force was 24 regiments, 31 guns and 5,000 cavalry strong. The report further projected 4,000 tofangchis could be conscripted from among the local inhabitants. Battle of Mohammareh The British then shifted their focus north up the Persian Gulf, invading Southern Mesopotamia by advancing up the Shatt al-Arab waterway to Mohammerah at its junction with the Karun River, short of Basra. The force collected for the sortie consisted of 1,500 British and 2,400 Indian soldiers. The engineers grouped with the force included 2nd Company, Bombay Sappers & Miners (with 109 troops under Captain Haig) and B Company, Madras Sappers & Miners (with 124 troops under Brevet-Major Boileau). Outram decided that Major-General Stalker was to remain in command at Bushehr along with Brigadiers Wilson, Honnor, and Tapp. The troops that would stay in the encampment included two field batteries, the mountain-train, the entire cavalry of the first division, three companies from her Majesty's 64th and the 78th Highlanders, the 4th rifles, 20th Native Infantry, and the Belooch battalion. The force at Bushehr numbered around 3,000. This left just under 4,000 troops under the command of Outram. By this point, the defence of Mohammareh was given to Prince Khanlar Mirza commanding seven regular regiments composed of 13,000 infantry and cavalry in total. The Persian army had undertaken an effort to develop extensive defensive infrastructure along the city's coastline and Khanlar Mirza now had 17 guns placed along the defenses in anticipation of the British attack. Khanlar Mirza Ehtesham-ed-Dowleh was the 17th son of the late Abbas Mirza and an uncle to Naser al-Din Shah. At the time of the Anglo-Persian War, Khanlar Mirza was the magistrate of Tabaristan and Khuzestan. The works of the fort at Mohammareh were 20 feet thick, and the Persian heavy guns were placed on the river face with a range of around 100 yards. The British army would counter the Persian bombardment with the broadsides of the Clive and Falkland sloops as well as the Ajdaha, Feroze, Semiramis, Victoria, and Assaye steamers. Besides its defences, Mohammerah was further protected by the political requirement of the British not violating Ottoman territory, as the city lay right on the border. On 6 March, the Falkland sailed for the Euphrates, while the 64th regiment sailed on the Bride of the Sea. On the same day, the Feroze, Pottinger, and Pioneer steamers brought a troop of horse artillery and a contingent of