[CHAPTER XV]
BATTLE HONOURS FOR SERVICES IN BURMAH, 1824-1887
Ava—Kemmendine—Arracan—Pegu—Burmah.[20]
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Ava, 1824-1826.
This distinction is borne by the following regiments:
Royal Scots.
South Staffords.
Somerset Light Infantry.
Essex.
Welsh.
North Lancashire.
Sherwood Foresters.
Royal Irish Fusiliers.
Dorsets.
Governor-General's Bodyguard.
Royal Dublin Fusiliers.
2nd Queen's Own Sappers and Miners.
26th Light Cavalry.
61st Pioneers.
63rd Light Infantry.
67th Punjabis.
69th Punjabis.
72nd Punjabis.
76th Punjabis.
82nd Punjabis.
86th Carnatic Infantry.
88th Carnatic Infantry.
90th Punjabis.
92nd Punjabis.
It recognizes the services of these regiments in the long and harassing campaign in Lower Burmah, between the years 1824 and 1826.
Our relations with our Burmese neighbours had never been marked with cordiality. They had been in the habit of committing unprovoked raids across the Assam or Cachar borders, and had misconstrued our verbal remonstrances into a sign of weakness. So far back as the year 1784 they had annexed Arracan in the most unprovoked manner, and since that date on more than one occasion considerable bodies of Burmese troops had actually violated British territory in pursuit of what they were pleased to call fugitives from justice. In the year 1823 they committed a series of aggressions in Sylhet and Cachar, and finally occupied an island in the vicinity of Chittagong, which was undoubtedly British. To our remonstrances they retaliated with a threat to invade Bengal and drive us back to our island home. War was reluctantly decided upon, and it was resolved to invade Burmah with four separate columns:
I. A column composed entirely of Bengal troops under the command of Brigadier Richards, was to operate from the north, and, after capturing the old capital of Assam, was to threaten the kingdom from that direction.