First Anglo-Burmese War 1823-1826

The Burmese occupation of Assam and Manipur to the northeast of British India and Arakan to the southeast produced friction between expansionist Burma and the British East India Company in the early nineteenth century. Thado Maha Bandula was one of the main proponents of an offensive policy against Calcutta at the Burmese court of Bagyidaw. He believed that a decisive victory could gain Burma eastern Bengal as well as allow them to consolidate their gains in their new western empire of Arakan, Assam, Jaintia, Cachar and Manipur.

In an attempt to annex Bengal, Burma sent armies, numbering between 20 and 40 thousand, across the frontier in the winter of 1823-1824. At the onset of the war, the confident Burmese forces, under the command of Bandula made a spirited attempt to break through British lines and march simultaneously on Syhlet from the north and Chittagong from the east. The Burmese captured large areas of the province in the region of Chittagong. On March 5, 1824 the British declared war on Burma.

Despite initial victories, the Burmese were soon on the defensive. An Anglo-Indian army of 10,000 fought to drive the Burmese from Assam and Bengal; a second army of 11,000 soldiers marched into Arakan. On May 11, 1824, a sea borne expeditionary force, with about 11,000 British and Indian troops commanded by Sir Archibald Campbell, seized Rangoon without a fight. This was a possibility the Burmese had not taken into account. A Siamese sponsored army composed of Mon troops fought on the British side but they were soon recalled to Siam. Ethnic Karen provided the Anglo-Indians with scouts. However, British hopes of making the Burmese submit by holding the delta region and threatening the capital failed.

As the rains approached, Bandula, having crossed the Naaf, paused with his army of 40,000 on the road to Chittagong, only to receive news that a British fleet had reached Rangoon. Bandula was then forced to wheel his divisions around quickly and march them over the Arakan Yoma at the height of the monsoon while keeping most of his army intact. But then, even with fresh troops from Amarapura and levies from throughout the Irrawaddy valley totaling 60,000 men the general was unable to re-take Rangoon in 1825.

British forces moved up the Irrawaddy River and, at the same time, took control of coastal regions. With the coming of the cold weather, and reinforced and re-supplied by sea, the British then managed to break through Burmese lines and begin their march up-river. At Danubyu, Bandula tried to make a stand, massing 60,000 at that small delta town, including 35,000 musketeers. The Burmese general was killed by an exploding shell. In disarray, his army, under heavy bombardment, retreated north. Campbell pushed his British-Indian army north along the Irrawaddy and then halted for a second rainy season at Prome.

A faction at the Burmese court, led by the Prince of Tharrawaddy -- the king's younger brother -- advised Bagyidaw to open negotiations. The king, however, chose to fight on, sending down thousands more hastily raised and improperly equipped levies. The British pressed on despite Burmese attacks. The Diana, a steamer recently arrived from Calcutta and the first ever used in battle, was deployed to counter the huge teak war boats which had been the pride of the Burmese armed forces. It was the defeat of this river fleet, as well as a decisive British victory at Pagan, which finally led to a Burmese request for negotiations in 1826.

On February 24, 1826, in a small village along the Irrawaddy 45 miles from the Burmese capital of Ava, a peace treaty was signed between Campbell and a representative of the Burmese court. Under the Treaty of Yandabo, the Burma agreed to cease interference in the affairs of Jaintia, Cachar and Assam and to cede to the British Manipur, Arakan and the Tennasserim. They also agreed to an exchange of diplomats with Calcutta and to pay an indemnity, in installments, of 10 million rupees (1 million pounds sterling).

The war turned out to be the longest and most expensive in British Indian history. It lasted over two years, cost the British exchequer 5 million pounds, and led to the deaths of 15,000 British and Indian soldiers as well as tens of thousands of Burmese. Many of the Anglo-Indian casualties were caused by malaria and dysentery. Of the 3586 men in the five British regiments which served in Burma, 3115 died. Only 16 officers and 150 enlisted men died in battle.

References

Warfare and Armed Conflicts, 409; Making of Modern Burma, 18-20; Dictionary of Wars, 15; Military History, 865-6; True Love and Bartholomew: Rebels on the Burmese Border, 20; Mon Nationalism and Civil War in Burma, 88; EB: Anglo-Burmese Wars, Myanmar.

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