'History of the Indian Navy. (1613-1863).' [‎343] (362/622)

HISTORY OF THE INDIAN NAVY.
343
was fired upon from the town, and he returned to the ' Assaye,'
which, with the rest of the fleet, had arrived before Bushire.
An apology from the Governor followed, regretting the act,
which he attributed to the ignorance of an artilleryman, and
beting for twenty-four hours' delay, which the Admiral
promptly refused.
The anchorage was buoyed during the night of the 9th, by
the boats of the fleet, and, at eight on the following morning,
the ships of war took up their positions off the defences of the
town with springs upon their cables, while the army approached
on the land side. A redoubt, commanding the wells on the
plain, from which Bushire derived its supply of water, was
shelled in the morning by some of the gunboats, and its gar
rison forced to retire into the town. The engagement then
commenced between the ships and the defences, and continued
for four hours, when, at noon, the enemy ceased firing and
lowered the Persian colours.
Sir Henry Leeke, writing from his flagship off Bushire, on
the 10th,' describes in the following terms the part taken by
the squadron in the attack on Reshire on the 9th and the bom
bardment and capture of Bushire on the following day; but,
unfortunately, he did his best to bring ridicule on a successful
day's work by comparing one of the Persian batteries to "a
miniature Malakhoff." He says " On my nearing the fort,
(Reshire) we saw it full of Persian soldiers, who were drawn
up ready for the attack. At this moment I was about 1,700
yards from them when we commenced firing shell, many drop
ping within the trenches and committing much slaughter,
obliging the Persian troops to fly, with the exception of about
eight hundred, who made a resolute stand, and were driven out
by the troops in one of the most brilliant and gallant charges
1 ever witnessed. Here the troops halted for the night. I
then pushed on for the roadstead ; and at daylight this morning,
seeing the Persian Army drawn up near the walls (their centre
supported by a high fortified tower and redoubt), I ordered
the 'Falkland,' sloop, ' Ajdaha,' steam-frigate, 'Berenice' and
'Victoria,' steam-sloops, under the command of Lieutenants
Tronson, Worsley, Chitty, and Giles, and eight heavy armed
gunboats, under Lieutenant Stradling, to place their ships in
position to attack it. This was done in a most gallant way ;
and in the course of an hour I had the satisfaction to see the
whole of the Persian troops in full retreat to the town, but in
perfect order and with great coolness supported by their artillery,
" A boat with a white flag was now seen approaching the ship,
and, on one of the chiefs arriving on board, a request was made
by the Governor of the town for a delay of operations for
twenty-four hours to offer terms. This 1 instantly refused, in
consequence of his having fired on one of our small steamers