Hyderabad, came into my camp, and surrendered their swords as prisoners of war. Their misfortunes are of their own creation, but as they are great, I returned to them their swords. They await your Lordship's orders. Their highnesses have surrendered Hy. derabad, and I shall occupy it to morrow. "It is not to be supposed that so hard-fought an engagement could be sustained without considerable loss on both sides. That of the British force is 256 men killed and wounded. The enemy is generally supposed to have lost 5,000." The inference from the narrative of events in this despatch would be, that the battle of Meeanee was occasioned by the treacherous attempt on Major Outram and his escort on the 15th; but it is only just and fair to state, that Sir C. Napier seems to have resolved to decide the questions at issue between us and the Ameers by the sword, before he had heard of the aggression at Hyderabad. In a despatch to Major Outram dated Halla, Feb. 15, 9 .A M., 1843. Sir C. Napier writes thus: "I have this moment received yours of yesterday, as I reached this ground. Do not pledge yourself to anything whatever. I am in full march on Hyderabad, and will make no peace with the Ameers. I will attack them instantly, whenever I come up to their troops. They need send no proposals. The time has passed, and I will not receive their messengers. There must be no pledges made on any account. Come, if possible, away, and bring Mr. Carlisle away, unless you have no boats to embark the men; in which case prepare your house for de fence. The moment I got your letter yesterday, I sent off a quantity of ammunition to Halla; but the steamer is gone, so I have no power to send the ammunition and fifty soldiers. However, be assured, if I can get a boat, they shall be with you as soon as possible. Your men have provisions for a month, and I shall be with you the day after to-morrow, I hope. Have no intercourse with the Ameers.” On the 20th of February the British flag waved over the city of Hyderabad, but the contest was not yet at an end which was to terminate in the subjection of Sinde to our superior arms. Shere Mahomed was still at the head of a large body of troops, who posted themselves on the banks of the Fullahi (one of the branches of the Indus), in a strong and difficult position. It was necessary to bring these to action, and the following is Sir Charles Napier's account of his next victory:— "Dubba, 4 miles from Hyderabad, My Lord,-The forces under my command marched from Hyderabad this morning at daybreak. About half-past eight o'clock, we discovered and attacked the army, under the personal command of the Meer Shere Mahomed, consisting of 20,000 men of all arms, strongly posted behind one of those large nullahs by which this country is intersected in all directions. After a combat of about three hours, the enemy was wholly defeated with considerable slaughter, and the loss of all his standards and cannon. "His position was nearly a straight line; the nullah was formed by two deep parallel ditches, one twenty feet wide and eight feet deep, the other forty-two feet wide and seventeen deep, which had been for a long distance freshly scarped, and a banquette made behind the sank expressly for the occasion. To ascertain the extent of his line was extremely difficult, as his left did not appear to be satisfactorily defined; but he began moving to his right when he perceived that the British force outflanked him in that direction. Believing that this movement had drawn him from that part of the nullah which had been prepared for defence, I hoped to attack his right with less difficulty, and Major Leslie's troop of Horse Artillery was ordered to move forward and endeavour to rake the nullah, the 9th Light Cavalry and Poonah Horse advancing in line, on the left of the artillery, which was supported on the right by H. M.'s 22nd Regiment, the latter being, however, at first considerably retired to admit of the oblique fire of Leslie's troop. The whole of the artillery now opened upon the enemy's position, and the British line advanced in échellons from the left, H. M.'s 22nd Regiment leading the attack. The enemy was now perceived to move from his centre in considerable bodies to his left, apparently retreating, unable to sustain the cross fire of the British artillery; on seeing which, Major Slack, at the head of the 3rd Cavalry, under command of Captain Delamain, and the Sinde Horse, under command of Captain Jacob, made a brilliant charge upon the enemy's left flank, crossing the nullah, and cutting down the retreating enemy for several miles. While this was passing on the right, H. M.'s 22nd Regiment, gallantly led by Major Poole, Captain George, who commanded the corps, attacked the nullah on the left with great gallantry, and, I regret to add, with considerable loss. This brave battalion marched up to the nullah under a heavy fire of matchlocks, without returning a shot till within forty paces of the intrenchment, and then stormed it like British soldiers. The intrepid Lieutenant Coote first mounted the rampart, seized one of the enemy's standards, and was severely wounded while waving it and cheering on his men. Meanwhile the Poonah horse, under Captain Tait, and the 9th Cavalry, under Major Story, turned the enemy's right flank, pursuing and cutting down the fugitives for several miles. H. M.'s 22nd Regiment was well supported by the batteries commanded by Captains Willoughby and Hutt, which crossed their fire with that of Major Leslie. Then came the 2nd brigade, under command of Major Woodburn, bearing down into action with excellent coolness. It consisted of the 25th, 21st, and 12th Regiments, under the command of Captains Jackson, Stevens, and Fisher respectively. These regiments were strongly sustained by the fire of Captain Whitley's battery, on the right of which were the 8th and 1st Regiments, under Majors Browne and Clibborne: these two corps advanced with the regularity of a review up to the intrenchments, their commanders, with considerable exertion, stopping their fire, on seeing that a portion of the Sinde Horse, and 3rd Cavalry in charging the enemy had got in front of the brigade. The battle was decided by the troop of Horse Artil. lery, and H. M,'s 22nd Regiment. The highest panegyric that any officer could receive for the admirable manner in which all these operations were conducted, is contained in the following extract from a speech delivered by the Duke of Wellington, in his place in the House of Lords, on the 12th of February, 1844, on the occasion of a Vote of Thanks to the army in Sinde. The illustrious Duke said of Sir Charles Napier "He manifested at all times entire discretion and prudence in the formation of his plans, great activity in making the preparations which were necessary to insure success and finally great zeal, gallantry, and science, in carrying his plans and preparations into full execution. His march upon Emaum Ghur was one of the most curious military feats which he had ever known to be performed, or had ever perused an account of in his life. He moved his troops through the desert against hostile forces, he had his guns transported under circumstances of extreme difficulty, and in a manner the most extraordinary; and he cut off a retreat of the enemy, which rendered it impossible for them ever to regain their positions. After retiring from this successful operation he collected all his troops, and made those preparations for future defence which were necessary to the completion of his success. He made the most of this extraordinary attack, which was completely successful. He gained the camp of the enemy, got possession of his guns, and obtained the most complete victory, taking up a position in which he was not again likely to be attacked. Not only did he secure Hyderabad, and the portion of the Indus which lay in his rear, but he brought up a reinforcement, and placed himself at the head of a stronger army than that which he commanded before the battle. He manifested all the discretion and ability of an officer familiar with the most difficult operations; and it must be in the highest degree gratifying to their Lordships to remember, that those zealous and gallant efforts had been attended with perfect suc cess. The advance and attack of which he had been speaking, resulted in another brilliant victory, in which he again showed all the qualities of an excellent general officer, and in which the army displayed all the best qualities of the bravest troops." The value of this victory in the eyes of the Governor-General, may be gathered from the language of the announcement which he issued from Agra on the 11th of April: "The Governor-General announces to the army another and a most decisive victory gained by his Excellency Major-General Sir Charles Napier, K.C.B., in the vicinity of Hyderabad, over 20,000 Beloochees, led by Meer Shere Mahomed, of Meerpoor, a chief who, having no ground whatever of complaint against the British Government, preferred the chances of war to the security of peace, and has now no refuge but the desert. "The Major-general directed his force with the same consummate ability which characterized his operations at Meeanee, and all the troops, worthy of being so commanded, executed their movements with a precision and steadiness which secured the victory to their impetuous valour. "The army of Sinde has twice beaten the bravest enemy in Asia, under circumstances which would equally have obtained for it the victory over the best troops of Europe. The Governor-General regards with delight the new proofs which the army has given of its pre-eminent qualities in the field, and of its desire to mitigate the necessary calamities of war by mercy to the vanquished. "The ordinary expression of thanks would ill convey the extent of the debt of gratitude which the Governor-General feels to be due to his Excellency MajorGeneral Sir Charles Napier on the part of Government, the army, and the people of Hindoostan. To have punished the treachery of protected princes; to have liberated a nation from its oppressors; to have added a province, fertile as Egypt, to the British Empire; and to have effected these great objects by actions in war unsurpassed in brilliancy, whereof a grateful army assigns the success to the ability and valour of its general; these are not ordinary achievements, nor can the ordinary language of praise convey their reward." * After this victory, Sir C. Napier marched southwards, and took possession of Meerpore, and on the 4th of April, the fortress of Oomercote, which was a very important stronghold in the desert, to the east of Hyderabad, opened its gates to the British forces sent against it. In writing an account of these successes to Lord Ellenborough, Sir C. Napier says, "I think I may venture to say, Sinde is now subdued. The Sindian population every where expresses their satisfaction at the But this confidence was prema. ture. It is a characteristic of the wild tribes with whom it has been our fate to contend in arms during the last few years in the East, that they are not conquered by one defeat, however signal. The routed troops soon rally again round the standard of a leader, and dare the contest, until a succession of disasters has broken their spirits, and thinned their numbers. Shere Mahomed, though a fugitive, was still able to assemble followers, and was preparing for a fresh attack, when Sir C. Napier resolved if possible to surround and cut him off, by dividing the army under his command into three detachments, and marching upon him. On the 8th of June, Colonel Roberts, who commanded one of these detachments, engaged and totally defeated one of the hostile Ameers, Shah Mahomed, at the head of 2,000 men, taking their leader prisoner; and on the 14th, Captain Jacob was attacked by Shere Mahomed himself, and 4,000 Beloochees, whom he completely routed-the Ameer, with very few followers, escaping with difficulty into the desert. It should be mentioned, that throughout the whole period, Ali Moorad, the Ameer of Khyrpore had remained friendly to us, and faithful to his engagements; and a portion of the territories of Roostum Khan and Nusseer Khan had been transferred to him, which rendered him very unpopular amongst the Beloochees-and yet he does not seem to have been satisfied with the accession of territory which he thus obtained-but to have ima gined, that whatever the British ought to have been made over to him. No further disturbances took place this year in Sinde; but time only can show, if the nature of the climate permits us to retain our acquisition, how far we can win the confidence of its inhabitants, and make them sensible that they have not lost, but gained, in exchanging the capricious tyranny of their own despotic rulers, for the mild sway of the British Go vernment. The six fallen Ameers who surrendered themselves prisoners of war after the battle at Meeanee, were conveyed to Bombay, which they reached on the 19th of April. Their misfortunes had sunk them into a state of the deepest dejection, and they are said to have been quite broken-hearted-" the very pictures of unmingled grief and hopeless despondency." The utmost kindness and attention compatible with their safe custody was shown them by the Governor, Sir George Arthur. Lord Ellenborough was at Agra when the news reached him of the victory gained by Sir C. Napier at Meeanee. The important announcement that Sinde had become part of our Eastern dominions, is contained in the following notification of the vernor-General : Go "Palace of Agra, March 5, 1843. "NOTIFICATION.-The Governor-General had earnestly hoped that the new provisions, to which various acts in contravention of their existing engagements and various indications of hostility had compelled him to require the assent of the Ameers of Sinde, would have been carried into full to by their highnesses, without a This hope recurrence to arms. has been disappointed. The Ameers having signed the new treaty proposed to them on the 14th of February, attacked on the following day with a large force the residence of the British Commisioner. In this treacherous attack they were repulsed. On the 17th, Major-General Sir Charles Napier gained a decisive victory over their whole army; and on the 20th, the British troops occupied the city of Hyderabad. Six of the Ameers delivered their swords to the British general upon the field of battle. All their guns, ammunition and treasure were taken, together with their camp. The Beloochees lost 5,000 men. Thus has victory placed at the disposal of the British Government the country on both banks of the Indus from Sukkur to the sea, with the exception of such portions thereof as may belong to Meer Ali Morad, of Khyrpore, and to any other of the Ameers who may have remained faithful to his engagements. "The Governor-General cannot forgive a treacherous attack upon a representative of the British Government; nor can he forgive hostile aggression prepared by those who were in the act of signing a treaty. It will be the first object of the Governor-General to use the power victory has placed in his hands in the manner most conducive to the freedom of trade, and to the prosperity of the people of Sinde, so long misgoverned. To reward the fidelity of allies by substantial marks of favour, and so to punish the crime of treachery in princes as to deter all from its commission, are further objects which the Governor-General will |