120 Years Ago – August 14, 1900
Musician Calvin P. Titus Scales the Tartar Wall during the Boxer Rebellion
During the late 1890s resistance to foreign imperial incursions in Northern China was advocated by a secret society called the “Righteous and Harmonious Fists.” Westerners referred to them as “Boxers” due to their practice of martial arts.
Early aggression and violence was directed toward European Christian missionaries symbolizing foreign influence to the Chinese. By June 1900, many Boxers became enamored in the belief that they were invulnerable to foreign weapons. Converging on Peking, Boxers initiated a campaign to kill foreigners. As a result, 473 foreigners, 409 military personnel from 8 countries and approximately 3,000 Chinese Christians concentrated in an approximately half mile square area of Peking known as the Legation Quarter. Besieged by Boxers and some Imperial Chinese Army troops, the outnumbered inhabitants established a perimeter and fought off repeated attacks while tensely awaiting rescue by Austro-Hungarian, British, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Russian and U.S. troops moving westward toward Peking. After initial setbacks, a force of 20,000 soldiers, sailors, and marines from eight nations reached the outskirts of Peking.
Among the U.S. relief troops was the Army's 14th Infantry Regiment. By mid-morning, soldiers advancing westward toward the walled city of Peking were pinned down by heavy rifle fire coming from the Chinese positions atop the eastern Tartar Wall and an adjacent structure known as Fox Tower along a short east-west wall.
As officers discussed the possibility of scaling the 30 foot wall in order to breech the defenses a Bugler from Company E, Calvin P. Titus, of Vinton, Iowa, stepped forward stating, "I will see if I can get up if you wish, Sir." Unarmed and utilizing uneven bricks and depressions in the wall, Titus ascended to the top looking carefully for Chinese defenders. Finding none, he signaled others from Company E to follow. Rifles and ammunition were pulled up with rope and rifle slings. The 5th U.S. Artillery Regiment assisted with the ascent by firing into the Chinese occupied Fox Tower as more soldiers scaled the wall. Clearing it of Chinese defenders with rifle fire a U.S. flag was posted identifying the identity of the troops and signaling to the rest of the multinational force that the wall had been breached. Within hours the Legation Quarter was secured ending the 55 day siege.
On March 11, 1902, for courage exhibited as the first U.S. soldier to climb the wall, Calvin P. Titus was awarded the Medal of Honor. He graduated from West Point in 1905 and retired in 1930 as a Lt. Colonel. Titus died on May 27, 1966 at San Fernando, California.