Decisive Battles Since Waterloo/Chapter 2
CHAPTER II.
BATTLE OF PROME—1825.
From America we will pass nearly half way around the globe in our search for the next decisive battle after that of Ayacucho.
All students of history are well aware that the British power in India in the first half of the present century was represented by the East India Company. From an association of merchants trading to the East Indies in A. D. 1600, the Honorable East India Company grew to a colony of national importance. It possessed an army and a navy, it had the right of eminent domain, it had a commercial monopoly the greatest ever known, and the people under its control numbered many millions. It possessed the powers of a state and likewise its ambitions; it conquered territories neighboring to its own and then looked for more territories to conquer. Kingdoms and principalities of India were brought under its sway, and there was hardly a decade in the two hundred and fifty years of its existence in which it was not at war with neighboring powers. It generally came off victorious, thanks to the splendid fighting qualities which British soldiers have displayed through many ages, backed by the well-known British policy of never submitting to temporary defeat at the hands of Asiatics.
While the British in the early part of the present century were extending their boundaries in the northwest provinces of India, the kingdom of Burmah displayed a desire to aggrandize some of the region lying to the south of the company's territories. About 1798 some 30,000 Mugs, inhabitants of Arracan, in Burmah, fled from the oppression of their Burmese masters and sought refuge in Chittagong, a possession of the British. Several attempts were made by the Burmese to secure the return of these fugitives, but without avail; between 1800 and 1813 five or six embassies were sent by the Burmese government to that of India with this object in view, but all failed of their purpose. Then all was quiet for a time, save that there were occasional raids of very little consequence along the frontier. In 1822 the Burmese adopted bellicose measures; they seized the island of Shahporee, at the entrance of the arm of the sea dividing Chittagong from Arracan, overpowering the British by a night attack and taking possession in the name of the Burmese goverment. When asked to explain his action, the governor of Arracan announced that his government had annexed the island, and unless the right of the Burmese to its possessions were admitted, the king of Burmah would send an army to invade the British territory. This plan of proceeding was not unlike that of more civilized countries, Great Britain among them, in carrying on the work of annexation, but when tried against the British it was certain to be resented.
The governor-general of India was not ready to assume the offensive at once; the Burmese mistook delay for timidity and proceeded to invade British territory. Large bodies of Burmese troops crossed the frontier from Assam and Munnipore and established themselves in bamboo stockades; they were driven out by the British, but not without considerable loss to the latter. These operations took place in 1823 and '24; while the British were preparing to send a considerable force against the invaders, news came to Calcutta that Maha Bandula, the favorite general of the king of Ava, had penetrated the British territories bordering Arracan with a large army, and was so confident of success that he carried with him a set of golden fetters in which the governor-general of India was to be carried captive to Burmah. As soon as this news was known to be authentic, Lord Amherst, the governor-general, proclaimed war and set his troops in motion.
Port Cornwallis in the Andaman Islands was named as a point of rendezvous; a division from Bengal was sent there in April, and followed a month later by a division from Madras. Sir Archibald Campbell was named the commander-in-chief; he had served with distinction in the Spanish campaigns, but knew little about Oriental modes of warfare. Commodore Grant commanded the naval part of the expedition, which consisted of the Liffey, Larne, Sophia, Slaney, and several smaller vessels. There was one small steamboat, the Snake, and it is worthy of remark that this boat, built at Bombay in 1820, had an honorable career of sixty years, and was broken up in 1880.
The land forces comprised about 11,500 men of all arms, the great majority being native troops of India. It was the plan of the commander to move upon Rangoon, near the mouth of the Irrawaddy, and by prompt action capture the city, and thus frighten the king into asking for peace.
Detachments were sent to occupy Cheduba and Negrais; the rest of the command arrived off Rangoon accompanied by the whole fleet. The city, which was built on the bank of the river, was found to be surrounded by a stockade about twelve feet in height. The stockade was built of teak timber in the form of a square, and defended by batteries on the water front. These batteries opened fire on the nearest ships, and the Liffey answered it immediately. The guns at the landing were speedily dismounted, and the soldiers occupied the town, no enemy being in sight. The governor of Pegu, the province in which Rangoon is situated, had been commanded to come to the capital; he died there, and his successor had not arrived when the fleet appeared. The rêwan, or commander of the flotilla, was acting-governor; he knew nothing of the proposed attack and was therefore taken by surprise. In order to render the prize of the English of little value he forced the native inhabitants to leave the town, allowing none of them to remain in or near it. The guards who had been placed in charge of the few Europeans and foreign residents soon fled, thus permitting them to escape. The rainy season was approaching, and, as the inhabitants had taken with them their boats, cattle, and carts, the English general found himself unable to secure, either by land or water, the necessary transportation facilities for carrying on operations.
Immediately on landing in Rangoon General Campbell occupied the Shoay Dagon or Golden Pagoda. The pagoda is situated about a mile and a half from the river and stands on high ground. General Campbell found it impossible to learn any thing of the movements of the enemy, his force being entirely isolated. He sent a number of row-boats, well armed, to Kymyindaing to reconnoitre. This town is distant by river about six miles from Rangoon. Some shots were fired from several breastworks which lined the shore. These breastworks were attacked the next day, and carried by a small detachment of soldiers and marines.
Within a few days the general, in person, made a survey of the country to the north of Shoay Dagon, taking with him two guns, some native infantry, and about three hundred European soldiers. There was no road, and the guns were soon abandoned because of the heavy rains which prevailed, rendering an advance extremely difficult. The troops, however, moved forward, leaving the artillery, which could not be dragged through the mud. At a distance of five or six miles from the great pagoda they saw two stockades, four feet in height, with an interior trench and a well-placed abatis. An attack was made, and the stockades were carried at the point of the bayonet, the muskets being useless on account of the rain. The Burmese lost about three hundred men.
This was the first time the Burmese had ever fought against European soldiers; they were astonished at the savage attack of the white soldiers, who carried the stockades without firing a gun. Although the levies of the country were near the forts, the rêwan did not use them. The British now held Kymyindaing as an out-post, and for some weeks there were few hostile movements. During these weeks the British army suffered terribly from sickness. The climate and the constant exposure to the rain brought fever and dysentery, which crowded the hospitals and carried many victims to their graves. It was feared at one time that it would be necessary to retire altogether from Rangoon, as there threatened to be not a single soldier able to defend it. Strong efforts were made by the Burmese to oppose the British army during the occupation of Rangoon. The plan was simply to cut off all communication with the inhabitants of Pegu who might be friendly to the invading forces, and by overpowering numbers to capture the troops, or drive them into the sea. They formed a complete cordon about the British, who could learn very little through their scouts, and as all the natives had been removed from the neighborhood, there were no means of communication. It had been expected that the inhabitants of Pegu would rise against their Burmese oppressors, but not a word came to indicate that they contemplated any insurrection. Large levies of troops were made throughout Burmah, and the numbers of the army surrounding Rangoon increased daily. The river was covered with boats bringing men and provisions to the besieging army, and by the end of May the Burmese considered themselves strong enough to defy their enemies. Always on halting a Burmese army entrenches itself or throws up a stockade, according to the condition of the ground or the abundance of stockading material. In the operations against the British not more than half the Burmese soldiers were armed with muskets, the rest carrying swords or spears and acting as pioneers. Within a day's march of Rangoon, both on the river bank and in the interior, there were several miles of strong stockades, which the Burmese erected in their effort to isolate the British in the city. General Campbell captured many of these stockades, and at each capture there was a heavy slaughter of Burmese. The king recalled Maha Bandula, the ablest of the Burmese generals, from the threatened invasion of Bengal, and ordered him to expel the invaders from Rangoon.
By the end of November Maha Bandula had an army of sixty thousand men, and appeared in force in front of the Shoay Dagon, or Golden Pagoda. The British had established a station at Kymyindaing, about seven miles up the river, where they had captured a strong stockade, and the first effort of the Burmese general was to capture this stockade, in which he was unsuccessful. For three or four days General Campbell allowed the Burmese to advance their outposts until they were within fifty yards of his lines and out of the protection of the jungle which had concealed their movements. As soon as he ascertained that they had brought all their ammunition and provisions out of the jungle and into their entrenchments he ordered an attack; there was severe fighting all along the line, resulting in the defeat and flight of the Burmese, and the loss of all the war material which they had brought to the front of their lines. From the first to the fifteenth of December it was estimated that six thousand Burmese were killed, while the English loss in killed and wounded was about six hundred.
Success being hopeless Maha Bandula retreated rapidly to Donoobu, about sixty miles from Rangoon, taking with him about one thousand of his men. The soldiers of the investing army dispersed, and the force was broken up. The British now occupied the southern districts of the province without any opposition, including the ancient port of Martaban, and all the coast of Tenasserim to the south as far as Mergui. Sir Archibald Campbell was now at liberty to continue operations by marching up the Irrawaddy. The end of the year being at hand, and reinforcements having arrived from India, plans were formed for marching on Prome, where it was hoped the Burmese government would be ready to make terms of peace.
The British forces, finding themselves free to march up the valley, were divided into two columns. General Willoughby Cotton commanded one division, which was to advance by the river. The other division was led by the commander-in-chief in person. The former command consisted of eight hundred Europeans, a small fleet of gunboats, a batallion of native infantry, and the steamer Snake. No doubts of success were entertained, although the number of men seemed small for the undertaking. The rainy season was over; the surface of the land was dry, and the land force moved north to Hlaing and thence to Sarawa on the Irrawaddy. It reached Donoobu about March 25th, and found that Bandula was entrenched in a stockaded enclosure on the right bank of the river. On reconnoitring it appeared that Bandula's position was strong, and an assault in force was deemed necessary. At a distance of about three hundred yards from the north-west angle trenches were opened and batteries erected. General Cotton, who had come down the river, arrived with his command; the heavy guns and mortars were placed in position, and firing was begun and continued with little intermission for some hours. The assailants were ready to storm the fort early in the morning of April 25th, when it was found that the enemy had evacuated during the night. Bandula had been slain, and his brother, who succeeded him, could not hold the garrison together. The victors found large stores of rice, some guns and powder. The king and his court were filled with terror at this overthrow. The court faction, of which the queen and her brother were the leaders, persuaded the king to remain firm.
General Campbell resumed his march into the interior of Burmah, following the left bank of the river and regulating his movements by those of the flotilla, which was occasionally halted for the purpose of shelling out a stockade or buoying the channel. Arriving at Prome, he found it deserted and in flames; the Burmese commander had driven out the inhabitants and fired the town, and more than half of it was destroyed. As the rainy season was approaching, the British force went into cantonment at Prome and remained there for several months, and as the Burmese were occupied with the work of assembling another army, the invaders were not disturbed. The time was utilized by the British in bringing up supplies and ammunition and making every thing ready for a further advance as soon as the dry season should set in. In the middle of August General Cotton made a reconnaissance up the river with the steamer, and at Myedee saw a Burmese force of about twenty thousand men drawn up in line on the bank of the river.
Early in September the Burmese sent a flag of truce with an officer to treat for peace; an armistice of forty days was agreed upon to ascertain the terms on which the British could be persuaded to leave the country, and later on it was extended to the third of November. The terms demanded at the end of the armistice were the cession of the provinces of Arracan, Tavoy and Mergui to the British, and the payment of a war indemnity of two million pounds sterling. The Burmese replied that yielding territory and paying money were not in accord with Burmese customs. They had succeeded in raising an army and now felt that they could successfully cope with the British.
Hostilities were resumed at once. The Burmese army closed around Prome. A force of 3,000 Shans and 2,600 Burmese was stationed at Wattigan on the right bank of the river, about twenty miles to the northeast. The English commander decided to dislodge them immediately in order that they might not be on his right flank in a movement to the front. He advanced by night in three columns and easily defeated the Shans. He had now to attack the main force of the Burmese, about 20,000 strong. General Campbell's force for this attack comprised 2,500 Europeans and 1,500 native troops.
The Burmese army held a strong and well fortified position on the heights. It was impossible for the artillery to operate, owing to the nature of the ground, and the position was carried by the infantry regiments unassisted. The British loss was 12 officers and 160 men killed and wounded. The Burmese in these engagements lost between 2,000 and 3,000 men. The Shans marched back to their own territory, and three days later the Burmese forces on the west side of the river were compelled to retreat and marched northward, following their main army. Leaving two regiments of native infantry to garrison Prome, General Campbell continued his advance on Myedee. He had 4,000 men and 28 guns, and the town was taken without resistance. The terms of peace were once more discussed and after two or three meetings an agreement was signed by both sides and in order that the king might be able to ratify the treaty, a cessation of hostilities for fifteen days was decided upon. At the expiration of this time no communication had been received from the Burmese commissioners and hostile operations were resumed by the British. Crossing the river in gunboats the fort was stormed, after a destructive cannonade. It was announced to the king that they would move forward to Pugan, there to await the ratification of the treaty.
The war faction at Ava still entertained hopes of repairing the losses they had sustained. A few more desultory engagements were fought in which the natives were defeated, and the British general halted at Pugan to await the arrival of the detachments. Moving on he arrived at Yandabo and formed a camp within four marches of the capital. Although the king was ready to fly northward he consented to the conclusion of a treaty of peace. One fourth of the million sterling which was levied to pay the costs of the war was handed over by the Burmese commissioners who were willing to abide by the general terms previously offered.
No discussion was made and the treaty was signed. According to the agreement, Assam, Arracan, and the coast of Tenasserim with the part of the state of Martaban east of the Salwan River were given to the British government. The king of Burmah promised to refrain from interference in Kashar, Jyntia, and Manipur. It was also determined to conclude a commercial treaty in a short time. The British army marched back to Rangoon, where the troops remained until the second payment of the money due for war expenses was made. This was near the end of the year, and then the city was evacuated.
It is proper to remark that the Burmese soldier fought under disadvantages which made it impossible for him to win. These peasant-soldiers had no knowledge of military drill and discipline, and lacked suitable arms, many of them carrying only their native swords or spears. The artillery corps of the army was even more poorly equipped than the infantry. The artillery was made up of old guns once used on ships, hardly any of them less than a century old. As a general rule, the Burmese ofificers led their soldiers only in flight. Yet, notwithstanding these drawbacks, the poorly armed Burmese peasant feared not to encounter the well-equipped Asiatic troops, commanded by trained European officers. He was overcome only by the European soldiers. The climate was a far more formidable opponent of the invaders than were the Burmese soldiery; an English officer remarked of this campaign, that if the climate of Burmah had been thoroughly loyal to the king and performed its duty, the British would have been compelled to turn back from Rangoon.
The engagement at Prome may be regarded as the decisive battle of the first Burmese war. True, it was not a brilliant affair, and in European warfare would rank as little more than a skirmish, but a contrary result would have placed the British in a position of great danger. The European troops were greatly reduced both in numbers and efficiency by the effects of the climate, and the native troops could not be relied on for good work unless with European support. A signal defeat at Prome would have resulted in a retreat on Rangoon, and it has been shown elsewhere how precarious was the hold on that city in the early days of the invasion.
The first Burmese war was the beginning of the destruction of the kingdom which was once a power among Asiatic nations and a terror to its neighbors. In 1852 the imprisonment of the master of a ship and other British subjects led to the second Burmese war, which resulted in the annexation of a considerable part of Burmese territory to the British Indian possessions. The war began with the bombardment of Rangoon, April 11, 1852, and its capture three days later. Prome, Bassein, Martaban, and other cities one after another fell into British hands; the British forces were almost invariably successful, and in a few months peace was declared and the whole of the coast provinces of Burmah passed under British sway.
The third Burmese war (1885) grew out of the interference of the king with the rights of British subjects in Burmah and his violation of the provisions of a commercial treaty. He refused all reparation of the wrongs he had committed, and thus rendered necessary an appeal to arms. A British army invaded the country, and after a few insignificant skirmishes occupied the capital and ended the war. The king was deposed and sent to a designated place of retirement on the Upper Irrawaddy; the British power was extended over the whole of Burmah, and the dynasty of Alompra came to an end.
