History of the Kingdom of Siam and of the revolutions that have caused the overthrow of the empire, up to A.D. 1770

by F. H. Turpin

This refusal was the cause of a war in which many lives were lost.

The Burmese King, having seized all the shipping and wealth of the country, made Tavoy his headquarters. He sent out an expedition of 30 vessels to reduce and burn the town of Mergui and to take similar action against Tenasserim, the chief town of a province of the same name.

At the approach of the fleet, the inhabitants of Mergui fled and the town, previously so full of inhabitants, was left deserted.

M. M. Andrien and Lefebvre, French missionaries, seeing before them a prospect of danger and useless suffering, embarked with their converts in two ships of which one was a French vessel and the other was the very ship to which the King of Ava laid claim. The fugitive inhabitants, after aimless wanderings sought refuge in the forests and in desert islands.

The King of Ava, surprised at the fear inspired by his name and forces, was quite sure that the conquest of Siam would be an easy matter. The fact of a whole province having been subdued by his little fleet, gave him to hope that there would be no obstacle to the success of his united forces. He visited Tavoy in person, being the place at which the different sections of his army had been ordered to assemble. As soon as the Siamese court had been informed that the Burmese had invaded the country, the Barcalon sent to the Bishop of Tabraca ordering that Christians should be called upon for military service. The Bishop replied that he would willingly send all those whom he believed were physically able to defend their King and country. He summoned his converts at once pointed out the danger by which the country was threatened, and exhorted them by the sacred ties of King and fatherland. The flock, obedient to the voice of the shepherd, remembered that the God of Peace whom they served was likewise the God of Battles. More than one hundred took up arms for the common defence. This levy, though so small in numbers was sufficient to give examples of courage to the others.

The Priest King who had just come to the throne was without resources to carry on a successful struggle against so warlike a foe. He knew the weakness of his subjects only too well not to put his trust in them.

His arsenals were well furnished with arms and ammunition, but he lacked men to make good use of them. He commanded a timid and undisciplined mob, equally incapable of attack or defence, who had been pressed into service to meet the urgency of the situation, and who trembled at the sound of firearms. A fair-sized army of this character had been collected but was of no use against an enemy.

These miserable cowards threw down their arms on the approach of the Burmese, and, conquered without striking a blow, fled to the capital which was thus overcrowded with useless mouths. The Christians acted in quite a different manner and behaved heroically to a man. The King seeing their bravery, entrusted to them the guardianship of the palace and the city walls, but they were too few to present an unbroken front to the swarms of the enemy who were overrunning the country. They had left their homes defenceless, and, placing duty before the safety of their own possessions, they had left them to the greed of an enemy to whom plunder was the main object.

The hour of the downfall of Siam was not yet come. The Burmese King was but three days march from the capital when he was attacked by a fatal illness. Thinking less of his sickness than of the obstacle that had checked his victorious progress, he summoned certain Europeans serving in his army to his bedside. He asked them in what time they could gain possession of the city. They replied that it could be done in three days, "Go quickly" answered the King, "and make this rich conquest and if fortune does not bear out your valour come back to me at once."

The army started. All the outlying villages were burnt, and even the suburbs of the capital were included in the devastated area. The Christian quarter alone was respected, as the Burmese warned of their valour, had not the courage to attack men so freed from earthly ties that they feared not death. Some of the Christians, who had not followed the example of flight set by the others, shot two of the enemy from the seminary, and this brave defence was the salvation of all The terrified Burmese had no longer any desire to attack them. The Dutch quarter was reduced to ashes and only the warehouse known to contain valuable merchandise was spared.