Page 446 - INDIANNAVYV1

414 HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
niilil llie appoinlmeiit of a successor. About tliis time the
' Mercury returned from Negrais with the detachment of
'
troops, as it was found impracticable to establish a post on
that island. The south-west monsoon had now set in, and
it became impossible for the troops to proceed up the river, as
owing to the disappearance of the inhabitants from Rangoon,
there was great difticulty in providing and equipping a flotilla
or procuring a sufficiency of rowers ; the desolate state of
the country also obliged the Expedition to draw its su{)plies
from India.
On the 2nd of June, the Commander-in-Chief received in-
formation that the enemy had assembled in great force, and
were stockading themselves at Kenimendine, with the intention
of attacking the British lines. He, therefore, ordered two
strong reconnoitring columns from the Madras Division, to
move, on the following morning, upon two roads leading from
the great Dagon Pagoda to the village of Kemmendine, and
himself proceeded up the Rangoon river with the Hon. Com-
piany's cruisers 'Mercury' and 'Thetis,' and three companies of
the 41st, embarked in the flotilla and row boats, for the pur-
pose of making a diversion in favour of any attack which
might take place by land. Commander Ryves also accom-
panied Sir Archibald Campbell with three flotilla gunboats and
the pinnaces of H.M. ships 'Larne' and 'Sophie.'
The start was made at five a.m., and, in two hours, the
' Mercury' and ' Thetis,' with the gunboats and pinnaces, an-
chored abreast of Kemmendine, and opened a heavy fire on the
stockades. The squadron had not long been under fire, when
Commander Middleton, of the ' Thetis,' was mortally
wounded by a cannon-shot which carried off his leg. Com-
mander Ryves, who was on board her— as the gunboats and
pinnaces were directed to rendezvous round the ' Thetis'—
assunjed temporary command of the ' Thetis.' though, as he
says in his despatch, " Sir Archibald Campbell, having em-
barked on board the Hon. Company's cruiser 'Mercury,' all
orders to the cruisers and flotilla proceeded from him." When
the stockade was reduced, and the enemy's fire silenced, the
troops landed and burnt the works, before the arrival of the
two columns proceeding by land. At three p.m., the enemy
being in great force, the troops were re-embarked, when the
cruisers and flotilla weighed and returned to their former
anchorage In his despatch of the 4th of June, reporting this
success, the Commander-in-Chief states that he had already
captured from fifty to sixty large cargo boats, which were
being cut down for transport purposes, and were calculated to
carry, on an average, a complement of sixty men each. There
still remained the enemy's fortified camp and stockades at
Kemmendine, which the general determined to attack with a