While the British were busy trying to put down the Malay revolt in Perak, another revolt was brewing in the south of the Malay peninsula in what is today known as Negeri Sembilan. The Sungai Ujong War was prompted by the appointment of a British Resident to assist the Dato' Kelana in ruling Sungei Ujong. The other Malay chiefs, led by Yamtuan Antah of Seri Menanti, were enraged by this move and, encouraged by the Perak revolt occurring in the north of the Peninsula, moved to drive the British out of Sungai Ujong. At the end of November 1875, reports reached Murray that Yam Tuan Antah had deposed the chief of Terachi appointed by the Dato' Klana and he led a small force of 20 men of the 10th Regiment of Foot and 30 local policemen into the Terachi valley to investigate. In actual fact, the chief of Terachi had not been deposed but had switched allegiances to the Yamtuan. Murray's force encountered a group of hostile Malays and a skirmish ensued. With reports of more Malays converging to the area and the British running out of ammunition, Murray beat a hasty retreat back to Rasah. The Yamtuan's forces then advanced into Sungai Ujong, attacking and capturing the police station at Paroi and occupied Kampung Ampangan on the east bank of the Linggi River.

The Yamtuan's forces in Ampangan were now in a strong position to threaten Rasah. Rasah, now a suburb of Seremban, was then the chief mining centre of Sungei Ujong - control of Rasah would mean control of the rich tin revenues of Sungai Ujong. Murray's military detachment was stationed at Bukit Rasah and consisted of 68 police, only 50 of whom were armed with rifles, and 45 men of the British 10th Regiment of Foot, commanded by Lieutenant Hinxman. With the Malays in control of Kampung Ampangan, they began to fortify the houses there, in anticipation of a British attack. Murray deployed some his forces and a battery of mountain guns in the ridge on the opposite side of the river, Bukit Ampangan. Murray had established his Residency on Bukit Ampangan in order to be close to the Dato' Klana's residence, which was located at the point where the ridge runs down to the Linggi River. Murray had sound political reasons for staying at the Residency, close to the Dato' Klana. As long as he was there, within a few hundred yards of the Dato' Klana's house, his presence gave moral support to the unsteady nerves of the Dato' Klana. If Murray withdrew to his main force at Rasah, the Dato' Klana would probably have bolted and his flight might well encourage other Malays in Sungai Ujong to rise against the British.  The British positions on Bukit Ampangan provided them with a commanding view of the Malay stockades in Kampung Ampangan across the Linggi River.



On the morning of 5 December, 1875, Murray advanced from his Residency at Bukit Ampangan with a small detachment to attack that strongpoint with his police. He also brought artillery to bear on the Malay stockade and one lucky shot went right through the house. Murray then crossed, the river to the east bank and circled round, to attack the house in the centre of the Malay position from the rear. The surpise attack from the rear, coupled by the bombardment from Bukit Ampangan, shook the confidence of the Malay defenders and they retreated to their stockades in Paroi. Much of the fighting had so far been borne by local police troops, such as these. However, as the fighting shifted to Paroi, reinforcements began to arrive to support the British counter-attack. Many of these were units that had been dispatched originally to support the Perak campaign against Maharaja Lela that had begun some weeks earlier, but were now no longer required in Perak.Among these reinforcements were 350 Gurkhas en route from India to Taiping that were diverted at Penang and shipped on to Malacca. These were from the 1st Gurkha Light Infantry and the Sungai Ujong campaign was the first time Gurkhas had seen combat operations outside of India. The Gurkhas were accompanied by half a battery of artillery, also from India. Artillery had proven its usefulness at Ampangan and Hinxman, in his bid for reinforcements, had asked for more artillery to be provided to support his infantry.



A force was also sent from Singapore consisting of a body of 85 mercenaries commanded by a former French naval officer, Captain A M Fontaine. This force had originally been hired by Tengku Kudin of Selangor to capture Klang from his rival Raja Mahdi four years earlier. These mercenaries consisted of Arabs, Egyptians, Somalis, Indians and other foreigners that were found in Singapore and they were well-known for their ruthlessness and ferocity. It was in fact the arrival of these 85 mercenaries in Fontaine's 'Arab Contingent' on December 6th 1875 that convinced Murray to launch an early attack on the Malay stockades at Paroi the next day. On 7 December, 1875, Hinxman set out for Paroi from Rasah with a force comprising 35 men of the 10th Regiment of Foot, 48 of Murray's police and Fontaine's 85 Arabs. Their aim was to dislodge the Malays from their stockades, which were located on both sides of a bend of the Paroi River. The Malays were in a strong position at Paroi. They occupied 20 houses most of which had been strengthened and loopholed as firing points. In front of the village a number of breastworks had been built - semi-circular banks of earth. In front of the breastworks was an open swamp extending 170 yards. The flanks of the Malay position were protected by jungle-covered hills. It was believed that some 300 - 600 Malays held this position and that the Yamtuan Antah himself was in personal command of this force.



Hinxman sent out a detachment of Arabs on either side of the Malay defences to work round under cover towards the flanks of the Malay position. One of these parties was unable to penetrate the dense jungle. The other party, 20 Arabs, reached the left flank of the Malay position, surprised the Malays and killed some of them, but was obliged to retreat because of fire from other Malay posts overlooking them from higher ground. There was then an hour's exchange of fire between the two sides across the swamp. The Malay fire was not heavy but Hinxman's force suffered casualties and he was making no progress. Hinxman hen led 20 British soldiers and Arabs with fixed bayonets in an advance across the open ground towards the Malay centre. Owing to the broken ground, the charge by Hinxman on the Malay centre lost direction and veered towards the right flank of the Malay position, near the bend of the river (pictured here). Here they were pinned down by fire. At this point, the British artillery finally arrived on the scene - it had been delayed due to the swampy conditions of the area. After ten well-directed rounds, the Malays began to retreat. Hinxman led another charge from their position on the flank and the Malay stronghold at Paroi was taken. Casualties had been heavy on both sides. The British and Arab contingents had 37 killed and wounded. The Malays lost about 35 killed and a large number wounded

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