The Battle of the Taku or Battle of Dagu Forts was a short engagement during the Boxer Rebellion between the Chinese Qing dynasty military and forces belonging to the Eight Nation Alliance in June 1900. European and Japanese naval forces captured the Taku forts after a brief but bloody battle with units of the Qing dynasty. Their loss prompted the Qing government to side with the Boxers while the Chinese army was ordered to resist all foreign military forces within Chinese territory. Allied powers remained in control of the forts until the end of the Boxer Rebellion in September 1901.

The Seymour Expedition was an attempt by a multi-national military force to march to Beijing and relieve the Siege of the Legations and foreign nationals from attacks by Qing China's government troops and the Boxers in 1900. The Chinese army and Boxer fighters defeated the Seymour armies and forced them to return to Tianjin (Tientsin). It was followed later in the summer by the successful Gaselee Expedition.