In 1900 the 2nd Battalion of the Royal Welch Fusiliers was part of the multinational force that lifted the Siege of the International Legations during the Boxer Rebellion; during this action they served alongside elements of the United States Marine Corps' 1st Marine Regiment. In 1929, at the request of surviving Marine veterans who had served at Peking, the then 75-year-old Sousa composed a tribute march to the British regiment, eponymously titled "The Royal Welch Fusiliers". Commandant of the Marine Corps Wendell Cushing Neville, a veteran of Peking, was dissatisfied with Sousa's first attempt, and a second version of the march was completed by Sousa the following year.