Diplomats in Blue: U.S. Naval Officers in China, 1922–1933

8 1927

8 1927 A Year of Decision The transfer of the Nationalist government from Canton to Hankow in December 1926 in no sense diminished the feeling of insecurity among foreigners in the Yangtze Valley. In late November and early December, the British and French landed forces to protect their Hankow concessions from overly enthusiastic Chinese protesters. Also anticipating trouble, the American Yangtze Patrol commander, Rear Admiral Henry Hough, agreed with Consul General Frank Lockhart on a plan whereby in an emergency an American naval landing force and the local American volunteer corps would assist the Special District Administration that functioned in the former Russian Concession at Hankow.1 The explosion came when the Nationalists set aside three days at the Western New Year for speech making and other celebrations. Within a very short time, on 15 January, a mob of several thousand converged on and along the bund of the British Concession. British marines and volunteers, under orders to refrain from gunfire, were able gradually to maneuver the mob back to the barriers that had been erected to protect the British Concession from disorderly Chinese intrusions. In response to a request from the British Yangtze naval commander, Rear Admiral John E. Cameron, the American gunboat Pigeon and destroyer Pope each landed fifty bluejackets to be held in reserve at the British headquarters , available for service at points where the Chinese threatened to break through. Although the Americans were landed to ensure the security of the British Concession, to satisfy Washington should it inquire, they carried orders describing their mission as to protect American lives and property. By the end of the day, Chinese forces joined to help restore order, and the Americans retired to their ships. Next day, the British consul general and the Municipal Council agreed with the Nationalist authorities that the Chinese themselves would be entrusted with preventing the mob from entering the concession. But the Chinese troops proved ineffective against the mob, so the British agreed that the Chinese should take over policing the area. The Nationalist flag was raised over the Municipal Council’s building. As Lieutenant Commander Glenn Howell of Admiral Hough’s staff noted, “British pride certainly went down into the dust today.”2 The mob directed its fury against the British and their concession at Hankow, but Americans naturally feared that the antiBritish outburst would become generally anti-foreign. Practically all British women and children along with a large part of the American dependents were evacuated to ships in the river and thence downstream to Shanghai. The British occupied and fortified the Asiatic Petroleum Company’s station on the riverfront. British banks and business houses were closed down for the duration of the emergency.3 A similar scenario had transpired on 7 January at Kiukiang, where the British withdrew from their concession after several days of rioting. The gunboat Penguin assisted the Americans as they joined the British at Kiukiang and the neighboring hill station at Kuling in flight. Inland from Hankow the Fig. 8.1. Minesweeper Pigeon in a Chinese port converted to a gunboat for service in the lower Yangtze River where she protected American citizens and commerce for five years during the Chinese Revolution. Naval Historical Center, courtesy U.S. Naval Institute. Fig. 8.2. Early map of the Wuhan cities of Hankow, Wuchang, and Hanyang, showing the battlefields during the 1911 Chinese Revolution , from Percy Horace Kent, The Passing of the Manchus (London: Edward Arnold, 1912; University Publications of America, 1977), 92. Reprinted with permission of LexisNexis. 1927: A Year of Decision / 115 British ordered their civilians to evacuate Changsha, Ichang, and the entire province of Szechwan. While the American consuls and Navy men lacked authority to order Americans to withdraw, there was a general exodus of Americans from the upriver areas when they were told that the Navy could no longer guarantee their protection.4 The overrunning of the British concessions at Hankow and Kiukiang by the Chinese naturally directed attention as to what might be the fate of the international areas of Shanghai. There Consul General Clarence E. Gauss and Captain Edward B. Armstrong of Asheville alerted both Minister MacMurray at Peking and Admiral Williams at Manila that in the light of violence at Hankow and Kiukiang, landing forces at Shanghai should be increased to a maximum upon the first hint of local disorder. On 11 January the Municipal Council of the International Settlement advised that...