Page:Sir Henry Lawrence, the Pacificator.djvu/28

Rh This was his first insight into the practical absence of any organization in the Government departments for the mobilization and movement of troops; a flagrant and glaring evil, which gave the key to his early attempts to attract attention to the subject and to the dangers involved.

Almost simultaneous with this experience was the fact of the misconduct of three Sepoy regiments at Barrackpur, who being under orders for this campaign demurred to the sea trip as being prejudicial to their caste. One of the regiments, the 47th, more mutinous than the others, was paraded and confronted with British troops and artillery. They refused to obey the order to lay down their arms, and were fired into and broke and fled. This provided food for reflection to a thoughtful mind like that of Lawrence.

Of actual fighting and ordinary" military operations and difficulties he soon obtained valuable experience. The principal combat was in the capture of Arakan, on April 1, 1825, to effect which six hills in succession had to be taken, in which operations heavy loss was entailed. Of this Lawrence wrote: —

'The hill ... was very strong indeed, both by nature and art. It was so steep that it was with great difficulty I could reach the top; so what must it have been for our poor fellows who had a heavy direct and flanking fire to withstand, as well as the difficulty of the ascent? ... I heard that on the 29th a Sepoy was the first man up the hill, and that just as he gained the top he was seen to roll all the way down.'