MEDAL FOR GHUZNEE, 1839.
Corygaum.—On January 1st, 1818, the village of Corygaum was most gallantly defended against the whole force of the Peishwa, and when the "Army of India" medal was issued the surviving soldiers of the 2nd Bombay Native Infantry and 2nd Poona Horse were given the medal, with bar for the defence. Dr. Payne had in his collection a medal awarded to G. Bainbridge of the 65th Foot, with the bar for POONA AND CORYGAUM, which, according to the medal roll, was inaccurate, but it appeared that the man was actually entitled to this rare distinction.
Rare Medals.—Ten medals only were issued with bars for POONA and CORYGAUM. For the latter battle only 8 medals were issued. Only 20 with the single bar for SEETABULDEE AND NAGPORE were issued to Europeans and 194 to natives. For KIRKEE AND POONA AND CORYGAUM 73 medals were issued. 16 medals with the bar for KIRKEE AND POONA were issued to officers and men of the 65th Regiment and 44 officers and men of the same regiment had the single bar for POONA. Medals with the bars for AVA and BHURTPOOR are rarely met with, or those for CHRYSTLER'S FARM and AVA to the 89th.
Ceylon, 1818.—In 1819 the Government of Ceylon issued a medal, 1½ in. in diameter, in connection with the Kandian rebellion of 1818. It bears on the obverse a wreath of bay and oak leaves, encircling CEYLON 1818, and on the reverse REWARD OF MERIT, the name of the recipient being engraved in the centre. A blue ribbon was used for suspension. Four men only of the 73rd Perthshire Regiment, two men of the 2nd and 39 of the 1st Ceylon Regiments were awarded the medal.
FIRST BURMESE WAR
In 1824 war was declared against Burmah, and the campaign opened by Brigadier-General Sir Archibald Campbell taking possession of Rangoon on May 12th, and the capture by storm of Cheduba on May 17th, 1824. A series of assaults was made by the British, and feeble attacks by the Burmese, before Maha Bandoola, a veteran of considerable force and ability—having provided himself with gold fetters with which to bind Lord Amherst when he was captured—took command of a force of about 50,000 infantry and horsemen, with 300 pieces of artillery, and began to entrench himself in front of the British position. On December 1st Major (afterwards Sir Robert) Sale—who gallantly defended Jellalabad and was killed at Moodkee, December 1845—making a daring and vigorous attack upon the left of his line with 450 men of the 13th Light Infantry and 18th Native Infantry, compelled the Burmese to fly. On December 5th another effort was made against the left wing, and 240 guns were captured; this success was followed, on December 7th, by a determined assault upon the trenches, which resulted in the rout of Bandoola's army with the loss of 5,000 men. With indomitable pluck the Burmese general rallied his army and entrenched himself again; but when the assault was made, upon the 15th, by the British, the Burmese were forced from their position and put to rout in fifteen minutes. In the meantime Brigadier General Morrison, with a force of about 11,000, had moved forward across the mountains into Ava, and on April 1st Arracan was captured, and the Burmese retreated to Donabu, where on the Irrawady, behind a strong teak stockade a mile long, backed by an old brick rampart upon which 150 guns were mounted, they defied a marine attack, and the British had to retire down the river, leaving their wounded to the fiendish treatment of their enemies. On the next day, however, Sir Archibald Campbell gained possession of Donabu, for Maha Bandoola having been killed the troops lost confidence in their other leaders, and they evacuated the place at night. After a period of inaction at Prome, necessitated by the season, hostilities were resumed in November, and a series of conflicts took place until after the evacuation of Meeaday, when the Burmese again made overtures for peace. On January 19th, 1825, hostilities were resumed, and the British army advanced upon the Burmese capital. In the advance the battle of Melloon was fought, and a new Burmese General took command of an army of 40,000 men. Nee Woon Breen, "King of Hell" or "Prince of Darkness" as he was called, was, however, defeated by the British near Pagahm Mew on February 9th, and fled to Ava, to meet a cruel death by order of his King. Following up this success, the British marched upon the old capital Amarapura, but when within four days' march of the city the King accepted the British terms, and the treaty of peace was signed at Yandaboo on February 24th, 1826. By this treaty Arracan, Mergui, Tavoy, Tenasserim, and Yé were ceded, and became part of the Indian Empire. 3,222 European soldiers and 1,766 sepoys fell in the war.