latter under Prince Bevern, who was defeated, but the engagement
was most bloody on both sides; fought November 22nd, 1757. Breslau
was taken, but was regained the same year. This city was besieged
by the French and surrendered to them January 5th, 1807, and again
in 1813.
BRIENNE, BATTLE OF.--Fought February 1st and 2nd, 1814, between the
allied armies of Russia and Prussia and the French. The allies were
defeated with great loss; this was one of the last battles in which
the French achieved victory previous to the fall of Napoleon.
BRIDGE OF BOATS OF XERXES.--This bridge was connected from shore to
shore in the following manner: They connected vessels of different
kinds, some long vessels of fifty oars, others three banked
galleys, to the number of 360 on the side of the Euxine sea, and
thirteen on that of the Hellespont. When these vessels were firmly
fixed together they were secured by anchors of great length on the
upper side, because of the winds which set in from the Euxine;
on the lower toward the Ægean sea, on account of the south and
south-east winds. They left openings in three places, sufficient
to afford a passage for light vessels which might have occasion
to sail into the Euxine or from it--having performed this they
extended cables from the shore stretching them on large capstans
of wood. Then they sawed out rafters of wood making their length
equal to that space required for the bridge--these they laid in
order across the extended cables and then bound all fast together.
Then they placed unwrought wood regularly upon the rafters; over
all they threw earth, and fenced both sides in, that the horses and
other animals might not be frightened by looking down into the sea.
BRIGADE.--A party or division of troops or soldiers, whether
cavalry or infantry--regular, volunteer or militia, commanded by
a brigadier. A brigade of artillery consists of six pieces, with
usually about 140 men; a brigade of sappers consists of eight men.
BRIGADIER.--A general officer who commands a brigade, whether of
horse or foot, and ranks next to a major-general--commonly called
a brigadier-general.
BRUSSELS.--Bombarded by Marshal Villeroy, in 1695--taken by the
French 1746. Again by Dumouriez, in 1792; near it is the celebrated
field of Waterloo.
BUCHAREST, TREATY OF.--A treaty of peace between Russia and Turkey,
signed May 28th, 1812.
BUDA.--Once called the _Key of Christendom_. It was taken by
Soleyman II at the memorable battle of Mohatz, when the Hungarian
King Louis was killed, and 200,000 of his subjects carried away as
slaves, 1526. Buda was sacked a second time, and Hungary annexed
to the Ottoman Umpire, 1540. Retaken by the Imperialists, and the
Mohammedans delivered up to the fury of the soldiers, 1626.
BUENOS AYRES, BRITISH DESCENTS UPON.--A British fleet and army,
under Sir Home Popham and General Beresford, took the city, with
slight resistance, in 1806, but it was retaken August 12th, after
six weeks’ possession. Monte-Video was taken by storm by Sir Samuel
Auchmuty, February 3rd, 1807, but evacuated July 7th following.
The British suffered a dreadful repulse here in an expedition of
8000 men, under general Whitelock (who was disgraced) July 6th,
1807. On entering the town they were attacked by a superior force
with musketry and grape from every quarter, and perished in great
numbers, but at last they were allowed to re-embark in their
vessels.
BULL RUN.--This battle was fought between the Northern States of
America and the Confederate States of the South, July 21st, 1861.
The Union army was signally defeated, and fell back on Washington
in confusion. Their loss amounted to 481 killed, 1011 wounded, and
700 prisoners. The rebel or Southern loss was 269 killed and 1483
wounded.
BUNKER’S HILL, BATTLE OF.--Fought between the English and her
revolted colonists, June 16th, 1775. On the evening of that day,
1000 men, under the command of Colonel Prescott, of Massachusetts,
Colonel Stark, from New-Hampshire, and Captain Knowlton, from
Connecticut, were despatched on this service. They were conducted,
by mistake, to Breed’s Hill, which was nearer to the water and to
Boston, than Bunker’s. At twelve o’clock they began to throw up
entrenchments, and by dawn of day had completed a redoubt eight
rods square. As soon as they were discovered, they were fired upon
from a ship of war and several floating batteries lying near, and
from a fortification in Boston opposite the redoubt. The Americans,
nevertheless, encouraged by General Putnam, who often visited them
on the hill, continued to labor until they had finished a slight
breastwork extending from the redoubt eastward to the water. And in
the morning they received a reinforcement of 500 men.
The temerity of the provincials astonished and incensed General
Gage, and he determined to drive them immediately from their
position. About noon, a body of 3000 regulars, commanded by General
Howe, left Boston in boats, and landed in Charlestown, at the
extreme point of the peninsula. Generals Clinton and Burgoyne took
their station on an eminence in Boston, commanding a distinct view
of the hill. The spires of the churches, the roofs of the houses,
and all the heights in the neighborhood, were covered with people,
waiting, in dreadful anxiety, to witness the approaching battle.
The regulars forming at the place of landing, marched slowly up
the hill, halting frequently to allow time to the artillery to
demolish the works. While advancing, the village of Charlestown,
containing about 400 houses, was set on fire by order of General
Gage. The flames ascended to a lofty height, presenting a sublime
and magnificent spectacle. The Americans reserved their fire until
the British were within 10 rods of the redoubt; then taking a
steady aim, they began a furious discharge. Entire ranks of the
assailants fell. The enemy halted and returned the fire; but that
from the redoubt continuing incessant and doing great execution,
they retreated in haste and disorder down the hill, some even
taking refuge in their boats.
The officers were seen running hither and thither, collecting,
arranging and addressing their men, who were at length induced
again to ascend the hill. The Americans now reserved their fire
until the enemy had approached even nearer than before, when a
tremendous volley was at once poured upon them. Terrified by the
carnage around them, they again retreated with precipitation, and
such was the panic, that General Howe was left almost alone on the
hillside, his troops having deserted him, and nearly every officer
around him being killed.
At this moment, General Clinton, who had observed from Boston the
progress of the battle, feeling that British honor was at stake,
hastened with a reinforcement to the assistance of his countrymen.
By his exertions, the troops were a third time rallied, and were
compelled by the officers, who marched behind them with drawn
swords, to advance again towards the Americans. The fire from the
ships and batteries was redoubled, and a few pieces of cannon had
been so placed as to rake the interior of the breastwork from end
to end.
The provincials, having expended their ammunition, awaited in
silence the approach of the regulars. The latter entered the
redoubt. The former, having no bayonets, defended themselves, for a
short time, with the butt-end of their muskets. From this unequal
contest they were soon compelled to retire. As they retreated
over Charleston Neck, the fire from the floating batteries was
incessant; but a few only were killed. The enemy had sustained too
much injury to think of pursuit.
In this desperate and bloody conflict, the royal forces consisted,
as has been stated, of 3000 men, and the provincials of 1500. Of
the former, 1054 were killed and wounded; of the latter 453. This
disparity of loss, the steadiness and bravery displayed by their
recent undisciplined levies, occasioned among the Americans the
highest exultation, and, in their view, more than counterbalanced
the loss of position.
BURGOS, SIEGE OF.--Lord Wellington entered Burgos after the battle
of Salamanca (fought July 22nd, 1812), on September 19th. The
castle was besieged by the British and Allies, and several attempts
were made to carry it by assault, but the siege was abandoned,
October 21st, the same year; the castle and fortifications were
blown up by the French, June 12th, 1813.
BURMESE WAR.--The first dispute with the Burmese took place in
1795, but it was amicably settled by General Erskine. Hostilities
were commenced in 1824, when the British took Rangoon. After some
time peace was declared, February 24th, 1826, when the British
received Arracan as a compensation. A naval force arrived before
Rangoon, October 29th, 1851, and after the non compliance of
certain British demands by the viceroy, war was declared. On
the 5th April, 1852, Martaban was stormed by the British Indian
army, and on the 14th of the same month Rangoon itself fell
into their hands. Then followed the storming of Bassein, May
19th, 1852, and the capture of Pegu, June 4th, 1852. On the 28th
December following, Pegu was annexed to the Indian Government by a
proclamation of the Governor-General.
BURLINGTON HEIGHTS, BATTLE OF.--Between the British and the United
States’ forces--an obstinate and memorable engagement, contested
with great valour on both sides. The Americans were routed, and the
British carried the heights, June 6th, 1813.
BUSACO OR BUZACO, BATTLE OF.--This sanguinary engagement was
fought, September 27th, 1810, between the British, under Lord
Wellington, and the French army, commanded by Massena. The latter
was repulsed with great slaughter, losing one general, and 1000
men killed, two generals and about 3000 men wounded, and several
hundred prisoners; the loss of the British and their allies did
not exceed 1300 in the whole. The British subsequently retreated
to the lines of Torres Vedras, which were too strong for Massena
to attempt to force, and the two armies remained in sight of each
other to the end of the year.
C.
CABUL.--The following is succinct account of this expedition.
“Every preparation was now completed for our march, and on the 12th
of October, 1842, our force, divided into three brigades, left
Cabul, the first under General Pollock, the second under General
McCaskill, and the rear under General Nott. We had not proceeded
more than four miles, when we heard the explosion of the mines,
which left the renowned Cabul a vast region of ruins; and the
Affghans to judge the spirit of the British as an avenging one.
Cabul lies under the Hindoo Koosh, and is bordered on the one side
by the Himalaya, and the rivers Attock and Rozee: the people are
robust and healthy; their manners amount to insolence and cruelty;
they are continually at war with each other; and are divided into
tribes. Trade seemed to have abounded greatly, and the country is
generally in a flourishing state: the cities of Cabul, Ghuznee, and
Candahar, are the principal ones of Affghanistan; the Persians form
a considerable portion of the inhabitants of Cabul, and the traffic
with that country is somewhat extensive.
The divisions made a general move at daybreak, on the 12th
October, to Thag Bakh, about six miles distant from Cabul; and on
the entrance to the Koord Cabul Pass, Her Majesty’s 9th and 13th
Regiments, together with six Native Corps of the 1st Division,
manned the hills commanding the pass, to enable those in the
valley below to move on unmolested. On the morning of the 13th the
troops entered the Pass which led to Tezeen, about nine miles. The
mountains were high and craggy, and very dark, rendering the road
extremely gloomy and sad; a torrent ran in a serpentine direction
from side to side, which reminded me of the Bolun; it had to be
crossed twenty-eight times during about six miles. We had scarcely
got well into the jaws of this awful scene of romantic vastness,
whose hollow crags seemed to echo defiance to our intruding tread,
when a number of the enemy made their appearance in the rear, but
were kept in check. The very great height of the mountains, of a
dark, reddish colour, struck one with awe, and silence seemed to
reign over all; the mind was totally occupied in contemplating this
fearful sight of hidden deeds; horror struck the feeling heart,
when the eye fell on the skeletons of our departed comrades, who
lay in most agonizing positions, indicative of their last struggle
for life. Here a spot would be strewed with a few crouched up in a
corner, where they had evidently fled to cover themselves by some
detached rock, from the overpowering cruelty of their foe, and
had been rivetted by death. There couples were lying who had died
in each other’s arms, locked as it were in the last embrace of
despair: numbers lay in every direction, devoid of every particle
of clothes; some with the greater part of the flesh putrefied on
their bleaching bones--others were clean from having been devoured
by the vast number of carrion birds and beasts inhabiting these
terrible regions. I at first attempted to count the number of
frames as I went along, but found them so numerous that I could not
find time, and my inclination sickened from the awfulness of the
scene. The pass was no more than thirty feet wide at this part, and
so numerous were the mouldering frames of these whose lives had
been sacrificed during the last winter, that they literally covered
the road--and, in consequence, the artillery and other wheeled
carriages had to pass over them--and it was indeed horrible to
hear the wheels cracking the bones of our unburied comrades. It was
quite easy to discover the Europeans by the hair on the skulls,
which still remained fresh. After a tedious, and indeed a painful
march, we reached Tezeen, which opens from the narrow Pass into a
much wider part, sufficient to enable us to pitch our camp. Here
was a sad scene of recent strife--scarce a tent could be pitched
but a skeleton or two had to be removed, just kicked aside as
though it were a stump of a tree, in order to leave clear the
place for the interior of the tent, and there remained unnoticed.
It has often been a subject of deep reflection to me, to think
how utterly reckless man can be made by habit: so used were we
to these sights, that it became a mere commonplace matter to see
such relics of devastation and massacre. I remember walking with a
friend down the centre of the camp, and we had often to stride over
skeletons, without the least observation, further than I could not
help heaving a sigh, and reflecting in silence on their unfortunate
end.
The next day took us thirteen miles on a road of extreme
barrenness; the high, wild, rugged mountains, hemmed in the narrow
defile; the skeletons of the massacred force still strewed the
road in every direction; no signs of vegetation, or aught to
relieve the eye from wildness--the numerous hollow crags, as we
passed, seemed to ring with echoing despair, and afforded most
formidable positions for the treacherous Affghan to use his jezail
or matchlock, without fear of opposition. The enemy, finding we had
now entered the Pass, hovered about, and succeeded in murdering an
officer, and a few men of Pollock’s force. The divisions marched
one day a-head of each other, and thus kept up a continued line of
communication. I, with General Nott’s, arrived at this ground on
the 14th; the road was equally extremely harassing the next day,
as indeed, ever since our entrance to the Pass. The ascents and
descents are so numerous, coupled with having to cross the water so
often, and there being no hold for the feet, on the loose flinty
stones, made it very trying for both man and beast. Upwards of
twenty times had the gushing torrent, dashing from side to side of
the valley, to be waded through, and numbers of bleaching frames of
the victims of Akbar’s treachery, lay exposed in the midst of the
rolling stream. In one part of this day’s march we came to a place
fifty yards in length, crowded with dead bodies of men, horses,
and camels, which were those of a troop of irregular cavalry, who
had all been cut up on this spot. About a mile from Sah Baba, our
next ground, stands a round tower, the ruins of an old fort; it
was now used as a bone house, and was crammed to the ceiling, with
skulls, legs, arms, and shattered frames, and numbers were heaped
outside the door, and round it,--placed there by the enemy, to
form a glaring spectacle of their bitter revenge. A large body of
Affghans were now seen covering the hills in our rear, and opened a
fire into the dreary abyss, on our rear guards and baggage as they
passed. The column had moved on some few miles, but were halted,
and those of our troops in possession of the heights commenced
an attack, and succeeded in repelling them, and forcing them to
retreat, and we reached camp with little loss. This place is said
to be the burial place of Lamech, the father of Noah, and if we may
judge from its wild, dreary, stony, barren appearance, which looked
as if it had been washed up into a heap after the deluge, and so
void of all chances of fertility, that one could scarcely doubt the
tradition.
Our next day led on to Kutta Sang, and of all the roads I had
ever seen or traversed, as yet, this was the worst. The route led
from hill to hill, the ascents being difficult and stony, and the
descents in addition being very dangerous, as a fearful precipice
presented itself should you happen to fall. These unwelcome views
were many in number, and coupled with the tedious progress of the
cattle and baggage, and the difficulty experienced in dragging the
guns and loads up these many steep hills, and nothing but a dreary
road to travel onward, made the march bad indeed. After the main
body reached camp, the rear guard was attacked; a reinforcement
was despatched, and a smart skirmish ensued; the Affghans seemed
to delight in annoying us, and from their hidden positions most
peremptorily carried their plan into effect; we lost few men
compared with them, and the whole reached camp about midnight.
Still the poor soldier found misery destined for him in every
direction. On arriving at a new ground, two regiments had to mount
duty on the summits of the hills bordering the route, which had to
be ascended after the day’s harassing march, thus forming a second,
much more so. The scanty, coarse meal, being nothing more than a
quantity of meat and broth made from an allowance of a scarcely
lifeless carcass, of the hard-driven, skeletonized bullock, and
this of times not prepared before the dead hour of night; and then
carried up to the men cold and tasteless. The bread or cake made of
coarse, hand-ground flour, full of grit and small straw, half-baked
and calculated to produce disease by its use; and ere this was well
eaten, the rouse would sound, and the weary instrument of Britain’s
safety would be wending his way through the dreary and unknown
regions, ’mid almost perpendicular rocks, and perilous tracks. Such
was the road of the next day’s march, to Jugdulluk Pass: this is
by no means the most difficult one to explore--the sides not being
near so high as those already traversed; it had some appearance
of fertility, being studded with many small bushes. There were
innumerable small caves, or recesses in the rocks, and it was from
those dark-dens, forming cover for the enemy, that they succeeded
so well in cutting off our unfortunate brethren, whose skeletons
here were very numerously strewed about the path, and thus rendered
the Pass more horrible than it would have been; for the light shone
brighter here than we had it for some time. Nay, so stupendous were
the mountains, hemming the ravines we had passed, that it would be
often far advanced in the day before the sun would be seen by those
beneath.
The unfortunate 44th made a somewhat successful stand in the
Jugdulluk Pass, and succeeded, ere they were overpowered, in
slaying many of their foes. The pass was narrow, and the Affghans,
who had preceded us some hours, with a view to intercept and baffle
us, had formed breastworks across the road; and, would it be
believed, that these breastworks were formed of skeletons of our
own men and horses? Not less than 100 frames could have been here
piled up, which had to be removed before we could pass on. About
600 of the enemy made their appearance here, and in the first onset
did considerable damage,--but a detachment from the main body soon
dislodged them, and put them to the rout; it was common to see,
lying on the road, bodies of murdered Sepoys and couriers; and in
fact to attempt to enumerate the acts of treachery practised on
us, would be next to impossible. We at length reached Soorkab. At
this ground was a cluster of fine tall trees, which relieved the
eye, and led us to hope we were approaching a land of the living;
the camp was bordered by the celebrated Red River, a most beautiful
crystal stream, rolling most musically over a stony bottom, and
under the ridge of an immense mountain; the continued buzz kept up
by the murmuring torrent echoing from the fearful crags, lulled
the weary travellers in camp to sleep. Across this river is a most
splendid bridge of one gigantic arch, which led by a declivitous
route from this Pass to another; on the right of this bridge, which
was erected by Alexander, issued a cataract roaring and dashing
from the hills, which fed the stream, and formed a most beautiful
picture. It was on this bridge that a number of the 44th--from
the extreme inclemency of the weather, and the bitterness of the
frost--were so benumbed with cold that they were unable to use
their arms when attacked on their retreat. Oh! when reflection is
but called up, and the miserable condition of these poor, oppressed
creatures, considered, it cannot but call forth a sigh of deep
regret,--bereft of every chance of escape, or wherewithal to
exist,--as they were. When we consider that some of our nearest and
dearest relatives or friends were amongst the number--surely, if
there is one spark of sympathy left, it will be kindled for those
whose last struggle was for their country’s cause.