Our Sailors Part 20

THE SIEGE OF LADYSMITH.

Early in the year 1899 the differences between Mr Kruger, President of the South African Republic, and the British Government, upon the position of the foreign population in his territory, began to a.s.sume an acute phase. A pet.i.tion to Her Majesty, setting out their grievances and asking for protection for her subjects in the Transvaal, was very largely signed, and the British High Commissioner stated his opinion that the position of the non-burgher population was intolerable, and that this was an overwhelming case for intervention. For many weeks negotiations were carried on between London and Pretoria, the British Government making very little preparation for a war which it hoped to avoid; while Mr Kruger, on the other land, proceeded to arm his burghers and make every preparation for a war which, if he made no concessions, he knew to be inevitable if the British Government did not retire from the position they had taken.

At length, everything being ready on his side, on 9th October President Kruger issued an ultimatum, demanding the withdrawal of Great Britain's troops within forty-eight hours. This was a declaration of war. War immediately followed, and armed Boers, previously a.s.sembled on the frontier, poured in thousands into Natal, crossing the frontier both on the north and on the west on the 12th of October, and gradually overran the north of the colony, converging upon Ladysmith. The British force in that part was small, and though in the various actions at Talana Hill--in which the situation of Majuba Hill may be said to have been reversed--Elandslaagte, and Rietfontein, portions of the Boer forces had been met and defeated, it became evident that their numbers and their mobility had been absurdly underestimated, and that when once concentrated they far outnumbered the forces at the disposal of Sir George White, who therefore decided to entrench and await reinforcements at Ladysmith,--not a strong position, for it was commanded by hills on all sides, but it had been a great depot of military stores which could not be removed.

By 2nd November the railway and telegraph connecting Ladysmith with the south was cut, and the strict siege began. The Boers brought into position on the neighbouring hills guns of far greater calibre than any of those possessed by the garrison and its defences, and kept up a heavy bombardment out of range of their guns.

Most fortunately HMS _Powerful_, then at Durban, was armed with 4.7-inch guns of as great range as any of the "Long Toms" of the a.s.sailants. A land carriage for these had been designed by Captain Percy Scott, and rapidly constructed by the ship's engineers, and the guns sent up by rail just before the line was cut, together with a Naval Brigade of bluejackets from the ship under the command of Captain Hon. H.

Lambton. These guns, the two 4.7-inch and four 12-pounders, were of the greatest value to the defence, for they were the only guns capable of equalling the big guns of the Boers, and the firing was so accurate that during the whole of the siege they succeeded in keeping the enemy's siege guns at a distance, with so little waste of ammunition, the supply of which was of course limited, that when the siege was raised on 20th February 1900 it was not yet exhausted.

On the 30th of October Lieutenant Egerton, RN, of the _Powerful_, was struck by a sh.e.l.l and died of his wounds a few days after; he had been at once promoted to commander for his services, and received intelligence of this before his death.

The most serious fight during the siege took place on 6th January, when the enemy made a most determined and as it proved final attempt to carry Ladysmith by storm. Every part of the position was attacked, but the chief a.s.sault was upon Ca.s.sar's Camp and Wagon Hill. On the former was a detachment of the Naval Brigade with a 12-pounder gun and some Natal Naval Volunteers, as well as the 1st Battalion Manchesters and 42 Battery, RA; and on Wagon Hill, in addition to its usual garrison, a 12-pounder gun and a 4.7-inch had arrived the day before. The fighting was very severe and at close quarters, and the Boers were only finally driven off after 15 hours' battle, our losses being 14 officers and 135 men killed, 31 officers and 244 wounded. The Boers lost much more heavily, and made no further attempt.

The sufferings of the garrison and inhabitants during this memorable siege were very severe, and the losses by disease amounted to 12 officers and 529 men.

In addition to those engaged in the defence of Ladysmith, naval brigades with guns from various ships of war on the South African station accompanied the various columns engaged in the movement through the Orange Free State and the Transvaal, which republics have since become the Orange River Colony and the Transvaal Colony.

CHAPTER THIRTY.

FIGHTING IN CHINA--1900.

The early part of 1900 saw an outbreak of religious and anti-foreign fanaticism in China which rapidly a.s.sumed alarming proportions. A sect or society known as the Boxers, founded in 1899 originally as a patriotic and ultra-conservative body, rapidly developed into a reactionary and anti-foreign, and especially anti-Christian organisation. Outrages were committed all over the country, and the perpetrators shielded by the authorities, who, while professing peace, encouraged the movement. Thousands of native Christians were ma.s.sacred, and the protests of the ministers of Christian powers disregarded or answered by lies and denials, and at length Pekin itself became no longer safe to Europeans.

FIRST ATTEMPT TO RELIEVE THE LEGATIONS AT PEKIN.

On the 30th of May Sir E.H. Seymour, the British admiral on the China station, received a telegram from Sir Claude Macdonald, the British minister at Pekin, stating that the situation there had become very grave, the China soldiers mutinous, the people very excited, and that European life and property were in danger. Guards were immediately despatched by train to Pekin, and these, numbering 337 of all nations, among them 79 men and 3 officers of the British Marines, arrived unopposed on the 31st. The position of the legations, however, soon became extremely difficult, and on the 9th of June another telegram was received by the admiral, stating that if relief did not reach the Europeans in Pekin very soon, it would be too late.

The admiral at once put in motion all his available men, and the foreign naval officers commanding on the station co-operated with him. By the 11th, four trains had reached Lofa station, some distance out of Tientsin, containing over 2000 men, namely, 915 British (62 officers, 640 bluejackets, and 213 marines), 25 Austrians, 40 Italian, 100 French, 450 German, 54 j.a.panese, 112 Russians, and 112 Americans, all under the command of the British admiral.

From this time onward there was continuous fighting. About six p.m., three miles outside Langfang, Boxers attacked Number 1 train, but were repulsed. The next day, after repairing the line, the force advanced to Langfang, but beyond this the line was found to be cut up and bridges destroyed; and, as the necessary repairs would occupy some time, Lieutenant Smith, RN, of HMS _Aurora_, was sent forward with 3 officers and 44 men to prevent further damage if possible. He occupied a village on the line next morning, and was at once attacked by Boxers. After being driven off three times, they made a final and determined attack, and about 450 charged in line with great bravery, but were again repulsed with heavy loss; this fighting, however, had so reduced the ammunition of his party that Lieutenant Smith was compelled to return to the main body.

The next day, 14th June, the outposts came running in, closely followed by Boxers, who made a determined attack upon the first train, with so much courage that some of them, notwithstanding a tremendous fire, actually reached the train before they were killed. An unfortunate picket of five Italians on outpost duty were cut off and killed by this party.

Meantime the Boxers were also gathering in the rear and damaging the line from Tientsin, and attacked the guard left to protect the line at Lofa. These succeeded in beating them off, and on the arrival of reinforcements, sent back to their a.s.sistance, cut them up as they retreated. All was of no avail, for while the force remained at Langfang repairing the road forward, the enemy was busy in the rear breaking up the line, and so cutting off communication with Tientsin, and it now became clear that the attempt to reach Pekin must fail, as provisions and ammunition were running short and it became necessary to protect the rear.

The expedition was, in fact, now in a very critical position. All attempts to send couriers back to Tientsin had failed, and it was cut off from all communication with the outer world, the lines were broken up in front and rear, the whole country was overawed by Boxers, and no supplies could be obtained from the inhabitants.

It was therefore decided to desert the trains and march by the left bank of the river to Tientsin, putting the wounded on board of some junks which had been captured by the Germans. The latter had been unexpectedly attacked on the 18th at Langfang by some 5000 of the enemy, some of whom were undoubtedly imperial troops acting with the Boxers, thus exploding the idea that the Chinese Government would a.s.sist the Europeans against the latter. The Chinese on this occasion, though armed with the latest type of magazine rifle, were driven off with a loss of 400 killed, the allies losing only 6 killed and 48 wounded.

The retreat commenced on the afternoon of the 19th June, and it was necessarily slow, as the junks could not be got along very fast, our men not being accustomed to the craft, and the river shoals making the pa.s.sage in places difficult. The Chinese hara.s.sed and obstructed the advance of the column on sh.o.r.e as much as possible, and villages _en route_ had to be taken by the bayonet, and so persistent was the resistance that on the 21st the column did not advance more than six miles, and was brought to a dead stop at a place called Peitang, where the enemy were in such a strong position that by the evening they had not been dislodged from it.

It now appeared to be becoming doubtful whether the column, embarra.s.sed with the wounded, and with no reserves of ammunition, would succeed in getting through to Tientsin; it was therefore determined, after a rest, to make a night march, and, wearied with a continuous day's battle, the column started again at one a.m. on the 22nd.

After it had gone about one and a half miles, the column was heavily attacked from a village, but the bayonets of the marines soon cleared this, not, however, without a serious loss. The junk which carried the field-guns was sunk by a shot, and all but the Maxim guns lost.

This disaster was, however, destined to be retrieved in a very unexpected manner. At four a.m. the force found itself opposite the Imperial Chinese Armoury, near Hsiku; the allies were not at war with the Imperial Government, by whom officially the Boxers were called rebels, nevertheless the guns from the armoury opened fire upon them.

Major Johnstone, Royal Marines, with a party of bluejackets and marines, crossed the river at a point where they were under cover of a village, then, appearing suddenly with a cheer and with the sheen of glittering bayonets, put the Chinese to flight, and captured two Krupp guns. At the same time the Germans crossed over lower down, with similar results, and the Armoury was taken. The Chinese, recovering from their panic, made a determined attempt to retake the position by a.s.sault, under cover of artillery fire, but were driven off with loss; but at the same time the allies suffered severely also.

The force now settled down in the Armoury, which could easily be defended and was well supplied with guns and ammunition, and the sick and wounded were now in quarters which, compared with the holds of the junks, must have seemed luxurious; and, but for the question of rations, the force was now safe, but of these latter only enough for three days and that at half allowances remained. Anxiety on this last account was happily set at rest the next day, 23rd June, when, besides immense stores of ammunition, which included war material of the newest pattern, 15 tons of rice were discovered.

All danger was now past. Several efforts had been made to communicate with Tientsin, only five miles distant, but none of the native runners had got through, till the 24th, when a force at once set out under the Russian Colonel Shrinsky, who led a force of 1000 Russians; 600 British, under Captain Bayly, and 300 of other nationalities then arrived at daylight on the 25th. The a.r.s.enal, said to contain three million pounds worth of military stores, was set on fire, and the united forces returned to Tientsin the next day without further incident.

So ended the first expedition to relieve the legations in Pekin. The failure was owing to the destruction of the railway and the fact that the Imperial Chinese army, so far from a.s.sisting or even standing neutral, took the side of the Boxers and opposed the expedition. That it was not a disaster was owing to the wonderful manner in which officers of no less than eight nationalities worked together, and the courage and endurance of their men. The thought of the Chinese habit of torturing their captives must have added to the natural anxiety of depression on board the junks and to the terrible strain upon the commander.

THE CAPTURE OF THE TAKU FORTS.

Soon after the admiral's departure it became clear to the commanders of the ships off Taku that the Chinese Government were preparing to bring down an army upon Tongku, the terminus of the railway, and that the communication with Tientsin was threatened, and that the Taku forts were being provisioned and manned. It was therefore decided to occupy the forts, and notice was given to the Chinese of the intention to do so at two a.m. of 17th June.

Taku is situate at the mouth of the Peiho river, which was until the railway was built, and, if this were interrupted, would become again the princ.i.p.al approach from the sea to Pekin, about 80 miles by river, and to Tientsin 44 miles. The entrance, which runs east and west, is strongly guarded by a series of forts on the north and south sides, the princ.i.p.al fort being the north, which is very strong and mounts some 50 guns of all sizes, and connected with this by a covered way is another on the same side but farther up the river with 30 guns. On the south side there is a series of strong forts and batteries for about a mile along the sh.o.r.e, mounting about 120 guns of various patterns, the greater part being quite modern. Some distance inland is another fort and the magazines. These forts, designed to protect the sea-front, are therefore very formidable, and well manned with competent gunners would const.i.tute a real danger to any ships entering the river. The bar of the river is 5 miles off, and is so shoaly that vessels drawing 20 feet have to lie 5 miles off that, that is 10 miles from the forts, and it was at this point that the fleet of the various nations was at this time lying at anchor, the British being _Centurion_, flagship, _Barfleur, Orlando, Endymion, Aurora_.

The only vessels that could therefore enter the river and bombard the forts were gunboats and destroyers; of these the Russians had three, _Bobr, Koreelah_, and _Gilyak_; the French, the _Lion_; the British, the _Algerine_, steel despatch boat with six 4-inch guns, and two destroyers, the _Whiting_ and _Fame_. These two last captured four perfectly equipped modern destroyers, whose crews bolted; properly handled, they might have destroyed all the attacking ships, who without them found sufficient work to do in keeping down the fire of the forts.

The plan arranged by the others was that, after an effective bombardment, a landing party should attack the north-west and north forts and the other forts in succession.

The Chinese, however, had no intention of letting the Westerns have it all their own way, but at a quarter to one a.m. on the morning of the 17th opened the ball by firing upon the _Algerine_, who promptly replied, and the battle became general. A terrific bombardment on both sides roared through the night, the gunboats in addition to the fire of their big guns keeping up a continuous hail from their quick-firing guns in their tops. The Chinese were equally determined, and stuck to their guns through it all, but they were very poor gunners, and their sh.e.l.ls did not burst, and so for six hours the gunboats' targets for two miles of forts and some 200 or more guns escaped serious injury.

As daylight came, however, the Chinese made better practice, and the position became more serious for the allies, and it seemed as though the attack was going to fail. The Russian ship _Gilyak_ was. .h.i.t by a sh.e.l.l, and lost several men. She could not leave her moorings in consequence, and suffered severely from rifle fire from the sh.o.r.e, her losses during the action being the heaviest in the fleet, 2 officers and 10 men killed and 47 wounded.

The tide now rising, the ships boldly steamed amid a storm of shot and sh.e.l.l close under the forts. The German _Itlis_ was seen constantly in the post of danger, and the gallantry with which she was fought evoked the admiration of all.

HMS _Algerine_, commander R.H. Stewart, greatly contributed to the final success, which at one time was so doubtful. She was always in the thick of the fight, but escaped with only slight damage to cowls and rigging, and received no shot in her hull, largely owing to the fact that her commander put her so close into the forts that they could not be brought to bear on her, and the shot pa.s.sed over. She had only 1 officer wounded and 3 men killed.

Still the battle continued, and the Chinese kept doggedly at it, and succeeded in bursting their sh.e.l.ls. Fortunately about seven a.m. an awful explosion occurred, the chief magazine blew up, and the Chinese lost heart, and soon after all firing ceased. Meantime the storming-parties had seized the north-west fort.

The landing party consisted of British, 23 officers and 298 men, from the _Alacrity, Barfleur_, and _Endymion_; German, 3 officers and 130 men; j.a.panese, 4 officers and 240 men; Russian, 2 officers and 157 men; Italian, 1 officer and 24 men; Austrian, 2 officers and 20 men,--total, 904 officers and men. The command was confided to Commander Craddock, RN. These landed under heavy sh.e.l.l fire in the dark by 2:30 a.m. with no loss, and at 4:30, when the ships' guns had silenced those of the forts, advanced upon the north-west fort. In the firing line were men from the _Alacrity_ and _Endymion_ on the right, Russians on the left, and Italians on the right flank; the _Barfleur's_ men supported the charge, and the rest of the force were in support. The j.a.panese, however, were not to be restrained, and as soon as the charge sounded, raced with the British for the west gate, and both nations climbed the parapet together. Their commander was first in, and the English commander a good second, the former unfortunately being killed. The remaining forts were easily taken, and with small loss to the allies.

The Chinese garrison was estimated at 3000, of whom one-third was killed.

THE CAPTURE OF TIENTSIN CITY.

During the absence of the admiral and his force, the Chinese had kept our force defending the foreign settlement at Tientsin sufficiently busy, and did everything in their power to prevent trains with reinforcements going forward even before the 14th June, when the rails were torn up. Captain Bayly, RN, of HMS _Aurora_, had been left in charge of the British forces, and was joined on the 11th June by Commander Beattie, of HMS _Barfleur_, with 150 bluejackets and marines, and later by between 1600 and 1800 Russians, with cavalry and artillery.

The Boxers made their first attack upon the settlement upon 16th June, and from that time, until the capture of the Chinese city, there was almost continual fighting, in the course of which the Naval Brigade lost several officers and men.

The native city began to bombard the settlement on the 17th, and on the 25th a 12-pounder gun from the _Terrible_, one of those mounted on Captain Percy Scott's system, which had done such service in South Africa, arrived and sh.e.l.led the forts.

The _Terrible_ had also brought to Tongku a military force consisting of Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 7 officers and 328 men, some engineers, and other details, under Major Morris; these with a naval force of about 150, under Captain Craddock, RN, of the _Alacrity_, together with 1500 Russians with 4 guns and 100 American marines, made on the 23rd June an attack upon the military school, a strong position commanding the settlements. A great deal of bayonet-fighting took place in clearing the villages on the way, but the position itself was easily taken and the settlement relieved. The approximate total of the forces of all nations at Tientsin after this reinforcement was 4500, of whom about 1400 were British.

On 27th June a force of British seamen under Commander Craddock, and marines under Major Johnstone, the whole about 600 strong, under the command of Captain Burke, joined with the Russians in an attack upon the Chinese a.r.s.enal. The Russians took the centre and right face, our men being ordered to advance parallel to the left face. At 200 yards they were met with a heavy fire, and had to advance for some s.p.a.ce over a flat piece of ground until they could turn and face the a.r.s.enal, and when they advanced received the fire of a field-gun at the left corner.

However, fixing bayonets, the bluejackets charged with a cheer, the enemy quickly bolted, and were met with the fire of the marines, who had been left outside for that purpose. The Russians also drove out the enemy at their end, and destroyed the a.r.s.enal. Our losses were 7 killed and 21 wounded.

On 28th June and the following day messages came in from Pekin, dated 24th June, "Our case is desperate; come at once." Terrible news indeed for the allies; it was but two days since the expedition which had set out for Pekin had returned, and now the Tientsin settlement itself was in danger, besieged and bombarded daily by the Chinese forts. No attempt even at relief was at this time possible, and there was an awful anxiety both here and in Europe as to what the fate of the emba.s.sies might be.

On the 4th of July the Chinese made an attack upon the railway station, and were repulsed; and on the same day two additional 12-pounder guns from the _Terrible_ arrived, and also two Krupp guns taken from the Taku forts, a most important access of strength to the Naval Brigade, for up to this time the only guns had been the 12-pounder of the _Terrible_, two 9-pounder marine field-guns, and three 6 pounder Hotchkiss.

The next two days the forts in the native city were heavily bombarded by the _Terrible's_ guns, a.s.sisted by French and j.a.panese field-guns.

Several of the Chinese guns were silenced, but others, difficult to locate owing to the use of smokeless powder, replied with spirit and made good practice. A gallant attempt was made on the afternoon of the 6th by Major Bruce of the 1st Chinese Regiment to silence a 9-pounder which had been pushed up to within short range, and appeared to be aiming at the waterworks. The admiral lent him a 9-pounder gun, and Commander Beattie, of the _Barfleur_, with 70 men. No cover could be found, and the 9-pounder could not be brought into action owing to the heavy rifle fire, and the attempt had to be abandoned. The force lost 2 killed and 5 wounded, among the latter being Major Bruce and Mr F.