CHAPTER XIII.
LIEUTENANTS MOORE AND MALCOLMSON, AND THE VICTORIA CROSS.
Who among our readers has not been interested about Persia—that mysterious land in which such wonders have been said to exist? So many of the tales in the “Thousand and One Nights” refer to Persia, that most boys, at least, are well acquainted with some of the peculiarities of the people.
Although it is difficult to pronounce any decided judgment as regards the actual antiquity of any Eastern nation, yet there seems to be but little doubt that before England had even emerged from a condition of semi-barbarism, civilization had made considerable progress in Persia; and although that nation is principally famous to us on account of its tales of winged monsters, dragons, enchanters, and genii, yet this peculiarity may be in consequence of early travellers bringing to us that which was at the time the most acceptable; and as we in England can scarcely assume to have been lovers of science and truth during more than three hundred years, it is possible that any profound or philosophical truths brought from the East would have been formerly as little appreciated as a book of algebra would be in a nursery. The laws of the Medes and Persians are referred to in the Bible, and in the book of Esther reference is made to a King Ahasuerus, who it is said ruled over one hundred and twenty-seven provinces, which then constituted the kingdom of Persia.
It is stated by some of the earliest writers that the Persians were a nation of shepherds, hardy and warlike, that they gradually increased in numbers and power, and conquered and brought under their rule less powerful nations, until they became almost the greatest people of the East.
The most celebrated of the ancient kings of Persia was Cyrus, who organized the Persians, gave them special laws for their guidance, political institutions, and established a well-disciplined army. This Cyrus not only became King of Babylon, Media, and Persia, but at length, by the right of conquest, obtained absolute dominion over the greater part of Asia.
Cyrus was succeeded by his son Cambyses, who was a man that delighted in war. He died in consequence of a hurt which he received while mounting his horse.
Following Cambyses was Artaxerxes; and we then come to Darius, who loved conquest better than had any of his predecessors. This king was desirous of obtaining the homage even of Greece, and sent heralds to claim it, but without success. He then raised a large army and invaded Greece, but the Athenians under Miltiades met him, and gained a great victory, known as the battle of Marathon, and fought two thousand three hundred and fifty-two years ago.
Xerxes succeeded Darius, and continued the attack on Greece. It was during this war that Leonidas, with his band of Spartans, defended the pass of Thermopylæ against such overwhelming odds—a deed which would certainly have gained him the Victoria Cross in modern times.
Darius III. had reached the dangerous condition of a very rich but not a warlike king; when then, he, by means of his wealth, incited other nations to make war upon Alexander, King of Macedonia, this great conqueror determined to attack Persia—a feat which he accomplished with so much success that he everywhere defeated the Persians, who for upwards of a hundred years were, in a great measure, under the yoke of Greece.
In more modern times Persia has been invaded by the Tartars, a vagrant race of hunters and shepherds who were warlike and organized enough to subjugate Persia.
With the exception of the early wars with the Greeks already referred to, the Persians, up to the year 1700, had not met in battle any of the armies of Europe. Peter the Great of Russia had, however, for a long time been desirous of extending his territory to the banks of the Caspian Sea, and had merely waited for a pretext to wage war with Persia. He did not seek an opportunity in vain, for a Russian caravan returning from China was plundered by the Persians, and this offence so irritated the Russian autocrat that he put himself at the head of his army, sailed from the Volga, and landed at Daghestan. Shortly after hostilities ceased, and Russia obtained from the Persians the towns of Baku, Derbund, and several provinces. During this period the Persians were also at war with the Afghans, who had invaded Persia and had been the cause of much misery.
The late Czar Nicholas of Russia had no sooner ascended the throne than he commenced war with Persia, and at length, in 1828, concluded a treaty by which he gained several provinces.
About the years 1836, 1837, a collision took place between the Persians and the Afghans. It was the object of the Persians to gain possession of the district of Herat. Now this district lies on the north-west of India, and may be called one of the barriers to our Eastern Empire, and as such it is essential to be preserved as an independent state. In July, 1837, the Persians marched an army against the Afghans, and, after a siege of ten days, succeeded in capturing Ghorian, and in December commenced the siege of Herat.
Various remonstrances had been made to the Persians by the British authorities in connexion with the attack upon Herat, but without avail, and they merely had the effect of making the English unpopular. At this time a confidential messenger bearing despatches for the British minister was insulted and detained by the Persians. This and one or two other similar proceedings on the part of the Persians, in addition to their attack upon our then allies the Afghans, rendered amicable communications with them out of place, so that in June, 1838, our minister quitted the Persian court and ceased any friendly communication with the Persians.
During March, 1839, Sir Frederick Maitland, commander-in-chief of the naval forces in India, landed some men from the _Wellesley_ at Bushire. It appears that there was only one locality at which a landing or embarkation ought to have taken place, and in the present instance this custom was not paid attention to, and it was nearly leading to unfortunate results, as the Resident was threatened by a large party of armed men. Fifty marines and about thirty sepoys were provided with sixty rounds of ball cartridge each, and, under the command of Captain (now Lieutenant-General Sir S.) Ellis, approached the shore. Upon coming within range a heavy fire was opened on this small party, wounding several men, but fortunately killing none. A rapid pull, a leap on shore, and steady advance towards the position occupied by the Persians, had the effect of driving the enemy away, and the small body of Europeans effected an entrance into the Residency and commenced preparations for carrying off the Resident to the ships.
At this time, however, a heavy gale of wind sprang up, which lasted three days, and entirely prevented communication by boats between the vessels and the shore. The Persians, knowing this, rather anticipated the capture or massacre of the small party left on shore, but so decided were the proceedings of the officer in command and so judiciously were his arrangements made, that his enemy, although numbering ten to one, thought it more prudent to leave him alone.
During each evening of these three days the Persians used to assemble to the number of several hundreds and make demonstrations as though they purposed attacking our men, but no sooner did they appear than the little garrison was turned out and kept under arms, ready and willing for a fight should the Persians feel so disposed. This bold proceeding seemed to have the effect of awing them, for no attack was made, and even a field-work that was being constructed in front of the Residency was not continued, upon Captain Ellis’s intimation that he would fire upon the working party the instant a spade was put into the ground.
On the fourth day after landing, a reinforcement was sent from the ships, and the whole party, including the Resident, safely passed through the armed throngs and embarked in the boats. Each of these, provided with a gun, pulled out, showing a muzzle directed on the rabble and ready to discharge its iron hail should a shot be fired at the boats.
Towards the end of 1855 it was evident that the Persian Government did not intend to keep faith with England, for in December Prince Sultan Moorad Meerza set out from Tehran in command of an army that was to act against Herat. Whilst our Government was remonstrating with that of Persia on this proceeding, several insults were offered to the British officials at Tehran, and the right of asylum accorded to the residence of the British mission was violated. After various futile attempts to obtain redress, war was at length decided upon, and an expedition was despatched to the Persian Gulf from India.
In January, 1857, the expedition embarked, and reached its destination at the end of the month, and shortly after was landed at Bushire. The Arabian and Persian coasts on either side of the entrance to the Gulf are desolate in the extreme; steep cliffs without any sign of vegetation rise from the water’s edge, whilst inland there seems no sign of a habitation; several barren islands stud the coast on both sides, and are the residence of a few sea-birds only.
The village of Bushire, which was captured with scarcely any opposition, is a place of some importance. It is imperfectly defended by a wall, with towers at intervals to afford a flank defence. The town itself is composed of narrow streets or alleys, whilst the buildings are square and solid-looking. The places of interest in the town are the church, the bazaar, and a reservoir. In the background is a range of mountains which is usually covered with snow.
The troops forming the Persian expedition were very soon actively employed. On the 3rd of February the entire force was assembled and drawn up in order of march. This force consisted of the 64th Regiment, 78th Highlanders, 20th and 26th Regiments of Native Infantry, the 2nd Light Infantry, and 4th Bombay Rifles, 3rd Light Cavalry, some horse artillery, and field batteries—a somewhat diminutive army with which to invade a kingdom, but one which was found efficient enough for the work it was called upon to perform.
During the first two days’ march this little army encountered two of the most disagreeable incidents of a tropical climate. First a gale of wind sprang up, carrying with it a huge cloud of sand, which penetrated not only the eyes, nose, mouth, and ears, but seemed actually to force its way into the pores of the skin. When the army halted, and were bivouacked in order of march, a tremendous thunderstorm burst upon them, rain and hail coming down in torrents, when both officers and men were drenched to the skin, for they had no cover such as tents or trees. A piercing cold wind blew upon them, and rendered their condition more trying than can easily be imagined except by those who have experienced similar inconveniences. But many examples have shown that nothing can daunt the courage or decrease the ardour of the British soldier, especially when led, as he was in this instance, by such a man as Outram.
It was known that the Persians were in order of battle at about eight or nine miles from the spot on which the troops had bivouacked on the night of the 4th of February; therefore, before proceeding on the march on the morning of the 5th, the loaded arms were discharged and reloaded, in order to avoid the damaging effects of the night’s rain.
Shortly after mid-day the Persian army was discovered in an intrenched position. A short halt took place, in order to get the regiments into their proper positions, when, to the annoyance of our men, the enemy were seen in full retreat, which they continued at such a pace as to prevent their being overtaken, except by a few of our cavalry who attacked their rear-guard.
Our troops immediately took possession of their intrenched camp, in which were large quantities of ammunition, grain, and camp equipage. The intrenched position was found very weak, and would easily have been taken by our little army, whereas a village near, termed Brás-Joon, had it been but slightly fortified, would have become a most formidable position.
During the 6th and 7th of February the troops were occupied in destroying military stores and searching for hidden guns, treasure, &c. On the night of the 6th an alarm occurred in the camp, and the whole force stood to their arms. Fortunately, the moon shone brilliantly, and thus a probable disaster was avoided, for one of the corps mistook a patrol of the Poonah Horse for a party of the enemy, and skirmished up to it, but fortunately discovered the mistake before a shot was fired.
These night alarms—especially with soldiers not thoroughly trained—are invariably dangerous, the probability being that friends are mistaken for enemies, and shots not unusually exchanged. We were once witness to a scene which, although ludicrous afterwards and to the lookers-on, was certainly unpleasant to the principal performer. It happened that a soldier in his shirt and trousers had wandered some distance from our camp during the night, when an alarm arose that the enemy were upon us. Men scarcely awake rose to their feet, rifle in hand, and seeing a white object in the distance rushing towards them opened fire on it. The more the unfortunate man shouted (for he was within the white object, which was his shirt) the more rapid was the firing at him, until he came sufficiently close to be recognised. Fortunately the darkness of the night and the hurried manner in which the men fired saved him from being hit.
On the evening of the 7th of February the return march of the army commenced towards Bushire, the enemy having been observed retreating amidst the fastnesses of the mountains far away. Until midnight all was quiet, and no enemy was expected, when suddenly the discharge of musketry in the rear caused the forces to be on the alert, and it was then found that the rear-guard was attacked. In less than half an hour the whole army was surrounded by skirmishers and galloping horsemen, who yelled and trumpeted, making as much noise as possible. One of the Persian buglers, who was acquainted with the English calls, sounded the “Cease firing” repeatedly, close to the Highlanders.
Our troops, although surprised in a great measure, were as steady as though on parade, and received the charges of the enemy’s cavalry with a fire which emptied many saddles. This exhibition of courage and discipline was the more commendable, considering very few of the men had ever previously been under fire.
During the greater part of the night the Persians kept up a desultory fire, which, however, produced but little damage, and when at daybreak the fire slackened it was feared that there would not, after all, be any real battle; but as the morning fogs dispersed the enemy were seen in position, their right resting on a village called Khoosh-aub. Several dry watercourses were in their front, and these were lined with skirmishers. There were also large bodies of cavalry on both flanks, and altogether a force of about 8000 (one-fourth of which was cavalry) was assembled to oppose us.
As soon as there was light enough a rapid cannonade commenced on both sides, whilst a change of front was made by our own commander, immediately after which the advance was made with but little loss, considering the heavy firing brought against us.
The fire from the Persian guns was soon almost silenced by that from our own, which was carried on at a tolerably close range.
Our cavalry, consisting of some irregulars and the 3rd Bombay, finding some of the enemy’s horsemen opposed to them, made a brilliant charge, fairly sweeping the enemy before them. There were only two or three of the regular battalions of the Persians that stood their ground at all or retired in regular order. The 3rd Cavalry charged through these men, who received them with tolerable steadiness. It was on this occasion that Lieutenant A. Moore gained the Victoria Cross.
Lieutenant Moore was first within the square at which his regiment charged. His horse fell dead beneath him, and he would soon have fallen a victim had not a brother officer (Lieutenant Malcolmson) fought his way back and assisted him with difficulty out of the crowd of the enemy. Both Lieutenants Moore and Malcolmson gained the Victoria Cross for their conduct on this occasion.
The result of this battle was the entire rout of the enemy, who were defeated at every point, and in the retreat were cut up by the artillery and cavalry. A couple of brass guns were captured, a standard, and a large number of muskets. The Enfield rifle, which was used in this affair, cast terror on the Persians. On one occasion a horseman, who was making threatening demonstrations at a distance of 800 yards, was neatly picked off by a good shot, an officer in the 2nd European Light Infantry. About 700 dead were found on the field, and a vast number of wounded were carried away.
The troops, after the battle, moved off a short distance and bivouacked, but were very shortly disturbed by heavy rain, which continued without interruption during several days. The roads became almost impassable, the soil—a mixture of clay and sand—being ankle-deep in mud. The troops at length were forced to halt, and without complaining stretched themselves in the mud, and took that rest which all so much required. Although the distance from the field of battle to the lines at Bushire was over forty miles, yet it was passed by the troops, under all the disadvantages named, in thirty hours. The loss on our part during these proceedings consisted in one officer and eighteen men killed, four officers and sixty men wounded.
Shortly after these events another expedition was undertaken by our troops, and with complete success, the Persians, although brave men, lacking that essential to make them good soldiers—viz., discipline. There are several nations of the East—the Chinaman, Hindoo, and others—who have scarcely any fear of death, and who would rather cast themselves on their own swords and thus perish than fall into the hands of an enemy, and yet when these men meet in battle our own soldiers they invariably suffer an almost ignominious defeat, in consequence of their want of discipline and of steadiness under fire.
The soil and climate of Persia do not appear to be very favourable: during the day it is intensely hot, and during the night equally cold. In summer, likewise, the heat is intense. Vast deserts of sand occur in many places, and long ranges of sterile mountains cross the country in various parts. Vegetation is not very abundant, and cultivation is carried on but scantily. Game, however, abounds in many places, deer, antelopes, partridges, and wild-fowl being found, and the lion is also said to be occasionally seen.
Whether we consider the Persians as soldiers, their country as a paradise, or their cities as noble works of art, we find ourselves disappointed; for the first are little better than a half-trained rabble, their country is not fertile, and their cities are badly constructed and dirty. So that after contemplating these items we can candidly exclaim, “There’s no place like home.”