June 20 – August 14, 1900 · Legation Quarter, Peking Theater
June 20 – August 14, 1900
For fifty-five days, some 900 foreign soldiers and civilians and around 3,000 Chinese Christians barricaded themselves in the Legation Quarter of Peking, defending an improvised perimeter against Boxers and Qing soldiers with rifles, one antique cannon dubbed 'the International,' and desperate improvisation. The German minister had already been murdered in the streets. Food ran short and the defenders were nearly overwhelmed several times before relief arrived on August 14.
Commanders