The Battle of Yangcun was a battle during
the march The March can refer to:
* March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a 1963 civil rights event
* Salt March, when Gandhi in 1930 walked to protest the British salt tax in India
* Sherman's March to the Sea during the American Civil War
* Long March i ...
of
Eight-Nation Alliance
The Eight-Nation Alliance was a multinational military coalition that invaded northern China in 1900 with the stated aim of relieving the foreign legations in Beijing, then besieged by the popular Boxer militia, who were determined to remove fo ...
forces from
Tianjin
Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popul ...
to
Beijing
}
Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
during the
Boxer Rebellion
The Boxer Rebellion, also known as the Boxer Uprising, the Boxer Insurrection, or the Yihetuan Movement, was an anti-foreign, anti-colonial, and anti-Christian uprising in China between 1899 and 1901, towards the end of the Qing dynasty, by ...
. The Alliance forces defeated the Qing and were able to continue their march towards Peking.
Background
On August 4, 1900, the soldiers of the Eight-Nation Alliance left the city of Tianjin to march to Beijing to relieve the
Siege of the Legations. The army consisted of approximately 20,000 troops from the following countries: United States, 2,000; Japan, 10,000; Russia, 4,000; Britain, 3,000; France, 800; Germany, 200; Austria and Italy, 100.
The Alliance defeated the Chinese army at
Beicang on August 5. The Chinese retreated approximately 12 miles to Yangcun, where they took up prepared positions between the east bank of the
Hai River
The Hai River (海河, lit. "Sea River"), also known as the Peiho, ("White River"), or Hai Ho, is a Chinese river connecting Beijing to Tianjin and the Bohai Sea.
The Hai River at Tianjin is formed by the confluence of five watercourses: the S ...
and a railroad embankment. Yangcun was the strongpoint at which the Chinese army hoped to stop the advance of the Alliance army. The country was flat, with little cover for the attackers except for fields of millet and corn, and the 30-foot-high railroad embankment gave shelter to the Chinese forces.
The Americans and British were in the forefront of the Alliance column advancing on Yangcun on August 6. The Japanese remained on the west side of the Hai River and would not be part of the battle. The Chinese probably numbered about 10,000, although it is unknown how many were on the battlefield itself.
A serious problem for Alliance troops was the tremendous heat. About 20% of the men fell out of the ranks during the march to Yangcun and several deaths from sunstroke were recorded. Many more men would be incapacitated by the heat during the battle.
The battle
The Alliance deployed about 5,000 yards from the Chinese positions. Its battle line stretching east from the river consisted of the Russians first, next the British, then the Americans
14th Infantry, and on the right flank the
9th Infantry supported by U.S. Marines. The British Bengal Lancers anchored the right flank.
The attack began at 11:00 a.m., but what transpired was more of an endurance contest than a battle. Most of the men had already exhausted the water in their canteens. "There were no wells nor streams of water in the country over which the advance was made. The men were famishing of thirst. They fell by scores with heat exhaustion".
The Americans bore the brunt of the Chinese resistance as they advanced on the strongest Chinese positions behind the railroad embankment. "The plain in front of us was a furnace. Dust rose in thick clouds". Men collapsed of sunstroke and heat exhaustion. Chinese artillery and rifle fire became "moderately severe" and the Americans, now in open country with no cover, advanced in a rush to dislodge the Chinese. However, as they charged over the embankment they found most of the Chinese positions abandoned. The remainder of the battle consisted of rear-guard actions as the Chinese covered their retreat.
The American advance had been so rapid that the British (or possibly the Russian) artillery mistook the Americans for the retreating Chinese and lobbed shells into the 14th Infantry, killing four American soldiers and wounding 11. The Americans frantically sent out messengers to signal the British and Russians to stop the shelling. In addition, American forces were also fired upon by French forces during the battle.
The Battle of Yangcun was over by late afternoon, with the victorious but exhausted Alliance soldiers in control of the battlefield. The Chinese army had escaped with few casualties, abandoning strong positions as the Alliance troops advanced. American casualties were 9 dead and 64 wounded, but 15 of the wounded would soon die. In addition, two American soldiers died of sunstroke. The British had six dead and 38 wounded and one dead of sunstroke. The Russians had seven killed and 20 wounded.
Aftermath
The Alliance had defeated the Chinese at both Beicang and Yangcun. Although still intact and barely weakened, the Chinese army did not challenge the Alliance again, and the Alliance troops continued their march, mostly unopposed, to Beijing. On August 14 they forced their way into the city, raised the Siege of the Legations and occupied the city and the surrounding countryside, wiping out the last vestiges of the Boxer movement.
Legacy
Dr.
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
, the founding father of the
Republic of China
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast ...
and of the
Kuomintang
The Kuomintang (KMT), also referred to as the Guomindang (GMD), the Nationalist Party of China (NPC) or the Chinese Nationalist Party (CNP), is a major political party in the Republic of China, initially on the Chinese mainland and in Tai ...
party praised the Boxers for fighting against Western Imperialism. He said the Boxers were courageous and fearless, fighting to the death against the Western armies, Dr. Sun specifically cited the Battle of Yangcun, although apparently referring to a battle earlier in the Boxer Rebellion between the Boxers and the army of the
Seymour Expedition
The Seymour Expedition was an attempt by a multi-national military force to march to Beijing and relieve the Siege of the Legations and foreign nationals from attacks by government troops and Boxers in 1900. The Chinese army and Boxer fighter ...
.
Further reading
* Д.Г.Янчевецкий "У стен недвижного Китая". Санкт-Петербург - Порт-Артур, 1903 (D.G.Yanchevetskiy "Near the Walls of unmoving China", Sankt-Peterburg - Port-Artur, 1903)
* В. Г. Дацышен «Русско-китайская война 1900 года. Поход на Пекин» — СПБ, 1999. (V.G.Datsishen "Russo-chinese war of 1900. March to Beijing", Sankt-Peterburg, 1999)
* Thompson, Larry Clinton. ''William Scott Ament and the Boxer Rebellion: Heroism, Hubris, and the Ideal Missionary.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Yangcun, Battle of
Battles of the Boxer Rebellion, Yangcum, Battle of
1900 in China
Battles of the Boxer Rebellion involving the United States
August 1900 events