children; and, from the immense
concourse of inhabitants in the town, with their families, that number
does not appear to be at all improbable. Certain it is, that they must
have been as heartily tired of it as we were.

Our sad failures, on the occasion of this memorable siege, may
unquestionably, in my opinion, fairly be attributed to our total want of
means. What were four breaching-guns against such a fort as that of
Bhurtpore? Forty would not have been too many: as a proof of which, if
we contrast the means of attack at our disposal, with those possessed by
Lord Combermere, in his successful siege of the same fort, it will be
found, that the number of guns employed on the latter occasion, compared
with the former, was at least ten to one. With the original force of
Bhurtpore--calculated at not less than a hundred thousand men--it was
scarcely possible that, with a less number of guns, the place could be
taken by assault. It should be recollected, also, that, with the means
we had, the ditch which surrounds the fort made it quite inaccessible to
us. Sapping and mining, the only way by which Bhurtpore could have
fallen, was, at the period of the first siege of that place, scarcely
known in India; and shelling was then only in its infancy. The former of
these methods was resorted to by the present commander-in-chief, with
great success; and the latter, from the improvements which, since 1805,
have been made in this destructive system of warfare, with at least ten
times the vigour and effect that it was possible for us to impart to it.

After our last failure, conciliatory orders were published to our
disheartened troops; everything was done to console and comfort them;
and, with these judicious measures, though the men could scarcely bear
the stigma of being defeated, yet, after a few days' reflection, their
features began to brighten up, and they began to weigh things in a
proper light; when an unexpected and untoward event happened, that was
likely to have been attended with the most frightful consequences. The
peace having been ratified, the garrison had permission to visit our
camp. Imagine our mortification and surprise, when many of them had the
presumption to appear, under our very noses, with the coats, sashes, and
arms they had torn from the dead bodies of our poor comrades. This news
flew through the camp in a moment; the whole army was out; every eye
flashed vengeance: but, by the timely interference of th