COLBURN'S UNITED SERVICE MAGAZINE AND Naval and Military Journal, 1846. PART II. LONDON: H. HURST, 27, KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND. SOLD BY ALL BOOKSELLERS. CONTENTS Reminiscences of the late War of Succession in Portugal; and of Englishmen in the Russian Service-the Fanshawes The Attack upon Soult's Rear-Guard at Seville, in August, 1812. PAGE Sketches in Spain-the Algerine Legion; the Surprise of Grenadella On the Military Feelings, Institutions, and Instruction of Great The Sea of Trees. By T. M. Russell, of the Kurdistan Expedition Three Days in the "Garden of Ireland." By Capt. L. Smyth On the Artillery of the Ancients. By G. F. Herman The Alarm! A Frontier Story from South Africa Lodging, Washing, Swimming, and Cookery. By Lieut.-Col. Wilkie Outlines of the Life of Ibrahim Pasha. By an Eastern Traveller 427, The Holy City in 1846. By Abdallah Hadji. Funeral Obsequies of the Burmese Priesthood, &c. From the Journal of Major Percy Neville, h.p. 12th Foot, late 63rd Foot The new War in Kafirland. By the Author of "The Voyage of Narrative of an Expedition into the Interior of New Zealand, during the months of June and July, 1845. With some Account of the Attack on the Native Fortress of O Haiowai, on the 1st of July, by the Troops under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Despard, 99th Regt., acting as Colonel on the Staff. The Burning of the St. Louis Theatre, Quebec: a Record of the COLBURN's UNITED SERVICE OUR TRIBUTE TO THE ARMY OF THE SUTLEDJ. FOR some time previous to the commencement of hostilities, we heard by every mail of the large amount of troops and artillery that was collecting on the Sutledj, and would speedily compose the finest and best appointed army ever assembled on the soil of India. When, therefore, rumours reached England that a great battle or battles had been fought, in which we were victorious, though with heavy loss, we imagined that at least some 30,000 British troops must have been engaged. What, then, was our astonishment to find, on the details reaching us, that our boasted force, consisting of the main body from Umballah, and divisions withdrawn, at considerable risk, from Loodianah and Ferozepore, did not exceed 17,000! It pleases the Almighty, for his own inscrutable purposes, that English power should become "paramount" throughout the vast territory of the Indian peninsula, and, in furtherance of his will, that, by the overthrow of the Sikhs in a war of short duration, its sway should now be undisputed. And well was it that Divine Providence favoured us in the recent contest, since human wisdom and forethought made so little preparation to meet it! The truth is, the Governor-General departed from this country with a pledge of peace upon his lips, which trammelled him greatly when matters began to draw to a head at Lahore; and hence it was with an unwholesome dread of the House of Commons that he undertook his preparations for the war which he found inevitable. Still there can be no doubt of Lord Hardinge having set forward on his journey towards the frontier with a full determination to establish a proper understanding with the Lahore state, and, either by negociation or the sword, to put an end to the disorderly proceedings of its chiefs and army; little dreaming, however, that the Sikhs themselves would at once cut the knot of his political embarrassments, by a bold invasion of the British territory, with a force, both in magnitude and real military strength, far surpassing anything they could have been conceived to possess. Thus taken by surprise, and at great disadvantage, the British Army, small as it was, lying scattered as already alluded to, the GovernorGeneral summoned all his energy for the task before him; and thenceforward his course, however hazardous it proved to be, being clear, he acted with the promptitude, skill, and decision of an able Commander, and with a chivalrous valour, when perilous occasions required a great example of self-devotion, that drew forth universal admiration. U. S. MAG., No. 210, May, 1846. B. |
