SECOND BURMESE WAR. 1852–53.

The King of Ava having refused redress for injuries inflicted on British subjects at Rangoon, in violation of the treaty of Yandaboo, concluded at the termination of the first Burmese war, after an ineffectual attempt at negociation, hostilities commenced. Troops were collected from Bengal and Madras, and placed under the command of Major-General Godwin, who had borne a prominent part in the first war with Ava. The Queen’s regiments which formed part of the force were the 18th., 51st., and 80th.,^[138] and a naval squadron, under the command of Commodore Lambert, consisting of H.M.S. “Fox” (40), “Serpent” (16), “Rattler” (11), “Hermes” (6), “Salamander” (6), and a gunboat, with thirteen vessels of the East Indian Company and Uncovenanted Service, took a very active part in the operations, afloat and ashore.

Major-General Godwin embarked with the force under his command on the 28th. of March, 1852, and three days afterwards the destruction of the stockades on the banks of the river Irrawaddy was effected. The next service was the attack and capture of Martaban, on the 5th. of April, in 348which portions of the 18th. and 80th. shared. Captain Campbell commanded the wing of the 18th., and Major Lockhart that of the 80th. Captain Gillespie, in command of the grenadiers of the former regiment was first on the walls, and the soldier following him received three wounds. About seven o’clock in the morning the troops landed, and the storming party was soon under the walls and over them, when Lieutenant-Colonel Reignolds at once took possession, after some skirmishing, of the pagoda on the height, and by eight o’clock a.m. Martaban was won. The storming party from the 80th. was commanded by Captain Christie of that regiment.

At this period the Madras division (comprising the 51st. regiment) had not arrived at Rangoon, but by the 7th. of April it reached the rendezvous at the mouth of the Rangoon river, and on the 11th. (Sunday) Rangoon was bombarded. The ships silenced and destroyed the stockades at the mouth of the river, and Commander Tarleton of the “Fox” landed with a party of seamen and marines, spiked the guns and destroyed their ammunition. At daybreak on the following morning the troops commenced landing. They had not proceeded far when some guns were opened on the British, and shortly afterwards skirmishers showed themselves in the jungle. This was a new mode of fighting with the Burmese, as no instance occurred in the former war of their attacking the flanks or quitting their stockades. Now they were not only good shots, but bold in their operations, and clever in selecting their ground and covering themselves. A strong outwork named the White House Redoubt was assaulted; the storming party, of which four companies of the 51st. Light Infantry, under Lieutenant-Colonel St. Maur, formed part, carried the stockade, but in consequence of the intense heat of the sun, which occasioned the death of two officers, it was not until the 14th. of April that the fortified town and pagoda of Rangoon were stormed and captured. A Naval Brigade of one hundred and twenty men, under Lieutenant Dorville of the “Fox,” served on shore with the troops, and worked a battery of heavy guns.

The 80th. and 18th. formed the advance, and the 51st., under Major Errington, Colonel St. Maur having been compelled to 349quit the field from a stroke of the sun, were in reserve. After an advance for about a mile the ground became very difficult, barely admitting of the 80th. and 18th. occupying it in close order. The troops also suffered from a heavy fire, when an immediate assault was determined upon. The storming party was formed of a wing of the 80th., under Major Lockhart, two companies of the 18th., under Lieutenant Hewitt, and two companies of the 40th. Bengal Native Infantry, under Lieutenant White, the whole commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Coote, of the Royal Irish; Captain Latter, accompanying the party to show the road. Captain J. Wood, who was specially mentioned, commanded the 18th. regiment. The golden pagoda—a most sacred temple—was soon carried, and all the country fell with it, the once strong post of Kemmendine having been abandoned and destroyed.

During the attack and storming of Rangoon, on the 11th., 12th., and 14th. of April, the British had two officers and fifteen men killed, and fourteen officers and one hundred and eighteen men wounded. The casualties in the fleet were seventeen.

General Godwin and Commodore Lambert in May planned an attack on Bassein, one of the three chief ports of Burmah; and the two commanders, with four steamers of the East India Company, having on board about eight hundred men, proceeded to carry their design into execution. On May 18th. the squadron anchored in front of the town, and the troops landed under cover of the guns.

Major Errington with his force, of which four hundred of the 51st. formed a portion, advanced on the chief pagoda and carried it in grand style: the citadel, a strong mud fort, was next assaulted by a company of the 51st. and two of the Madras Native Infantry, under Captains Rice and Borthwick. Captain Rice, whilst gallantly leading his company, was shot through the lower part of the neck, when his place was taken by Lieutenant Carter, who, followed by his men, was the first on the parapet; here he was struck down by a musket-ball, and rolled over the exterior slope, but still insisted upon being carried into the work. Although the defence was obstinate, yet in forty minutes after the landing, the whole of the works 350were in possession of the British. Eighty cannon and wall pieces were captured, and the stockades burnt. This dashing operation occasioned the officers and men of Captain Rice’s company to be specially thanked in orders. Major Errington, who commanded the troops, was wounded. After leaving a garrison in Bassein the remainder of the troops returned to Rangoon.

Martaban was attacked by a Burmese force of upwards of one thousand men on the 26th. of May, but they were gallantly repulsed by the garrison, consisting of the 49th. Madras Native Infantry, under Major Hall. The 51st. regiment, which had been sent to reinforce the garrison, assisted in driving back the enemy from the stockade, and pursued him some distance.

During the middle of September, the 18th. and 80th. regiments embarked at Rangoon for Prome, and arrived there on the morning of the 9th. of October. The troops were landed in the evening in a suburb to the north of and beyond the town. As they advanced towards the position selected for the night, a very smart fire of musketry and jingalls was simultaneously opened from some jungle and houses on the British left, and a small pagoda in the front. The grenadiers of the 80th. under Captain Christie, and two companies of the same regiment under Captain Welsh, accompanied by Brigadier Reignolds, Lieutenant-Colonel of the 18th. regiment, in a short time most gallantly drove the enemy from their position. The remainder of the troops were landed on the following morning, when the place was found evacuated by the Burmese. Thus the important city of Prome was gained, with the small loss of one killed and eight wounded.

Captain Loch, H.M.S. “Winchester,” subsequently destroyed several strong fortifications in the neighbourhood of Prome. One at Akouktoung, armed with five guns and garrisoned by four hundred men, completely commanded the river, being situated on a hill three hundred feet high. Captain Loch with eighty men scaled the hill overgrown with jungle, the enemy fled, and the battery was taken and demolished.

On Sunday, the 21st. of November, Pegu was attacked by a force under Brigadier Mc.Neill, of the Madras Army, composed 351of the 1st. Bengal Fusiliers, under Lieutenant-Colonel Tudor, three hundred; 1st. Madras Fusiliers, Major Hill, three hundred; 5th. Madras Native Infantry, Major Shubrick, four hundred; seventy Sappers; and thirty-two Artillery. The morning was foggy, and the Burmese were taken by surprise. They retreated to the pagoda, but after some sharp fighting were driven out, and the city captured. It had been taken by a handful of soldiers and seamen under Commander Tarleton three months before, but the force being too small to occupy the place returned to Rangoon.

When the news of the capture of this city was received at Calcutta, a proclamation was issued annexing the whole province of Pegu to the British territories.

On the 8th. of December the enemy attacked Prome in force, but were repulsed with loss; the engagement lasted from midnight until four o’clock in the morning of the 9th. The 51st. shared in this action.

The small garrison left in Pegu was constantly harassed by the attacks of the Burmese army, encamped at a short distance, which were gallantly repulsed by Major Hill, of the Madras Fusiliers. A reinforcement of twelve hundred men left Rangoon on the 11th. of December, and arrived at Pegu on the 14th; when, after a toilsome march through a close country without a road, and an attack from a large body of skirmishers, the relief was effected. A further advance into the country, with a view to bring on a general action, was made on the 17th., and an attack subsequently ensued, when the Burmese rapidly abandoned their entrenched position and took to flight; after a further march of two days, the enemy avoiding a general engagement, the state of the commissariat forced the British general to return to Pegu, and subsequently to Prome.

An expedition proceeded under Brigadier-General Sir John Cheape, K.C.B., to the Donabew district of Pegu, in order to reduce the stronghold of Myat-toon, a robber-chief. The force was actively engaged on the 17th., 18th., and 19th. of March, 1853; after a severe struggle of four hours’ duration the place was stormed and destroyed. The left wing was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Sturt, of the 67th. Bengal Native Infantry, and the right wing by Major Wigstone, of the 18th. Royal Irish, who was severely wounded. The total loss amounted to twenty-two killed, and one hundred and eight wounded, fourteen being officers. The casualties sustained by the 18th., 51st., and 80th. regiments, amounted to thirteen killed and sixty-five wounded.

A short time before, a combined naval and military force, commanded by Captain Loch, of about five hundred men with three guns, had been repulsed with loss, in an attempt to dislodge this freebooter. In this affair, Lieutenant Kennedy, H.M.S. “Fox,” and Captain Price of the 67th. Bengal Infantry were killed, and Captain Loch mortally wounded.

On the 30th. of June, 1853, the termination of the war was officially announced, and although the king of Ava refused to sign a formal treaty of peace, yet as all the concessions demanded were agreed to, the Governor-General proclaimed that hostilities would not be resumed so long as the British possession of Pegu remained undisputed. All the captives in Ava were released, and the navigation of the Irrawaddy was declared to be free for the purposes of trade between the two countries.

The British regiments that took part in this war were the 18th., 51st., and 80th. Foot, also the men of the Naval Brigade.

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