Along with Anthony McAuliffe’s defiant exclamation at Bastogne, “Nuts!” and Douglas MacArthur’s promise, “I shall return,” one of the most famous phrases uttered by a soldier is Calvin Pearl Titus’ “I’ll try, Sir!” when he volunteered to scale the high wall surrounding the Chinese imperial city of Peking (today Beijing) on Aug. 14, 1900. The words epitomize the “can-do” attitude expected of American soldiers. The story behind it—which resulted in Titus being awarded the Medal of Honor by President Theodore Roosevelt—is worth telling, for it proves that the proverb “fortune favors the bold” can be very true.
In June 1900, Titus and his fellow 14th Infantry Regiment soldiers were in China because the secret “Society of Righteous and Harmonious Fists” had attacked foreigners and foreign property with the goal of eradicating all foreign influences in China. Since many of the secret society members were skilled in martial arts or “Chinese boxing,” English-speakers began calling them “Boxers.” The Boxers were convinced that economic hardship, recent floods, and droughts had been caused by foreigners in their midst. They detested the arrogance and aggression of foreigners, as well as their dismantling of China: the British had taken north Burma and Kowloon; the
