WARS OF THE REIGN.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1321, 24 June 1897, Page 38

WARS OF THE REIGN.

With the exception of the Crimean war and the Indian Mutiny, Britain has been concerned in no great campaigns during Queen "Victoria's reign. As the Empire has extended there have been numerous " little wars ;" but this is inevitable where civilised man comes in contact with the savage. The Chinese and some other wars which do-not come under this head were but minor affairs. In 1839 a war which lasted three years began in Afghanistan. It has always been of great importance that the Government of the " buffer State" should be favourable to Britain, and accordingly in 1839 a British Army entered Afghanistan to replace Shah Soojah on the throne, which had been usurped by Dost Mohammed. Candahar and Ghuznee were taken, and Cabul was entered unopposed, Dost Mohammed fled, and soon surrendered. The trouble was then thought to be over; but in 1841 the British, under a weak leader, were shut up in Cabul. Then began the fatal retreat through the Koord Cabul Pass. Of 16,500 who marched from Cabul, all but a few were slain or taken prisoners. General Pollock then advanced upon Cabul and carried all before him. The first Chinese War started towards the end of 1839. It was not a creditable affair to the British nation, for it was undertaken to compel the Chinese to remove restrictions placed on the opium trade. The Chinese were beaten everywhere and by treaty ceded Hongkong to Great Britain, while five ports were thrown open to British trade. Assistance was given to Turkey in 1840 against Mehemet Ali Pasha of Egypt, who had declared himself independent of the Sultan. Beirout and Acre wero captured by the British. During the Afghan war Sindh, the district around the mouths of the Indus, was occupied by British troops. The Ameers of Sindh objected to~this, attacked the British Residency at Hyderabad and compelled the troops to retreat. In a short time victories at Meeaneo and Dubba were gained by the British and Sindh was conquered. The death of the ruler of the Punjab caused a Sikhs war in 1815. During the struggle for the throne, which followed the decease of that prince, a British force was attacked j at Moodkee. The Sikhs wero formidable foes, and a hard fought campaign resulted. Victories at Ferozesbah, Aliwal and Sobrau opened the way to Lahore, where a treaty was signed. In 1849 a second Sikh war was brought on by the murder of two British oilicers. Three engagements ended in the defeat of the Sikhs, and shortly after the Punjab was annexed by the Indian Government. A Burmese war broke out in 1852 through the ill-treatment of the commanders of two British vessels by the Governor of Rangoon. Several important towns wero captured by the British troops. The annexation of Pegu was the result of this Avar. To presorvo the " balance of power " in Europe, Britain was drawn into a war with Russia —the Crimean War. The Czar claimed protection over all members of the Greek Churoh in Turkey. This led to war between Russia and Turkey, and Prance and Britain resolved to assist Turkey. The bombardment of Odessa (1854) was tho first operation of tho war. An army under Marshal St. Arnaud and Lord Raglan landed on tho Crimean Peninsula towards tho end of tho year, and defeated tho Russian forces on tho left bank of the Alma. The beaton army fell back on Sebastopol, which was at once invested by the allies, and unsuccessfully bombarded. A Russian army attacked the British force at their base of operations, Balaklava, but wore repulsod. It was in this battle that the " thin red lino " of tho 93rd Highlanders

checked the advancing masses of Musco* vites. Through an errorj the cause of which has never been satisfactorily ex* plained; the " Light Brigade" made their heroic and historic charge; At Inkerman, the " soldiers' battle/ 1 eight thousand British troops held their ground against 50,000 of the enemy, who made a desperate sortie from Sebastopol. Next year, in 1855, after a terrific bombardment lasting a whole night and day, Sebastopol fell before the combined army. Shortly . before .this a British fleet had bombarded Sveaborg, on the Baltic. Russia, crippled in both the Black and Baltic Seas, sought peace. Shortly before the close of the Crimean war Britain became embroiled with Persia, over the independence of Herat, which that country refused to acknowledge. A campaign, during which several fortified places were taken, compelled Persia to submit. Scarcely was the Crimean war ended, when the Indian Mutiny broke out. At Meerut the 3rd Bengal Cavalry rebelled and attacked the prison, where some of their comrades were confined for refusing to bite Enfield cartridges, which they alleged were greased so as to make them Jose caste. Everywhere the Sepoy regiments revolted and murdered their officers, as well as women and children. Lucknow was besieged by the rebels. At Cawnpore Nana Sahib treacherously massacred a large number of white men, women and children. Colonel Havelock drove Nana Sahib from Ca wnpore, and marched to the relief of Lucknow with Outram, who generously placed himself under Havelock's orders. Lucknow was entered after desperate fighting, but it was found impossible to remove the women and children. Sir Colin Campbell, sent from England to take command in India, relieved Lucknow a second time, and drove the rebels from the city. The mutiny was finally stamped out in 1858, the fall of Bareilly being the closing operation of the war. In the same year the British Parliament abolished the rule of the East India Company, and the Queen was proclaimed ruler of India. Another Chinese war began in 1856. A small native vessel undor the British flag was fired on in the Canton river, and one of the crew arrested as a pirate. An apology for the insult was refused, and Canton was shelled and captured. The treaty which ended the war opened up five more ports to British trade. In 1860 the war was renewed, owing to the Chinese firing at a British envoy at the mouth of the Peiho. The Taku forts were shelled by the British fleet, captured and destroyed. A combined French and British force advanced on Pekin, which was taken. In 1868 King Theodore of Abyssinia seized several British subjects and refused to release them. An expedition under Sir Charles Napier penetrated the country with much difficulty, and appeared before Magdala, the capital. In response to Napier's demand, Theodore sent his European prisoners to the British camp. Next day Magdala was stormed, and the King, in despair, committed suicide. In 1873, the Ashantis, who resented the British possession of certain forts on the Gold Coast, threatened the British settlements. A small force under Sir Garnet Wolseley marched to Kumasi, the Ashanti capital, defeated the savages in two battles, and burned the town, including the royal palace. The vKing was terrified into submission. Another Afghan war started in 1878, the object of which.was to compel the Ameer to receive a British Resident to counteract Russian influence there. After a treaty had been concluded, the British envoy at Cabul was murdered, and the war recommenced. General Roberts accomplished a brilliant march from Cabul to Candahar, where he defeated the enemy. Next year came the Zulu war, caused by the refusal of King Cetewayo to disband and disarm his army. Ihe British suffered a terrible disaster at Isandlhana; but at Rorke's Drift a handful of men beat off an overwhelming army of Zulus. In the end Cetewayo was captured and Zululand became British territory. In 1881 the Boers in the Transvaal revolted against British rule. At Laing's Neck and Majuba Hill they proved more than a match for the regulars, on account of their splendid marksmanship; but they submitted on being granted self-government under British suzerainty. Egypt was the scene of the next war. Arabi Pasha overthrew the Khedive's Government and Great Britain interfered to protect British interests. The forts of Alexandria were bombarded, and Sir Garnet Wolseley drove Arabi Pasha from his entrenchments at Tel-el-Kebir (1S82). An advance on Cairo followed. The Khedive was restored and Arabi banished. A revolt of natives in the Soudan, headed by Achmet Mahomed, a religious fanatic calling himself "tho Mahdi," caused another campaign. An Egyptian force under Hicks Pasha, a British officer, was sent to Kordofan, and almost annihilated. General Sir Gerard Graham landed at Suakim and fought several engagements with the Mahdists. To prevent further bloodshed General Gordon was sent to Khartoum to open negotiations; but his mission failed, and he vas shut up with his small force in Khartoum. After a long delay a relief force was despatched under Lord Wolseley. A victory was won at Abu Klea ; but when the expedition arrived at Khartoum it was found that the town had been captured and Gordon killed. More recent wars are so fresh in the memory of all as to scarce need recapitulation. They have all been carried on in Africa. In 1893 Lobengula, the King of the » Matabele tribes, repeatedly raided the country of tho Mashonas in the British South Africa Company's territory. Steps were taken by the Company to put a stop to the raids. An expedition advanced against Buluwayo, which was captured after some sharp fighting. Lobengula's power jvas broken, and he fled, pursued by the British troops. . A small party of 33 under the command of Captain Wilson, was out off. and killed to a

Iman by the Matabele after a mOSt gallant rfight. No further attempt riiade to ; capture the King, who shortly afterwards died. Last year occurred the ; "Jameson Raid " into the Transvaal. Tbe j attitude taken by the Uitland ers on the ■question of the franchise in that country was so determined that it appeared as if j the Boers would attack Johannesburg. A j letter was sent to Dr Jameson, who crossed j the frontier from British Bechuanaland j with 700 men. At Krugersdorp, after a j long-continued engagement, the doctor | and his officers, finding that they were surrounded, surrendered on condition that their lives should be sparad. The leaders of the raid were heavily fined by the Transvaal authorities. Dr Jameson and his companions were afterwards tried in Eng ->d and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. In consequence of the raid, Dr Jameson was removed from his position as Administrator of the British South Africa Company and a few months afterwards the Matabele again broke out into rebellion. - The chief reason assigned for the revolt was the strict carrying-out of the regulations for the slaughter of cattle afflicted with rinderpest. Numbers white men in outlying districts were j 'vaoassacred. Settlers from all over the \ *country fled to Buluwayo, and preparations >wene made for defending the town. Sir Carrington was made commander fof ithe British forces. Numerous engageiments took place and a sharp fight took jflace -on the Umgasa river. Then the Mashanas revolted. The rebels were chased to the Matoppo Hills, where operations were carried on for some time. Finally, the Matabele were driven out of the hills and, after a great "indaba" had been held, •surrendered. Trouble began in Ashanti early in the year 1896. King Prempeh refused to allow a British Commissioner to reside at Coomassie and the establishment of a British protectorate ever his country. The British authorities had also demanded that a stop should be put to human sacrifices and slave trading. A force under Sir Francis Scott was sent against Prempeh and entered Coomassie without opposition. The King submitted and granted all British demands. Towards the end of 1896, the Sultan of Zanzibar died, and his cousin Said Khalid proclaimed himself Sultan after seizing the palace. He refused to leave that place, which was accordingly bombarded by British men-o'--war. Said Khalid fled to the German "Consulate, and was afterwards conveyed to East Africa, while the nominee of vthe British authorities was installed in •<the Sultanate. After the defeat of the 'ltalians at Erythrea, the Dervishe3 being restless, the British authorities determined to make a demonstration in force t'joom Wady Haifa into the Soudan. A column accordingly pushed forward and obtained a brilliant victory at Ferkeh, and c 'uarda was captured. The Egyptian + x>pa led by British officers, behaved !|s e ndidly. 'The expedition advanced IT!L ' the Nile as far as Dongola, defeatfZ H a ' Dervishes at Hafir. Korti and Ed r>«hh«h w «re fortified on the road to the US?? ft , the occupation of Dongola soutntoi. it was announce d that no secme, am in thafc direc tion would be furtheradva. ™> j tof this attempted 1 *£ R { m a party of offi. ? eding to Benin on a Company, while ™£ the *King of that peaceful mission £ natives, countrywas mass. « J at once deA ? U u l aT fuFrnL After a short by the «Comj Y d •campaign, during whicL Benin .deal of bush fighting t. destroyed Jtold was captured the t. . i fa t £ us the crucifixion trees and ]U- nri Lta breaking the power of the fe>sli priests.