The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-31 00:00:00

OVERLAND MAIL.

An extraordinary express, in anticipation of the
Overland Mail, has brought correspondence and
journals from Bombay to the 3d January, Cal-
mita 22d December. The English mail of the Bth
November reached Agra, vid Bombay, on the 15th,
Delhi and Meerut on the 12th Nov. and . Lahore
on the 13th Dec. The Mail of the 24th November
reached Bombay on the 28th December by the
steamer Auckland.
The intelligence from Burmah. by this mail is of
a different nature to any that has been given
hitherto. The latest date from the seat of war is
ail of the 17th
the 16th ult. Pegu which, by the m
December, was reported as having fallen into the
hands of the English, has since then been invested
by a force of 8,000 Burmese, and had to be relieved
by a force of 1,400 men in boats, under General
Godwin, whilst a land Brigade, under Colonel
Sturt, co-operated with the general. The Bur-
mese suffered very severely, but our loss was but
trifling. The death of Brigadier M'Neil, of the
Madras army, from the effects of a sun-stroke, is
the only casualty reported amongst the commis-
sioned ranks on this occasion. The enemy made a
desperate effort to gain possession of the place, but
were each time repulsed with great loss by Major
Hill, of the Madras Fusiliers, who was in command
of the troops left at Pegu, after it was captured
by us. The force under the latter officer behaved
most gallantly, but had not General Godwin's
force arrived when it did, Pegu must have fallen
again into the hands of the enemy, and the British
who garrisoned the place would have been butchered
to a man. The Indian press is loud in blaming the
timid policy of the Court of Directors, which has
actually made an enemy where none existed, and has
given the Burmese a courage which they did not
possess before. This is hardly a true view of the
case. The timidity of the commander in Burmah,
General Godwin, may be censured with great pro-
priety, and the manner in which the Court of Di-
rectors and Board of Control have tied Lord Dal-
housie's hands in the policy to be pursued is a matter
of much regret ; but the Court of Directors cannot
with justice be blamed for the variations and do-
nothing tactics of the general who commands in Bur-
mah. It is reported in the best-informed Indian
circles that the Governor-General would have sent
another officer to supersede Godwin long ago, but
that his lordship, not being a military man, cannot
with propriety interfere without the full consent
and concurrence of the Commander-in-Chief. Now,
Sir William is at this moment either at Simla or
at the foot of the Simla hills, some twelve hun-
dred miles away from the seat of Government,
and every letter from the Governor-General in
Calcutta to the Commander-in-Chief in the north-
west takes six days to reach its destination,
hence the delay which has occurred in sending
another commander to Burmah. It is, moreover,
said that the Governor-General wishes to nominate
an officer of the company's service, Sir John.
Cheape, to the post, but that Sir W. Gomme ob-
jects to the supercession of one of his own service
by an officer of another arm. Whether the press
of India are right in the unanimous demand they
are making for General Godwin's recal from Bur-
mah, is a matter which can be judged of by the
English public after the following plain statement
of facts relative to the attempt at recapturing
Pegu on the part of the Burmese. The first cap-
ture of Pegu took place in May last, but the place
was immediately after abandoned by our troops,
and re-occupied by the Burmese. The last mail
took home news of the recapture of the place, at a
not inconsiderable loss of life. When recaptured
so very small a force was left in possession, that
the enemy almost immediately invested the place.
Communication between Rangoon and Pegu seems
to have been intercepted very shortly after the
latter town was in our occupation, for a boat laden
with commissariat stores, under a small escort
from the sth Madras Native Infantry, was cap-
tured on its way to Pegu, and the guard killed or
taken prisoners. By this event 2,000 rounds of
large gun ammunition, besides a quantity of
valuable stores, fell into the hands of the enemy.
The total ignorance of General Godwin's " intelli-
gence department," regarding the movements of
the enemy, can be the only excuse for sending
stores of the above nature (up a river through the
heart of a country occupied by the enemy) under
a guard of twenty Sepoys. The Burmese came
down in numbers about 1,500. The Madras Sepoys
fought most gallantly, but what could they do with
such fearful odds. The Jeruadar of the party was
captured and beheaded, and only five men, who
were rescued by a party sent out from Pegu by
Major Hill, escaped. This appears to/ have been
the first event which put courage into the hearts of
the Burmese, for a very few days after they invested
Pegu and most completely hemmed in the small
force under Major Hill. The latter officer sent no
less than four messengers to the General, with re-
quests for reinforcements. The ammunition of the
force uuder Major Hill's command was very nearly
expended, and altogether his situation was most
critical. All the messengers reached Rangoon in
safety, but the general seems to have used some
little delay in sending off the reinforcements. Not
so the commodore, who immediately dispatched
two boats each from the Fox, the Sphinx, and the
Mozuffer, under the command of Captain Shad-
well. These boats were manned with 150 marines,
and 200 English soldiers were sent in a small steamer
with ammunition and commissariat stores for the
garrison at Pegu. Every one considered the sup-
plies and the force sent to be too small for the emer-
gency, and the event proved this opinion to be true.
The steamer did not reach the scene of action, but
the men in the boats fought most bravely; one Royal
Marine of the party is said to have killed 11 of the
enemy single-handed. So small a force could, how-
ever, do no great good, and our troops were obliged ;
to effect a retreat, which they did in excellent
order. It ought to be kept in remembrance of the
corps of Royal Marines that 150 men kept at
bay, very nearly forced their way through, and
ended by effecting a most masterly retreat, in spite
of all that 1,500 of the fiercest soldiers in the east
could do. When the repulse of this gallant band
was known at Rangoon, the most energetic mea-
sures were taken to send off a force of 1,600 MOn
in steamers and boats. Generals Godwin and Steel
both accompanied the force, and Colonel Sturt
marched by land with a force of 400 men. On the
arrival of the river force, the Burmese stood their
ground for a time, but were eventually compelled
to evacuate the place. Their loss was severe, ours
but trifling. More details not known. The Cal-
cutta _Englishman, which reached Bombay (January
3), gives out that the 2d Bengal Fusiliers, now
doing duty in Fort William, will ere long be or-
dered to the scene of action. In the meantime, the
river Irrawaddy has fallen very considerably since
the last rains, and great doubts are entertained
whether the river communication between Ran-
goon and Pegu will be practicable a few weeks
hence. In the last two months the river has.fallen
no less than 27 feet at Rangoon, and throughout
the east the fall of water in the rivers is in a greater
ratio the further one goes from the mouth. The
war which everybody said was at an end has now
apparently only begun. Where no enemy dared a
few months ago to oppose our advance, we have
actually made an enemy for ourselves by the weak
policy and vacillating measures adopted by our
general. The energy and rapidity with which the
first blows were struck in this war, made the Bur-
mese authorities to fear for the result of the cam-
paign, but the extraordinary inactivity which we
have displayed during the last six months has
given them greater courage than they possessed
even during the war of 1826.