1824.
Encounters with the Burmese—Capture of Kumeroot—Taking of
Syriam—Storming of Dalla—Conquest of Tenasserim province—The
Invulnerables.
From the time of the taking of the stockades at Kemendine, little of
moment occurred up to the 1st of July. About noon on that day the Burmans
came out in great force upon the regiments under Majors Dennie and
Frith, which were deputed to explore the jungle in front of the Great
Pagoda. Then, just as ants flock out of their holes on being disturbed,
the Burmese burst forth in every direction, shouting wildly at the same
time. They were gallantly opposed by Major Frith’s troops. “A column of
three thousand of the enemy now advanced from the jungle into the plain,
directing their march on Puzendoon, where we had a post; another body
moved towards our lines, and began skirmishing with a sepoy picket; and a
large force was also seen moving to the right. This was evidently meant
as an attack on our position; but it would seem that their courage failed
them at the moment for action, as they contented themselves with burning
a few houses at Puzendoon.”[295] Upon their being driven back, they
entered Dalla opposite Rangoon, whence, however, they were driven, though
Lieutenant Isaack, 8th Madras N.I., the commanding officer, was shot.
Vengeance was, however, more than sufficiently taken in the destruction
of the place. Thekia Woongyee, the originator of this plan of attack,
met with a sad disgrace in his recall, while Thamba Woongyee was deputed
to the command of the army in his place. The ex-general, fearful of a
still more dreadful fate should he return to the court, retired to the
neighbourhood of Pegu.
The new general showed himself an able tactician, by seizing upon one
of the most impracticable and difficult positions in the vicinage, at a
place called Kummeroot, five miles from the Shoe-Dagon Pagoda. This place
it was highly necessary should be captured, and accordingly, on the 8th
of July, the enterprise was determined upon. The following account, by an
eye-witness, is the best that has been given us:[296]—
“There were two roads leading from the Pagoda in the direction we
wished to pursue, one a mere footpath, the other passable for guns.
General Macbean preferred the former, and left his artillery behind.
The enemy not expecting us by this path, we marched through the jungle
for three miles without seeing a soul, although in the wood to our left
voices could be distinctly heard, and also the sound of the axe falling
on trees, which they were felling to erect their fortifications; but
after marching this distance, two stockades were descried a few yards
in advance. The general instantly halted, to enable the troops, which
were marching in single file (and consequently occupied a great length
of ground), to form column, during which time we could observe small
parties of Burmahs, armed with muskets, coming from the opposite wood
to reinforce the stockades. Firing, also, was heard to the left, which
indicated that Sir Archibald Campbell was engaged; and General Macbean,
therefore, made his dispositions for an attack. Brigadier McCreagh, with
five hundred men from his Majesty’s 13th and 38th regiments, commanded
by Majors Sale and Frith, were formed in a column of subdivisions, and
with unloaded muskets and fixed bayonets directed to advance on the
work. This movement was effected with so much rapidity, order, and
regularity, that to be in possession of this stockade, and moving on to
attack the next, was the affair of a moment. The second was abandoned
on the approach of the column, and we then discovered, in a large plain
backed by the jungle, a succession of stockades, amounting in all to
seven. This did not deter the troops from escalading and capturing a
third stockade, and then rushing on to the largest: there the column
experienced some loss, in consequence of the delay in bringing up the
scaling-ladders through the muddy paddy-fields; but when they arrived,
the work was assaulted at all points.... The panic that now took place
among the Burmahs can scarcely be described; rushing in crowds towards
the only gate through which they might escape, they completely choked it
up: others then attempted to climb over the walls, but were mowed down by
our shot, and those at the gate were falling by dozens. Some became quite
desperate, and with their long, dishevelled black hair streaming over
their shoulders, and giving them the most ferocious appearance, seized
their swords with both hands, and dashed on the bayonets of the soldiers,
where they met with that death which they seemed alternately to fear and
despise; whilst others hid themselves in the trenches, full of water, and
there lay motionless, feigning to be dead. The carnage was very great,
at least five hundred men being slain in the main stockade, and amongst
them was Thumba Woonghee.” He, contrary to the usual system of the Burman
chiefs, had endeavoured to instil courage into the hearts of his men by
his own example. However, nothing could avail before the iron soldiers of
the British general.
On the part of Sir Archibald Campbell, too, the movement had been
singularly successful. He took the other water path, and proceeded, with
a division of about eight hundred men, to ascend the river to the place
where the Lyne river and the Rangoon embouchment flow together. At this
point they found the Burmese had strongly intrenched themselves. The
main stockade was on the tongue of land at the confluence of the waters,
while the two others, evidently constructed with an eye to position,
were situated on the two banks of the Rangoon river, about eight hundred
yards from the principal fortification. But cannon, and good cannon
particularly, can make a breach in any fortification so exposed to fire
from the river, and the day was lost for the Burmese. The broadside of
the _Larne_ frigate, supported by the boats and some other vessels under
the command of Captain Marryat, covered the landing of the troops, who
immediately took the first stockade; this was followed by the immediate
capture of the second, and the principal one was abandoned! So much for
Burmese self-reliance!
The only force now remaining near Rangoon was that under the former
rayhoon of that place, who hovered about in the neighbourhood of Kykloo.
All the other Burmese detachments had fled to the general rendezvous
of the enemy at Donabew, a place some distance up the river Irawadi.
But as it was necessary that peace should be restored everywhere in the
vicinity of the British army, in order that the poor villagers should not
be afraid of returning, Sir A. Campbell determined to scatter them, and
send them to swell the panic-stricken force at Donabew. Accordingly, on
the 19th of July he despatched twelve hundred men by land to that place,
whilst, with another division of half that number, he himself went up
thither by the Puzendoon creek. However, little came of it; the land
army found it impossible to proceed, and so returned, while the only
result at which the other party arrived was the liberation of some of
the unoffending families of the forced conscripts in the Burmese army. A
feeling of confidence, however, seems to have sprung up in the bosoms of
the peasantry, who now gradually returned home, and even, we are told,
saluted the military as they passed.
The first act which is worthy of mention in August is the dislodgment of
the Burmese force in Syriam. The matter was rendered necessary, it would
appear, for the same reason that had caused the assault and capture of
Kemendine, viz., the annoyance to which our vessels were exposed from the
fire-rafts that the natives placed such great reliance in, but which,
in reality, were rather annoying than dangerous. It was enough that men
were obliged to be on duty to arrest their progress, and strand them. The
object of Sir Archibald was to spare these men, who, though enfeebled by
disease, yet were bravely bearing up against it. Accordingly, six hundred
men, drafted from the 41st, the Madras European, and the 12th Madras
N.I., under the command of Brigadier Smelt, were embarked for Syriam, Sir
Archibald, it must not be forgotten, accompanying them.
The old Portuguese factory, of which mention has been made in a previous
chapter, was found to have been converted into a Burmese fortification;
the breaches made in former times by the united efforts of Burmese,
Peguers, Portuguese, and English, were repaired by teak-wood palisades,
and the old guns, rusty and ill cast, were remounted upon the ramparts.
The Anglo-Indian army was received with a brisk fire, but, as usual,
the Burmese stayed not to await the results of their exertions, but
fled to a pagoda some distance off, whither they were followed by a
detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Kelly. Here, again, although the
place was fortified and turned into a battery, the Burmese fled away,
after discharging the contents of the guns somewhere in the direction
of the British. Enough had been done in previous encounters to show the
perseverance of the English, and so, as every one does, they supposed
that they were invincible, because they had at first conquered.
It seemed, however, that even the preliminary campaign of the British
army was never to come to an end, and that, although the enemy was ever
being beaten, the Burmese did not even now despair of wearying out the
British, and by keeping them engaged at the threshold of their land,
they hoped to have time to secure the key, and lock the door in their
faces. Therefore, no sooner had operations been satisfactory concluded at
Syriam, than Sir A. Campbell heard of disturbances at Dalla, caused by
the orders of the court for a general conscription. Lieutenant-Colonel
Kelly, with a detachment of four hundred men, was sent thither to quiet
the province. Upon coming near to Dalla creek, they found two stockades,
one on either bank, which it was necessary to storm. The mud clogged the
movements of the troops to some extent, and entailed, by the delay, some
loss upon the British. However, as was ever the case, the intrenchments
were in possession of the troops immediately; for the Burmese fled before
the English again. Their policy seems all to have been thrown overboard,
and it is only on the assumption of each body of the enemy encountering
us only once, that I can reconcile the idea of this continual fear to my
mind.[297]
“In the impossibility,” says Professor Wilson, “that existed of engaging
in any active operations in the direction of Ava, it was judged advisable
to employ part of the force in reducing some of the maritime provinces of
the Burman kingdom. The district of Tenasserim, comprising the divisions
of Tavoy and Mergui, was that selected for attack, as containing a
valuable tract of sea-coast, as well as being likely to afford supplies
of cattle and grain. Accordingly, an expedition was detached against
those places, consisting of details of his Majesty’s 89th and the 7th
Madras native infantry, with several cruisers and gun-brigs, under
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Miles. They sailed from Rangoon on the
20th of August, and reached the mouth of the river leading to Tavoy on
the 1st of September: some difficulty occurred in working up the river,
in consequence of which the vessels arrived off the town only on the
eighth. A conspiracy amongst the garrison facilitated the capture of the
place; the second in command making the Maiwoon and his family prisoners,
delivered them to the British officer, and the town was occupied without
opposition. At Mergui, whither the armament next proceeded, and where it
arrived on the 6th of October, a more effective resistance was offered: a
heavy fire was opened from the batteries of the town, which was returned
by the cruisers with such effect as to silence it in about an hour. The
troops then landed, and after wading through miry ground, between the
river and a strong stockade which defended the town, and being exposed
to a brisk fire from the enemy, they advanced to the stockade, and
escaladed it in the most gallant style. The enemy fled. The town, when
first occupied, was deserted; but the people soon returned, and both here
and at Tavoy showed themselves perfectly indifferent to the change of
authorities. After leaving a sufficient garrison of the native troops,
and part of the flotilla, Colonel Miles returned with the European
portion of his division to Rangoon, in November, in time to take a part
in the more important operations about to recur.”[298]
We, too, must now go back to Rangoon, or we shall miss the sight of
some wondrous strange animals, which the Golden Foot sent down from
his capital far away, to oppose and strike terror into the unabashed
invaders. These were the far-famed Invulnerables, to which corps I
have already alluded;[299] and I cannot now do better than introduce
themselves and their deeds to the readers, in the spirited narrative of
Mr. Macfarlane.[300]
“The Lord of the White Elephant now sent his two brothers, the prince of
Tonghoo and the prince of Sarrawaddy, with a whole host of astrologers,
and a corps of ‘Invulnerables,’ to join the army, and to direct the
future operations of the war. The astrologers were to fix the lucky
moments for attacking: the Invulnerables had some points of resemblance
to the Turkish Delhis; they were the desperadoes or madmen of the army,
and their madness was kept up by enormous doses of opium. The corps of
Invulnerables consisted of several thousand men, divided into classes;
the most select band of all being called the King’s Invulnerables. The
prince of Tonghoo established his head-quarters at Pegu, and the prince
of Sarrawaddy took post at Donoopeu, upon the great river, about sixty
miles from Rangoon.
“In the beginning of August, the prince of Sarrawaddy sent down a force
to occupy a strong post at the mouth of the Pegu river, a few miles below
Rangoon, giving his people strict orders to block the channel of the
river in our rear, that not one of the ‘wild foreigners,’ or ‘captive
strangers,’ might escape the punishment that was about to overtake them.
Sir Archibald Campbell presently detached a small corps, under Brigadier
Smelt, to dislodge Sarrawaddy’s warriors. Our land-troops were brought
to a stand-still, when within musket-shot of the place, by a deep and
impassable creek; but a party of sailors from his Majesty’s ship _Larne_,
under Captain Marryat, threw a bridge over the creek; and soon as the
column of attack pushed forward, the enemy began to fly, leaving eight
guns and a quantity of ammunition in their stockade. A strong pagoda,
with a numerous garrison, and with cannons pointing down every approach,
was next carried with equal facility. Other ports on the rivers and
creeks were successively and successfully attacked. Such of the enemy as
had had any experience of our way of fighting seldom stopped to fight in
their stockades, but a new set of people from the interior made a good
stand in a succession of stockades on one of the rivers, and cost us the
loss of a good many brave men. These affairs of posts were very numerous.
“At last the astrologers told the prince of Sarrawaddy that the stars
had told them that the moment was come for a decisive action; and on the
night of the 30th of August, a body of the King’s Invulnerables promised
to attack and carry the Great or Golden Dagon Pagoda, in order that the
princes, and the sages and pious men in their train, might celebrate
the usual annual festival in the sacred place—a place now crowded, not
with Bouges, but with English grenadiers. And, true so far to their
promise, the Invulnerables, at the hour of midnight, rushed in a compact
body from the jungle under the pagoda, armed with swords and muskets.
A small picquet, thrown out in our front, retired in slow and steady
order, skirmishing with the Invulnerables until they reached the flight
of steps leading from the road up to the pagoda. The moon was gone down,
and the night was so dark that the Burmese could be distinguished only
by a few glimmering lanterns in the front; but their noise and clamour,
their threats and imprecations upon the impious strangers, if they did
not immediately evacuate the sacred temple, proved their number to be
very great. In a dense column, they rolled along the narrow pathway
leading to the northern gate of the pagoda, wherein all seemed as silent
as the grave. But, hark! the muskets crash, the cannons roar along the
ramparts of the British posts, drowning the tumult of the advancing
column; and see—see by the flash of our guns, the column reels back, the
Invulnerables fall mortally wounded, and the rest turn their backs on the
holy place, and run with frantic speed for the recovery of the jungle.
Invulnerables ventured no more near any of our posts. But the dysentery
broke out among our troops, killing many of them, and reducing more to a
most emaciated and enfeebled state. Scarcely three thousand duty soldiers
were left to guard our line. Floating hospitals were established at the
mouth of the river; bread was now furnished in sufficient quantities,
but nothing, except change of season or of climate, could restore the
sufferers to health. Mergui and Tavoy, portions of our recent conquests
on the sea-coast, were represented by the medical officers who visited
them as admirable convalescent stations; and thither a number of the
people were sent, and with the most beneficial result.”
Thus will the personification of plain, blunt valour ever overcome
such as have no real courage, and are upheld only by superstition and
credulity.