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appeared to set all personal hazard at defiance; nor is it easy to conceive how our pioneers escaped destruction whilst conveying bags of gun-powder through a very storm of living embers Escape, however, they did; and the mine, which it had cost so much toil and so many lives to complete, was fully armed.

For some time during the 16th, nothing extraordinary occurred. The fire, both from the fort and from our batteries, continued, as it had hitherto done, warm and ceaseless; the enemy assailing us with logs of wood, shot out of mortars, and fragments of our own shells, till about four o'clock in the afternoon, when the train was ignited and the mine exploded. It was a tremendous spectacle-and the noise was such as to deafen, for the instant, all who stood near. This was not, like the former explosion, harmless. On the contrary, the counterscarp was thrown down with a terrible crash, and the scarp itself, torn into shivers, fell into the ditch. To our great surprise, however, the fall of this scarp only exposed a fresh one, constructed of stone, which the clay had hitherto concealed; but it was, comparatively speaking, easy of ascent; indeed the breach produced was altogether tolerably inviting. Our men, therefore, looked forward to the explosion of the grand mine with that anxiety which people always experience, who are aware, that the lapse of a few hours will bring them into a situation more trying than almost any other which even soldiers are called upon to fill.

The 17th passed by as the day previous to it had done, amidst the thunder of artillery and small arms; and it was peculiarly distinguished by a gallant recognisance executed by Captain Carmichael of his Majesty's 59th regiment. That officer, putting himself at the head of fifteen grenadiers, descended into the ditch, mounted the ruins, and looked down into the place; and having ascertained that there was no stockade inside, and caused his followers to throw a few hand-grenades into the place, returned again with the loss of only two men killed. There were scaling ladders brought into the trenches, in readiness to be applied when the proper moment came; whilst the miners at the grand mine on the right exerted themselves with such assiduity, that it too became loaded soon after dark. There were in

this mine no fewer than 15,000 pounds of powder. It was run under the angular bastion, where the main breach was to be effected; and now its explosion alone was waited for, in order to give the assault. The troops accordingly received instructions to be in the trenches at the hour selected; and the following is the order and arrangement with which they distributed themselves.

About two o'clock in the morning of the 18th, the divisions moved to the front; the first opposite to the right bastion, the second opposite to the left, and took their stations. Heading the left attack, was his Majesty's 59th regiment, its grenadier company forming the storming party; after which came a body of men, be longing to the same corps, armed with crow-bars, hatchets, and other pioneer's tools. These were directed, as soon as they should enter the place, to clear the way for their comrades, by breaking down such gates or palisades as might oppose their progress; but they were positively prohibited from fighting; indeed they carried no arms with which to fight. In rear of the 59th, stood part of the Honourable East India Company's European regiment, a battalion of 500 men, which joined during the siege; then 200 Goorkabs, and then the several native corps, in order of seniority. Similar in all respects were the dispositions made opposite to the right attack. There his Majesty's 14th regiment composed the van; and there the native troops, like those on the left, were directed to follow their more hardy comrades. It was given in charge to those fine battalions, the 14th and 59th, to wheel, as soon as they should have entered their breaches, the one to the right, the other to the left, and pressing round the whole of the ramparts, to drive the enemy before them till they met; whilst the cavalry was distributed opposite to the gates and over the plain, for the purpose of cutting off all such stragglers as should endeavour to escape.

The troops took up their ground, as has been already said, about two o' clock in the morning, with the understanding that the explosion of the great mine should be the signal of assault. Hour after hour passed on, however, without bringing the explo sion about; and when day dawned the prospect of an advance appeared as far

removed as ever. From that moment, till about 9 o'clock A.M., the very drums of the men's ears tingled again, with the noise of as heavy and ceaseless a cannonade as ever was heard. From our lines upwards of one hundred pieces of ordnance vomited forth fire, whilst, on the side of the enemy, everything which could be brought to bear, from the huge 84 pounder down to the matchlock, was directed against us. Such was our situation, when Lord Combermere, to whose personal exertions no words can do justice, arrived in the trench. He advanced to the spot where the 14th regiment stood; and, seeing that the mouth of the mine was but a few yards removed from them, he anxiously inquired of the engineer, whether all were safe. The engineer assured him that our men ran no risk, and he went away. But it would appear as if the impression had kept its place in his mind, that the leading companies, at all events, were too far in advance, for he returned again in about a quarter of an hour, and again repeated his question whether the 14th were not too near. He was again answered in the negative, and again retired. What followed we must give in the words of one who was present, because we feel that no language of ours could do it justice.

"The general had departed but a few minutes," says our informant, "and we were all in that state of breathless excitement which our situation was calculated to produce, when a spectacle was presented to us, to which I have never beheld, and probably never shall behold, anything akin. I had fixed my eyes intently upon the angle of the bastion, beneath which I was aware that the mine had been formed, when suddenly the ponderous wall heaved, as if by the power of an earthquake. There was no noise, no explosion, and, as it happened, the very firing had for the instant ceased-but the wall rocked like a ship lifted upon a wave, and then sunk down again. This occurred twice, and then with a sound to which the loudest thunder were soft music, stones, earth, logs of wood, guns, and men, flew into the air. Of more I cannot speak, except that shrieks and groans burst upon the ear, as soon as that tremendous crash was over; giving evidence but too decisive, that the engineer's assurances, VOL. XXIII.

as to the safety of our position, were groundless; but as to seeing the objects from whence they came, that was out of the question. A dense cloud of smoke and dust was over us-to breathe, far less to command the sense of sight, in which, was no easy matter."

Through this awful cloud our soldiers rushed, trampling as they went upon upwards of 140 of their comrades, whom the bursting of the mine had either killed or mutilated, and gaining the breach, began in a moment to ascend. The opposition offered to them, though singular for its displays of individual heroism, was neither obstinate nor regular; and the 14th won the summit with a loss perfectly trifling. Finding, however, that the native corps which ought to have supported them were not at hand, our men halted, when a severe and galling fire was opened upon them from the houses and buildings near. But they were in no respect daunted by this. On the contrary, they sprang forward, clearing the walls as they went, and turning to the right, as they had been instructed to do, they drove the enemy, without a check, from bastion to bastion, and from tower to tower. In the meanwhile, the 59th had not been backward. They too carried their breach at a rush, and wheeling off to the left, achieved a series of victories similar both in their details and results to those won by the 14th. They were headed by Captain H. E. Pitman, who, in advance of his men, led up to the muzzle of the enemy's howitzers, sweeping the breach. This gallant officer received seven mortal wounds, and fell at last from a bayonet thrust, inflicted by a gunner, when unable from weakness to defend himself.

The carnage, during this affair, was tremendous, especially among the Bhurtporean Golondayes or artillerymen, who fought like persons determined neither to give nor accept of quarter. But these, as well as the rest of the garrison, fought unconnectedly and in confusion. The consequence was, that they were swept down in whole crowds, by the orderly volleys of our men; and that a few discharges of grape from a couple of six-pounders, which were run up the great breach, caused among them the most desperate slaughter. There was a strong column of Ghauts, opposed to the 59th regiment, likewise, which

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took post in a street running at right angles with the rampart, whose va lour deserved a better result than that which attended it. These fought till every man had fallen, and there they lay, after the struggle ended, upwards of 400 bodies, each on the spot which he had occupied when alive. But the most horrible fate of all was that which befell such of the Bhurtporean matchlock-men as fell from wounds only. These poor wretches being dressed in coats thickly stuffed with cotton, and having a quantity of slow match fastened about their waists, invariably took fire, and many were burned to death, who, had not this sad accident befallen them, might have survived.

At last the heads of the separate columns, that is to say, the 14th and 59th regiments, after scouring the ramparts to the right and left, met. It was an animating sound, the hearty and cordial cheer with which they greeted one another; for though both had lost many well-known and beloved members, this was not a moment upon which a thought of sorrow could intrude. They felt only that they had triumphed; and that the disgrace of a former repulse-the only repulse of any consequence with which the British arms have ever been tarnished in India-was wiped away. Let justice be done, likewise, to the native troops. If they hung back at first from the horrors of an assault, it was because the explosion which paved the way to it came upon them with a violence as little expected as it was desired. They soon recovered that cool discipline for which they are remarkable; and following the example set them by the Europeans, took ample vengeance for all the cruelties which had been perpetrated by the garrison upon such of their comrades as fell into their hands.

In this manner was the city of Bhurtpore besieged and taken; for the citadel held only out till two o'clock that day, when it also submitted. There fell during this service, on the part of the enemy, 5000 men killed in the assault, with 5000 more killed and wounded during the bombardment whilst the total loss of the conquerors hardly came up to 1000 men of all ranks. It is true, that among the slain were numbered several officers of high character and lofty promise, particularly Brigadier General Edwards, who

died at the head of the second brigade, pierced by many wounds; but, if the importance of the conquest be consi dered, and its moral effects throughout India, it will be thought, even after this account has been taken, cheaply won. Bhurtpore, as we need not observe, was universally regarded throughout the East as impregnable; it was, indeed, a common remark among the natives, that India was not subdued because Bhurtpore had not fallen. That boast is now rendered futile for ever; and it must be apparent to every native prince, that against the superior valour and discipline of the English army, neither the number of his followers, nor the strength of his castle, will avail.

Bhurtpore is represented by officers who have visited it, as differing but little, in its interior arrangement, from other native towns. In circumference it measures about eight miles; and its ramparts are composed of masonry, coated every year by fresh layers of clay. These, drying, or rather being baked by the heat of the sun, over the stone. work, give to it a solidity and strength quite unusual; and it is to this that the little impression made by our bat tering guns has been attributed. The Rajah's palace is said to be a mean building; but the fort or citadel is exceedingly respectable, and it is everywhere surrounded by a wellbuilt riveted ditch. The place con tained in all 300 pieces of artillery, and its stores in ammunition previous to the siege were very abundant.

It is scarcely necessary to add, that as soon as intelligence of the fall of Bhurtpore spread abroad, the other towns in the principality made haste to offer their submission, and that the war was declared to be at an end. The young Rajah Bulwunt Singh was then conducted in state to the palace of his fathers, where, in the presence of the 14th regiment, he was, by Lord Combermere, seated on the throne; whilst Doorjun Sal, the usurper, who, in an attempt to make his escape, fell into the hands of our cavalry, was conveyed as a state prisoner to the fortress of Allahabad. He still con tinues to reside there, subsisting on a pension allowed him by the Honourable East India Company. Thus was one of the heaviest clouds which has for many years darkened our Eastern horizon, dispersed.

WAR BETWEEN PERSIA AND RUSSIA.

Do not mistake us, gentle readerIt is not our intention to give a history of this war, nor even to write a "memoire pour servir a l'histoire," &c. we shall neither encumber you with unnecessary details, nor involve you in a labyrinth of dates; we shall add no appendix of "official dispatches," and subjoin no 66 returns of killed, wounded, and missing;" we intend merely to give you a short sketch of the operations of the contending parties since the war broke out; and this we do solely from affection to you, because we know that you cannot obtain from any one else the information you have been looking for. We feel, too, that we have ourselves excited in you this wholesome appetite for Asiatic in telligence, and that it is therefore, "in a certain sense," incumbent upon us to allay its cravings.

Before entering on our military operations, however, it may be well to give you some account of the Russian provinces south of the Caucasus, and of the feelings of their population. We have already said, that, by the treaty of Goolistan, Persia had ceded to Russia the provinces of Georgia, Imeretia, Mingrelia, Derbund, Badkoo, Sheerwan, Shekkee, Ganja, Karabaugh, Moghan, and part of Talish. Of these, the three first are inhabited chiefly by Christians of the Georgian and Armenian churches, but a majo rity of the population of the others is Mahommedan. Each of these provinces was formerly held by an hereditary chief, who acknowledged alle giance to any prince who was strong enough to exact it, and considered himself entitled again to assert his independence as soon as he thought he had the power to maintain it. Thus they were all subject to the more powerful Shahs of the Suffoveeah dynasty, but did not recognise the authority of the weaker princes of that family. They shortly after submitted to the Turks, and Russia, during the reign of Peter, took possession of Derbund, Badkoo, and part of Sheerwan;

but they were all again united to Persia under Nadir Shah. In the confusion which followed the death of that monarch, they once more became independent, but some of them were again subdued by Aga Mahommed Khan. The authority of Persia, in these dependencies, had not, however, been fully re-established at his death; and the interference of Russia in the affairs of Georgia, and her war with Persia arising out of this interference, finally separated them from the pos◄ sessions of the Shah.t

Russia did not, however, conquer these countries by force of arms. The chiefs, fearing the tyranny of their Persian superiors, and hoping to secure their independence by engaging Russia to support them, made common cause with her against the enemy whose power they most dreaded, and voluntarily admitted her authority, which they vainly hoped might not be permanently exercised. Like all Asiatics, they readily incurred every hazard of distant evil to enable them to shake off a present annoyance, and they have shared the fate of almost all people who seek foreign aid against a domestic enemy. The chiefs were for some time treated with consideration by their new superiors-they retained as much of their hereditary influence and authority as was likely to prove beneficial to their followers-they enjoyed a revenue sufficient to maintain them respectably, if not splendidly, and Russian military rank, and decorations of Christian orders were liberally bestowed upon them. But after the new government was firmly established, the system gradually changed

they were now subjected to the mortification of finding their power undermined, and their authority sup planted by the Russian officers; intrigues were resorted to, and plots concerted to drive some to rebellion, and to induce others to fly from the punishment denounced against them for imaginary offences, till at length all the Mahommedan chieftains were

* Vol. XXI. p. 158. + See Vol. XXI. p. 159. The history of one of these transactions will serve as a specimen. Mehdee Koolee Khan, hereditary chief of Karabaugh, retained the possessions of his father, who had voluntarily submitted to Russia, and with a view to secure to himself the

driven from their possessions to seek shelter in Persia.

Still the peasantry had perhaps lost nothing by the change, and under a more judicious government, the absence of the chiefs might have been productive of benefit to the lower classes, and even the differences of religious prejudice and observance might have been overlooked in the enjoy ment of superior worldly advantages under a good government. But we fear that Russia, with all her boasted toleration in religious matters, is, after all, a bigoted superior, and with all her pretensions to moderation, a harsh master. Her civil servants, of the lower grades at least, are miserably corrupt, and drawn from classes of society in which they are not likely to acquire enlightened views or elevated principles. The service is considered degrading, and respect is reserved for the military. On the other hand, the officers of the army in Georgia, excepting those in the higher ranks, are for the most part, persons of mean birth and no education, and they are generally insolent, overbearing, and tyrannical to those under them. With subordinate officers of such a character, what government can be popular with strangers, or effective over a proud people? The revenue levied from the country was not exorbitant, but the mode of exacting it was oppressive; and while the government affected to respect the feelings and even the prejudices of its subjects, they were continually violated and disregarded by its agents. The chiefs had been removed, but the nobles were still unprovided for. Their power and influence necessarily fell on the accession of a new authority with which theirs was incompatible. Their revenues were dissipated by their extravagance, and

they had no means of recruiting them -their pride was wounded by the arrogance and assumed superiority of the Russian officers, and they saw themselves sinking without a hope of redemption into the mass of the common people. It is true, that the Russian service was open to them, and some of them availed themselves of this gracious provision-but the consequence of these men was confined to their native soil, and lived only in the feudal attachment of their dependents. To enter the Russian army was to abandon these, and to do so, they were forced to lay aside their national habits, sometimes even their religious feelings, and to mix with the other officers, on terms inconsistent with the preservation of their peculiar tenets. Even the Georgian and Armenian Christians complained of the rigour with which the Russian authorities exacted a strict compliance with Russian habits, and were mortified to find, that in adhering to their national customs, even in regard to the dress and conduct of their wives and daughters, they gave umbrage to their superiors.

At the same time, the chiefs who had found an asylum in Persia, took advantage of the discontents which the measures of the government or the conduct of its officers had excited, and carried on incessant intrigues with their former adherents, which doubtless tended to foment feelings hostile to the existing state of affairs, and warmed their own hopes while it gratified their revenge.

The defects in the civil administration might possibly, however, have been tolerated, and the rising generation, knowing no better times, and goaded by no recollections of past splendour or exhausted influence, might have grown up in habitual submission

quiet enjoyment of them during his life, he adopted General Madatoff (the Russian commander of the province) his heir, to the prejudice of his brother and other relations; but the Khan continued to live longer than, from his irregular habits and bad constitution, had been anticipated, and a plot was accordingly devised for getting rid of him. A feud had for some time existed between Mehdee Koolee Khan and Jaffer Koolee Khan, another noble of Karabaugh. The latter, while travelling at night, was fired upon by some men concealed in a thicket by the roadside, and wounded in the hand. Mehdee Koolee Khan was charged with an attempt to make away with Jaffer Koolee, and though he protested his innocence, and offered his aid in apprehending the ruffians, his mind, naturally weak, was so successfully worked upon by his disinterested heir, that, by his advice, he fled into Persia. Cir cumstances have since occurred which seem fully to establish Mehdee Koolee Khan's innocence,

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