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Loqistical Support of the China Relief Expedition LOQISTICAL SUPPORT OF THE CHINA RELIEF EXPEDITION A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF HILITARY ART AND SCIENCE WILLIAM C. HARLOW, MAJ, USA B.A.. Virginia Military Institute, Lexington Virginia, 1977 Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 1991 Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited. MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE THESIS APPROVAL PAGE Name of candidate: Major William C. Harlow Title of thesis: Logistical Support of the China Relief Expedition Approved by: , Thesis Committee Chairman J'-dmr< Member Major George J. Hordica 11, H.A. ,byl4 ?. ~&w&- , Member Dij(jof- Jos* E. Johnson, M.S. Accepted this 7th day of June 1991 by: P& J ~OA-, Director, Graduate Degree Philip J, Brookes, Ph.D. Programs The opinions and conclusions expressed herein are those of the student author and do not necessarily represent the views of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College or any other governmental agency. (References to this study should include the foregoing statement.) ABSTRACT LOGISTICAL SUPPORT OF THE CHINA RELIEF EXPEDITION by MAJ William C. Harlow, USA, 220 pages. This thesis studies the logistical support of United States forces in China during the Boxer Rebellion. The thesis examines the crucial logistical aspects of the operations of Army, Navy and Marine forces during the Boxer Rebellion. When the Boxer Rebellion arose in the Spring of 1900, the safety of the foreign communities in Beijing (Peking) and Tianjin (Tientsin) was threatened. An international force, including Americans, was sent to rescue the foreigners and restore order in China. Initially, our military and political leaders did not have a clear picture of the scope of the Boxer Rebellion. This resulted in the initial force, composed of naval landing parties being out numbered and incapable of accomplishing the mission. The naval landing parties also had limited logistics as they relied only on what was aboard their ships. Additional Army units were sent to China from the Philippines and the United States. These forces eventually rescued the besieged foreigners and restored order to China. Their logistics support is an excellent example of 19th Century logistics doctrine modified to meet the realities of operations in China. American logistics during the Boxer Rebellion also provide insights into the nature of logistics while conducting coalition warfare. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS APPROVAL PAGE ............................................ ii ABSTRACT ................................................iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ........................................ iv LIST OF TABLES .......................................... vii LIST OF FIGURES ........................................ viii Chapter I .INTRODUCTION..........................................1 Introduction.......................................... 1 Purpose of Thesis .....................................2 Scope of Thesis .......................................2 Significance of the Study .............................2 Limitations and Delimitations .........................3 Thesis Organization ...................................3 Romanization System ...................................5 I1 .HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. AREA OF OPERATIONS IN CHINA AND SEA LINES OF COMMUNICATION .................6 Introduction..........................................6 Background............................................6 United States Interests in China ......................9 United States Objectives ............................. 10 United States Forces in China ........................11 Area of Operations in China ..........................12 Topography. Climate. and Population ..................14 Transportation on the North China Plain ..............20 Costal Ports ......................................... 25 Railroads............................................ 25 Roads................................................ 29 Chinese Logistics Resources ..........................30 Sea Lines of Communication ........................... 30 Summary.............................................. 34 Endnotes .............................................36 I11 .THE ORGANIZATION OF UNITED STATES FORCES AND THEIR LOGISTICS SYSTEM .........................41 Introduction.........................................41 Organization of United States Forces in the Pacific ..41 Organization of the United States Army ...............43 Logistics Departments ................................45 Commissary Department ...............................45. Quartermaster Department .............................48 Ordnance Department ..................................52 Medical Department ...................................52 Other Departments ....................................56 Structure of Army Organizations...................... 57 Logistics at Brigade Level and Below ................. 63 Naval Force Logistics ................................68 Interoperability of Army and Navy Logistics ..........70 Summary.............................................. 71 Endnotes ............................................. 73 IV .CRISIS IN CHINA .SPRING 1900.......................77 Introduction.........................................77 Boxer Activities ..................................... 78 Deployment of Naval Forces ...........................79 Logistics at Beijing .................................85 Seymour Relief Expedition ............................ 99 Siege of Tianjin .................................... 111 Lines of Communication .............................. 116 summary............................................. 119 Endnotes............................................ 122 V .HORE TROOPS TO CHINA ................................ 127 Introduction........................................ 127 Deployment to China .................................129 Second Siege of Tianjin .............................134 Preparations for the Advance ........................138 Summary ............................................. 143 Endnotes ............................................144 VI .THE MARCH TO BEIJING ...............................146 Introduction........................................ 146 Staging............................................. 147 Supplies on the March ...............................148 Summary.............................................161 Endnotes ............................................163 VII .PACIFICATION. OCCUPATION. AND REDEPLOYMENT ........166 Introduction........................................166 Pacification........................................ 166 Occupation of Beijing ...............................170 Logistics During the Occupation ..................... 171 Redeployment........................................ 180 Summary............................................. 183 Endnotes ............................................ 185 VIII .CONCLUSIONS ...................................... 188 Introduction........................................188 Strategic Lessons Learned ........................... 189 Operational Logistics Lessons Learned ...............191 Tactical Lessons Learned ............................192 Coalition Logistics Lessons Learned .................194 APPENDIX ONE - ROMANIZATION ............................. 199 APPENDIX TWO - TIME LINE ................................202 APPENDIX THREE - DEPLOYMENT AND REDEPLOYMENT DATA .......207 BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................210 INITIAL DISTRIBUTION LIST ...............................220 LIST OF TABLES PACIFIC CHAIN OF CONHAND ..............................44 ARMY LOGISTICS ORGANIZATION ...........................44 INFANTRY REGIMENT ORGANIZATION ........................ 59 CAVALRY REGIMENT ORGANIZATION .........................59 DEPLOYMENT OF UNITED STATES FORCES DURING THE BOXER REBELLION .................................... 208 REDEPLOYMENT OF UNITED STATES FORCES AFTER THE BOXER REBELLION ....................................209 LIST OF FIGURES NAP OF AREA OF OPERATIONS ............................. 13 CITY OF BEIJING .......................................15 MAP OF LEGATION QUARTER IN BEIJING .................... 17 CITY OF TIANJIN .......................................19 TRANSPORTATION NETWORK IN NORTH CHINA .................21 MAP OF CHINA FROM BEIJING TO THE COAST ................26 ROUTE OF SEYMOUR EXPEDITION AND CHINA RELIEF EXPEDITION ......................................... 121 viii CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION INTRODUCTION Between May 1900 and May 1901, the United States sent forces to China to rescue foreign diplomats and civilians under attack by a group of rebellious, anti-foreign, Chinese called "Boxers". Intervention against the Boxers presented the United States military with a formidable logistics challenge. On short notice, the U.S. had to support forces conducting joint and combined military operations in a remote corner of the world. Studying logistics during the Boxer Rebellion is valuable because it provides an early historical example of the difficulties in supporting forces far from domestic bases. The logistics support of United States forces during the Boxer Rebellion provides insights into aspects of rapid deployment and also joint and coalition logistics. PURPOSE OF THE THESIS The purpose of this thesis is to examine the logistical history of United States forces in China during the Boxer Rebellion in search of logistics insights and lessons that were learned. This thesis will answer the question:
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