Part 5
No words can express my surprise on now learning, for the first time, that it was not intended that I should proceed to Candy; that the General, on arriving at Jaffnapatam, had found obstacles to the combined attack, which he considered to be insurmountable--(the principal of these I have since understood to be the want of Coolies; but of this, or of any other impediment to the success of the expedition, I was at the time totally unapprized)--that the orders of the 8th were intended as a countermand of the former plan; and that my having gone to Candy was deemed a disobedience of orders; that it was merely meant that the divisions should enter those parts of the enemy's territory adjacent to their respective districts, and return after laying waste the country; that the other five divisions had accordingly made these incursions, and had long since returned; and that the Government, having learnt from the Cingalese on the borders of my detachment having been in Candy, had despaired of our ever returning.
It does not become me to decide on the origin of this unfortunate mistake, or to pronounce whether the fault lay in the orders, or in my interpretation of them.
The General, on making the tour of our stations, had taken great pains to explain to me the nature of his plans, the ultimate object of which was the possession of Candy; nor did he, in the various conversations I had the honour to hold with him on that subject, seem to entertain any doubt of the practicability of the proposed plan of operations.
These conversations were followed by an order to march, transmitted from Trincomalé; and so fully convinced was I that everything was in a complete state of preparation, that I considered the orders of the 8th in no other light than as a modification of the preceding instructions, as a change of the day of march and of the route; I never entertained the most distant idea that _the plan_ was relinquished; as, after the devastation of that part of the country pointed out in the instructions, no ulterior object being presented, the original purport of the occupation of the enemy's capital remained unrevoked, and consequently to be followed up.
Cut off as I was by the remoteness of Batticolo from any intercourse with the other stations, I had no intimation of the changes that had taken place with respect to the destination of the other columns, to the commanders of which the orders had, it seems, been more explicit.
I hope that it may be allowed me to remark, that the General had seen some of them more recently than he had communicated with me; that the territory adjoining their districts was in general better known, and of course susceptible of clearer description than the province of Ouva.
It appeared, however, necessary that an affair attended with such serious consequences should undergo investigation, and I was ordered round to Columbo, where a Court of Inquiry was held upon my conduct. The decision of the Court was, that I had not disobeyed my orders in going to Candy.
The success of so small a force in penetrating unsupported to the Candian capital, and afterwards effecting its retreat, created considerable surprise throughout the island. The capital had never before been attempted with so inconsiderable a force. The troops under General Macdowal, in 1803, exceeded 3,000 men, and those the flower of the Ceylon army.
I have before remarked, that 1,000 men were even considered necessary to defend the town during the monsoon, though protected by works; and intervening events had rendered the Candians more formidable.
They had gained to their service 500 well-disciplined Malays and Sepoys, with a number of gun Lascars, and 1,000 stand of serviceable English muskets, with a supply of ammunition. The continued skirmishes in which they had been engaged with us since that period, together with their occasional successes, had made them more expert, and given them a greater degree of confidence than they had at the commencement of the war.
A larger force than had been employed under General Macdowal and Lieutenant-Colonel Barbut was, therefore, prepared for the combined attack. Of the six divisions, mine was not only the smallest in point of numbers, but certainly the worst equipped.
Colonel Maddison, who commanded the Hambingtotte detachment, with which I was to have formed a junction at the entrance of the province of Ouva, I now learnt did not receive my letter till after his return, and his guides led him into a part of the country where there was no water to be procured; consequently he was under the necessity of changing his route; and instead of advancing to the northward and westward and entering Ouva, where his presence, though we might not have met, would have embarrassed the enemy, he was forced to keep entirely to the southward, so that I derived no assistance from the co-operation of that officer.
The other four divisions which entered the enemy's country, had they remained long enough, would have caused a powerful diversion in my favour; but, after having carried into execution their instructions, the completion of which required but a few days, they returned to their respective districts, where the whole of them had arrived some days before I reached the capital. It was on the return of these detachments that the King issued the proclamation, stating that he had driven five English armies back to the sea.
Thus the Candians were enabled to bring their whole force, which had been completely put in motion for the purpose of opposing all our divisions, against my detachment alone; with which, too, the King had every cause to be exasperated, in consequence of our having burnt his favourite palace of Condasaly, as well as that near Pangaram.
Harassed continually by the enemy, with, latterly, not a round of ammunition to return his fire (the few cartridges which were preserved by some of the Europeans as their last hope, being rendered useless by the rain, and their muskets entirely unserviceable), it cannot be surprising that our loss should have been great.
In these respects the enemy had the advantage of us, their powder being preserved from damp in cocoa-nut shells, and their arms provided with guards made of skin or waxed cloth, which completely secured the locks from wet.
But the Candians were not our only enemies, we had to contend with hunger, fatigue, extremes of heat and cold, besides all the diseases incidental to so unhealthy a climate.[4]
[4] The following instances are convincing proofs of the insalubrity of the interior of Ceylon. On the 13th of March, 1803, the grenadier company of the 65th, under Captain Bullock, consisting of 3 officers and 75 men, marched from Columbo for Cattadinia, a small post in the interior. At the end of the month, without any loss by the enemy, the whole fell victims to the climate, excepting Lieutenant Hutchins and two privates. They were all robust young men, from 18 to 23 years of age, and had only landed from the Cape of Good Hope early in November. On the 11th of April, 400 men of the 51st regiment appeared under arms at Columbo, on their arrival from Candy. In little more than two months 300 of them were buried, having laid the foundation of disease in the interior.
At an early stage of the retreat, I had been obliged to leave behind me the doolies, from the impossibility of getting them on, in consequence of abattis and other obstacles being placed in the line of our march. Many of the Coolies had been either killed or wounded, several had deserted, and of those that remained few were in a situation to carry a burthen. I was, therefore, obliged to have the men whose cases were the most desperate, carried along on cloths fastened to poles, whilst the others got on by leaning on their less exhausted comrades. Our progress was consequently very slow; nor was it, for the first three days, permitted us to halt, during the day, even for a single moment, to dress our wounded men, the least delay enabling the enemy to oppose fresh obstacles to our retreat. Latterly, when less pressed by the enemy, it was out of the surgeon's power to be of much assistance to the wounded, the Coolie who carried the medicines and instruments having deserted; consequently the wounds in general became ill-conditioned, and at length so offensive to the patients themselves as scarcely to be borne.
Those of the detachment who had hitherto escaped sickness and wounds, were emaciated, sallow, and debilitated to an extreme degree.
They were almost all barefooted; and many of those who had escaped the fire of the enemy, fell victims, after our arrival at Trincomalé, to the effects of their previous sufferings.
Amongst those, I am sorry to mention Lieutenant Rogers, of the Bengal Sepoys, who died of a fever a few days after his return. This officer, by his exertions during the retreat, and especially after I had lost the services of Lieutenants Vincent and Smith, had, by his activity and zeal, rendered most essential services to the detachment. He was ever foremost in danger.
To the exertions, indeed, and animating example of the officers in general, and the persevering courage of the soldiers, particularly those of the Royal Artillery and 19th, may be principally attributed the safety of the detachment.
_Return of killed, wounded, and missing of the detachment under the command of Captain Johnston._
+---------+---------------------------+ | Detail. | Royal Artill. | +---------+------------+--------------+ | | Sergeants. | Bombardiers. | +---------+------------+--------------+ | Killed | | 1 | | Wounded | 1 | | | Missing | | | +---------+------------+--------------+ | Total | 1 | 1 | +---------+------------+--------------+
+----------+-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Detail. | 19th Regiment. | +----------+-----------+------------+------------+-----------+-----------+ | | Subidars. | Sergeants. | Corporals. | Drummers. | Privates. | +----------+-----------+------------+------------+-----------+-----------+ | Killed | | | 1 | | 4 | | Wounded | | 1 | 2 | | 2 | | Missing | 2 | | | | 2 | +----------+-----------+------------+------------+-----------+-----------+ | Total | 2 | 1 | 3 | | 8 | +----------+-----------+------------+------------+-----------+-----------+
+-------+----------------------------------------------------------------+ |Detail.| Malay Regiment. | +-------+-----------+--------+-----------+----------+----------+---------+ | | European | Malay | Malay | | | | |Lieutenant.|Captain.|Lieutenant.|Serjeants.|Corporals.|Privates.| +-------+-----------+--------+-----------+----------+----------+---------+ |Killed | | | | | | 3 | |Wounded| | | | | | 4 | |Missing| | | | | | | +-------+-----------+--------+-----------+----------+----------+---------+ | Total | | | | | | 7 | +-------+-----------+--------+-----------+----------+----------+---------+
+---------+--------------------------------------------------------------+ | Detail. | Bengal Sepoys. | +---------+------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+---------+ | |Lieutenants.|Jemedars.|Haveldars.|Naigues.|Drummers.|Privates.| +---------+------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+---------+ |Killed | | | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | |Wounded | | | 1 | 1 | | 27 | |Missing | | | 1 | | | 12 | +---------+------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+---------+ | Total | | | 3 | 2 | 1 | 48 | +---------+------------+---------+----------+--------+---------+---------+
N.B.--Owing to the great desertion (during the latter part of the march) amongst the Coolies and Pioneers, the amount of their killed and wounded could never be ascertained; but there is every reason to believe it was very considerable.
Having now related the whole of the circumstances which attended the detachment I had the honour to command during its march to Candy and in its retreat, I must still trespass on the attention of my readers to make a few observations connected with the subject.
With respect to the policy or expediency of invading the Candian territory, occupying the capital, cutting roads through the country, or dividing it into several governments, these are considerations, which, however important in their nature, do not come within the scope of my design. The propriety of such measures must greatly depend upon existing circumstances, of which the Government for the time being must be supposed to be the best qualified to judge. This much, however, I think I may venture to suggest, from some experience of the Candian character; that, considering that each European soldier, at his arrival in India, costs the nation at least £100, these objects, even in a financial view of the subject, might be much better attained by the application of a smaller sum to secure, if necessary, an influence at the Court of Candy.
But should it be deemed more expedient to have recourse to arms as the best mode of maintaining and extending our ascendancy in Ceylon, I am not without hope that my remarks will be of service to those who may in future be appointed to conduct our military expeditions into the interior of that country. They are perhaps the more necessary, as of the few survivors of the last war, whose experience might be useful, scarcely any are now remaining in the island.
What I shall first advert to, as being of most essential importance to our military operations, not only in Ceylon, but in every part of India, is the expediency of European officers learning the native languages.
The disadvantages arising from an ignorance of the language of a people whom we command, or with whom we have to negotiate, have been so frequently exemplified in Ceylon, without an adequate remedy having been applied to the evil, that I think it necessary here to offer my sentiments on the subject.
The circumstance of being obliged to carry on a conversation by means of an interpreter, forms an almost insuperable bar to confidential intercourse, or acquiring secret information. Many of the Candians are well disposed to communicate the information they possess, in the expectation of reward; but in common with the natives of every part of India, are unwilling to commit themselves in the presence of an interpreter, in whose secrecy they cannot confide, knowing that if betrayed, not only their own lives, but the lives of their families will be forfeited, and their property confiscated.
The troops are also in a great measure placed in the power of the interpreter. Through the medium of the questions which he is instructed to put to the guides and spies, he is enabled to penetrate into the views of the commanding officer, and to betray them to the enemy; or, in stating their answers, he may deceive him, by altering, or entirely withholding, information of the greatest importance. The interpreter is ready enough to perceive, and to avail himself of the advantages of his situation. He takes care to place his own particular friends about the commanding officer's person. He holds a sort of court at the place of private residence, to which the guides and spies, or others who have business with the commanding officer, resort, in order to prepare their statements. Thus the spies, who ought never to know each other, get acquainted; and the advantages which might be derived from comparing their different accounts, are, from their opportunities of communication with each other, totally lost. The interpreter, being the immediate executive agent, at once gains an ascendancy over all the natives in the camp, which he not unfrequently abuses; and however ill he may treat them, they never presume to complain, it being a maxim with the natives of India never to complain of a man in power. In this case, also, they are deterred by the consideration, that the person complained against forms their only channel of communication with the commanding officer.
When the natives know that the commanding officer understands their language, and that he does not make a confidant of the interpreter, who is generally the Modiliar,[5] they are ever ready to come forward with their information.
[5] In Ceylon the native chiefs of districts, and many subordinate officers, have been designated Modiliars; which title, at an early period of the Portuguese government of the island, seems to have been peculiar to the chiefs of the _military_ class; although now held by those who exercise not only the command of _Lascoryns_ (the ancient soldiers of the country), but various civil functions in the districts of Ceylon.
Of the great caution observed by the natives of India in respect to what they declare in public, or before interpreters, I have known some striking instances, wherein men have given testimonies, even upon oath, directly opposite to what they had previously stated to me in private and confidential communication; and upon being afterwards reproached for the contradiction, they have persisted in asserting that their _private statement_ was the _true_ one, the declarations which they had made on oath being prompted by fear of giving evidence in a public court, which would tend to injure the cause of one of the chiefs who had great power and influence in the country; that as it was uncertain how long I might remain in command of the district, the offended chief would, sooner or later, find the means of ruining the party; and that the consequences would not even stop here, but the children of the chief would continue to his children the hereditary vengeance of their father.
A knowledge of the language also enables us to converse with the men of education among the natives, who are generally communicative and well informed, particularly with what relates to their own country--a species of knowledge of which we stand the most in need. It farther enables us to peruse the writings, and, by instructing us in their origin, teaches us to respect prejudices of which the Indians are extremely tenacious, and which we are too apt at first landing to despise. What great political advantages might be derived from a proper management of these prejudices, experience has amply shown.
In a contempt of them, and in an ignorance of the country languages, have originated many of the greatest misfortunes which have befallen us in India. All officers who have served long in that country, whether in the King's or Company's service, must have had personal experience of the great advantages that are to be derived, both in respect to politics and military operations, from a knowledge of the languages: even the reputation of this knowledge will attract to an officer unreserved confidence in communication, and secure him from being deceived by false reports.
In the management of the native corps, ignorance of the language is attended with many and great disadvantages. The officer is in that case obliged to employ some native soldier as an interpreter; and those of this class who have, in menial situations, learned to speak a little English, are generally the most unworthy of confidence.
Men of this description, for the most part educated in the kitchens of Europeans, or servants in barracks or hospitals, acquire a degree of quickness and intelligence that renders them useful as orderlies, or in other capacities about the persons of European officers, who do not understand the country languages.
On Courts-Martial, or in matters of grievance or disputes which the soldiers may wish to submit to their officers, their statements come through these men: but as a trifling bribe will incline them to either side, the disadvantage of being obliged to have recourse to their assistance is obvious.
The species of influence which they acquire among the soldiers, from their situation, is almost always abused by them. They even assume more authority than the oldest native commissioned or non-commissioned officers, who may be men of caste and education, whose orders they not only frequently presume to dispute, but encourage others to do the same. This assumption of authority is for the most part acquiesced in, from the danger of complaining against a man who so frequently has it in his power to injure by misrepresenting the complainant to his officers, whose ignorance of the language leaves him at the mercy of his interpreter.
Having pointed out the evil, I shall now endeavour to suggest the remedy. The officers belonging to the regular regiments of the line stationed in Ceylon, who are not permanently attached to the island, have no motive to exert themselves in applying to the languages of the country. In the native corps, however, we might expect to find this species of local knowledge. But the Ceylon regiments have been hitherto officered from the line, and many of the captains and field-officers nominated in England. They consequently, on their arrival, find themselves in the command of men whose language they do not understand, and who do not understand theirs. All communications between them are, of course, carried on by means of interpreters. There being no inducements to a permanent residence in Ceylon, either in respect to society, allowances, or scope for military enterprise, it is the wish of every officer to leave it as soon as possible. Under the present state of the establishment, all the exertions of the officers of the native corps (who can never otherwise expect to be removed), are directed to procure an exchange into the line; and hence frequent changes take place in those regiments--a circumstance which totally prevents their applying to the native languages, a knowledge of which can be useful there only.
Whilst the service continues to labour under these disadvantages, the evil must remain in full force. It would, therefore, appear necessary that it should in some measure become local, like that of the East India Company's establishments; and that military promotion should be made in some measure dependent on a knowledge of the native languages. They would in that case consider themselves as permanently settled on the island, and look upon their regiments as their homes. Under such a plan, no officer could arrive at any important command without being thoroughly acquainted with the language and customs of the country. And the general would then find amongst his officers, in whose honour he could confide, every species of local knowledge of which he would stand in need; instead of being obliged to seek for it amongst Modiliars, interpreters, and native orderlies.
_On the Dress of the Ceylon Troops._
I will now beg leave to submit a few observations on the dress of our troops in Ceylon, which, experience has shown, is ill adapted to the country and species of warfare in which they are likely to be employed.