Campaigns against the Goorkhas—Rocket Troop raised—Bombardment of Hattrass—Death of Sir John Horsford—Ordnance General Officers debarred the General Staff—Conceded to them—Guns formed into Batteries—Organization of 1818—Pindarrie and Mahratta Campaigns—Gun Carriage Agency—Ordnance Commissariat Department—Commandants’ position improved—Model department—Select Committee formed—Reduction of Lascars—Increase to Golundaz—Battalion system introduced into Bengal—Burmese war—Siege of Bhurtpoor—Increase to the Regiment.

The overbearing conduct of the Nepaulese having forced the British into war, Lord Hastings prepared to carry it on with vigour, and bring it to as speedy a termination as possible; and with this view no preparations were spared which the most consummate foresight and consideration could suggest. A nearly simultaneous attack on four different points, necessitating the Goorkhas to spread their forces and resources along their whole extensive frontier, was the plan originally adopted, and carried out with some alterations, suggested by an increased knowledge, or forced upon us by those obstacles and failures which must ever attend upon extended combinations.

Major-General Sir D. Ochterlony, with about 6,000 native infantry and a small train of artillery, was to attack the western or extreme right of the Goorkha territories,—the districts in the neighbourhood of the present hill station, Simlah.

Major-General Sir R. R. Gillespie, with about 1,000 Europeans and 2,500 native troops, with artillery, was to penetrate the valley of Deyrah, and, after dislodging the Goorkhas from their positions in it, to attack Gurhwal; this done, another force was to attack Kumaon from Rohilcund.

Major-General J. S. Wood, further to the eastward, was to penetrate by Bootwul to Palpa: about 1,000 Europeans and 3,000 native troops, with a small artillery, composed this force.

Major-General Marley was to operate on the east, or left, against their capital at Katmandro, by the passes between the Gunduck and Bagmuttee rivers: a moderate train of artillery, 1,000 Europeans, and 7,000 native troops, formed this division.

With all these forces were portions of the regiment, which we shall enumerate as we notice the actions of each division.

The first which came in contact with the enemy was Gillespie’s. This force marched from Meerut, and entered the Dhoon by the Kheeree pass, and seized Deyrah on the 22nd October, 1814: the horse artillery under Major Pennington accompanied this division.^[63]

Colonel Mawbey having been sent forward to seize Nalapanee (Kalunga), found it so much stronger than was expected, that he fell back, and the whole force advanced; one end of the ridge was seized on the 30th, and under cover of this party a hasty battery was raised during the night to receive ten field guns, about 600 yards from the fort; at daylight they opened their fire, and four columns were to have advanced to the assault, but by some misunderstanding only two advanced; the enemy, throwing open a wicket, pushed out a gun, took them in flank, and forced them to retire. A fresh attack by three companies of H.M.’s 53rd was equally fruitless, and, rendered impatient by the repulse, Gillespie rushed on at the head of a small party of dismounted dragoons from his own regiment, the 8th Royal Irish: in this attack he fell. The force now retired to Deyrah, and awaited till the 24th November the arrival of siege guns^[64] from Delhi. On the 25th operations were recommenced; a battery for the 18–pounders was raised at about 300 yards, and by the 27th the wall was brought down. The enemy made a spirited sally on the battery, but were driven back by discharges of case shot. The assault was attempted, and failed, and a gun was run up by Lieutenant Luxford, who volunteered, and was shot in the attempt to clear the breach. The troops would not advance.

Open force having thus failed, a successful attempt to cut off the supply of water was made, while shells were continually poured into the fort. Cooped up in so small a space, without shelter, their execution was great, and on the 30th the brave garrison evacuated the place, leaving to their victors a scene which none could look on without shuddering.

With the siege guns, parts of the 5th and 6th companies 3rd battalion arrived, with the officers noted in the margin.^[65] The horse artillery also remained, “as the professional advice and opinion of so able an officer as Major Pennington on the subject of artillery as affected by local circumstances, could not fail of being of the greatest use to Captain-Lieutenant Battine.”

The artillery losses were not severe: Lieutenant Luxford was the only officer killed; and in reporting it Colonel Mawbey said, “Lieutenant Luxford, of the horse artillery, is so severely wounded that I have no hopes of his recovery. This excellent officer had gone to the foot of the breach in command of an howitzer and 12–pounder gun, which I sent in hopes, with the assistance of shrapnell shells, of lessening the astonishing exertions made by the Goorkhas.”

A detachment being left near the Jumna, the main body marched for Nahun by the plains on the 5th December, and on the 20th Major-General Martindell assumed the command. His first efforts were not successful. A combined attack on the enemy’s positions on the heights by columns under Majors Ludlow and Richards, was beaten back, the former with much loss, and the division took up its position before Nahun.

Major-General Ochterlony’s division was accompanied by the 4th company 3rd battalion artillery, and early in November attacked Nalagurh. The place was breached, and the garrison capitulated on the 5th November, on which occasion the Major-General considered it his “particular duty to express his obligations to Major McLeod and officers and men who manned the batteries.”^[66]

The next object was the attack of Ramgurh, and some manoeuvring was necessary. The news of the failures at Kalunga arriving, gave fresh confidence to the Goorkhas, and made the British cautious. Sir David waited for reinforcements till near the end of the year. Light guns arriving, the force moved, and manoeuvred to place itself in rear of the Goorkha position, who, to meet it, changed their front, and occupied the heights of Maloun, exposing Ramgurh, which was the immediate object of the movement. With incredible labour and perseverance, two 18–pounders were carried up the hills and placed in battery about 700 yards from the fort by the 12th November. Their fire was ably directed by Captain Webbe, and the walls having crumbled away under it, the garrison were glad to capitulate on the 17th, and were suffered to join their comrades in Maloun.

Before following this division to its victorious conclusion, we shall find it more convenient to glance at the proceedings of the other forces, which were acting against the Goorkha line of frontier.

Major-General J. S. Wood’s division left Gorukpoor late in December: the 5th company 2nd battalion artillery was attached to it.^[67] In January it entered the Teraie, and, coming suddenly on a stockade at Jeilgurh, carried it at once, in which operation Captain McDowall was wounded. Fearing that he could not retain the stockade if attacked, Major-General Wood retired to Nichloul, and, though reinforced by more troops, remained inactive till the end of the season, when he made an attempt with his guns on Bootwul, and retired to Gorukpoor.

To the eastward, Major Bradshaw, with the advance of Major-General Marley’s army, on the 25th November attacked and carried the post of Burhurwa, on the Baghmuttee, on which the Goorkhas evacuated the Teraie, and Major Bradshaw occupied posts at Boragurhee, Sumunpoor, and Pursa.

Major-General Marley, with the main army, arrived on the 12th December: the 6th company 2nd battalion, and detachment, were with this force, and the artillery officers noticed in the margin,^[68] and a small train of heavy guns, some field and mountain train guns, and wall pieces. The force moved in four columns; the main one towards the Bicheea-koh and Hetounda passes; the second towards Hurheehurpoor; the third by the Sookturdurree pass and Joorgooree; while the fourth was kept in Jusspoot. The end of the month of December found the main body at Puchroutee Tuppah, with the posts of Pursa and Sumunpoor twenty miles on the left and right flanks of the army, the posts in the same state they had been three weeks previously, and no steps taken to strengthen them. They were garrisoned by about 500 men each, and Pursa had, in addition, a single 6–pounder, commanded by Lieutenant Mathison. On the night of the 17th January, 1815, both posts were attacked by the Goorkhas; the party at Sumunpoor was taken by surprise and cut to pieces; that at Pursa was a little better prepared, and, aided by Mathison’s gun, defended themselves for some time; but the enemy, availing themselves of the shelter the trees afforded, picked off nearly every artilleryman. Mathison then proposed to charge the enemy, but the sepoys refused, and a retreat was attempted, Lieutenant Mathison serving the gun by himself, when all his men were killed or wounded, by which the enemy were kept back; the gun being lost, the retreat became a flight, and had the enemy followed, all must have perished.

Lieutenant Mathison, in his report, says, “I cannot refrain from particularly mentioning the persevering bravery displayed by Matross William Levey, who, though wounded by a musket-ball through one leg and one arm, yet gallantly continued to keep his station until the priming-pouch was blown away from his side, and his wounds becoming too painful to endure, obliged him to sit down. ‘Sillaree,’ gun-lascar of the 42nd company, is also deserving of particular mention; who, although wounded in both hand and foot, continued alone to assist me to the last, and was the person who seized and carried away with him the silver spear planted by the enemy close to the gun at the commencement of the action, and now in the possession of Major-General Marley.”

In the orders of the day, the Major-General “expressed his best thanks to Lieutenant Mathison for his gallant conduct in defending his gun till every man, European and native, fell around it, and all the ammunition was expended.”

The artillery in this unhappy affair lost 4 Europeans and 6 natives killed, and 6 Europeans and 11 natives wounded; and it is probable that many of the wounded died afterwards. Want of foresight in not strengthening the position, and want of proper information of the enemy’s movements, seem to have been the chief causes of this catastrophe: we may add another,—the detaching a single gun. Two guns mutually support each other, and in case of a misfire occurring, the second gun is ready to pour in its fire, should it be attempted to carry the first by a rush; and we have heard it said that Lieutenant Mathison declared on this occasion, that had he had another gun he could have beaten off the enemy. A general order has since prohibited the practice by declaring that never less than two are to be detached.

After this, Major-General Marley gave up all idea of penetrating the hills; he strengthened the post of Baragurhee, and never again entered the forest. On the 10th February he left his division, and Major-General G. Wood arrived on the 20th, but the season passed away in inactivity.

In February detachments of irregulars under Lieutenant-Colonel Gardiner and Major Hearsey advanced on Almorah from Kasheepore and Pilheebheet, and were followed by a small division of regulars under Colonel Nicolls, with which was a detachment of European artillerymen under Lieutenants C. H. Bell and R. B. Wilson, with ten pieces of artillery. On the 5th April the force entered the hills, and heard of the defeat of the irregulars before Almorah; on the 23rd, a detachment from it overtook Hastee-Dull with his troops, near Gunnanath; an action followed, in which the Goorkhas were beaten and their leader slain. On the 25th the whole force attacked the breastworks on the Seetolee heights, and, following up their success, drove the enemy into Fort Almorah, and formed a lodgment on the ridge. “With considerable exertion on the parts of the officers of artillery, Lieutenants Bell and Wilson, the small mortars were laid in the battery, and opened at six in the evening, and the larger ones (8–inch) at midnight.” Several shells were thrown into the fort, which compelled the garrison to remain concealed; many Goorkhas and Cassiahs having quitted the fort, it was supposed that the garrison had fled, but during the night a sharp attack on the outposts proved that they had determined to make a last effort; this failing, on the 27th they evacuated the fort.

In Colonel Nicolls’s report he says, “I feel much indebted to Lieutenants Bell and Wilson for their activity in laying and bringing these mortars into use so soon,” and in the General Orders the Governor-General records that these officers “are mentioned in terms of strong commendation.”

This well-executed expedition materially affected the aspect of the war; in the language of the Goorkha chief, it “broke the camel’s back,” it separated the extremities of the frontier, and prevented reinforcements being sent from Katmandoo to Maloun, and it stood out in brilliant contrast with the other events of the campaign; but we must now return to the divisions employed against Nahun and Maloun.

Major-General Martindell’s force, which we left in front of Nahun, remained inactive till February; its subsequent operations were marked by vacillation; with great labour, 18–pounders were carried up the hills, and, after the time and labour thus expended, no further result was obtained than levelling a stockade, which was found to be of no use to the general plan of the campaign. Operations were commenced against Jythuck, and a position taken up on the ridge on the 1st April, although opposed by the enemy; this advantage was followed up, and Punchul Point seized; other positions were taken up, which straitened the enemy’s post, and would have eventually forced him to evacuate the fort, had not the operations at Maloun caused the Goorkhas to leave the province. To these operations we must now turn.

We left Major-General Ochterlony in possession of Ramgurh, with his forces interposed between the enemy on the Maloun ridge and Belaspore. Great exertions were made by the artillery in moving the ordnance up the heights; but on the 10th March a battery was raised against Taragurh; on the 11th a breach was practicable, and the enemy fled; Chumba was attacked and breached by the 16th, and the garrison capitulated; other forts were reduced, and the detachments joined the main body which was in front of the Goorkha lines. These extended from the forts of Maloun to Soorujgurh, all the peaks crowned with stockades, except those of Ryla and Deothul, the former, convenient for future operations against Soorujgurh, the latter, in the heart of the Goorkha line, within 1,000 yards of Maloun. The main attack was against Deothul, while a second was made on Kyla, while other columns moved, as if against Maloun, to distract the enemy.

Five columns were prepared, and on the night of the 14th April, Kyla was occupied, and on a signal made, two other detachments moved to that point; this done, two other columns moved on at night and occupied positions till daylight, when they attacked Deothul from opposite sides: with these columns were two field-guns, to assist in holding the height when gained, as considerable efforts were expected from the enemy. The position was carried after a severe contest, and much desultory fighting continued till evening; but on the morning of the 16th the Goorkhas, 2,000 in number, made a furious attack on the hill; the artillerymen were nearly all killed at their guns, and at one time, Lieutenant Cartwright, with one artilleryman only, was left; but, aided by Lieutenant Hutchinson of the Engineers, and Lieutenant Armstrong of the Native Infantry, they kept up a fire which tended materially to check the Goorkha onset; and reinforcements and ammunition arriving opportunely from Ryla, their efforts slackened, and they were driven back by a charge headed by Major Lawrie.

A road was made for heavy artillery to Deothul, and with incredible labour the 18–pounders were placed in battery against Maloun early in May; but news of the fall of Almorah having arrived, the Goorkhas urged their chief, Ummer Sing, to yield, and on his refusing, they left him, and he was forced to capitulate on the 5th May.

The exertions of the artillery in this campaign were acknowledged in the following General Orders. “The unwearied alacrity, the labour, the conspicuous gallantry, and the skill, displayed by the whole of the artillery, engineers, and pioneer departments throughout the course of the service, have been pointed out to the special notice of the Governor-General, and His Excellency accordingly expresses his earnest sense of the meritorious conduct exhibited by Major McLeod, commanding the artillery, and by Captain Webbe, of the same corps.”

Early in the following year it became evident that the court of Nepal intended evading the treaty they had agreed to, and the force was assembled again in the neighbourhood of Dinapore, and placed under Sir D. Ochterlony’s command, with the object of occupying the capital.

In addition to the former artillery, the 7th company 2nd battalion, and 3rd company 3rd battalion, with the following officers,^[69] joined the force. On the 10th February the main body entered the Sal forest, and took up a position at Bicheea-koh; four days were spent in reconnoitring and inquiry, when it was discovered that the regular road, which was fortified, might be turned by some very difficult passes in the Chooriaghati range; on the 14th, at night, a battalion (3rd) marched, and entering a ravine, called Baleekola, followed its course five or six miles, then striking up a water-course, came to a steep acclivity of 300 feet in height; the advance clambered up, and were followed by the brigade, and the heights were gained. The other brigade (4th) marched by the direct road on the 15th, and the Goorkhas, hearing that the ghat was turned, retreated on Muckwanpore with but little resistance. Lieutenant Walcote of the artillery was wounded severely in reconnoitring the stockaded position. On the 27th the two brigades united at Mukwanpore; a reconnoitring party came in contact with the enemy, and Lieutenant Pickersgill with difficulty regained the camp; but reinforcements proceeding from each side brought on a general action, which was eagerly contested; the artillery came into full play, and the effect of the guns upon the enemy’s masses moving on the opposite ridge considerably aided in the victory gained.

The only other action was that in which Colonel Kelly’s brigade was engaged in the attack on Hurryhurpore Hill. The infantry were engaged from six to eleven, when “two 6–pounders and two 5½-inch howitzers being brought up on elephants, in a few minutes decided the affair, and left us in possession of an almost natural redoubt.” “Amongst the wounded you will see Captain Lindsay; although his wounds are not severe, I fear I shall lose his active service for a time, which I lament exceedingly, having found Captain Lindsay a most zealous, able officer, both as an artillerist and engineer,” are the words of Colonel Kelly in reporting the affair.

With this campaign the war ended; the pride of the Nepalese was effectually humbled for the time, on finding a British force in full march on their capital, and they were compelled to execute the treaty; but since that period they never ceased to look forward to the arrival of the time when an opportunity of revenge might offer.

The services of the native troops were rewarded by a medal to all native officers who had served within the hills, and to such of the native infantry officers and privates as had distinguished themselves by their gallantry or energy. This medal we have never seen, though by the records we observe several were given to the native branches of the regiment. The sketch here given is copied from one which appeared in the East-India United Service Journal, in 1837.

In the early part of the present century the attention of the Ordnance department in England was turned towards a weapon which had long been in use with the native armies in India—the rocket; and, under Sir William Congreve’s superintendence, rockets of a large size and great power of flight had been manufactured and used with much success in the bombardment of Boulogne and Copenhagen. Experience suggested improvement in details, and the results seemed so satisfactory, that a troop equipped with cars for firing volleys and tripods for single rockets was added to the corps of Royal Artillery, and employed with considerable effect at the battles of Leipsic and Waterloo. Acting upon this example, and considering that it would be advantageous to beat our Indian enemies at their own weapons, the Government decided this year on adding a rocket troop to the Bengal Artillery. It was ordered in September, and consisted of European artillerymen mounted on camels, and volley-cars drawn by horses. Its strength is detailed in the margin.^[70]

Captain Whish, Lieutenants G. N. Campbell and G. Brooke, and Lieutenant-Fireworker Cartwright were posted to this troop, and it was soon in a state of efficiency. It was attached to the horse brigade, which was at this time commanded by Major Pennington, who was retained in the command, although “his promotion to the rank of major rendered him in excess to the establishment of officers attached to it, at the recommendation of His Excellency the Commander-in-Chief, in consideration of his general merits as an officer and his particular qualifications for the command of the corps of horse-artillery, which had attained such an eminent degree of discipline under his superintendence.”

The dress of the regiment in January underwent some change; the dress-jacket had embroidered button-holes on its scarlet facings; the breastplate was gilt, with the Company’s arms embossed in silver; the pantaloon continued to be worn as dress with the Hessian boots; but trousers or overalls were worn on all duties; the chako was introduced, displacing the bearskin cap. There are pictures in existence which give a good idea of the dress at particular periods, and in them all the changes may be traced.

A large portion of the regiment was this year called into the field against Diaram, the zemindar of Hattrass, whose fort and territory had been ceded by Scindia to the British in 1803, at which time no terms were made exempting Diaram from the general laws in force in the Company’s territories; but, in the expectation that, finding no necessity for armed followers, his force would gradually have dissolved and his fort gone to ruin, the Government took no steps to break it up at once. Mistaking this forbearance, in spite of several warnings, he persisted in a course of aggrandizement and opposition to the civil officers, which drew down on him the powerful hand of Government, who determined that no ill-timed economy should interfere with the rapid and complete reduction of his power. Lord Hastings directed the preparations to be made on such a scale to convince all that our failures heretofore were caused not from a want of skill or resources, but from our failing to bring them forward, and being more lavish of the blood of our troops than the matÉriel of our magazines.

For this siege two troops of horse artillery and the rocket-troop, seven companies of European, and four of native artillery, and eighteen companies of lascars, moved from different points and collected before Hattrass, together with a battering train of six 24–pounders, fourteen 18–pounders, four 8–inch howitzers, six 10–inch mortars, fourteen 8–inch mortars, and twenty-two 5½-inch mortars; total, 20 guns, 8 howitzers, and 42 mortars. The general command of the artillery was held by

The force assembled on the 11th February, and from that time till the 21st was employed in collecting and preparing matÉriel for the siege and waiting for the train; on its arrival, three batteries were erected against the kuttra, which opened on the 22nd, and continued firing during the 23rd: a breach was effected, and during the night the enemy left the kuttra.

On the 25th, batteries were commenced against the fort, three armed with guns, and two with mortars from the kuttra, and on the right, two guns, and three mortar batteries, one of the latter of sixteen 5½-inch mortars; the trenches were pushed up to within 50 yards of the ditch, a rocketbattery was erected between the kuttra and fort; much delay occurred from want of fuses or from those sent turning out bad, so that fresh had to be driven and materials sent for from Agra; the time was employed in completing the batteries and approaches; a slight fire was kept up till the 2nd March, when preparations being all made, the bombardment commenced, at a signal from the rocketbattery, by a general salvo. “The effect and sight (an eye-witness writes) was beautiful, and was only excelled by a spectacle which took place about 5 in the afternoon. While in the battery watching the flight of a shell, it scarcely touched the ground before an explosion took place, the most awful and grand I ever beheld—a powder-magazine had been exploded. It is hardly possible to give an accurate description of it; it was more like an immense column of red smoke, forming itself like an enormous chattah in rolls, continually changing form as it ascended to an incredible height: several fragments fell in the trenches and hurt some people.” Another writes, “The effect of our shells and the ruins they have occasioned, are indescribable; the house and zenana of Diaram is a complete riddle—shot and shell holes in every direction; the mortality is great, men and horses lying in the gateway and works.”

For the details of this operation, the first in India in which artillery was used on a large scale, we would refer our readers to a journal of the siege, which appeared in the East-India United Service Journal, in 1837, and content ourselves with adding the orders issued on the occasion.

Major-General Marshall’s order says, “The science and skill displayed by the engineers and artillery department were eminently conspicuous, and the bombardment and explosion of the enemy’s principal magazine, which, without derogating from the merits of others, must be allowed to have given us almost immediate possession of the place, will long be regarded as the most memorable among the brilliant events of the last fortnight, and as demonstrative of the extent and soundness of that judgment and penetration which, in the avowed anticipation of the very consequences, enabled the army, by the provision of adequate means, to insure them. The practice of the artillery has answered the expectations of that high authority to which the Major-General has ventured to allude in the forgoing observations. Another motive for them is to bring forward and illustrate the fact more closely, that where the means are equal to the science and practical knowledge known to pervade every branch of this army, the results must invariably be rapid and successful, even against such strong and formidable forts as Hattrass proved to be.” * * *

We cannot refrain from quoting the order issued to the artillery by Major-General Sir John Horsford; the more so, as it proved the last he was permitted to pen to the corps, his valuable life having terminated suddenly, soon after returning to Cawnpoor from this service:—

“Major-General Sir John Horsford, commanding the artillery brigaded before Hattrass, performs with pleasure the last exercise of his command in conveying to the horse and foot artillery and rocket-troop his congratulations on the brilliant services which their united exertions have effected for the state, Government having through their means principally been placed in possession of Hattrass, the rapid reduction of which has caused the surrender of the important fortress of Morsaum and eleven other forts.

“The acknowledgments of Major-General Marshall, commanding the army, and the favourable sentiments entertained by the army at large, must be much more satisfactory to the artillery than any tribute of praise which Sir John Horsford could bestow in confirmation of their meritorious services.

“But the Major-General considers public acknowledgments due to Major Mason, commanding the foot artillery, who, with Majors MacLeod and Butler, superintended in turn the several batteries. He begs to offer his best thanks to Major Mason and the experienced field-officers above mentioned, for their several important services.

“The Major-General duly appreciates the labour and exertions of every officer and man employed in the batteries before the kuttra and fort, and more particularly the heavy duty all had to perform on the 2nd instant during the general bombardment. To the officers commanding batteries, and to their juniors doing duty under them, the Major-General’s notice is particularly due. The state of the fort after its capture evinced to all that the means employed for its reduction had been directed by hands well acquainted with their use. Where every officer was equally zealous, the Major-General hopes he will be excused for not naming all who deserve his praise and thanks.

“The mature judgment of Major Pennington was displayed on every occasion which offered itself.

“The spirit and conduct of the officers and men of the horse artillery throughout the service deserve the Major-General’s warmest approbation.

“The zeal evinced by Captain Whish, the officers and men of the rocket-troop, require the Major-General’s notice in public orders.

“The Major-General’s personal feelings are much gratified by the important consequences which have resulted from the unanimity which prevailed amongst every branch of the artillery to forward the objects of the service. The preparations which were made caused much to be expected from their exertions, and the Major-General is satisfied that the expectations of the most sanguine have been realized. It is a source of great pleasure for the Major-General to reflect that the last period of his service with a corps in which he has long served, should be distinguished by events which call forth the admiration of all who witnessed them, and by services which conspicuously increase the credit and the established high character of the regiment of Bengal Artillery.”

From Hattrass Sir John Horsford returned to Cawnpoor, and on the 20th April closed his honourable career. His death was sudden, and it is believed was occasioned by a disease of the heart. To his public character the Governor-General bore testimony in the following order:—“The Governor-General cannot direct the succession in the regiment of artillery without expressing his deep concern at the loss the Honourable Company’s service has suffered by the death of Major-General Sir John Horsford, K.C.B. The ardent spirit, the science, and the generous zeal of that admirable officer, were in no less degree an advantage to the public interest than an honour to himself. It is consolatory to think that when sinking under the malady which so early deprived his country of an energy incessantly devoted to her glory, he had the consciousness of having just displayed with signal triumph the skill and superiority of the corps which he had so materially contributed to fashion and perfect.”

The part Sir John Horsford had borne in some of the severest service the regiment had been engaged in, his thorough knowledge of the profession, his high talents and commanding character, gave him great influence in the regiment, and secured for his opinions great weight with the authorities; and, had he been spared to exercise the command for a few years more, the regiment would undoubtedly have been placed on a far more efficient footing than it hitherto had been. From the time of Pearse’s death to Horsford’s succession to the command, no man of talent or influence had been at its head; and the consequence was, that while the other branches of the army were increased on a scale more adequate to their wants, the artillery was added to by driblets, kept in the lowest state, and its organization made a subject of continual experiment.

Just before his death, Sir John Horsford submitted to the Marquis of Hastings a memoir, pointing out the faults which had thus been committed, and detailing the principles upon which the corps of artillery ought to be formed; going on from these principles through all the details, he presented a complete scheme of a regiment of artillery adapted to the wants of Bengal. His character insured attention to the subject, and the result was, that in the following year the corps was reorganized, not indeed upon the scale Sir John Horsford proposed, but upon the most efficient it had yet been.

Major-General Hardwicke was appointed commandant in succession to Major-General Sir John Horsford.

We must pause at this point for a time to consider a circumstance which was of great importance to the regiment,—the question of general officers of the ordnance branch being eligible to the general staff of the army. In the arrangements for remodelling the army in 1796, no doubt existed on the point. In the Minutes of Council, 5th June, 1797, it was directed that the artillery regimental command was to be held by the senior officer present, “not being a general officer,” and several artillery general officers had been employed on the general staff; such was the state of the case up to 1814, when the Court of Directors thought proper to annul the existing orders, for reasons which may be briefly thus stated:—

1st. That the services of the artillery and engineer generals are required by the state in their own departments.

2nd. That the practice, though not the theory (so to speak), of His Majesty’s service excludes ordnance generals from any employment on the staff.^[71]

To the first, it might be replied, that even supposing one artillery and one engineer general are wanted at the heads of the corps, it is no reason why the others should not be employed on the general staff during the period they are not required with their own. That till now a general officer was never allowed to serve in this position; and if while debarred from the general staff and holding the regimental command on the regimental allowances, his position would be a very unfavourable one, as contrasted with that of a general officer of cavalry or infantry.

To the second we would say, that if true, some compensation would be found to the Royal Ordnance general officers in the numerous regimental superiorities they enjoy in Europe over regiments of the line; such as rising regimentally to colonelcies, the greater proportion of field officers, higher pay, the use of a horse, superior regimental rank, ordnance staff offices, and many other points which it would require more space than we can afford to go fully into; but, in reality, Royal Ordnance officers were not excluded, and at the time of publication of the order there were twelve or fifteen of them employed on the home and foreign staff of the army.

Feeling that their prospects were much blighted by being thus debarred from those honourable and lucrative commands to which every officer hopes (though few live) to succeed, the officers of the ordnance corps in Bengal (and also in Madras and Bombay) memorialized the Court of Directors, praying for a revision of the orders in question, and their reply was published in August, 1817. The Court did not enter into the question; they refused the point at issue, but directed that general officers of artillery and engineers in command of their regiments should be placed on a similar footing as to allowances with other general officers serving on the army staff. But although at this time the representations of the ordnance officers had no effect, there is little doubt that they were subsequently reconsidered and their justice admitted, for in the general remodelling of the military system in 1824, “an additional general officer on the Honourable Company’s establishment was authorized for the staff of each presidency, and the generals of artillery and engineers were rendered eligible to the staff, the command of those corps devolving on the senior colonels or field-officers.”

The comparative efficiency of guns collected into batteries kept in order and directed by officers of the artillery, and of the same scattered as battalions and galloper-guns, had been proved so strongly in favour of the former, that the Government now resolved on following up the practice of European powers. The gallopers from six native regiments were directed to be embodied into two troops of native horse artillery at Meerut and Cawnpoor, and placed under the command of Captains G. Gowan and Biggs in July, and those of the two remaining regiments were some months later withdrawn and formed into a third troop at Nagpoor under Lieutenant George Blake, and subsequently Captain Rodber. The horses and troopers accompanied the guns; and as the best horses had generally been given to the galloper-guns, these troops were exceedingly well provided with draught cattle. For officers the foot-artillery was again indented on, but this time not without an augmentation, for, “adverting to the number of officers withdrawn from the foot to the horse artillery, and to the total inadequacy of the number of officers which would remain with the battalions of foot artillery, and for the numerous and important duties required of them, the Governor-General was pleased to determine that the officers actually attached to the horse artillery should be struck off the strength of the foot artillery, and the vacancies supplied by promotion;” and accordingly one major and six captains were now (25th October) added to the corps.

Before adverting to the campaigns which the Marquis of Hastings’s grand combinations against the Pindarees caused, we will notice the additions made to the regiment previous to its reorganization in October, 1818, and detail its strength when that change had taken place, and then succinctly refer to those well-planned operations which with very little bloodshed rooted out the Pindarees, and humbled the Mahratta power.

In continuation of the system of collecting guns in batteries, an experimental horse field-battery was formed in November, and placed under Captain Battine with the 6th company 3rd battalion. The battery consisted of eight guns and eight waggons (two 12–pounders, two 5½-inch howitzers, and four 6–pounders), and ninety-six horses were allowed to drag it; these horses were led by “Syce drivers,” a class of syces placed on the same footing as lascars with respect to pay, clothing, and pension.

The rocket-troop was modified as to the numbers of its men and cattle, but camels were still continued with it, nor was it till 1822 that they were superseded by horses, and two additional companies of independent golundaz were raised for the Islands and Bengal. Colonel Sherwood was appointed acting commandant during Major-General Hardwicke’s absence on sick leave.

The regiment now was composed of the horse artillery, consisting of seven troops, including the rocket-troop; three European battalions of seven companies each, twelve regular and six irregular companies of golundaz, forty-five lascar and twenty-six driver companies. The new organization directed it to consist of seven troops of horse artillery, three European battalions, of eight companies each, one native battalion of fifteen companies, with a company of lascars attached to each company, European or native (39), and seventeen bullock and two horse field-batteries, each of eight pieces, with a driver company to each.

The officers were allotted to the different portions of the regiment in the following proportion:—

The rank of 2nd captain was abolished, and that of 2nd lieutenant substituted for lieutenant-fireworker; serangs of gun-lascars were made jemadars; serang-major, soobahdar; 1st and 2nd tindals, havildars and naiks; gunners were styled bombardiers, and matrosses, gunners.

The whole regiment consisted of

Forming a total of 8,094, including lascars, and excluding drivers.

The infantry of the army at this period amounted to about 64,000 men, or nearly in the proportion of eight infantry to one artilleryman, bringing the relative numbers of the two branches pretty much to what they were in 1796, at which time the infantry were 7½ to one artilleryman.

In a preceding page we have alluded to the operations of the Governor-General for the purpose of rooting out the Pindaree hordes by whom Central India was overrun, and the Company’s provinces yearly threatened, and in some instances plundered. Their numbers may have reached some 20,000 horse, undisciplined, and prepared to run rather than fight, and were scattered about in small durras or bands, so that no large bodies of troops would have been necessary to overcome them had it not been for the tacit protection afforded these freebooters by the Mahratta powers, and whose attitude was such, that preparations were forced to be made on a scale sufficient to meet their armies, and this called a far larger portion of the armies of India into the field than would otherwise have been required.

The Bengal divisions took the field about November, 1817. The masterly position taken up by Lord Hastings, with the centre division of the grand army threatening Scindeah’s capital, his park and magazines, in case he ventured to move from Gwalior to join the Mahratta confederacy, completely paralyzed him; but the Peshwah and Nagpoor rajah being unawed by any sufficient body of troops at hand, attacked the residents at their courts, and it was only by the heroic exertions of the small escorts, and which have immortalized the names of Poonah and Seetabuldee, that the posts were made good till reinforcements could arrive.

Many portions of the regiment were employed with the five divisions of Bengal troops, and in operations extending over so great a space, must necessarily have undergone much severe marching; but as the actual service was partial, and we do not pretend to enter into a detailed account of the whole campaigns, we shall only refer to the occasions on which they came in contact with the enemy.

We have already mentioned that the galloper-guns of the cavalry regiments were incorporated into troops of horse artillery; the gallopers of two regiments employed on the Nerbudda were formed into a troop under Lieutenant G. Blake, and, with a squadron of native cavalry, detached by Colonel Adams to Nagpoor on the first news of the expected attack on the residency, to share in the noble defence of Seetabuldee; they arrived too late, but they joined Brigadier Doveton’s force on the 16th December, and were employed in the action fought against the Arabs, who formed the chief strength of the Nagpoor army.

In the battle of Mahidpoor, fought by Sir T. Hyslop’s army on the 21st December against Holkar and the Peshwah’s forces, one Bengal Artillery officer was present—Lieutenant Sotheby, commanding the golundaz company of the Russell brigade.

Major-General Brown was detached with a column from the grand army against Jawud, and on the 20th January, 1818, attacked the troops of Holkar, drawn up under the walls, and drove them into the fort by a charge of cavalry, supported by a fire of shrapnell from two guns of the 2nd troop horse artillery under Lieutenant Mathison,^[72] silencing the enemy’s guns. This success was followed up by an immediate attack; the guns of Captain Biggs’s native troop were drawn up on the right and left to destroy the defences of the entrance, while a 12–pounder, under Mathison, was dragged up by the European artillery and pioneers to blow open the gate, and which was not effected until the third round, during which time the party were exposed to a heavy and galling fire.

In the field orders issued on this occasion, “the major-general desired to express his particular satisfaction at the manner in which the artillery under Captain Biggs and Lieutenant Mathison was served, and at the soldier-like manner in which Lieutenant Mathison took up his 12–pounder to force open the gate.”

Lieutenant-Colonel Pennington, in writing to Lieutenant Mathison on this occasion, said, “Accept my best thanks for the great credit you brought the horse artillery by the ability and gallantry you displayed in the attack on Jeswunt Rao Bhao and his town, and my cordial congratulations on your personal safety.”

The next action we have occasion to notice was that of Lieutenant-Colonel Adams at Seonee on the 16–17th April, in which Captain Rodber’s troop (who had been appointed to the troop lately engaged at Nagpoor under Lieutenant Blake) did good service.

The Peshwah’s army flying from Brigadier Doveton’s division, was intercepted by Lieutenant-Colonel Adams, who immediately attacked with the cavalry and horse artillery, driving the enemy from position to position.^[73] “Great praise,” says Colonel Blacker, “has been given to the horse artillery on this occasion, and, from a comparison of several accounts of this affair, whatever loss was sustained by the enemy is chiefly attributable to their fire. The ground was unfavourable for cavalry, yet the guns, by admirable exertion, were advanced and the cavalry may be said to have only covered them.”^[74] It must be borne in mind, too, that these exertions were preceded by a march of unparalleled length. Captain Rodber was sent from Nagpoor to join Colonel Adams’s force, and in a letter written many years afterwards, he says, “I could not have gone less than ninety miles. At 1 A.M., on the 16th April, I commenced my march (after going the previous day eighteen miles over an execrable road, large loose stones and hills) to join Colonel Adams at Hingun ghat; on the road I received a letter, informing me that Colonel Adams had marched and encamped at Alundaboo; this information obliged me to retrace my road for some distance; I reached the colonel’s camp between 2 and 3 P.M. (I am quite positive to the time exactly); I could not have gone less than fifty-six miles, as I pushed on. At 8 P.M., same day, I mounted again, and moved with the detachment in pursuit of the Peshwah, and was not dismissed till between 12 and 1 next day. About six of the last miles were over a succession of wooded heights covered with large loose stones, and hollows deep and wide enough to hide both gun and horses in. From what we see of roads in any part of India I have visited, no notion can be formed of the ways here; in a march sometimes you have to cross seven or eight nullahs with swampy bottoms and difficult approaches.”

In the same letter Captain Rodber, speaking of this service, says, “I dined with Jenkins (at Nagpoor) the night before I marched, and late some of his hurkarus came in and reported that the Peshwah’s army had got round Colonel Adams, and was in full march on Nagpoor, said to have eighty guns, and 10,000 Arabs, and a number of horse. It was not for me to say a word about my little party marching into the very jaws of this host, but I thought it very inconsiderate allowing me to move. I remember one morning, when quite dark, a trooper from the advance guard coming into the line, and declaring he heard the noise of horses’ feet, and when I had satisfied myself of the fact, I put all in the most defensible position, firmly believing it was the van of the Peshwah’s army; it proved, however, a large body of the Nizam’s horse, sent to me by the colonel; I do not know that I ever felt greater relief.”

Major-General Marshall’s division occupied Sagur in March, 1818, and a portion of the force moved out against Dhamoney, a small fortress about thirty miles distant, at the head of a ravine or valley leading to the Dussan river, the neighbouring country being very rugged and broken. The detachment took possession of the town on the 20th March, and by the 24th had raised batteries against the fort, in which two 24–pounders, four 18–pounders, one 12–pounder, and two 5½-inch howitzers, were placed; a mortar-battery also was completed to the rear. These opened on the 24th March, and after six hours’ firing the killidar surrendered. The 4th company 2nd battalion artillery was employed in this service,—Captain Hetzler, Captain Lindsay, Captain-Lieutenant Coulthard, Lieutenants Carne, W. Bell, Lieutenant-Fireworkers Saunders, Crommelin, and Patch.

This force then marched, vi Dumoh, to Jubbulpoor, and proceeded against “Mundlah,” on the Nerbudda, and by the 25th, batteries had been formed for thirty-two pieces of artillery; they were immediately armed, and by the next day a breach was open, which was successfully stormed.

The artillery operations were directed by Captain Hetzler. The following officers were present:—Captain Lindsay, Lieutenants Dickson, Carne, Saunders, Patch, D’Oyley, Kirby, and Crommelin.

Lieutenant-Colonel Adams’s division was employed against the fortress of Chandah in May, 1818. Both Bengal and Madras artillery were with him; of the former, the three native troops of horse artillery, under Captain Rodber, Lieutenant Twemlow, the 5th company 2nd battalion, Captain MacDowell, Lieutenant Crawford, acting field engineer, Lieutenant Walcott, commissary of ordnance.

On the 9th May the force arrived, and on reconnoitring, it was found to be nearly six miles in circumference, and mounting eighty guns; the ordnance available for the attack consisted of three 18–pounders, four brass 12–pounders, six howitzers, and twelve 6–pounders. On the night of the 13th, a battery was raised on an eminence to the south of the fort, from which four pieces of ordnance, to divert the enemy’s attention, played on the town with shells and hot shot, while materials were being collected, and a thorough reconnoissance made. The south-east angle was finally determined on for the breach. On the 17th, the four 12–pounders were placed in battery to destroy the flanking defences, as well as the howitzers and three 6–pounders. During the night of the 18th, the three 18–pounders were placed in a breaching battery within 250 yards of the place, and opened their fire on the 19th. By 4 P.M., the breach was practicable; the assault was, however, delayed till the following morning, but a fire was kept up at intervals during the night to prevent the enemy retrenching the breach, which they attempted. In the morning the assault took place; the storming party was accompanied by a detail of artillerymen with spikes and sponges for spiking or turning the enemy’s guns. The storming party were completely successful, and obtained possession of the town and fort after overcoming a very serious resistance.

In noticing this action, the General Order says: “The rapid demolition of the enemy’s defences, and the speed with which a breach was effected, would sufficiently testify the service of * * * Lieutenant Crawford, Bengal Artillery, acting as engineer, in indicating the positions for the batteries, even had not Lieutenant-Colonel Adams professed his obligations to those officers so warmly.”

“Captain Rodber, Captain MacDowell, * * * and Lieutenant Walcott, seem to have highly deserved the praise their commander bestows upon them. Indeed, the efforts of all the officers and men of the artillery appear to have been highly laudable.”

The Sagur troops under Brigadier-General Watson, in October, 1818, again took the field against Urjun Sing, Rajah of Gunakota, who refused to give up his fort, agreeably to treaty. It was situated about thirty miles from Sagur, on the banks of the Sonar, at a point where a small nullah ran into it, so that the river and nullah formed ditches on two sides, while the third, in which was the gateway, had a well-formed artificial ditch; but it was not a place of any strength. On the 23rd October, a battery of fourteen mortars and four howitzers was formed on the opposite bank of the Sonar, near the city of Hardynugger, and opened its fire on the fort. An accident occurred next day in the battery, which caused several casualties. The shells for expenditure had been placed in the rear of the mortars covered by paulins, and by some mischance^[75] a spark got among and ignited them, upwards of one hundred blowing up. On the 26th, a breaching battery was ready, and opened from two 24–pounders, four 18–pounders, and two 12–pounders, to which two more 24–pounders were added on the 29th. The battery was 900 yards from the wall, but a breach was soon accomplished, and the enemy capitulated without standing an assault.

The 4th and 6th companies 2nd battalion artillery were present, with Captain Hetzler, Captain-Lieutenant Coulthard, Lieutenants Pew, Saunders, D’Oyley, Patch, Kirby, and Crommelin.

In June a detachment from the 4th company 2nd battalion, with Lieutenants Carne and Saunders, were sent with a column against the fort of Satunwaree; a breach was effected by the 18–pounders on the 8th June, and assaulted, but unsuccessfully; the place, however, was evacuated during the night.

The unsuccessful assault led to a report that the breach had not been sufficiently cleared, and charges were preferred against Lieutenant Carne for bad practice of the artillery, for serving out an excess of liquor to the men on duty, leading to their intoxication, and for being intoxicated himself. Of the first and third he was acquitted by a general court-martial, and partially of the second; the fact probably was, that the men, being much exposed and overworked under the burning sun of June, a small quantity of liquor, which in other circumstances would have been taken with perfect impunity, flew to their heads.

The Nagpoor subsidiary force, under Major-General Doveton, marched against Assurghur to receive charge of it from Scindia’s killidar, but the killidar, according to the native custom, pretended to have received no orders, and it therefore became necessary to proceed against it; all the available trains were sent for, including those from Sagur and Hoshunabad, and when collected, amounted to the number detailed in the margin;^[76] but the siege commenced with those with the force. Many difficulties were experienced in carrying on the approaches up the steep sides of the hills; an accident, though fortunately attended with but little loss, occurred, by the magazine in rear of the breaching battery, containing 130 barrels of powder, exploding on the 21st March. Towards the end of the month, half of the 5th company 2nd battalion under Lieutenant Debrett arrived with the Hoshunabad train, and on the 31st, the Sagur force, with the 4th and 6th companies 2nd battalion and 22 heavy guns; from this time the siege was pressed with vigour, and on the 9th April the garrison surrendered, having made a very stout resistance. Lieutenant-Colonel Crossdill, of the Madras Artillery, commanded the artillery. Captains Coulthard and Pew, Lieutenants Debrett and Counsell, appear to have been present at this siege; the latter officer was slightly wounded.

Having thus brought our history to the close of the Pindaree war and its consequent service, we may notice such internal changes as were going on in the regiment and ordnance department generally, following their chronological occurrence until held service shall again call for our attention.

Originally the gun-carriages were constructed by a contractor in Fort William, under the inspection of the commissary of stores; in 1800, the system was altered, and an agency for this purpose was formed with a superintendent on a staff salary of Rs. 1,200 per mensem and his military pay and allowances. The agency was established at Cossipoor, and connected with it was another for the supply of seasoned timber. In 1814, a second agency was found necessary to meet the wants of the department, now scattered over a very extended space, and established at Allahabad, under Major Clement Brown. In 1817, it was transferred to Futteygurh; this agency was dependent on a half-wrought matÉriel yard at Cawnpoor. The Honourable Company’s timber-yards at Cossipoor and Cawnpoor were annexed to the gun-carriage agencies in 1823 and 1825 respectively, and in the year 1829, the Cossipoor agency was incorporated with that at Futteygurh.

In May, 1818, the ordnance commissariat officers were organized into a department upon the principles which had governed the previous formation of an army commissariat department; it was made one generally of seniority, and a provision was made for a certain number of warrant officers in the grade of deputy commissary, as well for two other ranks above that of conductor.

To carry out the reorganization of the regiment, adverted to in a former page, in November, the 8th company to each European battalion was added; a draught of 100 men from the European regiment was taken for this purpose. Two companies of golundaz (11th and 12th[A]) and five companies (41st to 45th^[77]) of gun lascars were reduced. The driver companies were reduced to nineteen, two for the horse, and seventeen for the bullock batteries; nine were reduced (2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 9th, 10th, and 12th), and transferred to the commissariat; each company was fixed at four sirdars and eighty-six drivers, and the batteries consisted of eight pieces. The lascar companies were strengthened by the addition of one havildar and fourteen privates to each company, with European battalions, and by one havildar with the companies attached to the 4th battalion.

The field-train establishments, which in 1809 were placed entirely under the control and care of commanding officers of artillery at Agra and Cawnpoor, were now transferred to the magazines, and kept in order by the commissaries under the general control of the commanding officer of artillery.

The horse field-batteries were increased to three, and considered part of the permanent establishment, making the number, fourteen bullock and three horse-batteries. Another bullock-battery was shortly added, on Mhow becoming a Bengal station.

The Governor-General, adverting to the important, responsible, and laborious duty which the recent signal alterations in the constitution of the artillery have imposed on the commandant, and considering the staff salary at present allowed to him, when not a general officer, to bear no proportion to the extent and variety of his command, was pleased to sanction a personal allowance, in addition, of Rs. 500 per mensem; and also, on the same principle, the commanding officer of artillery in the field was allowed to draw 600, and all field commanding divisions, 300. The major of brigade was raised to an assistant adjutant-general of the regiment, and a brigade-major permanently sanctioned in the field.

A model department was formed at Dum-Dum under Captain Parlby, and the establishment for bouching guns and preparing tangent-scales was attached to it. In this department a very valuable collection of models was made up, and which, on the breaking up of the establishment in 1829, were transferred to the expense magazine, and thence to the regimental mess in 1839, the regiment having added a room for their reception.

A permanent select committee was formed, consisting of certain regimental and staff officers of artillery, at Dum-Dum and in the neighbourhood, to whom every question involving change in the matÉriel equipment of the department was to be submitted in the first instance, and their opinion was to be forwarded to assist Government in coming to a decision, and they were soon fully occupied with the important questions of windage, brass ordnance, and patterns of light field-carriages.

In August the lascars of the regiment were very much reduced; the use of drag-ropes as a means of moving guns, except for trifling distances, or out of a difficulty, was given up, and with that, the necessity of such strong bodies of lascars with artillery companies ceased. They were reduced to a detail of one havildar, two naiks, and twenty-four privates, to each troop and European company, and taken away entirely from the native battalions; the men thus struck off from the regiment were formed into sixteen companies of store lascars, each consisting of one subahdar, one jemadar, four havildars, four naiks, and eighty privates, and were posted to the different magazines. But this arrangement was not found to answer, and the lascar companies were, on the war breaking out in 1824, increased to forty privates, partly, perhaps, from the insufficiency of Europeans to keep the companies up to their proper strength.

An interpreter was allowed to the regiment at head-quarters, and attached to the golundaz companies at Dum-Dum.

Lieutenant-Colonel A. MacLeod was appointed commandant on Major-General Hardwicke’s sailing for Europe in December, and with Colonel MacLeod the command of the artillery in the field ceased; the brigade-majorship was also abolished, and Captain Tennant, who held it, was appointed assistant secretary to the Military Board.

In February five companies were added to the golundaz battalion, raising its number to twenty companies, to meet the exigency of the war with Ava. In June, to meet the deficiency of Europeans, three additional companies of lascars of eighty-four men each were raised; four privates were added to each golundaz company, and the lascar companies increased, as above mentioned, to forty men each, those who had been transferred to the store lascars being taken back again.

In May, a fundamental change took place in the Indian army; the battalions were formed into regiments, and the officers of all branches of the service were placed on the same footing as to the chances of promotion, by the regiments being of equal strength in this particular. This new organization caused a considerable degree of promotion throughout the army, and in this the artillery shared. The officers of the regiment continued, as previously, to rise in one general gradation list, and the regiment was to be composed of

The rocket-troop was to form one of the troops of a brigade.

Lascar details were attached to the troops, and a company to each European company, and a driver company to each field-battery.

These changes, however, were not even nominally carried into effect until the middle of the next year, owing to the scattered state of the regiment, the occupation the Burmese war gave, and the difficulty in obtaining a sufficient supply of European recruits to meet the demand. In reality, some of the troops of horse artillery were not formed until the end of 1826; we therefore shall not in this place give a tabular statement of the strength of the regiment, but reserve it until we arrive at the year 1826, when a reorganization of the native battalion made another change, and the state of the regiment, before and after its alteration, will then be seen at one glance.

The aggression of the Burmese on our frontiers, and the contempt with which they treated all remonstrances, forced the Indian Government reluctantly to declare war in 1824. Unfortunately, little was known of the country, and a most injudicious plan of operations was drawn out, which, by seizing Rangoon and the numerous native craft the maritime capital was expected to furnish, embarking the troops in them, and sailing up the Irawaddy in the rainy season, and threatening Amerapoora, was to terminate the war in one campaign. With this intention the expedition sailed in April, and was joined by the Madras portion early in May at Port Cornwallis in the Andaman Islands.

Two companies of the Bengal Artillery with their lascars accompanied the expedition.

On the 10th May the fleet reached Rangoon, and, overcoming a very faint resistance by a few broadsides from the Liffey, the troops landed and took possession. They found it deserted by its inhabitants, and incapable of affording either subsistence or the means of advancing. No choice was left; nothing could be done till the cold weather, except shelter themselves against the approaching rainy season, to which the Bengal monsoon is but as summer showers in comparison. During this season, the troops suffered much from exposure, from bad and insufficient supplies, harassment by the enemy, and continual petty attacks on stockades, so that when the season for operations arrived, it found an army of invalids, instead of one fit to take the field.

The Burmese recalled their army under Bundoola from Arracan, and it arrived in the vicinity of Rangoon in November. Rangoon was invested, but, awaiting reinforcements and supplies, Sir Archibald Campbell offered little opposition, contenting himself with strengthening his own position and placing all his artillery in battery, to bear on the enemy’s trenches. Things remained thus till the 5th December, when the guns all opening, the columns moved out under cover of their fire, attacked and overcame the enemy’s left; Bundoola, however, rallied again, and pushed on his attack on the ShevÉ-da-gon pagoda. On the morning of the 7th the attack was renewed; every gun that would bear on the enemy was opened, and continued firing till noon, when the infantry moving out, completely routed the enemy. He rallied in a strong position at Kokaing, from which, on the 13th, he was with difficulty dislodged, and in which action the regiment lost a fine young officer, Lieutenant O’Hanlon, who, volunteering with the body-guard, was shot in a gallant charge, made to cover a column hard pressed by the enemy.

This action cleared the vicinity of Rangoon of the enemy, and reinforcements, stores, and supplies arriving, health was restored to the army, and preparations for an advance were strenuously made. Among the reinforcements, were a troop of horse artillery and half the rocket-troop, “corps which excited great hopes, and never disappointed them.”

But, leaving the force at this point, let us trace the steps of the other divisions, and then return to the Rangoon column, on which the chief exertions of the war fell.

The small advanced party at Ramoo, unsupported by the force at Chittygong, fell an easy prey to Bundoola’s force, which gradually closed on and cut it up; a detail of artillery, with two 6–pounders under Lieutenant J. W. Scott, formed part. Lieutenant Scott, severely wounded, was placed on an elephant and carried into Chittygong, whither the few who escaped fled.

After this reverse, the force at Chittygong was strengthened and formed into a division, under Major-General Morrison, for the purpose of driving the Burmese out of Arracan, crossing the Yemidong mountains and joining the Rangoon force about Prome. With it were two companies of artillery.

This column marched in the cold weather slowly, for it experienced much difficulty both from the wild and swampy country it traversed, and from the breadth of the rivers it had to cross, which, from its route being as near the coast as possible, were complete estuaries. Transporting the guns and stores over these deep and rapid streams required no small exertions from the artillery, as also in traversing the swampy delta of the Koladine river, leading to the capital. No opposition was offered until the army reached the Padhna pass, on the 25th March, 1825; there the advanced guard was fired upon, and it became necessary to drive the enemy from the heights. On the 28th, the army debouched into an open plain, under a line of hills, covering the town of Arracan. The foot of these hills was a swampy thicket, the upper part cleared from jungle and strengthened by a breastwork. Without much reconnoissance, the guns were pushed on into battery under the hills, and a general assault took place. It was unsuccessful; such as effected their way through the tangled thicket at the foot were driven back by the musketry and volleys of stones of the defenders. The guns were abandoned for the time, and withdrawn under cover of the night. During the night of the 31st, some troops with two 9–pounders on elephants ascended the ridge to the right of the enemy’s position, moved along the crest at daylight, and bringing the guns into play, the enemy fled, leaving the city at our mercy. And here the operations of this army may be said to terminate; disease, engendered by the pestilential locality, soon raged most fearfully, and converted the town into a large cemetery. Small detachments were sent against Ramree; Lieutenant Hotham, with two guns, engaged in the attack, which was at first unsuccessful; it was, however, finally occupied, as was Aeng, a station on the pass leading through the hills.

In the following cold season reinforcements were sent, among them the 4th company 4th battalion, Lieutenants Rutherfurd and Buckle, and it was intended that the force should attempt the passage of the hills, and for that purpose it was partially collected at Amherst Island; but the difficulties and want of transport were too great, and the idea was abandoned. Arracan was evacuated, and the troops located at Ackyab, an island at the mouth of the Koladine and Myoo rivers, Cheduba, Ramree, and Sandoway, and finally withdrawn in 1826.

That the passage of the hills was possible, there is no doubt; two regiments from Prome succeeded in the attempt by the Aeng pass, while Lieutenant B. Browne; Lieutenant Brady, of artillery; and Captain Trant, deputy quarter-master general, reached Arracan by another, early in 1826.

In 1823, a squadron of gun-boats was sent to cruise on the Burrampooter, probably with the intention of protecting that frontier from threatened incursions of the Burmese. Captain Timbrell, Lieutenants Bedingfield and Burton, were with this flotilla.

On the Sylhet frontier detachments of the 6th battalion were with the army, Captain J. Scott, Captain C. Smith, Lieutenants Brind and Lane, Lieutenant Turton, adjutant; but this force never came in contact with the enemy. The country proved impassable.

Lieutenant Huthwaite was with a detail of native artillery employed against Munneypoor, and engaged in the successful attack on the enemy’s blockaded position at Daoudputlee.

Let us now return to the Rangoon army. Such preparations as circumstances admitted of being made, the army advanced on the 11th February, 1825, in two columns, one by land and one by water: the main portion of the artillery was with the former; with the latter, Lieutenant Paton and some of the rocket-troop were placed in the Diana steamer. The inadequacy of the supplies of the land column may be easily imagined when it is stated that it was with the utmost difficulty Captain Lumsden obtained four bullocks for his forge-cart!—its value, however, was repeatedly acknowledged, and its aid gladly sought, almost daily, to repair public carriages of every department.

To the water column was intrusted the operations of dislodging Bundoola from his strong position at Donabeu, while the land column pushed on as rapidly as possible for the capital. The enemy were driven from their stockade below Donabeu, but on approaching that position, it was found far more formidable than represented. The attack on it proved unsuccessful, and Sir Archibald was forced to retrograde to assist in its capture. On the 1st April, the attack was renewed by land and by water; from the latter, a brisk cannonade and effectual flights of rockets were poured in, and the batteries on the land side were equally effectual; the rockets, however, then failed; the heat and shaking they had been exposed to in the march rendered them nearly or worse than useless. One, however, is claimed as having decided the day, by killing Bundoola. His energy alone kept the enemy together, and after his death they fled from the stockades during the night. The march was resumed, and Prome occupied by the army for the rainy season. Here Lieutenant Thompson died on the 11th May.

During the rains, Lieutenant Timmings came round to Dum-Dum for his own health, and returned in October, carrying back with him reinforcements in men and horses for the artillery; Lieutenants G. Graham, Daniell, Begbie, and Brady also accompanied him.

The enemy rallied, and towards the middle of October had nearly surrounded Prome with stockades. On the 2nd December, Sir Archibald Campbell attacked and defeated them, following up his success the next day. The horse artillery were pushed on in advance through nullahs and over rocks, to obtain a position bearing well on the enemy at Nassadee, and during the cannonade an howitzer missing fire twice, Captain Lumsden directed the shell to be withdrawn; this was done, but the fuze having ignited, the shell burst, just as it reached the muzzle, killing a lascar, wounding a gunner and Captain Lumsden; but he immediately rallied, and continued, in spite of his wound, directing the operations of his battery. Six guns, manned by the 3rd company 5th battalion, with Lieutenant-Colonel Pollock, Captain Biddulph, and Lieutenant Laurenson, were also engaged in this successful attack.

The enemy retired on Melloon, a stockaded position on the opposite bank of the river, there about 500 yards wide. Negotiations commenced on their part, and an armistice was concluded, to last till the 18th January, 1826. The ratified treaty not having been received, at midnight preparations for the attack commenced; batteries for the guns were got ready; boats in waiting for the troops, and at 11 A.M., when the fog cleared up, the whole of the guns, mortars, rockets, heavy and light, opened with a salvo. The range was hit at once, and shot, shells, and rockets flew into all parts of the stockades, the interior of which, from their being planted on the side of a rising ground, was distinctly visible. The “hurtling of this iron shower” continued for about an hour and a half, when the storming columns crossed in the boats of the flotilla, and were soon masters of the place.

The rocket practice was particularly efficient, scarce a rocket failed; a strong contrast to the rockets carried by land, which had proved worthless on several occasions: those used at Melloon were brought up with the flotilla, and perhaps never has there been an occasion since the invention of the weapon where they were more successful, or their effects could be so distinctly seen, as when blazing and roaring, their long trails of smoke marking their course, they plunged into the stockades of Melloon and raked them from side to side in their eccentric courses after grazing.

The army pressed on, allowing no respite. “Officers’ chargers were put in requisition to drag the guns of the invaluable horse brigade;” horses of the rocket-troop were similarly employed, and their place supplied by Burmah ponies. The horse artillery, body-guard, and H.M.’s 13th light infantry now formed the advance guard, and on the 9th February came up with the enemy at Pagahen-Meen; the guns immediately opened, and the enemy were soon broken, but, in pursuing them too rashly, the 13th regiment got entangled in the difficult ground, and the main body coming up, in endeavouring to debouch from a defile, got wedged together, artillery, rockets, guns, and carriages. Of this confusion and delay the enemy took advantage and rallied, and had they not been held in check by the gallant conduct of the horse artillery, body-guard, and the 13th, much mischief might have been done. The confusion was soon remedied, and a complete victory rewarded the troops.

This was the last action. The enemy, thoroughly humbled, now opened negotiations in earnest, which were soon concluded. A deputation proceeded to the “Golden Fort,” at Amerapoora, and returned with the ratified treaty of peace. Among those selected for this distinguished duty was Captain Lumsden, than whom and his gallant troop, none had borne a more honourable and useful part during these laborious campaigns.

A silver medal, of the annexed pattern, was awarded to all the native troops engaged in the war, either in Rangoon, Arracan, or Sylhet.