Return to Naval Historical Center home page. Return to Frequently Asked Questions page.

DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER

Boxer Rebellion: A Select Bibliography

Related Resources: Boxer Rebellion and the U.S. Navy, 1900-1901

Anderson, Johan Gunnar. The Dragon and the Foreign Devils. Boston: Little, Brown, 1928.

Bevan, James. "From Filipinos to Boxers in 1900." Leatherneck 18, no.4 (Apr. 1935): 5-7, 65-66. [Account by an enlisted man from Company D, 2d Battalion of Marines.].

_____. "With the U.S. Marines On the March to Peking, China - 1900." Leatherneck 18, no.6 (Jun. 1935): 5-7, 55-56; no.7 (Jul. 1935): 14-15, 50. [Account by an enlisted man from Company D, 2d Battalion of Marines.].

Bradley, Claudia, et al. List of Logbooks of U.S. Navy Ships, Stations, and Miscellaneous Units, 1801-1947. Washington: National Archives and Records Service, General Services Administration, 1978. [Logs for Navy ships from the Boxer Rebellion-era, as well as other unpublished documents are held at: Textual Reference Branch, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC 20408, tel. (202) 501-5385.].

Braisted, William R. The United States Navy in the Pacific, 1897-1909. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1958. [See pp.75-114 for a survey of the Navy's role.].

Brown, Fred. History of the Ninth U.S. Infantry, 1799-1909. Chicago: R. R. Donnelly & Sons Co., 1909. [see pp. 397-509].

The Cambridge History of China. 15 vols. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1978-1987. [See vol.11, part 2, chapter 2, "Late Ch'ing Foreign Relations, 1866-1905," pp. 115-130.].

Carter, William Harding. The Life of Lieutenant General Chaffee. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1917. [see pp. 175-235].

Cary, A. C. L. and Stouppe McCance. Regimental Records of the Royal Welch Fusiliers (Late of the 23rd Foot. 2 vols. London: Forster Groom & Co. Ltd. For the Royal United Service Institution, 1923. [see pp. 257-70 ].

Chamberlin, Wilbur J. Ordered to China: Letters of Wilbur J. Chamberlin Written from China While Under Commission from the New York Sun During the Boxer Uprising of 1900 and the International Complications Which Followed. New York: F.A. Stokes, 1903.

Clark, George R. "On Other Duty." United States Naval Institute Proceedings 35, no.1 (Mar. 1909): 127-136.

Clowes, William Laird. The Royal Navy: A History from the Earliest Times to the Death of Queen Victoria. 7 vols. London: Sampson Low, Marston and Co., 1897-1903. [see vol.7, pp. 520-558].

Collum, Richard S. History of the United States Marine Corps. New York: L. R. Hamersly Co., 1903. [see pp. 383-427].

Coltman, Robert, Jr. Beleaguered in Peking: The Boxer's War Against the Foreigner. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Co., 1901. [The author was an American doctor in Peking during the siege.].

Conger, Sarah Pike. Letters from China with Particular Reference to the Empress Dowager and the Women of China. Chicago: A.C. McClurg & Co., 1909. [See pp. 88-167 for letters by the wife of the American Minister in Peking concerning the siege.].

Cooney, David M. A Chronology of the U.S. Navy: 1775-1965. New York: Franklin Watts, 1965. [see pp. 195-198].

Daggett, A. S. America in the China Relief Expedition. Kansas City MO: Hudson-Kimberly Pub. Co., 1903. [Personal account by the commanding officer of the US Army's 14th Infantry, as well as the text of some Marine Corps orders and reports.].

Davidson, C. W. "Operations in North China." United States Naval Institute Proceedings 26, no.4 (Dec. 1900): 637-646.

Dix, C. C. The World's Navies in the Boxer Rebellion. London: Digby, Long & Co., 1905. [British perspective].

Duiker, William J. Cultures in Collision: The Boxer Rebellion. San Rafael CA: Presidio Press, 1978.

Ellsworth, Harry Alanson. One Hundred Eighty Landings of United States Marines, 1800-1934. Washington: Historical Section, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps, 1934. [see pp. 32-39].

Esherick, Joseph. The Origins of the Boxer Uprising. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1987.

Fenn, Courtney Hughes. "The American Marines in the Siege of Peking." Independent 52, no. 2713 (29 Nov. 1900): 2845-2849. [Eyewitness account by a missionary at the British Legation.].

Field, Cyril. Britain's Sea Soldiers: A History of the Royal Marines and Their Predecessors and of Their Services in Action, Ashore and Afloat, and Upon Sundry Other Occasions of Moment. 2 vols. Liverpool: The Lyceum Press, 1924. [See vol.2, pp. 250-291 for an account of the British Marines.].

Fleming, Peter. The Siege at Peking. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1959. [General survey with greater emphasis on the British rather than an American perspective.].

Gilpin, Charles E. "Notes By Ex-Lieutenant Commander Charles E. Gilpin Upon the Article `Experiences in China During Boxer Rebellion,' By Captain J. K. Taussig." [This unpublished three-page essay is bound with Taussig's article in the collection of the Navy Department Library. A copy is available for examination in the vertical files of the library, filed under `Boxer Rebellion.'].

Gleim, Albert F. CRE Reference Data. Arlington VA: Planchet Press, 1985. [This 41-page publication contains lists, sometimes incomplete, of military personnel, including some foreign nationals, receiving campaign medals and society badges relating to the Boxer rebellion.].

Graves, Charles. "`And St. David' Comrades in Arms." Marine Corps Gazette 35, no.3 (Mar. 1951): 58-59. [US Marines and Royal Welch Fusiliers].

Gulliver, Louis J. "Our First `Sick-Bay' on Shore: Yokohama, Japan, 1872."United States Naval Institute Proceedings 79, no.12 (Dec. 1953):1365-66. [Concerning the facility used by the Navy for casualties of the Boxer Rebellion.].

Heinl, R. D., Jr. "Hell in China." Marine Corps Gazette 43, no. 11 (Nov. 1959): 55-68.

Hooker, Mary. Behind the Scenes in Peking: Being Experiences During the Siege of the Legations. London: John Murray, 1911.[Letters and diary entries for the period 26 May to 20 Aug. 1900.].

Die Kaiserliche Marine Wahrend der Wirren in China, 1900-1901. Berlin: E.S. Mittler, 1903.

Leonard, Henry. "The Visit of the Allies to China in 1900."Military Historical Society of Massachusetts Papers 14, (1918): 295-318. [Eyewitness account of the Battle of Tientsin.].

Lewis, Charles Lee. Famous American Marines, an Account of the Corps: The Exploits of Officers and Men on Land, by Air and Sea, from the Decks of the Bonhomme Richard to the Summit of Mount Suribachi. Boston: L. C. Page and Co., 1950. [See pp. 161-165, 174-186 and 205-209 for biographies of: Littleton Waller Tazewell Waller, the commander of a Marine battalion; John Twiggs Meyers, the commander of the Marine Guard in Peking; and Smedley Darlington Butler, a company commander at the Battle of Tientsin.].

Long, John D. The New American Navy. 2 vols. New York: The Outlook Co., 1903. [See vol. 2, pp. 126-138. [Account by the Secretary of the Navy.].

Lord, Walter. The Good Years: From 1900 to the First World War. New York: Harper and Brothers, 1960. [See pp. 9-40 for an account of the defense of the legations].

Love, Robert W., Jr. History of the U.S. Navy, 1775-1941. Harrisburg PA: Stackpole Books, 1992. [see pp. 407-410].

Lynch, George. The War of the Civilizations, Being a Record of a "Foreign Devil's" Experiences With the Allies in China. London, New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1901.

McCalla, Bowman Henry. "Memoirs of a Naval Career." 4 vols. Santa Barbara CA: 1910. [More than 150 pages of volume 4 of this fragile unpublished manuscript concern McCalla's command of a landing party during which he was wounded three times during the relief of the legations at Peking. The manuscript can be examined in-person at the Navy Department Library.].

McClellan, Edwin N. "Battles of the Marines: The Battle of Tientsin." Marines Magazine 5, no.1 (Jan. 1920): 13-14, 26. [Includes an excerpt from the report of Capt. Philip M. Bannon, USMC.].

Martin, W. A. P. "Discussions - `We Will Do Our Best.'" United States Naval Institute Proceedings 55, no.4 (Apr. 1929): 323. [A response to Smith's article "We Will Do Our Best," dealing with the `International Gun.'].

Metcalf, Clyde H. A History of the United States Marine Corps. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1939. [See pp. 279-85 for a general account of Marine activities in China, Nov. 1898 to Sep. 1900.].

____. "The Marines in China." Marine Corps Gazette 22, no.3 (Sep. 1938): 35-37, 53-58. [Brief account of Marines in the Boxer Rebellion.].

Military Order of the Dragon, 1900-1911. Washington DC: Press of B.S. Adams, 1912. [The Military of the Dragon was organized to perpetuate the memories of the China Relief Expedition of 1900.].

Myers, John T. "Military Operations and Defenses of the Siege of Peking." United States Naval Institute Proceedings 28, no.3 (Sep. 1902): 541-51. [Firsthand account by the commander of the Marine Guard at the Peking Legation during the siege.].

Neeser, Robert Wilden. Statistical and Chronological History of the United States Navy, 1775-1907. 2 vols. New York: Macmillan, 1909. [See vol.1, pp.276-79 for a detailed chronology of naval operations against the Boxers.].

O'Connor, Richard. The Spirit Soldiers: A Historical Narrative of the Boxer Rebellion. New York: Putnam, 1973.

Offutt, Milton. The Protection of Citizens Abroad by the Armed Forces of the United States. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1928. [see pp. 85-89].

O'Quinlivan, Michael. An Annotated Bibliography of the United States Marines in the Boxer Rebellion. Washington: Historical Branch, G-3 Division Headquarters, US Marine Corps, 1961. [An extremely useful source. Many of the citations and annotations listed were used in the preparation of the bibliography you are examining.].

Paullin, Charles Oscar. "The American Navy in the Orient in Recent Years, IV." United States Naval Institute Proceedings 38, no.1 (Mar. 1912): 113-116. [Brief account of naval operations against the Boxers.].

Preston, Diana. The Boxer Rebellion; The Dramatic Story of China's War on Foreigners That Shook the World in the Summer of 1900. New York: Walker & Company, 2000.

Purcell, Victor. The Boxer Uprising: A Background Study. Hamden CT: Archon Books, 1974.

Rasmussen, O.D. Tientsin: An Illustrated Outline History. Tientsin: Tientsin Press, 1925. [See pp.113-219 for coverage of events in and around Tientsin, 28 May to 15 Jul. 1900,].

Rentfrow, Frank H. "In Many a Strife We've Fought for Life." Leatherneck 14, no.7 (Jul. 1931): 10-11, 47-49. [Account of Marine operations throughout the Boxer Rebellion.].

Richards, George. "Blood's Thicker than Water; the United States Marine Corps' Recollections of the Royal Welsh Fusiliers." Century 94, no.5 (Sep. 1917): 786-789. [Reminiscences of combined service in the Battle of Tientsin.].

Savage-Landor, A. Henry. China and the Allies. London: William Heinemann, 1901. [Account of the siege of the legations with many references to the operations of US Marines.].

Schaller, Michael. The United States and China in the Twentieth Century. New York: Oxford University Press, 1979.

Seymour, Edward H. My Naval Career and Travels. New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1911. [Royal Navy commander's account of the first allied column dispatched to the relief of the Peking legations.].

Smith, Arthur Henderson. China in Convulsion. New York: F.H. Revell Co., 1901.

Smith, Oliver P. "We Will Do Our Best." United States Naval Institute Proceedings 54, no.11 (Nov. 1928): 979-992. [Account of the Marines in defense of the legations.].

Smyth, George B., et al. The Crisis in China. New York and London: Harper & Brothers, 1900.

Tan, Chester C. The Boxer Catastrophe. New York: Columbia University Press, 1955. [A general view of the Boxer movement and associated military operations based on Chinese sources.].

Taussig, J. K. "Experiences During the Boxer Rebellion." United States Naval Institute Proceedings 53, no.4 (Apr. 1927): 403-420. [Based on author's journal kept as a midshipman with the American battalion of sailors and Marines in the Seymour column.].

Thomas, Lowell. Old Gimlet Eye: The Adventures of Smedley D. Butler. New York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1933. [See pp.42-79 for the experiences of a young Marine officer breveted for gallantry in the Battle of Tientsin.].

Tuttle, A.H. ed. Mary Porter Gamewell and Her Story of the Siege of Peking. New York: Eaton & Mains, 1907. [Personal account of an American woman missionary whose husband played an important part in erecting legation fortifications.].

US Congress. House. Bombardment of the Taku Forts in China: Letter from the Secretary of the Navy, Transmitting in Response to the Inquiry of the House, Copies of Communications Between the Navy Department and Rear-Admiral Kempff in Relation to the Bombardment of the Taku Forts in China. 57th Cong., 1st sess., 1902.

US Department of State. Foreign Relations of the United States, 1901. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902. [See separately bound appendix titled Affairs in China: Report of William W. Rockhill, Late Commissioner to China With Accompanying Documents.].

____. Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States With the Annual Message of the President Transmitted to Congress, December 3, 1900. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902. [See table of contents for listings under "China," for a useful collection of documents on conditions of the conditions in the Peking Legation and the Tientsin Consulate during the summer of 1900.].

US Navy Department. Annual Reports of the Navy Department for the Year 1900. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1900. [Also see Annual Reports, in 2 parts, for 1901. The majority of the material from both years reports relating to the Boxer Rebellion is available online.].

US War Department. Annual Reports of the War Department for the Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1900. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1900. [See vol.1, pt.9. Also see the Annual Reports for 1901, vol.1, pt.6, pp.433-546.].

US War Department. Adjutant General's Office. Correspondence Relating to the War With Spain and Conditions Growing Out of the Same, Including the Insurrection in the Philippine Islands and the China Relief Expedition, Between the Adjutant-General of the Army and Military Commanders in the United States, Cuba, Porto Rico, China, and the Philippine Islands, from April 15, 1898, to July 30, 1902. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1902. [Also reprinted by the Center of Military History as CMH publication 70-28 in 1993. Includes dispatches between the State, War and Navy Departments and field commanders pertaining to the Marines in China.].

____. Notes on China. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1900. [Surveys geography, climate, ports and cities, Chinese Army units, forts and arsenals, the Chinese Navy, and foreign forces in the Far East.].

____. Reports on Military Operations in South Africa and China. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1901. [Includes extracts from enclosures to the report of Major General A.R. Chaffee, including a detailed summary of the defense of the legations with maps and statistical charts, pp. 447-459; and a general summary of the entire North China operation, pp. 523-600.].

Waite, Carleton, Frederick. Some Elements of International Military Co-operation in the Suppression of the 1900 Antiforeign Rising in China with Special Reference to the Forces of the United States. Los Angeles: University of Southern California Press, 1935.

Weale, B.L. Putnam. Indiscreet Letters from Peking: Being the Notes of an Eyewitness, Which Set Forth in Some Detail, from Day to Day, the Real Story of the Siege and Sack of a Distressed Capital in 1900, the Year of Great Tribulation. New York: Dodd, Meade, 1907.

Wheatley, Edwin T. Jr., Barry C. Weaver, and Charles P. McDowell. The Boxer Uprising: Campaigns, Medals, and Men. San Ramon CA: Orders and Medals Society of America, 2000. [Includes lists of US Navy and Marine Corps Personnel].

Will, Allen Sinclair. World Crisis in China 1900: A Short Account of the Outbreak of the War with the "Boxers," and Ensuing Foreign Complications, Including Also a Sketch of Events Leading Up to the Distracted Situation in the Chinese Empire in the Closing Year of the Century. Baltimore, New York: J. Murphy Co., 1900.

Wise, Frederick May as told to Meigs O. Frost. A Marine Tells It to You. New York: J.H. Sears and Co., 1929. [See pp.26-74 for a personal account by Wise who served as a lieutenant in the China Relief Expedition.].

Woodward, M.S. "The Personal Side of the Siege of Peking." Independent 52, no.2712 (22 Nov. 1900): 2782-2791. [A woman's firsthand account emphasizing the part played by US Marines in defending the legations.].

Wu, Yung. The Flight of an Empress. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1936.

Wurtsbaugh, Daniel W. "The Seymour Relief Expedition." United States Naval Institute Proceedings 28, no.2 (Jun. 1902): 207-219. [A participant's account of the operations of the Seymour column with emphasis on the capture and defense of the Hsiku Arsenal.].

Yarnell, H. E. "A Footnote to History" United States Naval Institute Proceedings 81, no.2 (Feb. 1955): 216. [Concerning the successful effort to prevent the seizure of the Chinese cruiser Haichi by the Russian Navy. Haichi was providing assistance to the grounded USS Oregon.].