Seymour Expedition The Seymour Expedition , also known as the " First Intervention " , was an attempt by a multi - national military force to march to Beijing and protect the diplomatic legations and foreign nationals in the city from attacks by Boxers in 1900 . Seymour ' s force was defeated by the Chinese army and forced to withdraw to Tianjin , or Tientsin . Background . The Boxers were an anti - Christian , anti - foreign rural mass movement . Their objective was to rid China of foreign ( Western ) influence . In May and early June 1900 a Boxer army advanced on Beijing . The Qing government of China was equivocal about the Boxers , fearing that they might become anti - Qing . The Boxers were a serious threat to Western and Japanese citizens and Chinese Christians living in Beijing , Tianjin and other areas of northern China . The diplomatic Legations ( Embassies ) in Beijing requested that Marines be sent to protect them and more than 400 from eight countries arrived in Beijing on May 31 . However , as the threat from the Boxers increased , it became apparent that additional troops were needed . On June 9 Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald , the British Minister , cabled Vice - Admiral Edward Hobart Seymour , commander of the British Navy ' s China fleet , that the situation in Beijing " was hourly becoming more serious " and that " troops should be landed and all arrangements made for an advance to Peking [ Beijing ] at once . " On receipt of MacDonald ' s message , Seymour assembled within 24 hours a force of more than 2 , 000 Sailors and Marines from Western and Japanese warships and prepared to embark for Beijing from Tianjin , 75 miles away , by train . His force consisted of 916 British , 455 Germans , 326 Russians , 158 French , 112 Americans , 54 Japanese , 41 Italians and 26 Austrians . Seymour ' s Chief of Staff was Capt . John Jellicoe . The commander of the Americans in the expedition was Captain Bowman H . McCalla , USN . The diplomats in Beijing anticipated that Seymour would arrive there on June 11 , but he didn ' t . Shortly thereafter all communications were cut and the Seymour Expedition disappeared in the interior of China . Acting without the Chinese Imperial court ' s permission , they had , in effect , launched an invasion . The Chinese response was decisive . The Advance toward Beijing . Seymour commandeered five trains in Tientsin ( Tianjin ) and departed for Beijing with his entire force the morning of June 10 . The first day the soldiers travelled 25 miles without incident , crossing a bridge at Yancun over the Hai River unopposed , although Chinese Gen . Nie Shicheng and thousands of his soldiers were camped there , Nie ' s soldiers were " friendly " and did not attack . The next few days went slowly , as Seymour had to repair railroad tracks and fight off Boxer attacks as his trains advanced . On June 14 several hundred Boxers armed with swords , spears and clumsy gingal s attacked Seymour twice and killed five Italian soldiers . The Americans counted 102 Boxer bodies left on the battlefield at the end of one battle . Seymour continued to repair tracks and advance very slowly . Chinese Gen . Nie let Seymour ' s army slip past in trains , because Ronglu deliberately issued contradicting orders that left Nie confused . However , the Muslim forces were not " confused " , and immediately set out attacking the foreigners . The Chinese government had reversed its earlier positions after learning of the invasion , deciding to absorb Boxers forces and order the army to defend against Seymour ' s march to the capital . Gen . Dong Fuxiang , along with his Chinese Muslim Braves , prepared to ambush the invading western army . Gen . Ma Fuxiang and Gen . Ma Fulu personally planned and led the attack , with a pincer movement around the European force . On June 18 Dong Fuxiang ' s troops , stationed at Hunting Park in southern Beijing , attacked at multiple points including LangFang . The forces included 5000 cavalrymen , armed with modern rifles . The foreign troops , especially the Germans , fought off the attack , killing hundreds of Chinese at a loss of seven dead and 57 wounded . The Kansu Braves lost 200 and the Boxers another 200 . The Boxers directly and relentlessly charged the allies during the attack , which unnerved them . The need to care for the wounded , a lack of supplies and the likelihood of additional Chinese attacks resulted in Seymour and his officers deciding to retreat to Tientsin . The unexpected attack on Seymour by the Chinese army was prompted by an allied European and Japanese attack on the Dagu Forts two days previously . As a result of the attack in Dagu , the Chinese government had decided to resist Seymour ' s army and kill or expel all foreigners in northern China . During one of the battles at Langfang , Boxers armed with swords and spears charged the British and Americans , who were armed with guns . At point - blank range one British soldier had to fire four bullets into a Boxer before he stopped , and American Capt . Bowman McCalla reported that single rifle shots were not enough : multiple rifle shots were needed to halt a Boxer . The Retreat . Seymour turned his five trains around and headed back toward Tianjin . However , he found the bridge across the Hai River he had crossed a few days before now destroyed by the Boxers or the Chinese army . Seymour and his officers had a decision to make for the army : to cross the river by boat and walk 18 miles to Tianjin along the railroad , or follow the river 30 miles to Tianjin . The sailors , perhaps more comfortable near water , chose to follow the river , although the railroad route was shorter and ran through open country . Along the heavily populated river banks were Boxer - infested villages every one - half mile . Seymour ' s retreat down the Hai River was slow and difficult , covering only three miles the first day . Additional casualties included Capt . Jellicoe , who suffered a near fatal wound . By June 22 the soldiers were out of food and down to less than 10 rounds of ammunition per man , except for the Americans who had brought ample ammunition . However , " there was no thought of surrender , " said Lt . Wurtzbaugh . " The intention was to fight to the last with the bayonet . " Seymour ' s 2 , 000 soldiers might have perished along the river except for good luck . On June 23 , six miles from Tianjin , Seymour came across the Chinese army ' s Xigu fort and arsenal which , inexplicably , was nearly undefended . The foreign soldiers took refuge in the arsenal , which contained a wealth of arms and ammunition in addition to some food . Realizing their mistake in leaving the arsenal undefended , the Chinese army attempted to dislodge Seymour ' s forces , which were now well armed and repelled the Chinese attacks . A Chinese servant of the British slipped through to Tianjin and requested rescue for Seymour . A force of 2000 Allied soldiers marched out of the city to the arsenal on June 25 , and next day escorted Seymour ' s men back to Tianjin . The Chinese did not oppose their passage . A missionary reported their arrival in Tianjin : " I shall never forget to my dying day , the long string of dusty travel - worn soldiers , who for a fortnight had been living on quarter rations , and fighting every day . . . the men were met by kind ladies with pails of tea which the poor fellows drunk as they had never drunk before – some bursting into tears . " Seymour ' s casualties were 62 dead and 232 wounded . The besieged foreigners trapped in the Legations in Beijing thought that Seymour was close to them and that they were going to be saved , oblivious to the defeat of Seymour ' s forces . The Chinese government at the time did not know either that their own forces had halted Seymour ' s armies in their tracks . Assessment . The Seymour Expedition was " a serious failure . " and a " humiliation " . Seymour underestimated his Chinese opponent , trusting that he could push through to Beijing quickly with little or no opposition . Instead , " Seymour ' s expedition became a large moving target for the Boxers and Imperial troops . The would - be rescuers now required rescue themselves . " The Western and Japanese soldiers and civilians in Beijing were subjected to a 55 - day siege ( see Siege of Beijing Legation Quarter ) by the Chinese army and it took more than a month after Seymour ' s rescue to organize another larger and better equipped army to defeat the Chinese and march on Beijing to relieve the siege . The Boxers charged the foreigners with swords , spears , rifles , and gingalls ; most of them were boys and common peasants , rather than professional troops , taking up arms against the invaders . The Boxers sometimes faked death and then sprang back up at the troops to attack ; an Allied soldier , Bigham , said they had no " fear " or " hesitation " . The expedition failed because Chinese resistance , which no one had thought at all likely or possible in such degree , was underestimated .