WITH THE ALLIES TO PEKIN
THE TIGER SEIZED HIM BY THE SHOULDER.
WITH THE ALLIES TO PEKIN
A TALE OF
THE RELIEF OF THE LEGATIONS
BY
G. A. HENTY
Author of “With Roberts to Pretoria” “Redskin and Cowboy”
“With the British Legion” &c.
ILLUSTRATED BY WAL PAGET
NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNERʼS SONS
1903
Copyright, 1903, by
CHARLES SCRIBNERʼS SONS.
Published September, 1903.
THE CAXTON PRESS
New York City, U. S. A.
PREFACE
The campaign which ended with the relief of the PekinLegations is unique in its way, carried on as it was by anarmy made up of almost all the nationalities of Europe. Thequarrel originated in the rising of a mob of ruffians whowere known by us under the name of Boxers. The movementspread like wildfire, and soon developed into the wholesalemassacre of the missionaries of Northern China. TheEmpress, seeing the formidable nature of the rising, andhoping to gain by it the expulsion of all foreigners from herdominions, allied herself with the Boxers, besieged thevarious Legations, and attacked Tientsin, which stands uponthe river by which the trade with Pekin is carried on.Admiral Seymour, with a force of little over a thousand men,marched to the relief of the Legations. The railway, however,was cut both before and behind him, and after severefighting he retired upon a Chinese fortress a few miles fromTientsin, where he maintained himself until he was relievedby another force which had arrived by sea and had destroyedthe forts at the mouth of the river. Tientsin itselfwas captured by the allies after one dayʼs hard fighting, andthe army then advanced to the relief of the Legations. Theopposition they met with was trifling in comparison withthat which they had encountered at Tientsin, and they arrivedat Pekin not a moment too soon. It was found that theLegations had been very hard pressed, some of them having[vi]been destroyed by fire. But the garrison had maintained aheroic defence, aided by the native Christians who hadescaped the massacre and taken refuge with them, and whohad done excellent work in the building and constant repairof the defences, sometimes under the heavy fire of theenemy. The Empress had fled, but negotiations were openedwith her and terms of peace were ultimately agreed to. Forthe particulars of the campaign I have relied chiefly uponThe War of the Civilizations, by George Lynch, China andthe Powers, by H. C. Thomson, and The Siege of PekinLegations, by the Rev. Roland Allen, M. A.
G. A. HENTY.