XXXIX. invaders. They were the more induced to continue the CHAP. war from an old tradition that the capital would remain invincible till a "magical vessel should advance against it without oars or sails." 1824. 62. the Arracan May 11. The determination of the government of Ava to persevere in the contest was much strengthened by reverses Reverses on which at the same period befell the British arms on the frontier. land side towards Arracan. The operations there were conducted chiefly with a view to defence, as the principal attack was intended to be made up the Irrawaddy from Rangoon. Captain Noton was stationed at Ramoo, to cover the British frontier in that quarter, with 350 native infantry and 600 irregulars. The latter could not be relied on; and a movement of the whole in advance having been attended by many checks, Captain Noton fell back to Ramoo, where he was soon surrounded by a force, six times superior in number of the enemy. Notwithstanding this fearful disproportion, Noton gallantly maintained his position for several days, trusting to the arrival of reinforcements from Chittagong in the rear, which were reported to have left that place on the 13th, and were hourly expected. They did not arrive, however, and meanwhile the enemy pushed their approaches with such vigour that on the 17th they were within twelve paces May 17. of the British advanced works, and had got possession of a tank in rear, from which the troops had their sole supply of water. Retreat had now become unavoidable, and for some time it was conducted with tolerable order; but at length the irregulars fell into disorder; the confusion spread to the sepoys, who, instead of closing their ranksthe only chance of safety in such circumstances-disbanded and fled. Captain Noton and most of the officers were killed, nobly fighting to the last; three only, with a small portion of the troops, made their escape.1 This disaster Thornton, soon brought others in its train. The British force at Snodgrass, Sylhet was withdrawn to Chittagong; the Burmese again tin, 425. entered Cachar; and such was the consternation which v. 39-41; 79-84; Mar XXXIX. CHAP. prevailed, and the unprotected state of the frontier, that had the Burmese been in greater force they might have advanced to and possibly taken Calcutta. 1824. 63. Fresh of forts of the their suc cess. Had the British Government been actuated by the instability of purpose by which the Oriental dynasties British, and are in general characterised, they would in all probability, after these repeated disasters, have desisted from any further attempts against the kingdom of Ava. But this was not the national character, which is as much marked by vigour and energy, when roused and heated in a contest, as it is by supineness and want of preparation before it commences. The utmost efforts were made to reinforce the armies both at Rangoon and on the Arracan frontier, and the Diana war-steamer was added to the flotilla on the river. They had need of all their resources, for the preparations of the Burmese were very great. Mengee Bundoola, who had commanded the force which had gained such successes in Arracan, was withdrawn from the direction of that army, and placed at the head of a formidable army of twenty thousand men, which proceeded to invest the British troops in Rangoon, against which approaches were made with great skill, and in a style which very closely resembled that which afterwards became so famous when practised by the Russians in the defence of Sebastopol. The trenches consisted of a succession of holes, each capable of containing two men, excavated so as to afford complete shelter from any horizontal fire, and into which therefore the descent of a shell could only kill two men. Under the bank a hole was cut in each, entirely under cover, where a bed of straw and brushwood was prepared, where one reposed while the other watched. So rapidly were these subterraneous lodgings formed, that the whole army seemed to have been suddenly swallowed up by the earth. Various sorties were made by the British to impede the approaches, in one of which Major Sale and Major Walker, at the head of their respective columns, gained considerable Dec. 1. Dec. 5. XXXIX. 1824. success, though the latter was unfortunately killed in the CHAP. moment of victory. Soon after a vigorous attack was made on the whole of the enemy's lines, from which they were driven with great loss into the neighbouring jungle. But being strongly reinforced, they soon after returned to the attack, and contrived to introduce a Dec. 14. number of spies and incendiaries into the town of Ran- 1 Thornton, goon, who set it on fire in several places, and the con- v. 44-46; flagration was not got under till half the buildings had 97-105. been consumed.1 Snodgrass, 64. the British goon. The situation of the British army was now critical in the extreme, cooped up in a half-burnt and unhealthy Victories of city, surrounded by an army ten times as numerous as before Rantheir own, whose approaches had been pushed to within Dec. 15. a hundred yards of the place. From these straits they were happily extricated by the daring, and, in the circumstances, wise conduct of the commander-in-chief, seconded by the heroic valour of his troops. The whole force which could be spared for a sortie amounted only to fifteen hundred men, and they were led to the attack of twenty thousand brave and skilful troops intrenched to the teeth in stockades. The attempt seemed little short of madness, but nevertheless it entirely succeeded. Both attacks the one headed by Sir Archibald Campbell in person, the other by General Cotton-proved victorious; and in fifteen minutes the most formidable works ever yet seen in the country were carried by storm, and the enemy driven into the surrounding jungles. On the same day an attack was made by the Diana and other war-vessels, under Lieutenant Kellett of the Arachne, upon the flotilla of the enemy, of which forty were taken. On this occasion the terrible efficacy of war-steamers was 2 Snodgrass, first signally evinced; the Diana ploughed through the 116, 130; flotilla of the enemy as if moved by magic, and with v. 49-51. every broadside sent some of them to the bottom.2 Taught by these disasters the quality of the enemy with whom they had to deal, the Burmese generals raised Thornton, 1825. 65. Actions during the advance on Prome. CHAP the siege, and retired towards Prome, the second city in XXXIX. the Burmese empire. Sir Archibald Campbell, having been reinforced by the 47th regiment and some cavalry and artillery, resolved to pursue them thither, and with this view advanced in two columns, the one commanded by himself in person, consisting of two thousand five hundred men, who went by land, of whom one half were European infantry; the other of one thousand five hunFeb. 13. dred, moving by water, under General Cotton. The latter column, in the course of its advance, encountered a large body of the enemy intrenched in a stockaded position at Donabru. An attack upon this work failed in consequence of its extreme strength, which proved impervious alike to the bayonets and the hatchets of the assailants. Upon learning this reverse, Sir Archibald March 25. hastened with his own column to the spot, and soon saw that the work was much too strong to be carried by a coup-de-main. The stockade, which extended for nearly a mile along the bank of the Irrawaddy, was composed of solid teak beams, resting on strong stakes driven into the earth, and piled one above another to the height of seventeen feet. The interior of the work, which was armed with a hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, was protected against the explosion of shells by frequent traverses; and in front of all was an abattis composed of sharpened stakes, and a deep ditch rendered almost impassable by spikes, sword-blades, and other implements of destruction stuck in the earth. Wisely judging these works far too strong to be carried by escalade, Sir Archibald brought up his whole troops and flotilla to the attack, and commenced approaches against it in form. On the 27th the flotilla appeared in sight, and, headed by the Diana, found its way up, after sustaining a heavy cannonade, so as to effect a junction with the land forces, and their combined attack soon proved irresistible. A spirited sortie, headed by seventeen warelephants, each bearing a tower filled with armed men, XXXIX. 1825. was repulsed by the steadiness of the Governor-general's CHAP. body-guard, under Captain Sneyd; two days after, the commander-in-chief of the Burmese, Bundoola, was killed by a rocket; and the breaching batteries having commenced a heavy fire, the garrison was seized with a 1 Snodgrass, sudden panic, and fled, leaving behind them stores of 160, 172; ammunition and provisions sufficient to serve the British v. 52-55. army for months to come.1 After this brilliant achievement Sir Archibald returned Thornton, 66. Prome. to his line of march towards Prome, before which he Capture of arrived on the 24th April. He entered it without oppo- April 25. sition next day, finding the town deserted, and partially on fire, but still armed by 100 pieces of cannon. Such was the strength of this position, that in Sir A. Campbell's opinion 10,000 steady soldiers might have defended it against 100,000 men. Active operations were then suspended for some months, in consequence of the setting in of the heavy rains, and excessive inundations on the banks of the Irrawaddy. Meanwhile, however, important movements went on, and great successes were gained on the land-frontier. Colonel Richards there recovered the province of Assam, which had been almost entirely lost after Jan. 27. the disaster at Ramoo, and carried by storm a stockade near Rungpore, which had the effect of bringing the whole province into subjection. An attempt was afterwards made to penetrate from Sylhet into the Burmese territory through Cachar, with 7000 men under General Shuldham; but the expedition was abandoned in consequence of the inextricable difficulties of the miry soil, after an enormous loss in elephants, camels, and bullocks. But the grand effort was directed against the province of Arracan, to subdue which an army of 11,000 men was assembled at Chittagong under the orders of General Morrison, supported by a powerful flotilla under Commodore Hayes. These forces, having effected a junction, moved against Arracan, which they reached on the evening of the 28th March. They found the approach to the |