When they returned to China, the Gamewells again begain work in Peking. Here, they were caught in the siege at the time of the Boxer uprising, Dr. Gamewell having charge the fortifications of the legation during the siege and Mrs. Gamewell rendering service in the making of sandbags and other ways. On May 31, 1900, several U.S. newspapers mention the Gamewells and other American missionaries as being "threatened by the 'Boxers' around Pekin". By the end of June, the Gamewells, with a group of 35, had succeeded in getting away from the mobs in Peking and were in Che Foo, where they were comparatively secure. At the end of October, the Gamewells returned to the U.S., Mrs. Gamewell stopping first in Davenport to rest. The sister with whom she was visiting and the few friends on whom she called noted Mrs. Gamewell's increased nervousness over her condition on her last visit to Davenport, a few years earlier. On November 2, Mrs. Gamewell left for Cincinnati to rejoin her husband, and from there, they traveled to Orange, New Jersey, Dr. Gamewell's old home. Subsequently, Mrs. Gamewell suffered from a nervous breakdown.