iii ART. VIII.-SHORT NOTICE. 1. THE LEGENDS AND THEORIES OF THE BUDDHISTS COMPARED 2. INSTITUTES OF JURISPRUDence. BY WILLIAM AUSTIN 3. THE CODE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE (ACT XXV OF 1861), PAGE. 487 488 490 4. THE REGISTRATION MANUAL, CONTAINING THE NEW REGIS- ... 7. A TRILINGUAL DICTIONARY; BEING A COMPREHENSIVE ... 493 495 THE CALCUTTA REVIEW. NO. LXXXV. ART. I.-1. Memoir of the war in India conducted by General Lord Lake, Commander-in-chief, and Major-General Sir Arthur Wellesley, Duke of Wellington, from its commencement in 1803, to its termination on the banks of the Hyphasis. By Major William Thorn, Captain, 25th Light Dragoons. London. T. Egerton, 1818. 2. A sketch of the rise, progress, and termination of the regular corps, formed and commanded by Europeans in the service of the Native Princes of India, with details of the principal events and actions of the late Marhatta War. By Lewis Ferdinand Smith, late Major in Dowlut Rao Scindia's service. Calcutta. Printed by J. Greenway, Hurkaru Press. OF 3. Asiatic Annual Register, 1806. London, 1809. 4. East India Military Calendar, in three volumes. London, Kingsbury, Parbury, and Allen, Leadenhall Street, 1826. 5. The History of British India, by Mill and Wilson, in ten volumes. London, James Madden, 8, Leadenhall Street, 1858 6. A History of the Mahrattas, by James Grant Duff, Esq., in three volumes. London. Longmans, 1826. A Collection of Treaties, Engagements, and Sunnuds, relating to India and neighbouring countries, compiled by C. W. Aitchison, B. c. s., Under-Secretary to the Government of India in the Foreign Department, Calcutta. J. L. Kingham, Foreign Department Press, 1864. F all the great warriors who contributed to establish British supremacy in India, not one earned a higher reputation for chivalry and daring than did Lord Lake; not one ever combined, to a higher extent, the most undaunted courage with that clear-headedness and presence of mind, which in him were never so remarkable as amid the roar of artillery and the whistling of bullets. He was not much of a tactician. Indeed, for manœuvring, as such, he had always a sort of lofty contempt. His principle of war was to ascertain where the enemy was, then to close with him quickly and rapidly, never to let go his hold till he had beaten him. He had all the natural qualifications for a general of this class. It has been recorded of him, that to judgment and quickness of perception he united courage, decision, and a remarkable capability of bearing fatigue. He possessed, in an eminent degree, the art of conciliating the confidence and attachment of those under his command. In all his great Indian battles the mutual confidence felt by the soldiers in his leadership, and by himself in his soldiers, is clearly visible, and to this feeling, and to his wonderful presence of mind under all circumstances, may be attributed his success against numbers greatly superior. And this indicates another peculiarity in his mode of warfare. Although general of the army, he always led on his men in person. The greater the danger, and the more difficult the position, the more surely was he to be seen at the head of his troops, whether cavalry or infantry, leading them to the charge or to the assault. Whatever may be thought of such conduct in the abstract, it is certain that its effect on his soldiers was electric, and, considering the circumstances in which he was placed, fighting at the head of an extremely small force against an enemy strong in prestige and in numbers, it may be doubted whether any other tactics would have been equally successful. The adoption by Lord Lake of this daring, dashing, system of warfare, may be attributed not less to his early education than to his natural character. Both as a very young, and as a middle aged man, he had enjoyed peculiar opportunities of observing, that the very fact of moving on to an attack imbued the advancing troops with a moral power, which gave them a great superiority over a standing enemy, and that although a larger immediate loss of life might sometimes result from such tactics, it often had the effect of putting an end to the war. in his first campaign, as an ensign in the Foot Guards, during the seven years' war in Germany, he had become familiar with the tactics of the great Frederick, and had noticed how he, by acting up to this dashing principle, succeeded in confounding his numerous enemies. He himself was serving in that war, with the rest of the English contingent, under Prince Ferdinand of Thus, Brunswick, and it was in the year after he joined* that he gave the first indication of the possession of that spirit and presence of mind to which we have alluded. It was at the combat of Williamstadt near Cassel. The French army was already almost beaten and was retiring, when a portion of their cavalry, making a detour, came upon the right of the allied army, and caused a sudden panic amongst the troops stationed there. Of these young Lake's regiment formed a part, and the men composing it, with the exception of a very few, joined in the flight. No sooner did Lake see this than he waved the colours, which he was carrying that day, and, forming up the few men who remained with him, shewed a bold front to the enemy. This conduct had such an effect upon the fugitives, that they at once rallied to his support, and the French were beaten off. The experience he gained in the next war in which he took a part, the war caused by the revolt of the American colonies,only confirmed his early impressions. It is true that he joined the army under Lord Cornwallis but a short time before its humiliation at York Town, yet, before the surrender, he seized the opportunity of particularly distinguishing himself by attacking and storming one of the enemy's batteries, in such a manner as to obtain the warmest thanks of the Commander-in-chief. From the spectacle here afforded him of this army compelled to capitulate, he drew a very practical deduction regarding the loss of moral spirit and physical power, almost inevitably produced by inaction. But his third campaign, against revolutionary France, in 1793, probably had the greatest effect in forming his character as a general. He was then nearly fifty years old, and was serving as Brigadier General in command of the brigade of Guards, the entire army being under the direction of the Duke of York. Although this campaign opened with some success for the allies, yet its conclusion was disastrous. The allies took Valenciennes, and Brigadier General Lake himself contributed to the success of the battle in which Dampierre was killed, and afterwards beat the French at Lincelles. This action may be regarded as a type of the battles he was about to fight in India, and he displayed in it the same tactics. The enemy were superior in numbers, It may be necessary to state here that Lord Lake was born on the 27th July 1744 at Ashton Clinton in the county of Buckingham, that he joined the army as an ensign in the 1st Regiment, Foot Guards, in 1758, and the English contingent under the Marquess of Granby in Germany in 1760. |