The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-04-03 00:00:00

FIGHTING. IN' P11.81•Al:

General Outram has signalised his assumption
—Of the command -at .Bushire byebtsining, rr•cleci-
sive victory over:the Persian army tinder the
Prince- of Shiraz.: It -had been known: for sortie
time 'in the camp-that a- considerable force Ofthe
enemrwaS established at the foot Of- the-hills, as d
nuclets, it was believed, for. • the format:fon`
of a' large' army to recapture Rushire. . The'
Bombay Tithes' gives, . frern its own cOrre-
&pendent, the following, account ot, the:action.
in Which the designs_ or tto Persian general.
were defeated The general arrived on the. 27th
' of January, and on the evening of the 3rdef
the .78th Highlanders and the 26th Regiment -.Y,L
having landed the day previeusly, a force consist-
ing of 420 sabres, 2,200-European and 2,000 native
. infantry, and eighteen guns, marched quietly out
of camp:in:the direction of the hills. The men
carried only their blankets and great coats, and
two days' cooked provisione in their .havresacks,
the commissariat being provided with three days',
in addition:
.With the utmost secresy and nelerity
the force
:marched . across the -marshy ground
which, separates Bu-shire from the: hills
through a perfect -deluge of rain, ;and arrived
on• the afternoon of • the . sth,- -- at 'the enemy's
.;entrenchment -at the village :of Borasjoon.'
They had :failed to obtain any intimation of
our approach until we were eldse upon them, when
they hastily iibandontd•their carne arid and fled to
• the hills', probably 'hoping that we might, bpi
included 'to folloW them into. their fastnesses. It
was imPoesible to intercept their retreat, although
they were' in sight, for so hasty had been their_
departure, that the whole of their camp equipage,
tents, ammunition,, and provisions were abandoned
to our force.. It will, not be • easy for' thetri: to
recover . this.--blow •to their commissariat arid
ordnance departments, 'and all:apprehension of a
serious attack on' 'BuShire. is 'dissipated for the
present; After remaining two days in the enemy's
camp, •and destroying whatever it was fonnd
impessihle t? carry, away, the return to
,Bushire ,
was commenced on the evening of the -7th,, and.-at
Midnight an attack was made upon the force from
all directions by the enemy. The confusion, owing
to the,darknes,s, and the fact that fonr-guns of the
enemy, had got the exact range-of our troops, was
frightful. At the -comrneneement 'of the 'attack',
General Outram, while riding rapidly in the:-dark
suffers.' a severe :fall,: his horse with
hitn,‘ -and though' he rallied 'a little from 'the
insensibility which it occasioned, the 'cOmmand was
obliged to be devolved' onG,eneral Stalker. Iladthe:
Persians continued -their fire, .it is impossible to
say how serious Might, haVe been our position—
for most authoritiea concur. in, the statement,- that •
we did not dare, to return a shot lest-we should
certify the enemythat:they had our range; Hapl
pily their uncertainty led to :a cessation .of thik
firing, and at daybreak they were found `drawn up
in order of battle upon-our left rear, 6,000 'or 7,000
strong, with five: guns in 'position' :Our artillery
and cavalry dashed •at there at' once, and the .
rapidity, precision, and heavy .superierity, of :nur
fire, made such -fearful flavpc in their ranks.
that 'in leSe than an .hour, 700 : dead bodies
strewed the plain, and-their . army -was flying
in all, •directions. The. cavalry,. _consisting: of
the Peonah: Horse and 3rd Lancers, rode right
through, and nearly destroyed a whole :regiment
drawn up square,- to attempt a check 'fb the"
storm. which swept over them. Our infantry had ,
not a-chance of- nearing the- enemy at 'all. Two
guns,fell-into--our 'hands,' hundred prisoners, and
the whole ammunition of the forde. •Ilad•we pos-,
sessed another thousand horse (Jacob's Scindians
had not yet reached Bushire) hardly a, man would
haVe escaped to the, hills, The rapidity of the
:Persian fire has been much noticed; their guns
are said to.possese longer range than ours, and'the'
bearing of this arm of their force amply justifies
the encomiums which modern travellers have eon..
curred in bestowing upon it. After the engagement
we buried our native -dead on the' field ; the,
bodies of the three Europeans whci fell being ear,,;
ried back to Bushire. Our loss was happily, very
small—three Europeans and seven- natives being
the number of our killed, and the wounded but
sixty-two in all. We are sorry, .to annouce the
name of Lieut.'Frankland, of the Divisional Staff,
anion ,the former ; -and of Captain- Forbes, 3rd
Light Cavalry, Captain 1111061{1er, and :Lieut. J
.Greentree, of her Majesty's 64th, among ihe latter:
—the first -and the last 'Severely. The troops
bivouacked for the day close 'to the battle'fieTd,,and
at night resumed their march op the way _back
to Bushire, where the' greater' portion, of the. force
arrived' about' midnight of the 9 th,..the -remaining
troops coming in on the 10. h. It is seldom that a
force is called -upon to perform so rapid and ha--
reSsingra march, as that -.thus so successfully,
terminated. Our men twice covered a distance of
bet Ween 40, and 50 miles- in- the same number of
hours, and this through a-country-all -but impas
sable from the torrents of rain that e.ccompamed.
them the whole way in going and returning., The
resulgeertainlY is very satisfactory, and the expense
of the -movement has been recompensed thereby:
Bushire in the absence of theforce, was garrisoned
by a naval brigade, landed :front - the ships,
and the intreached camp by ,companies, told:off
froth each regiment to the number, including, the
eick'left behind, of 1,500 men, under the command
of Colonel .Shephard. The brig Euphrates was
moored high and dry co as to command with her
guns the passage-'which connects the peninsula
with the- main land, An attack .)vas talked
of as impending, • but none -.transpired,
Meantime Our 'position` therp is. being strongly
intrenched and :fortified, 'in view to-. leaving -it
with' a garrison, that the , force may be
aVailablefor service elsewhere. Since the date"of
ourlast, a part of the. 14th Light D•rageons have
embarked for the_ Gulf, and the 41 troop horse
Artillery and a company of Madras Sappers and
Miners. The Scinde Horse, Worn Kurrachee: must,
now be 'on their *sq. It is opposed that five
other reginienta'of native Tnfantry are te ,be de-
spatched also."