Battle of Dagu Forts (1900)

Battle of Taku Forts

Allies charging at the forts

Date	16–17 June 1900
Location	Taku Forts, Tianjin, China
Result	Allied tactical victory Commencement of the Siege of the International Legations

Belligerents

Russia

Japan

Italy

Commanders and leaders

Yakov Hildebrandt

Christopher Cradock

General Lo Jung-kuang

Strength

900 men
10 ships

Approximately 2,000 soldiers and sailors

Casualties and losses

172 killed and wounded

Unknown

The Battle of Taku or Dagu Forts was a battle during the Boxer Rebellion between the Chinese military and allied Western and Japanese naval forces. The Allies captured the forts after a brief but bloody battle.

In mid-June 1900, allied forces in northern China were vastly outnumbered. In Beijing there were 450 soldiers and marines from eight countries protecting the diplomatic legations. Somewhere between Tianjin and Beijing were the 2,000 men in the Seymour Expedition which was attempting to get to Beijing to reinforce the legation guards. In Tianjin were 2,400 Allied soldiers, mostly Russians. All of these forces were menaced by thousands of Boxers, members of an indigenous peasant movement that aimed to end foreign influence in China. The Qing government of China was wavering between supporting the Boxers in their anti-foreign crusade or suppressing them because they represented a threat to the dynasty.

A few miles offshore in the Yellow Sea were a large number of Western and Japanese warships. On June 15, Chinese forces deployed electric mines in the Peiho River before the battle to prevent the Eight-Nation Alliance from sending ships to attack. With their supply and communication lines to Tianjin threatened, the commanders of the ships met on June 16. Control of the Taku forts at the mouth of the Hai River was the key to maintaining a foothold in northern China. Vice-Admiral Hildebrandt, from the Imperial Russian Navy, through Lieutenant Bakhmetev, sent a message to the commander of the forts, who then sent a message by telegraph to the Governor of Zhili Province, stating that they proposed to "occupy provisionally, by consent or by force" the Taku Forts and demanded that Chinese forces surrender the forts before 2 am on June 17. Of the Allied countries represented, only the United States Navy’s Rear Admiral Louis Kempff demurred, stating that he had no authority to undertake hostilities against China. Kempff said that an attack was an "act of war", and therefore refused to participate. However, Kempff agreed that an ageing American gunboat, the Monocacy, could be stationed near the forts as a place of refuge for civilians in the vicinity.

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