Donobew on his way, and to move in two separate columns, the one proceeding by water, the other by land. The land column, under the immediate command of Sir Archibald Campbell, consisted of 1,300 European infantry, 1,000 Sepoys, two squadrons of Dragoons, one troop of horse artillery, and one rocket-troop. It was to proceed in as direct a line as possible, and to strike the main stream of the Irawaddi at or near Sarrawah. The water column, under Brigadier-General Cotton, counted 600 European infantry, one small battalion of Sepoys, and a powerful train of artillery: it was embarked in a flotilla of sixty boats, commanded by Captain Alexander, R.N., carrying supplies for the whole army, and escorted by the boats of our men-of-war. Both columns were so to time their movements as to reach Sarrawah nearly at the same period.
These arrangements being completed. Sir Archibald Campbell commenced his march on the 13th of February, which he continued till the 11th of March, through a wild and deserted country, desirous of reaching Prome by rapid marches, lest that city, the promised quarters for the rainy season, should be stripped of everything useful, like other towns he had met on the march. Early on the morning of the above date, however, as he was about to resume his march, official intelligence was received that the marine column had failed in its attack on Donobew.
The stockade of Donobew extended for nearly a mile along a sloping bank of the Irawaddi, its breadth varying, according to the nature of the ground, from five to eight hundred yards. The stockading was composed of solid teak beams, from fifteen to seventeen feet high, driven firmly into the earth, and placed as closely as possible to each other. Behind this wooden wall the old brick ramparts of the place rose to a considerable height, strengthening the front defences by means of cross-beams, and affording firm and elevated footing to the defenders. Upwards of a hundred and fifty guns and swivels were mounted on the works, and the garrison was protected from the
