July 8th, 1846.
The principal chiefs of Borneo, among them the brothers of the Sultan
himself, who were supposed to be favourable to Rajah Brooke and the
English, and opposed to piracy, were all cruelly murdered early in
the year 1846. Information of this event having reached the Admiral
and Rajah Brooke, they were convinced that no terms could be kept
with the Sultan.
Sir Thomas Cochrane, the Commander-in-Chief, accordingly ordered the
very considerable squadron which was now collected on the coast, to
rendezvous off the mouth of the river of Borneo, for the purpose of
attacking the chief city, Brunè. Mr. Elliot, the master of the
'Agincourt,' having sounded the bar, and discovered sufficient water,
the Admiral determined to take the flag-ship over it. Accordingly at
day-light on the 6th July, the signal was made to weigh and to
proceed into the Borneo river. The wind was light and directly out.
The 'Agincourt' was taken in tow by the 'Spiteful,' the 'Phlegethon'
going ahead to show the soundings, and by 8 A.M. the flag-ship was
anchored within Moarra Island. On the 7th, at an early hour, the
Captains of the squadron received the plan and details of the
operations to be undertaken against the city of Brunè, should the
Sultan act hostilely against the steamers going up the river. Seven
gun-boats, manned by 100 seamen, were placed under the command of
Captain Mundy. The Admiral having shifted his flag to the
'Spiteful,' she proceeded up the river with the 'Hazard' and
'Royalist' in tow. The 'Spiteful,' lightened of every spare article
on board, was forced through the mud across 100 yards, with two feet
less water than she drew. The 'Royalist' followed, but the 'Hazard'
stuck fast.
At 4 A.M., July 8th, Captains Johnstone and Mundy embarked in the
'Phlegethon,' with a detachment of marines under Captain Hawkins; the
rocket field-piece party and howitzers, under Lieutenant Paynter,
assisted by Lieutenant Heath, with the seamen and small-arm men,
accompanied by the gun-boats of the squadron. On joining the
Commander-in-Chief, he gave them their final orders. Captain Mundy
was to lead up the river in the 'Phlegethon' to the city, taking the
gun-boats in tow, and to prepare for action. The rocket and
field-piece party also remained in the Company's steamer, and the
following arrangements were made under the direction of Lieutenant
Paynter:--
The rocket-tubes, 24 and 12-pounders, six in number, were fixed on
the bridge connecting the paddle-boxes, and the howitzers and
field-pieces forward, ready to act on either bow. All the marines
and small-arm men were on board the 'Spiteful' and 'Royalist,' the
latter being in tow of the steam frigate. The whole number of
bayonets was 600, viz., marines, 200; 'Agincourt's' seamen, 186;
'Iris's' seamen, 64; 'Hazard's' seamen, 50; 'Ringdove's', 40;
'Spiteful's,' 40; 'Royalist's,' 20. The boats to land the party were
the 'Spiteful's' paddle-box boats, which held 130 marines;
'Agincourt's' pinnace and two cutters; 'Iris,' two cutters;
'Ringdove,' one cutter; 'Hazard,' one cutter; 'Phlegethon,' four
cutters. At half-past nine the signal was made to proceed. On
turning an angle of the river four batteries were seen, two of which
were directly ahead, in a raking position. They now found the river
staked across, and as they were sounding their way through the piles,
the enemy's fire opened at a distance of 1,000 yards. The shot,
round and grape, passed between the masts of the 'Phlegethon,' and
beyond the 'Spiteful,' without striking. The former instantly
returned the compliment with rockets and the pivot-guns; the
Javanese, under an able officer, Mr. Ross, behaving admirably. After
a quarter of an hour's cannonade, Captain Mundy shoved off in the
gun-boats, Lieutenant Patey being ordered to pull for the shore and
to storm the batteries. They were erected on a precipice nearly 100
feet in height from the brink of the river, and the pathway leading
to them was almost perpendicular; so true, however, had been the fire
from the steamer and gun-boats, that the resolution of the enemy
failed them, and the gallant crews met with little opposition in
forcing their way through the embrasures. In capturing the flag, a
skirmish took place between the leading party of the British and the
rear-guard of the enemy, as they escaped into the jungle. The
iron-guns were spiked and the magazines, &c., destroyed, while three
brass guns of great beauty were carried off.
The steamer then taking the 'Royalist' and gun-boats in tow, passed
two other batteries, and anchored half-a-mile below the city, when
all hands went to dinner.
At half-past one the expedition was again in motion, an ebb-tide of
three knots rendering their advance very slow. As the 'Phlegethon'
opened out round the point, the city battery and the hill-forts (the
three together mounting 18 guns) commenced firing. The first
32-pound shot passed through the paddle-box, breaking part of the
wheel, and entering the galley amidship killed the cook. This was
followed by showers of grape and canister, so well directed, that in
five minutes another man was killed and several wounded; the
'Phlegethon's' return fire, however, destroyed the enemy's aim, and
she pushed on without further loss. Captain Mundy again shoved off
in the gun-boats to attack the batteries at close quarters, but the
steamer's fire had been so hot that the enemy fled before they could
be reached. Nine grape-shot had entered the iron side of the
'Phlegethon,' below the water-line, and had she not been divided into
compartments, she would inevitably have sunk. As soon as the
'Spiteful' and 'Royalist' had taken up their berths abreast of the
large battery, _à-fleur-d'eau_, the marines were landed and marched
to occupy the heights above the Sultan's palace, the batteries on
which had been silenced and captured by the rocket and field-piece
party under Lieut. Paynter.
The Admiral, observing that the batteries in the rear were again
manned, sent Captain Mundy with the gun-boats down the river to
destroy them. This he partially did in five hours; but from their
great strength, it would have taken days to do so effectually.
Thirty-nine pieces of cannon, mostly of large calibre, and 19 of them
brass, fell into the hands of the British. The Sultan, his boasted
army, and all the inhabitants had fled; not a native was to be found
in the capital, and a place which for 500 years had been under
Mahomedan rule, now fell into the hands of a Christian power.