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.”
| Troop. | Brigade. | Captains. | Lieutenants. | Sub-Lieutenant. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Lumsden | Thompson, Timmings, C. Grant. | |
| 2 | 2 | Graham | Paton, G. Campbell | Allen. |
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.
| Lieutenant-Colonel Lindsay, Commandant; Lieutenant Kirby, Adjutant. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Company. | Battalion. | Captains. | Lieutenants. |
| 3 | 2 | Rawlings | Lawrence, Fenning, Lewin, Greene, Dyke. |
| 4 | 2 | Hall | Cardew, Fordyce, Gaitskell, Hotham. |
| Lieutenant J. W. Scott was attached to the pioneers. | |||
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.