenge and, to him at least, that meant a race to Peking.

It was a good thing Custer was in such a hurry. On the 10th of November the Dowager Empress ordered the Kansu to remove the foreign devils from the capital by force. The field guns began pounding away at western defenses later that evening. An all out assault was planned for the next morning, however, it did not materialize until late in the afternoon. The great powers might have been at war with each other but, now, China was at war with all the great powers.