Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1901-02-14
Fighting In China.
A St. Mays Boys Experiences.
POM IsAnELLA. BAsILANp. 2 |

| was III AdNttDy 4 4
he time the trouble began in China
| There were four companies of marines
embarked GU board the u s. Brooklyn,
The Goth of June. We sailed for Hong
Kong and arrived there the 2sth After
waiting two days for orders we contin-
ued our trip as far as Nagasaki, Japan,
where we stopped three days for coal
Then we pulled for Taku, reaching there
The 10Th of August, aud on the / It'll we
landed in small boats and proceeded up
he Peiho liver, reaching the city Of
rient Sin the same day On the 18th,
~c worked hard all day landing stores
md ammunition. On the 18th the battle
Of Tient Sin was fought Il was hot
Time in China town that day. The fir
ing lasted for nearly "a hours, aud when
We entered the city we could hardly
galk for dead bodies The blood wa,
nearly shoe deep in some places had
three very close calls, one bullet passing
through my hat. So you can imag
inc that things were coming my way,
We garrisoned The city until the 4th Of
September The expedition, consisting
( about 6000 Jananese, 1000 Russians.
1000 English and 5000 American troops.
On the afternoon Of The 4th we got
started and made n short march. and
went iutO bvouac AZ Sikh A battle was
expected on the 9th. and sure enough
when we started from camp on III,
morning Of the 9th artillery and mus
krtry fire began at once. and the battle
IT Pietsang took place The American
forces were held In reserve and the lap.
auese did most ~ the fighting, though
the English marines aud Indian native
troops also took hand In the business
rhc Chinese were driven back and ",
marched on, cncamping for the night ~
Wang Chang On the 9th We started
out b light and early and proceeded un
vi about II o'clock when we struck the
chinese in force at Yang Tsun, aud The
americans got into the advance at once
Nth the British and Russians GA our
left flank We continued our advance
under ,hcIl, Strapped and small arm
IRE until about two o'clock. when all the
Chinese we're 10 full retreat and the
Americans occupied the town The
American losses were about 10 killed.
officer and 90 men wounded The dghl
ing was not tho worst Of b. for the heat
was intense anC men were keeling over
all day. / Sass one man 60 crazy from
hcat aud died before relief couia hc glr.
ga him The experience 81 hriag under
-hrapnci fire Is not pleasant Small arm
IRE ! do not mind, but when sbrapucl
and she'll come dying aud screening
over ones head or kicking 40 The duei
aud exploding Ia front Of you, the pnlv
Thing 10 do is 60 60 on as 4 nothing
refc happening knowing that IL YOU
are hii ynu will never know ahat stTHcs
YOU We remained i1 camp 90 the 1,h,
hurying The dead aad soniing the wound
Cd back by boat to Tieut Sin
90 the sch Sc marched ts pfoi Tsun.
many men being Frustrated hy the heat
From that point ON 10 Fang Chow tie
Iaps kept the road clear Tor u.s. they be.
ing la adyancr On the orb we campcf
about two miles short of Ho NJ Woo Oa
The i0'h about three miles short OF Ma
tow, which sc marched on be- morning
Of the lllh There We bivou4cpd until
evening Then wo mateLci un To Chang
CHA Wan On tho i2tb, we reached
Fur Chow From the sth 20 the i2th
Z was toe same story The men could
mol stand the heat, aud macy were pres
rfated. and many "thcrs struggled bat
eventually all would get into camp late
Ia the afternoon or 90 night ~ Mhtow
we established camp for the sick. and
left behind sll who could not keep up
The same old sight met our eyes dadr,
dead Cinnamon along the road. killed in
vain attempt TO escape from the Japs
and Russians in advance of as We re-.
manned 10 TunR Chow until the evening
Of the 18th when We rtarted 10 make q
night march, but il began to rain pitch,
forks We lost our way, and not until
. o'clock IN the morning did we finally
go into camp five miles from Pekiu
On the 1ith we got into Pekin with
but little opposition though all day long
We were hired "n from the walls, several
men being wounded We entered the
Tartar city relieving the legations frnm
their danger On the morning 81 the
10Th. we marched through Tue central
south gate Of wall OF the Tartar city aud
turnedsnorih on the approach to the I'm.
perial City We bad scarcely passed
through the gate when we met heavy
small arm fire We advanced however,
and at the same time We pumped about
$500 rounds of ammuni ion into the Chi
nese. and forced our way up TO the gates
of the Imperial City Our losses were
Capt Riley, killed. Of the 9TH Artillery,
and six men killed and about twenty
wounded Of the lI;h Infantry do not
know wha. the Chinese losses were, as
at one of the gates we found only five
dead hut evidences Of several more hay