Chapter 1
...and so Maha Ne Myo was appointed commander of the newly formed army and, having received news of the failure of the negotiations, he prepared to attack Prome.
Under his command were approximately 13,000 men, most of whom were poorly armed and poorly trained Shan recruits. Once the rainy season was over, the Burmese army approached Prome along three lines, positioning itself in three positions around the city: one on the west bank of the Irrawaddy, and two on the right bank, at Simbaik and on the Napadi hills. Fortified in its positions, the Burmese army remained on the defensive, launching small raids from time to time, without ever seeking an open clash with the company's troops. At Prome itself, Campbell prepared his men for the coming battle. Under his command he had 3,000 European soldiers and 2,000 sepoys, along with a fleet detachment to secure control of the river. On the first day of December the battle finally began. Campbell, after leaving 4 regiments of sepoys at Prome, moved towards Maha Ne Myo's main position at Simbaik, just north of Prome, splitting into two columns along the Nawin River, one under his own command and the second under the command of General Cotton. While these maneuvers were taking place, the flotilla bombed in the direction of the hills to prevent any action by the Burmese troops on that front. After about two hours of bombardment the flotilla then moved to support the operations of the two columns further north. The right column, commanded by General Cotton, encountered the Burmese units first, being engaged in a furious fight, charging the Burmese positions with bayonets and engaging in fierce hand-to-hand combat. The soldiers of the company, more disciplined and better trained, would soon have the upper hand.But while this was happening, the right flank of the Burmese army, commanded by Kee-Woonghee, began to descend from the Napadi hills, heading towards Prome. In fact, despite the bombing, the general was able to see the enemy's moves and understand their intentions. Although he did not know whether Prome was fortified or how large its garrison was, he decided to seize the opportunity before him. Advancing quickly, he took the garrison by surprise. The sepoys left behind in Prome were quickly overwhelmed, fighting at a 4:1 ratio for the Burmese, with only a handful of men managing to hold out in the city centre. News of this clash reached the forces further north soon after Cotton's column succeeded in routing the Burmese resistance. As soon as he learned of the Burmese attack, Campbell ordered a hasty return to the city, allowing the retreating Burmese forces to regroup. For his part, wanting to avoid clashing in the open field with the company's army, Kee-Woonghee, after a brief sacking of the opposing camp, retreated to his fortified positions, thus avoiding the clash with the company's returning columns.Having arrived at the city, Campbell and his subordinates decided to postpone the assault on the hills until the following day, allowing their men to rest. Towards the evening, however, Maha Ne Myo regained control of what remained of the left wing of his army, heading towards the hills, to rejoin the right wing, arriving late at night. The following morning, the assault on the hills began. Initially the Burmese were easily driven from their positions at the foot of the hills, quickly retreating to the much more solid fortifications on the peaks, accessible only on narrow paths, guarded by artillery. At midday Campbell launched his assault, attacking on multiple fronts, both frontally and with two flanking maneuvers, however the Burmese positions remained firm and continually repelled enemy attacks. Seeing his regiments struggling to gain positions on the hills, Campbell also threw his reserves into the fray. At around one in the afternoon, an all-line assault was attempted, with European soldiers and sepoys courageously bayoneting the opposing positions, however the Burmese resisted, despite heavy losses and growing fatigue. Repelled by the fortifications, the soldiers of the company began to retreat, tired from the long battle; but surprisingly the Burmese launched a counterattack, charging the retreating soldiers who, tired and surprised, were unable to reorganize quickly and therefore fled. Before long most of the regiments were fleeing in panic, turning the retreat into a disorganized rout. During these moments, Campbell, finding himself in the middle of the fray, was seriously wounded, dying a few hours later, leaving command to General Cotton. The Burmese were stopped from complete victory by the intervention of the flotilla's guns, which managed to stop their attacks towards Prome. That same evening, Cotton decided to retreat from Prome to avoid a complete defeat of his army, retreating south during the night, without being chased in the morning by the Burmese, who simply occupied the city without opposition.
Thus concluded the Battle of Prome, leaving both armies rather exhausted, but with the successful Burmese liberation of the city. The company counted about 800 among its dead and wounded, while the Burmese had about three times that number. In London and Calcutta the defeat was greeted with concern and indignation, especially by the company's administration, which found itself faced with the prospect of another year of war, difficult to bear by the financial reserves available.
At the court of Ava, the enthusiasm for the victory was great but ephemeral: the generals made it known that the conditions of the army were terrible and another similar battle would risk reducing the military strength of the kingdom to a minimum, advising the sovereign to ask for peace now that they found themselves in a position of strength.
The decision was very difficult and painful for the sovereign, in the court itself the issue was a source of very strong division, not only on the peace proposal but also on the conditions to be proposed. After a few weeks, he ordered the lord of Kawlin, his envoy, to return to the company's camp to begin negotiations. The negotiations were long and difficult: initially Cotton asked to return after a week, having to ask for instructions from Calcutta, upon the ambassador's return the discussions first held by Cotton himself and then by an envoy from the company were long and difficult. If the Burmese were willing to cede Arakan and all the lands of their western empire, they were willing to get back Lower Burma and Tenasserim, and monetary compensation for the ceded lands, on the contrary the company was not willing to pay and indeed he demanded a large sum, in any case less than the two million pounds previously requested, to evacuate the lands south of Prome. In the end a compromise was reached:
- Burma would renounce all claims to Assam and Manipur.
- The Arakan and all its dependencies would be turned over to the company.
- The company's troops would clear Lower Burma and Tenasserim within a month.
Neither a resident nor any sum of money was imposed on Burma, but it was very clear that the defeat had been great and only a fortunate victory had avoided far worse conditions. And so the Treaty of Prome, as it was later called, was signed on 5 February 1826, establishing the end of the First Anglo-Burmese War.
