13 August

Following several requests over the past few years, I finally provide you with the long-awaited early life and career of one of the greatest legends of the United States Marine Corps, Sergeant Major Dan Daly. One of nineteen US servicemen to have been awarded the Medal of Honor twice, Daly and Major General Smedley Darlington Butler are the only Marines who earned two Medals of Honor for two separate acts of valor. Butler described Daly as “the fightingest Marine I ever knew... It was an object lesson to have served with him.” Lieutenant General, and 13th Marine Commandant, John Archer Lejeune called Daly “the outstanding Marine of all time.”
Daniel Joseph Daly is born on 11 November 1873 in Glen Cove, Long Island, New York. In a Roman Catholic family of Irish descent, he spends his youth in New York City, working as a newsboy and a laborer. Despite his slight build-5 feet 6 inches tall and weighing 132 pounds-Daly occasionally fights as a semi-pro boxer in his youth. At the age of 25, he enlists in the United States Marine Corps on 10 January 1899. His first military post is with the Asiatic Fleet aboard the cruiser USS Newark. In 1900, the Newark arrives in China as part of the China Relief Expedition during the Boxer Rebellion.
As a result of the Philippine-American War, the United States has forces available nearby in the Philippines and is therefore in a position to contribute one of the larger contingents to the international relief expedition. The first US forces leave the Philippines on 14 June. A detachment of 107 Marines sail to China to protect American lives and property-this detachment is drawn from the 1st Marine Regiment stationed at Cavite. This detachment steams toward Taku aboard the Newark, arriving on 18 June, where they are joined by 32 Marines aboard the USS Nashville (PG-7). Under the command of Major Littleton “Tony” Waller, the detachment lands at Taku the next day and advance toward Tientsien (modern Tianjin). Using Manila as a base and Nagasaki, Japan as an advance port, the US eventually assembles some 2,500 Marines and soldiers in China.
The first attempt to relieve the legations by a force of over 2,000 sailors and Marines commanded by British Admiral Edward Seymour is turned back by strong opposition on 26 June. On 4 August, a second, much larger multinational coalition relief force-called the Eight-Nation Alliance, which consists of 22,000 British, French, Japanese, Russian, German, Austrian, Italian, and US troops and Marines-marches from Tientsien toward Peking (modern Beijing), some seventy miles away. High points of the fighting enroute are at Beicang, which falls on 5 August, and a severe engagement for US and British contingents at Yangcun on 6 August. The force reaches the Qing capital on 12 August and immediately prepares to assault the gates leading into the Outer City. Lacking effective central direction, the relief expedition’s attack is poorly executed. The Russian contingent prematurely forces an entrance into the Outer City on 10 August, only to be ambushed by waiting Chinese soldiers and require rescue by other allied troops.
I’m always open to suggestions, and I will likely cover a few Marine family members of some of you subscribers in the near future. I really enjoy interacting with you folks and seeing the growth of this channel. Please do not hesitate to send an email to [e-mail] if you’d like for me to honor you or your Marine unit, or a Marine friend or family member.
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