1827.] [ 193 ] 



MONTHLY REVIEW OF LITERATURE, DOMESTIC AND FOREIGN. 



The Bhurmhese I^ar, by Major Snod- 

 grass; 182T. Bringing the events of the 

 whole war together, this will of course be a 

 welcome narrative. Nothing new nothing 

 but what is confirmative of the despatches, 

 scraps of which have been from time to time 

 doled out to us through the public prints, is 

 to be expected tbe writer was himself the 

 Commander-in-chiefs political secretary. 

 We do not affirm the narrative is not sub- 

 stantially correct, we only hint, that if 

 aught required concealment, the station of 

 the writer precludes Mm from exposing it. 

 We are, however, content with the narrative ; 

 whether all be told or not, enough is told, 

 which is what we most wanted to account 

 for the tardiness of the conquest. The ene- 

 my, though known to be capable of bringing 

 large bodies into the field, was also known 

 to be incapable of sustaining the efforts of 

 disciplined troops. And the fact is, at last, 

 that the Commander with an army never ex- 

 ceeding six or seven thousand, and that num- 

 ber never effective, defeated assemblages of 

 sixty and seventy thousand. Then why were 

 three campaigns required ? To make up for 

 lack of information in the planning, and lack 

 of means in executing the plans. The truth 

 appears to be, that those who planned and 

 sanctioned the war, presumed upon a spirit 

 of dissatisfaction through the Bhurmhese ter- 

 ritory, which did not exist. The Bhtirmbese 

 had encircled themselves with conquered pro- 

 vinces Pegu on the south, Assam on the 

 north, Arracan on the west ; of course, each 

 of these provinces would hail the arrival of 

 an invader, and welcome^any one, who came 

 to exchange the yoke of slavery. It never 

 entered into the pericraniums of the India 

 council, that these provinces, though con- 

 quered, might not be in a state of slavery 

 that they might be fairly incorporated 

 with their conquerors, and as free (if tbe 

 word can be used) as the Bhurmhese them- 

 selves. And the fact proved to be, that 

 none of these discontented people had the 

 least wish to throw off the intolerable yoke. 

 But, however, in the style in which we so 

 often do things, the expedition was despatched, 

 to take its chance, against Rangoon unfur- 

 nished with the means of advancing up the 

 country, either by land or by water ; neither 

 with boats to pass up the rivers, nor waggons 

 to carry provisions by land. The malcontent 

 natives were to find all for us. All too was 

 to be ended at once the capture of Rangoon 

 involved the conquest of the empire ; or even 

 Ava was to be stormed, if it were necessary, 

 before the rains set in. The forces landed 

 in May, and the rains began in June. 



But we will give our readers a sketch of 

 the war. In May 1824, troops to the amount 

 of five or six thousand were assembled at the 

 Great Andaman Isles, and forthwith set sail 

 for Rangoon some small detachments being 

 previously despatched to take possession of 



M.M. New Series. VOL. III. No. 14. 



an island on the Arracan coast, and another 

 point or two thus weakening their strength 

 in the outset, for no very obvious advantage. 

 A feeble resistance was made to their land- 

 ing, and Rangoon was quickly evacuated 

 quite abandoned, and left without provisions 

 or inhabitants a miserable place a vast 

 assemblage of wooden huts raised from the 

 ground, with a few brick buildings, aud one 

 splendid and conspicuous pagoda. The dock- 

 yards too, of which report spoke so magnifi- 

 cently, were found with one sloop on the 

 stocks, and nothing but a few wretched coast- 

 ers was to be seen in the harbour. At Ran- 

 goon the army were forced to continue, unable 

 to advance joined by not a soul of the discon- 

 tented, but hoping still that the natives would 

 think better of the matter would discover 

 their own interests, and supply our wants. 



In the meanwhile, the enemy's troops, 

 which had been assembled in the north, ex- 

 pectingthe attack on thatside, collected round 

 Rangoon; and several encounters now follow- 

 ed, in which the Bhurmhese were invariably 

 repulsed their stockading system being but 

 a feeble resistance against artillery. These 

 stockades, by tbe way, of which we have 

 heard so much in the Bhurmhese war, were 

 lines of defence, consisting of trunks of trees 

 set firmly in the ground, as closely together 

 as possible, and sometimes sixteen or eigh- 

 teen feet high. In June, a force under one 

 of the principal ministers was routed ; in 

 July and August, another of a more formi- 

 dable description, under the command of the 

 King's brother, backed by a suite of astrolo- 

 gers, &c., was in like manner defeated. Tha 

 Bhurmhese now became alarmed, and Bun- 

 doola, u commander of the highest reputa- 

 tion for skill and luck, was summoned from 

 Arracan to take the command, and by him a 

 force of sixty thousand was brought to bear 

 Upon Rangoon in December. f The rains bad 

 set in in June, and continued till October. 

 The British army during this period suffered 

 greatly, subjected to continual harassings 

 through the whole rainy season, when " no 

 European troops could have kept the field 

 twenty-four hours," and disease spreading 

 rapidly among them. Very soon after the 

 landing at Rangoon, detachments had been 

 sent to the south to take possession of Tavoy 

 and Mergue ; and to these places, towards 

 the end of the rains, had the sick been con- 

 veyed ; and, quickly recovering, were re-as- 

 sembled by the time Bundoola had collected 

 his overwhelming hosts for the attack of 

 Rangoon io December. These attacks were 

 of the same impetuous, but unskilful kind 

 with the former ; and, by the middle of the 

 month, the army was completely routed, and 

 the invincible Bundoola himself slain. 



Reinforcements had, before this event, ar- 

 rived from Bengal ; and preparations were 

 now made for advancing up the country, 

 some by water up the Irrawaddy, and some 



2 C 



