before the town could be
reached, and it was therefore not until the next morning that Prome
was occupied for the second time by our troops. A large body of Birmese
troops, amounting to upwards of six thousand men, were known to be
posted within a few miles of the town, strongly entrenched behind
stockades, and out of reach of our steamers, the artillery practice
from which appears to have impressed them with a proper sense of our
superiority in that arm of war. To have dislodged them with the force at
his command would have been a matter of comparative ease; but so thought
not General Godwin, who, fearful probably of terminating the war too
quickly, determined to await the arrival of further troops before
attempting any forward movement. He did not wait long, however; but
within a day or two left for Rangoon, in search of the troops considered
to be requisite for further operations. This reinforcement was
dispatched towards the latter part of the month. By this time the
Irriwaddy, which had been previously deep enough throughout for our
largest steamers, sank so suddenly, and as it appears so unexpectedly,
that several of the flotilla were left aground in the middle of the
stream, with every prospect of having to remain there until the next
rains should float them."

The English general seemed to be unable to manage the large
reinforcements which he had received, or to avail himself of the
combinations which the activity of the governorgeneral made to
facilitate the objects of the expedition.

The general resolved to attack Pegu again, which had been abandoned
after a previous successful attack. The conquest was easy, and a
garrison was established. This detachment was attacked in December
by large numbers of the enemy. The garrison was hemmed in, and in the
greatest danger; General Godwin, after failing to relieve the place, by
ill-judged and inadequate measures, at last sent a strong force, which
successfully encountered every obstacle, and dispersed the enemy.

On the 28th of December, 1852, Pegu and Martaban were "annexed" to
British India by proclamation of the governor-general. When these
tidings reached Ava, a revolution occurred, promoted by the emperor's
brother, with the design of propitiating the English, and making peace.
The emperor was made a captive, and his brother ascended the musnid.

Meanwhile, the British forced the great pass between Arracan and Pegu,
leading through it two hundred and fifty e