The National Register. — London, England, 1815-11-26 00:00:00

NOV. 26. and which, I must tell you, was calculated upon the scale of former ware, and for an army of so.oon instead of 40,000 men, to which number it has- been augmented. I will ex plain this matter to you : by purchasing provisions at a favourable moment, they were obtained at a low rate, and by giving the men money in lien of half their rations, half the expcnce of the conveyance of food, which in this hilly country could only be carried on men's shoulders, was saved. The troops were nevertheless well fed and satisfied with the arrangement. The general plan of the campaign now claims yonr atten tion. It was necessary to guard our immense line of frontier against all those powers which I have embraced . tinder the denomination of " hostile States," and to prevent them from confederating. For this purpose the Madi as and Bombay armies were advanced, and ordered to hover close to their frontiers, whilst that portion of the Bengal force which was not otherwise engaged, protected from insult the upper pro vinces. This done, 30,000 men were prepared for the inva• sion of Nepaul. Their territory, extending above 800 miles, required as well to prevent the Goorkalis from making incur sions and la) ing waste to our country, as to make a strong and general impression upon theirs, that we should invade them from several .points at the same moment. Acting uppn this principle, four divisions entered their country, i. e. two to the westwatd and near to the Sulledge, and two to the eastward upon Catmanda, the capital. Let us first consider the move ments of the western divisions : General Ochterlony, a man of reputation, both as a sol dier and a diplomatist, commanded the most westel ly division. His first enterpt ise was an attempt upon Tcrragwery ; after much labour he succeeded in getting up his cannon. He then cannonaded the but woi ks, or stockades, repelled several bold sallies, and got possession of them. This accomplished, and having by an able movement cut off all supplies from the garrison, he laid siege to the body of the place, and soon forced the enemy to abandon it. The enemy, under Ameer Sing. then takes up an almost impregnable position. Gen. Ochterlony circumscribes them, cuts off their communication with the Billarpore Rajah, from whom they drew their sup plies, and by that means forces him to join us. General 0. nest Makes a bold attack upon their fortified position, takes their stockades, kills 500 of them, and drives then) into Ma 'oven. He invests that place, and forces Ameer Sing to ca pitulate, and he obliges him at the same time to enter into terms for the capitulation of the other western army under Balbuddah Sing, his son, giving np by this treaty all the for tresses within the tange of the:r extensive dish icts. The other western army was commanded by Gillespie, he who saver) Belore and conquered Java. Gillespie moved won Calunger, and ordered it to be stormed at all points at the same moment. Unfortunately some of the division did not come up in time, and the others lost many men and could make no impression. General G. observing the disas trous state of things, flew to the head of the attacking co lumn, but not being vigorcusly seconded, he failed, and lost his life in the attempt. Let this be our censure, — Gillespie was too brave. General Martindell succeded to the command. Another unsuccessful attempt was made to storm this place. The brave defenders, however, had suf fered so much, that they retired from the fort. The enemy under Balbuddah Sing moved off to Naken, which they abandoned without resistance. They then took up a for tified position on the heights near Jietuck. Driven from this, they retired into the fortress, which, as before stated, surrendered by General Ochterlony's treaty. Let me now call your attention to the conditct of the eastern armies : .... S"." TUE NATIONAL R.F.GiSTER: 759 The army under the command of General Suliven Wood was in its first attempt beaten back from some strong stockades. Ile then laid waste to the country called the Terrace. last effort was upon Butwall, a strong place, which he was obliged to abandon. After this more than one military error was committed ; Gen. Martineiell had lost two detachments of 500 men each, and other circumstances of a disastrous nature occurred. To counteract the evils arising from the fatal supineness of one or two Officers, a fifth army was pushed into Kamoues which rimy' the want of other able Office's was commanded by Col. Nicholls the Q. M. G ; this army having got possession of the passes, pushed to the capi►al. The enemy sent out a force fiom Alu►ora to cut off their supplies, this forte was attacked and routed. Col. N. finding that his troops were elated h this success, and conceiving that the enemy must he proportionally dispirited, lie determined not to wait f or _ his battering train, but to make an immediate attack upon the fortress. lie did so, and gained a considerable portion of the town. At night his force was attacked sword in hand by the Gootkahs ; however, they were vigorously repulsed, and the town and province was soon after surrendered by treaty. The result of all these efforts was our getting posses sion of all the country from the Sulledge to the Gogra. In a commercial point of view, the possession of Kamouett and Sounagur will open to us the trade of Chinese Tartary. which I have no doubt will be lucrative beyond the most sanguine hopes. In regard to the expences of the war, the possession of ib. Terace of itself will more than repay it, FINANCE. We hare sincere satisfaction, no less in justice to the ability with which this important branch of political economy is conducted, than as a source of consolation and confidence to the public creditors, in offering a state ment of the Sinking Fund, giving a comparison thereof, as to its power now, to redeem the debt, with what it was during the ten years peace from 1783 to 1793: by this it may be seen, that notwithstanding the large amount of the present debt, our future prospect, as to its reduction, is very animating and consolatory to every friend of Britain. The National Debt amounted in 1783 to Derreeoe in 10 years peace, being about 1-50th part of the (10t 233,733,6 r, The National debt at present Amount of the Sinking Fund is 14 millions per annum, which, at S per rent. compound interest, will raise in le years, a sum of 176,325,000, which would tiny up a capital in 3 per cent. annuities, at 70 per cent of 251,892,800 Being equal to 15-50th part of the debt : consequently the pow pr of the Sinking Fund is now 15 times greater than it was in 1783, and would discharge the whole debt in about 27 years. Circular orders have been issued by the Lords of the Treasury to the departments and public offices, for the discharge of all supei numaries. The Public Offices will be illuminated ell the occasion of the Peace, to-morrow evening, and on that night only. A