# [//Hi^r^//^ ^ '/*.. ,28 CHAPTER III. Origin of the East India Company First Establishments in India Madras taken by the French Presidency transferred to Fort St. David Madras re- stored to the English English Expedition to Tanjore Chve first distinguishes himself at DeirCottah Contests for Supremacyin the Deccan Rival Candi- dates for the Musnud of the Carnatic The English embrace the Cause of Mahomed Ali; the French that of Chunda Sahib Gloomy Prospects of the English Revived by Clive, who captures Arcot Gallant Defence of Arcot by Clive Terms of Surrender offered to and rejected by him Storming of Arcot Signal Defeat of the Enemy Raising of the Siege Successful Opera- tions of Clive Battle of Ciinverypank The English march to relieve Triclu- nopoly Desperate Attack on Olive's Position His singular Escape Surren^ derof Chunda Sahib Surrender of the French Troops Successful Termi- nation of the War , ^ . . , 42 Xll CONTENTS. CHArTER IV. Critical position of Trichinopoly Blockaded by the M.ysoreans The Frencli support Murteza Khan in opposition to Mahomed All Major Lawrence marches to the relief of Trichinopoly Overwhelming Power of the French there Brilliant Afliaiv of the Golden Rock Further successful Operations of Major Lawrence Gallant Exploit of the Sepoys Truce between the French and English Destruction of the Pirates of Gheviah by Admiral Watson and Colonel Clive Aflfairs of Bengal Character of Suraja Dowlah His Hatred of the English Commences Hostilities against them Captures the English Factory at Cossimbazar Marches against Calcutta Defenceless State of that Place Disorder and Confusion amongst the British Disgraceful Flight of the Governor and principal Merchants Desperate Situation of those who remain Base and cruel Desertion of them bv the fugitive Authorities Fall of Calcutta Horrors of the Black Hole ' . .61 CHAPTER V. Consternation at Madras Temporising Policy at that Presidency Expedition sent from Madras under Colonel Clive Arrives in the Hooghly Disappoint- ment of Suraja Dowlah Levies Contributions on the French and Dutch Clive advances on Calcutta Singular Capture of Ruj-Buj The English re- take Calcutta and Hoo^jhly- Treaty of Peace with Suraja Dowlah War be- tween France and England The British, under Clive and Admiral Watson, take Chandernagore The English distrust the Professions of Suraja Dowlah Conspiracy against that Prince in favour of Meer Jaffier The English embrace the Cause of the latter Treaty offensive and defensive between them Hostile Proceedings of Suraja Dowlah The British Troops take the Field under Clive to oppose him Movements of both Armies Battle of Plassy Total Defeat of Suraja Dowlah Meer Jaffier installed as Soubahdar Singu- lar Capture and Death of Suraja Dowlah Wealth acquired by the English Authorities llcfiections on their Conduct iu this Transaction . . 81 CHAPTER VI. Arrival of Count de Lally in India Hostilities against the English in the Car- natic The French take Fort St. David, Deir-Cottah, and Cuddalore Lally fails in an Expedition against Tanjore Singular Attempt to assassinate him -rThe French- under Lally 'lay siege to Madras Capture of Black Town Sortie of the Garrison French Communications interrupted by Major Cai- liaud's Troops Action at St. Thomas's Mount AiTival of a Fleet from Ben- gal under Admiral Pocock The French raise the Siege of Madras Affairs of the Deccan Expedition sent thither from Bengal Battle of Peddapore Masulipatam invested, stormed, and captured by the English Consequent Accession of Territory by the Company The French take Seringham Colonel Coote appointed to command the British Troops in the Carnatic His successful Operations Battle of Wandewash Defeat of the French Pondicherry invested by the English Obstinate Defence Famine in the Garrison Expulsion of the Native inhabitants Their frightful Sufferings Dreadful Storm and Devastation amonpt the Besiegers Pondicherry, re- duced by famine, surrenders to the English Its Fortifications demolished Final Extinction of the French Power in India . . . !)l) CHAPTER VII. Intrigues in the Court of Meer Jaffier Invasion of the Shahzada Repelled by Clive Dutch invited to Bengal by the Soubahdar Duplicity of Meer Jaffiej' Insolence of the Dutch Preparations against their Attempts Attack and Capture of the Dutch Ships Total Defeat of their Land Forces-Death of Prince Meerun by Lightning Meer Cossim aspires to the Alusnud Is sup- ported by the Government of Bengal Meer Jaffier superseded by Meer Cos- sim Gratuities to the Governor and Council The Emperor invades Bengal Is defeated by the British under Major Carnae Hostilities with Meer Cossim, and Restoration of Meer Jaffier- Repeated Defeats of Meer Cossim Massacre of English Prisoners at Patna Serious Mutiny in the Company's Army Quelled by Major Munro Dreadful Punishment of the Mutineers- Battle of Buxar The Emperor claims the Protection of the English Con- spiracy amongst the Officci-s o" the Army Put down by Clive . . llC CONTENTS. XIU CIIAPTEE VIII. Affairs of the Carnatic Birth and Character of H>-dcr Ali He enters (he Service of Mysore His gi'eat Courage and rapid Rise Imbecility of the Rajah, and Supremacy of the Prime Minister Hyder puts down the latter, and takes his Place He usurps the Sovereign Authority Extends his Terri- tories by Conquest Is defeated by the Mahrattas and buys them off Con- quers Malabar and Coorg Formidable Confederacy against him Dissolves it, and lorms a Coalition against the Ensjlish- Territorial Possessions and Resources of the contending Parties at this Period Battle of Trinomaly Hyder deserted by the Nizam Successes of the British Hyder singularly foiled in a Night Attack The British on the point of Defeat saved hy a StratagemDreadful Scene at Bangalore Gallant Defence by an English Sergeant Repeated Success of Hyder Destruction of Captain Nixon's De- tachmentCritical Condition of the English Hyder compels them to a Treaty of Peace IW CHAPTER IX. Hyder forms a Confederacy against the English War between France and ' England Capture of French Possessions in India Hyder invades the Car- natic Supine Conduct of the Madras Government Colonel Baillie's Detach- ment Its difficult IMarch to join the Array Intercepted by Hyder His Assaults repulsed Fatal Delay of Colonel Baillie Formidable Attack by the Enemy Baillie's Detachment surrounded Heroic Defence of the Anglo- Indians Explosion of Tumbrils Destruction of Baillie's Detachment Suf- ferings of the Prisoners Successful Operations of Hyder Reinforcement from Bengal under Sir Eyre Coote He advances against Hyder Single Combats Successful Operations of the Anglo-Indian Army Battle of Cud- dalore Aftair* of Polliloor ond Sholinghur Destruction of Colonel Braith- waite's Detachment Action at Arnce Death of Hyder Ali and Accession of Tippoo Sahib Peace between France and England Capture of Biddenoor by General Mathews Recaptured by Tippoo Peace with Tippoo . 149 CHAPTER X. Religious Zeal of Tippoo Sultan He assumes an Imperial Title Confederacy against him Hostilities succeeded by Peace Tippoo pursues his proselyting Mania in Malabar Resolves to seize on Travancore Interference of the British- Tippoo attacks the Lines of Travancore His Failure and frightful Loss of Life His final Success Confederacy against Tippoo between the English, the Nizam, and the Mahrattas The Anglo-Indian Army takes the field under General Meadows Its successful Operations Gallant Retreat of Colonel Floyd's Detachment- Tippoo suddenly invades and ravages the Carnatic Lord Cornwallis assumes the Command of the Army By a skilful Movement he invades Mysore Siege- of Bangalore Gallant Cavahy Affair under Colonel Floyd Storming of the Pettah of Bangalore Death of Colonel Moorhouse- Capture of the Pettah The Fort breached and stormed Brave Defence by Bahander Khan Capture of Bangalore and Consternation of Tippoo Junction of the Nizam's Contingent- Singular Appearance of the Hyderabad Troops Their Inefficiency Advance of the Anglo Indian Army on the Enemy's Capital Defeat of Tippoo before Seringapatam . lOy CHAPTER XI. Sufferings of the Anglo-Indian Army Romantic Gallantry of the Rajah of Coorg Lord Cornwallis retires on Bangalore Junction of the Mahrattas-r-Thcir singular Siege of Darwar Thev furnish the Army with abundant Supplies- Graphic Description of their Camp Bazaar The Brinjarries Capture of Hooleadroog-Phmdering Habits of the Mahrattas Deplorable State of Tip- poo's Prisoners Arrangements for the ensuing Campaign Murder of Pri- soners at Oussoor Nundidroog stormed and taken Noble Defence of Fort Coimbatore Storming Party repulsed Both Parties reinforced Surrender of Coimbatore on favourable a'erms- In fraction of the Treaty Savindroog invested Description of that remarkable Fortress Difficult and laborious Operations Savindroog breached and successfully stormed-Ootradroog in- vested Treachery of the Killadar Carried by Escalade . . 190 XIV CONTENTS. CHAPTER XII. Lord Cornwallis prepares to march on Seringnpatam Is joined by the Nizam's Contingent Advance of the Anglo-Indian Army Arrival at Seringapatam Formidable Position of Tippoo Lord Cornwallis resolves on a Night Attack Commencement of the Battle of Serin^apatam The Carighant Hill carried by Colonel Maxwell The Enemy's Line broken British Troops force the Passage of the River Establish themselves on the Island Critical Escape of Tippoo And of his Treasure Admirable Defence of the Sultan's Redoubt by the English Garrison Preparations for the Siege Impotent Rage of Tippoo The Anglo-Indian Army reinforced Desperate Attempt to assassinate Lord Cornwallis Negotiations for Pe;ice British Ultimatum Preparations for Storming Tippoo accedes to the Terms His two Sons, delivered as Hostages General Interest excited in their favour Interruption of tlie Treaty Peace finally concluded ...... 208 CHAPTER XIII. Tippoo's Schemes of Vengeance His Embassy to Zemaun Shah His chimerical Religious Project He entertains French Adventrnvrs- Arrival of the Pirate Ripaud at Mangalore He is joyfully received at the Court of Tippoo Vain Boasting of Ripaud Tippoo sends him on an Embassy to the Isle of France Ostentatious Reception there of the Ambassadors Sad Disappointment of Tippoo's Hopr. Buist. " Tract on India." " The charges of the India House amount to from a hundred to a hundred and fifty thousand pounds a year ; their dinner- bills for the past eighteen years beinsf set down in the accounts as an extra item of 53,000?." Pr. Buist. " Tract on India:>- b OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. nor have they expended much means or talent in the con- struction of great and necessary public works, such as roads, canals, bridges, and aqueducts ;* they have not improved nay, they have actually neglected the irri- gation of the agricultural districts, an object of such vital importance in a rice-growing country ; and it must be admitted that they have not diffused so much as they ought to have done the blessings of education, and a knowledge of the arts, sciences, and literature of Europe, amongst the hundred millions of human beings committed to their care, and immediately under their control. But, still, it is something to have rescued that hundred millions from the cruelty, caprice, and oppression of native misrule, and placed them under the aegis of laws (such as they are), administered by enlightened, able, and indepen- dent Englishmen. It is something to have extended the influence of European civilisation so far as to have nearly eradicated the abominable Suttee, the frightful infanti- cide, f and the horrible system of Thuggee,^ which had prevailed time immemorial in that benighted land, un- checked and unnoticed by its native princes. Finally, does it not redound to their praise and honour that they have effectually, and for ever, put down those savage hordes of banditti, who, under the name of Pindarries, enlisted in their ranks every monster that could steal a horse and a weapon ; and swept in ruthless masses, like the dark simoom, over many a hundred leagues of peace- ful, industrious, and happy lands, leaving no other traces * " During the campaign of 18i6, one hundred officers were required to he sent from Calcutta, 1500 miles, to the field of action. Palanquins were the only con- veyance. On that occasion, however, bearers were posted at different stations to carry three persons daily ; and assuming twelre bearers to be posted at every station, and eight miles between each, it must have required 7,200 men to carry them. Of the hundred, only thirty arrived before the campaign was over. They were going to the Sutlej to join Lord Hurdinge." India Reform Tract. t " Infanticide, by which tens and Imndreds of thousands of female children must have perished since it first became known to us, sixty years ago, has been extinguished barely two ;years since. The extinction of widow-burning is of somewhat older date within our territories, but the practice still prevails upon our borders." J)r. Baist. " Tract on Jndla." X ' ' The existence of Thuggee, the practice of which is represented in the frescoes of Ajunta.as having prevailed above two thousand years ago, has become known to us only within the present century, and is scarcely yet entirely extinguished." I>r. Buist. " Tract on India." OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. {9 of their pestilent course than burning homesteads, bleed- ing, mangled bodies, and dying and dishonoured mothers, in the midst of their weeping and famished offspring 1 If the Indian Governments had never effected any other good than this, they would still leave behind them an imperishable monument of the beneficence of English rule. It must, however, be admitted that the position of the Court of Directors is altogether false and anomalous ; for it can no longer be called a company of traders, inas- much as its commercial character has been abolished by Act of Parliament, and it raises armies, levies taxes, coins money, declares war, and pursues conquest. Nor can it, on the other hand, be said to be a government at least, of any of the known and admitted forms j being neither an autocracy nor a monarchy, either limited or absolute, a republic or a pure democracy : nor is it a Council of Ten, a Conclave, or a Sanhedrim. It bears, perhaps, a greater resemblance to the Spanish Junta than to any other form of delegated authority, and the likeness is by no means flattering. The ideas conceived of it in the East are more ludicrous than just ; and nothing can be more puzzling to the natives than a power which assumes unlimited authority over them, but is itself subject to the control of another with which they are apparently uncon- nected j but whether it be an old man, or an old woman, or a combination of the sexes, or a winged dragon, or simply the " twenty-four stools," is to this day a moot point from Adam's Peak to the Punjaub.* But in our humble page we are not called upon either to censure or panegyrise the "Honourable Company Bahander ;" and our narrow limits remind us, ere we have too long trespassed on the patience of our readers, of the subject we have chosen, con amove, to illustrate the noble exploits of our Anglo-Indian Army. * "The salary of a Director is only 303?. per annum, but the patronage of each averages from 13,000?. to 14,000?.; and 4000?. has often been spent in canvassing the constituency, which numbers about 2000." 7nc?^ Reform Tract. B * I nl^ 10 OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Some writers contend tliat we hold India by the power of opinion ; others, by the power of the sword ; and these latter even go so far as to say that, if the natives but knew their own strength as well as it is known to the European governors of India, not many years would elapse ere we saw the last vestige of our proud dominion in the East crumbling to ashes beneath our feet. On a competent knowledge of the country, and the character of its inhabitants, we do not feel disposed to concur in this opinion. On the contrary, we think that the natives who compose our Indian Army are perfectly good judges of their own strength, as well as of their own interest, and therein lies our confidence. They are by no means ignorant that the 40,000 European troops we have in the country * could not stand for an instant before the ^260,000 natives of the soil who comprise the remainder, ^1^ could they, with a reasonable cause and practicable hope ^ of success, form a coalition for their expulsion. But this implies an absolute impossibility ; for nothing can be more mutually antagonistic than the materials of our Indian Army. The Mussulmaun and Hindoo are at daggers-drawn on the score of religion, and the sectarian animosities of the Soonies and Sheahs amongst the former far surpass the deadliest hostilities of our own most frantic bigots ; while the incommunicative pride of Hindoo caste is an effectual bar to anything like con- spiracy between the Brahmin and the Yaisya, the Soodra and the Bajpoot. As well, therefore, may it be expected that the sands of the desert shall adhere and coagulate as the hetero- geneous materials of our Indian Army, in anything like a general conspiracy, to shake off the English yoke. But even could they do so, what possible object could they hope to obtain by it 1 There is no such thing as an uni- * Since 1837, the last year of peace, we have added 16,000 men to our European, force, at a lost of more than half a million a year. In 1837, our European troops of all arms amounted to 27,814 men, and in 1850 they numbered 43,579. Every English soldier is supposed to cost lOOi., from the time of his enlistment until he commences active service in India. 1 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 11 versal spirit of patriotism in the East ; no general im- pulse to bind Bengal, Madras, and Bombay together. There are, in fact, no two native powers in India that are not bitterly hostile to each other, and rancorously jealous of everything that redounds to a rival's fame or advantage. The old conquering maxim of " divide and govern" it was altogether unnecessary for the British to make use of ; for everything was divided to their hand, and they had merely to stretch forth that hand and seize the golden fruit, which all offered to the stranger in their anxiety to snatch it from their neighbours. So far, therefore, from English domination being looked upon as an apple of discord thrown in at the peaceful ban- quet of Indian potentates, to spread hatred and disunion amongst their scattered ranks, it is the very thing that keeps them together in the only bond of fraternity of which they have any notion submission to a supe- rior power for the advancement of their own individual interests. But, in justice to the noble feeling which we know to be prevalent amongst all ranks and classes of our Indian Army, we will take a higher ground, and assert, on per- sonal knowledge and reliable testimony, that the attach- ment of the Sepoy to his English officer, and through him to the English Government, is of an efidweirrg-tts-well as an endLji>ili^ nature, thui h will lonij;; b id dfilani!>t. to the machinations of every enemy to British supremacy, either foreign or domestic. And if we do not prove this fact also to the satisfaction of the reader before the conclusion of this little volume, then we have grossly mistaken the character of the brave men whose actions we have under- taken to illustrate, as well as our own competency for the task. The Army of India which, not more than a century back, consisted of only two or three battalions, comprises at present upwards of two hundred and eighty thousand men of all arms, who are divided amongst the three Pre- sidencies as follows : L 12 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. BENGAL.* Three brigades of Horse Artillery, European and Native. Six battalions of European Foot Artillery. Three battalions of Native Foot Artillery. Corps of Royal Engineers. Ten regiments of Light Native Cavalry. Two regiments of European Fusiliers. Seventy-four regiments of Native Infantry. Twenty-three regiments of Irregular Native Cavalry. Twelve regiments of Irregular Native Infantry. One corps of Guides. Sixteen regiments of Local Militia. One regiment of Sappers and Miners. One regiment of Camel Corps. Shekhawuttie brigade, Artillciy, Cavalry, and Infantry. Contingent troops of Gwalior, Maliva, Bhopaul, Kotah, and Joudpore. V The native cavalrj^ of Bengal forms a most efficient and generally Jis^Kiiguislied branch of our Anglo-Indian ^ Army. The men are rather shorter than those in the I same corps at Madras. The latter are almost all Maho- : medans, and three-fourths of the Bengal cavalry are of the same race. The fact is that, with the exception of the Mahratta tribe, the Hindoos are not, generally speak- ing, so much disposed as Mahomedans to the duties of a "^ trooper ; and though the Mahomedans may be more ^ dissipated and less moral in their private conduct than ^^ the Hindoos, they are zealous and high-spirited soldiers, jL and become very warmly attached to the service. In^ ^j y the native in fan try of Bengal, the Hindoos are in the full "^ proporliion oi' tliree-fourths to the Mahomedans. They ^^J^ consist chiefly of Eajpoots, who are distinguished as the m-"^^ military tribe or caste. The general standard is five feet ^^ six inches ; but the great proportion of the Grenadiers f* " The Bengal ai'in J is commanded by a general officer of her Majesty's service, who is, at the same time, commander-in-chief in India. He does not interfere in the general control of the armies of the other Presidencies ; but, as the Sove- jiOk reign's' representative, he reviews courts'-martial held on Queen's officers, and S confirms or revises the sentence. He appoints and promotes Queen's officers, also, JS tofiU vacancies, subject to final decision from the Horse Guards. The military , ^ salary of the commander-in-chief is SOOOL, and as a member of council he re- t?5t ceives lO.OOOL per annum. At the minor Presidencies the salaries of the com- manders-in- chief are one-half of the preceding sums." India A'e/onn Tract. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 13 is six feet and upwards. The Rajpoot is bom a soldier, and is, when well treated, obedient, zealous, and faithful. He sometimes wants energy, but never courage. Such is the general character of a race of men constituting the main proportion of the Bengal army, and of whom we can recruit in our own provinces to any amount.* MADEAS.* One brigade of Horse Artillery, European and Native. Four battalions of European Eoot Artillery. One battalion of Native Foot Artillery. Corps of Royal Engineers. Eight regiments of Native Light Cavalry. Two European regiments, Fusiliers and Light Infantry. Fifty-two regiments of Native Infantry. The native, cavalry of this Presidency are, generally speaking, from five feet five to five feet ten inches in height, of light but active make. The native infantry is generally composed of Mahomedans and Hindoos of good caste. At its first establishment none were enlisted but men of high military tribes ; in process of time, however, a considerable change took place, and natives of every description were enrolled in the service. Subsequently, orders Avere given to recruit from none but the most respectable classes of society, and many consider the regular and orderly behaviour of these men as one of the benefits which have resulted from this system. The infantry Sepoy of Madras is rather a small man, but he is of an active make, and capable of undergoing great fatigue upon a very slender diet ; while his moderation, sobriety, and patience give him a steadiness that is almost unknown to Europeans. The most marked general fea- * " It is, perhaps, worthy of bemg noted among the mirahilia of the age that a very large portion of the Bengal army, perhaps not less than a fifth or sixth part, is composed of Brahmins. It has, however, been observed that, where corps have been detached on foreign service, the Brahmins have been remarkable for desertion ; and, indeed, they always have been found to be the main though secret spring of every mutiny." Williamson's ^'Oriental Field Sports.'' * The Madras army is also commanded by a lieutenant-general of the royal service, and its divisions are commanded by two or three general officers, one of whom belongs to the royal army. 14 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. tures in the character of the natives of India is a prone- ness to obedience, and a great susceptibility of good or bad usage ; and there are few in that country who are more imbued with these feelings than the Madras Sepoy. One brigade of Horse Artillery, European and Native. Two battalions European Foot Artillery. Two battalions Native Foot Artillery. Corps of Royal Engineers. Three regiments of Native Light Cavalry. Two European regiments, Fusiliers and Light Infantry. Twenty-nine regiments of Native Infantry. Fifteen regiments Irregular Native Cavalry and Infantry, It was at Bombay that the first native troops were disciplined by the English. Of the exact date we are ignorant ; but regular Sepoys are noticed in the account of the transactions of that part of India, some time before they were embodied at either Madras or Bengal. A corps of 100 Sepoys from Bombay, and 400 from Tellicherry, is mentioned as having joined the army at Madras in 1747 ; and a company of Bombay Sepoys, which had gone with troops from Madras to Bengal, were present at the battle of Plassey.* The men of the Bombay infantry are of a standard very near that of Madras, the average being five feet five ; but they are robust and hardy, and capable of enduring great fatigue upon very slender diet. The Bombay army, from its origin to the present day, has been indiscriminately composed of all classes, Mahomedans, Hindoos, Jews, and some few Christians. Many of the Jews attain the rank of commissioned officers. The Bombay Sepoys have at all times been found ready to embark on foreign service ; but this is only one of their merits, for they are patient, faithful, and brave, and attached in a remarkable degree to their European officers. * The decisive battle fought and won from Suraja Dowlah by the immortai Clive, at the village of Plassey, in Bengal, not a vestige of which remains at this day, from the inroads of the Ganges, the main stream of which now runs through where it stood. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 15 In addition to the above troops, which exclusively belong to the East India Company, there are thirty regi- ments of her Majesty's troops, lent to and paid by the Company, which are at present distributed as follows : Bengal. The 9th Lancers and 14th Light Dragoons, and the 10th, 18th, 22nd, 24th, 29th, 32nd, 53rd, 60th (1st battalion), Cist, 70th, 75th, 80th, 81st, 87th, 96th, and 98th Regiments of Foot. Madras. The 15th Hussars, and the 25th, 5l8t, 52nd, 84th, and 94th Regiments of Foot. Bombay. The 10th Hussars, and the 8th, 64th, 78th, 83rd, and 86th Regiments of Foot. The whole Anglo-Indian Army, Royal, European, and Native, amounting to 289,529.* Of the above number, not more than four thousand eight hundred and thirty are European officers, and of these at least seven hundred are generally absent on fur- lough, and a great many on the staff, in charge of local corps, or otherwise employed away from their regiments. This is one of the great evils of the system ; for though the small number of the European officers are assisted in the ordinary routine of garrison-duties by the native commissioned officers (the soubahdars and jematdars, or captains f and subalterns ), their numerical deficiency has exposed armies to serious risks in the field, where * " The military armaments of all India, comprising the Company's territoricB and the protected and subsidiary states, may be set down as follows : 1. The Anglo-Indian Army, Royal, European, and Native 289,529 2. Native Contingents, commanded by British oflScers, and available by the British Government 32,311 3. Native Contingents, not so commanded, but equally available 4,000 4. Armies of native princes, many of which are at the service, when required, of the British Government, comprise 12,962 artUlery, 68,303 cavalry, and 317,653 infantry .... 398,918 India Reform Tract. 724,758." t The Sepoy regiments have attached to them a full complement of native as well as European officers. The former rise according to their merit from private Sepoys ; and before the most of them arrive at the rank of soubahdars or captains (for higher they do not go) they become quite bald and grey in the service, and their hoary beards and whiskers cut a most venerable appearance at the head of a regiment. Their rank gives them no authority excepting over their own countrymen, for a European sergeant would command any of the native officers on duty. 16 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the example of European intrepidity is always of the most vital consequence in rallying the native troops at critical junctures. In the battles in Sindh, Sir Charles Napier remarked that the fall of a European officer was invariably the signal for Sepoy faltering ; and that, if others had not been at hand to take his place on the instantj the consequences might have been often dis- astrous. The following is the present rate of officers' pay per month, in the Anglo-Indian A.rmy, including all allow- ances : company's EUROPEAN INFANTRY.* In garrison or cantonment. Rupees.t Colonel (not a General Officer on the Staff) 1180 Lieutenant-Colonel 745 Major 575 Captain 333 Lieutenant 199 Ensign 155 Surgeon as Captain, and Assistant-Surgeon as Lieutenant. In the field. Rupet s. 1280 1020 780 411 254 200 COMPANY S EUROPEAN ARTILLERY. . 1180 . 745 . 575 . 353 . 209 . 167 Colonel of a Battalion Lieutenant-Colonel . Major Captain . First Lieutenant Second Lieutenant . Surgeon and Assistant-Sui'geon, as in the European infantry. Engineers the same as the artillery. NATIVE CAVALRY. Colonel . 1467 Lieutenant-Colonel . . . . . 948 1280 1020 780 431 264 1467 1148 * " The pay and allowance of the European officers of a Sepoy regiment are double the amount of the pay of the men. The forty thousand European soldiers whom we einploycost more than the 200,000 native horse employed by our predecessors." Tract on India Reform. "The army of Bengal alone, comprising 23,247 Europeans, 138,255 native soldiers, with 3,405 British officers, or 164,903 in all, costs a third more than that of France, though less than half as numerous." Dr. Buist's " Tract on India.'* t The rupee is about two shillings. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 17 Mgor 777 922 Captain 520 560 Lieutenant ...... 333 363 Cornet 289 309 Surgeon as Captain, Assistant- Surgeon as Lieutenant. Veterinary Surgeon 341 NATIVE INFANTRY. Colonel (not a General on the Staff) . . 1280 1280 Lieutenant-Colonel 820 1020 Major 635 780 Captain 371 411 Lieutenant 224 254 Ensign ........ 180 00 Surgeon as Captain, and Assistant-Surgeon as Lieutenant. The situation of officers in the Company's service being looked upon as a sort of exile for life, care has been taken to make it palatable to them by numerous privileges and advantages which, are not accorded to the Queen's officers ; though it may be remarked, en passant, that the exile of the latter is very little, if at all, shorter than that of the former, and their duties are quite as onerous in the field. This, or some other cause, has unhappily created an un- pleasant feeling between the two services, which, though it never entails any positive detriment on the interests of the Company, produces a want of unanimity and good fellowship that frequently mars the pleasures of social harmony. Amongst these advantages may be enumerated situa- tions on the general staff, with salaries i-anging from 2000 to 40,000 rupees per annum ; and these not only of a military, but a civil nature, as revenue-collectors, magis- trates, superintendents of police, political agents, &c. The military staff situations include those of adjutant, auditor, quartermaster, surveyor, paymaster, judge-advo- cate, commissary-general, brigade-major, aide-de-camp, barrack master, secretary to the military board, clothing agent, superintendent of studs, &c., which are all filled 18 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. by officers withdrawn from regimental duty, and exclu- sively of the native army. After a service of ten years in India, officers of the Company's service are entitled to a furlough to Europe of three years, with the pay of their respective ranks for that period. Those who have not served ten years in India, but whose presence in England is required by urgent private affairs, are allowed a furlough for one year without pay. Officers who are compelled to quit the service by wounds received in action or by ill-health contracted on duty, after three years' service in India, are permitted to retire on the half-pay of their rank* viz., cornet or ensign, 54 155., and lieutenant, 73 per annum; and they are further entitled to an allowance from Lord Olive's Fund (with the approbation of the Oourt of Directors), viz., an ensign, cornet, or second lieutenant, 36 IO5. a year, and a lieutenant, 45 12s. Qd. All officers who have actually served twenty-two years in India, exclusive of the three years' furlough, are allowed to retire on the full pay of their respective ranks. After twenty-seven years' service in India (including three years' furlough), they are entitled, though of inferior rank, to retire on the full pay of major, 292 per annum ; after thirty-one years' service, on the full pay of a lieu- tenant-colonel, 365 per annum ; and after thirty-five years' service, on the full-pay of colonel, 456 5s. per annum. In addition to the above, officers of the Company's service who are invalided and incapable of further service in India are entitled (under certain restrictions) to an allowance from Lord Olive's Fund, equal to half the ordi- nary pay they enjoyed on retiring from the service. The foregoing comprise the advantages conferred by tbe Oovernment upon their officers, when unfitted tempo- rarily or permanently for efiective service. The provi- sions, however, were manifestly so in sufficient that several years ago the officers of the difierent armies formed mili- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 19 tary, medical, and retiring funds of their own, contri- buting certain donations and monthly subscriptions, in view to benefits in the form of passage-money, furlough allowance, equipment, pensions to families, &c. All these have worked well, excepting in the case of the retiring funds, which have for the most part failed, in consequence of the difficulty of reconciling the jarring interests of officers placed in different circumstances. But even the failure of the retiring funds as a system has, in a mea- sure, been modified by the permission accorded to officers to receive from their regimental brethren a sum of money in consideration of retirement from the service, and con- sequent acceleration of regimental promotion.* Thus it appears, from the foregoing brief statement, that our Anglo-Indian Army at present comprises five brigades of horse artillery, eighteen battalions of foot artillery, twenty-one regiments of native cavalry, six regiments of European infantry (exclusive of the Queen's troops), one hundred and fifty-five battalions of native infantry, eighteen hundred Sappers and Miners, and about seventy regiments of irregular cavalry, and infantry, and local militia ; whereas, less than a century back, the native troops in the Company's service amounted to a very few Sepoy battalions, which were at first employed merely as an appendage to the Company's European force, with a captain, adjutant, and some sergeants attached to them. With the skill which these communicated, and the use of musketry, they easily vanquished the irregular troops of the native princes, with their matchlocks and other defective arms ; but when the latter began to improve their military system, and introduced European tactics, it became necessary to raise our Sepoy force to a higher degree of efficiency. The complement of British officers was, therefore, progressively increased, and the native corps were more and more assimilated to regi- ments of the line an improvement which was brought * Stocqueler. " Handbook of India." 20 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. into full operation in 1796, since which period no native has been allowed to rise above the rank of soubahdar. The pay of the Sepoy is seven rupees per month, which is double the wages of the class of persons from which they are generally drawn. The establishment of each regiment is 700 rank and file ; and the men, though of a size somewhat below that of European soldiers, are nearly as brave (when jDroperly led), and quite as hardy and as active, capable of undergoing as much fatigue, and of sustaining even greater privations. Officers in the Company's service receive royal com- missions, as well as commissions from the Government of India * their rank, however, only operates to the east- ward of the Cape of Good Hope. Promotion to the rank of colonel is in the hands of the Company ; the rank of general officer is confirmed by royal brevet upon the occasion of the issue of a brevet to the royal army. The commands in chief at the different Presidencies of India are held by generals in her Majesty's service. The interior economy and management of our Anglo- Indian Army is altogether so different from anything of the same nature in Europe that a few details on the sub- ject may here be acceptable to the reader. When not in the field, the troops are always in canton- ments, with the exception of Fort William, Fort George, and Bombay, where there are regular barracks for both officers and men. These cantonments consist of a solid built barrack for the European soldiers, the Sepoys being lodged in huts of their own construction. Around the barracks, and generally skirting the parade-ground, the officers are allotted a piece of ground each, called a cmn- pound, on which they have their bungalows built, con- sisting in most cases of three rooms and one or two verandahs ; though many, according to the taste and means of the occupants, are very elaborate and comfort- * The appointments to the India service, both civil and military, are vested in he members of the Coml of East India Directors, each director having at his dispoeal a certain numberof vrriterships, and cadetsliips, or military commissions. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 31 able specimens of architecture. The compounds are laid out in gardens, and planted with flowering shrubs and fruit-trees ; and vegetation being very rapid, an oasis frequently thus springs up with wonderful rapidity in the midst of an arid desert. In these lines, also, the officers build their mess-rooms, ball-rooms, theatres, and occa- sionally racket-courts ', and at a little distance race- stands, commanding an extensive view of fine level courses, where they have regular annual meetings, ex- clusive of frequent private matches, tiger-hunts, &c. When in the field, officers are not at the expense of providing or conveying their tents, as the liberality of the Company supplies them with this accommodation of the very best kind. The tents which they contract for are fully twice as large as those used in Europe. They are made of thick cotton cloth ; the shell or inner roof, as well as the canauts or walls, which are five or six feet high, being composed of two folds of white, and one of blue cloth, which last is placed innermost ; and the fly or outer roof is made of the same material j so that an officer, when in camp, enjoys the great comfort in that sultry clime of having six folds of thick cotton cloth placed betwixt his head and the vertical rays of the sun. The soldiers' tents hold each ten men with great ease, and have also two folds and a blue lining. Three bullocks are allotted for the carriage of each captain's marquee, and one for that of each subaltern's tent ; but those of field- officers are so large as to require a camel or an elephant, which animals are also appropriated for the carriage of the soldiers' tents, mess-tents, and hospital-tents j Lascars, or tent-pitchers, are also allotted for, and two puckalie bullocks per company. These bullocks carry each two huge leathern bags for holding water, for the convenience of the soldiers in camp and on the line of march. Doolies, or sick-beds (an inferior sort of palanquin), are attached to each corps, in the proportion of one to every ten men, with four bearers to each. A bazaar is also an indispensable appendage to an 22 0U ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Anglo-Indian army. This consists of a whole camp of suttlers, who provide and sell to the best advantage all the necessaries of life, which it would be highly incon- venient for the soldiers to carry about with them, and which they cannot well do without ; such as curry-stuffs, tobacco, rice, meat, and arrack (in addition to the allow- ance with which they are supplied by the commissariat), cotton and other cloths, grain for the of&cers' horses in short, they furnish out an excellent market, where every- thing may be obtained for use, comfort, or luxury. These bazaars are always established in rear of, and at a little distance from the encampment ; and the market men, with their families. Coolies, hackeries (carts), bullocks, &c. &c., wonderfully increase the apparent numerical strength of an Eastern army. " The preparations for war in India," says Captain Munro,* " carry nothing hostile in their appearance, ease and comfort being far more studied upon these occasions than despatch. It would be absurd for a captain to think of taking the field without being attended by the follow- ing enormous retinue, viz., a dubash, a cook, and a maty boy ; if he cannot get bullocks, he must assemble fifteen or twenty Coolies, to carry his baggage, together with a horse-keeper and grass-cutter, and sometimes a dulcinea and her train, having occasionally the assistance of a barber, a washerwoman, and an ironer, in common with the other officers of his regiment. His tent is furnished with a good large bed, mattress, pillows, &c., a few camp- stools or chairs, a folding-table, a pair of glass shades for his candles, six or seven tnmks, with table equipage, his stock of linens (at least twenty-four suits), some dozens of wine, porter, brandy, and gin ; with tea, sugar, and biscuit, a hamper of live poultry, and his milch goat. A private's tent for holding his servants and the overplus of his baggage is also requisite ; but this is not at the Com- pany's expense." * Operations on the coast of Coromandel. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 23 In addition to the superabundant multitude of attend- ants, for all the officers have followers in proportion to the captain, every Sepoy in the army is accompanied to the field by his whole family, be they ever so numerous, who live upon his pay and allowances of rice from the Company. The wife shares the hardships of war with her husband in the most cheerful manner, and follows him wherever he goes. Every trooper, besides his family, -24 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. has a grass-cutter attached to him ; for the grass being dug up by the roots, is washed from the sand and dried in a net ; and it is a sufficient day's work for one person to root out and prepare the daily food for one horse. Each troop is also furnished with a large copper-kettle for boiling the grain, or beans for the horses, it being reckoned unwholesome to let them have it raw. When on a march, the tents are generally struck soon after midnight. At the first ruffle of the drum the Lascars knock up the tent-pins, and down fall the tents, says Captain Munro, like trees in a forest yielding to the stroke of the wood-cutter. The elephants and camels are taught to kneel to receive their loads of camp equipage ;* the bullocks are loaded with the officers' tents and boxes, the Coolies take up their burdens, and all prepare for the road. This is an occupation of noise and bustle, the variety of animals and carriages employed tending to increase the apparent confusion. Meanwhile, the officers and soldiers are standing or sitting round the fires ^yhich are blazing in every corner of the camp ; the former attended by their maty boys, bearing a brandy bottle, a 'tumbler, a goglet, or earthen pot of cool water, and also a camp stool or chair upon their heads : the dubash and -the cook have been sent forward to the next encamping ground to get breakfast ready. Between one and two o'clock the troops fall in, the officers' horses are brought up,f the regiments break into columns of sections, and march off, right or left in front, as the order may be ; the camp-followers, with the bag- gage, bullocks, elephants, and camels, bringing up the rear. European soldiers never carry their knapsacks on the march ; the black boys and others, who cook for them in * " Elephants are also trained for war, carrying a heavy iron chain, five or six yards long, in their trunks, which they are taught to wield amongst the ranks in a furious manner, and to trample uyjon all that come in their way.'' i^iTtmro. " 3filitan/ Oj^erations on Coromandel Coatt.'' t The native as well as European officers have the privilege of riding with their i-espective companies. They are generally mounted on Tattoos, or Serissa horse?. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 25 camp, easing them of that burden. These cook boys are amazingly attached to their masters, and will keep close to their heels in the midst of the greatest dangers. When they grow up, they make the best Sepoys, for all of them speak English well. It is astonishing to see the immense loads which the Coolies and other servants carry upon their heads, without being in the least affected. Even boys and girls of nine and ten years of age are seen carry- ing burdens that in other countries would be thought sufficient for full-grown men. As the troops move along, the officers frequently enjoy upon the road a fine chase after antelopes and hares, with which the country abounds. The soldiers of a regiment will perhaps start from under their feet ten or a dozen hares in a day. They also meet with coveys of par- tridges, or with wild ducks and florikens, a most delicious bird of the buzzard kind. Wild boars are also sometimes surprised, and afford great diversion in the line, the offi- cers being always provided with dogs, guns, boar-spears, &c., ready for any accidental game that may turn up. When the troops arrive within a mile or two of their next halt, the quartermasters push forward to take up the ground, and the camp is laid out with such precision that everyone knows his post on arrival. As quickly as the elephants and camels come up with the tents, they are instantly pitched, and the men generally get under cover about nine o'clock, when thg sun is becoming very oppressive. While the officers' tents are pitching, they find shelter beneath ''the spreading tamarind," or the stately mango ; for the camp is generally formed close to some umbrageous tope, with a tank adjoining, into which the cattle and naked followers plunge, in order to cleanse and refresh themselves. The officers' breakfast is always ready for them on their arrival, consisting of tea, coffee, curry and rice, pillau, cold or broiled ham, or Bengal hump, &c., &c. The general and field-officers frequently have large parties to breakfast with them on these occa- sions, in large marquees sent forward for the purpose. 26 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. As the camp-duties are always light, the men have abundant leisure for repose, and the officers to enjoy themselves in shooting, hunting, &c. ; while a capital mess (in the Queen's regiments) at eight o'clock closes the labours of the day. In short, a march in India, so far from being a toilsome and troublesome duty, is little more than a party of pleasure a hunting-excursion of ten thousand. Thus far we have thought it necessary to explain the military system that prevails in our Eastern empire, for the more readily understanding of the narrative upon which we are about to enter of the glorious exploits of our Anglo-Indian Army. It may, however, be desirable also to say a few words about our Indian Navy, which constitutes an essential feature in the great drama of Oriental warfare. About half a century ago, when the Coromandel and Malabar coasts were visited by pirates and French pri- vateers, and the trade between the Persian and Arabian gulfs and India was interrupted by rovers, who hoisted the black signal of the professional freebooter, or the scarcely less suspicious blood-red flag of the ostensible Arab trader, the East India Company kept up a flotilla of gun-brigs. They were generally called cruisers ; and their officers and crew composed a body then known by the name of The Bomhay Marine. The men were princi- pally drawn from the merchant- vessels in the harbour ; and the officers were sent out by the Court of Directors as midshipmen, whence they rose by gradation to the rank of captains. The history of our trade in India, and of our political occupation of the country, presents many brilliant proofs of the skill and prowess of the Bombay Marine, whether in conflict with hordes of desperate pirates, or in more organised operations, in conjunction with other sea and land forces, against the strongholds of enemies on the shores of India, Persia, or Burmah. During the period when his late Majesty William the OUR ANGLO-IITDIAK ARMY. 2t Fourtli was Lord High Admiral, these services were re- warded by conferring on the Bombay Marine the title of " The Indian Navy" and placing it, in all respects, on a just level with the royal service. The Indian I^Tavy now comprises one hundred and fifty officers of all ranks ; and the fleet amounts to forty vessels, of which more than one-half are armed steamers, variously employed in keep- ing up the communication between India and China; India, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf ; China and the Red Sea, Bombay and Sindh, and in the navigation of the Indus. The remainder of the vessels are sailing sloops, brigs, and schooners, employed on surveys, or in the protection of trade* in the western gulfs, and the Straits of Malacca. * " The sea-borne commerce of India is worth above thirty millions sterling. She draws seven and a half millions of imports from, and sends nearly a similar amount of exports to England. Eight thousand square-rigged vessels reach and quit the three principal shipping ports of India annually, bringing or bearing with them above a million of tons of merchandise, and receiving above two mil- lions sterling annually of freight; with nearly 100,000 country-craft, of a burden of about a million and a half tons."~Z>r. Buist. " Tract on India." ^^ OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER II. Summary Glance at the Military History of India prior to the Arrival of the English Early Wealth and Civilisation of India Invasions of the Persians and Greeks The Mahomedan Dynasties Mahmood of Ghuzni Conquest of Delhi by Tamerlane Baber establishes the Moyul Dynasty jn Jr^^ia^ Conquests of Akbar and Shah Jehan Discovti ita gild CUliuu ests of jh g ventures of its Founder Terrible Incursion of Nadir Shah Massacre at Delhi Dismemberment of the Mo^ul Empire Divisions in the Mahratta States Position of the different Indian Powers when the English first appear upon the Scene. The early history of India offers a wide field of spe- culation to the ingenious theorist and profound an- tiquarian, which it is by no means our province to enter upon, even were we competent to a task which, according to the well-known phrase on a similar occasion, "has puzzled the wisest philosophers." It will sufficiently answer our purpose at present if we briefly notice the most striking events and epochs in that singular and romantic history ; reserving our space and our readers' patience for events no less singular, but which come more home to our business and bosoms as they approxi- mate our own remarkable period. It seems admitted on all hands that, long ere " Athens nursed her olive-bough," or Italy poured forth her legions to enslave and civilise mankind, India was the seat of wealth and grandeur ; that a busy population had covered the land with the marks of its industry; that skilful artisans converted the rude produce of the soil into fabrics of unrivalled delicacy and beauty ; and architects and sculptors joined in constructing works the solidity of which has not, in some instances, been overcome by OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. . 29 the revolution of thousands of years. Nay, that at a period when our simple islanders painted their naked bodies, when the rudest forms of domestic comfort were unknown to the Anglo-Saxon, And wild in woods the noble savage ran, "the princes and nobles of India already dwelt in splendid palaces, and, clothed in the gorgeous products of its looms, glittering with gold and gems, indulged a corresponding luxury in every act and habit of their lives."* From the wonderful subterranean remains of architec- ture which exist to this moment in the western parts of India, it is conjectured, and with reason, that its inhabitants were not inferior to the Babylonians and Cushites in their knowledge of the arts of peace. It is kno\\Ti for certain that the Tyrians carried on a trade with India, by means of the Ked Sea ; that the Persians under Darius Hystaspes conquered a portion of the country ; and that the Greeks, beginning with Alexander, and ending with Antiochus, penetrated as far as the upper part of the Ganges,f taking possession of large tracts of country upon either side of the Indus ; that the dominion of the Greeks was succeeded by the incursions of the Scythian nomades, who in their turn were driven out by the Tartars. Next came the Mahomedans, under Mahmood of Ghuzni, who, about the year 1000, carried into effect his father's project for the conquest of India, and, after a series of aggressive expeditions, established Mussulmaun authority from the west of the Ganges to the province of Guzerat. Under this race Delhi became the seat of Government, and capital of the Mahometan empire in India ; and one of the successors of Mahmood of Ghuzni, though not one of his descendants, occupied the throne in 1398, when a new conqueror appeared upon the scene. This was Timour, better known in Europe under the Thornton. "History of India." t Embassy of Megasthenes. 30 . OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. name of Tamerlane,* a descendant of the renowned Mogul Chief, Zingis Kan,t who, having subdued all the neigh- bouring Tartar tribes, extended his conquests far and wide, leaving to his successors a larger extent of domi- nion than Rome possessed at the period of her highest grandeur. Timour, who was emphatically called ''The Firebrand of the Universe," crossed the Indus and ad- vanced towards Delhi, his course being everywhere marked by the most horrible excesses ; and of this we need no more glaring proof than his having once put to death one hundred thousand prisoners, in cold blood, to free himself from their incumbrance. Timour having taken, sacked, and burnt Delhi, returned to the capital of his Tartar dominions with a booty so vast that the historian Ferishta refrains from mentioning the reputed amount, inasmuch as it exceeded all belief. After he quitted Delhi^ his authority there virtually ceased ; new kingdoms sprung into independent existence, and in a brief period a very small district round the city of Delhi was all that remained of its former sovereignty. In the year 1526, however, the dynasty of Timour the Mogul was restored and established in India by the celebrated Baber, one of the bravest and most drunken monarchs that ever wielded a sceptre. | After some abortive attempts he succeeded in seating himself on the throne of Delhi, and extended his conquests as far as Bahar, when death put an end to his progress. He was * Properly Timour lung (Persian), or the lame. t The real name of this great chief, which is so disfigured by European his- torians, was formed of the two Persian words jung-ees, war-exciting. Thus Jungees Khaun, and not Zingis or Gengis, or Chengiz Kan, as he is called in Europe, was the " War-exciting Lord." Our readers are probably aware that Oriental names are frequently indicative of some virtue or defect, mental or physical: Thus, Jehanghir, Conqueror of the World, Noor Mahal, Light of the Harem, &c. I The following is an extract from the very entertaining autobiography of this extraordinary man: "About the time of noon-day prayers, I mounted to take a ride ; and, afterwards going on board of a boat, we had a drinking-bout. We continued drinking spirits in the boat till bed-time prayers, when, being com- pletely drunk, we mounted, and, taking torches in our hands, came at full gallop to the camp from the river-side, falling sometimes on one side of the horse and sometimes on the other. I was miserably drunk, and next morning, when they told me of our having galloped into the camp with lighted torches in our hands, I had not the slightest recollection of the circumstance.'' OUll ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. 31 succeeded hj his son Hoomayoon, who, dying from a fall very shortly after his elevation to sovereign power, made way for his son Akbar, whose name occupies so con- spicuous a place in Oriental history. The reign of Akbar was long and principally employed in resisting rebellion or invasion, or in extending his own dominions by that conquest whose spirit is one of the fundamental principles of Mahomedanism, which decrees that unbelieving nations should be reduced to the alternative of extermination or tribute. His success, though but partial, was sufficient in his own judgment to authorize his assuming the title of Emperor of the Deccan ; and at the time of his death his territories were divided into thirteen Soobahs, or vice-royalties, viz., Allahabad, Agra, Oude, Ajmere, Guzerat, Behar, Bengal, Delhi, Caubul, Lahore, Mooltan, Mahe, Berar, Candeish, and Ahmednugour. Akbar was succeeded by his only son, Selim, who, with Oriental modesty, assumed the name of Jehanghir, or Conqueror of the, World. The most remarkable cir- cumstance of this monarch's life was his romantic passion for the daughter of a Tartar adventurer, who had raised himself to favour in the court of Akbar. She was a woman of exquisite beauty and accomplishments ; and after some singular adventures she was espoused by the Conqueror of the World, who changed her name to Noor Mahal, or Light of the Harem, and, subsequently, to Noor Jehan, or Light of the World. Thenceforward, her influence was unbounded ; her family were raised to the highest offices and distinctions ; her father becoming Vizier, and her two brothers Omrahs of the empire.* * According to the legend current in Asia, the birth and infancy of Noor Mahal had been distinguished by circumstances of an extraordinary character. It is said that her father travelling towards Hindostan, with his wife far advanced in pregnancy, their means of subsistence failed in the desert. They had fasted . three days, when their sorrows were aggravated by the birth of a daughter. Without the means of supporting themselves, they regarded the preservation of their child as hopeless; and after a struggle between natural affection and necessity, they yielded to the latter, and agreed to abandon the infant. She was placed accordingly at the foot of a tree, and, having been covered with leaves, the travellers slowly (departed. While the tree was in sight, the mother retained her 32 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. We shall not, by historic doubt or cavil, attempt to dim the ethereal halo that has been shed round Noor Mahal by the muse of Moore ; it is sufficient that she was adored by her husband during her life, and that after her death he erected to her memory the most exquisite monument that ever issued from the hand of man the Taj Mahal to this day the glory and despair of the architect, the lapidary, and the artist. It was in the reign of this monarch that Sir Thomas Roe, an English ambassador deputed by James the First, arrived at the Mogul Court, in the hope of securing protection to the English in their Indian commerce. His reception was courteous and magnificent ; but his mission was pro- ductive of little or no effect. Shah Jehan, or King of the World, succeeded his father Jehanghir, and extended the Mogul empire still further to the south ; the people and country, during the progress of his arms, being delivered over to fire and sword. One hundred and fifteen towns and castles were taken in the course of a year ; and the Rajahs or Kings of Beejapoor and Golconda were compelled to propitiate the Emperor by the most humiliating submission, renouncing their rank as sovereign princes, and receiving commissions from the Emperor as hereditary governors of their own dominions. It was during this reign that the Portuguese, the first European settlers in India, appear upon the scene in an affair that would no otherwise deserve notice than as being the first instance in which the arms of the Mogul were resolution ; but it left her when she could no longer behold the object whicli marked the spot where her child lay ; and she sank on the ground, refusing to proceed without the infant, tiius early introduced to suffering. The father then returned to rescue liis new-born daughter from an anticipated death by want and exposure, but was struck with horror on perceiving that she was in danger of perishing in a manner k-ss lingering, but not less frightful. A Imge snake had coiled itself round the body of the child, and was in the act of opening his jaws to devour her. The father uttered a wild cry ; and the serpent, alarmed by so startling an invasion of the stillness of the desert, quitted its liold and glided to its retreat in the hollow of the tree. The father bore the rescued babe to her mother; and while relating the wonderful circumstances of her preservation, some travellers appeared, whose charity relie\ed their \vants, and preserved their lives. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 33 directed against "a set of European idolaters," as they were -termed by the Governor of Bengal. To their ex- traordinary career of discovery and conquest it will now be proper to advert. As early as the year 1418 the Portuguese had com- menced exploring the western coast of Africa, and towards the latter end of the fifceenth century had pushed their discoveries as far as the Cape of Good Hope. At this period Venice supplied nearly all Europe with the products of the East, and had raised herself by her wealth to an eminence that excited the jealousy and hos- tility of surrounding nations. The King of Portugal, anxious to ascertain whence the riches of the Venetians were drawn, despatched Vasco de Gama with an ex- pedition to India in 1497, to endeavour to open a trade with the same sources by the route available to the ships of Portugal. The mission was successful : the key to vast wealth was now obtained, and the Portuguese lost no time in improving their opportunities. Fleet after fleet was fitted out ; every port in India was visited ; possession was forcibly taken of Goa and several other places on the Malabar coast, the islands lying between Madagascar and the Moluccas, and the island of Ormus in the Persian Gulf They established numerous factories and forts for the management and protection of their commerce, and washed destructive wars, sometimes in maintaining^ what they had acquired, and at others endeavouring to add to their power. Amongst other places they established themselves at Hooghly, where their insolence and violence being com- plained of to the Emperor by the Nabob, or Governor of Bengal, he was ordered by Shah Jehan to expel them from the imperial dominions. Their factory was ac- cordingly attacked by the Mogul troops, and taken after a brave resistance ; but their lives were spared, and the conqueror contented himself with wreaking his vengeance on the numerous images of the "European idolaters." For more than a century the India trade remained ii? c 34 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the hands of the Portuguese ; but the high road being open to all, it was not to be supposed that they would retain this monopoly any longer than it might suit the convenience of other nations to yield them the privilege. Accordingly, we find that as the maritime power of Hol- land increased, the Dutch also turned their eyes to India an example which was speedily followed by the English. The arrival of these Protestant powers proved the downfall of the Portuguese influence in India. Contests ensued between the new visitors and the old settlers ; and the result was the expulsion of the latter from nearly all their positions, and the jierfect annihilation of their commercial relations with the East. The success of the English and Dutch naturally exciting the jealousy of France, an East India Company was formed by the French, who sent out ships, and soon obtained permission to establish agencies in Pondicherry and Chandernagon. These three nations, with the Danes and the Spaniards, who had also acquired small posses- sions, now constituted the European trading community in India ; and through their enterprise and rivalry the whole of the Western world was supplied with everything that the rich soil of the East, and the ingenuity and industry of her inhabitants, could jDroduce. Meanwhile the court and empire of Shah Jehan were agitated by strange scenes and extraordinary events, which, as they ultimately exercised an influence on the proceed- ings of the European settlers, it will be necessary to notice in some detail. This monarch had four sons, named Dara, Shooja, Aurungzebe, and Morad, whose mutual dissensions and contests for supremacy embittered the last days of their parent, and threw the whole empire into a state of dis- traction. An illness of the Emperor occasioned a de- monstration of their respective designs for securing the musnud in the event of his death. Shooja advanced with an army towards Delhi, but was entirely defeated by the forces of Dara ; while Aurungzebe, who was a man of OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 35 boundless ambition and consummate hypocrisy^ paused to make his blow more sure : he levied forces, but not, he professed, to promote any ambitious designs of his own. With characteristic craftiness, he assured his brother Morad that his own views were directed to heaven, and not to a throne ; but Dara, he declared, was unfit for sovereignty, while Shoojawas a heretic, and, consequently, unworthy of the crown. Under these circumstances, he was anxious to assist Morad in ascending the throne, after which he should retire to spend the remainder of his life in the exercise of devotion ; and Morad being en- tirely deceived by these professions, a junction of their forces was determined upon. Not long afterwards, an action took place between these united forces and the troops of Dara. The conflict was obstinate, and the result for a long time doubtful ; but the victory was ultimately decided by one of those accidents which have so often determined the fate of armies, and of nations. Dara, from some cause or other, dismounted from an elephant which had borne him throughout the day ; and his remaining troops, seeing the elephant retreating with the imperial standard, and miss- ing the prince from the situation which he had previously occupied, concluded that he was slain. Dara, to counteract this impression, mounted a horse ; but it was only to dis- cover that he was deserted by his followers, who, panic- struck by the supposed loss of their general, had precipi- tately fled, leaving Aurungzebe, to his great surprise, master of the field. The next object of Aurungzebe was to obtain posses- sion of his father's person, in which, by his superior craft, he ultimately succeeded. He then saluted Morad as Em- peror, and gravely solicited permission to make a pilgrimage to Mecca ; but while the latter was congratulating himself on his easy acquirement of the throne, he was suddenly placed in confinement by Aurungzebe, who, "at the earnest solicitation of several friends," himself issumed the imperial title. 36 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. Thus Sbah Jehan and Morad^ his youngest son, were- the prisoners of Aurungzebe ; while Dara, the rightful heir to the throne, was flying ingloriously to the boundaries of the empire. Shooja alone was in a condition to offer any effective resistance to the actual possessor of the throne of Delhi ; and, putting himself at the head of a numerous army, he marched on the capital. A desperate battle took place between their respective forces, which, owing to the defection of Jeswunt Singh, the Rajpoot chief, was going rapidly against Aurungzebe, when fortune- again declared in his favour ; for, in the confusion of a personal conflict that was about to take place between the rival brothers, Shooja committed the error which had been fatal to Dara. When his elephant could not be moved forward, he descended, and mounted a horse which was brought on the emergency ; but the appearance of the elephant with the empty castle gave rise to the report that Shooja had fallen, and the flight of his forces was the immediate consequence. It would be foreign to our purpose to pursue the career of this wily usurper through all its vicissitudes ; suffice it to say that he ultimately triumphed by the death of his father in misery and captivity, and the murder of his- brothei-s and their families, till at length he became the undisputed master of a mighty empire ; his soubadars, or lieutenants, governing in his name the numerous and wealthy provinces of that vast peninsula, from Cashmeei^ to Cape Comorin. . ' But a new power was now rising in the Deccan, des- tined to occupy a prominent place in the history of India ; and as the English, throughout tlieir whole career, have been in some way or other mixed up with it, either in friendship or hostility, it will be desirable to make our readers acquainted with its origin and character at greater length than our narrow limits would otherwise justify. The Mahrattas consisted of several tribes of moun- taineers, whose early history partakes of that obscurity which hangs over Hindoo antiquity ; but at this period OUB ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. m they were brought into notice by the exploits and ambi- tion of their leader, Sevajee. This soldier of fortune was born amid the storms of war, and during his childhood was frequently in danger of falling into the hands of enemies ; his education was, therefore, limited to horse- manship and the use of weapons, in which he acquired great skill and activity, imbibing at the same time a deep attachment to his native superstitions, and a deter- mined hatred of the Mahomedans. By an early career of boldness and dexterity, happily mingled with great prudence and caution, Sevajee had possessed himself of a considerable territory and great in- fluence amongst his native tribes ; and when Aurungzebe entered the Deccan, a correspondence ensued between these two great- masters of political intrigue, without any apparent advantage on either side. Sevajee continued to pursue his own objects by his own means, till the Mogul Oovernment of Beejapoor despatched an expedition to put him down, which, however, he defeated by a singular com- bination of audacity and cunning. Having affected great alarm, and proposed submission, he prevailed upon Afzool Khan, the Mahomedan general, to favour him with an interview, each to be attended by only a single follower ; and prepared himself in the follow- ing manner for the enterprise he contemplated. To ap- pearance, his covering was only a turban and a cotton gown, but beneath he wore a steel-chain cap and steel- chain armour. Within his right sleeve he placed a crooked dagger, called in the language of the country a scorpion ; and on the fingers of his left hand a treacherous weapon called a tiger's claw, which consists of three crooked blades of small dimensions, the whole being easily con- cealed in a half-closed hand. Thus accoutred, he slowly advanced to the place of meeting. The Khan had arrived before him ; and Sevajee, as he approached, frequently stopped as though under the influence of alarm. To as- sure him, the armed attendant of the Mahomedan gene- ral was removed to a few paces distant from his master ; 38 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. and the latter approaching Sevajee, the conference com- menced by the ordinary ceremonial of an embrace. The Mahratta now prepared to make the most of his opportunity, and struck the tiger's claw into the body of the Khan, following the blow by another from his dagger. The Khan drew his sword and made a cut at his assassin ; but it fell harmless upon the concealed armour. Seva- jee's follower rushed to his support ; and a preconcerted signal being given, a body of troops attacked those of his adversary, who had been stationed at a little distance, and who, being unprepared for such an assault, found themselves exposed to an enemy before they could stand to their arms. The victory that ensued enriched Seva- jee with a vast amount of plunder ; but this was little compared with the accession of reputation which he owed to it ; the perpetration of successful treachery being, in Mahratta estimation, the highest exercise of human genius. But Sevajee was not equally fortunate at all times, and a succession of disasters at length compelled him to ten- der his submission to Aurungzebe. At a subsequent period, by a series of intrigues, he procured from the Em- peror a recognition of his title of Rajah, and revised and completed the internal arrangements of his government. He then resumed his warlike habits, and took several im- portant places ; fitting out a powerful fleet also, calcula- ted either to co-operate with his troops by land or to add to his wealth by successful piracy. By these means he possessed at his death, which occurred in 1680, a tolerably compact territory of considerable extent, and his personal wealth was immense. But the Mahratta power declined in the hands of his son and successor, Sumbhajee, who was abandoned to sen- sual indulgence, and soon fell a victim to the power of Aurungzebe. In a few years after, however, a greater Mahratta force was in the field than Sevajee had ever commanded, and tribute was levied as usual on all adverse powers j till the Emperor appeared unexpectedly before Sattara, the capital and residence of the Kajah, whicb^ OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 39 after a heavy loss, he succeeded in obtaining possession of. A series of bitter wars ensued between the Moguls and the Mahrattas, with varying success, from this period till the death of AuruDgzebe, which took place in 1707, after a reign of nearly half a century, and at the patriarchal age of ninety-four. Under Aurungzebe the Mogul empire at- tained its widest boimdaries, as well as the summit of its prosperity and splendour. Aurungzebe was succeeded on the throne of Delhi by his eldest son. Shah Aulum (King of the Universe) ; and after a reign of five years he was followed in rapid succession by several weak princes, till the reign of Mahomed Shah, which was marked by a terrible and unexpected visitation. Nadir Shah, a native of Khorassan, and the son of a maker of sheepskin coats and caps, had renounced the peaceful occupation of his father for that of a robber chief. He next entered the Persian service, and finally seated himself on the Persian throne. -> Being engaged in a war with the Affghans, in 1739, Nadir either had, or affected to have, a reasonable cause of complaint against the Court of Delhi, amongst other things for the murder of an envoy : he accordingly advanced to inflict punishment with his accustomed vigour and celerity. On the plain of Kamal, about four days' journey from Delhi, he fell suddenly upon the unsuspecting forces of the Emperor, and, quickly put* ting them to flight, removed every obstacle to his advance- ment to the capital, the gates of which were thrown open to receive him. Peace and order prevailed in Delhi for two days after the entry of the Persian, till a foolish and frantic out- break of the inhabitants compelled the conqueror, as it were, to deliver them over to fire and sword. Pillage and bloodshed then became the order of the day. The city was wrapped in flames, and in the course of a few * Nadir, on entering the service of rhamas,the reigning Sovereign of Persia, assumed the title of Thamas Kouli Khan, or the noble slave of Thamas, by which, he is generally known in India. 40 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. hours eight thousand Hindoos, Moguls, and Affghans perished in a horrible carnage. Nadir Shah then seized on the imperial treasures, which were said to be of vast amount, including, amongst other gems, the celebrated Koh-i-noor ; and a general contribution was levied with rigid severity ; while famine and pestilence followed closely on the devastation of the city, and assisted in completing the horrors of a scene from which numbers escaped by being their own destroyers.* Nadir did not put an end to the Mogul sovereignty, as he might have done, but withdrew from Delhi after an occuj)ation of two months ; and was not long after murdered in an insurrection of his own troops. But a fatal' blow had b^en struck at the grandeur of the Mogul empire, which was now fast tending to its close : already had Nizam-ool-Moolk (Regulator of the State), the Loobahdar, or Governor of the Deccan, made himself an independent sovereign ; and soon after the visit of Nadir Shah, the sovereignty of Bengal was seized by a second great officer of the empire, while the government of Oude. was usurped by a third. On the western side, some of its provinces fell to the Aifghans ; and the Seikhs seized on a portion of the Punjaub. In other j^laces the Jauts and Eohillas contributed to relieve the Mogul princes from the toils of government, while the Mahrattas availed themselves of the general break up to obtain accessions of territory, power, and influence. The entire surface of India was, indeed, studded with their pos- sessions, which, extending eastward, westward, and southward to the sea, and northward to Agra, wanted nothing but compactness to constitute them a mighty empire. But, as if it were the will of the Creator that all * '' Nadir Shah quitted Hindostan by Lahore, and carri^ with him plunder to the amount of eighty-seven millions sterline:, and his army took away twelve millions more ; besides which, twenty five millions sterling: were paid to his army while at Delhi ; making a total of 124 millions sterling. There were also taken away 1000 eleihants, 7000 fine horses, 10,000 camels, 130 writers, 200 masons, 300 stonecutters, and 200 carpenters. It is estimated that, during the five months Nadir Shah and his army occupied the country, they destroyed 200,000 inhabitants." Xttarc^'s " Vieivs in India.'' OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 41 political power in India should he deficient in tbe quality of cohesion, the empire of Sevajee was already falling to pieces during the reign of one of his weak successors, all authority being usurped by the principal officers of state. Two powerful kingdoms were thus formed ; the one under the Peishwa (Prime Minister), at Poona ; and the other subject to the Commander-in-Chief, who fixed the seat of his government at Naghore. The latter acknowledged a nominal dependance on the former, and both mocked the Rajah of Sattara with ceremonious but empty homage, w^hile they withheld from him all substantial authority. Other ^lahratta chieftains of inferior import- ance also assumed sovereign power, the principal of whom, with the title of Giiicomar, held part of Guzerat in a sort of feudal dependence upon the Peishwa, and fixed his residence at Baroda. Such was the state of Hindostan about the middle of the eighteenth century, when the British first entered the field of Indian politics, and laid the foundation of a new empire, as extensive as any that had ever previously existed in the East, but possessing the principle of vita- lity infinitely more than all of them together. 42 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER III. Origin of the Enst India Company First Establishments in India Madras taken by the French Presif^ency transferred to Fort St. David Madras re- stored to the English English Expedition to Tanjore Cilve first distinguishes himf^elf at DeirCottah Contests lor Supremacy in the Deccan Rival Candi- dates for the Musnud of the Carnatic The English embrjice the Cause of Mahomed Ali ; the French that of Chunda Sahib Gloomy Prospects of the English Revived by Clive, who captures Arcot Gallant Defence of Arcot by Clive Terms of Surrender offered to and rejected by him Storming of Arcot- Signal Defeat of the Enemy Raising of the Siege Successful Opera- tions of Clive Battle of Canverypank The English march to relieve Tri- chinopoly Desperate Attack on Clive's Position His singular Escape Sur- render of Chunda Sahib Surrender of the French Troops Successful Ter- mination of the War. The first appearance of the Engiisli in India, where they planted their feet as humble traders, gave no pro- mise of their future grandeur ; Bantam, in Java, for the trade of the Indian islands, and Surat for that of the Continent, being long their principal stations. In the latter place an English factory was established so early as 1612. The first East India Company was incorporated, for commercial purposes only, towards the latter end of the reign of Elizabeth ; and a new one was established in the reign of William Til., the capital of which was to be lent to the crown ; but as this led to disputes abroad, and materially affected the interests of the new trade, an union of the two contending Companies was effected in 1702. For nearly forty years after this union of the Compa- nies, the history of the British connexion with India presents nothing but a detail of the operations of trade ; varied only by the efforts of the united Company to obtain protection from native princes, to exclude those who sought to invade their privileges, and lo regulate the conduct of their servants. On the Coromandel coast. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 43 they first established themselves at Masulipatani, subse- quently at Armeguni; and finally at Madraspatam, where, in 1639, they obtained permission from a native prince to erect a fortification, which received the name of Fort *St. George. Tegnapatam, on the same coast, which was purchased from another native 23rince, was, in like manner fortified, and became a station of some importance under the name of Fort St. David. On the western coast the island of Bombay, which had been ceded to the British OUB , ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. conscious that his conduct throughout had been open to suspicion ; and, in the interview with the English officers which followed the flight of Suraja Dowlah, he evinced more apprehension than joy. The military honours with which he was received at the English camp alarmed instead of gratifying him ; but on being introduced to Clive, his fears were allayed by the apparent cordiality with which the Colonel saluted him as Soubahdar of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. A few days afterwards he : was led by Clive to the musnud, in the hall of audience at Moorshedabad, and received the formal homage of the principal officers and dependants of the Government. Suraja Dowlah was now a wanderer through the country which lately owned no law but his will. On arriving at his palace, after his flight from Plassy, her found himself in danger of being abandoned by every adherent. To secure the continued fidelity of his soldiers, he made a large distribution of money among them ; but, though they readily accepted his bounty, they immediately deserted with it to their own homes. His nearest rela- tives refused to engage in his support, or even to en- counter the danger of accompanying him in the further flight which was now inevitable. That flight was acce- lerated by the arrival of Meer Jaffier ; and, taking advantage of the night, he departed with a very slender retinue, in the hope of being able to join the French detachment under Monsieur Law. In search of food and shelter, the hapless Suraja Dowlah entered the dwelling of a devotee who, in the day of his power, had been one of the sufierers from his cruelty, his nose and ears having been cut off by the order of the tyrant. The person of the royal applicant was known, and the injury was remembered, but the hospitality implored was not withheld. The host received his visitors with courtesy, and placed refreshment before fchem ; availing himself of the time occupied in partaking of it to despatch private information of the arrival of his distinguished guest to Meer Cossim, a relative of Meer OXTR ANaLO-INDIAN ARMY. ^ Jaffier, who held a command in the neighbourhood. The intelligence was too welcome to be neglected ; and Meer Cossim, proceeding to the cell of the hermit, made pri- soners of his visitors, and took possession of their effects. The deposed Prince was forthwith taken back to Moor- shedabad ; and, it is said, was treated on the way with great indignity and cruelty. '^'^l Though Meer Jaffier felt, or affected some compassioh. for the prisoner, Meerun, his son, a youth whose character strongly resembled that of Suraja Dowlah, cherished no such weakness. By him the unhappy captive was doomed to death ; but either from the prevalence of respect for the rank of the destined victim, or from a belief that Meer Jaffier would not sanction the deed, some difficulty was experienced in finding an executioner. At length the task was undertaken by a miscreant who had from infancy enjoyed the bounty, first of Aliverdi Khan, and subsequently of his grandson and successor, now a prisoner and destined for death. The favours which had been heaped on him formed no impediment to his undertaking the murder of the man to whom, and to whose family, the assassin was so deeply indebted. Many there were from whom Suraja Dowlah could look for nothing but vengeance his death came from one of the few on whom he had a claim for gratitude ! He had not completed the twentieth year of a profligate and scandalous life, nor the fifteenth month of a weak and cruel reign. Little now remained but the performance of the pecu- niary stipulations agreed upon between the British Government and Meer Jaffier. The wealth of the Sou- bahdar's treasury had been greatly overrated, but it was yet able to bear very heavy drafts. After some discus- sion, it was decided that one-half of the stipulated amount should be paid imuiediately, and the remainder at inter- vals within three years. The first payment seems to have been the cause of great delight. The money was packed in seven hundred chests, which being placed in one hundred boats, the whole proceeded down the river $4 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. in procession, with banners waving above, and music pealing around them. Many indeed had reason to rejoice in the advance of the richly-freighted fleet ; for those who had sustained losses at the capture of Calcutta were to have compensa- tion, and the army and navy had been encouraged to look for reward. There was also another class of persons who were expecting to participate in the wealth which thus followed in the train of victory ; for as the army ^nd navy were to have donations, it was suggested that the committee by whom the whole machinery had been put in motion were entitled " to be considered," and they -were not forgotten. Clive received on this account two lacs and eighty thousand rupees.* Mr. Drake, the Gover- nor, who had been the first to run away, was rewarded with the same sum ; and the remaining members of the committee, who had followed his example, with two lacs .and forty thousand rupees each. The generosity of the new Soubahdar even extended to those members of Oouncil who were not of the select committee, and who consequently had no claim " to be considered" under the -original proposal. Each of these gentlemen, it is stated, received a lac of rupees. Clive, according to his own statement, received a further present of sixteen lacs of rupees. Mr. Watts, in addition to his share as one of the committee, obtained eight lacs ; Major Kilpatrick, three lacs besides his share ; Mr. Walsh, who was em- ployed in part of the negotiations, had five lacs ; Mr. Scrafton, two ; and others participated to a smaller extent in the profuse distribution that took place, f Transactions such as these are perfectly in accordance with the spirit and practice of Oriental Governments ; but they are not reconcilable with European ideas, or '* A lac of rupees is about 10,0001. t The views and actions of India statesmen and commanders, at this period, present a very discreditable contrast to those of the Marquis of Wellesley, who lefused the sum of 100,000i. from the spoil of Seringapatam, though tendered to him by the Ministers of the crown in wnose disposal it was, and whose power and dignity the Marquis had so nobly maintained. Thornton. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 95 with tlie present system in India. It must, however, be recollected that at that period the receiving of presents was not forbidden by law, or by the covenants of the Company's servants ; nor must it be forgotten that the fixed emoluments of the Company's servants were at that time altogether inadequate to remunerate the duties which were required : in some instances they were not even sufficient to provide the means of decent subsistence. The result was that no one ever thought of being satisfied with his j)ay or salary, and that all were intent upon dis- covering indirect means of acquiring wealth.* But many of our readers will probably think that this is a trivial matter compared with the general conduct of the English authorities in thus forcibly, and in many respects treacherously, removing the rightful possessor of the musnud of Bengal, to make room for a creature of their own, who had no right whatever to that dignity. This point is so clearly settled by a writer whose views are always just, and whose principles are always honour- able,f that we cannot refrain from giving the whole argu- ment in extenso. "The English had suffered great wrongs from the Soubahdar ; and though some degree of reparation had been promised, it was clear that he cherished a determi- nation not to fulfil any part of the treaty, if the perform- ance could possibly be evaded. It was not less certain that his hatred of the English was undiminished that he only waited a favourable opportunity to attack them ; and that, when it arrived, the execution of his purpose would probably be attended by atrocities not inferior to those which had marked his entrance into Calcutta. Clive and his colleagues might have decided calmly to wait the time when Suraja Dowlah should feel himself strong enough to strike the meditated blow, or they might have turned their backs upon the success which had already waited on their arms, and abandoned for * Thornton. History of India." t Thornton. 96 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. ever the British settlements in Bengal. To have adopted the former of these courses would have manifested the highest degree of folly ; to have chosen the latter would 'have argued the extreme of pusillanimity. Nothing remained but to anticipate the active hostility of the Soubahdar to deprive him of the advantage of choosing his own time for terminating the hollow peace which subsisted in form indeed, but scarcely in fact ; and by a bold and vigorous stroke to destroy the power which, if left unmolested, would ere long fall upon the English in a spirit of rancorous hate, deeply seated, long cherished, and envenomed by the mortifying recollection of recent defeat. ^' But, besides the hopelessness of permanently main- taining relations of peace with Suraja Dowlah, there was another motive to a prompt and decisive course. The contest which had been waged for years between the English and French for the supremacy in India was not decided, and the depression of the English would have been accompanied by the elevation of their European enemies. The Soubahdar concluded a treaty of alliance with the English, by which the enemies of either of the contracting parties were to be regarded as enemies of both. He then sought the friendship of the French, with whom his allies were at war, and intreated the aid of the former to drive the latter out of Bengal. Such were the grounds on which the war with Suraja Dowlah was commenced, and their sufficiency can scarcely be denied, except by those who question the lawfulness of war altogether. " The praise due to the choice of a wise and vigorous course, in preference to wretched expedients, which sooner or later must have led to the destruction of the British interests, belong exclusively to Clive. But the applause which is justly due to his statesmanlike views cannot, however, be extended to all the means to which he re- sorted in realising them. He cannot be blamed for uniting with Meer Jaffier, because, when the deposition OUR ANGLO-IXDIAX ARMY. 97 of Suraja Dowlah was decreed, it was necessary that his place should be supplied by some one ; and Meer Jaffier, as a man of high rank, and a member of the royal house, had claims which probably could not be surpassed by those of any other candidate. The conspiracy of which that person was the head was, moreover, formed without reference to Clive, The discontented servants of the Soubahdar sought his assistance ; and their views coin- ciding with the interests of his country, he gave it. " Thus far Clive incurs no blame ; but the wretched hypocrisy subsequently practised towards the unhappy Prince reflects disgrace upon all the confederated parties ; and the deepest stain cleaves to those who, trained in European habits, feelings, and modes of thought, seem altoojether to have forgotten them in the climate of Asia. Nothing can be more clear than that Clive violated a gi-eat and important principle of morals, by continuing to profess friendly feelings towards the Soubahdar, and to express a desire for the peaceful adjustment of all differences, long after the train was laid for the destruc- tion of that Prince, and even, up to the very moment when the explosion was about to take place. Clive broke up his camp and removed his troops into garrison, with a view to obviate suspicion as to his entertaining hostile intentions ; and to this step in itself no reasonable objec- tion can be taken. He had a right to make this dispo- sition of his troops, and he was not bound to explain why he made it. He might, without reproach, have left the movement to receive any interpretation which the Soubahdar might put upon it ; and if he erred, Clive was under no obligation to undeceive him. But he did not so leave it. He addressed the Soubahdar in what he calls * a soothing letter ;' and it was followed by others of like character ; while in the same communication which apprised Mr. Watts of these 'soothing' epistles, he says, ' Tell Meer Jaffier to fear nothing ; that I will join him with five thousand men who never turned their backs ; and that, if he fails in seizing him (the Sou- E 98 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. balidar), we shall be strong enough to drive him out of the country.' " The character of Suraja Dowlah was alike despicable and hateful. He was destitute of every quality that can inspire sympathy, or command respect. His capricious tyranny goaded his subjects to resistance ; and there was abundant reason why the English should not hesitate to avail themselves of the advantage thus offered. Their cause was good ; and it is only to be lamented that it was not prosecuted in a more dignified and honest spirit." OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 99 CHAPTER VI. Arrival of Count de Lally in India Hostilities against the English in the Carnatic The French take Fort St. David, Deir-Cottah, and Cuddalore Lally fails in an Expedition against Tanjore Singular Attempt to assassinate him The French under Lally lay siege to Madras Capture of Black Town- Sortie of the Garrison French Communications interrupted by M.ijor Cal- liaud's Troops Action at St. Thomas's Mount Arrival of a Fleet from Bengal under Admiral Pocoek The French raise the Siege of Madras Affairs of the Deccan Expedition sent thither from Bengal Battle of Peddapore Masuli- ! patam invested, stormed, and captured by the English Consequent Accession of Territory by the Company The French take Seringham Colonel Coote appointed to command the British Troops in the Carnatic His successful Operations Battle of Wandewash Defeat of the French Pondicherry in- vested by the English Obstinate Defence Famine in the Garrison Expulsion of the Native Inhabitants Their frightful Sufferings Dreadful Storm and Devastation amongst the Besiegers Pondicherry, reduced by famine, sur- renders to the English Its Fortifications demolished Final Extinction of the French Power in India. The despatch of so large a force to Bengal had left the authorities at Madras without the means of displaying much vigour in the Carnatic, where the war was carried on between the French and English with little advantage on either side, till the 28th of April, 1758, when a French squadron of twelve sail was descried standing in for Fort St. David. These ships had on board a military force commanded by the Count de Lally, who had been appointed Governor-General of all the French possessions and establishments in India. Lally lost no time in proclaiming his authority and establishing means for effecting the objects of the expe- dition ; one purpose of his visit being speedily manifested by his investment of Fort St. David by sea and land. The garrison of this place consisted of sixteen hundred natives, and upwards of six hundred Europeans ; while the besieging force consisted, exclusive of the shipping, of two thousand five hundred Europeans, and about the 100 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY same number of Sepoys. A vigorous bombardment was carried on for some time ; and though the enemy had made no breach, they had dismounted some of the guns, disabled the carriages, and inflicted serious injury on parts of the works. The tanks and reservoirs had suffered, and water could only be procured under cover of the night. The stock of ammunition also began to fail, much having been wasted ; and, in addition to these circum- stances, the native troops deserted in great numbers, and part of the Europeans are represented to have been drunken, disorderly, and disobedient. On the 2nd of June, terms of capitulation were proposed by the besieged, and on the evening of that day the place was surrendered. The fall of Fort St. David was immediately followed by that of Deir-Cottah and Cuddalore, and an attack upon Madras would have been the next step taken by the French Governor-General had he not laboured under a deficiency of money ; this he endeavoured to supply by an expedition against Tanjore, to enforce payment of a bond which had been given several years before by the Rajah to Chunda Sahib, who had made it over to his friends the French. After an unsuccessful attempt on Tanjore, Lally was obliged to retire from before that place for want of provisions and ammuniti(m. Monaekjee, the Tanjorean general, having resolved to attack the French on their retreat, commenced by a characteristic piece of treachery. At the dawn of day, fifty horsemen rode leisurely from the city towards the camp. On being challenged by the advanced guard, they said they were come to offer their services to the French, and desired to see the General. They were conducted to his quarters, and, halting at a short distance from the choultry where he slept, their leader advanced to confer with him. Lally left the choultry to receive his visitor, by whose hands he would probably have fallen, had not the opera- tion of opium led one of the stranger horsemen to commit an act which could not be reconciled with friendly inten- OUR AkGL0-'l?fi)IA^'A^>fl?.''^ \ \\ \ /^ 101 tions. Quitting his rank, lie galloped towards a tumbril laden with powder, into which he fired his pistol. The frantic wretch was blown to pieces by the explosion of which he had been the cause ; and an alarm being thus raised, the guard at the choultry rushed forward to protect their commander. In performing this duty, they were charged by the horsemen ; but their steady fire threw the assailants into confusion, and most of them galloped into a tank, which they did not perceive till it was too late to avoid it. In the meantime, the camp was attacked at various points, but the Tanjoreans were compelled to retire with heavy loss ; and Lally, after a harassing retreat, at length reached Pondicherry, greatly mortified at the ill success of his campaign. The pressing wants of the French Government were at length relieved by a small supply of money from various sources, which enabled Lally to put his entire force in motion for the reduction of Madras, in sight of which the French army arrived by the middle of December. Their force consisted of two thousand seven hundred European, and four thousand native troops ; while the English had to defend the place nearly one thousand eight hundred European troops, two thousand two hundred Sepoys, and. about two hundred of the Nabob's cavalry, upon whom little dependance could be placed. The enemy soon gained possession of the Black Town, in the plunder of which a quantity of arrack having been found, the consequences were speedily apparent. The English, being apprised of what had taken place, made a sortie under Colonel Draper ; and such was the state of the French army that the approach of the English was first made known to them by the beating of their drums in the streets of the town. The fire of the English musketry, aided by that of two field-pieces, was very destructive, and a French regiment which had been drawn up to oppose them soon fell into confusion and fled. The fight was protracted for some time ; but the English eventually retired, with a considerable loss of men as well 102 Olift/AirdLO-^INDIAN ARMY. as that of tlieir two field-pieces. Among those mortally wounded was Major Porlier, the unfortunate officer who commanded at Fort St. David when that place sur- rendered to the French. Having been blamed, and not without apparent reason, for his conduct on that occasion, he seems to have been anxious for an opportunity of showing that he was not deficient at least in personal courage. Under the influence of this feeling, he had requested permission to accompany Colonel Draper's party as a volunteer, and, while thus engaged, received a wound of which he soon after died. Though miserably deficient in the means of efiectually conducting a siege, Lally erected batteries, and commenced firing on the 2nd of January, 1759. The defence under the Governor, Mr. Pigot, was conducted with considerable skill and in an admirable spirit ; while the communica- tions of the enemy with Pondicherry, and the country whence Lally drew his supplies, were greatly impeded by the operations of a body of Sepoys under a native com- mander named Mahomed Isoof, aided by a detachment from Chingleput under Captain Preston, some native horse commanded by a brother of Mahomet Ali, and some Tanjorine cavalry. These were further reinforced by a body of Sepoys from Trichinopoly under Major Calliaud, who arrived at St. Thomas's Mount on the 7th of February, and took the command of the force without the walls of Madras, engaged in harassing the besiegers and interinipting their supplies. Lally had seriously felt the annoyances inflicted by this force. They were, he said, like flies no sooner beaten off one part than they settled on another; and. he resolved to make an eff'ort to relieve himself from their presence. On the morning of the 9th of February, the British discovered the enemy advancing upon their post in two bodies ; the one consisting of twelve hundred Sepoys and five hundred native horse, the other of three hundred European cavalry and six hundred European infantry, with eight field-pieces. The whole was under OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 103 the command of a relation of Lally's, bearing the same name with himself. The English force available to repel the enemy consisted of two thousand five hundred Sepoys, and two thousand two hundred native horse, with one hundred and three Europeans, twelve of whofn were artillerymen, and ten troopers under the command of Captain Yasserot, who had recently come out of the town, with treasure. Major Calliaud made the requisite dispositions to resist the attack ; and, to receive the French cavalry, he formed his native horse, placing himself, with Captain Vasserot and his ten troopers, on their left. The ardour of the horsemen appeared perfectly irrepressible ; and anti- cipating the desire of the British commander for their advance, the whole body, in the words of Orme, " set off scampering, shouting, and flourishing their sabres." The French cavalry advanced to meet them at a rapid pace ; but suddenly halting, the front rank discharged their carbines, by which four or five of their opponents were brought to the ground. This had so unhappy an effect on the enthusiasm of the rest that they immediately fled, leaving Major Calliaud with no companions but Captain Vasserot and the ten troopers. These retreated into an inclosuro ; and the French pursued the flying cavalry till stopped by a discharge from some field-pieces, and by the fire of a party of Sepoys. The contest was maintained with: fluettiiating success throughout the day ; but in the evening the enemy retired, leaving the English masters of the field, at the critical moment when their ammunition was nearly exhausted. During the night, Major Calliaud withdrew his force to .Ohingleput, leaving fires to deceive the enemy. For nearly two months Lally had been carrying on operations against Madras. His batteries had been opened about half that time, and a breach was made, which he believed justified an attempt to storm. This, however, he was prevented from carrying into execution Tby a variety of discouraging cb^cumstances. He was 104 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. without money, and without the means of raising any. The pay of the troops was several weeks in arrear ; the supply of food was scanty and uncertain; the Sepoys deserted in great numbers : some of the European troops threatened to follow their example, while the feelings of the officers towards their commander were almost avowedly those of disaffection and hostility. Under these circumstances, Lally contemplated raising the siege of Madras ; and his proceedings were accelerated by the opportune arrival, on the 16th of February, of a OUR ANGLO-IXDIAN ARMY.- 105 fleet under Admiral Pocock, with reinforcements from Bengal. During that night, the French kept up a hot fire upon the town, and the next day thev were in full march towards Arcot. So hurried, indeed, was their departure that they left behind fifty-two pieces of cannon and a hundred and fifty barrels of gunpowder. After an interval occupied in the necessary prepara- tions, the English took the field, and followed the retreat- ing army to Conjeveram, which they took by assault. The officers engaged in the attack of this place seem to have contended for pre-eminence in exposure to danger, and they suffered severely. A single discharge killed four and wounded five, Major Calliaud being among the latter. The place was defended by Murzafa Beg, a soldier of fortune, who had withdrawn himself from the British service during the siege of Madras. On his surrender, he was being led to Major Brereton, who commanded the English troops, when he was met by Mahomed Isoof, who, with one blow of his scimitar, nearly severed the prisoner's head from his body, exclaiming, " These are the terms to be kept with a traitor '."* The course of events now requires a glance at the affairs of the Deccan, the present Soubahdar of which was Salabat Jung, who, on the death of Mazuffar Jung, had been placed on the musnud by the influence and -assistance of the French, who were consequently in high favour at the court of Hyderabad. Monsieur Bussy, who commanded the French force in the Deccan, having been recalled by Lally to Pondicherry, a petty rajah, named Anunderauze, availed himself of his departure to attack Yizagapatam ; and, having dispossessed the French garrison, he sent to offer his conquest to the English, and to request their aid to recover the provinces which the French had obtained from the Soubahdar of the Deccan. Clive accordingly despatched an expedition for that purpose, under Colonel Forde, consisting of five hundred Orme's History. 106 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Europeans, two thousand one hundred native troops, six field-pieces, a battering train of six twenty-four pounders, a howitzer, and an eight-inch mortar. The exj^edition proceeded by sea, and, having disembarked at Yizaga- patam, joined the army of Anunderauze, which lay at a short distance from that place. A treaty was concluded with the E-ajah, by which it w^as stipulated that all plunder should be equally divided ; that all the countries that might be conquered should be delivered to the Rajah, with the exception of the seaports and towns at the mouths of the rivers, which, with the revenues of the districts annexed to them, were to belong to the Company ; and, finally, that the Rajah should supply fifty thousand rupees a month for the expenses of the army, and six thousand for the private expenses of the officers. The united forces now marched against the French under Monsieur Conflans, and a battle took place at Peddapore, in which the French, being totally defeated, abandoned their camp to the victors, with many pieces of cannon, a large quantity of ammunition, and a thousand draught bullocks. The remnant of the French troops took shelter in Masulipatam, whither they were imme- diately pursued by the English commander, who arrived in sight of that important place on the 6th of March, 1759 ; and on the same day he received the cheering intelligence that Lally had been obliged to raise the siege of Madras. The fort of Masulipatam, which is of an oblong square figure, 800 yards by 600, situated in the midst of a salt morass, was speedily invested by the English ; and bat- teries were constructed, which kept up a hot fire till the 6th of April, when the works were so much damaged as to be deemed accessible in three places. As ammunition was getting slack, and Salabat Jung was advancing to the assistance of his allies. Colonel Forde determined to storm without further delay. He accordingly ordered the firing to be kept up vigorously through the next * OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 107 day, and all the troops to be under arms at ten at night. One part of the ground surrounding the fort was a swamp of mud, through which the ditch had not been continued, partly on account of the labour and expense of carrying it oti, and partly because, from the nature of the ground, it was believed to be more difficult to pass than the ditch itself It was reported, however, that the natives occasionally waded through the morass ; and, on examination, it was found to be passable, though not without extreme difficulty. It was resolved, accordingly, to distract the enemy's attention by a movement on this point, while the main attack was made on another, and the Rajah's troops were to make a demonstration on a third. The force allotted to the main attack proceeded in three divisions. Two of these were composed of European troops, and were led respectively by Captain Fischer and Captain Yorke. The third, composed of Sepoys, was led by Captain Maclean. The first division was discovered in passing the ditch ; and, while tearing up a palisade which obstructed their progress, were exposed to a heavy fire of cannon and musketry. They gained the breach, however, and obtained possession of one of the bastions called the Cameleon, where they were joined by the second division under Captain Yorke. This officer, per- ceiving a line of the enemy's Sepoys moving along the way below the rampart, ran down, and, seizing the French officer who commanded them, called upon him to order his men to lay down their arms and surrender, which he did accordingly. Captain Yorke now pursued his way with the utmost gallantry to the body of the place ; but his men showing some disposition to falter at what they .. erroneously believed to be a mine, he stojoped to rally them, which gave the French time to load a gun with grape-shot, and point it in the direction in which the English party were advancing. It was fired when they were within a few 108 OUR AXGLO-INDIAX ARMY. yards of it, and the discharge did fearful execution. Some were killed, and sixteen wounded, among whom was the gallant officer who led the party. Captain Pischer, in the meantime, was advancing along the ram- part with his division of Europeans ; and the Sepoys under Captain Maclean were gaining an entrance at the south gate, which was in imperfect repair ; while the false attacks were also answering the purposes intended. Thus pressed on all sides, Monsieur Conflans offered to surrender on honourable terms ; "but Colonel Forde replied that the surrender must be at discretion and immediate, on which all further resistance was discon- tinued. The prisoners amounted to 500 Europeans and 2,537 Sepoys and Topasses, being considerably more numerous than the assailants ! The fort was abundantly provided with stores, and defended by one hundred and twenty pieces of cannon. These, with a rich booty, fell into the hands of the conquerors. The consequences of this success were immediately apparent. Salabat Jung was within fifteen miles of Masulipatam, but its fall induced him to manifest a disposition to treat ; and Colonel Forde proceeded to his camp, where he was received with marked attention. A treaty was concluded, consisting of four articles. By the first, the whole territory dependent on Masulipatam, as well as certain other districts, were granted to the English, without the reservation of fine or military service. By the second, Salabat Jung engaged that the French force which still remained in his country should pass the Kistna within fifteen days ; that in future the French should have no settlement north of that river ; that he would thenceforward retain no French troops in his. service, and that he would neither render assistance to that nation nor receive any from it. The third article exonerated Anunderauze from the payment of his tribute for one year ; and the fourth restricted the English from aiding or protecting the enemies of Salabat Jung. This treaty gave to the English a territory ex- OTJR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 109' tending about eighty miles along the coast and twenty- inland. After the fall of Masulipatam, some naval engagements took place on the coast, between the English fleet under Admiral Pocock and the French under Monsieur d'Ache ; but none of a decisive character, though the English generally bore off* the glory of the day. Some actions of minor importance also took place between the land troops of the respective nations in the Carnatic ; which only resulted in the capture or recapture of third or fourth class fortresses, by alternate movements of the contending parties, but exercised no great influence on the progress of the war. Meanwhile, the pecuniary necessities of the French, and some mutinies which had taken place amongst the troops for want of pay, forced them to consider how they should recruit their exhausted treasury. In the rich and fertile island of Seringham, near Trichinopoly, the ap- proaching December harvest promised to be unusually abundant, and the Government share was estimated to be worth six hundred thousand rupees. This, in the existing situation of the French, was a tempting prize, and it was resolved to make an effort to secure it. An expedition for this purpose was despatched under Mons. Crillon, consisting of nine hundred Europeans, one thou- sand Sepoys, and two hundred native horse. On the 20th of November, Crillon's force crossed into the island of Seringham, and encamped oi^posite the west face of the great pagoda, within which were stationed three hundred Sepoys, five hundred irregular troops armed with lances, and twa field-pieces. An attempt was made to defend the gateway by erecting a wall across it with a single opening, in front of which was a trench, and, behind, a parapet for the field-pieces. The French, however, ad- vancing their heaviest cannon, soon beat down the wall and disabled their field-pieces ; they then effected an entrance, though gallantly resisted by the Sepoys ; but their victory was tarnished by a wantonness of cruelty 110 OUE ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. disgraceful to a nation boasting of any degree of civi- lisation. The loss of Seringham was, however, counterbalanced by success in another quarter. The British force in the Garnatic had been considerably strengthened, partly by exchanges of prisoners, and partly by the arrival from England of two hundred recruits, together with a King's regiment, one thousand strong, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Coote, who took the field at the head of the British troops about the time the French obtained possession of Seringham, and soon reduced Wandewash, Oarangaly, and other places of minor importance. The main body of the French army, under Lally, being reinforced from several quarters, soon after advanced from Chingleput to Arcot, and the new year (1760) found the two armies in sight of each other. After various preliminary movements, Lally made an attempt on Wandewash ; and Colonel Coote advancing to relieve it, a general action was the necessary consequence. Before the two armies were within cannon-shot of each other, Lally put himself at the head of his European cavalry, three hundred in number, and, taking a large sweep on the plain, came down upon the cavalry of the English. The greater part of this body were native horse ; who, being thrown into confusion, went off, and left the charge of the French to be sustained by the Europeans, of whom there were only eighty. But these were ably supported by two guns, under the management of Captain Barker, whose judicious and well-timed fire threw the French cavalry into confusion, and they gal- loped back to camp, Lally being the last man to retire. Meanwhile a heavy cannonade was taking place between the main bodies of both armies, till Lally, re- turning from his unsuccessful charge, ordered the French line to advance, and the battle now became general. After a few volleys of musketry, the regiment of Lorraine formed in a column twelve in front, and charged the regiment of Colonel Coote, whose fire, delivered at fifty yards' distance OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Ill struck down many of tlie enemy, but did not stop their rapid advance. In another moment these two gallant bodies were indiscriminately mingled in deadly conficit with the bayonet ; but the regiment of Lorraine, which had hitherto manifested a high degree of daring, at length gave way, and fell back in disorder to the camp. An ac- cident contributed to increase the alarm caused by the re- pulse of Lorraine's regiment. A shot from one of the English guns struck a tumbril laden with powder, which was placed in a tank to the left of Lally's regiment, and about eighty men were killed or wounded by the explo- sion. All who were near and uninjured fled to the camp ; and four hundred Sepoys at some distance, who were in no danger, took the same course. Major Brereton immediately advanced to take posses- sion of the tank before the enemy had time to recover from their confusion. Bussy, however, had succeeded in rallying a few of the fugitives, who were again posted in the tank with some additional force. Major Brereton .and his men advanced at a rapid pace, suffering little from the enemy till they came close to the tank, which they forthwith Assaulted and carried, under a heavy fire, which did great execution. Among its victims was the gallant leader of the party, Major Brereton ; and when some of his men, on seeing him fall, rushed to render him assist- ance, he told them with his dying breath not to think of him, but to follow on to victory. The battle was still maintained by a brisk fire of mus- ketry ; but two field-pieces being brought to bear on the flank of the French, their line began to give way ; while. Bussy, making a forward movement in the hope of re- trieving the fortune of the day, was surrounded by an English party and made prisoner, together with twenty of his adventurous followers,* The French troops in other parts of the field now retreated, and the British entered the enemy's camp without opposition ; they also obtained * Bussy was admitted to parole on the field, and.fUrnisheJ with a passport to Pondicherry. 112 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. possession of twenty-four pieces of cannon, a large quantity of ammunition, and such stores and baggageas had not been burned by Lally on his retreat. The loss of the English in killed and wounded was about two hundred, and that of the enemy was computed to amount to three times that number. The news of this victory diffused unbounded joy at the Presidency, and its results were of great importance. The fortress of Gingee was soon after carried by the Eng- lish under Colonel Coote ; aud Arcot, the capital of the Nabob, was once more wrested from the French. These successes were speedily followed by the capture or surreQ^ der of Trinomaly, Permacoil, Deir-Cottah, Karical, Cud- dalore, and many other places of minor consequence ; till at length nothing remained but Pondicherry, to whose gates the English were fast approaching, having shut up the French within a very circumscribed space, where, if able to maintain their ground, they were in imminent danger of perishing by famine. In this critical position Lally concluded a treaty with Hyder Ali, an adventurer who subsequently played a dis-' tinguished part in the affairs of the Carnatic, from whom he obtained the services of a body of Mysorean troops, which only served to delay the catastrophe a few months longer. At length, after a variety of operations, which offer no incidents of any interest, Pondicherry was closely in- vested by Colonel Coote, and the prospects of the French were daily becoming more gloomy. The troops within the place were not only insufficient for its defence, but famine was threatening to assail them ; and no forage being procurable, the few cavalry that remained were sent away ; though their departure further diminished the strength on which the town rested for defence, and both horses and men were likely to be taken by the English. Distress at length attained that stage when man re- gards his competitor for bread as an incumbrance, from which he must deliver himself, whatever may be the /: OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 115 ) means. On the 27th of December, an unwilling train passed out of the town, forced from their homes by the arm of power. These were the native inhabitants, of both sexes, and of every age. With the exceiotion of a few domestic servants, in the employ of wealthy Eu- ropeans, all were expelled. Their number was fourteen, hundred ; and when the gates of the town closed upon the last, not one of the number knew whither to turn his steps for succour, or even for safety. To escape death from famine was to meet it from the sword. The unhappy fugitives wandered in families and companies to various points ; but everywhere the challenge of the English Sepoy warned them back. They returned to the gates which had voided them forth, and implored to be admitted to the privilege of sharing the common lot of those among whom they had lived ; but in vain. The energy of 'despair prompting some of them to force their way back, they were met and dismissed from suffering by discharges of musketry and cannon from the fort. For eight long days these miserable outcasts continued to traverse the space within which they were circum- scribed, repeating their importunities at the gates of the town for admittance, and at the English posts for jier- mission to pass, and finding their petitions rejected alike by friends and foes. During this time the scantily spread roots of grass afforded their only means of sub- sistence. Their enemies at last yielded to the feeling of pity which seemed lost among those on whom the suf- ferers had the strongest claim. The English Commander allowed them to pass : and though they had neither home nor friend in prospect, their joy on being delivered from the lingering death by which they were threatened was unbounded. Thanks were tendered for this act of indulgence, and blessings bestowed on those by whom it was granted, with a warmth which bore witness to the horrors experienced by these wretched people in the situation from which they had escaped. On the 8th of December four batteries were completed, 114 OtrR AN6HC0-INDIAN ARMY. and at midnight they opened against the town ; con- tinuing to fire at intervals, but with little other effect than that of harassing the garrison, who were little able to endure fatigue, as they had been put on famine allow- ance since the expulsion of the native inhabitants. On the 30th of December the English suffered severely from a dreadful storm. The sea broke over the beach and overflowed the country, carrying away the batteries and redoubts. Their tents were destroyed and their ammu- nition rendered useless; while the soldiers in many in- stances abandoned their muskets to secure their personal safety, and many of the native camp-followers j^erished. The squadron which was stationed to prevent the intro- duction of provisions into Pondicherry by sea felt the effects of the storm. Several ships were stranded, and most of the others considerably damaged ] but the repairs of the latter were carried on with great celerity, and within a week Pondicherry was again blockaded by an English fleet. Similar diligence was also employed in restoring the works and stations of the army. On the 5th of January, 1761, the English made an at- tack on a redoubt which was still in possession of the enemy, and it was carried by stratagem ; but on the fol- lowing morning it was vigorously attacked by a party from the garrison, and the oflacer in command and the greater part of his men surrendered themselves prisoners. Lally, however, sent them all back to the English lines, under a promise not to serve again, the French being unable to spare food to keep them alive. On the 12th of January the English began to open trenches; and nearly fourteen hundred men were em- ployed in this work, which was conducted with extraor- dinary rapidity and great caution. Other batteries were also in preparation, when a flag of truce announced the approach of a deputation. They came on foot, having neither horses nor palanquin bearers ; and declared on the part of Lally that he and his troops, reduced to extremity by want of provisions, were ready to surrender themselves OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 115 prisoners of war ; the English to take possession of the town on the following morning, and of the fort the day after.* The Governor and Council of Pondicheny, on their part, claimed personal freedom for the inhabitants, security for their property, and protection for the Roman Catholic religion. Accordingly on the following morning the English were admitted to possession of the town ; and, as some tumult was apprehended, the citadel was delivered up on the evening of the same day. When Fort St. David fell into the hands of the French, its fortifications had been destroyed. The Court of France had indeed instructed Lally to destroy all the maritime possessions of the English which might fall into his hands. The Court of Directors of the English East India Com- pany had, in retaliation, ordered their Governments to re- sort to similar measures in the case of conquests made from the French. In consequence of these orders, the fortifications of Bondicherry were demolished ; and with a view further to embarrass any attempt that might be made by the French to re-establish themselves in India, all the public buildings within the works were subse- quently destroyed. From the time when Pondicherry fell, the French power in the Carnatic was virtually at an end. Gingee still remained in their possession, as did also Thiagur : but the former yielded to a force under Captain Stephen Smith ; and the latter, after sustaining sixty -five days of blockade and bombardment, capitulated to Major Preston. Mah^ and its dependencies on the coast of Malabar, also surrendered; and early in the year 1761 the French had neither any regular military force in any part of India, nor any local possessions, except their factories of Calicut and Surat, whiclj were merely trading establishments. * Count de Lally was a member of an Irish family which had followed the for- tunes of James the Second to France. His reception in France, after the fall of Pondicherry, was excessively unjust to one who had laboured strenuously to maintain the French interests in India. He was thrown into prison and exe- cuted on charges of extortion and treason ; the gi-oundless nature of which was fully proved twelve years alter by the filial piety oJ his son, Lally ToUendal, who obtained a reversal of the proceedings, and wfis admitted to the possession of his father's estates. 116 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER VII. Intrigues in the Court of Meer Jatfier Invasion of tlie Sliahz*(la Repellefl by Clive Dutch invited to Bengal by the Soubahdar Duplicity of Meer JaflSer Insolence of the Dutch Preparations against their Attempts Attack, and Capture of the Dutch Ships Total Defeat of their Land Forces Death of Prince Meerun by Lightning Meer Cossim aspires to the Musnud Is- supported by the Government of Bengal Meer Jaffier superseded by Meer Cossim Gratuities to the Governor and Council The Emperor i'nvaie* Bengal Is defeated by the British under Major Carnac Hostilities with Meer Cossim, and Restoration of Meer Jaffier Repeated Defeats of Meer Cossim Massacre of English Prisoners at Patna Serious Mutiny in the Company's Army Quelled by Major Munro Dreadful Punishment of the Mutineers Battle of Buxar The Emperor claims the Protection of the English Conspiracy amongst the Officers of the Army Put down by ClJve. While these affairs were transacting in the Carnatic^ the newly-established Government of Bengal was becoming a prey to discontent, disturbance, and alarm ; and the court of Meer Jaffier was a scene of intrigues, in which the sovereign and his son Meerun were no less active than their inferiors. But it is fortunately not incumbent on us to follow these plotters through all the tortuous^ intricacies of Asiatic policy, which we need only notice so far as they have reference to the military details and transactions that constitute the more immediate subject of the present volumes. Amongst other causes of internal alarms, a new danger menaced the throne of Meer Jaffier in a threatened invasion of Bahar by the Shahzada, or eldest son of the Emperor of Delhi. This Prince had fled from the capital of his father, who was kept in a state of pupilage by an ambitious and powerful Minister ; and, having collected a body of military followers, marched against the domi- nions of Meer Jaffier, whose troops were in a state of mutiny, and refused to act unless their arrears were paid. In this extremity he had recoui^se to his great OUK ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. 117 supporter, Clive, who speedily dissipated the storm, and freed his territories from the threatened invasion. But, notwithstanding the important services he had received from the English, Meer Jaffier not only evinced reluctance to fulfil the pecuniary stipulations by which he had bound himself, but he also intrigued with the Dutch to bring, a force into Bengal to counterbalance that of his old friends, of whose supremacy he had begun to get weary. Accordingly a powerful armament was fitted out at Batavia ; and, before many months had elapsed, seven Dutch ships arrived in the Hooghly, in the words of Clive, " crammed with soldiers." Though England and Holland were at this time in profound peace, an event like this was calculated to xcite suspicion and alarm at Calcutta, coujjled as it was with the extraordinary conduct of Meer Jaffier, who declared one day that he would chastise the insolence of the Dutch, and the next received the Dutch au- thorities at his Durbar with all the grace and benignity that royal condescension could show to the most favoured friends. When the Dutch at length felt confident of the Soubahdar's support, they addressed a remonstrance to the English authorities on the subject of certain alleged grievances, concluding with denunciations of vengeance if redress were withheld. " In this situation," says Clive, " we anxiously wished that the next hour would bring us news of a declaration of war with Holland." None arrived, however ; but the Dutch relieved Clive and his Council from part of their anxiety, by committing various ;acts of violence, which could not be expected to pass without reprisal. Hostilities seemed now so unavoidable that the only doubt the English entertained was whether the Dutch intended to bring their ships past the English batteries, or whether they would land their troops below, and march them through the country. Clive prepared as far .as he had the means against both. Colonel Eorde, who 118 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. had returned from the Deccan, was despatched to the northward with a force designed to alarm the Dutch authorities at Chiusura, as well as to intercept the troops of the enemy^ if they should proceed by land. Heavy cannon were mounted on the batteries ; and three Com- pany's ships, all that were in the river, were ordered to pass the Dutch vessels and take their station above the batteries, where fire-boats were placed, and other pre- parations were made to destroy the Dutch ships, if they attempted to effect a passage. On the 21st of November, 1759, the Dutch ships came to anchor a little below the English batteries, and on the 23rd they landed on the opposite shore a large body of European and Malay troops. On the same day orders were sent to the commodore of the English squadron, Captain Wilson, to demand from the Dutch commodore restitution of all the English persons, vessels, and property seized and detained by him ; and, in the event of refusal, he was to " fight, sink, burn, and destroy" the ships of those of whom it would now be absurd to speak otherwise than as " the enemy," The demand was made and refused, whereupon Captain Wilson proceeded to act upon the concluding part of his orders with that spirit in which the marine of England, whether royal or commercial, have rarely been deficient. Undismayed by the inequality of force, he attacked the enemy -, and, after an engagement of two hours, the Dutch commodore struck his colours. Five of his ships followed his ex- ample ; and six out of seven vessels which constituted the Dutch fleet became at once prizes to the English. One succeeded in getting away, but was intercepted below and captured by two other English ships which had just arrived. The number of jDrisoners taken by Captain Wilson is said to have been three times the number of the men under his command. On the same day on which the naval supremacy of England was thus nobly asserted and sustained, Colonel Forde was attacked by the garrison of Chiusura, while OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. IID on his march to take up a position between that place and Chandernagore. They had posted themselves, with four pieces of cannon, amid the buildings of the last- named place ; from which cover they were soon dislodged, when they fled to Chiusura, abandoning their cannon, and pursued with some heavy loss to the very barriers of the town. The following day decided the question of success. Colonel Forde having been apprised of the approach of the troops landed from the Dutch ships, and of their having been joined by part of the garrison of Chiusura, marched with two field-pieces, and met them on a plain, where an action ensued. The force of the Dutch con- sisted of eight hundred Europeans, and seven hundred Malays, besides some troops of the country, all com- manded by Colonel Roussel, a Frenchman. The European force of the English fell considerably short of four hundred ; and they had, in addition, about eight hun- dred Sepoys. The .action has been justly described as "short, bloody, and idecisive."* Its duration was less than half an hour, and the Dutch were entirely routed, leaving dead upon the field about a hundred and twenty Europeans and two \ hundred Malays, with about a hundred and fifty wounded. Three hundred Europeans, including Colonel Roussel and fourteen ofiicers, and two hundred Malays, were made prisoners. The loss of the English was inconsiderable, f The result of these operations was that the Dutch humbly sued for peace, which was granted on condition that they should never meditate war, introduce or enlist troops, or raise fortifications without permission ; that * Clive's Narrative. t On the approach of the Dutch force, says Sir John Malcolm, Colonel Forde, desirous of being armed with adequate authority for treatinj;: as enemies a people with whom the English were ostensibly at peace, wrote a note to Clive, saying that, if he had the order of Council, he could attack the Dutch with a fair prospect of destroying them. Clive was playing at cards when he received the communication ; and, without quitting the table, he wrote the fol- lowing answer with a pencil: " DsAR FoBDE, Fight them immediately ; I will send you the order of Council to-morrow." 120 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. they should never keep more than one hundred and twenty-five European soldiers in the country, for the service of their several factories, Chiusura, Cossimbazar, and Patna. A breach of any of these conditions was to be punished by entire and utter expulsion from the territories of Bengal. Meer Jafiier, who had utterly deserted the Dutch on '['^'S}^S^'\i '^'^^ their ill-success, now sustained a heavy loss in the departure for England of Clivq, whom he justly regarded as the mainstay of his throne and safety. To add to his perplexity, his territories were again invaded by the Shahzada, whose father's long captivity having been terminated by his murder, he himself now assumed the title of Emperor. He was supported in his invasion by several powerful Zemindars, but was ultimately defeated by the English troops under Colonel Calliaud, who was, however, prevented from making the most of his victory OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 121 by the dogged obstinacy of Meer Jaffier's son, Meerun, who would not spare a single horseman for the pursuit. But the follies and crimes of this wretched Prince were approaching an awful close. On the night of the 2nd of July, 1760, there was a heavy storm; when the tent of Meerun, containing himself, a story- teller to amuse his leisure, and a servant employed in shampooing his feet,* was struck with lightning, and all within it joerished. It was about this time that Mr. Yansittart arrived from Madras to assume the office of Governor of Fort WiUiam ; when he took possession of a treasury so exhausted that the trading investments of the Company were obliged to be suspended, and it was with difficulty that the current expenses of the settlement were provided for. These pecuniary difficulties arose in a great measure from the non-fulfilment of the Soubahdar's engagements ; and upon him fell all the evil of the policy that was now pursued at Fort William. Meer Cossim, the son-in-law of Meer Jaffier, aspired to succeed to the throne. He had advanced money to allay the claim of the mutinous army, on the condition that he should stand in the place of Meerun, and he was so for- tunate as to obtain the support of the British Govern- ment. After some negotiation, the basis of a treaty was agreed upon, the object of which was to satisfy the im- patience of Meer Cossim to ascend the musnud, which he would gladly have done by the murder of his father-in- law ; but to this extent his English friends would not oblige him. He was, however, to be invested with the Dewanny, or control of the Exchequer, and to exercise all the executive authority ; but Meer Jaffier was to continue in possession of the title of sovereign. All affairs of government were to be transacted in the name and under the seal of the latter, and a suitable revenue was to be Shampooing may be compared to a gentle kneading of the limbs, or occa- sionally of the whole body, by the hands or knuckles of the op^-ator, either slowly or rapidly, by which considerable relief is obtained from pain or fatigue 122 OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. allotted for his support ; while the English were to be invested with the possession of Burdwan, Midnapore, and Chittagong, as means of defraying the Company's charges in maintaining the throne of Bengal. Nothing now remained but to communicate the terms of the treaty to the man whose power had been thus summarily transferred to one of his servants ; and this duty Avas performed by Mr. Vansittart himself, who pro- ceeded to Cossimbazar, attended by a considerable military force under Colonel Calliaud. By means of this per- suasive argument, the virtually deposed Soubahdar, after some very natural reluctance, was at length brought to reason. He was content to stipulate only for the pre- servation of his life and honour, and an allowance suitable to his maintenance. Of these being fully assured, he set out immediately to reside at Calcutta, and Meer Cossim was seated on the musnud. By the evening all was perfectly quiet, and a stranger might have entered Moorshedabad without suspecting that the city had that day been the scene of a revolution. The usual demon- strations of Asiatic gratitude followed close upon the dethronement of Meer Jaffier. The Honourable Com- pany Bahander, in addition to the ceded territories, received from Meer Cossim five lacs of rupees ; Mr. Hoi well, who had negotiated the whole affair, was gra- tified with two lacs and seventy thousand; Mr. Sumner, a member of Council, two lacs and twenty-four thousand ; Colonel Calliaud, two lacs ; Mr. McGuire, one lac and eighty thousand rupees, and five thousand gold mohurs.* Mr. Culling Smith, who was secretary to the Committee, had one lac and thirty-four thousand rupees ; and Major Yorke, who commanded the detachment immediately attendant on Meer Cossim, benefited to the like extent. Mr. Yansittart, "as was befitting his station" (says Thornton, with his usual dry humour), had the largest * A gold mohur is equal to sixteen rupees. This gentleman seemed to like a variety in his coin. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 123 ?share of Meer Cossim's bounty ; five lacs of rupees were appropriated to his personal use. Such was the facility with which, in the early days of our Indian empire, thrones and principalities were trans- ferred from one candidate to another by the Honourable Company's civil and military servants ; who, whatever benefit was to be conferred on the Government or country by the change, never, at least, forgot their own private interests. Money being the sole object of this revolution, Meer Cossim applied himself vigorously to the replenishment of his treasury, by squeezing what he could out of every one, high and low, that was subject to his authority. In this pleasing occupation he was interrupted by another incursion of the Emperor into the Bengal territory ; but on the 13th of January, 1761, the latter was entirely defeated by the British army, under Major Carnac, at Patna ; among the prisoners taken were Monsieur Law and his remnant of French followers. It is altogether beyond our j)urpose, and at variance with our limits, in a work like the present, to detail at any length the troublesome and unhappy reign of Meer Cossim, who was in constant perplexity between his own subjects and the Company's Government exacting all he could from the former, and disgorging as little as possible to the latter. Erom this fertile source of mischief sprang a multiplicity of disagreements, quarrels, and petty squabbles between the Government of Calcutta and their interesting protege, till at last acts of positive hostility followed on both sides ; and there being no longer any doubt as to the course which events must take, the Presidency began in earnest to make preparation for war. Hostilities commenced at Patna, which was suddenly attacked by the English, under Mr. Ellis, the chief of the factory there, and taken j^ossession of; but, unable to maintain the advantage they had gained, they were driven not only from the city, but from their own fac- 124 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. tory, and, failing to make their escape, were all either destroyed or made prisoners. Mr. Amyatt, also, who had been deputed by Government to the Soubahdar, was intercepted in his way from Moorshedabad to Cossimbazar, and with all his companions murdered in cold blood. It being now evident that nothing but the destruction of Meer Cossim could result from this state of afiairs, the question who should occupy the throne presented itself ; and the majority of the Council determined on restoring Meer Jaffier, who was accordingly once more proclaimed sovereign of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa, on the 7th of July, 1763. The restored sovereign, having gladly agreed to all the terms required by the Company's Government, left Calcutta on the 11th of July, to join the British force under Major Williams, which had been put in motion to effect his restoration to the throne. On the 19th an engagement took j^lace, which terminated in favour of the English, and compelled the enemy to abandon the fort of Kutwal. On the 24th the British force stormed the lines of Mootejil, and thus obtained possession of Moorshedabad, and about fifty pieces of cannon. Pur- suing their victorious course, the English, on the 2nd of August, crossed a ravine in the face of the enemy, who waited for them on the plain of Geriah, near Sootee. Here a general engagement took place : it was obstinately fought, and for a time victory seemed to oscillate between the combatants. At one period the enemy had succeeded in breaking part of the British line, and taking pos- session of some of their cannon ; but the advantage was soon recovered ; and, after a desjDerate conflict of four hours, the precipitate flight of the enemy transferred to the English possession of all their cannon, and of one, hundred and fifty boats laden with grain. The defeated army fled to Outanulla, a fort situate between a chain of hills and the river, and defended by an intrenchment, on which were mounted a hundred pieces of cannon. The ditch was deep, about fifty or OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 125 sixty feet wide, and full of water. The ground in front was swampy, and there was no apparent mode of ap- proach but on the bank of the river, where the ground was dry for about 100 yards. Upon this spot the English commenced approaches and batteries ; but the design was only to deceive the enemy, and draw off their attention from the point wliicli was seriously menaced. On the oth of September, while the enemy were amused by a false attack on the bank of the river, the real attack was made at the foot of the hills ; and, after an obstinate resistance on the part of the enemy, attended by great slaughter, the English obtained possession of the fort and cannon. It was said that Meer Cossim had sixty thousand men in arms within the intrenchment ; while the English force, Europeans and Sepoys, did not exceed three thousand. The victorious army advanced to Mongheer, which Meer Cossim had made his capital. It was regularly attacked ; and, after a practicable breach had been made, capitulated to the English. The news of this reached Meer Cossim at Patna, and inflamed him to such a pitch of fury that he resolved on the perpetration of an act of wholesale slaughter, exceeding in enormity even the atrocities of the Black Hole. This was to put to death his European prisoners, for which purpose he found a fit instrument in a renegade Swiss named Sumroo. The captives were of course unarmed ; and, in order that this murder might be accomplished with the greater facility, a previous search was instituted for knives and forks, which were seized and sent away.* The 3rd of October was the day of slaughter. Some of the victims were surrounded and fired upon ; others were cut to pieces by the swords of the soldiei's employed in the dreadful work. It is said that they made all the resistance in their power by throwing bottles and stones at their murderers. f Mr. Ellis was amongst the FuUarton's Letter to the Board at Calcutta. t Scott's " History of Bengal." 126 OUR ANGLO-TNDIAN ARMY. victims, and one Englishman only was excepted from the sentence of general massacre : this Avas a surgeon named Fullarton, whose ^professional knowledge was the cause of his preservation. The English prisoners in other places shared the fate of those at Patna ; and it is said that the total number of Englishmen murdered amounted to two hundred. On the 6th of JNTovember, Patna was stormed and taken by the British troops, and from this period the fortune of Meer Cossim was decided. His army was purpiued by that of the English to the banks of the Caramnassa, which river he crossed to seek refuge in the territories of the Soubahdar of Oude, with whom he had previously concluded a treaty. The war, however, began to linger, principally owing to the mutinous disposition of Meer Jaffier's troops, which unhappily spread to the Europeans and Sepoys of the Company's army, amongst whom desertions were frequent ; and the mutineers even went to the extent of threatening to carry off their officers and deliver them up to the enemy. This was the threatening posture of affairs when Major Munro, a King's officer, was called from Bombay, with as many troops, both King's and Company's, as could be spared from that Presidency. On arriving at Calcutta, he lost no time in proceeding with the troops which had accompanied him to Patna, where the entire force of the British,- which had been assembled in its neighbourhood, seemed on the point of breaking up. Such being the situation of the army. Major Munro, to use his own words, " determined to endeavour to conquer that mutinous disposition in them before he would attempt to conquer the enemy." In the spirit of this determination, he proceeded with a detachment and four field-pieces to one of the cantonments at a short distance from Patna. On the day of his arrival, a battalion of Sepoys marched off with their arms and accoutrements to join the enemy. A party consisting of a hundred Europeans and a bat- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 127 talion of Sepoys, whose officers reported that they might be depended upon, was despatched with two field-pieces in pursuit of the deserters. They came up with them in the night, surprised them while asleep, made them prisoners, and marched them back to the cantonment. The officer commanding the detachment having sent forward an express, announcing the precise hour at which his arrival with the prisoners might be expected, Major Munro was prepared to receive them with the troops under arms. He immediately ordered their officers to pick out from the deserters fifty of those who bore the worst character, and who were likely to have been authors of the movement, or chief actors in it. This being done, a further selection of the twenty-four reputed to be the worst men in the fifty was made, and these were immediately brought to a drum-head court- martial, composed of native officers assembled on the spot. They were found guilty of mutiny and desertion, and sentenced to sufier death ; the mode of carrying the sentence into effect being left to the direction of the Commander-in-Chief, he ordered them forthwith to be bound to the guns and blown away. The order was no soolier made known than four Grenadiers represented that, as they had always enjoyed the post of honour, they were entitled to suffer first. Their desire was complied with ; the four men who had been bound to the guns were released, the Grenadiers fastened in their places, and executed. The officers of the native troops in the field then informed the Major that the Sepoys were resolved not to permit any more men to suffer. He immediately- directed the four field-pieces to be loaded with grape- shot, and the Europeans to be drawn up with the guns in intervals between them. The officers who had made the communication were commanded to return to the heads of their battalions, and the men were ordered to ground their arms under pain of being fired upon in case of disobedience or attempt at flight. The order was 1 28 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY, complied with. Sixteen more of the offenders were blown away ; and the remaining four carried to another cantonment where considerable desertion had taken place, there to suffer in like manner. This, to be sure, was a remedy which it is impossible to regard without a feeling of horror, but it was a most effectual cure for mutiny and desertion. The army being once more in a state in which it might be trusted to meet an enemy, Major Munro prepared to take the field as early as possible after the rains ; and the 15th of September, 1764, was fixed for the rendezvous of the troops from the different cantonments. Meanwhile, the enemy, consisting of Meer Cossim's troops, and those of his ally, the Vizier of Oude,fhad advanced several parties of horse, and thrown up some breastworks on the banks of the Soane, to impede the passage of the English. To remove this obstacle. Major Champion was despatched with a detachment and four field-pieces to cross the river some miles below the place Av^here the main body were to pass, and advance on the opposite bank for the purpose of dislodging the enemy, and covering the landing of the British troops. It was important that Major Champion should arrive on one side of the river at the same time that the main body reached the other. The movements of both parts of the British force were executed with so much pre- cision for this purpose that Major Champion's detach- ment began to fire on the enemy at the moment when the van of Major Munro's army appeared on the opposite bank. The enemy was soon dislodged ; the English force was thus enabled to cross the river without molestation, and in four hours the operation was completed. Major Munro then continued his march towards Buxar, where the enemy lay. and where he found them on the 22nd of October, intrenched, with the Ganges on their left, and the village of Buxar in their rear. The British commander ascertained on the night of his arrival that the enemy were moving their artillery, and OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 129 that the women and treasure had been sent away ; but he was of opinion that the bustle apparent in the enemy's camp was a feint and no retreat. This was verified at eight o'clock the following morning, when the field-officer of the day announced that the enemy's right was in motion, evidently for the purpose of at- tacking. The drums immediately beat to arms, the troops advanced from their encampment, and in a few minutes were ready to receive the approaching foe. The action commenced at nine, and raged till twelve, when the enemy gave way ; retiring leisurely, however, and blowing up several tumbrils and three large magazines of powder as they went off". The British army broke into columns to pursue ; but pursuit was frustrated by the Yizier sacrificing part of his army to preserve the remainder. Two miles from the field of battle was a rivulet, over which a bridge of boats had been con- structed. This the enemy destroyed before their rear had passed over ; and through this act about two thou- sand of them were drowned, or otherwise lost. Destruc- tive as this proceeding was, it saved the main body of the Vizier's army, with his treasure and jewels, and the jewels of Meer Cossim, which were estimated to amount to between two and three millions sterling. The British force engaged in the memorable battle of Buxar consisted of eight hundred and fifty-seven Eu- ropeans, five thousand two hundred and ninety-seven Sepoys, and nine hundred and eighteen native cavalry, making a total of seven thousand and seventy-two men. They had a train of artillery of twenty field-pieces. The force of the enemy, according to some reports, amounted to sixty thousand men. Of this vast number, two thou- sand were left dead upon the field of battle, exclusive of those who perished from the destruction of the bridge ; the enemy also lost one hundred and thirty-three pieces of cannon of various sizes. The loss of the English in killed and wounded was severe, amounting to no less than eight hundred and forty-seven. 130 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. On the day after the battle, the Emperor addressed a letter to Major Munro, congratulating him on the victory which he had gained over the Vizier, by whom, the Emperor alleged, he had been treated as a prisoner soliciting the protection of the English, and offering to bestow in return the dominions of Shoojah-ud-Dowlah' or anything else the British Government might please to demand. These offers being referred to Calcutta, were accepted ; and thenceforward this last successor of a line of monarchs, to whom myriads of dependent princes had bent in lowly acknowledgment of subjection, was indebted to a handful of British traders for protec- tion, and actually for the means of subsistence. After the battle of Buxar, the unfortunate Meer Oossim was subjected to a system of plunder by his friend and ally the Vizier, in which the latter observed neither moderation nor mercy. He was even deserted by the wretch Sumroo, who had been the willing instru- ment of executing his murderous orders at Patna, and who now went over to the Vizier with all his battalions, and the arms and equipments which had been furnished at the expense of his friend. Finally, Chunarghur and Allahabad having surrendered to the English, the Em- peror took up his residence in the latter place, the Vizier ffed to Lucknow, and from thence to seek refuge amongst the Rohillas ; while Meer Cossim, having secreted a number of valuable jewels, made his escape from the protection of the Vizier ; and Sumroo, having no affec- tion for a falling cause, sought a new service elsewhere. The death of Meer Jaffier about this time placed the throne of Bengal once more at the disposal of the English authorities. The competitors were Nooj inn-ud-Dowlah, the second son of Meer Jaffier, and the infant son of Meerun. The former was on the verge of manhood, the latter was only six years of age ; and the British Government determined in favour of the candidate of riper age. But though the new Nabob apparently ascended the musnud according to ordinary rules, he OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 131 was, in effect, but the creature of the British power. The tendency of events for some years past had been to throw on the Company's Government the military defence of the three provinces. They were now to be fi)rmally invested with this office. The Nabob was to be relieved from the expense of keeping up any greater military force than might be necessary for purposes of state, for the maintenance of internal peace, and for enforcing the collection of revenue ; while the Company were to receive a monthly payment of five lacs to meet the increased expense that would thus be thrown upon them. The establishment of this new Nabob produced the usual shower of private rewards ; and numerous lacs of rupees were distributed amongst the fortunate members of the existing Government. At this period Clive, who, during his residence in England had been created an Irish peer, arrived for the third time in Bengal to assume the reins of government. The Vizier, with his allies the Mahrattas, having been defeated on the 3rd of May, 1765, by the English, he signified a few days afterwards his desire of peace, upon any conditions which the victors might think fit to pre- scribe. Clive accordingly proceeded to the English camp to arrange the terms, and the vanquished Prince had so little reason to complain of their harshness that he agreed to pay fifty lacs as an indemnification for the expenses of the war. The Emperor had some years before offered to bestow upon the Company the Dewanny of the three provinces of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa ; but it was then declined. It was now solicited, bestowed, and accepted ; and by this title the English East India Company was acknowledged as the representative of the throne of Delhi in the three provinces, and receivers- general in perpetuity of the revenues of Bengal, Bahar, and Orissa. These transactions having been brought to a happy termination. Lord Clive had a much more disagreeable task to perform, in reducing the emoluments of the army, 132 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. which was one of the duties imposed upon him by his instructions. After the battle of Plassy, the Nabob, Meer Jaffier, had granted to the English troops whom he was to sup- port double batta, or field allowance. When the mod^ of defraying the expenses of the army was changed, by the assignment to the Company of certain districts for the purpose, the Court of Directors ordered that double batta should be abolished. These instructions, though often repeated, had never been carried into effect ; and it remained for Clive to enforce orders which apathy, or fear, or inclination, had previously permitted to slumber. The select committee accordingly issued an order^ directing that from the 1st' of January, 1766, double batta should cease, except at Allahabad ; where, on account of the distance from Calcutta, the allowance was to be continued while the troops were actually in the field, but was to be reduced to single batta when they retired into cantonments. At Patna and Mongheer the troops were to have half batta when not on service. At the Presidency they were to be placed on the same footing as at Madras ; they were to draw no batta, except when actually marching or serving in the field. Against this order, remonstrance was offered, but in vain. It was enforced, and led to a wide-spread con- spiracy among the European officers, organised with much care and great secrecy, the object of which was the simultaneous resignation of their commissions- on a given day. Clive exerted himself vigorously to repress the mutinous movement ; he was ably supported by Sir Kobert Barker, and Colonel A. Smith, who commanded two of the three brigades into which the army was divided. The remaining brigade was commanded by Sir E-obert Fletcher ; and he, it was discovered, though not until the mutiny was very far advanced, was the contriver and instigator of the guilty proceedings. He was brought to a court-martial, convicted, and cashiered. A few officers of inferior rank were also brought to trial, OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 133 and sentenced to punishment ; the remainder were per- mitted to enjoy the benefits of timely penitence, by restoration to their commissions. At the time that Clive was engaged in recalling the army to their duty, he had an opportunity of evincing his regard for that body, by a liberal donation for its benefit. On his arrival from England, he was informed that Meer Jaffier had bequeathed to him five lacs of rupees, which were in the hands of Munny Begum, the mother of the reigning prince. This bequest he applied to the formation of a military fund for invalid of&cers and soldiers, and their widows, which has been ever since, and is to this day, a source of pecuniary relief and assistance to tliousands, who would have otherwise had to sufier the evils of comparative poverty. In the month of January, 1767, Clive quitted Bengal for ever ; and, in summing up his character at the ter- mination of so distinguished a career, the eminent his- torian to whose labours we have been so deeply indebted in the compilation of this little volume, says, "As a soldier he was pre-eminently great. With the name of Clive commences that flood of glory which has rolled on till it has covered the wide face of India with memorials of British valour. By Clive was formed the base of the column which a succession of heroes, well worthy to follow in his steps, have carried upward to a towering height, and surrounded with trophies of honour, rich, brilliant, and countless."* * Thornton's History of India. 134 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER VIII. AiFairs of the Carnatic Birth and Character of Hyder Ali He enters the Service of Mysore His pi-eat Courage and rapid Rise Imbecility of the Rajah, and Supremacy of the Piime Minister Hyder puts down the latter, and takes his Place He usurps the Sovereign Authority Extends his Territories by Conquest Is defeated by the Mahrattas and buys them off Conquers Malabar and Coorg Formidable Confederacy against him Dis- solves it, and forms a Coalition against the English Territorial Possessions and Resources of the contending Parties at this Period Battle of Trinomaly Hyder Deserted by the Nizam Successes of the British Hyder singularly foiled in a Night Attack The British on the point of Defeat saved by a Stra- tagem Dreadful Scene at Bangalore Gallant Defence by an English Sergeant Repeated Success of Hyder Destruction of Captain Nixon's Detachment Critical Condition of the English Hyder compels them to a Treaty of Peace. During these transactions in Bengal, which extended the British possessions on the Ganges over the finest portion of that vast region, the interests of the Company were threatened in the south by the sudden and ominous growth of an adverse power, which subsequently swept over the Carnatic with the rapidity and withering inlluence of a destructive meteor. The father of Hyder Ali, by descent a Punjaubee, had held the rank of naick, or non-commissioned ofiicer in the service of Mysore ; but on his death had left his family unprovided for. At this time Hyder was not more than seven years of age, and his advance towards manhood gave little indication of future greatness ; the sports of the field occupying a large portion of his time, and the remainder being surrendered to voluptuous enjoyments. Having entered the Mysorean service as a volunteer, he soon distinguished himself by extraordinary courage and self-possession, and in time advanced to the command of a body of freebooters, who, under his auspices, victimised both friends and enemies. By a series of OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 135 extraordinary feats of successful enterprise, which could only occur in such a country, and at such a period, the predatory troops of Hyder became numerous ; his power and his resources increased ; his stock of elephants, camels, tents, and equipments, enabled him to vie in this respect with the great chiefs in the state of Mysore ; and, finally, he was admitted to rank with them by being nominated Foujdar of DindiguL* By his energetic and judicious conduct in this position, Hyder continued to rise, and circumstances favoured his elevation. A mutiny broke out in the Mysorean army, and he was the instrument of suppressing it. To this succeeded some other services which it is here unnecessary to enlarge upon, but which obtained for him the district of Bangalore, as a personal jaghire. A demonstration on the part of the Mahrattas afforded opportunity for the further display of Hyder's talents for rising in the state. The army was ordered to march to resist the incursion, but refused in consequence of arrears of pay. These Hyder became responsible for. He was therefore nominated to the chief command of the field force, and was successful in reducing the Mahrattas to propose terms. He then returned in triumph to Seringapatam, where he was received with a degree of distinction and demonstration of enthusiasm unprecedented in an Oriental court. From the indolence and incapacity of the Rajah of Mysore, all the authority of the state had long been exercised by the Dewan, or Prime Minister, Nunjeraj, a wily Brahmin, whose arrogance had so much disgusted his sovereign that the latter was anxious to get rid of him, but knew not how. In this emergency he had recourse to the fortunate Hyder, who gladly undertook the task, and finally succeeded in ridding the E-ajah of his haughty Minister, by a series of intrigues and bold * Foujdar, a majpstrate of the police over a large district, who took cog- nisance of all criminal matters within his jurisdiction, and sometimes was employed as receiver-general of the revenues. 136 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. operations, such as are but too common in all Asiatic courts, but a detail of which is altogether foreign from a work like the present.* This, however, was no sooner accomplished than the weak and imbecile monarch of Mysore discovered that he had only made an exchange of masters ; for Hyder having vigorously applied himself to destroy the remnants of the royal army, and to strengthen his own, was soon in a condition to dictate terms to his sovereign. An arrangement was concluded which gave to the successful adventurer everything but the title of royalty. Dis- tricts were set apart sufficient to provide a moderate revenue for the personal expenses of the Rajah ; while the entire management of the remainder of the country, and all the functions of government, were transferred to Hyder. In the year 1761 Hyder, whose authority was now firmly established over Mysore,' entered into an alliance with Nizam-ul-Moolk, the Soubahdar of the Deccan, who conferred upon him the title of Hyder Ali Khan Ba- hander. In the course of this year, he extended his dominions to the eastward, by the capture of the fort of Oussoor, and to the westward, by seizing, on some frivolous pretence, a portion of the Coorg country an almost inaccessible tract, lying among the stupendous mountains that form the western boundary of the Table-land. In 1762 he invaded and usurped the Biddenoor country a fruitful district lying to the northward of Mysore, the Bajah of which he put to death ; and, having changed * On one of these occasions Hyder sat in dhurna with the troops before the residence of Nunjeraj to obtain an arrear of pay. This ceremony is described by Lord Teynmouth as follows : "The Brahmin who adopts this expedient proceeds to the door or house of the person against whom it is directed. He there sits down in dhurna, with poison, or a poniard, or some other instrument of suicide in liis. hand, and threatening to use it if his adversary should attempt to molest or pass him. He thus completely arrests him. In tliis situation the Brahmin fasts; and, by the rigour of the etiquette, which is seldom infringed, the unfortunate object of his arrest ought also to fast ; and thus they both remain until the institutor of the dhurna obtains satisfaction. In this, as he seldom makes the attempt without resolution to persevere, he rarely fails ; for if the party thus arrested were to suflter the Brahmin sitting in dhurna to perish by hunger, the sin would for ever lie on his h ead . '' OUR ANGLO-INDIAT^^ ARMY. 137 the name of the principal city into Hydernagur, he transferred thither the seat of his Government.* This career of success, however, received a severe check the following year, when his newly-acquired territory was invaded by an overwhelming force of Mahrattas, from whom he received a signal defeat near his new capital ; and so severe was the blow that he was obliged to purchase the absence of those marauders by submitting to a considerable draft upon his treasury. In a short interval of peace which succeeded this irrup- tion of the Mahrattas, Hyder re-organised his military force, and improved his dominions in every respect. But the demon of conquest had taken full possession of his mind, and rendered a period of inaction painful to his restless spirit. He accordingly, in 1764, invaded the kingdoms of Coorg and Malabar , which for three years his armies continued successfully to overrun ; but finding it impracticable to reduce them to a state of permanent submission, he consented to withdraw his forces on the promise of an annual tribute. In 1766 died Chick Kistna, the Rajah of Mysore, whose feeble reign had been nothing but a long minority. On hearing of his decease, Hyder, who was then pro- secuting his victories in Malabar, strictly adhering to his scheme of policy, and disdaining the outward tinsel and equipage of royalty, ordered Nundo Kaj, son of the pre- ceding prince, to be placed on the musnud with the usual ceremonies. Nundo Raj, like his predecessor, an imbecile prince, addicted to pleasure, and unconscious of the contemptible figure he made on the musnud, gave no disturbance to the enterprising Hyder, who prosecuted his conquests with a rapidity which rendered him an object of general envy and jealousy to the neighbouring princes. This, jealousy soon evinced itself in a formidable confederacy between the Nizam of the Deccan and the Peishwa of * Colonel Wilks estimates the booty taken at Biddenoor at twelve millions stei'ling. This is probably exaggerated ; but Hyder himself always owned that its capture was the principal instrument of his future greatness. "7; 138 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Poonah ; and as the Government of Madras wa.s bound by previous treaty to support the Nizam against his enemies, an English force, under Colonel Joseph Smith, was ordered to advance and form a junction with the Nizam's troops on the northern frontier of Mysore. The Mahrattas were foremost in advancing to the at- tack, and Hyder encountered these formidable adversa- ries in several engagements, with various success ;-!- but finding that, unless he could divert the torrents which poured upon him on all sides, and direct their fury into a new channel, he would speedily be overwhelmed, he re- sorted to those means of corruption which seldom fail ; and at length succeeded, by money and specious promises, not only in dissolving the confederacy, but in joining his late antagonists with him in an attack upon the British territories. These faithless friends and weak enemies were easily persuaded that it would better suit their policy and interest, instead of disabling one another by their feuds and jealousies, to join against the encroach- ments of the common enemy, and unite in the laudable undertaking of expelling the European infidels from their country. The Kajah of Berar was included in this treaty ; and thus, in 1767, began a contest between the British and Mysorean Governments, which continued for several years with unabating vigour and animosity, and ended in the final subversion of the turbulent dynasty of Hyder. When this formidable confederacy was concluded against the British, the territory of Hyder was of immense ex- tent. He was master of Mysore and Bangalore ; he pos- sessed the vast mountainous country extending from Amboor to Madura, south-east of Seringapatam ; he was absolute sovereign of the kingdoms of Balapore, Bijena- gur, and Canara ; of a great portion of the Malabar coast, and the Maldive Islands. His army amounted to 200,000 * Hyder issued the most peremptory orders to all his officers, civil and military, to break down the embankments of the reservoirs of water, on the approach of the Mahratta army ; to poison the wells with milk hedge (Euphorbia TirucuUa) ; to burn all the forage, even to the thatch of the houses ; to bury the grain ; to drive off the inhabitants and the cattle to the woods ; and to leave to the Mah- rattas neither forage, water, nor food. Colonel Wilks. OUIl ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 139 men, which, however, with the exception of 20,000 cavalry and 750 French, were of a very inferior descrip- tion ; this enormous force was further increased by the contingent of the Nizam, amounting to 100,000 men. The British were, at this period, masters of Bengal ; they possessed the coasts of Orissa and Coromaridel ; the cities of Cambay and Surat ; and the islands of Bombay and Salsette, on the Mahratta frontier ; besides establish- ments on the island of Sumatra. Their forces in these several possessions amounted to 90,000 men ; but they were of a very different description from those of Hyder, being composed of regularly disciplined Europeans and Sepoys. The troops of the allies of the English East India Company were not more than 20,000 men of an inferior description. At the head of the opposing armies were two chiefs, equally famous in their respective spheres. Hyder was full of that impetuosity which cha- racterises Indian heroism ; Colonel Smith had all the prudence and self-possession of an experienced com- mander : the former depended upon his personal courage for the victory ; the latter upon the quality of his troops, and a profound knowledge of the resources of the military art. After the opening of the campaign, in which Tippoo, then eighteen, made his d^hut, in command of a large body of horse sent to ravage the country about Madras, many affairs took place with alternate advantage, till the 26th of September, when the armies approached each other near the fort of Trinomaly, and the enemy com- menced a distant cannonade on the left of the British line. Colonel Smith made a movement from his right round a hill which concealed the great body of the con- federated army from his view, for the purpose of turn- ing or coming in contact with their left. The enemy ob- serving this movement, and concluding that it was made in retreat, put their trooj)s in motion, for the purpose of crossing and intercepting the English column. The two armies were thus marching round the hill at the same 140 OUE ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY, momentj each concealed from the view of the other, though in a very short space of time their meeting was inevitable. When this took place, the surprise was reciprocal ; but the first struggle was for the possession of the hill. It was secured for the English by the exertions of Captain Cooke ; Snd some detached rocks, forming a position of considerable strength, were wrested from a large body of the enemy's infantry. When the troops were drawn up in order of battle, the contrast between the numbers was striking. The English force consisted of fourteen hun- dred European infantry, thirty European cavalry, nine thousand Sepoys, and fifteen hundred exceedingly bad native cavalry belonging to Mahomed Ali, The numbers of the enemy cannot be ascertained with equal accuracy, but they have been computed at seventy thousand, of which more than half were cavalry ; these were drawn up in a crescent, half encircling the British force, and seemingly sufficient to overwhelm them. The enemy had about one hundred pieces of cannon^ but not more than thirty could be brought into action. The English had about the latter number, which, being steadily and skilfully served, nearly silenced those opposed to them. The guns were then turned upon the dense and frowning masses of the enemy's cavalry. For a few minutes the fire was sustained with sullen calmness, and the horsemen appeared to be in expectation of orders to charge. None were given, however ; and as to sit inac- tive and unmoved amidst the deadly havoc produced by the well-directed fire of the English was beyond ^ the power of endurance, myriads of flying cavalry soon co- vered the field in every direction. Hyder, who had for some time perceived that all was lost, now drew off his cannon, and urged Nizam Ali to take the same course, which he accordingly did on the advance of the British army in line,* On the following day the confederate * The elephants bearing the women of his establishment were in the rear, and these, too, were ordered to turn, when a soft voice from the covered vehicle borne by one of them exclaimed, " This elephant has not been taught so to turn : he follows the standard of the empire," The English shot fell thick and heavy OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY 141 army was observed at a distance in full retreat ; but a train of forty-one pieces of artillery was captured, exclu- sive of nine pieces which had been taken on the pre- ceding day, and fourteen which were subsequently secured. The loss of the English was one hundred and fifty men ; that of the enemy was believed to exceed four thousand. The defeat of the allies had the effect of clearing the country of various parties which had been employed in ravaging it, and had plundered almost to the gates of Madras. The Nizam, on witnessing these disasters, and the dis- appointment of all his hopes of aggrandisement at the ex- pense of the English, began to waver in the alliance. Another check sustained near Amboor, and the invasion of his territory by a detachment from Bengal, confirmed him in the resolution to withdraw himself from Hyder, and agree to a separate treaty, which was concluded on the 23rd of February, 1768. On the 2nd of May Kist- nagherry surrendered to Colonel Smith j in June he ob- tained possession of the fortress of Mulwagul. Colar sur- rendered shortly afterwards, and in July Oussoor was taken, with some other places to the south and west. A body of Mahrattas which had been taken into the English service joined Colonel Smith's force in August, and immediately after their junction Hyder was foiled in a singular manner in a night attack on the Mahratta camp, in which he sustained a loss of about three hundred men. The lead in the attempt was assigned to the cavalry, who were to penetrate to the tent of Morari Rao, and possess themselves of his head. The infantry were to follow and complete the victory, which was anticipated as the result of the attack. Morari Kao no sooner learned that the attack was made by cavalry than, to prevent friends and enemies being mistaken, he gave orders that not one of his men should mount ; but each stand at the head of his horse, and cut down, without distinction, every around, but the femitiine champion of the honour of the empire would not suffer her elephant to be tmned till the standard had passed, when she withdrew, fol- lowed by her train. 142 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. person on horseback. These orders were but too strictly executed ; for Captain Gee, aide-de-camjD to Colonel Smith, who had ridden into the camj) to ascertain the cause of alarm, was cut down in the darkness and confusion that prevailed. From the irregular construction ot a Mahratta camp, the advance of cavalry is subjected to numerous impedi- ments, and confusion soon ensued, which was still further increased by an accident. The state elephant of Morari Rao having received a wound, broke loose from his pickets OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 143 and rushed wildly through the camp. He carried with him the chain by which he had been attached ; this he seized with his trunk, and hurled furiously against a mass of Hyder's cavalry which he met, throwing them back headlong over a column of infantry that was behind them. These, ignorant of the cause of the shock, retired in dis- may ; and before order could be restored, the symptoms of motion in the English camp discouraged a renewal of the attack. The incidents of war were at this time relieved by an attempt at negotiation ; but the British authorities de- manded more than Hyder would yield, and the only result was an aggravation of hostile feeling. Mulwagul having fallen again into the hands of Hy- der, Colonel Wood made a movement to relieve it ; but in his advance found himself unexpectedly in the presence of Hyder's whole army, posted on an' eminence about a mile in front. The British commander saw that he had no course but to retreat with all speed ; he accordingly abandoned his two guns, and prepared to force a passage in the direction from which he had just advanced. His object was aided by a battalion detached from the line to support him, and which attacked in flank a body of the enemy through which he had to pass. With some diffi- culty the retreating force reached a point where they could receive further assistance from the line, and the battle was maintained with vigour ; but decidedly to the disadvantage of the English force, which gradually re- .dued before the well-directed guns, and impetuous charges of the enemy. The fortune of the day seemed to be irrecoverably lost to the English, when it was ad- mirably retrieved by a stratagem. The baggage -guard was commanded by Captain Brooke, and amounted only to four companies and two guns. With this insignificant force lie conceived the idea of turning the tide of victory in faf our of his country. The sick and wounded being under his protection, as many of them as were able to move were drawn out to add to the 144 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. apparent strength of his force ; the two guns were dragged by volunteer camp-followers, and manned by wounded artillerymen. The summit of a flat rock was chosen as the scene of operation, and was approached by a cir- cuitous and concealed route. Immediately on its being attained, the two guns opened a fire of grape on the enemy's left flank, and the voice of every individual in the little band, sound or sick, joined that of their com- mander in shouting " Hurrah ! Smith ! Smith !" Throughout the field the impression was conveyed alike to friends and enemies, that the division of Colonel Smith had arrived, and the effect was almost magical. The delusion, indeed, could not long be maintained ; but the temporary advantage which it gave the English allowed Colonel Wood an opportunity of making a better disposition of his force ; and when Hyder, after discover- ing the deception, resumed the attack, he found his oppo- nents well prepared to receive him. Repeatedly failing in his attempts, he returned again and again, but still in vain ; and when darkness put an end to the combat, the English remained in possession of the field. The loss of Hyder Ali was reported to amount to a thousand men ; while that of the English was less than a quarter of that number. After various marchings and countermarchings, un- worthy of relation, Hyder Ali laid siege to Oussoor, and Colonel Wood moved to relieve it, by which he exposed Bangalore to an attack from the enemy. This place was garrisoned by part of Mahomed All's troops, under the command of a British officer. The enemy gained posses- sion of the pettah, but made no attempt upon the fort, content with loading all the carts and tumbrils that could be spared with the stores and baggage of Colonel Wood's division, which had been left there for safety, and with the capture of some eighteen pounders which were without the gate. A dreadful scene occurred on this occasion. The entrance of the enemy had caused a rush of men, women, and children towards the fort for OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 140 safety, some of them driving camels, horses, or oxen. The gate was suddenly shut ; but the masses behind con- tinuing to press on those in front, two thousand human beings, it is said, perished, in common with a larger number of beasts of various kinds, the whole being forced together in an indiscriminate mass. In Coimbatore the English were gradually dispossessed of their posts ; Fuzzul Oola Khan, one of Hyder's ablest generals, having entered that province with seven thou- sand men and ten guns, proceeded vigorously but cautiously to effect the object of his advance. Near Cauveriporam he received a check from an insignificant force led by a man of very humble station. An English sergeant named Hoskin commanded an advanced post of two companies and one gun in a mud fort,* which he defended with a spirit that entitles him to remembrance. Reporting to his officer the success of his resistance to the attempts of the enemy, he added, " I expect them again to-morrow morning in two j)arties, with guns. I will take the guns from them, with the help of God." The success of the gallant sergeant was not equal to his noble confidence. In a subsequent attack the fort was carried ; but not until it had become a heap of ruins, nor then without a sanguinary conflict. The fate of its brave defender is unknown ; but he probably met a soldier's death on the spot where he had so eminently displayed a soldier's spirit. In December, 1768, Hyder Ali entered Baramahal, and the English posts in that province fell with the same celerity as in Coimhatore. In marching for the reduction of Eroad, Hyder encountered an English party, consisting of fifty Europeans and two hundred Sepoys, comnaanded by Captain Nixon. Two deep columns of infantry, sup- ported by twelve thousand horse, moved to their destruc- tion. Captain Nixon and his little force remained firm * " Mud fort,'' from the usually imperfect constructicm of the village defences, is a term of contempt in India, although the substance itself (kneaded clay) i-esists the effects of cannon-shot better than any other material. Colonel Wilkr. 146 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. while the enemy were advancing ; and, when the latter had arrived within twenty yards of them, delivered a volley. The Europeans then rushed forward, and their fifty bayonets spread instant confusion amongst the enemy's infantry, who broke and fled. This, however, was all that their gallantry could achieve. The enemy's cavalry at the same moment charged the Sepoys in flank and rear ; and the return of the killed and wounded of this glorious detachment included every man, both native and European, with the single exception of Lieutenant Goreham, who saved his life by his knowledge of the country language, which enabled him to request the humanity of a native of rank, in the Mysorean army. Hyder then marched upon Eroad, which was under the command of Captain Orton, whom he invited to come to his tent under promise of safety an invitation which that ofiicer foolishly accepted. Hyder always piqued himself on not breaking faith without some plau- sible reason ; but Captain Or ton's second in command happened to be a Captain Robinson, who was formerly a prisoner and released on his parole, which he had not scrupled to violate. On this pretext the Mysore chief not only detained Orton, but compelled him to sign an order to Robinson to surrender the important fortress of Eroad a mandate which this last thought it his duty to obey. The same pretext was used for breaking the ca- pitulation with the garrison of Cauveriporam, and sending them to Seringapatam, where they were immured in dungeons, and treated with the utmost severity. Darkly and heavily did the year 1768 close upon the prospects of the British Government on the Coromandel coast. A few weeks had wrested from them nearly all that they had previously gained ; and Fuzzul Oola Khan was sent to visit Madura and Tinnevelly, while his mast^ ravaged the country in the neighbourhood of the Cciuver}^, flaming villages afid a flying population everywhere mark- ing his progress. The Government of Madras at length became alarmed, and made advances for accommodation ^ OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 147 and with this view Mr. Andrews, a member of Council^ was deputed to negotiate. He arrived in the camp of Hyder Alion the 18th of February, 1769, and quitted it on the 21st, with proposals to be submitted to theGover- nor and Council, having previously concluded a truce for twelve days. The Government of Madras had every reason to desire peace ; for so great was their distress that the Company's investments were entirely suspended, and it was stated that their resources were insufficient to carry on the war more than four months longer. Hyder's proposals were, however, rejected, and hostilities recommenced. Colonel Smith watched the movements of Hyder with unceasing vigilance, and frequently counteracted them with admi- rable skill ; till at last the bold Mysorean, with equal judgment, energy, and presence of mind, turned the flank of his opponent, with a body of six thousand chosen cavalry ; and, making a rapid detour of one hundred and thirty miles in less than four days, appeared to the asto- nished Council on the 29th of March within five miles of Madras, when they imagined him to be at least a hundred miles distant.* Effectually roused by this sudden apparition, the Go- vernment of Madras agreed at once to the demands of Hyder that Colonel Smith should be ordered to suspend- operations ; and that Mr. Dupre, nominated as the future Governor, should be deputed to attend him, to settle the basis of peace. In the actual temper of the belligerents, the negotiation was neither long nor difficult ; a treaty was concluded in April, 1769, on the condition of placing * " His first approach was announced about seven o'clock in the morning, by ^i^eeing all the villages blazing on every quarter, within view of this garrison, and as many of the inhabitants as could escape with their lives flying towards us in Idmmense droves ; their cries and lamentations were distinctly heard a full mile . oft", being closely pursued by those inhuman barbarians, who brandished their - bloody swords as they galloped along. Aged parents borne like Anchises from the flames of Troy, upon the bleeding shoulders of their offspring, who were wantonly mutilated; mothers bewailing the loss of their helpless infants that had fallen a sacrifice to the fury of the enemy on the first surpi'ise ; and innocent virgins clinging for protection to the arms of their lacerated brothers.'' Munro's ' " Operations on the Coromandel Coast." 148 OUB ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the possessions of both parties on the same footing as l^efore the war. Hyder solicited an alliance offensive and defensive ; but the English granted only the last, which, however, was found eventually to involve them in all the responsibility that, by refusing the first, they had sought to escape. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 149 CHAPTER IX. Hyder forms a Confederacy against the English War between France and England Capture of French Possessions in India Hyder invades the Carnatic Supine Conduct of the Madras Government Colonel Baillie's De- tachmentIts difficult March to join the Army Intercepted by Hyder His Assaults repulsed Fatal Delay of Colonel Baillie Formidable Attack by the Enemy Baillie's Detachment surrounded Heroic Defence of the Anglo- Indians Explosion of Tumbrils Destruction of Baillie's Detachment Suffer- ings of the Prisoners Successful Operations of Hyder Reinforcement from Bengal under Sir Eyre Coote He advances against Hyder Single Combats Successful Operations of the Anglo-Indian Army Battle of Cuddalore Affairs of Polliloor and ShoHnghur Destruction of Colonel Braithwaite'a Detachment Action at Arnee Death of Hyder Ali and Accession of Tippoo- Sahib Peace between France and England Capture of Biddenoorby General Mathews Recaptured by Tippoo Peace with Tippoo. Having thus terminated with glory and advantage this great contest with the British, Hyder felt himself better prepared to encounter a still more formidable enemy ; the Mahrattas, under Madoo E^o, having en- tered his dominions with a force supposed to be at least double that of his army, and led by able commanders. It would, however, be departing from the object of this work to follow Hyder and his adversaries through all the fluctuations of this war, which continued for a year and a half; but as the English did not fulfil their en- gagement to aid the Mysorean ruler in the defence of his dominions, their failure excited the deepest discontent, which rankled in his mind till he found an opportunity of showing them how much he was disgusted with their conduct. Having abandoned every hope of profiting by such an alliance, Hyder now centred all his prospects of aggran- disement in the destruction of the British ; and the Mahrattas, instead of threatening further invasion, having ofiered to join him, a treaty preparatory to that object 150 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. was accordingly concluded. By a curious coincidence, overtures for a close alliance with him were also made at the same time by the Government of Madras, with the promises of co-operation in case of attack from any foreign enemy ; but these seem to have had no other effect than to heighten his irritation. At this crisis the war consequent upon the American contest broke out between France and England, and was extended to India, where the authorities of the former power speedily opened a communication with Hyder, whom they found ready to enter into all their views. As soon as hostilities commenced, the English Government formed a comprehensive plan for the reduction of all the French possessions in India, and Pondicherry soon fell. To this conquest Hyder made no opposition ; he even pretended to congratulate the English on their success ; but when they announced their intention of reducing Mahe, on the Malabar coast, he decidedly objected, urging that the territory around it having been conquered by him, was now included in his dominions. This, however, did not deter the British from sending a body of troops, who speedily reduced the place, though Hyder gave all the aid he could at the moment supply, in order to defend it. At length in the month of June, 1780, Hyder, as Commander-in-Chief of the forces of the Confederacy, the most formidable the English ever had to contend with, entered the dominions of his detested adversaries at the head of an army capable, from its numbers, of bidding defiance to all resistance. It consisted of 28,000 cavalry, 'a battalion of Europeans, eleven battalions of Topasses,* twenty-three battalions of regular Sepoys, an immense train of artillery, and an innumerable host of irregulars ; exclusive of 30,000 chosen troops detached under Tippoo Sahib against a force which had been sent from Bombay under Colonel Humberstone, and was ravaging the Malabar. With this formidable army Hyder entered * Descendants of PortuKuese, so called from Topee, the Hindostanic word for hat, an article of dress which the Hindoos never wear. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 151 the Carnatic, and for some time spread ruin and devas- tation on all sides with impunity.* Though well acquainted with the grand confederacy that was forming against them, the Government of Madras had made no military preparations to receive the enemy ; but trusted, with a blind confidence, the result of former success, to negotiation, and the hope of detach- ing, by money and intrigues, the Kizam and the Mah- rattas from the alliance. As soon as the first alarm of the Government had subsided, they began to consider the means of resistance, which, with an empty treasury, disunited councils, and the impossibility of placing any confidence in Mahomed Ali, appeared extremely deficient. The first object was to secure difierent strong places now held by the troops of the Nabob, who, it was not doubted, would surrender them to the enemy on the first attack. Several fell ; but two were saved by the exertions of very young British ofiicers. Lieutenant Flint, with a corps of one hundred men, having proceeded to Wandewash, was refused admittance by the killed ar, or commandant, who had already arranged the terms on which the for- tress was to be given up. Flint, however, having with four of his men procured access, seized the killedar, and, aided by the well-disposed part of the garrison, made him- self master of the stronghold. The next object was to unite into one army the dif- ferent detachments spread over the country ; the most numerous and best equipped being under Colonel Baillie, who had advanced with about three thousand men far into the interior with a view to offensive operations.- On the 24th of July, 1780, the cavalry of Hyder Ali being within nine miles of Madras, a despatch was sent off* * On the approach of a hostile army, the unfortunate inhabitants of India bury underground their most cumbrous effects ; and each individual man, woman, and child above six years of age (the infant children being carried by their mother) with a load of grain proportioned to their strength, issue from their beloved homes, and take the direction of a country (if such can be found) exempted from the miseries of war : sometimes of a strong fortress, but more generally of the most unfrequented hills and woods, where they prolong a miserable existence until the departure of the enemy; during which period many often die for want of food. Co Jonei Wilks. 152 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AHMY. to Colonel Baillie to join Sir Hector Munro's army at Conjeveram, fifty miles distant from the capital ; but Baillie, in order to reach that place, was obliged to take an inland route, in which he was exposed to the hazard of being attacked by the whole force of the invader. He was detained ten days by the swelling of the river Corte- laur ; and, after effecting his jDassage, was assailed by a detachment under Tippoo, consisting of thirty thousand cavalry, eight thousand foot, and twelve pieces of cannon. Notwithstanding the vast numerical superiority of this force over that of Colonel Baillie, weakened as it was by a mutiny in the first regiment of cavalry, which it had been found necessary to march prisoners to Madras, they were most decisively repulsed ; but this victory, splendid though it was, by again diminishing the effective strength of this little army, considerably added to the dangers and difficulties of its situation. At this juncture Colonel Baillie sent off a messenger to Sir Hector Munro, informing him of the precarious state in which he found himself. In consequence, a de- tachment was sent to Baillie's assistance, under the command of Colonel Fletcher, consisting of the flank companies of the 73rd, two of European Grenadiers, and eleven of Sepoys, making altogether about a thousand men. Dreading an attack. Colonel Fletcher avoided it by altering his line of march, and making a wide detour, which, though it added to their fatigue, insured their safety, and enabled them to join Colonel Baillie on the morning of the 9 th of September, having, nevertheless, fallen in with Hyder's pickets, close to his position at Perambankum. Weary as they were, the troops of this detachment were permitted to halt only till the evening, when the whole force marched under the command of Colonel Baillie to join Sir Hector Munro. But Hyder had again obtained the most correct in- telligence of their movements, and, taking advantage of the necessary delay in the return of this gallant body of troops, enfiladed every part of the road by which they OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 153 were to march with artillery, and placed his best in- fantry in ambuscade at every available i^oint. The Eng- lish troops had not proceeded more than four miles, when an alarm was given that the enemy was on their flank. They immediately formed, but, finding the attack was not serious, continued their march. The road lay through an avenue of banyan-trees, with jungle on both sides; and on their entrance into this road they were again attacked on their flanks by the enemy opening two or three guns, and commencing a fire of some musketry from the thick part of the jungle. The British instantly halted, and immediately afterwards endeavoured to take the guns, but the darkness frustrated their efibrts : they were, however, silenced by the superior execution of the English artillery; and all reason for delay being at an end, everything was prepared to continue the march. Colonel Baillie, however, determined to prolong the halt, his own words to Captain Baird being, " I am de- termined to halt till daylight, that I may have an opportunity of seeing about me." This has generally been regarded as the master-error of the day ; for had he continued his march, there seems little doubt that he would either have actually joined Sir Hector Munro, or, at least, have advanced so near to him as to have insured all the advantages expected from the junction. The delay enabled the enemy to withdraw his cannon to a point where they could again be employed in embarrass- ing the English troops ; while it also allowed Hyder time to become apprised of their situation, and to take his measures accordingly. At daylight, on. the 1 OtTi, the British recommenced their march ; and as the column moved out of the avenue into the plain, a battery of eight guns opened ujDon it, supported by a strong body of cavalry and infantry. Colonel Baillie immediately ordered Captains Kennedy and Gowdie, with the native Grenadiers, to attack them ; they did so, and succeeded in taking most of the guns iind driving back the troops who supported them. But 154 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ABMY. at this moment Hyder, who had passed Sir Hector Munro in the night, began to show the heads of his columns, moving down upon the line, which induced Kennedy and Gowdie immediately to call off their de- tachment from the captured guns to join the main body. At this juncture Colonel Baillie formed his force, con- sisting of little more than three thousand men, in line, upon the bank of an old nullah or watercourse, and opened his guns upon the enemy ; but Hyder, too powerful an antagonist for a mere handful of men, so disposed his immense army as completely to surround him, and commenced a destructive fire upon him from his artillery in every direction. The enemy were, how- ever, continually repulsed, their infantry gave way, while their cavalry were falling fast, and it is said that Hyder was only prevented from retreating by the persuasions of Colonel Lally,* who represented to him that retiring would bring him in contact with Sir Hector Munro, who was in his rear. At this moment also, and while the English were actually sustaining the combined attack of Hyder and his ^on Tippoo, two of their tumbrils ex- ploded, arid in an instant the brave men, who were on the eve of gaining one of the most splendid victories ever achieved, were deprived of their ammunition, and the services of all their artillery. In this helpless and dreadful state, under a heavy and continuous fire of cannon and rockets, these gallant but unfortunate soldiers remained from half-past seven until nine o'clock. The slaughter of the British began to be tremendous as the enemy closed in upon them on every side. Colonel Fletcher had carried off the Grenadier company of the 73rd, to support the rear guard, and was never heard of more. Hyder came with his whole army on their right flank, charging them with columns of horse, while the infantry kept up a heavy fire of musketry. These were followed by the elephants and Mysore cavalry, * A relation of Count de Lally. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 155 which completed the overthrow of this little band of heroes. In the midst of the slaughter, Colonel Baillie, wounded as he was, formed his men into a square, and, without ammunition, received and repulsed thirteen different attacks of the enemy's squadrons ! * * " The colonel could make but a feeble resistance against so superior a force ; but his little band yet gallantly supported a very unequal fire, until their whole ammunition had either been blown up or expended. At this dangerous and 166 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. At length the case became evidently hopeless ; and the Sepoys under Captain Lucas having been broken and dispersed, Colonel Baillie, seeing that further resistance was vain, tied his handkerchief on his sword as a flag of truce, and ordered Captain Baird,* who was now second in command, to cease firing. Hyder's oflB.cers refused to attend to Colonel Baillie's signal, pointing to the Sepoys who, in their confusion, were still continuing to fire : this, however, being explained, they agreed to give quarter, and Colonel Baillie directed Captain Baird to order his men to ground their arms. The order was of course obeyed ; and the instant it was so the enemy's cavalry, commanded by TiiDpoo Sahib in person, rushed upon the unarmed troops before they could recover themselves, cutting down every man within their reach. "Hyder's young soldiers, in particular," says Colonel Wilks, "amused themselves with fleshing their swords, and exhibiting their skill, on men already most inhu- manly mangled, on the sick and wounded in the doolies, f and even on women and children, while the lower order of horsemen plundered their victims of the last remnant of clothing." The only humanity exercised was through the exertions of the French officers, Lally and Pimorin.| Nothing remained to relieve the gloom of this ill- fated day but the recollection of the gallant conduct of the defeated corps, the greater part of which perished on the field. Eighty-six British officers were engaged in the conflict : of these thirty-six lay dead upon the field trying juncture, sufficient to damp the spirits of the most intrepid, all the camp- followers rushed in confusion through the ranks of every battalion, and in an instant threw the whole into disorder." ilfMnro'* " Operations on the Coro- mandel Coast." * Afterwards General Sir David Baird. t A common sort of palanquin. X " The last and awful struggle was marked by the clashing of arms and shields, the snorting and kicking of horses, the snapping of spears, the glistening of bloody swords, oaths and imprecations, concluding with the groans and cries of bruised and mutilated men, wounded horses tumbling to the ground upon expiring soldiers, and the hideous roaring of elephants stalking to and fro, and wielding their dreadful chains amongst friends and foes. Such as were saved from the immediate stroke of death were so crowded together that it was with difficulty they could stand ; several were in a state of suffocation ; while others, from the weight of the dead bodies that had fallen upon them, were fixed to the apotf at the mercy of a furious foe." Munro's '\Operations in India." OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. WJ at its termination,* or subsequently died of the wounds they received ; thirty-four more were wounded, but not mortally, and sixteen only surrendered unwounded. But the worst was yet to come ; for Hyder Ali was little acquainted with the usages of civilised nations, and he was uninfluenced by that natural generosity which has sometimes thrown a lustre over barbaric conquest more brilliant than the conquest itself Seated in his tent, the ruffian conqueror regaled his eyes by having his prisoners paraded before him, while from time to time the heads of the slain were deposited at his feet.f The sequel was worthy of the commencement ; every indig- nity that malice could devise, every privation that cruelty could inflict, awaited the unhappy Europeans, who were destined for years to remain the prisoners of Hyder Ali. J They were conveyed to Seringapatam, where they were used with the greatest inhumanity. All those not wounded were put in irons, and lodged in a kind of open shed, with sleeping places at the corners, supplied simply with mats. Only sixpence a day was allowed for food, and no medicine was provided to counteract the * Amongst these was the gallant Colonel Fletcher. t " Among the prisoners was a son of Colonel Lang, who commanded at Vellore, a child rather than a youth born in India, who was serving as a volunteer. Hyder sent for the boy, and ordered him instantly to write a letter to his father, ottering him a splendid establishment on condition of surrendering the place, ana announcmg that his own death would be the result of refusal. The boy at first received the proposition with a cool rejection; but on being pressed with direct threats, he burst into tears, and addressing Hyder in his own language, ' If you consider me,' said he, ' base enough to write such a letter, on what ground can you think so meanly of my father ? It is in your power to present me before the ramparts of Vellore, and cut me into a thousand pieces in my father's presence, but it is out of your power to make him a traitor.' ''Colonel Wilks, " Sketches of South of India." It is gratifying to add that this gallant lad survived and attained high rank in the Anglo-Indian Army. He was Commandant at Vellore, when the author of this work visited that fortress in 1812. t " The gallant Colonel Baillie, with many more of his companions, after a lingering confinementj during which he suffered much from sickness, died of melancholy and chagrin in Seringapatam prison." itfttwro's " Operations on the Coromandel Coast." " Among the wounded of this unhappy day, an English artilleryman had received a sabre wound in the back of the neck, which separated the muscles destined to support theh^^ad, and it fell accordingly on his chest. On being roused by threats and other wounds, this extraordinary man raised his head to its proper position with the aid of his hands, and, supporting it in this manner, actually performed the march of six miles, and was perfectly cured.'' Coionei Wilks. ^N 158 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. severe maladies caused by this mode of life, and to which many fell victims. The first advantage drawn from this victory by the ruler of Mysore was the reduction of Arcot, which, after a respectable defence, surrendered on the 3rd of Novem- ber. He held also in close siege Wandewash, Yellore, Chingleput, and other important bulwarks of the Car- natic. Meanwhile, at Madras, fear, indignation, and sorrow pervaded the minds of the inhabitants. Some sought opportunity of returning to England, others pre- pared for flight to Bengal ; all joined in lamenting the brave men whose lives had been so uselessly sacrificed, and in bitter condemnation of the counsel which had led to such fatal results. The authorities of the Presidency were in a state of inexpressible alarm, and a fast-sailing vessel was despatched to bear to Bengal the intelligence of their mismanagement and its consequences. As soon as the news of this signal disaster reached the chief seat of Government at Calcutta, Mr. Hastings, then Governor-General, immediately took the most active steps to repair it. Sir Eyre Ooote, a veteran officer enjoying the highest military reputation of any in India, was ap- pointed to the chief command, and sent from Bengal with 560 European troops, while a corps of Sepoys pre- pared to march along the coast as soon as the rainy season should terminate. At the same time the Go- vernor of Madras was suspended, and his place in course supplied by the senior member of Council, who had always opposed his inactive policy ; but the funds for the pro- secution of the war were placed in the hands of the new Commander-in-Chief. General Coote, on arriving at the Presidency, and pre- paring to take the field, found at his disposal not more than 7000 men, of whom 1700 only were Europeans. Yet with this force, so far from fearing, he anxiously desired to encounter in the field the numerous, brave,, and well-commanded troops of the enemy. What he dreaded was the harassing warfare carried on by Hyder, OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 159 in a country which he had already converted almost into a desert.* The English army, when it left Madras, was like a ship departing on a long voyage, or a caravan pre- paring to cross the deserts of Arabia. Everything by which life could be supported must be carried along with it j and the soldiers, continuing to depend on the capital * " When once launched into the field, the sun, whom Hyder might well con- sider as a powerful auxiliary, proved more formidable to us than, whole legions of foes. Upon the first Say's march the 73rd regiment, from being unac- customed to fatigue in such sultry weather, felt the fatal influence of that great luminary in a melancholy degree, no less than two hundred of the best men in the corps dropping down upon the road, quite exhausted and overpowered by his vertical and scorching rays, which, unfortunately, proved fatal to.many of our bravest soldiers." 3funro's" Operations in India." 100 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. alone for supply, were in danger of absolute famine. As they moved in a close body through this desolated re- gion, never occupying more than the ground which they actually covered, clouds of the enemy's cavalry hovered round them ; who, finding that they did not choose to waste their ammunition on individual objects, even rode up to the line, and held an occasional parley, uttering from time to time a fierce defiance, or an invitation to single combat. "There was," says Colonel Wilks, "in Sir Ej^re Coote's body-guard a young cavalry officer named Dallas, dis- tinguished for superior military address ; on ordinary service always foremost, to the very verge of prudence, but never beyond it ; of jjhysical strength never equalled ; on foot a figure for a sculptor ; when mounted " He grew into his seat, And to such wondrous doing brought his horse As he had been incorpsed and demi-natured With the brave beast." " In common with the rest of the army, this officer had smiled at the recital of these absurd challenges j but while reconnoitring on the flank of the column of march, one of them was personally addressed to himself by a horseman who, from dress and appearance, seemed to be of some distinction. He accepted the invitation, and the requisite precautions were mutually acceded to : they fought, and he slew his antagonist. After this incident, the challenges were frequently addressed, not as formerly to the whole army, but to Dallas, whose name became speedily known to them ; and whenever his duty ad- mitted, and his favourite horse was sufficiently fresh, the invitations were accepted, until the Mysoreans became weary of repetition. With a single exception, the result was uniform. On that one occasion the combatants, after several wounds, feeling a resjDect for each other, made a significant pause, mutually saluted, and retired." As it had been decided that the army should march in relief of certain garrisons which were severely pressed by the enemy. Sir Eyre Coote succeeded, on the 19th of OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 161 January, 1781, in relieving Cliingleput, in which only fifteen days' provisions remained. It being supposed that the enemy were quitting the fort of Caraugooly, and carrying off the store of provisions, Captain Davis was despatched with a thousand men, at midnight on the 20th of January, for the purpose of intercepting them. So far from the place being deserted, however, Captain Davis found the garrison perfectly ready to receive him. He determined, notwithstanding, to execute his orders ; and the place being unprovided with a drawbridge, a twelve-pounder was rapidly run up to the first gate, which at the second discharge was blown open, so as to allow passage for a single man. Passing this, a second and a third gate presented themselves ; and these were ultimately forced, though with greater difficulty, the assailants being during the whole period of operation exposed to the enemy's fire from above. The third gate being carried, the garrison escaped by ladders on the opposite side, and the English were in undisputed pos- session of Carangooly. The loss of the victors was severe ; but the effect of so brilliant a stroke at the opening of the campaign was highly beneficial, more especially after the shadow which had so recently passed over the power of the British arms. One main object of the attack was also secured, in the capture of a quantity of grain. In this manner the important fortresses of Wandewash and Permacoil were relieved, and a stop put to the career of the enemy. The British commander, however, in fol- lowing the rapid movements of this indefatigable adver- sary, found his troops so exhausted, and reduced to such destitution, as left no prospect of relief except in a general action , and this he was at length fortunate enough to accomplish. Encouraged by the appearance of a French fleet on the coast, and by a repulse sustained by our countrymen in attacking the pagoda of Chillumbrum,* Hyder entrenched * " During the unsuccessful attack on Chillumbrum, all the Indian females belonging to the garrison were collected at the summit of the highest pagoda, G 162 OUR ANOLO-INDIAN ARMY. his army in a strong post near Cuddalore^ where he at once maintained his communication with the sea, and cut off the supplies of his opponent. This station was extremely formidable ; but Sir Eyre Coote, skilfully lead- ing his men through a passage formed by the enemy for a different purpose, drew them up in the face of several powerful batteries, as well as of a vast body of cavalry.* The battle raged for six hours, and every inch of ground was fiercely contested. " Every individual in tho Com- pany's service," says one chronicler of the battle, j" " fought as if the fate of the day had depended on bis single efforts." X Their energy met its reward in a brilliant victory : at four o'clock the enemy's line gave way, and a precij)itate retreat followed. Hyder , seated on a por- table stool upon an eminence in the rear of his army, was struck with amazement at the success of the attack, and burst into the most furious passion ; refusing for some time to move from the spot, till a trusty old ser- vant seizing the feet of the chief, forced on his slippers, and placed him on a swift horse, which bore him out of the reach of danger. The English army engaged on that day amounted to about eight thousand men, while that of Hyder was at least eight times that number. The enemy had forty- seven pieces of cannon of heavy calibre ; the English singing in a loud and melodious chorus songs of exhortation to their people below, which inspired the enemy with a kind of frantic enthusiasm. This, even m the heat of the attack, had aVomantic and pleasing effect, the musical sounds being distinctly heard at a considerable distance by the assailants." Mwnro's " Operations on the Coromandel Coast." *" The British line was no sooner formed than it made a rapid advance upon the enemy's guns. At this auspicious moment a beautiful antelope was perceived hounding in full speed from right to left between the two armies a circumstance that, in ancient days, would have been accounted an omen ; and by a Roman general turned to f^bme material advatitage in an army where superstition pre- sided so much nsin ours-'' Mvnro's " Operations on the Coromandel Coast." t " Memoirs of the War in Asia." I " The general being in the rear of the 73rd or Lord Macleod's regiment of Highlanders, as the line advanced to action under a very heavy fire, fixed his eye upon the bagpiper, who stalked from right to left with astonishing com-' posure, playing a favourite Highland march, as if the fate of battle depended entirely upon his exertions. ' Well done, my brave fellow !' exclaimed the veteran Coote; 'you shall have a silver pipe when this battle is over.'" And accordingly his Excellency presented the regiment with one hundred pagodas to purchase a handsome pipe m honour of that day." 3fwnro'* '* Operations on the Coromandel Coast. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AH-^IY. 1$8 guas were lighter, but they were fifty-five in number. About three hundred was the total amount of killed and wounded on the English side ; the loss of the enemy was estimated at ten thousand. After sundry marches and countermarches Hyder once more waited battle in a position chosen by himself, being no other than the fortunate spot, as he deemed it, near the village of Polliioor, where he had triumphed over the corps of Colonel Baillie. Here General Coote led his troops to an action, which proved more bloody than decisive ; but the Mysorean at length yielded the ground on which the battle was fought, and the English reached it over the dead bodies of their yet unburied countrymen, who had fallen in the former action.* Having learned that the important fortress of Vellore was besieged and reduced to extremity, Sir Eyre Coote determined on a vigorous attempt to relieve it ; and, finding that Hyder was posted at Sholinghur, resolved upon another effort to bring him to action. On the morning of the 27th of September, he pushed forward with such vigour as nearly to surprise the enemy before their ranks could be fully formed. They rallied, however, and made several brisk charges, but were finally obliged to betake themselves to flight, with the loss of five thou- sand men, while only a hundred fell on the side of the assailants. General Coote was thus enabled, though not without difficulty,t to march u]3on Yellore, the siege of which was abandoned on his approach. Intelligence having been received of hostilities between * " On the very spot where they stood lay strewed amongst their feet the relics of their dfarest fellow-soldiers ami friends, who near twelve months before had been slain by the hands of those very inhuman monsters that now appeared a second time eager to complete the Work of blood. One poor soldier, with the tear of affection glistening in his eye, picked up the decaying spatterdash of his valued brother with the name yet entire upon it, which the tinge of blood and effect of weather had kindly spared! The scattered clothes and wings of the TSi-d's iiank companies were everywliere perceptible, as also their helmets and skulls, both of which bore the marks of many furrowed outs.'" Munro's ' Opera- tions on the Coromandel Coast." t " General Coote was never once provided with a sufficient quantify of pro- visions to render anyone action decisive, for a victory was no sooner gained than he was forced to retire to Madras for a fresh supply of grain." iyro'5" Opera- tions on the Coromandel Coast." 164: OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the English and Dutch in Europe, Lord Macartney, now President at Madras, sent an army of four thousand men, under Sir Hector Munro, with the design of re- ducing Negapatam, the capital of the Dutch settlements in India. The enterprise was conducted with the greatest vigour, and five successive lines of redoubts were carried by the besiegers with such energy and intrepidity that the garrison, though consisting of eight thousand men, capitulated in fourteen days. All the other Dutch set- tlements on the Coromandel coast fell along with it ; and even their important station of Trincomalee, on the island of Ceylon, was carried by storm. But this success was counterbalanced by a misfortune which overtook the corps of Colonel Braithwaite in Tanjore, where, at the head of two thousand men, he was engaged in recovering the ascendancy of the Eng- lish. From these troops Hyder not only cut ofi* all sources of accurate information, but all the spies who pretended to give them intelligence were actually in his pay ; and Braithwaite remained encamped on the banks of the Coleroon, without a suspicion that the flower of the enemy's forces were hemming him in on every side. Even when assured of the fact by one of the natives, he was so misled by opposite intimations as to think the assertion unworthy of credit, till he found himself inclosed by an army of more than ten times his number. All accounts agree that the resistance of this devoted little corps was truly gallant, and that, during the protracted contest, they repulsed repeated and desperate attacks.* But at length an onset by the French troops broke the Sepoys ; the whole were thrown into confusion, and finally either killed or obliged to surrender. The French officers displayed their usual humanity ; and even Tippoo^ who commanded, did not on this occasion treat the prisoners with his accustomed barbarity. * " Braithwaite's action lasted for the space of twenty-six hours before the British troops were wholly vanquished. Of twenty officers belonging to the detachment twelve were killed or wounded, in which latter number was Colonel Braithwaite." Jtfunro'* " Operations on the Coromandel Coast." OUE ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 165 Notwithstanding this triumph, Hyder felt deep anxiety as to his future prospects, and was so much depressed by some unfavourable circumstances which had intervened that he even formed the design of evacuating the Car- natic, when tidings arrived of a strong body of French troops having arrived on the coast ; and accordingly, on the 10th of March, they landed, to the number of three thousand. These auxiliaries and their allies immediately laid siege to Cuddalore, which, being imperfectly pro- vided with the means of defence, surrendered almost without resistance. They then proceeded to attack the important position of Wandewash ; but G-eneral Coote having presented himself, and offered battle for its relief, the combined army, with all its boasted strength, declined that issue and retreated towards Pondicherry. The British general followed, and defeated them with con- siderable loss near Arnee. Thus, even after obtaining a powerful reinforcement from France, Hyder remained still unable to face the English army in the open field. Early in the year 1782, a British force, commanded by Colonel Humberstone, landed at Calicut, and joined the troops under the command of Major Abingdon, which were previously employing vigorous efforts to make an impression on the side of Malabar. They were opposed there by Tippoo, who, after various movements, was gaining some advantages, when he was suddenly recalled to the eastward by intelligence of the death of Hyder Ali, who closed his life at an age not falling short by many years of that of Aurungzebe. To avert confusion, it was important to conceal his death till his successor was on the spot to maintain his claim. The body was accordingly deposited in a chest filled with aromatics, and sent from the camp under an escort, in a manner similar to that in which valuable plunder was conveyed. All the business of the state went on as usual ; and in- quirei's after the health of the chief were answered that, though extremely weak, he was in a state of slow but progressive amendment. At length the illusion was 1G6 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. dispelled by the arrival of Hyder's successor, who assumed the sovereignty which awaited him with an extraordinary affectation of humility and grief. He had now at his disposal troops estimated at eighty- eight thousand men, and a treasure amounting to three millions sterling, besides a great store of jewels and other precious effects. Notwithstanding this studied concealment, the Govern- ment at Madras received early notice of the death of Hyder; and immediately urged their Commander-in- Chief to make a rapid movement, to take advantage of that disorganisation which usually follows such a crisis in an Indian government. But unfortunately the most violent dissensions prevailed just then between the civil and military authorities, which were highly injurious to the public service ; and a dilatory course of proceedings was the natural result, Tippoo, however, considering the west of India as having become the principal theatre of hostilities, withdrew his troops from the Carnatic, in order that he might act in the latter with more effect. In consequence of his departure, it was determined to attack Cuddalore, where the French had now concen- trated their main strength. Bussy, the French com- mander, had under him a numerous and brave army, with a considerable body of native troops ; and in an attack which took place on the 13th of Jane, 1783, the English gained indeed the contested position, but with the loss of upwards of a thousand men. The garrison was afterwards repulsed with considerable loss in a mid- night sally ;* but Suffrein, the French admiral, having evaded the British, fleet, and landed no fewer than two thousand four hundred men, the enemy acquired a decided superiority, and prepared for an enterprise which threat- ened the most disastrous consequences to the British. But at this critical moment intelligence arrived that peace was concluded between the two nations ; upon which, Bussy soon after suspended offensive operations, * On this occasion, Bernadotte, the late King of Sweden, who was then a ser- geant m the French army, was wounded and taken prisoner by the English. He was exchanged with others at the termination of hostilities. OUE ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 167 and even sent orders to his countrymen to withdraw from the service of Tippoo. Meantime, the proceedings on the western coast were rapidly rising in importance ; General Matthews, who commanded the British troops there, having received positive orders from the Presidency of Bombay to com- mence operations, and push forward without delav, by the most direct road, against the important city of Bidde- noor. He accordingly landed his troops at the nearest point of the coast, and began to scale the steepest part of the Ghauts, regardless of several detachments of the enemy that were hovering on his flank and rear. He experienced a degree of success which there was little room to anticipate : everything gave way before him, Biddenoor itself having surrendered without a blow ; and in that city the British general found a treasure exceed- ing 800,000 sterling. Tippoo w^as greatly annoyed on learning the fall of this important place, and the near advance of the enemy towards his capital. Matthews was soon informed that successive corps were throwing themselves on his rear, and surrounding him with a force against which he would be unable to cope ; but he was now so elated by his easy victory that he placed blind confidence in fortune. Thus reposing in full security, he allowed his communications with the sea to be intercepted, while his troops were surrounded by Tippoo's whole force, aided by the science of Cossigny, a French engineer. The garrison were driven into the citadel ; and, after a brave defence, were reduced to the necessity of capitulating, though on favourable terms, receiving a promise that they should be safely con- ducted to the coast. But when Tippoo obtained possession of Biddenoor, he proceeded to the treasury, and, to his rage and dismay, found it empty. Orders were then given to search the persons of the English officers, on whom unhappily Avas found a large sum both in money and jewels, which are always looked upon in that country as public property. Upon this discovery the Sultan considered himself ab- 168 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. solved from all that he had stipulated ; the prisoners were thrown into irons, and committed to the most rigorous durance in the different fortresses of Mysore. After the fall of Biddenoor, Tippoo immediately marched down to the low district, and invested Mangalore, which, though a fortress of very secondary strength, was defended in the most gallant manner by Colonel Campbell ; who, after sustaining a siege of nearly nine months, was obliged to surrender, and was so overpowered by the fatigues he had undergone that he soon afterwards died. In the meantime, the French officers having withdrawn with their troops from the army of Tippoo, in consequence of the peace between France and England, he himself had applied for two English commissioners to proceed to his camp, with a view to a treaty, which after some diffi- culties and delays was at length concluded. It was founded on the basis that both parties should retain their former possessions, and that the Sultan should release such of his prisoners as had survived the cruelties with which they had been treated.* Amongst those whom he is said to have employed direct means to deprive of exist- ence were Captain Humley, who led the charge against Tippoo's guns on the fatal day of Colonel Baillie's defeat ; Lieutenant Frazer, one of that officer's staff ; Lieutenant Sampson, a gallant officer, whose name is yet remembered among the Mahrattas ; General Matthews, and many of the officers taken at Biddenoor. But the British Govern- ment was too eager for peace to inquire rigidly into such matters, and too weak to protract hostilities in the hope of avenging them. * " The treaty of peace was finally concluded at Manpralore on the 11th of March, 1784, when Captain Dallas immediately made a circuit through the Mysore prisons, and conducted two hundred European officers, and one thousand "one hundred privates, with about two thousand Sepoys and others, out of a most wretched state of captivity.'' Jfrmi-o's " Operations on the Coromandel Coast." " Numbers of the black officers were barbarously murdered for their inflexible fidelity ; while others, with the Sepoys, were set to hard labour ujion the most scanty portion of food. The attachment of the Sepoys was equally conspicuous, in their kind attentions to some of the Europeans who happened to be confined in the same prison with them, they having frequently bought meat for them in the bazaar with the hard-earned pittance which they daily received; observing that, though the black people could do without it, they well knew that it was impossible for Europeans to exist without meat." Munro's " Operations on the Coromandel Coast." OUR ANGLO-INDIAX ARMY. 169 CHAPTER X. Religious Zeal of Tippoo Sultan He assumes an Imperial Title Confederacy aj^ainst him Hostilities succeeded by Peace Tippoo pursues his proselyting Mani^i in Malabar Resolves to seize on Travancore Interference of the British Tippoo attacks the Lines of Travancore His Failure and frightful Loss of Life His final Success- Confederacy against Tippoo between the English, the Nizam, and the Mahrattas The Anglo-Indian Army takes the field under General Meadows Its successful Operations Gallant Retreat of Colonel Floyd's Detachment Tippoo suddenly invades and ravages the Carnatic Lord Cornwallis assumes the Command of the Army By a skilful Movement he invades Mysore Siege of Bangn lore Gallant Cavalry AfFair under Colonel Floyd Storming of the Pettah of Bangalore Death of Colonel Moorhouse Capture of the Pettah The Fort breached and stormed Brave Defence by Bahander Khan Capture of Bangalore and Consternation of Tippoo Junction of the Nizam's Contingent Singular Appearance of the Hyderabad Troops Their Inefficiency Advance of the Anglo-Indian Army on the Enemy's Capital Defeat of Tippoo before Seiungapatam. After the conclusion of this treaty, Tippoo became the most prominent personage in the political world of India, and took every means of evincing the idea he him- self entertained of his own unlimited power and authority. He was particularly inspired with a furious zeal* in the cause of Islamism ; and, collecting sixty thousand of those Christians on the coast of Canara who had been converted by the Portuguese, he forcibly inflicted upon them the rite of circumcision. He invaded the rude and mountainous territory of Coorg, and, carrying off seventy thousand of its inhabitants, he served them in the same manner. Elated by these cruel triumphs, the Sultan hesitated not to assume tiie title of Padshct, which had hitherto been appropriated exclusively to the Great Mogul, whose supremacy had till that period been ac- knowledged in Mysore ; but no sooner did the conqueror invest himself with this high distinction than public prayers were offered up for him instead of Shah Alum. G * 170 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. The increasing influence and lofty pretensions of this potentate raised against him, in 1786, a confederacy between the Mahrattas and the Nizam, the most power- ful that had for a long time been formed in Southern India. They invaded his territory, and he, in turn, carried the war into theirs ; but as our subject calls for no particular detail of their respective operations, it will be sufficient to say that hostilities terminated in 1787, when a treaty was patched up between the belligerents, by which Tippoo was recognised as sovereign of nearly all India south of the river Toombuddra. As he now considered himself the undisputed ruler of this vast territory, and at liberty to propagate the Maho- medan faith by violence of every description, he descended the Ghaats into Malabar Proper ; and, after many strug- gles, forced the Nayrs, a people possessed of the utmost bravery, to undergo circumcision and eat beef, or else to seek refuge from his ferocity in the hearts of forests, or the fastnesses of the surrounding mountains. The victor then commenced a war against the religious edifices, and publicly boasted that he had .razed to the ground eight thoufe*and temples, with their roofs of gold, silver, and copper, after digging u]i the treasures buried at the feet of the idols. At length he became so elated with these e*xploits that he appears to have considered himself as really endued with supernatural powers, and little, if at all, inferior to Mahommed himself But he had soon to encounter a foe against whom neither his earthly nor his celestial powers were found to avail. By the treaty of 1784, the peace concluded with Tippoo Sultan was to extend not to the English alone, but to their allies ; and among these was specially named the Rajah of Travancore, a little kingdom, forming the western part of the most southerly extremity of India. It was protected not only by a lofty chain of mountains, extending as far as Cape Comorin, but by the more im- perfect defence of a wall and ditch covering its whole frontier. Tippoo, however, meditated the conquest, or OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 171 dismemberment of Travancore ; but, to save appearances, he made repeated attempts to attain his purpose through the instrumentality of others. Alarmed by the intelligence of the hostile views of Tii^poo, the Rajah of Travancore applied to the Govern- ment of Madras for assistance ; and Sir Archibald Camp- bell, who had succeeded Lord Macartney as the head of that Presidency, promptly granted it. He, at the same time, addressed a representation to Tippoo Sultan, warn- ing him that any act of aggression upon Travancore would be regarded by the English Government as a vio- lation of the treaty of 1784, and equivalent to a decla- ration of war against that Government. To this Tippoo responded by professing a desire to maintain relations of amity with the English state. His acts, how^ever, did not correspond with his professions ; for, a few months afterwards, he commenced his march, with a force of thirty-five thousand men, to attack the weak barrier of the Travancore lines. The extent of such a fortification necessarily rendered it inefficient ; and accordingly, on the 29th of December, 1789, while a numerous body, by a feigned attack on the principal gate, occupied the attention of the inhabit- ants, the Sultan himself, with upwards of fourteen thou- sand men, the flower of his troops, had effected his entrance at an unguarded point on the right flank. He then pushed along the interior of the rampart, to reach the nearest gate, and open it to his soldiers. Eor some time his progress was almost unresisted ; the garrison retreated from one tower to another ; though, as reinforcements arrived, they began to make a more vigorous stand. The garrison maintained their defence particularly in a large square building that served the joint purpose of a magazine and barrack ; and here Tippoo, seeing his first division considerably diminished by successive con- tests, ordered it to be strengthened by a fresh corps. This operation being ill-understood, wa imperfectly exe- cuted j and as the troops were advancing in some disorder. 172 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. a party of twenty Travancoreans, from under a close cover, opened a brisk fire on their flank. The commanding offi- cer fell, upon which the whole body was thrown into irre- trievable confusion. The mass of fugitives drove before them a detachment which was advancing to their support, and who again impelled those behind. Many of the men, thrown down, were trampled to death, and the ditch was filled with heaps of bodies. The Sultan himself was borne along by the torrent, and some servants with difficulty conveyed him over the ditch, after he had twice fallen, and suffered such contusions as occasioned a lameness from which he never entirely recovered. His palanquin, the bearers of which had been killed in the crowd, was left behind ; and his seals, rings, and other ornaments fell into the hands of the enemy. He hastened forward,, partly on foot and partly in a small carriage, and arrived at his camp in the most miserable plight, after losing two thousand of his men ! We shall not attempt to describe the rage and humi- liation of Tippoo at seeing his fine army thus completely repulsed by a despised enemy ; but he made a vow that he would not leave the encampment till he had retrieved and avenged the disaster. At length his arrangements being completed, about the beginning of April, 1790, he opened recfular batteries against this contemptible wall, and soon made a breach nearly three quarters of a mile in extent. The troops of Travancore, thus exposed in the open field, fled with little resistance, and he soon saw the whole country lying defenceless before him. The Marquis Cornwallis had arrived in 1786 as Gover- nor-General, with a view to effect a complete reform in the system of Indian policy ; one of his leading instruc- tions being to avoid, by every possible means, war with the native powers. The proceedings of the Sultan, how- ever, occasioned an early change in his views ; and he then considered it necessary, or at least highly expedient, to enter upon an extended warfare with the view of com- pletely humbling the power of Mysore. A new treaty, OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 173 offensive and defensive, was accordingly concluded with IS'izam Ali^ and a similar treaty was made with th Peishwa. The accession of both powers to the alliance was accelerated by the expectation of recovering from Tippoo the possessions of which they had been deprived by himself and his father. Before these arrangements were completed, a Briti&b. army, under the command of the Governor of Madras, General Meadows, consisting of about fifteen thousand men, formed into six brigades, was assembled on the plains of Trichinopoly.* Tippoo seems not to have been prepared for this prompt movement of the English, who, in June, 1790, commenced the campaign on the boldest system of offensive warfare ', their aim being nothing less than, by the most direct route, to ascend the Ghauts from the south, and advance upon Seriugapatam. As compared with the northern road, through the frontier district of the Baramahl, this had the disadvantage of being more remote from Madras, and consequently from all military supplies and stores ; but it led through a country more abundant in forage and provisions, and avoided the obstacle presented by the powerful fortress of Bangalore. It was necessary, however, to begin by reducing the strong places possessed by the Sultan in the low country; and General Meadows, fixing his head-quarters at Coim- batore, employed in this service Colonel Stuart, who had acquired much experience in Southern India. In the course of his operations, the important fortresses of Pal- gant and Dindigul fell to the English, Eroad having pre- viously surrendered to a detachment under Colonel Oldham, as Sattimungalum did at a subsequent period. The last of these places, commanding the important pass of Gujelhutty, which opened the way into the heart of the country, was occupied by Colonel Floyd with a * In 1788 there were in India only one regiment of British Dragoons, and nine regiments of British and two of Hanoverian infantry, in all about eight thousand European troops, in addition to the Company's estaDlishments. I>iV0m. 174 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. force of two thousand men. Through, that ])ass Tippoo Sultan and his army began to descend early in September ; and as large bodies of his horsemen endeavoured to sur- round the handful of English and Sepoys, the latter soon felt themselves in a very critical situation. They, never- theless, made a gallant defence ; and the enemy, having entangled their columns in the thick inclosures which surrounded the British position, were charged very effec- tually with the bayonet, and several squadrons entirely cut off. The Mysoreans, however, still advanced with increasing numbers, and opened a battery which did great execution among the native soldiers ; but these brave fellows stood their ground with unshaken firmness, saying, " We have eaten the Company's salt ; our lives are at their disposal ! " They accordingly maintained their posi- tion, and Tippoo thought proper to withdraw, during the night, to the distance of several miles. But the casualties had been so very severe, and the post proved so untenable, that Colonel Floyd considered it necessary in the morning to commence his retreat, leaving on the field three dismounted guns. The Sultan, at the same time, having mustered his forces, began the pursuit with about fifteen thousand men, and after mid- day overtook the English as they retired in single column. The latter, repeatedly obliged to halt and form in order of battle, repulsed several charges ; yet, as soon as they resumed their march, the Mysoreans hovered round them on all sides again. They were compelled to abandon three additional guns, and their situation was becoming more . and more critical, when some cavalry being seen on the road from Coimbatore, the cry arose that General Meadows was coming to their aid, which excited the most enthusi- astic cheers. The Sultan giving credit to the report, with- drew his cavalry, and Colonel Floyd was thus enabled to prosecute his retreat towards the main army. The English, in the course of these untoward events, had lost above four hundred in killed and wounded; their plans for the campaign had been deranged; the OUR ANGLO-INDIAlf ARMY. 175 stores and magazines formed on the proposed line of march lay open to the enemy, and were therefore to be removed with all speed. General Meadows, notwithstanding, re- sumed offensive operations, and had nearly come in con- tact with the army of the Sultan ; but by a series of manoeuvres Tippoo eluded both him and Colonel Maxwell, then stationed in Baramahl, and by a rapid march de- scended into the Ooromandel territory. After menacing Trichinopoly, he turned northwards, and swept the Car- natic with nearly as little opposition as was experienced by his father during his first triumphant campaign. At Thiagar, indeed, he was repulsed by his old friend Captain !Flint, whom he had learned to know at Wand e wash ; but scarcely any other place made even a show of resist- ance. He began by burning and destroying everything in his way ; but soon considered that it would be more profitable to levy contributions, and thereby to replenish his somewhat exhausted treasury. On approaching Pon- dicherry he endeavoured to open a negotiation with the French, which was rendered fruitless by the pacific dispo- sition of Louis the Sixteenth.* In the conduct of the war up to this period little of military skill had been displayed, and little advantage gained to the cause of the allies. Lord Cornwallis, there- fore, determined to resume his original design of directing the war in person ; and having arrived at Madras qn the 29th of January, 1791, he took the command. + On the * " Monsieur Lejrer, (Tippoo's envoy), on his arrival in Paris, necessarily ad- dressed himself to Bertrand de Moleville, Minister of Marine, who informed tlie King of Tippoo's proposals (to destroy the English army and settlements in India with the aid of six thousand French troops); but notwithstanding their advantages the natural probity of the King's mind would not permit him to adopt the mea- sure: 'This resembles,' said he, 'the affair of America, which I never think of without regret. My youth was taken advantage of at that time, and we suffer for it now ; the lesson is too severe to be forgotten.' "Colonel Wilks' " Sketches of South of India." t " A strong prejudice against embarking on board ship had been created in the minds of the Sepoys, in consequence of two Grenadiers, belonging to detach- ments sent from Bengal to Madras in 1767, being lost returning by sea to Cal- cutta in 1769. This circumstance, coupled with their religious prejudices, made such an impression that it i-equired much conciliatory management to overcome. The firm and temperate conduct of Lord Cornwallis, with the encouragement which he extended to the native soldiers, surmounted their scraules ; and on the present occasion, when nine hundred volunteers were i*equired to till up the bat- 176 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 5 til of Febraaiy the Governor-General began his march, and on the 11 th passed through Vellore towards Amboor, as if he had meant to ascend the mountains by some one of the passes directly opj^osite to Madras. Tippoo, mean- time, was lingering near Pondicheriy, in hopes of con- cluding his French negotiation, and being thereby rein- forced by six thousand troops. He trusted, too, that with his light cavalry he might reach the passes towards which the English were advancing, in time to place him- self in their front. Cornwallis, however, suddenly wheeled to the right ; and, by a circuitous march of four days, attained the pass of Mooglee, where he found no prepa- ration on the part of the enemy to dispute his ])assage. In a similar period he entered without resistance the table land of Mysore, and was now in the heart of the Sultan's country. This able movement, with which the Commander-in-Chief opened his career, struck his antago- nist with consternation, and inspired the most favourable anticipations as to the manner in which the campaign would be conducted. Tippoo, taken completely by surprise, hastened to the defence of his dominions ; but he acted on no distinct or effective plan. He lost much valuable time in super- intending personally the removal of his harem from Ban- galore ; and thoiigh he made several attempts to harass the British, he scarcely opposed an obstacle to their taking ground before that stronghold, which they did on the 5th of March. The siege was immediately begun with the utmost vigour, yet under peculiar disadvantages. The fortress was too extensive to be invested ; operations were therefore carried on solely by breach and battery ; the garrison received all the reinforcements and supplies of which they stood in need ; while the Sultan, with the whole of his brave and active army, well skilled in desul- taiions servirg in Mysore, such was the spirit of emulation evinced by tlie Bengal troops that more than tke required riujaber turned out forthwith, and reached Madras in eight days from the requisition." -dufcer. " Rise of British Power in India:' ^ ' ^ OUli ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 177 toiy warfare, hovered round, making continual efforts to support the besieged, and to annoy their outposts. But in spite of all Tippoo's efforts, the only serious disaster which the British experienced was occasioned by the too forward valour of Colonel Floyd, when des- patched with the cavalry to cover a reconnoissance. Being about to retire, he saw the enemy's rear in a posi- tion exposed to an advantageous attack, and could not resist the temptation. He pushed on, and, though soon entangled in broken and irregular ground, drove succes- sive detachments before him ; when suddenly a musket- ball entered his cheek, passed through both jaws, and he fell down, apparently dead. The second in command being on the extreme left, there v/as no one to give orders or encourage the troops at this critical moment. They began a retreat, which, as the different corps of the enemy rallied, and a cross-fire was opened from the fort, was soon changed into a confused flight. The overthrow might have been very serious, had not Colonel Gowdie come up with a body of infantry, and checked the advance of the pursuers. The loss of the British in men was only seventy-one, but the destruction of nearly three hundred horses was very severely felt. Another enterprise which proved somewhat hazardous was the carrying of the town, or pettah, of Bangalore, a place of very considerable extent and importance. It was surrounded with an indifferent wall, but the ditch was good, and the gate was covered by a " bomid-hedge" or very close thicket of bamboos, aloes, and prickly-pear, which forms an impenetrable barrier at least, to cavalry.* The attack, also, was made without any due knowledge of the ground ; and the storming-jmrty, when advancing and endeavouring to force an entrance, was exposed to a destructive fire from turrets lined with musketry. The * Bound-hedge. A broad strong belt of planting, chiefly the bamboo-tree, the priokly-pear, and such other trees and shrubs as form the closest fence. Most of the forts and villages are surrounded with su<;h a hedge ; and the large forts have a bound-hedge that inclose a circuit of several miles, as a place of refuge to the inhabitants of the adjoining country against the incursions of horse. JDirowi. 178 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. field-artillery and six battery-guns being placed under Colonel Moorhouse, a highly-distinguished officer, the first barrier was gallantly carried, and it was expected ^^/i/j4/^ii. that the application of a field-piece would soon force the gate. This being found ineffectual, some eighteen pounders were brought up, which slowly performed the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 179 desired work. In the meantime a vigorous fire of mus- ketry and rockets from the turrets galled the English troops ; it was borne^ however, with the greatest steadi- ness. The shattered fragments of the gate were torn away after each discharge ; and an opening, though a small one, being at length made, Lieutenant Ayre, of the 86th regi- ment, being of very diminutive size and stature, was raised on the shoulders of som.e Grenadiers, and passed through. General Meadows, who preserved an inspiring gaiety in the midst of battle, called out, " Well done I now, whiskers, try if you can follow and support the little gentleman !" On this animating call, the troops with a hearty cheer dashed into the town, of which they were speedily masters ; though its great extent rendered the occupation difficult. Tippoo likewise threw in a strong corps, which renewed the contest and opened a heavy fire with small arms; but when the English betook themselves to the bayonet, they drove the enemy with irresistible fury through the streets and lanes, and soon compelled thera to seek refuge in the fort, with a loss of two thousand in killed and wounded. The loss of the English amounted to one hundred and thirty-one, and among the killed was Colonel Moorhouse, who fell at the gate. He had risen from the ranks, " but Nature," says Colonel Wilks, " had made him a gentleman uneducated, he had made him- self a man of science ; a career of uninterrupted distinc- tion had commanded general respect, and his amiable cha- racter universal attachment." The capture of the pettah was followed by prepara- tions for obtaining possession of the fort. Batteries were erected, a breach made ; and though it was not in a con- dition for being stormed, yet, on considering the active movements made by the Sultan, it was determined to make the attempt on the night of the 20th of March. It was bright moonlight ; eleven was the hour named, and a whisper along the ranks of the storming-party was the signal appointed for advancing in profound silence. The 180 OUR ANGLO-INmAN ARMY. ladders were planted, and a few men had even I'eached the rampart before the alarm extended through the gar- rison; but the resistance offered to the assailants, though late, was powerful. The Killadar, Bahander Khan, a distinguished soldier, in whom the pressure of seventy- years had not quenched the fire of military ardour, nor seriously diminished his personal ability to obey its sugges- tions, was in a moment at the head of his men, and fought with the utmost bravery. But his courage was unavail- ing ; he fell, and the assailants, charging with the bayonet, soon established themselves on the top of the walls ; then spreading to the right and left, cokimns descended into the body of the place, and in an hour they were masters of Bangalore. Tippoo had received the intelligence, and was marching with his whole force to save the place, when crowds of fugitives announced to him the disastrous event, and he remained sunk in silence and stupor for the whole of the night. The loss on the part of the garrison was severe ; more than a thousand of the bodies of their fallen enemies were committed to the grave by the victors. Among the slain was the brave Killadar, who, having in vain endeavoured to collect a party to make one more stand, fell sword in hand, without a single supporter near him. It was thought that Tippoo might desire to retrieve from the hands of strangers and enemies the remains of one who had served him so faithfully, and an intimation that they would not be withheld was conveyed to him ; but either the merits of Bahander Khan were obliterated by his ill-fortune, or Tippoo really entertained the feeling which his answer is said to have expressed that the Killadar could be buried nowhere with greater propriety than in the neighbourhood of the place in defence of which he had fallen. By the English authorities all the respect that could be shown to the dead was manifested ; and the body of the veteran soldier was attended to its final resting-place by the most distinguished members of the Mussulmaun part of the British army. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 181 After this triumph, Lord Cornwallis was still in ex- treme distress for provisions, and especially forage. Before making his grand movement upon the capital, he marched from Bangalore on the 22nd of March, and proceeded northward, in hopes of obtaining supplies, and of being joined by ten thousand horse which the Nizam had pro- mised. After a long march, the expected contingent made its appearance ; but a woful disappointment was felt at the very aspect of such grotesque auxiliaries. "They were rated at fifteen thousand," says Colonel Wilks, " and really amounted to ten thousand men, well mounted on horses in excellent condition ; and, to those who had never before had an opportunity of observing an Indian army, their first appearance was novel and inte- resting. It is 2)robable that no national or private col- lection of ancient arms in Europe contains any weapon, or article of personal equipment, which might not be traced in this motley crowd : the Parthian bow and arrow, the iron club of Scythia, sabres of every age and nation, lances of every length and description, and match- locks of every form ; metallic helmets of every pattern, simple defences of the head, a steel bar descending diagonally as a protection to the face, defences of bars, chains, or scale-work, descending behind or on the shoul- ders, cuirass^, suits of armour, or detached pieces for the arm, complete coats of mail in chain-work,^ shields, bucklers, and quilted jackets, sabre-proof. The ostenta- tious display of these antique novelties was equally curious in its way : the free and equal use of two sword- arms, the precise and perfect command of a balanced spear eighteen feet long, of the club which was to shiver an iron helmet, of the arrow discharged in flight ; but, above all, the total absence of every symptom of order, or obedience, or command, excepting groups collecting round their respective flags ; every individual an independent waiTior, self-impelled, affecting to be the champion whose single arm was to achieve victory ; scampering among each other in wild confasion ; the whole exhibition pre- 182 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. senting to the mind an imagery scarcely more allied to previous impressions of reality there than the fictions of an Eastern tale, or the picturesque disorder of a dramatic scene." Of the value of the accession of strength which their junction afforded, Colonel Wilks gives the following ac- count : " The impossibility of relying on such a body for the execution of any combined movement was sufficiently OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 183 obvious ; but the most moderate expectations looked to an enlargement of the limits of observation, the relief of the regular cavalry from the duties of the light troop, and an extended command over the resources of the country to be traversed. Two thousand of the most select were attached to the reserve, and placed under the immediate management of Brigade Major Dallas ; in the hope that his skill, and conciliation, and example might render them efficient. Fifteen days were sufficient to show the total disappointment of the most meagre hopes. The enemy practised upon them on every successive day some enter- prise or stratagem, always successful. They soon showed themselves unequal to the protection of their own foragers on ordinary occasions ; and after the lapse of a few days they never stirred beyond the English pickets, consuming forage and grain, and augmenting distress of every kind, without the slightest return of even apparent utility. " The prowess of these troops was indeed exhibited at an early period in plundering the villages to which Lord Cornwallis had granted protection ; but when it was un- derstood that his lordship disclaimed such proceedings, but could not control them, the villagers undertook their own cause, and the march occasionally produced exhibi- tions of attack and defence, in which the wishes of the army were uniformly adverse to their allies, and an Eng- lish safeguard frequently appeared protecting their ene- mies against their friends. The contemptible state of this cavalry may in some degree have arisen from the effe- minacy and decline which marked the general character of the Government to which they belonged ; but its more immediate causes were referred to a commander (Tedje- wunt Singh, a Hindoo) of no respectability or military pretension, who was said to have risen to command by court intrigue, and was deemed better qualified to render his master a good commercial account of the profits of the subsidy than a splendid report of military glory. His second in command, Assud Ali, and the ostensible military leader, had some reputation for that precarious valour which 184 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. depends on interested motives, or animal excitements, or depression : but, like his principal, was incapable of com- mand, venal, rapacious, and unfaithful to his trust." Lord Cornwallis, though he had been so completely dis- appointed in his allies, and though all his departments, especially those of conveyance, were in the most imperfect state, was yet anxiously desirous to bring the war to a termination, which could be effected only by advancing upon Seringapatam. To make the best use of the limited means of transport possessed by the British army, all superfluous equipage was to be left in Bangalore. The officers were requested to reduce their claims for accom- modation to the lowest practicable degree, as well as to assist the public service by any means which they could command ; and they cheerfully sacrificed their own con- venience to the demands of the state : hiring accommoda- tions from the natives which the latter would not will- ingly have placed under the control of a public depart- ment. Cannon-balls were carried even by women and children ; and thus almost without any regular equip- ment, the Anglo-Indian Army was enabled to march upon the enemy's capital. On the 4th of May, 1791, the troops were put in motion, and advanced from Bangalore by a circuitous route, in- terrupted by jungles, rivers, and ravines. From these causes the inadequate supply of cattle for transport be- came still further reduced. iN umbers died from exhaus- tion,* and large quantities of stores were destroyed, be- cause they could not be carried forward. With the usual policy of Hyder Ali and his son, the country traversed * "It is really disti'essing to witness the severe struggles which the poor men often have from the oppression of the weather, and the numerous diseases to which they are hourly subject. Some, from a redundancy of bile, drop down in a lit of insensibility, and are seized with a violent ciiolera-morbus. Others fall suddenly down in contortions with the cramp. It runs acutely through every limb, and at last centres in the stomach, which kills the person afflicted upon the spot. But the coup de soleil is of all others the most fatal attack. It is in the crown of the head that this deadly blow is most commonly felt. The victim first finds his brain begins to boil, 'and a convulsive fit is the immediate consequence, of which he dies in a very few minutes ; and so very violent is the effect of this disorder that the body becomes quite putrid before a hole can be dug into which it may be thro'.vn." Jlftfjiro's '^Operations in India." OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 185 by the invaders had been divested of all power of afford- ing relief to their necessities. Conflagration had done its work the grain not burnt had been buried ; and not an inhabitant remained through the expanded waste to re- count the story of its devastation, or guide the steps of those who now traversed its blighted fields. Their march seemed to be through a country where some great convul- sion of Nature had at once swept away every human being, and everything by which human life could be supported. At length, at a stone fort called Malavelly, some grain was found ; but the quantity lost on the march was so great that even this opportune and happy discovery did not preclude the necessity of reducing the daily issue of rice to one half of the usual allowance. Thus struggling with difficulties, and amid the terrors of famine, the army reached Arikera, about nine miles east of Seringapatam, on the 13th of May. Its approach was regarded by Tippoo with no common apprehension ; for, from the moment of the fall of Banga- lore, the attack upon which place he had regarded as mad and hopeless, he became alarmed for the safety of his capital. Under the first impulse of fear, he had ordered the removal to Chittledroog of his treasure, his harem, and the families of his officers, whom he retained in pledge for the fidelity of those to whom they belonged ; but by the advice of his mother, who exercised a power- ful influence over him, and who represented that such a proceeding, being imputed to despondency, would have a bad effect on the minds of his troops and subjects, he abandoned his intention. But though Tippoo allowed himself to be dissuaded from one manifestation of fear, he gave v/ay to others, which distinctly showed the state of his mind. His hatred of the English had been gratified by causing the walls of the houses in the principal streets of Seringapatam to be decorated with caricatures of the people whom he abhorred, of enormous size, and, in some instances, of disgusting character. These were now by royal command obliterated, and the walls of Seringapatam 186 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMF. no longer spoke the Sultan's contempt and aversion for his European enemies. The capital of Mysore, however, contained other proofs of Tippoo's feelings towards the English ; and these also were to disappear. The enfranchisement of prisoners under the treaty of 1784 had even at this time not been perfectly carried out ; and among the victims of the Sul- tan's perfidy were twenty English youths, who, having re- ceived the same kind of education which is given to the dancing girls of the East, were destined to delight the ear and eye of their enslaver by the graces of song and gesture. To relieve hiniseli from the inconvenience to be appre- hended from these -witnesses to his treachery, assassina- tion offered the easiest and most effectual means ; and, consequently, according to the moral code of Tippoo, the best. The youths were murdered, and the course of crime was followed up by the secret murder of other prisoners, who, like them, had been unlawfully detained. Such were the results of the alarm produced by the fall of Bangalore, and the anticipation of an attack upon Seringapatara. Hitherto the Sultan had confined himself to a desultory warfare, endeavouring to cut off the British by detachments, in the manner which, during the last contest, had been so successful. But in his cam- paign with Lord Cornwallis he had been unable to achieve any exploit of this description ; and now the danger of his capital, and, it is said, the reproaches of his wives, urged him to hazard a general action rather than allow it to be formally invested. He accordingly drew up his army with great judgment, so as to cover his capital ; its right protected by the Cauvery, and its left by a chain of hills, with a deep swampy ravine, the passage of wJiich was defended by batteries running along the whole of the front. The difficulties of attacking an enemy in such a posi- tion were obviously great ; but having ascertained the practicability of crossing a ridge on the right of the Eng- lish army, from the high road to Seringapatam, where OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 187 they were encamped, to anotlier road leading to the same place, Lord Cornwallis resolved to attempt, by a night march, to turn the enemy's left flank, and, by gaining his rear before daylight, cut off the retreat of his main body to the capital. To effect this object, six European regi- ments, twelve battalions of native infantry, with three field-pieces, one European and three native regiments of cavalry, were ordered to be in readiness to march at eleven o'clock on the night of the 13th of May, leaving their pickets and camp guards behind, and their tents standing. Nizam All's cavahy were to follow in the morning ; but the order was not to be communicated till the moment of moving, lest the plan should be frustrated by treachery. The ground occupied by the Anglo-Indian Army was intersected by ruined villages, inclosures, and deep ravines ; and from this cause much time was lost in forming the troops in the prescribed order of march. Before they moved a terrific storm arose, and the march was per- formed under a deluge of rain, accompanied by thunder and lightning of the most awful character. Exhausted by fatigue, scared by the lightning, and benumbed by the chilling effects of the rain, the cattle could scarcely be made to move ; and the night, except when temporarily irradiated by the vivid flashes, being impenetrably dark, several regiments lost their way, and portions of the British force were moving in almost every variety of direction. Repeated halts thus became necessary ; and on one of these occasions Lord Cornwallis found himself with no more than one company and one gun. A staff-officer who made the discovery that the General had thus out- marched the greater part of his force, or had become in some other way separated from them, attempted to find the column by tracing, with the aid of the lightning, the marks of the gun-carriage-wheels ; but the tracks, though so recently made, had been completely obliterated by the unceasing torrents of rain, and he narrowly escaped riding into the enemy's encampments. 188 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. The dawn of day removed one of the difficulties which had retarded the progress of the British force ; but it destroyed the hope of executing the original plan, which required the cover of night ; still, as the most arduous part of the march had been accomplished, Lord Corn- wallis determined to force Tippoo to action on ground be- lieved to be less advantageous to him than that which he had chosen. The Sultan was so far from declining the challenge, that, on perceiving the English about to gain possession of a hill which commanded the left of his army, he seized upon it himself, with a considerable body of cavalry and infantry and eight guns j he then very promptly changed his front to the left, covering one flank by a steep hill previously in his rear, and the other by a ravine which had run along his former front. From the nature of the ground, the weak state of the cattle, and the annoyances of the enemy's horse, the pas- sage of the British infantry to the same side of the ravine with the enemy was slow ; it was, however, at length accomplished, and the requisite disposition made for action. Opposite to the enemy's main body, nine battalions were posted in a first line, under General Mea- dows and Colonel Stuart, and four in a second line under Colonel Harris ; while five battalions, under Colonel Maxwell, were destined for an attack upon the enemy's corps on the hill, and with this last the action com- Tuenced. On the approach of Colonel Maxwell, the enemy's eight guns were drawn off ; but the infantry kept their ground, and maintained a heavy though ill-directed fire of mus- ketry. Colonel Maxwell had no guns, but he advanced with a rapidity and impetuosity which speedily broke the line of the enemy's infantry, and even overtook some of the guns on the opposite descent of the hill. The infan- try made a struggle to defend them, but in vain ; the pos- session of the guns followed the possession of the hill. The rapid success of Colonel Maxwell on the hill was a signal for the advance of the two lines below against the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 189 main body of the enemy, and the battle now became general along the entire front. It was of long continu- ance^ and maintained with great obstinacy. The English, unable to employ their own artillery with any effect, suf- fered considerably from that of the enemy, and were also seriously annoyed by numerous flights of rockets furnished from the arsenal.* Yet, on coming to close combat, they carried, by successive charges, one point after another, till the whole of the Sultan's army was obliged to seek shelter under the fortifications of the city. * A missile weapon, consisting of an iron tube about a foot long, and an inch in diameter, fixed to a bamboo rod of ten or twelve feet long. The tube being filled with combustible composition, is set fire to, and, directed by the hand, flies like an arrow to the distance of upwards of a thousand yards. Some of the rockets have a chamber, and burst like a shell ; others, called the ground-rockets, have a serpentine motion, and, on striking the ground, rise again and bound along till their force be spent. The rockets make a great noise, and exceedingly annoy the native cavalry m India, who move in great bodies ; but are easily avoided, or seldom take eifect against our troops,who are formed in lines of gi'eat extent, and no great depth. DrVow. This missile, as improved by Colonel Congreve, is now one ,of the most de- structive character. The author of this work witnessed its effects, when first tried, at the siege of Flushing, where it produced such horror and amazement that General Bonet, the French commandant, made a formal application to Lord Chatham that it should be discontinued ! 190 OUR AXOLO-INDIAN ASMY. CHAPTER XI. Sufferings of tlie Anjjlo-Indian Army Romantic Gallantry of the Rajah of Coorg Lord Cornwallis retires on Bangalore Junction of the Mahrattus Their singular Siege of Darwar They furnish the Army with abundant Supplies- Graphic Description of their Camp Bazaar The Brinjarries Capture of Hooleadroog Plundering Habits of the Mahrattas-Deplorable State of Tip- poo's Prisoners Arrangements lor the ensuing Campaign Murder of Pri- soners at Oussoor Nundidroog stormed and taken Noble Defence of Fort Coimbatore Storming Party repulsed Both Parties reinforced Surrender of Coimbatore on favourable Terms Infraction of the Treaty Savindroop invested Description of that remarkable Forti-ess Difficult and laborious Operations Savmdix)og breached and successfully stormed Ootradroog in- vestedTreachery of the Killadar Carried by Escalade. At the expense of five hundred men, killed and wounded, Lord Cornwallis had gained the honour of the day ; but he was in such a situation that only a decisive victory, and scarcely even that, could have enabled him to achieve his object. " As a mere evidence of suiDeriority," says Colonel Wilks, ' the victory was complete, and, had there been no movement of cavalry, would probably have been very decisive. But the observation of Sir Eyre Coote, on a parallel occasion, was applied by an old offi- cer to the 2^resent : ' I would gladly exchange all these trophies and the reputation of victory for a few days' rice !' " * The Anglo-Indian Army, as we before ob- served, had marched through a desert, and was now suffering most deeply from famine, disease, and all those evils which, in a campaign, are often more fatal than the sword ; while their means of conveyance were so deficient that the men were compelled, in view of the enemy, to drag the baggage, and even the heavy cannon, as if they had been beasts of burden. In short, after several "Sketches of the South of India." OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 191 marches and countermarclies the British commander found himself under the painful necessity, not only of des- troying the whole of his battering-train and heavy 'equip- ments, of immediately retreating himself, but also of stopping the progress of another expedition that was advancing to his support. Though Madras was the main centre of the English operations, yet the war had extended to the coast of Malabar, where General Abercromby had landed with a large force from Bombay in 1790, reduced Cannanore, and easily made himself master of every other place held by the enemy in Malabar. He soon also met with an auxiliary, who opened for him a passage into the midst of Tippoo's dominions. This was the youthful Rajah of Coorg, who after a long captivity had recently escaped from the Mysorean despot. The greater part of his sub- jects were groaning in exile ; but in the depth of the woody recesses there was still a band of freemen, who rallied round him with enthusiastic ardour. By a series of exploits that might have adorned a tale of romance, the young Prince recalled his people from the distant quarters to which they had been driven, organised them into a regular military body, drove the oppressors from post after post, and finally became undisputed ruler of Coorg, expelling the Mahomedan settlers who had been forcibly introduced. A common interest soon united the young Rajah in strict alliance with General Abercromby, who thus obtained a route by which he could transjDort his army, without opposition, into the elevated plain. The con- veyance of the heavy cannon, however, was a most laborious task, as it was often necessary to drag them by ropes and pulleys up the tremendous steeps which form on this side of India the declivity of the Ghauts. At length the General had overcome every difficulty, and was in full march to join Lord Cornwallis, when he received orders to retreat, which in this case, too, could be effected only by the sacrifice of all his heavy artillery. 192 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. On the 26th of May, the Governor-General commenced his retrograde march ; and as he was retiring in a most shattered condition upon Bangalore, the strength of the men failing for want of food, and the sick being with the utmost difficulty dragged along, his troops were alarmed by the appearance on their left of a large body of cavalry, apparently the vanguard of a numerous army. This was not a point from which an attack had been apprehended ; but, from knowing the rapidity with which the cavalry of Tippoo moved in all directions, no doubt was entertained that the approaching horsemen belonged to his army, and that they would immediately fall on the stores and bag- gage. Colonel Stuart, who commanded in the rear^ instantly prepared to resist the attack ; and the British had begun to fire, when one of the horsemen rode towards a staff-officer who was giving some orders, and, shouting that he was a Mahratta, intreated that the firing might cease. Similar communications were made at the head of the column, and the British commander found himself suddenly reinforced by two Mahratta armies, under Pur- seram Bhow and Hurry Punt. These chiefs had taken the field in good time ; but an unfortunate delay had been occasioned by the siege of Darwar, a very strong place considerably to the north- ward, which Tippoo had carefully fortified and garrisoned with his best soldiers. An English detachment was acting with the Mahrattas, as with Nizam Ali ; it con- sisted of two battalions of Sepoys, and three companies of Artillery, two native and one European. Seconded by this detachment, Purseram Bhow broke ground before Darwar in September, 1791 ; but our officers were almost distracted to see the manner in which this important siege was conducted. The Mahrattas, in working a bat- tery, never pointed their cannon so as to make a breach in a particular spot, but aimed at random all round the wall. After loading a gun they sat down, smoked, and conversed for half an hour ; then fired, reloaded, and OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 193 resumed their conversation.* Two hours at mid-day, by- mutual consent, were set apart for meals and recreation. Our engineers calculated that seven years would be spent before a breach could be effected ; and Colonel Frederick, an officer of high spirit, and animated with the most eager anxiety for the success of this important service, was seized with such chagrin that he fell sick and died. At the end of six months, however, the garrison, for want of provisions, and discouraged by the fall of Ban- galore, capitulated, and the great Mahratta army then moved leisurely forward^ to join their European allies in Mysore. -^ Had the junction of the Mahrattas taken place some- what earlier, some heavy sacrifices might have been averted ; but as it was, their accession was most welcome, for they brought a supply of bullocks, with large stores of all necessary articles of consumption ; and the scarcity in the cantonments of the English, which previously^ amounted almost to famine, ceased, so far as they were^ Avilling to pay the enormous prices that were extorted from their necessities. Every article abounded in that- predatory host : the bazaar of the Mahratta camp, says- Colonel Wilks, " presented an exhibition of no ordinary character, and to their famished visitors exhibited a. picture of the spoils of the East and the industry of the West. From a web of English broad cloth to a Birming- ham penknife ; from the shawls of Cashmere to the second- hand garment of a Hindoo ; from diamonds of the first water to the silver ear-ring of a poor plundered village maiden ; from oxen, sheep, and poultry to the dried salt- fish of the Conean ; almost everything was seen that could be presented by the best bazaars of the richest towns. But, above all, the tables of the money-changers, overspread wdth the coins of every country of the East, in the open air and public street of the camp, gave * As there are no pioneers attached to the Mahratta artillery to repair the roads, this deficiency !* compensated by an additional number of cattle, there being^ sometimes a hundred or a hundred and fifty bullocks in a string of pairs to one gun. Z>i>ojn. H 194 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. evidence of an extent of mercantile activity utterly incon- ceivable in any camp excepting that of systematic plun- derers by wholesale and retail. Every variety of trade appeared to be exercised with a large competition and considerable diligence : and among them one apparently the least adapted to a wandering life the trade of a tanner was practised with eminent success. A circular hole dug in the earth, a raw hide adapted to it at the bottom and sides, and secured above with a series of skewers run through its edges into the earth, formed the tanpit : on marching days the tanjDit with its contents, in the shape of a bag, formed one side of a load for a horse or bullock, and the liquid j^reparation was either emptied or preserved, according to the length or expected repetition of the march. The English officers obtained from these ambulatory tanpits what theii' own Indian capitals could not then produce, except as European im- ports excellent sword-belts." * These welcome allies, moreover, introduced the British commander to a most useful class of men, the Brinjarries, or grain merchants ; who, travelling in large armed bodies, with their wives and children, made it their business to supply all the military powers of Hindostan. They dis- tributed their com with the strictest impartiality to all who could pay for it ; and the General, now amply sup- plied with funds, was no longer exposed to want, and easily obtained a jireference over Tippoo, whose pecuniary resources were beginning to fail. After this fortunate junction the march of the confede- rates was slow, in order to afford opportunity for the arrival of large convoys of provisions and plunder coming up in the Mahratta rear. On the 1 8th of June the army was within three miles of Hooleadroog, a fort built upon a lofty perpendicular rock of great strength. The pettah, which lay at the foot of the rock, being occupied without difficulty, the Killadar surrendered the fort on a promise * " Sketches of the South of India." OUR ANGLO-II^DIAN ARMY. 195 of security to private property, and of special protection against the Mahrattas. The inhabitants, who had taken refuge in the fort, pro- ceeded in the direction of Madoor, under the care of an English escort ; the commander of which had orders to accompany the travellers the entire distance to Madoor, if required. All, however, appeared quiet, and not a single Mahratta was visible on the route. Fear was thus dispelled ; and when about half the march was accom- plished, the leader of the retiring party intimated to the English officer that, as there was no reason to apprehend danger, it would be unnecessary to subject the escort to further trouble. It accordingly returned, but was no sooner at a sufficient distance to permit the manifestation of Mahratta enterprise than the freebooting allies of the British, in conformity with established custom, fell upon the unfortunate fugitives, and plundered them of eveiy- thing they possessed. Hooleadroog contained many state prisoners ; and there the captors found new evidence of the Sultan's cruelty, " Among a number of captives," says an historian of the period, "that were bound in chains of various construction at Hooleadroog, several, who had their ankles fastened asunder by a heavy iron bar of about eighteen inches in length, had from habit acquired a straddling amble, which, when liberated, they could not for a length of time alter or amend ; some, from having been closely pinioned, could move neither arm ; others had acquired a stoop, from which they were unable to stand erect ; in short, as most of them had been confined in this wretched state for a period of about ten years, there tvere few indeed who had not lost the power of some limb or other."* After having summoned some of the other Droogs in this vicinity, the Anglo-Indian Army reached Bangalore on the 11th of June. Before their arrival at that place a plan of future proceedings had l)een arranged, and the Mackenzie's " Sketches of the War with Tippoo Sultan." 196 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AEMY. continued co-operation of the Malirattas was purchased by a loan of a hundred and fifty thousand pounds ; the means of making this advance being secured by stopping the commercial investment of dollars in transit from Eng- land to China. This important preliminary being arranged, Purseram Bhow, with his army, and a detachment ot Bombay troops, proceeded by Sera, to commence a series of operations in the north-west. The greater part of the Nizam's cavalry were to operate in the noi-th-east. The army of Lord Cornwallis was to be interposed between the enemy and the Company's territories ; as well for the protection of the latter as for the convenience of bringing forward supplies for reducing such of the intermediate fortresses as might be necessary, and for establishing a chain of tenable posts from Madras to Seringapatam, by which the transit of supplies might be facilitated when the army should be called to assemble before the enemy's capital. The first movement of Lord Cornwallis was in a south- eastern direction to Oussoor, which, on his approach, the garrison evacuated and blew up. A train had been laid for the magazine, intended to explode after the entry of the English troops ; but, by a happy accident, it did not take effect. Here again the perfidy and cruelty of Tippoo were brought conspicuously to notice. Three Englishmen had been confined in Oussoor, one of whom, named Hamilton, having given up all hopes of recovering his freedom, had reconciled his mind to the circumstances in which he was placed, and apparently contemplated Oussoor as his final abode, as, in other instances, the fall of Bangalore had led to the murder of these unhappy men, whose graves were now pointed out to their indignant countrymen. The capture of other forts of minor importance fol- lowed that of Oussoor, and in September Nundidroog was invested. This fortress, which is situated on a granite rock of tremendous height, lies about thirty miles north from Bangalore, and is the capital of a considerable dis- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 197 trict. The moimtain on whose summit it is built is of so inaccessible a nature that Hycier Ali was once three j^ltb besieging it before he could take it from the Mahrattas. Since then no labour had been spared to add to its strength ; and Major Gowdie, who had reduced many of the minor forts, found his means of attack alto- gether inadequate. Reinforcements were, therefore, ob- tained ; and the guns having with incredible labour been can-ied part of the way up the hill, batteries were con- structed, and began to fire with visible effect. The fire of the besiegers was vigorously returned from the fort ; but at the end of twenty-one days two breaches were effected one in the exterior rampart, the other in an outwork. Lord Cornwallis now advanced Lis army within a few miles of the place, and orders were given for a night assault. It took place after midnight on the loth of October, and was made simultaneously by two parties upon the two breaches. The enemy was jorepared to receive the assailants with a heavy fire of musketry and rockets ; but more injury was inflicted by stones of immense size and weight rolled down upon those who ^were ascending. The defence was vigorous, but the as- sailants overcame every obstacle, and, forcing the interior gate, effected an entrance. Before the attack w^as made, a portion of the garrison had been clamorous for sur- render ; and on its taking place, some descended the wall by ladders of ropes, and escaped through the jungle ; others abandoning their posts, fled for shelter to the prin- cipal pagoda, where they were subsequently made pri- soners. The loss of the English during the whole siege was 120 killed and wounded, of whom thirty fell in the assault, chiefly by the stones precipitated from the summit.* In Coimbatore, the defence of the fort bearing the Shortly before the assault, while all were waiting the signal in silence, one of the soldiers inadvertently whispered something about a mine. " To be sure there is," said General Meadows, ' and it is a mine of gold ;" a smoth ered laugh ran along the ranks, and produced tiie proper impression. CoioneZ Wilks' *' Sketches of South India." 198 OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. same name with the province, and of Palagant, with their reciprocal commimications, had been intrusted to Major Cuppage. That officer deeming Coimbatore inca- pable of sustaining a siege, removed the heavy guns, ammunition, and stores to Palagant ; but Lieutenant Chalmers, who was left at Coimbatore, on examining the guns which had been cast aside as unserviceable, found three which stood proof By collecting and joining- wheels and fragments of carriages which lay scattered about the fort, he found the means of mounting them. With these and a few swivels, a quantity of damaged powder, and five hundred shot, obtained from Major Cuppage, he hoped to make a stand for a few^ days, in the event of the fort being attacked. The apprehension of attack was soon converted into certainty. The place was invested by a force of two thousand infantry, a considerable body of cavalry, eight guns, and a number of irregular troops. The garrison consisted of a hundred and twenty Topasses, or natives partially of Portuguese origin, and about two hundred Travancoreans ; half of whom ran away when they found a siege was expected, while those who remained were extremely insubordinate. The enemy pitched on the north-west of the pettah, and summoned the place to surrender, under pain of death to every person within it, not excepting women and children. The summons was disregarded, and was re- peated after the expiration of two days without effect. On the third day a battery was completed, and the fort was once more summoned, but with an offer of favour- able terms. The ofier was rejected, and in the evening the besiegers began to fire from the battery. The shot did considerable damage to the works, which it gave the garrison abundant employment to repair. Another battery was completed on the following day, and a vigo- rous fire of guns and rockets was maintained. A third battery was soon in a forward state. In the metmtime^ Lieutenant Chalmers had prepared several casks, filled OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY* 199 with combustibles, which were placed on the ramparts, to be used against the enemy should they attempt an escalade, which from their pre^Daration of ladders seemed to be intended. As the danger increased, the mines were loaded and^ the gates blocked up with earth and stones. The store of shot beginning to fail, the hammermen were actively employed in making iron slugs to supply the deficiency of balls. The works of the besiegers continued to be carried on till they were advanced within fifty yards of the ditch ; and as it was known that large reinforcements were proceeding to their assistance, a general attack was now hourly expected. At this time the store of am- munition within the fort was nearly exhausted ; the wounded, who were numerous, were without medical assistance, and the Travancoreans who remained vrere clamorous for surrender. Still the gallant commander, who was nobly supported by a young French officer named De la Combe, in the service of the Rajah of Tra- vancore, refused to yield. Two months passed in this way before the enemy ven- tured on a general assault. This at last took place : the storming-party advanced with great steadiness, planted their ladders, and mounted the parapet at five distinct places. The first struggle took place at a point defended by De la Combe, whose personal gallantry communicated its influence to those whom he commanded, and prepared for the assailants a fierce resistance. The enemy had avoided the mines ; and resort to the combustible barrels was delayed, till not only was the ditch filled by the assailants, but numbers of them w^ere actually on the ramparts, fighting hand to hand with the besieged. De la Combe would have been overpowered had not a timely reinforcement been sent to his relief ; and Lieu- tenant Chalmers, who was personally engaged in defend- ing the weakest point of the works, was in danger of a similar fate. At a moment when successful resistance seemed any longer scarcely practicable, one of the barrels 200 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. being thrown amongst a crowded mass of tlie enemy, exploded, and the fortune of the day was turned. The besiegers gave way ; and as party after party retired from the ramparts, their discomfiture was increased by hurling down on them vast pieces of rock. The conflict lasted two hours, and the number of the enemy's dead left on the ramparts, and within the ditch, exceeded the entire strengtih of the garrison by whom they had been so bravely repulsed. To abandon such gallant men in the midst of their struggles would indeed be a shame ; and though a due regard to the safety of Palagant prevented Major Cuppage from doing much for their relief, he afforded some assist- ance ; and with the aid of some revenue troops under the direction of Mr. Macleod, a gallant and enterprising civil servant, the enemy were driven from the pettah, which they had continued to occupy, and chased to the Bawany river, a distance of about twenty miles, with the loss of a large quantity of their stores. To add to the permanent strength of the garrison, a company of Sepoys, commanded by Lieutenant Nash, was ordered in, and by some further additions it was increased to about seven hundred men. Scarcely had Lieutenant Chalmers time to repair the breaches in the works, and make other dispositions for defence, before the enemy re-appeared. The force now arrayed against Coimbatore consisted of eight thousand regular infantry, with fourteen guns, four mortars, and a large body of irregulars and horse. It was commanded by Kummer-oo-Deen. The enemy took possession of the pettah without opposition, erected batteries, and opened approaches, under the cover of a heaVy fire, which the besieged were able to return very inadequately. But the spirits of the garrison were cheered by intelligence that Major Cuppage was advancing with three battalions of Company's Sepoys, two of Travancoreans, and six dield-pieces, to compel the enemy to raise the siege. To divert this force from its object, and probably at OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 201 the same time to strike a serious blow at the efficiency of an important portion of the English force, Kummer- oo-Deen, leaving a strong body in the trenches, marched with the remainder of his force a distance of about ten miles, to the vicinity of a pass where the woods of Ari- vally terminate and the plain commences. A large convoy of oxen, intended for the western army, was as- sembled at Palagant; and Kummer-oo-Deen made a demonstration of getting into Major Cuppage's rear, for the purpose of occupying the pass. This would have enabled him to cut off the passage of the convoy, and by the force of numbers to embarrass Major Cuppage's return to Palagant. That officer accordingly fell back, and the occupation of the pass was decided by a severe action, in which Major Cuppage was victorious. He immedi- ately returned to Palagant, while Kummer-oo-Deen pro- ceeded to resume the siege of Coimbatore, relieved from the fear of interruption. The fate of that jolace was now sealed. All hope of relief was cut off; the ammunition, bad from the first, was nearly expended ; a wide breach had been made per- fectly practicable, and the sap had been carried to the covered way. Lieutenants Chalmers and Nash were both wounded in one day ; and the most determined of the gallant defenders of this miserable fort saw the necessity of surrender. Negotiations for this purpose were com- menced, and soon brought to a conclusion, the enemy being quite ready to grant the besieged favourable terms. On the 3rd of November, after a close and vigorous siege^ of one hundred and forty-three days, the conquerors took possession of Coimbatore ; its remarkable defence having^ invested it with a degree of historical interest far beyond the actual importance of the place. It was a condition of the capitulation that the garrison should be permitted to march to Palagant ; but after the surrender it was pretended that this condition could not be acted upon without the Sultan's ratification. The- sequel of this tale of perfidy need scarcely be told. After 202 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AI13IY. a detention of thirteen days at Coinibatore, the prisoners were inarched to Seringapatam, where they were sub- jected to the cruelties and indignities which were the ordinary lot of those who fell into the hands of the bar- barian Tippoo Sultan ; but their period of imprisonment was brought to a happy termination in the following campaign, when the tyrant himself was only saved from the captivity he so tvell merited by a timely submission to the prowess of our Anglo-Indian Army. While the events we have just related vv^erein progress, the attention of Lord Cornwallis had been constantly directed to the establishment of such means for the trans- mission of supplies as might prevent the necessity of abandoning the meditated attack upon Seringapatam, from the cause that led to the relinquishment of the former. One of the most serious impediments to success was the possession by the enemy of the fortress of Savin- droog, in the strength of which place Tippoo reposed the most implicit confidence, and considered his throne per- fectly safe so long as it remained in his power. The stupendous fortress of Savindroog, situated nine- teen miles west by south from Bangalore, is a vast moun- tain of rock, supposed to rise above half a mile in per- pendicu.lar height, from a base of eight or ten miles in circumference. Completely encircled by walls of enor- mous strength, and defended by cross-walls, bastions, and barriers wherever it was deemed accessible, it had the further advantage of being separated by a vast chasm, towards the summit, into two hills, each of which having its own defences, two distinct citadels are formed, capable of being maintained independent of each other, and of the lower works of the JDroog. To render this fortress still more impregnable. Nature has surrounded it with an extensive and gloomy forest, whose dense and lofty vegetation is still further thick- ened with clumps of planted bamboos, which constitute no easily-surmountable barrier, and interspersed with numerous rocky hills and deep ravines, the retreat of OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 203 tigers and other beasts of prey. The atmosphere of this jungle is so pestiferous as to threaten with inevitable de- struction the hardiest troops, should they remain for any time exposed to its influence ; and hence the significant appellation of Savindroog, or the* " Rock of Death." From its acknowledged security, this awful fortress had long been used as a state prison by the tyrants of Mysore ; and so confident was Tippoo in its strength that he was highly pleased when he heard that the British troops had run their heads against the tremendous " Gurdem SJieiklw,'' a name he had himself given it, implying the " Neck of Majesty /' and his courtiers even congratulated him on the event as a victory. Lord Cornwallis having posted the main body of his -army in such a position as to support the attack, and cover an important convoy which he expected from the Carnatic, ordered three detachments under Lieutenant- Colonel Cockerell, Captain Welsh, and Captain Alexander Reed, to occupy the northern, middle, and southern roads from Bangalore to Seringapatam ; and intrusted the exe- cution of this arduous enterprise to Colonel Stuart, who commanded the right wing of the army, and had been employed in the first campaign in reducing the forts of Dindigul and Paulgantcherry. On the 1 1th of December Colonel Stuart pitched his camp within three miles of the northern side of the rock, the quarter from which the chief engineer had proposed to carry on the attack. His force consisted of the 52nd and 72nd King's regiments ; three battalions of Sepoys, and a detachment of Artillery, under Major Montagaie, with a park of four eighteen pounders, four twelve pounders, two howitzers, and the field-pieces attached to the regiments. The first operation, which was one of vast labour and difficulty, was to cut a gun-road from the encampment to the foot of the mountain, over rocky precipices, deep nullahs, and through a thick forest of bamboos, and when 204 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. made to drag the guns over it.* This work, however, was accomplished by the 17th of December, and two batteries were opened, one at a thousand, and the other at seven hundred yards' distance ; by which the defences of the wall were much injured, and the fire of the enemy in a great measure silenced. But the difficulty of making a breach was greater than at first expected ; the wall being built of immense stores, of which the lower tier was bound to the rock by bolts and clamps of iron. On the 19th an advanced battery was opened, which it had been found necessary to erect within two hundred and fifty yards of the wall ; and before the following night a practicable breach was effected. The forest through which the troops had cut their way with so much labour now became an advantage ; as under cover of it, and screened by the projections of the rock, a lodg- ment was made within twenty yards of the breach. The flank companies of the 71st and 76th King's regiments having been sent from camp to join the detach- ment, and everything being in readiness, the morning of the 21st of December was fixed for the assault, Lord Cornwallis, accompanied by General Meadows, having arrived to witness the result. Lieutenant-Colonel Kesbit of the 52nd commanded the storming-party, which was directed on from different points of attack : Captain Gage, with the Grenadiers of the 52nd, and the flank companies of the 76 th, to gain the eastern hill to the left; the Honourable Captain Monson, with the light company of the 52nd, to scour the works towards the western hill on the right ; and the Honourable Captain Lindsay and Captain Robertson, with the flank companies of the 71st regiment, to separate and attack the works or parties they might discover in the chasm, or hollow between the hills ; the 52nd and 72nd regi- ments were to follow the flank companies. Parties * The labour of opening a road through a forest of bamboos can only be known to those who are acquainted with the nature of that tree, which growing in clumps, even from the crevices of the rock, resists more than any other the axe and fire. Dirom. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 205 were also detached round the mountain, under Lieu- tenant-Colonel Baird and Major Fetrie, to draw the attention of the enemy from the main object, and to pre- vent their escape. At eleven o'clock two guns having been fired as a signal from the batteries, the troops ad- vanced to the assault ; the band of the 52nd regiment playing " Britons, strike home !" while the Grenadiers and light Infantry mounted the breach. A large body of the enemy had been observed in the morning to come down from the western hill for the defence of the breach ; but on the appearance of the storming-party they were seized with a panic, and fled. The British troops advanced as rapidly as the ruggedness of the rock and the steepness of the ascent would permit ; and the eastern hill, immediately above the breach, was carried by Captain Gage, without meeting or even over- taking the enemy ; the other division and main body of the gan-ison endeavoured to gain the western hill, and had this been effected the siege must have recommenced, that part of the mountain being defended by several walls and barriers. The pathway from the breach to the western hill beirg, however, very steep and narrow, the fugitives impeded each other in their flight ; and a few well-directed shots from the batteries at that juncture did execution and increased their confusion. The attack on the we^ern hill was thought to be a work of greater difficulty ; and Captain Monson, to whom it was intrusted, was instructed either to advance or not, as circumstances might render expedient. The officer in command of the citadel having witnessed the abandon- ment of the eastern hill, and the ascent of the English paa-ty, made a sally for the purpose of taking them in flank, when he was unexpectedly met among the rocks by the party of Captain Monson, consisting of the light company of the 52nd and a sergeant and twelve Grena- diers of the 71st. The enemy retreated with precipita- tion, followed with great vigour by the English, who pi-essed on so rapidly that they entered the different barriers with the fugitives ; killing, among several others, 306 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the second Killadar, and gained possession of the top of the mountain, where the head Killadar was made prisoner. So close and critical was the pursuit that the sergeant of the 71st, when at some distance, shot the man who was in the act of closing the first gate. More than a hundred of the enemy were killed on the western hill, and several fell down the precipices in at- tempting to escape from the assailants. The prisoners were few ; and, according to their report, the garrisort had consisted of fifteen hundred men, but many had deserted during the siege. Thus, in spite of Tippoo's prediction that one-half of the Europeans employed were destined to die of sickness, and the other half to be killed in the attack, the stupendous fortress of Savindroog was taken by storm in less than an hour, in open day, without the loss of a single man killed, and only one private soldier wounded, by a cannon-ball from one of our own batteries rebounding from the rock as he mounted to the assault ! The fall of Savindroog was the prelude to the capture of several other hill forts in the neighbourhood ; and amongst these was Ootradroog, about eleven miles from Savindroog and thirty from Bangalore. On the march of the Anglo-Indian Army from SeringajDatam in June, this fortress had been summoned to surrender ; but the Killadar rej)lied, " I have eaten Tippoo's salt for twenty years, and will not give up my post till yon have taken. Seringapatam." It was supposed that the fall of Savin- - droog might have made him less scrupulous, and a fl'^o- of truce was despatched, ofiering liberal terms. ''The stajff officer who accompanied it was beckoned frou ^ the fort to advance: he complied with the invitatir^j^ a;Q(j when within sixty yards of the gate a fire of f ^tisketrv was opened upon him and the non-commissior ^Q^[ of&cer who bore the flag, but from which, happily, b ^^h escaped ujahurt. On the following day the fort was attack ^^ ^^^ ^ manner for which the governor was not jDrepared j^ number of field-pieces were run up to appointed st ^^ions, and under cover of their fire an escalade comm' ^j^^ed The side of OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 207 the rock assaulted rose at an angle of thirty-five degrees^ and was defended by seven ramparts rising above each other, including that of the pettah, which was first stormed and carried by Captain Scott of the Bengal army, with four battalion companies of the 52nd and 72nd regiments, and his own battalion of Sepoys. The lower fort was carried so rapidly that the Killadar sent to request a parley ; and while this took place, an appearance of treachery was observed in the upper works, the garrison being busily employed in moving guns and bringing them to bear on the assailants. Exasperated at this sight, and impatient of the delay, the troops again rushed on to the assault ; while the artillery officers were ordered as fast as one wall should be carried, to point the guns over the heads of the assail- ants against the next wall in succession, for the purpose of keeping down the fire of the garrison. Lieutenant Mclnnis, of the 72nd regiment, led the storm, with part of the Europeans, and the pioneers, commanded by Lieutenants Dowse and McPherson, supported by Captain Scott, who followed in more regular order with the rest of his force. Some of the gates were burst open by the pioneers, but most of the ramparts were carried by escalade ; till having passed five or six different walls, which defended this steep and difficult rock, the troops at length gained the summit. The astonishment and confusion of the enemy were so great that their fire, though heavy, was for the most part thrown away, and as soon as a single European was seen above any of the walls they fled precipitately. The Killadar was made prisoner, and many of the garrison killed : many more, tenified at sight of the European bayonets, threw themselves down from the rock, thus blindly rushing on one mode of death in their anxiety to escape another. The total number of wounded in the English detachment was very small ; and, like Savindroog, Ootradroog was carried without the loss of a single life. 208 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTEE, XII. LiOrd Coi'nwallis pi-epares to march on Seringapatam Is joined bj' the Nizam's Contingent Advance of the Anglo-Indian Army Arrival at Seringaputam Formidable Position of Tippoo Lord Comvvalli's resolves on a Night Attack- Commencement of the Battle of Seringapatam The Carighant Hill carried hy Colonel Maxwell The Enemy's Line broken British Troops tbrce the Passage of the river Establish themselves on the Island Critical Escape of Tippoo And of his Treasure Admirable Defence of the Sultan's Redoubt by the English Garrison Preparations for the Siege Impotent Rage of Tippoo The Anglo-Indian Army reinforced Desperate Attempt to assassinate Lord Cornwallis Negotiations for Peace British Ultimatum Preparations for Storming Tippoo accedes to the Terms His two Sons delivered as Hostages General Interest excited in their favour Interruption of the Treaty Peace finally concluded. "While these operations were carrying on, Lord Corn- wallis continued encamped in the neighbourhood^ with the main body of his army j till, after some abortive attempts at negotiation, having completed his prepara- tions, and brought his army into a state of full equip- ment, he determined no longer to delay his inarch upon the capital.* On the 25th of January, 1792, he was joined by the troops of the Nizam, under his son .Secunder Jah. This army had been hitherto detained by the siege of Gurrumconda ; it consisted of a tumul- tuary host, closely resembling the corps already described, and giving little hope of an effective co-operation. Purseram Bhow, who, at the head of his numerous Mahrattas, might have performed with great advantage A convoy from the Carnatic joined the army then encamped near Oussoor, which facilitated the openingof the campaign. One hundred elephants, marching two abreast into camp, all loaded with treasure, on the foremost of which was displayed the British standard, was a sight fit to have graced an Eastern triumph ; and accompanied by six thousand bullocks with rice, one hundred carts with arrack, and some thousands of Coolies with trunks and baskets of rivate supplies, formed such a convoy as never before joined any army of ours I India. Z>'t>ow. OUR ANGLO-Il!fDIAN ARMY. 209 the services assigned to light cavalry, had concluded that it would be more profitable to himself to turn aside and plunder the rich country of Biddenoor ; and to this personal interest he hesitated not to sacrifice all the grand objects of the confederacy. Captain Little, of the Bombay army, who with a body of a thousand men, had been attached to the host of the Bhow, was obliged to second him in all these irregular pursuits, the most arduous services devolving upon himself and his fol- lowers. At one time he was urged to attack a large detachment of Tippoo's army, stationed in an almost 210 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AEMY. impenetrable jungle, covered by a deep ravine. With less than 750 bayonets he undertook the service ; and, after a severe and even doubtful contest, dislodged the enemy v/ith great loss an exploit considered one of the most brilliant by which this war was distinguished. Owing to these circumstances, Lord Cornwallis was reduced to depend on the force under his own imme- diate command, amounting to 22,000 men, with a train of forty-two battering-guns, and forty-four field-pieces ; and on that of General Abercromby, consisting of 8,400 men, which he ordered immediately to approach Seringa- patam. He began his march on the 1st of February, 1792; and by proceeding in three lines instead of one, with his ordnance and heavy baggage in the centre, his infantry and light troops on the flanks, he avoided much of the annoyance hitherto experienced from the attacks of an active enemy.* Nothing could exceed the astonishment and dismay of the Sultan of Mysore at the rapid conquests df the British troops ; an^ doubt and terror began, for the first time, to invade 'his breast. He still, however, had a fine army, consisting of 45,000 in&ntry, oOOO cavalry, and 100 piecfe of cannon ; and with this formidable body he took u[p >'a strong -position in front of Seringa- patam, determined to make a desperate struggle for empire. On the 5th of February the Anglo-Indian Army en- camped within sight of Seringapatam ; and reconnoissance having been made, Lord Cornwallis determined to attack the enemy on the night of the 6th, an event quite un- expected by Tippoo, and the apparent temerity of which, seeing that it was to be performed by infantry alone, without guns, filled the allies with astonishment. On * Lord Cornwallis was desirous of marching, and sent to theMahratta chiefs to request they would move next morning, as their camp lay directly in our route. They returned for answer, " That they should be happy to obey his lordship's commands; but as they had halted eight days, it was not lucky, nor could they, according to the custom of their x-eligion, march on tl;^, ninth ,(ll!J" Dirom. ' ' '*"-* *OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 211 both sides of the river, whose division here forms the island of Ser ingapatam, a large space is inclosed by ^ bound-hedgfj, which marks the limits of the capital, and affords a place of refuge from the incursions of cavalry. On the north side, the inclosure was occupied by Tippoo's army. Within it were several redoubts, one of which, erected on a commanding eminence, was a post of great strength. There were other works calculated to shield his troops from attack, or facilitate retreat in case of necessity ; and his front line was defended by one hun- dred pieces of heavy cannon, while there were not fewer thsLTL three hundred j^ieces in the fort and island which constituted his second line. Such being the formidable nature of Tippoo's position, the determination of the British commander might well be regarded as an act of temerity ; but Lord Cornwallis considered that, while his movements were delayed, this entrenchment would be continually strengthened by new works ; and that his own situation, in the midst of a ^hostile country and of allies so little to be trusted, would become always more precarious. He determined, there- fore, to make an immediate and general attack ; though it appeared necessary, as in the storming of a fortress, to carry on his operations under cover of night, when the batteries by which the camp was defended could not be directed with any degree of precision. The troops to be employed in this hazardous service were divided into three columns, under General Meadows and Colonels Stewart and Maxwell ; the Commander-in- Chief, with the reserve, following close behind ; and the whole, under a bright moon, began to move at eight in the evening. Between ten and eleven o'clock the central column on its advance encountered the enemy's grand guard, a body of cavalry, who were approaching with rockets to disturb the English camp, which annoyance they had practised on the preceding night. The horse- men impiediately galloped off to their lines, leaving the bearers of the rockets to harass the column and endea- 212 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. vour to impede its march. Many rockets were thrown^ but they had little effect beyond that of announcing to the enemy the approach of the British column. The leading division, on being discovered, pushed briskly for- ward, reached the hedge, and entered the enemy's lines about a quarter of an hour after their approach became known. When the rocketing commenced, the left column was ascending the Carighant hill, an eminence on the right of the enemy's camp, near the termination of the bound- hedge. The hill is steep, and of great height ; it com- mands one of the fords and the eastern part of the island, and protected the right wing of the Sultan's camp. This post was justly regarded as of great im- portance, and pi-oportionate care had been taken to strengthen it. It was defended by a double breastwork in front of a stone redoubt, but the work was not en- tirely completed ; a considerable body of infantry, but without artillery, was stationed in it. The Carighant hill terminates the range over which Colonel Maxwell had chased a corps of the enemy at the battle in the month of May preceding. The same officer now commanded the column directed to this point, and the works were scaled by the flank companies of the 72nd, the regiment by which the hill was stormed on the former occasion. The riirht column, under General Meadows, was to attack the left of the enemy's position. From some mistake, it was led to a more distant point than was in- tended, and was consequently later in reaching the hedge than the central column ; but about half-past eleven this column also entered the inclosure, and pro- ceeded to attack a redoubt within the enemy's lines, though not included in the course of operations contem- plated by Lord Cornwallis, and which, after a severe conflict, was carried. It was intended that the right column should advance to meet the central column, and then await furhher orders. General Meadows, accord- ingly, having left a sufficient force for the defence of UB ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 213 tlie captured post, proceeded to move in a, direction which he expected to bring him to the spot marked out for him ; but the occurrence of rice-swamps compelled him to make a larger circuit than had been anticipated, and thus the track of the central column was missed. No firing being heard, it was conceived that all was past ; and that, whether the other columns had gained a victory or sustained a defeat, it was too late to render them any assistance. The central column, the advance of which has already been noticed, was subdivided into three parts. The leading subdivision, after forcing the enemy's line, was? to pass into the island with the fugitives. Orders were- issued to the captains of the leading companies not to suffer themselves to be delayed in the camp, but to push with all possible expedition to the great ford near the north-east angle of the fort. Each captain was held responsible for his own company ; as success was more- dependent on the celerity than the solidity of the move- ment. The second, or central subdivision, after clearing- the right of the camp, was to follow into the island. The third, in the rear, formed a reserve under Lord- Cornwallis, who took up a position where he might support the other parts of the column, and wait the co-operation of the right and left divisions under General Meadows and Colonel Maxwell. The front subdivision, having forced the bound-hedge under a heavy but ill-directed fire of cannon and mus- ketry, advanced steadily, the enemy receding before them. The leading companies pushed for the river, passing the Sultan's tent, which appeared to have been abandoned with much precipitation. The advanced companies, partly from the badness of the ground, partly from the nature of the duty they had to execute, were- soon separated into two bodies. The first that reached the river crossed under the very walls of the fort with- out opposition, and Captain Lindsay even pushed into- the swtie, in the hope of entering the gates with the. 214 OUR ANGLO-INDI/iK AEMY. fugitives ; but the gate was shut, and the bridge drawn up, otherwise that night might have put an end to the war. This party proceeded along the glacis through an extensive bazaar, destroying numbei^ of the enemy, and dispersing several bodies of horse ; they then took post, pa.rt at a bridge over a canal running nearly across the island, and part at a redoubt commanding the southern ford. The second body crossed by the same ford which their companions had passed a few minutes before. Their passage was considerably impeded by the rush of the enemy towards the island, but no attempt was made at resistance. On reaching the opposite bank they turned to the left, and advanced for about a mile to the western gate of the pettah. It was shut, but was soon forced open j the troops stationed for its defence having, on the first alarm, rushed out to man the lines and batteries on the river. The firing from these lines and batteries informed the British party that the right of the enemy's camj) had been penetrated, and it was concluded that the assailants were probably attempting to force their pas- sage into the island. But the enemy were too much confounded even to maintain what was still in their possession. The lines and batteries, which were all open to the rear, were abandoned, and those by whom they should have been defended dispersed in confusion. The second subdivision of the central column passed to the left as intended, for the purpose of breaking the right wing of the enemy's army. On approaching the Sultan's redoubt its progress was opposed by a large body of horse. These were received by a volley, delivered with great steadiness and precision ; and when the smoke cleared away, the horse were seen at a distance scattered over the field. The Sultan's redoubt was found abandoned ; and this being occupied by a party detached for the purpose, the remainder moved on to co-operate with the column under Colonel Maxwell. The rear division of the central column, which was OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 215 under the immediate command of Lord Cornwailis, having entered the bound-hedge, and searching in vain for General Meadows, who, as we have stated, had missed the track of the central column, was attacked by a greatly- superior force, against which he with difficulty main- tained his ground, until at length he was joined by the division of General Meadows. But the most critical moment in the operations of this memorable night was when these two divisions, after having found a ford, undertook to force their way across the river. Being aided by an able movement of Colonel Knox, they succeeded more easily than was expected, though it was so deep that all their ammuni- tion was spoiled, and they were accordingly compelled to place their sole reliance on the bayonet. The morn- ing of the 7th of February thus found within the pettah of Seringapatam the left column and part of the central column of the British force ; the right column, and the remainder of the centre, being on the Carighant hill. During the early part of this nocturnal engagement, equally singular in its operations and important in its results, Tippoo had occupied a strong redoubt on the river, where he took his evening meal ; but on seeing the English divisions advance to the ford, he felt alarmed for his communication with the city, and has- tened to cross it before them. In his flight he almost touched the head of the column, and had several of his attendants killed before he could reach a detached work in an angle of the fort, where he again took a station ; and so critical was his escape, that he had entered the gate but a few minutes before Captain Lindsay's party endeavoured to, gain admission. One of the most singular incidents of this extra- ordinary o])eration was the narrow escape of Tippoo's treasure. The 6th of February was the day for issuing pay to the troops. The required amount had been counted out to each buckshee,* but the issue to the * Paymaster. 216 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. men was not to take place till the following day ; and in the mean time the respective sums remained in the custody of the treasurer, in bags bearing his own seal and that of the buckshee to whom they belonged. On the first alarm of an attack, the treasurer began to load his charge upon camels with all possible despatch. Musket-balls soon began to pass around him, and by one of them he was severely wounded. He continued, how- ever, to proceed with his work, and completed it. The camels were loaded and driven across the ford, inter- mingled with the British troops, and the flying servants- of Tippoo. They reached the bank in safety ; and the undaunted treasurer, conducting his caravan for a con- siderable distance along the glacis, entered the city by the Mysore gate, and had the satisfaction of depositing his charge in security, without the loss of a single rupee. Morning soon dawned, and discovered the British army fully established on the island, and facing the fortress of Seringapatam without any inter^Dosing bar- rier. Tippoo, on perceiving the extent of his disaster, made the most vigorous efforts to retrieve it, and urged his soldiers to recover, if possible, the positions in which the British were not yet firmly established. Several of their attacks, being supported by the artillery of the fort, were very formidable, but they were all finally baffled. Amongst these, the following incident is worthy of immortal fame. The most determined efforts were made by the enemy to recover the Sultan's redoubt, the garrison of which consisted of somewhat less than a hundred Europeans and about fifty Sepoys, commanded by Captain Sibbald of the 71st regiment. In defence of the redoubt, the first object was to shut up the gorge, which was open towards the fort ; and an attempt to effect this was. made by throwing across some broken litters and the carriage of a gun. This being perceived from the forty three guns immediately opened from thence uj:)on the gorge, and two field-pieces were sent to some adjacent. OUE ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. " 217 rocks, the fire of which was directed to the same point. By these means the inefficient barrier was soon shattered into splinters, and considerable injury done to the works. The gorge being clear, the enemy, about ten o'clock, advanced to assault. They were beaten back, but with considerable loss ; and soon after they had retired a cannon-shot deprived the party in the redoubt of their commander, Captain Sibbald. Major Skelly, one of Lord Cornwallis's aides-de-camps, who had been despatched to this spot on some special duty, now took the command, but found the probability of protracting the defence greatly diminished by the prospect of an approaching want of ammunition. While meditating the best means of husbanding the small stock that remained. Major Skelly was informed that two loaded bullocks had wandered into the ditch, and that it was supposed they were part of those which had been appointed for the carriage of spare ammunition. The conjecture was right ; the animals were soon relieved of their lading ; and these stray bullocks, with their un- sightly burdens, "were," says Major Dirom, "more pre- cious to the major and his party at this juncture than if they had been loaded with the richest jewels in Tippoo's treasury." Scarcely had the men filled their cartridge-boxes from this unlooked-for supply, when a fresh attempt was made on the redoubt. The Sultan had been greatly disap- pointed by the ill-success of the former attack, and had passionately demanded if he had no faithful servants to retrieve his honour. After some hesitation, a body of cavalry volunteered their services to accomplish the wishes of their printe ; and about one o'clock they ad- vanced towards the redoubt in compact order, two thou- sand strong. At first it appeared as though they intended to charge at once into the gorge ; but they suddenly stopped, just beyond musket-shot, and four hundred of them dismounting, rushed impetuously forward, to force the entrance with their sabres. 218 OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. The gorge had been necessarily kept clear during the continuance of the cannonade ; but when it ceased, by reason of the approach of the assailants^ the garrison formed across the opening, while the portion of the para- pet which bore on the enemy was also fully manned. Theii- fire was coolly reserved till it could be given with effect, and by the first discharge the leading j)art of the column was completely brought down. Recovering from the momentary hesitation caused by the fall of their comrades, those behind again began to advance ; but the steady and rapid fire of the garrison threw them into confusion, and, regardless of the Sultan's appeal and their answer to it, they fled to their horses and soon disap- peared, their retreat being covered by the firing from the fort and the rocks. After the repose of an hour, the garrison was threatened with another attack. It was led by the Sultan's European corps, commanded by Monsieur Yigie. This corps had been engaged in part of the ope- rations of the preceding night, and, being brought into a situation of some danger, it broke, and officers and men alike sought safety in disorderly flight, an object which was facilitated by the uniform of the corps being red ; but the behaviour of this regiment at the redoubt did not tend to obliterate .the disgrace of their previous flight. The garrison were prepared for a conflict far more severe than those they had already sustained ; but the expecta- tions founded on the supposed superiority of this corj3s over the native troops were not realised. Monsieur Yigie ,and his men advanced but a little way from the rocks,, when a few of the foremost falling, the rest came to a stand, fell into confusion, and went off. No further attempt was made on the redoubt ; and never was relief more welcome than that aftbrded to the garrison by the cessation of the enemy's attacks. The day had been oppressively sultry, and within the narrow limits which bounded the efforts of the garrison two- officers and nineteen privates lay dead; while three officers and twenty-two privates, miserably wounded, were passionately imploring water, which their compa- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 219 nions had not to bestow, being without a single drop even for themselves. Thus surrounded within by death and suffering, exposed without to the attacks of a vast army, supported by the guns of a well-appointed fortress, did this gallant band maintain, not their post only, but their own honour and that of the country which they served. Great were their labours and their difficulties^ but bril- liant and unfading is the glory by which they were com- pensated. Preparations for a siege were now commenced with- out delay by the British troops, who had taken posses- sion of the Laul Baugh^ a beautiful garden situated on the eastern point of the island, ornamented with several palaces, and made sacred by the mausoleum of Hyder Ali. The cypress and other magnificent trees which adorned this favourite place of the Sultan's recreation were now destined to fall beneath the axes of the English pioneers, as no other materials could be procured for making fascines and gabions ; the palaces and choultries being, at the same time, converted into hospitals for the sick and wounded. The proud soul of the Sultan was irritated almost to madness at seeing this charming spot, to ornament which he had bestowed so much pains, laid waste, and the tomb of his father contaminated by the touch of Infidels. He vented his rage in a continual discharge of cannon from the fort, directed towards the Laul Baugh, and every other part within sight, if not within range, occupied by his enemies. But his efforts were vain to retard the jDrogTess of the besiegers, whose victorious forces were now further increased by t?ie corps under General Aber- cromby, by another from the south, which had ascended the pass of Gujelhutty, and even by the Mahrattas under Purseram Bhow, who had at length been shamed or frightened out of his predatory course. -i- * The Mahrattas seeing that we considered the late defeat of Tippoo as a matter of course, and that we looked forward with confidence to the capture of the capital, expressed themselves to the following effect : '' We have brought plenty do you get more guns we will feed you, and you shall fight." J>Jrom.. 220 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. There was nothing, therefore, but the general uncer- -tainty of human things, which could leave a doubt on the mind of Tippoo as to his approaching downfall. He ^accordingly determined to seek peace on almost any con- ditions ; and for this purpose sent Lieutenants Chalmers ^ndNash, whom he had basely imprisoned for their noble defence of Coimbatore, to Lord Cornwallis, to convey to that commander the Sultan's earnest wish for peace, and the proposal to send an envoy to treat for it. Coincident with this pacific mission to the English camp, another was preparing of a very different character. Its' object was the death of the English Commander-in- -Chief ; and on an expedition directed to this purpose, a select body of horse moved on the same day on which the two British officers were released, and crossed the river at Arikery. The movement was observed, but no par- ticular importance was attached to it. The following day was employed by the detached party of the enemy in collecting information. On the third day their advanced guard interposed itself between thd camp of Nizam All and that of the English ; not unobserved, but without exciting suspicion, the intruders being mistaken for a party of Nizam All's horse. So similar were they to that body in appearance that they were allowed, without in- terruption, to advance to the British park of artillery ; ,and when arrived there, they carelessly asked of some natives in attendance on the guns which was the tent of the Burrah Sahib, the principal commander. Even yet no suspicion was excited, but the question 'was misapprehended ; and being supposed to apply to the tent of Colonel Duff, the commandant of artillery, it was, without hesitation, pointed out to them. The horsemen then suddenly drew their swords, and galloped towards the tent which they supposed to be that of Lord Corn- wallis, cutting down the few persons whom they met on their way ; but before they reached the tent towards which they were furiously riding, their ardour received .a check. On the alarm of their approach, a small body OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 221 of Sepoys turned out, whose fire soon changed the course of the horsemen, and sent them towards the hills in flighty at the same headlong speed with which they were pre- viously rushing to the tent of Colonel Duff. Lord Cornwallis having accepted the overture of Tippoo, an officer of distinction, Gholaum Ali, arrived in the camp, and several days were busily spent in negotiation. The following was at length fixed as the ultimatum to be delivered to Tippoo : " The surrender of half his domi- nions, taken from districts contiguous to the territory of the confederates ; the payment of three crores and thirty lacs of rupees (nearly three and a half millions sterling), and the delivery of two of his sons as hostages." Hard as these conditions were, they were powerfully enforced by events which had occurred in the course of the negotiation. On the night of the 18th of l^ebruary, while the attention of the enemy was attracted to the south side of the fort, by the operations of a flying corps under Major Dairy mple and Captain Robertson, the trenches were opened on the north side with such silence and caution tbat though the fort was kept blazing with blue lights, for the purpose of observation, morning had arrived before the Sultan discovered that this operation, so fatal to him, had commenced. A nullah, or ravine, had been converted into a wide and extensive parallel, where the assailants were placed so fully under cover as to render ineffectual every attempt to interrupt their operations. This parallel was carried on and imj^roved till the 21st, when it was completed ; and on that night the line was marked out for a second. This was finished on the 23rd, and the ground was fixed for the heavy batteries, about five hundred yards from the fort, in so advantageous a position as to leave no doubt of a practi- cable breach being speedily effected. As the crisis of his fate thus rapidly approached, Tippoo felt the necessity of coming to a prompt decision on the proposals submitted by the British commander. He called his principal officers to meet in the gi-eat 222 ' OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. mosque, and, laying the Koran before them, adjured them by that sacred book to give faithful advice in this dread emergency. He stated the terras demanded by the enemy, adding, " You have heard the conditions of peace, and you have now to hear and answer my question, Shall it he peace or waf V The chiefs unanimously agreed that, under present circumstances, there remained no alterna- tive, and thus concluded a scene that is said to have been peculiarly affecting. That very night Tippoo sent off, signed and sealed, the conditions transmitted to him by Lord Cornwallis. Early in the morning orders were sent to the English troops to cease from their labour in the trenches, and to forbear further hostilities, an injunction that was received by the soldiers with a deep feeling of disappointment. Their enthusiasm had been raised to the highest pitch ; they cherished the most sanguine hopes that they should tri- umphantly scale the proud walls of Seringapatam, and with their own hands rescue their countrymen immured in its dungeons. The Commander-in-Chief, however, issued very j udicious general orders, in which he exhorted them to display moderation in their present success, and to avoid any insult to their humble adversary. An interesting scene occurred in the fulfilment of that article of the treaty which related to the delivery of the two royal youths as hostages a measure which Lord Cornwallis softened by every species of kindness and in- dulgence ; and in consequence of the deep distress which was understood to prevail in thje palace, a day's delay was gi-anted. Tents having been sent from the fort, and erected for their accommodation, the General offered to wait upon them ; but their father wrote that it was his particular wish they should be brought to his lordship's tent, and delivered into his own hands. They accordingly set out at one in the afternoon of the 26th, the walls being crowded with spectators, among whom was the Sultan himself They rode on elephants richly -caparisoned, dressed in white muslin robes, having round their necks OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AEMY, 223 several rows of large pearls intermingled with valuable jewels.-- The Marquis received the princes at the door, and, taking their hands in his, led them into his tent. The elder, Abd-ul-Khalik, was about ten, and the other, Mooza-ud-Dien, was only eight years of age. The chief Vakeel then said, " These children w^ere this morning the sons of the Sultan, my master ; their situation is now changed, and they must look up to your lordship as their father." The Governor- General made an appropriate reply, assuring the Yakeel, and the princes themselves, that all possible care would be taken for the protection of their persons and the promotion of their happiness a promise which was Religiously fulfilled. Their treatment, in fact, was truly paternal : they were soon relieved from all apprehension ; and so fully was the Sultan contented with the reception of his sons that he ordered a royal salute to be fired in testimony of his satisfaction. The princes, though so very young, having been trained with infinite care in everything relating to external behaviour, astonished all present by the dignity and ease of their deportment, and by that union of politeness and reserve which characterises Oriental courts. A strong interest for the captive youths was indeed prevalent throughout the British army a feeling vrhich, with regard to the younger, was increased by the affecting circumstance of his mother having recently died from fright, occasioned by the attack on Tippoo's lines. After the hostages had been delivered, and a crore of rupees paid, several difiiculties occurred in the arrange- ment of the districts to be ceded, but finally each of the allies picked out what best suited him : the Mahrattas * The princes were each mounted on an elephant, richly-caparisoned, and seated in a silver howdah, being attended by their father's Vakeels, with Sir John Kenna- way, and the Mahratta and Nizam's Vakeels also on elephants. The procession was led by several camel hurcarrahs, and seven standard bearers, carrying small gi'een flags suspended from rockets, followed by one hundred pikemen with spears inlaid with silver. Their guard of two hundred Sepo.) s and a party of horse brought up tlie rear. Lord Cornwallis, attended by h'is staff and some of the principal officers of the ai-my, met the princes at the door of his large tent, as they dismounted from the elephants. DtVom. 224 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. extended their frontier to the Toombuddra, and the Nizam carried his beyond the Pennar. The English took their share in detached portions : on the east, the frontier terri- tory of Baraniahl ; in the south^ Dindigul ; on the west^ a great extent of the disputed coast of Malabar, including, Tellicherry and Calicut. No objection was made till it was observed that this last section included Coorg, long the subject of much deadly contest, and which the Sultan declared he would never give up. Lord Cornwallis, how- ever, was equally determined to have it, for he could not abandon to the fury of Tippoo the faithful allies of the English, and a race unjustly oppressed. Upon this, refusal all was again in movement, the princes were sepa- rated from their native attendants,- and arrangements entered into for despatching them to the Carnatic, under an English escort. Preparations v/ere made for renewing the siege ; the army was full of new hope and animation, and Purseram Bhow began once more to plunder. In less than two days, however, the Sultan again felt the weight of the necessity which pressed upon him, and sent notice that the demand was acceded to. A con- siderable delay still intervened ; but on the 1 8th of March, 1792, the definitive treaty was transmitted to the young princes, that by their hands it might be delivered. Accordingly, at ten o'clock on the morning of the 19th the royal hostages waited on Lord Cornwallis, and the eldest presented to him all the three copies of the treaty. As the Yakeels of the two allied chiefs, who did not choose to appear in person, soon after entered, his lord- ship returned their copies, which the boy delivered to them in a manly though evidently less cordial manner ; and, on hearing something muttered by the Mahratta envoy, asked what he grumbled at, hastily adding, " They might well be silent, as certainlv their masters had no reason to be displeased." Indeed, if any of the parties concerned had reason to grumble, it was the Anglo-Indian Army ; for instead of the large grants which had accrued QUE ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 2SS^ to individuals from the conquest of Bengal, tlie prize money in these three campaigns amounted only to ^93,584, which, after Lord Cornwallis and General Meadows had generously given up their shares, and the Company had added a large gratuity, only allowed to a colonel .1,161 12s., and to a private soldier 14 II5. 9c?. By this treaty Tij)poo became again possessed of Ban- galore ; but he was so disgusted with it for having served as the grand depot of the English army that, although, the fortifications had cost him and his father many mil- lions of rupees, he, in a fit of spleen and impotent rage, directed them to be levelled with the ground an order, however, which was never finally carried into execution. The next care of the Sultan was to purify the Laul Baugh, which had been used as a place of burial for the Euro- peans, whose bodies were now dug up and thrown into the river. The mausoleum of Hyder was also thoroughly repaired and newly painted ; and every possible measure was taken to efface the vestiges of its late possessors. 226 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER XIII. Tippoo's Schemes of Vengeance His Embassy to Zeraun Shah His chi- merical Reli{?ious Project He entertains French Adventurers Arrival of the- Pirate Ripaud at Mangalore He is joyfullj' received at the Court of Tippoo Vain Boasting of Ripaud Tippoo sends him on an Embassy to the Isle of France Ostentatious Reception there oi' the Ambassadors Sad Disappoint- ment of Tippoo's Hopes A Jacobin Club formed at Seringapatam The bonnet rouffe conferred upon Citizen Tippoo Lord Mornington's Opinion of these Proceedings His Inquiry into Tippoo's Intrigues His Conviction." of their dangerous Tendency Formidable French Corps in the Nizam's Service- Its Dispersion by the Governor-General Lord Mornington's Remonstrance slighted by Tippoo Declaration of War against the Sultan Mysore invaded by the Anglo-Indian Army General Stuart's Force unexpectedly attacked by Tippoo Gallant Defence of the Sepoys Battle of Malavilly The Anglo- Indian Army advance on Seringapatam Despondency of Tippoo and his Chiefs. Notwithstanding the humiliations which Tippoo had suffered, and the losses he had sustained by the late war, he still cherished the fond but delusive hope of inflicting the most ample vengeance upon his enemies.* He had lost during the last campaigns one-half of his territorial possessions, sixty-seven forts, eight hundred pieces of cannon, and 49,340 men ; but his restless soul brooding, in the retirement of his palace, over his misfortunes, and agitating schemes of retribution for the insults he had suffered, was now preparing new triumphs for his enemies, and paving the way for his own destruction. Hopeless of assistance from his French allies, the baffled Sultan of Mysore turned his thoughts towards "Tippoo's thoughts were constantly bent on war and military preparations, and he has been frequently heard to say that in this world he would rather live two days like a tiger than two hundred years like a sheep." Beatson's " War with tippoo." "The name Tippoo signifies tiger in the Canarere language. The adoption of the tiger-stripe in the uniform of the infantry, and as a distinctive ornament in the palaces, in casting guns, and on all the insignia of royalty, was tbunded on this name. Royal tigers wei-e chained in the court of entrance of the pal ce, and the construction of the throne was made to conform to the same terrific emblem." ColoneL Wilks' " Sketches of South of India.'' OUR ANQLO-INDIAN ARMY. 227 the native powers of India ; and notwithstanding the bad faith he had before so often experienced from them, he resolved to form a confederacy which, by including every potentate of any power or influence, might render his long concerted project more feasible. With this view, after having fulfilled all the conditions of the late treaty, and received back his sons in 1794, he sent ambassadors to the Court of Zemaun Shah, the sovereign of the Afghans a powerful and warlike tribe, inhabiting the rich and populous provinces of Candahar, Cabul, and Cashmere, with whom we were at that time but little acquainted. A correspondence had subsisted between Tippoo and Timur Shah, the father of this prince, before the com- mencement of the late war ; and he now indulged a sanguine hope of obtaining the assistance of the latter, in a simultaneous attack upon the British territories. In order that the influence of religion might be added to political considerations, the Sultan of Mysore proposed to the Afghan prince the total extermination of the Brahmins and Europeans ; and the establishment, through- out all India, of the faith of Mahomed. This, how- ever, was to be a secret article between them and the Nizam ; for he proposed to engage in the confederacy the Peishwa and Dawlut Bao Scindiah, who were both bigoted Hindoos. So extensive were the connexions and in- trigues of Tippoo at this period, that he is said to have induced even Mahomed Ali, Nabob of the Carnatic, the old and supposed faithful friend of the British, to concur in his designs. Zemaun Shah, at this time engaged in a war with the Emperor, conceived the projects of Tippoo to be very chimerical, and the hopes of success very faint and un- certain. Influenced by these considerations, and dis- couraged by an unsuccessful attack upon Delhi, he de- clined the confederacy ; in consequence of which, and the failure of an embassy which he 4iad sent to Constan- tinople and Paris, the Sultan was obliged for the present 228 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. to relinquish his intentions^ and turn his views to other quarters for the support he was so anxious to obtain. The revolution in France, and the succeeding war between the English and that country, gave a glimmer- ing of hope to the almost desponding Tippoo. The cap- ture of Pondicherry by the British in 1793 had ruined a number of the inhabitants of that place, several of whom sought refuge and the means of subsistence in the capital of Mysore. Here they were received with open arms by the Sultan, who expected by their means to improve the discipline of his army, and to form an alliance with and receive succours from France. One of these adventurers, a watchmaker, became Tippoo's Secretary for Foreign AiFairs ; but his credit at the Court of Mysore was soon after eclipsed by a fellow named Ripaud, an obscure inhabitant of the Isle of Bourbon. This man, possessing a spirit of adventure, and inspired by the self-confidence peculiar to his coun- trymen, had, in concert with some other desperate cha- racters, seized upon an English merchant- vessel, and, adopt- ing the respectable profession of piracy, had cruised for some time in the Indian seas, with indifferent success. In the beginning of the year 1797, Ripaud was driven by stress of weather into Mangalore, to solicit the means of repairing his shattered vessel. There he met with Gholaum Ali, whom the Sultan had formerly employed on the embassy to France. To him Bipaud boldly re- presented himself as second in command at the Mauri- tius ; and stated that he had come to give notice of a large force being ready at that island, to co-operate with them in driving from India their common enemy. He was immediately forwarded to Seringapatam, where the monarch, contrary to the advice of his most prudent counsellors, who assured him that this stranger was an impostor, received him into his entire confidence. The result of this wise proceeding was an arrange- ment by which the master of the vessel, though re- cognised in his high character of an envoy, was, for the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 229 sake of concealment, to be ostensibly received into the sendee of Tippoo. His vessel was to be purchased on the part of that prince, to be laden with merchandise for the Mauritius ; and confidential agents of the Sultan were to proceed in her for the purpose of concerting all that related to the proposed armament. The purchase was accordingly made ; but as the master was to remain in Mysore, the money was intrusted to one of his countrymen, to make the required payment on its arrival at the Mauritius. This gentleman, however, absconded with the purchase-money, and has never since been heard of. His unexpected flight disconcerted, in some degree, the Sultan's plans, and even shook his confidence in the pretended French envoy ; but so eager was he to grasp at any shadow of success that he restored the vessel to Ripaud, on his giving bond for the amount intrusted to his countryman, and the quondam pirate was despatched with two ambassadors to the Isle of France, to adjust the terms of a treaty ofiensive and defensive. This mission arrived at the Mauritius, where, of course, they were altogether unexpected ; but when Malartie, the Governor, learned their purpose, he determined to give them a cordial reception. They landed under a salute of artillery, were conducted to the Government House, and received there in state. Malartie expressed the utmost readiness to accede to the proposals of their master, which were simply that he should send an army of twenty-five or thirty thousand men to assist in con- quering the English, the Nizam, and the Mahrattas, and to divide all India between them. The justice, pro- priety, and advantage of this arrangement were fully acknowledged by Malartie; and there was only one small obstacle to its completion, which was, that he had not a single soldier at his command. As, however, no Frenchman is ever at a loss for an expedient, Malartie made up for his own deficiency by issuing a proclamation, announcing the arrival of the 230 OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. ambassadors and the object they had in view; and calling upon all the citizens who had any martial spirit to enlist \mder the banners of the Mysorean sovereign, who made the most liberal offers of pay and allowances. They thus succeeded in levying exactly ninety-nine persons : blacks, browns, and whites, citizens, soldiers, and sailors, constituting the sum total of martial spirit in the Isle of France. With this motley group the ambassadors were fain to depart ; and landing at Mangalore on the 26th of April, 1798, they proceeded to Seringapatam. Great, indeed, was the Sultans disappointment when he beheld this miserable substitute for the 30,000 soldiers he had ex- pected. But he seems to have been in a state of blind and violent excitement, and welcomed to his capital the embassy with their slender accompaniment ; still fondly encouraging the hope that by their means he might yet accomplish the herculean task of expelling the hated English from the Indian soil. One of the earliest measures of Tippoo's new friends was to organise a Jacobin club, on those principles the propagation of which had already deluged Europe with blood. This association was not merely tolerated by the Sultan it was honoured by his special approbation, and he even condescended to become a member of it. Whether or not he submitted to the fraternal embrace is uncertain ; but it is beyond a doubt that he was enrolled among these assertors of liberty and equality, and added to the titles which he previously bore another which, in India at least, had the charm of novelty : the Sultan of Mysore became Citizen Tippoo ! The tree of liberty was planted, and the cap of equality elevated. The citizen adven- turers met in primary assembly ; " instructed each other," says Colonel Wilks, " in the enforcement of their new rights, and the abandonment of their old duties." Kipaud made a speech, replete with ignorance and absurdity ; the emblems of royalty were publicly burnt ; and the following oath, a masterpiece of folly and in- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. 231 consistency, was taken by the doughty heroes of Free- dom : " We swear hatred to all kings except Tippoo Sultan the victorious, the ally of the French Kepublic. War against tyrants, and love for our country, and for that of Citizen Tippoo!" But however imposing these childish rites may have seemed to the multitude, or amusing to persons of re- flective minds, they soon attracted the notice of the Earl of Mornington, who arrived in Bengal as Governor- General in the month of May, 1798. Regarding the whole matter rather as an indication of hostile feeling than an evidence of any power to injure, this great statesman felt it his duty to institute a searching in- quiry into the proceedings of Tippoo ; the result of which was a decided opinion that they were equivalent to " a jDublic, unqualified, and unambiguous declaration of war ;" and that " an immediate attack upon Tippoo Sultan appeared to be demanded by the soundest maxims both of justice and policy." Notwithstanding Tippoo's reiterated professions of friendship. Lord Mornington had been for some time convinced of his duplicity. His correspondence with Zemaun Shah, and the result of his embassy to the Isle of France, were well known to the Governor-General ; who could not avoid perceiving, in the military preparations of the Sultan, that the whole kingdom of Mysore bore a hostile and menacing aspect. The successes of the French in Egypt, and the possi- bility of transporting a body of troops from that country to the Malabar coast, added fresh energy to the councils of Lord Mornington ; he saw that the period for action had arrived, and he lost not a moment in preparing for a struggle which he determined to make decisive. The dangers to be apprehended from Tippoo were, moreover, greatly increased by the actual position of the neighbouring states. The only two by which his power could be balanced were the Mahrattas and the ISTizam. The former confederacy, notwithstanding its great extent, was now in so distracted a state that the Peishwa, its 232 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. nominal head, could scarcely maintain his authority against the turbulent chiefs who were struggling for supremacy. The dominions of the other were also ill- organised, and his troops quite undisciplined. His chief military strength lay in the French corps trained after the European manner by Raymond, that had been raised before the commencement of the war in which that prince was engaged, in conjunction with the English and the Peishwa, against Tippoo Sultan. Its original streng'th did not exceed fifteen hundred, but in a few years it had increased to eleven thousand ; and, at the period of the Earl of Mornington's arrival in India, it consisted of thirteen regiments of two battalions each, amounting in the whole to upwards of fourteen thousand men. Its discipline had latterly been greatly improved : a commencement had been made of a body of cavalry to act with the corps ; and, besides field-pieces to each regiment, there was a park of frty pieces of ordnance r chiefly brass, from twelve to thirty- six pounders, with a well-trained body of artillerymen, many of whom were Europeans. But this corps, so long the source of annoyance and apprehension to the British Government, was now doomed to dispersion. The Nizam had long been anxious for a closer connexion with the British Grovem- ment than that which subsisted between them ; and the Earl of Mornington concluded a new subsidiary treaty with him, by which it was agreed that the latter should supply a British force of six thousand men, to defend his territories ; on the arrival of which at Hyderabad, the whole of the officers and sergeants of the Erench party were to be dismissed, and the troops under them "so dispersed and disorganised that no trace of the former establishment should remain." The British subsidiary force from Bengal having arrived at Hyderabad, and a detachment from Madras having joined them there, on the 10th of October, 1798, Captain Kirkpatrick, the acting British Resident, de- OUR anglohindian army. 233 manded the full execution of that article of the treaty which related to the French corps. But intrigue was at work to procure its postponement, and the Nizam hesi- tated ; till Colonel Roberts^ who commanded the British troops, marched them up to the French cantonments, and surrounded them. Raymond's soldiers at once dreading a conflict with the English, and discontented on account of their arrears of pay, rose in mutiny against their chiefs ; but on being assured of the money due to them, and of future service under other leaders, they laid down their arms. Thus, in a few hours, without a blow being struck, was dissolved a corps of fourteen thousand men, having an arsenal filled with military stores, and a handsome train of artillery. The whole of the French ofiicers were sent to Calcutta, from thence to be transported to England ; the Governor- General engaging that, on their arrival there, they should not be treated as prisoners of war, but be immediately restored to their own country ; their property was care- fully preserved for their use, and their pecuniary claims on the Nizam duly settled, through the influence of the British Resident. The Earl of Mornington having by these means secured the co-operation of the Hyderabad forces, and at the same time, by indefatigable exertions, rendered his military establishment efficient, determined to bring affairs to an immediate crisis. Before hostilities com- menced, however, the Sultan was allowed time to avert them by proper concession ; and, with this view. Lord Mornington wrote him a letter on the 8th of November, 1798, couched in a style of dignified remonstrance; in which he acquainted him with the knowledge he had obtained of his preparations for a rupture with the English, asserted the pacific dispositions of the latter, and proposed that the Sultan should receive Major Doveton at his court, to explain all causes of distrust and suspicion, and to establish peace upon a sure foundation. I* 234 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. But the Sultan, who foresaw that some demands were to be made upon him, could not bring down his mind to the necessity of submission : he still placed a vague confidence in destiny, in the aid of foreigners, and in alliances which he hoped to form with the northern powers of India. Several other letters passed between Tippoo and the Governor-General, with studied delays and evasions on the part of the former, who affected to perceive no necessity for receiving a British envoy, as he was conscious of the most inviolable fidelity. Lord Mornington, however, convinced by the most irrefragable testimony of the falsehood of his assertions, and fearing the approach of the monsoon, ordered Lieutenant-Gene- ral Harris to enter the teiTitory of Mysore, with the army under his command, on the 3rd of February, 1799. He, at the same time, issued a manifesto, declaring that he was forced upon this measure by the frequent infrac- tions of treaty of which Tippoo had been guilty, parti- cularising the engagements he had entered into with France, then our enemy : his having permitted the French troops to land openly at Mangalore, and having collected by their aid a force clearly destined to carry those engagements into effect ; his application to the French Directory for a more powerful force, destined to the same end ; and his declaration that the delay of the meditated blow proceeded from no other cause than his expectation of receiving further aid from the enemy. Tippoo, now perceiving that affairs were drawing to a crisis, and still wishing to procrastinate, wrote to the Go vernorr General on the 13th of February, declaring his willingness to receive Major Doveton ; but his lordship, in reply, referred the Sultan to General Harris, who was now the only person authorised to receive his communi- cations. All correspondence accordingly ceased ; and on the 22nd of FebiTiary a formal declaration of war wa published in the name of the allies, who made the most active preparations for carrying it on with vigour. The army appointed to invade the kingdom of Mysore OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 235 consisted of 4,381 European and 10,695 native infantry, 884: European and 1,751 native cavalry, with 608 gunners ; forming in all 18,319 fighting men, with 104 pieces of camion, and 2,483 Lascars and pioneers. To these were added 10,157 infantry, and 6000 horse belonging to the Nizam ; which, being strengthened with some of the Company's battalions and the 33rd King's regiment, were placed under the immediate command of Colonel Wellesley, who commenced in this campaign that career of glory which stands unequalled, perhaps, in the annals of the world. General Stuart, a veteran in Indian war- fare, was also advancing with 6,420 men from Malabar to join and co-operate with the main army. Tippoo, anxious to strike a blow at the commencement of the campaign, had the penetration to discern the advantage which he derived from the detached state of the invading armies proceeding from Malabar and Coro- mandel. He might thus attack the former when they had just ascended the Ghauts, amid the hills and forests Avhich inclose the territory of Coorg. Accordingly, by a rapid movement to the westward, he arrived, on the 5th of March, 1799, very unexpectedly in their neighbour- hood ; and the English, who conceived that the main force of the enemy was still on the opposite side of India, were somewhat disconcerted. General Stuart had stationed a brigade of three native battalions, under Lieutenant-Colonel Montresor, eight miles in advance on the hill of Ledasseer, to observe any signal that might be made by the eastern army. On the morning of the 5th, an encampment was unexpectedly observed to be in progress of formation on the ground in front, near Periapatam. Before the evening it had assumed a formidable appearance : several hundred tents were counted ; and one of them being green, seemed to mark the presence of the Sultan. As the country was difficult and wooded, and, to troops w^'^ were acquainted with its localities, extremely favouraoie for taking an enemy by surprise. General Stuart resolved to strengthen 236 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the brigade of Colonel Montresor by an additional bat- talion of Sepoys, and wait for further intelligence to determine his future course. At break of day on the 6th, General Hartley, the second in command, advanced from the main body to reconnoitre. He could discern that the whole of the enemy's army was in motion ; but the thick jungle which covered the country, and the haziness of the atmosphere, rendered it impossible to ascertain the object of the movement. It was, in fact, the Sultan making his dispositions to attack the advanced body of General Stuart's army. A deep jungle lay between him and his enemy ; and at nine o'clock he passed through the brush- wood undiscovered, and threw himself furiously on the front and flanks of Montresor's brigade ; his advance being conducted with such secrecy and expedition that the junction of the battalion destined to reinforce Mon- tresor could not be effected. But though surprised and assailed under very discouraging circumstances by a force immen&ely superior in point of numbers, the Sepoys behaved with veteran steadiness, and fought most gal- lantly. Every effort made by Tippoo to shake their formation failed ; and for five hours these native regi- ments sustained furious and repeated assaults unsup- ported. On receiving intelligence of this attack. General Stuart marched with a strong body of Europeans ; and, en- countering the division of the enemy which was acting on the rear of the English brigade, put them to flight after a smart engagement of half an hour's duration. The attack in the front still continued ; and, on reaching it. General Stuart found the men nearly exhausted with fatigue, and almost destitute of ammunition ; but the fortune of the day was decided, and the enemy retreated in all directions. The discovery thus made of the un- expected proximity of Tippoo induced General Stuart to change the disposition of his force, and to abandon the post occupied at Ledasseer : this circumstance led the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 237 Sultan to claim a victory ; but his loss was estimated at two thousand, while that of the English fell short of a hundred and fifty. The Anglo-Indian army of the Carnatic was now advancing into the heart of the Sultan's dominions. General Harris, having been joined by the Hyderabad contingent and the troops of Nizam Ali, had crossed the Mysore frontier with an army about thirty-seven thousand strong the day on which Tippoo had encamped near Periapatam. All writers agree in stating that no army could be in a higher state of equipment ; yet the march was slow, owing to its immense convoy of sixty thousand oxen, carrying several months' provisions for the whole force, and a battering-train to reduce a fortress the fall of which was expected to bring with it that of the whole kingdom. On the 27th of March, 1799, the Anglo-Indian Army had advanced to Malavilly, about thirty miles from the capital ; and General Floyd, with the advance, having approached within a mile of that village, discovered the whole force of the Sultan posted on the elevated ground behind it. An attack being immediately determined on, Colonel Wellesley, with the Nizam's troops, his own (the 33rcl) regiment, and General Floyd's cavalry, advanced against the left, while General Harris attacked the right. For a time, Tippoo, by a rocket discharge and brisk cannonade, strove to arrest these forward movements; but the British advanced steadily, and no effort which the enemy could make was capable of checking them. A fine body of the Sultan's chosen troops, amounting to two thousand, then advanced against the 33rd in perfect order and with great gallantry ; but the English infantry reserving their fire, received that of their antagonists at the distance of sixty yards, and answered by a bayonet rush. The Sultan's infantry broke 3 the British cavalry charged home no quarter was given, and an immense number of the bravest of Tippoo's troops were bayoneted or cut down. 238 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Tippoo, after this defeat, made another attempt to carry into effect his plan of desultory warfare. He had removed or destroyed all the forage and almost every blade of grass on the main road between his enemy's position and the capital ; and he hovered round, ready to fall upon their rear as they marched along this deso- lated route. But he was completely disappointed by the movement of General Harris, who, after leaving Mala- villy, turned to the left, crossed the Cauvery at the fords of Soorilly, and proceeded to Seringapatam along the southern bank of that river a resolution which, being wholly unexpected, no precautions had been taken to defeat. This detour was effected so secretly that the army, with its park and ordnance, had crossed the river, and encamped near the fort of Soorilly, before Tippoo was aware of the movement. On seeing their last scheme thus baffled, the Sultan and his principal officers were struck with deep dismay and despondence. Having assembled them in council, he said, " We have arrived at our last stage ; what is your determination V " To die along with you !" was the unanimous reply. A resolution was accordingly formed to try again the fortune of the field, with the alternative only of victory or death. All present were deeply affected : one of the chiefs, before taking leave, threw himself prostrate and clasped the feet of his master, the usual sign in India of the most solemn farewell. The latter could not refrain from tears : his example quickly spread through the whole assembly, and they parted as men who had met for the last time in this world. But the final crisis was not yet arrived. Tippoo had expected that the English commander would proceed to the eastern extremity of the island of Seringapatam, cross the branch of the Cauvery that inclosed it, and establish himself on the ground formerly occupied by Lord Cornwallis. But General Harris chose to make a circuit which would bring his army opposite to the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 239 western point of the island and fortress ; thus avoiding the wasted tract prepared for him, and, at the same time, opening a more ready communication with the Bombay- army, under General Stuart, and the fertile districts in the south. This expedient also enabled him to avoid the ground on which the Sultan had purposed to give battle ; and that chief, thwarted in all his measures, threw him- self into the town, with the resolution of defending it to the last extremity. 240 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER XIV. Description of Seringapatam It is invested by the Anglo-Indian Army Junc- tion of the Bombay Force General Harris resolves to attack the western Angle of the Fortress The Siege is vigorously pressed /Sortie of the Garrison repulsed Attempt at Negotiation British Ultimatum Distracted State of Tippoo's Mind Formidable Batteries erected The Guns open on the Curtain A practicable Breach effected Preparations for the Assault The Storming- partytakepostintheTrenchesSinsrularlnstanceof retributive Justice Super- stitious Rites of the Sultan The Hour of Attack Advance of the Storming- party The Forlorn Hope Death of its Leader- Success of the right Attacking- party- More difficult Progress of the left Column Dreadful Slaughter of the Enemy Gallant Conduct of Tippoo during the Assault He is twice wounded And ultimately killed by a private Soldier Surrender of the Palace and Family of Tippoo Search for and Discovery of the Sultan's Body Funeral of Tippoo Awful Storm Casualties of the Siege Plunder taken at Seringa- patam Submission of the Mysorean Troops Removal of Tippoo's Family to Vellore Partition of Mysore Restoration of the Hindoo Dynasty. Seringapatam stands on an island of bare and some- what sterile appearance, formed by the river Cauvery, which is here divided into separate streams ; the waters creeping sluggishly along for nearly three miles, when they again become united. This insulated surface is in no place above a mile across ; and on its upper extremity the city is built, both channels of the river flowing im- mediately beneath its walls. The fortifications are in the Eastern style ; the works irregular, and the defences rather numerous than well- constructed. Several walls, one within the other, connect bastions of different forms ; some being the ancient Hindoo tower, while others are of regular proportions, and formed after the designs of European engineers. At the commencement of the siege, the garrison numbered twenty thousand men of all arms ; and more than two hundred and fifty pieces of cannon were mounted on the works. our' ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY, 241 On the 5tli of April, 1799, the Anglo-Indian Army took their station opposite the western front of the fortress, at the distance of about two miles. The position was strong ; their right resting on elevated ground, and their left upon the river Cauvery ; while several topes, or gi'oves of trees, which they successively captured, afforded ample materials for the construction of the works.* The enemy still occupied a defensive line behind an aqueduct, on which Colonels Wellesley and Shawe made a night attack and were repulsed ; but, being reinforced, they carried it in open day. Meanwhile General Floyd was detached, with a con- siderable body of infantry and cavalry, and twenty field- pieces, to meet and escort General Stuart and the Bombay army. Tippoo made a large detachment to intercept them ; but all attempts failed, and the united bodies joined General Harris in safety on the 14th. Before their arrival Tippoo had addressed a letter to the Com- mander-in-Chief, declaring that the writer had adhered firmly to treaties, and asking the meaning of the advance of the English armies, and the cause of hostilities. General Harris replied, by directing the Sultan's attention to the letters of the Governor-General for explanation. Deliberations were now held as to the point whence the town might be most advantageously attacked. There was a south-western angle, by assailing which the besiegers could have obtained a lodgment on the island, and been thereby secured from the expected swelling of the Cauvery; while at the extreme west, the walls extending along the " After a night attack on one of these in front of the position, from which the besiegers hart been greatly annoyed by a constant discharge of musketry, a curious incident occurred while returning in the dark to the lines. Lieutenant Lambton came up, and assured General Baird, to whose staff he was attached, that the troops, instead of marching from, were marching on the enemy. The guide, on being referred to, was obstinate in asserting that he was right, while Lambton declared that in the starlight he had clearly ascertained that, instead of moving to the southward, the troops were marching directly north. Baird pro- cured a pocket-compass, and, putting a fire-fly on the glass, ascertained that his march was erroneous, and his guide entirely astray. Fortunately he had time to remedy the mistake, jocularly observing that ' in future he should put more faith in the stars than he had'done formerly.'" Hook's '^ Life of Sir David Baird." 24:2 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. very brink of that river could be reached only by crossing its channel. The fortifications at the first point, how- ever, appeared both strong and complicated ; while the most western ,angle projected beyond the main body of the fortress, and was not duly flanked, or protected by the other defences. Besides, while regularly attacked from the south, it could be enfiladed from the northern, bank of the Cauvery. The river, too, was fordable there ; and it was confidently expected that, before the moonsooa had augmented its waters, the campaign would be over. In pursuance of these views, General Stuart crossed the stream, and succeeded in gaining a position on the north- ern bank in which he could efiectually co-operate with the main attack. The siege was now vigorously pressed. On the 20th and 26th two strongly-intrenched posts that guarded the approaches to the wall were carried by attacks under the direction, the one of Colonel Sherbrooke, and the other of Colonel Wellesley. On the 22nd the garrison had made a sortie, and fell in considerable force on the Bombay army ; but their sustained efibrts were repulsed, and they were driven into the town with a loss of six hundred men. Between this and the 28th some com- munications passed between Tippoo and General Harris, with a view to an accommodation ; but the draft of pre- liminaries forwarded by the latter was so ijnfavourable, and so pertinaciously adhered to, as put a final stop to all communication between them. The British ultimatum called upon Tippoo for the cession of half his dominions, the payment of two crores of rupees, one immediately, and another in six months ; with the delivery of four of his sons, and four of his principal chiefs, as hostages. On perusing this answer, the energies of the Sultan seemed entirely to fail. Yielding to despair and grief, rather than rage, he sank into a state of stupor, alternating with paroxysms of extravagant and groundless exultation. He no longer took any steady view of his danger, or OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 243 rationally followed out the means by which it might still have been averted.* At sunset, on the 28th, a place was marked out for the breaching batteries ; and as they were only four hundred yards from the wall, no doubt was entertained of their speedily effecting their object. Two of five and six guns respectively were erected, seventy yards distant from each other ; but, as only one could be completed by the morning of the 30th, its fire was directed, not against the spot intended to be breached, which it was not desir- able the enemy should yet know, but against the adjoin- ing bastion, whose fire might have taken the assailants in flank. Enfilading batteries were also constructed, which were expected to render it impossible for the enemy to remain on the walls during the assault. On the 2nd of May the two principal batteries were completed, and opened a heavy fire on the curtain to the right, several guns of large calibre being gradually got to work. The old masonry, unable to support this well- served and well-sustained cannonade, began to yield : masses of the wall came down into the ditch, a breach in the fausse-braye was reported practicable, and on the 3rd of May the face of the curtain was in such a state of ruin that fascines, scaling-ladders, and other implements of storm were brought into the trenches, and preparations made for an immediate assault. On that night Lieute- nants Farquhar and Lalor crossed the river, which they found easily fordable, with a smooth rocky bottom, and set up sticks to indicate the most convenient passage. The retaining wall of the fortress being only seven feet high, presented no obstacle whatever to the troops, and there was a practicable breach of a hundred feet wide. Before daybreak on the 4th of May, the troops destined for the assault were stationed in the trenches. They consisted of nearly two thousand four hundred European " During the whole of the siege Tippoo appears to have laboured under an infatuation that Seringapatam was impregnable, and his constant expression upon ever J occasion was, ' Who caa take Seringapatam V "JBeatson's " War tvith Tippoo." 244 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. and about eighteen hundred native infantry. General Baird commanded the storming-party, and the command of the reserve in the advanced works was confined to Colonel Wellesley. The assault was to take place at one o'clock, during the extreme heat of the day ; when, according to their usual custom, the enemy's troops were expected to be sunk in indolence and repose. That the capture of Seringapatam should, to a certain extent, have been achieved by the agency of Baird, appears a striking act of retributive providence. He who was to lead on that resistless soldiery, by whose bayonets the life and throne of Tippoo were to be extin- guished, had pined nearly four years in hopeless captivity, the tenant of a dungeon, in that capital which in a few hours he was to enter as a conqueror. In the melancholy slaughter of Colonel Baillie and his troops by Hyder Ali, on the 10th of September, 1780, Baird, then a captain, was desperately wounded, made prisoner, hurried to Seringapatam, and there subjected to treatment that, even at a period remote from the event, cannot be heard without producing in the reader a thrill of disgust and horror. Of the many who had shared his captivity, few remained to narrate their sufferings. Disease, starvation, poison, and the bowstring had ended their miserable lives ; but a providential ordinance willed it that Baird should survive, and, after disease had failed to rob him of life, or temptation deprive him of his honour,* he was destined to lead that band of vengeance by whom a tyrant was exterminated, and the power of Mysore pros- trated to the dust ! Meanwhile, the Sultan, as the term of his life and empire approached, instead of employing the usual means of deliverance from this extreme peril, occupied himself only in superstitious and delusive modes of prying into * ' During this period, Hyder sent some of his principal ofl&cers to induce the English to enter his service. He ottered them three times as much pay as they received in our army, and as many horses, palanquins, and wives as they chose." Hook's " Life of Sir David Baird." OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 245 futurity. He had recourse, in his despair, even to the hated and persecuted Brahmins ; whom he desired to practise, though at immense cost, their wild and mystic incantations. All the astrologers, whether from hostile feelings to his highness, or from seeing that their credit could not be otherwise supported, announced the most imminent danger ; prescribing, however, some absurd ceremonies and oblations by which it might possibly be averted. Under their directions, he went through a solemn ablution, offered a pompous sacrifice, and steadily contemplated his face reflected in a jar of oil. Somewhat re-assured by these sage precautions, and persuading him- self that no attempt would be made during that day, he sat down about noon to his usual repast, under a pandal or shed, on the northern face of the works, with an ap- pearance, at least, of the most undoubting confidence. But destiny pursued its onward course. One o'clock came -the city at that hour was perfectly quiet, and the trenches, to all appearance, contained nothing but their ordinary guards. Suddenly this profound tranquillity was broken : Baird mounted the para-pet of the trench, and stood in full view of both armies, in an heroic atti- tude, heightened by his noble and commanding figure. Waving his sword, he exclaimed, "Come, my brave fellows, follow me, and prove yourselves worthy the name of British soldiers !" Instantly at the word, the forlorn-hope sprang forward, closely followed by the columns of Sherbrooke and Dunlop both plunging into the river, under a tremendous fire of rockets and musketry. In less than seven minutes the foremost assailants had crossed the river, and both the at- tacking-parties mounted the fausse-braye and the breaches together. On the slope of the breach the forlorn-hope was encountered by a body of the enemy, and the greater portion of those engaged fell in the struggle. But the assailants pressed on, led by a sergeant named Graham, who gallantly mounted to the summit, and with three cheers cried out, " Success to Lieutenant Graham !" but 246 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the instant he had planted the British flag on the rampart he was shot through the head. Filing off to the right and left, the storming-parties pressed eagerly forward. The north-west bastion was carried by the party to the right under Colonel Sher- brooke, and all went prosperously, though the discovery of an inner ditch, filled with water, was at first alarming. But the scaffolding used by Tippoo's Avorkmen, and most fortunately left there undisturbed, enabled the British to surmount every obstacle, and enter the body of the place. Captain Molle, commanding the Grenadiers of the Scotch brigade, rushing forvf ard to a cavalier, planted OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AR3IY. 247 a flag upon it, and displayed his hat on the point of his sword. His men soon collected around him, and, being joined by the rest of the troops engaged in this attack, they advanced rapidly, the enemy retreating before their bayonets. The remaining cavaliers were carried in succes- sion ; and in less than an hour after ascending the breach,, this party, after occupying the whole of the southern ramparts, arrived in triumph at the eastern gateway,, where it was halted to give the men breathing time^ after such violent exertion under a burning sun. The progress of the left column was not quite so rapid. Colonel Dunlop, by whom it was commanded, had been, wounded in the conflict at the summit of the breach ;. and just as the party began to advance from that point, the resistance in front was jDOwerfully aided by the flank- ing musketry of the inner ramparts. All the leading officers being either killed or disabled, Lieutenant Farquhar placed himself at the head of the party, but instantly fell, dead. Captain Lambton, brigade-major to General Baird, now assumed the command ; and the column, though not without sometimes being brought to a stand, pushed for- ward, killing many of the enemy, and driving the rest before them, till they reached a point where the approach of the right column was 23erceptible. Here the enemy were thrown into the utmost confusion, and the slaughter became dreadful.* The operations of this column were ably supported by a detachment under Captain Goodall, which, having effected a passage over the ditch between the exterior and interior ramparts, took the enemy in flank and rear. The result of these combined attacks, was, that when both divisions of the British force met od. the eastern rampart, the whole of the works were in their possession. The only remaining objects of anxiety were the palace and person of the Sultan, to whose conduct during the assault we must now revert. * A number of the Rarrison escaped by uniting their turbans, and lowering- themselvis from the bastions. This precarious means of escape occjisionaU^ fai td. and many were found at the base of the walls, maimed or killed from tha attempt. 248 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. For some time before the attack Tippoo had inhabited an apartment in one of the gateways, called CuUaly-Didy, on the northern rampart, in order to be near the scene of action ; and on the morning of the 4th of May, having carefully inspected the breach, he conld not avoid per- ceiving that his situation was now become very critical. He did not, however, betray any symptoms of fear ; but issued his orders to Meer Ghofar, who commanded the troops in the vicinity of the breach, with his usual cool- ness and precision. Tippoo, as we before said, was taking his repast at noon, when information was brought to him that Lynd Ghofar, to whom he had just given his last orders, was killed at the breach by a cannon-ball. He was much agitated at this intelligence, and exclaimed, " Lynd Ghofar was a brave man, and feared not death : he has obtained the crown of martyrdom." He had scarcely uttered these words, when a roar of cannon and musketry gave notice that the attack had commenced ; he washed his hands with great coolness, ordered his fusees to be loaded, and, followed by a number of his officers and servants, hastened along the northern rampart towards the scene of action. On his way to the breach, Tippoo met a number of his troops flying before the storming-party, which had now mounted the walls. He rallied the fugitives, and made head against the assailants, several of whom were shot by his own hand. At length, however, finding himself almost deserted, he was obliged to retire to the traverses of the north ramparts, which he defended, one after another, with the bravest of his men and officers, till a party of the 12th King's regiment having taken him in flank, he was unwillingly compelled to retreat. Fatigued, suffering from the intense heat, and pained by an old wound, Tippoo mounted his horse, and retired slowly along the northern rampart. The British were momentarily gaining ground, the garrison flying in every clirection, while a spattering fusilade, and occasionally a OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 1^9 wild huzza, told that the victors were everywhere advanc- ing. Instead of quitting the city, as he might have done, the Sultan crossed the bridge over the inner ditch, and entered the covered gateway, which was now crowded with fugitives, vainly endeavouring to escape from the bayonets of their conquerors, who were heard approaching at either side. A random shot struck the Sultan in the right side, and another soon after on the left ; he pressed his horse forward, but his passage was impeded by a mob of runaways, who literally choked the gloomy archway. Presently a cross-fire opened, and filled the passage with the dead and wounded. Tippoo's horse was killed, but his followers managed to disengage him, dragged him exhausted from beneath the fallen steed, and placed him in his palanquin. But escape was now impossible ; the British were already in the gateway the bayonet was unsparingly at work for quarter at such a moment was neither given nor expected. Dazzled by the glittering of his jewelled turban, a soldier dashed forward and seized the Sultan's sword-belt. With failing strength Tippoo cut boldly at his assailant, and wounded him slightly in the knee. The soldier, irritated by the pain, drew back, laid his musket to his shoulder and shot the Sultan dead. His com- panions, perceiving the struggle, rushed up ; the palan- quin was overturned, the bearers cut down, the body of the departed tyrant thrown upon a heap ,of the dead and dying, and the corpse, despoiled of everything valuable, left among the fallen Mussulmauns, naked, unknown, and unregarded.* During these transactions. General Baird was informed by some officers that they had discovered the palace, and seen in a species of durbar or court a number of persons * When the Sultan left the palace, he was dressed in a light-coloured jacket, wide trowsers of fine-flowered chintz, a sash of dark-red'silky stuff, and a turban with one or two distinguishing ornaments. He wore his sword in a rich belt slung over liis right shoulder, and a small cartridge-box hung to another embroi- dered belt thrown over his left shoulder ; his talisman was fastened under the jacket on his right arm, a little below the shouldei*. 250 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. assembled, several of whom appeared to be of high con- sideration. He directed Major Allan to summon them to an immediate surrender, in order to avert the calamities that would be inevitable were the royal residence to be "taken by storm. In pursuance of his mission, Major Allan, having entered the building by a broken part of the wall, found a numerous assemblage of armed men, who appeared irresolute and undecided, but positively -declared that Tippoo was not in the building, though his family and two of his sons were. After considerable hesitation, he was at length admitted to see the princes, whom he found seated on a carpet, surrounded by nume- rous attendants. "The recollection," says the Major, *' of Mooza-ud-Dien, whom, on a former occasion, I had seen delivered up with his brother hostages to the Mar- quis Cornvvallis the sad reverse of their fortunes their fear, which, notwithstanding their struggles to conceal it, "was but too evident excited the strongest emotions of compassion in my mind. I took Mooza-ud-Dien by the hand, and endeavoured by every mode in my power to remove his fears." After expressing much alarm and many objections, the princes allowed themselves to be conducted into the presence of the British commander. The General w^as greatly irritated, from having just heard that thirteen Grenadiers of the 33rd, made pri- soners during the siege, had been murdered by Tippoo, and his feelings were probably heightened by the recol- lection of his own sufferings in the same place ; but when he saw these unfortunate youths led out as captives, every harsher sentiment yielded to that of pity, and he gave them the most solemn assurances that they had nothing to fear. They were escorted to the camp with all the honours due to their rank, and received there with every becoming mark of sympathy and respect. General Baird's object being now to obtain possession of the person of the Sultan, he proceeded with a body of troops to make the most diligent search in every corner of the palace. He forbore, indeed, to enter the Zenana, OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 251 but strictly guarded eveiy passage by which anyone could leave it. No trace of the individual he sought could anywhere be found ; till, at length, by severe threats, a confession was extorted from the Killadar that his royal master was lying wounded, as he supposed, in a gateway, to which he offered to conduct the conqueror. The latter immediately accompanied him to the spot, where he beheld a mournful spectacle ; it was here that the fiercest combat had raged, the wounded and dead were lying piled in heaps over each other, while the darkness which had just fallen rendered the scene still more dismal. It was indispensable, however, imme- diately to ascertain the fact ; torches were brought, and the bodies successively removed till they discovered the Sultan's horse, then his palanquin, and beneath it a wounded man, who was soon recognised as a confidential servant, and who pointed out the spot where his sove- reign had fallen. The body was found, and forthwith identified by the Killadar and the other attendants. The features were in no degree distorted, but presented an aspect of stern com^posure ; the eyes were open, and the appearance of life was so strong that many of the spectators could not for some time believe him actually dead. Though despoiled of sword and belt, sash and turban, the well-known talisman that encircled his right arm was soon recognised by the conquerors. The amulet, formed of some metallic substance of silvery hue, was surrounded by magic scrolls in Arabic and Persian cha- racters, and sewed carefully in several pieces of richly- flowered silk ; but empire and life had both departed, in spite of all the mummeries of superstition.* Sleep after a battle is most welcome ; but Baird and * " The ruler of Mysore was of low stature, corpulent, with hiph shoulders, and a short, thick neck; but his feet and hands were remarkably small. His com- plexion was rather dark, his eves larye and prominent, with small arched eye- .hrows, and an aquiline nose He had an appearance of dijrnity, or rather stern- ness, in his countenance, which distinguishea him above tlie common order of his people. When examined after death, he had four wounds tliree in the body, and one in the temple ; the ball having entered a little above the right ear and lodging in the cheek." ^i'arrative by Major Allan. 252 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. his staff were speedily disturbed, and it was communi- cated to the General that the city was on fire, and outrages were being committed, which he took immediate means to remedy. Having again composed himself to rest, a new alarm disturbed him : " The treasury of Tippoo had been forced, and the soldiers were actually loading themselves with gold !" This was true. The door generally used was securely guarded ; but another had been discovered, and by that the plunderers had obtained access to the treasure. Colonel Wallace found the place crowded with soldiers and one officer, all busily employed in pocketing gold and jewels. The individual who disgraced his rank died soon after ; and Baird, as it is supposed, out of respect to his family, kept his name a secret. The body of the late Sultan was removed to the palace, and there respectfully deposited until the neces- sary preparations were completed for an honourable inter- ment, which took place on the afternoon of the 5th of May. The arrangements were under the superintendence of the principal Mahomedan authorities, and the chiefs of the Nizam's army joined with the followers of the Sultan in the solemn procession which followed his remains. As it moved slowly through the city, a keeraut of five thousand rupees was distributed to the fakirs, and verses from the Koran were repeated by the attending Moolahs. Minute-guns were fired from the batteries ; and a guard of honour, composed of European flank companies, followed the remains of the late ruler of Mysore to the sepulchre of his once haughty father, in the Laul Baugh. The following epitaph was written by Lyud Abd-ul-Kadir, one of the Nizam's officers, and suspended over the tomb : "As Tippoo Sultan vowed to wage a holy war, the Almighty conferred the rank of martyrdom upon him ; the date of which Shehir declares thus OFR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 25^ 'The Defender of the Faith, and the Sovereign of the "World, hath departed.'* Al Hegira, 1213." On the evening when Tippoo was committed to his kindred dust, the sky became overcast, and a storm broke foi*th, by which several persons were killed and many more severely hurt.f The rain poured in torrents, while heaven seemed in a blaze ; and peal after peal of thunder appeared to shake the city to its very foundations. Seringapatam is subject to such visitations; and there was nothing remarkable in this storm except its extra- ordinary violence. Yet the imagination cannot fail to be impressed by the fact that the consignment of Tippoo's bod^r to its resting-place was followed by a desolating convulsion not incongruous with his perturbed and mis- chievous life. The conquest of Seringapatam was not achieved with- out a considerable sacrifice ; but the loss of the British army was less severe than might have been expected. The total amount of killed, wounded, and missing, in the whole of the operations throughout the siege, fell short of fifteen hundred. The loss of the enemy cannot be ascer- tained with precision ; but it has been estimated that, in the assault alone, eight thousand fell. It is gratifying, however, to know that scarcely any of the unarmed inhabitants were injured. A few unavoidably suffered from random shots ; but the assault being made by day- light, insured the power of discrimination, and it was exercised to the utmost practicable extent. Tliis splendid capture placed in jDOSsession of the victors guns, stores, and treasure to a large amount. Nine hun- dred and twenty-nine pieces of ordnance of various de- scriptions were found within the foi-t ; two hundred and eighty-seven of them being mounted on the fortifications* * Each of the letters of these two last lines having in the Persian a numerical power, when added together they make 1213, the date of the event, according to the Mahomedan era. t Two British officers attached to the Bombay army were killed in camp that# evening by the lightning. 254 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Ninety-nine thousand muskets and carbines were also found, eighty-three powder-magazines^ and an immense number of shot, shells, \,Et afford shelter against the solar heat at this season, when the thermometer in the shade frequently exceeded one hundred and thirty degrees of Fahrenheit ! The misery of the troops was further increased by the scarcity of water, owing to the debility and mortality that prevailed among the Wieesties, or persons employed in procuring this inestimable article. Numbers of these 314 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. water-carriers perished through the fatigue which they underwent in this fiery climate, where the natives suffer even more than Europeans themselves when called to extraordinary exertions. Such were the afflicting cir- cumstances of this march ; and they were fui-ther ag- gravated by the increasing number of the sick, many of whom were obliged to be conveyed on the common hackeries or country carts, without any covering, and consequently exposed to the sun through the whole day, the vehicles very often not reaching the camp before evening. On one day nineteen Europeans were buried ; and melancholy indeed it was to see the route of the army traced by heaps of earth, giving cover to the remains of so many gallant young soldiers, who, after escaping the dangers incident to the fire and steel of war, fell pitiable victims to the climate.* Although the celerity of Holkar's retreat made it impracticable for the English army to keep up with him, his movements had been accompanied by a body of Hindostanee cavalry despatched for the purpose. It consisted of two parties : one commanded by Captain Gardiner, an officer in the service of the Rajah of Jyena- gur, the other by Lieutenant Lucan, of the King's service, who made several successful attacks on the troops of the enemy ; while in other quarters the British arms met with reverses from the predatory cavalry under Ameer Khan. These trifling disasters were soon succeeded by others far more serious. Subsequently to the capture of Tonk Rampoora, Colonel Don, with part of his detachment, joined Colonel Monson, who, thus reinforced, moved in the direction of Kotah, and, still pursuing a southerly course, advanced to the strong pass of Mokundra, near which he stormed and carried the fortress of Hingslaighur, an old possession of Holkar's family. He subsequently advanced his position about fifty miles beyond the Mokundra pass, in the hope of meeting with Colonel Murray, at that Major Thorn's Narrative. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 315 time on his march from Guzerat towards Oujein, with a considerable detachment. Unhappily, Colonel Murray, after advancing a certain distance, became suddenly alarmed, resolved to retire behind the Mahie river, and actually fell back for that purpose. This retrograde movement gave confidence to Holkar, who, after his retreat, had taken post in Malwa, with the Chumbul river between him and Colonel Monson : this post he now quitted, and recrossed the river with his whole army. Monson was as brave as any officer in the English army second to none in undaunted valour at storming a breach ; but he wanted the rarer quality of moral intrepidity, and the power of adopting great designs on his own responsibility. On the 6th of July, Holkar was engaged in crossing the Chumbul ; and though it had been the intention of Colonel Monson to attack that chief, the fortunate moment of attack, never to be recalled, was allowed to escape, and he did what ordinary officers "would have done at Assaye, when it was as- certained that Stevenson's division could not come up he determined to retire to the Mokundra pass. Had Monson promptly led his men to the charge, he might have encountered with success the large undisciplined host opposed to him ; but he resolved upon retreat -a. movement always disastrous before Mahratta forces, which of all others are the most rapid " and vindictive pursuers. Accordingly, at four in the morning, on the 8th of July, he sent off the whole of his baggage and stores to Soonarah, the troops remaining on the ground of en- campment, in order of battle, till half-past nine. The infantry then moved off, the cavalry being left on the ground with orders to follow in half-an-hour, and to send Colonel Monson the earliest intelligence of Holkar's motions. The infantry met with no interruption ; but, after marching about twelve miles, a report reached them that, at a considerable distance in their rear, Lieutenant Lucan's cavalry had been attacked by the 31^ OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. whole of that of Holkar. Colonel Monson immediately formed his troops in order of battle, and was proceeding to the support of the party attacked, when the fearful intelligence arrived that they were no longer in a situation to receive support. They had been nearly cut to pieces ; and their gallant commander, dreadfully wounded, had fallen into the hands of the enemy.* It is said that this catastrophe was occasioned by the cavalry having remained longer on the field than Colonel Monson intended. On receiving the news of the destruction of so large a portion of his force, Colonel Monson resumed his march towards the Mokundra pass, which he reached on the following day without molestation. On the 11th, Holkar divided his force into three bodies, which at the same point of time attacked the front and flanks of Colonel Monson's corps. The assailants were bravely repulsed, but, not dismayed by their first failure, they repeatedly returned to the attack, and were as often driven back with severe loss. Finding that Ke could make no impression, Holkar drew off his troops to the distance of about four miles, where he was joined by his infantry and guns. The brave resistance offered by the British force on this occasion is but a brilliant speck in the train of disaster and suffering. Colonel Monson continued his retreat to Kotah ; and so great was his anxiety to avoid an engagement that he left his camp standing to deceive the enemy. His march to Kotah was performed under inclement skies, and through an inundated country ; and when he arrived at that place fresh difficulties awaited him. The Kajah refused to admit the British troops into the town, and declared that he could furnish no provisions, of which they began to be greatly in want. Colonel Monson was, therefore, compelled to pursue his march amidst nearly all the privation and suffering that * This brave oflScer, who had rendered excellent service in the war with Scindia, died soon after the action of his wounds, aggravated by neglect and ill-treatment, according to one report ; of poison, according to another. OUR ANGLO-INDIAX ARMY. 317 army, even m an can attend the movement of enemy's country. On the loth of July, the guns became so firmly embedded in the mud that formed the basis of the road by which they had to be transported, as to defy all the efforts made to extricate them. They were consequently spiked and abandoned ; and the march was then con- tinued through a country completely under water. The Chumbulee rivulet was crossed, and on the 29th the whole of the corps was at Tonk Rampoora. On its progress several trifling conflicts took place, in all of which the character of the British troops was maintained. As soon as the situation of Colonel Monson at Mokundra had become known to the Commander-in-Chief, 318 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. a reinforcement of two battalions of Sepoys, with four six-pounders and two howitzers, and a body of Hin- dostanee cavalry, had been despatched from Agra to his relief, as well as a supply of grain. This reinforcement joined Colonel Monson at Tonk Rampoora, where he remained for several days, as if with the intention of making a stand. He, however, finally resumed his retreat, but not until the enemy were close upon him. Heavy rains fell ; and, on the 22nd of August, on reaching the banks of the Banas river, he found the stream impassable. The position of this ill-fated corps was now truly desperate. In their front was a raging torrent, in their rear twenty thousand horsemen, continually receiving fresh accessions of strength in infantry and guns, as they successively came up. The river having at length become fordable, four battalions crossed over ; and the enemy, seeing his advantage, immediately commenced a furious attack on the single battalion and picquets, which now remained alone on the other side. With such heroic constancy, however, was this unequal contest maintained by these brave men, that - they not only repulsed the whole attacks made upon them, but, pur- suing their success, captured several of the enemy's guns an event which clearly demonstrated what results might have followed the adoption of a vigorous offensive in the outset, when the troops were undiminished in strength and unbroken in spirit. Disasters followed fast upon each other. The Sepoy guard who accompanied the military chests was attacked by the cavalry of Scindia, their own ally ; and when the Mahrattas were defeated, they treacherously deserted to Holkar. The whole of the irregular horse which had reinforced Monson at Rampoora followed the example ; and a few companies of Sepoys a rare occurrence among those faithful people quitted their ranks, and joined the enemy. Formed in oblong square, the greater portion of the latter part of the ret/eat was Otm ANOLO-INDIAIf ARMY. 3ld executed ; fifteen thousand horse incessantly harassing in front, flank, and rear, and only kept at bay by the indomitable courage and unbroken formation of the remnant of this glorious division. At last, worn down by fatigue, and reduced by casualties and desertion, out of twelve thousand men, scarcely one thousand entered Agra, without cannon, baggage, or ammunition, and only fit for the hospitals, and afterwards to be invalided. To erase the scandal brought on the British name by the unfortunate result of Colonel Monson's movement, every resource of the Government was immediately employed. Measures were taken for the speedy equip- ment of several distinct armies, destined to act in different quarters, and to act offensively. Among the first and most important of these measures was the establishment of an army in Hindostan, equipped for light movements, and of sufficient strength to encounter, with a prospect of success, the main body of Holkar's force. The Commander-in-Chief accordingly marched on the 3rd of September from Cawnpore, with the whole of the Eu- ropean cavalry and infantry at that place, and arrived on the 22nd at Agra. The assembled force consisted of three regiments of European Light Dragoons, five regi- ments of native cavalry and the horse artillery, his Majesty's 76th regiment of foot, the flank companies of the King's 22nd foot, ten battalions of native infantry, and the usual proportion of artillery. Holkar had taken possession of Muttra; but on the approach of the British army, which marched from Secundra on the 1st of October, Holkar drew off to the north-west, along the bank of the Jumna ; and, evading three successive attempts made by the Commander-in- Chief to bring him to action, moved his infantry and guns in the direction of Delhi, and on the 8th of October they arrived before that city. Colonel Ochterlony, the British Resident, had autici- pated this visit, and had provided for it as far as lay in his power ; but the city was of great extent, and un- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. protected, except by a badly-constructed wall, in many places even without a parapet ; while a great part of the troops within the city were of such a description that no reliance could be placed either upon their fidelity or courage : indeed, a number of these irregular troops deserted on the approach of Holkar, and others mutinied. The officer, however, in command of the garrison was Lieutenant-Colonel Burn, who was admirably calcu- lated to contend with the difficulties of his situation, and who, in conjunction with Colonel Ochterlony, pre- pared to defend to every extremity the honour of the British flag. Holkar's army amounted to about seventy thousand men ; and the force which was to defend Delhi against this overwhelming host consisted of two battalions of native infantry and four companies of another ; but a large proportion of these was obliged to be devoted to the protection of the palace and person of the Emperor.* Holkar commenced the attack with a tremendous can- nonade from one hundred and thirty guns, which was continued, without intermission, day and night. It being evident that a practicable breach must soon be effected, Colonel Burn resolved to interrupt the progress of the besiegers by a sortie. This was made on the evening of the 10th of October, when a party, consisting of two hundred men of the battalion under Colonel Burn, and one hundred and fifty irregulars, commanded by Lieutenant Bose, proceeded to storm the enemy's battery. They succeeded with little difficulty in gaining possession of it, spiked the guns, and retreated with small loss. On the 13th there appeared indications of an approach- ing attack of a formidable character, and preparations were made to meet it. At daybreak on the 14th the enemy's guns opened in every direction, and. under cover of the * " The palace of Delhi is 3,000 feet long, 1,800 broad, and at one time would hare held 10,000 horse. The building cost about one million sterling." I/ieard'* ** Views in India," OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 321 cannonade, a large body of infantry, with ladders, made an assault on the Lahore gate. This was the real objeci; of attack j but to divert the attention of the besieged, some gims were pointed against the Ajmeer gate, and a British ojficer was there mortally wounded. The attack on the Lahore gate, which the enemy confidently ex- pected to carry, signally failed. The assailants were driven back in confusion, and with considerable loss, leaving behind them the ladders by which they were to have gained entrance. This defeat seems to have completely dispirited the enemy. In the evening a show was made of drawing some guns towards the Cashmere gate, which subjected the garrison to the labour of making some preparations for defence there ; but none were needed. The baffled foe retired in the night ; and at daybreak all that was visible of the besiegers at Delhi was the rear-guard of their cavalry at a considerable distance. This successful defence was admirably calculated to dissipate the un- favourable impressions imparted by Colonel Monson's un- fortunate retreat ; and, as the Political Resident justly remarked, " it could not but reflect the greatest honour on the discipline, courage, and fortitude of British troops in the eyes of all Hindostan, to observe that, with so small a force, they sustained a siege of nine days, re- pelled an assault, and defended a city ten miles in cir- cumference, and which had ever before been given up at the first appearance of an enemy at its gates." On receiving intelligence of the danger of Delhi, Lord Lake hastened to that capital, which he reached on the 17th of October. Learning there that Holkar, with his cavalry, had begun a course of devastation along the Dooab, he set out in pursuit of him, with the whole of the European Dragoons, three regiments of native cavalry, the horse artillery, and the reserve of the army, consisting of two companies of European and three battalions of native infantry. He sent the mass of his infantry at the same time, under General Frazer, to M & 322 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. attack that of the enemy now stationed at Deeg, a strong fort belonging to the Rajah of Bhurtpore, who, on seein, the scale of fortune turn against the English, had embraced the opposite interest. On the 12th of November General Frazer arrived at Gob ur dun, where from the heights the enemy were visible, encamped between a deep tank and an extensive morass their right covered by a fortified village, and their left extending to the fort of Deeg. No time was lost in preparing to attack them ; and at three o'clock on the morning of the 13th four battalions of Sepoys and two European regiments marched for that purpose. A detour of considerable extent was necessary to avoid the morass, but at daybreak the British column arrived at the fortified village situate on a hill which covered the enemy's right. The troops immediately deployed ; his Majesty's 76th regiment and two of the native battalions forming a first line, and the remainder of the troo^Js a second. The 76th led the way, with its wonted alacrity and determination, by taking possession of the village, which was no sooner accomplished than, running down the hill, they charged and carried the first range of the enemy's guns under a tremendous shower of round, grape, and chain shot. The second line had now reached the village, and, on discovering the 76th tar in advance sur- rounded by the enemy, rapidly pushed forward to their support, the Company's first European regiment being toremost, and the Sepoy battalions following. When the first range of guns had been carried, the victors were opposed by a most destructive fire from the second range ; and General Frazer losing a leg by a cannon-shot, the command devolved upon Colonel Mon- son. Nothing daunted by the fall of their commander, the Bri'tish troops advanced, captured the second range of guns, and then continued to charge battery after battery for a space of two miles, when, being close under the walls of Deeg, they were fired upon from the fort. While thus pursuing their successes, the first range of OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 323 guns had been retaken by a body of the enemy's horse, and turned against the English. But the advantage was enjoyed for a very short time : Captain Norford, with only twenty-eight men, retrieved the guns, the life of the gallant officer being unhappily sacrificed in the ex- ploit. The loss of the enemy was estimated at nearly two thousand, and eighty-seven pieces of cannon fell into the hands of the English, including some which Colonel Monson had lost on his retreat. The victory was brilliant and complete, but it was not purchased without heavy loss. The English return of killed and wounded amounted to upwards of six hundred and forty, and among them was the brave oflSoer who had planned and commanded the attack : the wound of General Frazer proved mortal, and he survived the victory only a few days. Meantime Lord Lake was in hot pursuit of the Mah- ratta chief, following him at the rate of twenty-three miles a day. The distance between them kept gradually diminishing until, on the ITth of November, after a night-march, the head of the British column reached the skirts of the freebooter's camp under the walls of Eur- ruckabad. The horses were at picket, and beside them lay their riders, wrapped in their blankets, sleeping. For many days the English had been subjected to most harassing marches ; and within the twenty-four hours immediately preceding their arrival at Holkar's camp they had marched fifty-eight miles. Their fatigues were, however, forgotten, for the enemy whom they had so perseveringly pursued was now before them ; and on the preceding evening fresh vigour had been given to their hopes by the receipt of the news of the glorious battle of Deeg. The first intimation which the slumber- ing camp of Holkar received of the presence of the English was a discharge of grape from their horse artil- lery. "It awakened some," says Major Thorn; "but sealed many in an everlasting sleep." Before the surprise 324: OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. caused by this fearful warning could be shaken off, the British cavalry dashed into the camp at full gallop, and, charging in all directions, the place which had so lately been the seat of repose and silence resounded with the clash of swords, the shouts of an excited soldiery, and the groans of the dying. Holkar was slow to believe that the disturbance in his camp could be occasioned by General Lake, whom he supposed to be at a considerable distance. When con- vinced of it, instead of taking any measures for the safety of his army, he mounted his horse, and, with the troops immediately about him, rode off at full speed. The fate of an army thus abandoned need scarcely be related. Dispersing in every direction some mounted, others on foot, their horses being too much jaded to carry them they were followed and cut down in vast numbers so long as the British were able to continue the pursuit, which extended for about ten miles. Holkar fled across the Jumna and proceeded towards Deeg, to join the remains of his infantry; and General Lake, who followed him, arriving at that fortress on the 1st of December, determined immediately to undertake the siege. Ten days, however, elapsed before the batter- ing-train could be brought from Agra, and thirteen days more before a breach could be effected in a detached work which commanded the approach. It was then carried by storm on the night of the 23rd ; and the enemy were so struck by the daring intrepidity of the assailants that in the course of the two following days they evacuated both the town and fort, and retreated towards Bhurtpore, leaving one hundred guns in the hands of the captors, with a considerable quantity of ammunition and military stores. The year 1804 thus closed in Hindostan with a signal triumph to the British cause. While the strength of Holkar's army was thus broken in the upper provinces, his dominions in Central Iiidia, whence he might have drawn recruits and resources, had GUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 325^ fallen into the enemy's possession. Colonel Wallace from the Deccan had reduced Chandore, and the other strong- holds^ in that quarter; while Colonel Murray from Guzerat, having overrun nearly the whole of Malwa, and entered Indore, the capital, was already preparing to intercept his retreat. The only point of resistance was Bhurtpore, the Rajah of which still adhered to his alliance ; and the reduction of that city was therefore considered necessary^to complete the triumph over this turbulent chieftain. On the 1st of January, 1805, the Anglo-Indian Army, under the personal command of Lord Lake, moved towards Bhurtpore, which, at first sight, did not present a very formidable aspect to an army before which many of the mightiest bulwarks of India had fallen. It was encircled by none of those rugged steeps which guarded the ap- proach to Gwalior and Gawilghur. The only works were a lofty mud-wall and a broad ditch, not easily ford- able ; and the very extent of its walls, which embraced a circumference of six or eight miles, increased the diffi- culty of protecting them. But the Bajah applied him- self to its defence with the utmost skill and resolution : the kingdom of the Mahrattas, he observed, was in their saddle ; his was within his ramparts. Hitherto, in general, the reduction even of the strongest forts had proceeded in a sure and regular course ; the trenches were opened, a storm ing-party was selected, who forced their way with greater or smaller loss, and were masters of the place. But the defenders of Bhurtpore not only fought with the most daring valour, but called into action means of defence and annoyance which our people had never else- where encoimtered, and for which they were wholly un- prepared. On the 2nd of January the army took up its position before the place ; and on the 3rd preparations for the siege were commenced. A grove, or garden, considerably in advance of the camp, was occupied. On the 5th a breaching-battery for six eighteen-pounders was com- 32^ OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. menced ; and on the 7th it opened its fire. Another battery of four eight-inch and four five and a half-inch mortars being completed by noon on that day, commenced throwing shells into the town. Cannonading on both sides continued with little interruption till the afternoon of the 9 th, when the breach in the wall being reported practicable, it was resolved on that evening to attempt to storm. About seven o'clock the party destined for this duty moved in three columns. Lieutenant-Colonel E-yan, with one hundred and fifty of the Company's Europeans and a battalion of Sepoys, was ordered to attempt a gate- way to the left of the principal battery. Major Hawkes, with two companies of the 75th regiment and another battalion of Sepoys, was to carry the advanced guns of the enemy on the right of the battery. Both columns were to endeavour to make their way into the town with the fugitives ; but, if that were impracticable, they were to turn and support the centre column in endeavouring to get in at the breach. That column, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Maitland, consisted of the flank com- panies of his Majesty's 22nd, 75th, and 76th regiments, and those of the Company's European regiment, amount- ing in the whole to about five hundred men, with a battalion of Sepoys. Colonel Maitland's orders were to take the enemy by surprise, but in this he altogether failed. The ground being broken by swamj^s and pools, the orderly advance of the party was greatly checked ; many lost their way, and men belonging to one column followed another. It is represented that, to avoid the fire from the ramparts. Colonel Maitland led his men so much to the left as to encroach upon Colonel Ryan's line of march, and that some altercation took place between these two ofiicers as to the relative situation of the breach and trenches ; that Colonel Maitland, then marching to the right, found himself at the entrance of the trenches, when he resolved to direct the head of his column once more to the left OUE ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 327 and in that manner to proceed across the plain towards the breach. Long before this period all was confusion. The enemy received the storming-party with a heavy fire of musketry and of grape from three guns in the flank of a circular bastion next to the breach ; nevertheless, some of the men, headed by their officers, succeeded in getting across the ditch, the water in which was breast- high, and a few ascended the breach to within a short distance of the top ; but their number was too small to admit of their attempting to storm the enemy's guns. In the meantime Major Hawkes, with the right column, had succeeded in driving the enemy from their advanced guns : and, after spiking them, was on his return to sup- port the centre ; while Colonel Ryan, with the left, had compelled the enemy to quit their post in that direction, but was prevented by the intervention of a deep drain from pursuing his success. Colonel Maitlahd, whatever might have been his errors or misfortunes, nobly sup- ported the character of the British soldier, and never relaxed in his exertions to bring his men forward till he fell mortally wounded. The greater part of the troops either stopped, or went back to the battery as soon as they got to the water. The few devoted men who had ascended the breach, being unsupported, were compelled to retire ; and this ill-judged and unfortunate attempt against Bhurtpore ended in exposing the British arms to the contempt of the enemy. The loss of the English was heavy, and among the killed and wounded was an unusual proportion of officers. On the day succeeding this disastrous failure, the enemy began to repair the breach through which the English had hoped to pass to conquest. The next effi^rt against the place, it was resolved, should be directed towards a part of the wall a little to the right of the former point of attack. Batteries were accordingly erected, and two twenty-four-ponnders, ten eighteen-pounders, seven twelve-pounders, and eight mortars, opened a destructive fire on the 16th of January. Part of the rampart of the 328 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. curtain was beaten down, but the next morning the breach was found stockaded ; the firing being continued, the piles gave way, and a hole was made completely- through the work ; but on the 18th the breach was again stockaded. On that day the Anglo-Indian Army was reinforced by the arrival of Major-General Smith, with three battalions of Sepoys, and some convalescent Euro- peans, with a few field-pieces. The batteries continued their fire till the 21st, when a breach, reported practicable, had been made ; and the enemy, fearful that their guns should be dismounted, withdrew them behind the parapets, thus keeping them in reserve, to be employed against the next storming- party. On the preceding night the English had been compelled to remove from the batteries the two twenty- four-pounders, the whole of the shot being expended, and to supply the deficiency by two four and a half-inch howitzers. To add to the difficulties of the besiegers. Ameer Khan had been invited by the Rajah of Bhurtpore to march to his assistance ; and the invitation being accom- panied by several lacs of rupees, had been accepted. Before making a second attempt to cross the ditch, it was deemed advisable to gain some knowledge of its breadth and depth at the place where a passage was to be sought. The duty of making the requisite observation was committed to a havildar and two privates of the native cavalry, who reported that the ditch was not very broad, nor did it appear very deep, and that the breach was easy of ascent. Upon this vague statement, the result of an inspection made under circumstances which almost precluded the possibility of any approach to accu- racy, it was resolved once more to risk an attempt to storm. Noon on the 21st of January was the time fixed on for the assault. The troops by whom it was to be made were brought into the trenches before daylight, and the interval was to be employed in destrojdng the impediments with which the enemy, in the course of the night, might have incumbered the breach. OUR ANGLO-INDIAK ARMY. 329 At break of day the breach was perceived to be again stockaded, and it was not until three o'clock in the after- noon that it was cleared. The troops then moved ont of the trenches, and advanced towards the ditch. Here it was for the first time discovered that, by damming up the water at certain points, a sheet of great depth and breadth had been accumulated in front of the breach. A portable bridge had been constructed for the purpose of crossing the ditch, but it was too short to be of any use ; a scaling-ladder was brought to lengthen it, but this got entangled with the bridge, and, instead of connecting it with the escarp, fell over on one side, carrying with it the bridge, from which it could not be disengaged. No systematic attempt was therefore made to pass the storm- ing-party over the ditch ; but Lieutenant Morris, of the Company's European regiment, and several men, gallantly ewam across and ascended the breach. Lieutenant Morris got on the rampart, and there received a severe wound in the leg ; and, in swimming back, when the attempt to storm had been abandoned, he was again wounded in the neck. The retreat commenced in great confusion ; but another column of the British force making its appearance from a jungle, round which it had been moving, with a view to an attack upon a difierent point, the retiring party there- upon rallied. The meditated attack of the advancing column, however, being found impracticable, the whole fell back, leaving to the ^nemy the bridge and scaling- ladders, and, which was far worse, a large number of WQunded. Throughout the advance of the British force, during the delay at the bridge (which occupied at least half-an-hour) and on the retreat, the enemy kept up a destructive fire of grape, round shot, and musketry. The effect was attested by a melancholy return of eighteen officers and 500 men killed and wounded. During the attack the British cavalry were engaged in keeping off Holkar and Ameer Khan, a task readily effected by the galloper-guns. About fifty of the enemy were killed. M * 330 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Some successful operations were now carried on against Ameer Khan, whose predatory bands were pursued for several hundred miles by a British detachment under General Smith, which, after compelling him to repass the Ganges, returned to the camp before Bhurtpore. During their absence the position of the camp had been shifted a measure absolutely necessary to the health of its occu- pants, and which, moreover, was called for by a change of purpose as to the future point of attack. The army had also been strengthened by the arrival of the division under General Jones, originally commanded by Colonel Murray, and further attempts had been made for the reduction of Bhurtpore. Batteries had been erected and brought into operation on a new point, and the state of the breach was deemed to warrant a third attempt to storm. The 20th of February was appointed for this purpose, and the storming-party was ordered to the trenches at an early hour, to be in readiness for attack as soon as the batteries should have beaten down the defences and stockades which might have been raised in the night. At break of day the enemy made a sortie on the British trenches, and for a time appear to have retained a decided advantage. They were at length driven back ; but the conflict seems to have lasted for several hours, and the English troops, fatigued by their exertions, and dis- pirited by the long resistance opposed to them, were not in the best condition for the duty of assaulting a strong fortress from which they had been twice repulsed. A column under Colonel Don, composed partly of Europeans and partly of Sepoys, was to advance to storm ; a second column, similarly composed, under Captain Grant, was to carry the enemy's trenches and guns outside the town ; and a third, composed in like manner of European and native troops, under Lieutenant- Colonel Taylor, was to attack the Beem Nurram gate, which was reported to be easily accessible. Captain Grant^ with the second column, carried the intrenchments OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 3^^1 and batteries against which his efforts were directed, and, pursuing the fugitives to the walls of the town, nearly succeeded in obtaining entrance ; the enemy not being able to close the gate till the head of the column was close upon it. Eleven guns were taken, all of which were safely brought into camp. The third column was less fortunate. Having lost its scaling-ladders, and one of its guns being dismounted by a shot from the town, the attempt on the gate was deemed impracticable, and the column retired. The movement of Captain Grant's column was to be the signal for the advance of that of Colonel Don to storm. The Europeans forming the head of the column were accordingly ordered to advance, and the native infantry to follow. Eifby men carrying fascines were to precede the former, who, after throwing the fascines into the ditch, were to wheel outwards, and keep up a fire of . musketry on the breach, while the rest of the party a.dvanced to the assault. But a hesitation occurred : the assailants were exposed to an enfilading fire ; an appre- hension prevailed that the enemy, during their occupation of the extremity of the trench, had established a mine. The effect of these discouraging circumstances was aided by the sight of the wounded in the conflict of the morn- ing lying around, and the groans drawn forth by their sufferings ; and Colonel Don strove in vain to counteract the impressions thus created. The Europeans in front would not move ; but a better spirit was manifested by the remains of the flankers of his Majesty's 22nd regi- ment, and by the 12 th Native Infantry. These followed their gallant commander, and two six-pounders were run out upon the plain to keep up a fire upon the walls and batteries, while the troops attempted an assault. But the ditch was impassable at the breach, from the depth of the water. The storming-party, therefore, pro- ceeded to another part, where the water was shallow, and where a ragged bastion seemed to offer the means of climbing. Having passed the ditch, several succeeded in 332 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. scrambling up, and the colours of the 12th regiment of Bengal Native Infantry were planted on the top of the bastion. But the ascent was so difficult that sufficient numbers could not be got up to support each other, and render effectual the advantage that had been gained. Those who reached the summit, small as was their number, were ready to persist in the endeavour to maintain it at any hazard ; but Colonel Don, aware of the hopelessness of their exertions, recalled the whole party. Soon after the assault, the enemy sprang several mines in the breach and counterscarp ; but there being no assailants near these points, the explosions were harmless. The loss of the British army on this disastrous day amounted to eight hundred and ninety-four, killed and wounded. On the morrow the Commander-in-Chief appeared on parade, and addressed, in appropriate terms, the troops whose unhappy defection on the preceding day had brought dishonour on the service to which they belonged. The effect was, that on those who chose to volunteer for another assaidt being required to step out, the whole answered to the call ! The assault, it was determined, should take place on that day, and about four o'clock the troops moved to the attack. The party, which was commanded by Colonel Monson, advanced with perfect regularity to the bastion, on which the colours of the 12th Native Infantry had been planted on the previous day. A vast gap had been made in the lower part of it, which afforded shelter to those who could avail themselves of its protection ; but, as before, there were no means of getting the men from this point to the summit in sufficient numbers. All that could be done, however, was resorted to ; and enough was achieted to redeem the honour of those who, on the previous day, had shrunk from the dangers which are but the ordinary incidents of a soldier's life. Several of the soldiers drove their bayonets into the wall, so as to form a series of steps by which they hoped to reach the top ; but in the attempt to ascend, they were knocked down OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 333 by logs 01 wood, shot, and various missiles from above. Others attempted to effect their object by means of the shot-holes caused by the English fire ; but they generally failed, and the fall of one man brought down those beneath him. All this time the enemy from the next bastion kept up a sweeping and destructive fire ; but, amongst all these dangers and difficulties, Lieutenant Templeton, a gallant young officer, who had volunteered to lead the Forlorn Hope, succeeded in again planting the British colours near the summit, of the bastion. As soon as he had per- formed this act he fell dead. Major Menzies, a volunteer, and aide-de-camp to the Commander-in-Chief, whose ani- mating language and heroic bearing are represented to have inspired with renewed energy all who were enabled to hear the one and observe the other, met the same fate, after having actually gained the summit. At every point where an opening seemed to present itself an attempt to render it available was made. On the part of the enemy an incessant fire of grape was kept up, and from the walls were poured showers of destructive missiles ponderous pieces of timber, flaming packs of cotton steeped in oil, followed by pots filled with gunpowder, and other com- bustibles, which exploded with fearful effect. Thus raged the conflict for the space of two hours, when Colonel Monson, finding it hopeless, ordered a return to the trenches. Such was the result of the fourth attempt to carry Bhurtpore by assault. It was attended with a loss of nearly a thousand in killed and wounded. Thus ended the memorable first siege of Bhurtpore, in which the British were repulsed in four successive attempts, sustaining in killed and wounded a loss of 3,203 men and officers, greater than had occurred in any two battles during this obstinately-disputed campaign. The historian from whose luminous pages we have bor- rowed our description,* ascribes our failure to the want of sufficient strength. To this we beg leave to add that our Thornton's " History of India,'' Vol. III. 334 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. artillery was altogether inadequate, for nothing is so diffi- cult to breach as the mud wall of an Indian fort ; and our engineering department seems to have been deplorably- defective. The other arms of the service behaved admir- ably throughout ; but the storming-parties were shame- fully sacrificed, by being sent against a wide, unfordable ditch, and an impracticable breach, which, it must be admitted, was admirably defended. The English being no longer in a condition to renew hostile operations, on the night of the 22nd of February the ordnance was withdrawn from the batteries, and the troops from the trenches, in order to repair the losses sus- tained, and to bring forward more adequate means of attack. The Rajah, however, apprehensive of the final issue, and, seeing that certain ruin must accompany the fall of his capital, made very advantageous overtures, in- cluding the payment of twenty lacs of rupees, as the price of peace. And such was the situation of affairs in the English camp that liOrd Lake was induced to accept the conditions, and to conclude a treaty on the 10th of April. Holkar being thus deserted by his last ally, the Rajah of Bhurtpore, was reduced almost to the condition of a fugitive ; but at this crisis, when the whole peninsula of India was, as it were, at our feet, the whole system of our policy underwent an important change. The Marquis Wellesley, whose admirable government had wrought such wonders, retired, and was succeeded by Lord Comwallis, whose instructions from the Court of Directors were to pro- ceed on principles every way opposite to those of his pre- decessor, and to conclude peace almost at any price. Lord Cornwallis died soon after his arrival ; but his principles were so effectually carried out by his successor, Sir George Barlow, that Scindia, the Mahratta leader, obtained the highly-important fortress of Gwalior, which he made his residence and capital ; and Holkar, who had been driven to seek refuge amongst the Sikhs, to his great astonish- ment, was granted peace on terms so advantageous as allowed him to regain almost all that he had lost during OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AEMY. 335 the war. The Company, by this milk-and-water policy, fancied they would conciliate the native princes into something like universal peace ; but animosities continued to ferment, which were destined before long to break out in a violent tempest, and to involve India again in an expensive and sanguinary war. 336 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER XIX. Discontent excited in the Madras Army by General Reprulations The Mutiny at Vellore Dreadful Slaughter of Europeans Gallant Defence of the 69th Fortunate Escape of an Officer to Arcot Energetic Proceedings of Colonel Gillespie The Mutiny quelled hythe 19th Light Dragoons Punishment of the Mutineers The War in Travancore Treachery and Hostility of the Dewan Horrible Murder of thirty-four Soldiers of the I'ith Regiment Ope- rations against Travancore Storming of the Lines of Arumbooly Submission of Travancore and Death of the Dewan Revolt of the Officers of the Madras Army Its Causes and Consequences Hostile Proceedings of the Government and the Revolted Officers Sir George Barlow's Test and its Effects- Sangui- nary Proceeding at Seringapatam Submission of the Revolted Officers. The pacific system of Sir George Barlow had no sooner given an appearance of tranquillity to Central India and the upper provinces than an explosion, equally sudden and unexpected, broke forth in the south ; which threatened to produce consequences the more dangerous, because the evil was inherent in the very source and foundation of our power and prosperity, the army itself In the spring of 1806, symptoms of insubordination were manifested by a part of the troops under the Madras presidency, the ostensible cause of which was the promul- gation of an offensive paragraph in the military regula- tions sanctioned by Sir John Cradock, the Commander- in-Chief, and approved of by the Governor, Lord William Bentinck. It was to the following purport : " The Sepoys were required to appear on parade with their chins clean shaved, and the hair on the upper lip cut after the same pattern, and never to wear the distin- guishing mark of caste, or their ear-rings when in uniform. A TURBAN of a new pattern was also ordered for the The alterations thus instituted which were, it must be confessed, injudicious and offensive, as striking at the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 337 pride of caste, and the bigoted attachment with which the Hindoo clings to an unsocial superstition seemed for a time to be received by the Sepoys with submission. They were, however, either a violent outrage on the pre- judices of the men, or they were seized on by designing agitators as the means of exciting disaffection to the European authorities. The first symptoms of a spirit of insubordination ap- peared in the second battalion of the 4th regiment of Native Infantry, which then composed part of the garrison of Yellore. This fortress had been, fixed upon, at the ter- mination of the Mysore war in 1799, for the residence of the family of the late Tippoo Sultaun ; and at this period not only his sons and their numerous relations and atten- dants lived in the fort, but the whole neighbourhood swarmed with the creatures of the deposed family. An extravagant revenue had also been placed at their disposal, which enabled them to purchase the services of a host of retainers. Accordingly no fewer than three thousand Mysoreans settled in Yellore and its vicinity, subse- quently to its becoming the abode of the princes ; the number of their servants and adherents in the pettah amounted to about one thousand eight hundred ; while the general population of the place had astonishingly increased, and some hundreds of persons were entirely destitute of any visible means of subsistence. Such were the promising materials that abounded at Vellore, when on the 6th and 7th of May, 1806, the 4th regiment, as we have stated, became most disorderly and even mutinous when called upon to wear the new turban, inflicted by the unlucky and ill-timed regulation. This turban was held up to their hatred, by the agitators, as a Christian hat ; while the turnscrew attached to the forepart of the uniform was converted into a cross, the symbol of the Christian faith ; and even the practice of vaccination, which had been recently introduced into India, was represented as intended to advance the cause of Christianity. 338 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AEMY. The offending battalion was ordered to proceed to the presidency, where a court-martial was assembled for the trial of two men whose conduct had been especially re- prehensible. They were convicted and sentenced to cor- poreal punishment ; while at Wallajahbad, a native sou- bahdar, who had been guilty of apparent connivance at the disorderly proceedings which had taken place, was sum- marily dismissed from the service. The intimations of disorder now seemed to subside, and subordination appeared to be entirely restored. A general order had been prepared, for the purpose of re- moving any apprehensions which the native troops might entertain as to future interference with their religious pre- judices ; but the apparent calm lulled the authorities into a persuasion of security, and it was deemed judicious to suspend the publication of the order; the Commander-in- Chief having received from Vellore, and communicated to the Governor, an assurance of the re-establishment of dis- cipline at that station. The garrison of Yellore consisted at this period of the following corps : Both battalions of the 23rd Madras Native Infantry ; the first battalion of the 1st Madras Native Infantry ; four companies of his Majesty's 69th regiment ; besides which, there were some European officers, the commandant, the fort-adjutant, the division paymaster, and the garrison surgeon, with two or three officers on a visit. The seeming tranquillity into which the Government was lulled, after the late acts of insubordination, was de- ceitful. The assurance of the re-establishment of discipline at Yellore, conveyed from that station to the Commander- in-Chief, and by him forwarded to the Government, reached the presidency on the 10th of July, and on the same day the smouldering embers of sedition and mutiny burst into a flame. At midnight on the 9th all within the fort of Yellore was still and in repose, except the sen- tinels and guards. The officer of the main-guard, it is supposed, was in the act of visiting his sentries, at two OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 339 o'clock in the morning, when several mnsket-shots were suddenly heard in different parts of the fort. This unprecedented circumstance naturally astonished those whose slumbers it broke ; but none, as it appears, considered it to be their duty to ascertain its cause or consequence. They little thought that at every shot a sentry had fallen, thus murdered in cold blood ! It had been the first object of the rebels to put the guards to death, and to place parties of their own in possession of the posts ; and this bloody work was accomplished by a simultaneous discharge of musketry upon every individual sentinel. The next object appears to have been to prevent any opposition on the part of the main-guard ; a large party accordingly proceeded thither, attacked the guard, put to death both those awake on duty and those stretched in slumber on the guard-beds ; while, to add to the confusion, they set fire to the guard -house. One of their first acts showed the wanton cruelty by which they were inflamed : this was an attack on the hospital, where they murdered all its helpless and hapless inmates. The noise which by this time was necessarily produced by the mutiny roused and alarmed Colonel Fancourt, the officer commanding the garrison, whose house was not. far distant from the main-guard. Having quickly dressed himself, he left his residence with a view to cross over to the main-guard, to ascertain, doubtless, the cause of the firing and the conflagration ; but before he had gone a hundred yards he was shot dead by a musket-ball. A more general alarm had now been created, and Colonel McKerras had succeeded in getting together some of his men. He was in the act of addressing a few words to them, when a well-aimed shot killed him also ; and thus the two senior officers of this doomed garrison were amongst the first persons who fell victims to the mutiny of Yellore. From the firing of the first shot at two o'clock in the morning, the work of mutiny and murder proceeded with 340 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. uninterrupted success until seven; by which time the entire fort was in possession of the rebels, with the excep- tion of the European barracks and the barrack-square, which is an open quadrangle within the fort. This place was occupied by the four companies of the 69th, com- manded by two officers, who had contrived, during the tumult, to get into the barrack, and thus had joined the men ; but it was beset by the principal body of the muti- neers, who, while the soldiers were still sunk in sleep, poured through the doors and windows volley after volley ; repelling every attempt of its inmates to sally forth, by a murderous discharge of musketry, and the fire of a field- piece which they had planted opposite the doorway. After the barracks were surrounded, parties of the insur- gents forced their way into the houses of the Europeans, and put to death with unsparing ferocity all whom they could discover. During the whole of these transactions an active communication was kept up between the mutineers and the palace ; and many of the servants and followers of the princes were conspicuously active in the scenes of bloodshed and plunder which followed the first success. But, notwithstanding these unfavourable circumstances, the handful of British soldiers did not dishonour their country. For a considerable time they maintained pos- session of the barracks, exposed to a murderous fire ; and when their position became no longer tenable, they sallied forth, gained possession of the six-pounder which the mutineers had been using, and fought their way through the ranks of their assailants, till they reached the ramparts and a gateway, on the top of which Sergeant Brodie, of the 69 th, with a small European guard, had made a long and most gallant stand for several hours after all his officers had been killed. In all human probability, not a single European would have escaped this dreadful massacre, destined for them all, had it not been for the providential escape of an officer at the first breaking out of the mutiny, by lower- ing himself from the sally-port into the ditch of the fort. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 341 which he managed to cross safe from the alligators with which it abounds. This officer contrived to reach the cavalry" station at Arcot, sixteen miles distant, about seven o'clock in the morning, where he communicated an account of the proceedings at Yellore to Lieutenant- Colonel Gillespie, commanding H.M. 19th regiment of Light Dragoons, then quartered at Arcot. With all the energy and bravery by which he was so eminently distinguished, Colonel Gillespie started, within fifteen minutes after he received the intelligence, with a single troop of his regiment ; and ordering the remainder, with the galloper-guns, to follow with all possible speed, he and his men cleared the distance in an hour and ten minutes. So eager was Gillespie to reach his destination that he was considerably in advance of his troop when Sergeant Brodie, who had expended his last cartridge, descried him from the top of the gateway. Brodie, who had served with him in St. Domingo, turned to his drooping com- rades and said, " If Colonel Gillespie be alive, here he is at the head of the 19th Dragoons, and God Almighty has sent him from the West Indies to save our lives in the East !" Regardless of his own safety, and in the face of a furious fire poured upon him from the walls and close round towers, Gillespie pushed towards the bastion and the gateway. There a chain, formed of the soldiers' belts, being let down, the Colonel grasped it and was pulled up the face of the work. The poor survivors of the 69th received him with shouts of welcome as their deliverer, promptly formed at his word of command, charged with the bayonet, and drove the mutineers headlong from that part of the works. The arrival of Colonel Gillespie was soon after followed by that of the galloper-guns of his regiment, which were at once brought to play upon the principal gates of the fort, and blew them open. By this time the whole of the 19th, with a strong troop of the 7th Native Cavalry, had 342 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. arrived, and as soon as the gates were forced they all rushed into the fort. The mutineers were numerous and desperate, and were encouraged by their native officers to make a firm stand ; but the charge of the cavalry and the remnant of the 69th, under the personal command of Colonel Gillespie, together with the fire of the gallopers, broke and dispersed them : three or four hundred were cut^ to pieces on the spot ; some hundreds threw down their arms and cried for quarter, while the rest fled in all directions. A considerable number escaped through the sally-port ; but some hundreds were taken in hiding-places, and imprisoned. The disaffection had not reached the .native cavalry, for they charged as fiercely as our own OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 343 Dragoons, and their sabres were as deeply stained with the blood of their misguided countrymen. Some of the ruthless acts committed by the rebels in this fearful mutiny are too horrible to be written. Local tradition still tells a most fearful history of British ladies who fell victims to the brutal lust of ravishers ; of children dragged from their little dormitories to have their brains dashed out against the walls ; of disgusting mutilations committed on the bodies of the slaughtered. Captain Ely, of the 69th, with his infant son in his arms, was butchered in the presence of Mrs, Ely ; twenty European officers, besides various members of their families, were slaughtered in cold blood ; one hundred and sixty-four soldiers perished, and eighty-four were more or less wounded. The standard of Tippoo Sultaun had been hoisted on the palace, within the fortress, almost as soon as the in- surrection broke out ; and no doubt was entertained that the sons of Tippoo were partakers in the plot. In the first emotions, therefore, of indignation and horror, the enraged soldiers were bent upon entering the palace, and glutting their revenge upon its helpless inmates ; but Colonel Gillespie, greatly to his honour, prevented the accomplishment of this threatened catastrophe. It was said that, had not this gallant officer acted with such promptness and spirit, the insurgents, in the course of a few days, would have been joined by fifty thousand men from Marwar, Mysore, and other parts. A special commission having been appointed to inquire into the origin of the mutiny, it appeared that the inno- vation in dress, and the residence of the Mysore family at Yellore, were the leading causes, and that the plot was to have broken out on the 17th of June. A communication to this effect had indeed been made to an officer of the garrison by Mustapha Beg, a Sepoy of the first battalion 1st regiment; but the native officers had succeeded in inducing a belief that Mustapha Beg was insane. He was presented, by order of Government, with two 344 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. thousand rupees and a gold medal for his fidelity. Amongst the arrangements which followed, it was deter- mined to send the Mysore princes to Bengal ; they were accordingly sent down to Madras, under an escort com- manded by Colonel Gillespie, and embarked for Calcutta on board the Culloden. The next step adopted by Government was to rescind the fatal regulations respecting dress ; and these being disposed of, another question arose as to the manner of disposing of the culprits. Here conciliation again tri- umphed, and ultimately the greater part of the disaffected troops escaped with very slight punishment. A few only of the most culpable suffered death j the remainder were merely dismissed the service, and declared incapable of being re-admitted to it ; while some of the officers whose guilt was thought to be attended by circumstances of ex- tenuation actually received small pensions. Yellore was the only station disgraced by open revolt and massacre ; the symptoms of disaffection manifested at Wallajahbad, Hyderabad, and other places, were, by seasonable and salutary precautions, suppressed. Finally the panic wore away ; the Sepoys forgot their fears of an attack upon their religion ; the officers were no longer iu apprehension of the safety of their lives, or slejDt with pistols under their pillows ; and Lord William Bentinck and Sir John Cradock, the originators of the catastophe, were recalled by the Court of Directors. From this melancholy and revolting subject we turn with pleasure to one of a more gratifying and chivalrous character, the short but decisive war in Travancore, where the exploits of the Anglo-Indian Army speedily obliterated the memory of Yellore. A subsidiary treaty had been concluded in 1795 between the British Government and the Kajah of Tra- vancore, and a second treaty in 1805. By the former, the Rajah engaged to assist the Company with troops in time of war ; but, by a clause in the latter, this aid was com- muted for an annual tribute. Owing, however, to the OUR ANGLO-INDiAN ARMY. 345 scandalous manner in which Travancore was misgoverned by the Dewan, or Prime Minister, into whose hands the Rajah had thrown the whole power of the state, this tribute fell into arrear ; and the efibrts made by Colonel Macauley, the Resident, to recover it, gave rise not only to much angry feeling, but to acts of positive hostility and treachery on the part of the Dewan. One of these was a desperate attempt to murder the Resident, who, with the greatest difficulty, escaped on board a British ship ; and another was the actual destruction of a sergeant-major and thirty-three privates of H.M. 12th regiment, whose vessel had put into Aleppi for a supply of water. These unfortunate persons having been cajoled on shore, were surrounded and overpowered by the troops of the Dewan, tied in couples back to back, and in that state, with a heavy stone fastened to their necks, thrown into the backwater of the port and drowned. These, and other hostile proceedings on the part of the Dewan, together with certain information that he was plotting with the Zamorin Rajah of Malabar, and other powers, for the overthrow of British supremacy, compelled the Madras Government, at length, to take active measures against him, and several bodies of troops were despatched into Travancore in various directions. Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur St. Leger, of the Madras Cavalry, was appointed to conduct the operations on the eastern side ; Lieutenant- Colonel Cuppage, with another body of troops, was to enter by the northern frontier ; while Colonel Wilkinson commanded a detachment in the south country, to rein- force the army in Travancore, if necessary ; and another body of troops was assembled at Quilon, under the com- mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Chalmers. The last-named officer was soon required to employ the force at his disposal. At six o'clock on the morning of the 15th of January, 1809, he was informed that the Dewan's troops were advancing in different directions. On reconnoitring in front of the British lines to the left, a large body of infantry drawn up with guns were per- 346 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. ceived ; on which Colonel Chalmers, without delay, ordered his line to advance in two columns to receive the enemy. The action that ensued lasted five hours, and ended in the flight of the Dewan's troops and the capture of several of their guns by the British force. Ten days after, an attack made by three columns of the enemy on three different points of a detachment in Cochin, com- manded by Major Hewitt, was repulsed with the most decisive success. The operations intrusted to Lieutenant-Colonel St. Leger were conducted with remarkable spirit and bril- liancy. His detachment reached Palamcottah after a Very rapid march from Trichinopoly, and proceeded at OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 34^ once to the lines of Arumbooly, which they reached on the 3rd of February. These lines were of great natural and artificial strength ; but, after a reconnoissance, it was determined to storm them. On the evening of the 9th, the storming-party, under Major Welsh, left the British encampment ; and after encountering all the difiiculties presented by thick jungles, abrupt ascents, rocky fissures, and deep ravines, arrived at the foot of the walls on the summit of the hill, which they immediately surprised and carried, driving the enemy down the precipice before them. The batteries in their possession were then turned against the main lines of the enemy's defences, which were stormed at daybreak by Major Welsh, and also carried in spite of a determined resistance. The enemy then pre- cipitately fled, and at an early hour of the day the British flag was flying on every part of the Arumbooly lines. Colonel St. Leger pursued his success. A large body of the enemy having taken post in the villages of Colar and Nagrecoil, the task of dislodging them was intrusted to a detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Macleod, of the King's service. The position which the enemy had chosen was strong and advantageous ; being protected in front by a river, and a battery commanding the only point by which an assailant could approach, while the rear was covered by thick, impassable woods. These advantages, however, were unavailing : the lines were attacked and carried after a sharp action, and the enemy forced to retreat in great confusion ; the Dewan himself, who had taken refuge there, being amongst the first to fly from the dreaded proximity of the British troops. The forts of Woodagherry and Papanaveram (the latter one of the strongest places in Travancore) surrendered without firing a shot. The fatal blow thus struck at the power of the Dewan was aided by the western division of the Anglo-Indian Army. . On the 20th of February, a detachment from this force assailed and most gallantly carried some bat- 348 OUR ANGLO-IiroiAN ARMY. teries erected by the enemy at Killianore, captured seven guns, and defeated a body of troops amounting to five thousand men. In the beginning of March, Colonel Chalmers advanced with the western division, to effect a junction with Colonel St. Leger, and encamped about twelve miles north of the Rajah's capital, Quilon. About the same period the force on the northern frontier, under Colonel Cuppage, entered without opposition, and took up the strong position of Paroor ; while the troops from the southern division of the army, under the command ot Colonel Wilkinson, took possession of the defile of Arma- gawal, and proceeded to occupy the passes of Shincottee and Achincoil. The Dewan now fled towards the mountains on the northern frontier ; and, being abandoned by his master, whom he had misled, parties were despatched in all direc- tions to endeavour to apprehend him. Negotiations com- menced for the restoration of amity between Travancore and the Company, and afiairs speedily returned to their former state. The Dewan wandered in the mountains, till compelled to retire by the difficulty of procuring food among rocks and jungles, which was increased by the seizure of some of his followers, by whom he had been previously supplied. In this extremity he came to the resolution of repairing to a pagoda, named Bhagwady, where he put an end to his life, by stabbing himself in various places. His brother was apprehended ; and as he had participated in the atrocious murder of the thirty-four unhappy persons belonging to H.M. 12th regiment, he was, by the Rajah's orders, most justly executed in sight of that regiment. The course of events has now brought us to one of the most deplorable transactions connected with the history of our Anglo-Indian Army, the progress of which threatened to involve the whole peninsula in anarchy and blood, and to subvert a Government which had so long and so successfully resisted the repeated attacks of its bitterest enemies. This was the unhappy revolt of the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 349 officers of the Madras army ; to which, it is but justice to say, they were greatly goaded by the proceedings of the Civil Government, at the head of which was Sir George Barlow, who had been appointed Governor of Madras on the recall of Lord William Bentinck. At the close of the first Mahratta war, extensive re- trenchments had been ordered by the Governor-General, and these included considerable reductions in the military expenditure of Madras, which were naturally unpalatable to the army of that presidency. The difference in the allowances between the Bengal and Madras establish- ments had also been long a subject of discontent with the latter, which was embittered by a jealous feeling at what was considered undue partiality in the assignment of certain commands to King's instead of Company's officers. But the great grievance was the abolition of the " Tent Contract," in virtue of which, officers commanding native corps had hitherto received a permanent monthly allow- ance, in cantonments as well as in the field, during peace or war, on condition of providing suitable camp-equipage for the soldiers of their regiments when required. During the government of Lord William Bentinck, Colonel Monro, the Quartermaster-General, had been directed to draw up a report as to the propriety of abo- lishing this allowance, which he accordingly did ; and, on the strength of the opinions expressed in that report, in- structions were issued by the Supreme Government at Calcutta to Sir George Barlow, who in the interim had succeeded to the government of Madras, for the abolition of the " Tent Contract," which he carried into eiiect by a general order, dated May, 1808. It happened unfortunately, as the result proved, that when Sir George Barlow was appointed Governor of' Madras, Lieutenant-General Hay McDowall, of his Ma- lesty's service, was nominated by the Court of Directors Commander-in-Chief, in succession to Sir John Cradock ; but they departed from long-established precedent, by not appointing him to a seat in Council an exclusion devoid 350 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. of wisdom and propriety, and most unhappy in its effects. General McDowall felt it so keenly that he addressed the Commander-in-Chief in Bengal, desiring to relinquish the command at Madras, for the purpose of returning to Europe ; but being referred to the Governor and Council of the presidency to which he belonged, as the proper channel for his application, he addressed a letter to Sir George Barlow, in which he expressed his determination that his name should not be branded with the reproach of having been the first general officer who retained a situ- ation after all hope of a restoration to its former distinc- tion had expired. The Government acceded to his wish to resign, and took measures to supply his place. At this moment of irritation, General McDowall re- ceived numerous letters of complaint from the officers com- manding native corps, who were naturally galled at the abolition of the " Tent Contract," but who did not ground their grievances so much on the pecuniary loss as the imputation cast upon their honour by Colonel Monro's report ; which hinted, they said, that officers in command of corps had consulted their own profit at the expense of the public service, and had appropriated the tent allow- ance without keeping up an adequate tent establishment. They, therefore, demanded that Colonel Monro should be brought to a court-martial for aspersions on their characters as officers and gentlemen ; and McDowall so far sided with the complainants that he placed Colonel Monro in arrest. Colonel Monro applied to the Governor in Council for support and protection, and for the defence of his public character. The Government called upon the Judge- Advocate-General for his opinion on the case : this officer .declared that no legal matter of charge existed against Colonel Monro. The Government then demanded his release from arrest ; McDowall declined compliance with this demand, stating that, as the question was strictly military, he could not avoid bringing it to issue before a court-martial without committing the honour of the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 351 whole Madras army. Hereupon the Civil Government liberated the 7nilitary prisoner by its own authority. On the 28th of January, 1809, General McDowall em- barked for England, having previously forwarded to the Governor in Council an address to the Court of Directors from sundry officers of the Madras army, who complained of several grievances, especially of the exclusion of their Commander-in-Chief from a seat in Council. McDowall also left behind him a general order, in which the conduct of the Quartermaster-General was strongly condemned. The Deputy-Adjutant-General, Major Boles, in the absence of his senior, complied with the injunction of the departed Commander-in-Chief, who, though he had embarked, had not, however, tendered his formal resignation, and the general order was issued. The Madras Government upon this promulgated a violent order of their own, accusing McDowall of viplent and inflammatory proceedings, and removing him from his post as Commander-in-Chief. They also suspended Major Boles, a measure which irritated the passions of the army more than anything that had yet occurred ; and, as if this was not enough, they also suspended Colonel Capper, the Adjutant-General, for saying that General McDowall 's order would have been issued under his signature if he had not been engaged in accompanying the Commander-in- Chief on board ship. Addresses to Major Boles now poured in from all the divisions of the army, approving of his conduct, denouncing his suspension as cruel and undeserved, and proposing to raise by subscription an income equal to that of which the Government had deprived him. They also prepared and circulated for signatures a memorial to the Governor- General, Lord Minto, repeating their grievances, and con- demning the treatment which their Commander-in-Chief had received from the civil power. This being looked upon by the Madras Government as downright mutiny, a general order was issued on the 1st of May, which announced a sweeping list of removals, 352 OUH AJfGLO-INDIAN ARMY. supersessions, and suspensions. Four officers of rank were suspended, an equal number removed from their commands, or staff appointments, and four were super- seded in the command of battalions, accused of having signed the address to Major Boles; and among these were Colonels St. Leger, Chalmers, and Cuppage, who had re- cently performed such distinguished services in Tra- vancore. All these punishments were the result of a secret inquisition carried on by Sir George Barlow ; the officers having no means of defending their conduct, and hearing of the charges against them for the first time when they read their sentence. No wonder that such treatment should have added fuel to flame. The more marked indications of ill-feeling towards the Government having hitherto beeu exhibited by that por- tion of the army serving in Travancore, Sir George Bar- low complimented the subsidiary force at Hyderabad for not having entered into these insubordinate proceedings ; but they repudiated the compliment, and became even more violent than the others. They published a letter to the army, in which they declared their entire disappro- bation of the suspension and removal of so many valuable officers, and their determination to co-operate with the army in all legal measures for the restoration of their brother officers. This was followed by an address to the Governor in Council, signed by a hundred and fifty-eight officers of the divisions of Jaulna and Hyderabad, urging the restoration of the removed officers as the only means of preventing a separation of the civil and military powers, the destruction of all discipline and subordination, and the ultimate loss of a large portion of the British possessions in India. About the same time an overt act of mutiny was com- mitted by the Company's European regiment quartered at Musulipatam. An order having been issued for three companies to prepare for marine duty, a service they par- ticularly disliked, the men refused to obey, and the officers placed their own colonel under arrest. The com- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 353 mand was assumed by the next in rank, a managing com- mittee of officers was instituted, and a correspondence was opened by them with the Hyderabad and other mutinous divisions. On the 3rd of August garrison orders directed the regiment to hold itself in readiness for field-service ; a plan having been concerted for the junction of the troops from Musulipatam with those from Jaulna and Hydera- bad, and for their united march to Madras, wh^re they threatened to compel the restoration of the officers, and to depose Sir George Barlow from the post of Governor. But, fortunately, the Commander-in-Chief, and a great majority of the officers highest in rank, were stanch ad- vocates of the principles of order and military subordina- tion. The Madras Government was further assured of the decided support of the Government of Bengal, and had the command of the resources of that presidency, as well as of Bombay and Ceylon. The King's regiments also steadily adhered to their duty ; and there could be little doubt that the native soldiery, wheii the case was explained to them, would prefer the cause of the Govern- ment from w^hom they derived their subsistence and hopes of promotion to that of their officers, whose objects they imperfectly understood, and from whose triumph they could anticipate no advantage. Thus confident of support, Sir George Barlow prescribed a test to be signed by the officers ; pledging themselves to support the measures of the Government, on penalty of being removed from their regiments to stations on the sea-coast, to reside there, but not to forfeit their pay, until the situation of affairs should allow of their being again employed. Commanding officers were also ordered to explain to the native officers that the discontents of the European officers were entirely personal, and - should not affect or diminish the advantages which the men enjoyed, and that the Government confidently relied upon their attachment and fidelity. The Company's troops were also so distributed in connexion with his Majesty's as to render the latter an efficient check upon the former. N 3-54 OUR ANGL0-INDIA2>r ARMY. The majority of the officers refused to sign the testy and were consequently removed from their stations ; but the appeal to the native officers and men was very gene- rally successful. The only stations at which the agitation was not sup- pressed v/ithout recourse to more stringent correctives were Mysore and Hyderabad. In the former of these districts the officers of the garrison of Seringapatam, rendered desperate by the measures of the Government for separating the native soldiers from their officers, rushed into unbridled violence and open rebellion. Com- pelling a small detachment of his Majesty's troops to withdraw from the fort, they seized upon the public treasure, drew up the bridges, and placed themselves in an attitude of defiance ; disobeying the orders of Colonel Davis, commanding in Mysore, and disregarding the re- monstrances of the Political Resident, the Honourable Arthur Cole. ^ A detachment consisting of the 25th Dragoons, a regiment of native cavalry, with a regiment of his Majesty's foot, and a native battalion, commanded by Colonel Gibbs, marched to Seringapatam, where they encamped ; while a corps of Mysore horse, which had been supplied by the Dev.^an, was sent forward to intercept the advance of two battalions on their way from Chittle- droog to reinforce the garrison. The Mysore horse met the battalions at some distance from Seringapatam about the 7th of August ; but no forcible opposition was offered until the 11th, when the Chittledroog troops were in sight of the walls of Seringa- .patam, and of the camp of the detachment by which the fortress was observed. Encouraged by the proximity of the latter, the Mysoreans began to harass the march of the battalions, and were fired upon. The resistance was, however, feeble ; for on the approach of the Dragoons the Chittledroog battalions broke and dispersed. The greater part effected their escape into the fort, the garrison of which had made a demonstration in their favour. The officer who commanded was wounded and taken prisoner ; OUR ANGLO-INDIAN^ ARMY. 355 another died of fatigue and anxiety after reaching the fort ; while more than two hundred Sepoys and followers were said to hare been killed and wounded. The imminent danger of exhibiting such an example as this to the native army and inhabitants seems to have brought the revolted officers suddenly to their senses, for no further hostilities ensued. The dissatisfied could not but perceive that, while they were placing the interests of their country in peril, they were, in all human proba- bility, involving themselves in ruin. The first manifesta- tion of a returning sense of duty was at Hyderabad ; the example was speedily followed at other places, and thns ended a movement which in its commencement and pro- gi-ess seemed to threaten the very existence of the British government in the part of India where it occurred. Few punishments took place, and those amongst the higher ranks of the revolters ; for it was wisely con- sidered that many of those concerned were young men, seduced by the criminal advice and example of those to whom, as their senior and superior officers, they looked with respect and deference. " The gallant and meritorious services," says Auber,* "subsequently rendered by those officers, in arduous and trying campaigns, affiDrd the most convincing proofs that it was the error of the head and not of the heart, instigated by a misguided chief, that led them into a momentary departure from a right course of action." * " Rise and Progress of British Power in India." .}7j 356 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER XX. Conquest of tho Island of Bourbon Naval Disasters ^Memorable Defence of the Nereide Frigate Retort Courteous of General Abercrombie Expedition against the Mauritius Successful Landing of the Troops Their Advance on Port Louis Defeat of the French Troops Unhappy Mistake Surrender of the Island Conquest of Amboyna and the Spice Islands -Expedition against Java Surrender of Batavia Narrow Escapes from Treachery Defeat of the Enemy at Weltevreden Storming of the Redoubts and Fort Corselis Total Rout of the Enemy Surrender of General Jansens Frightful Transac- tions at Palimbang Capture of that Place Defeat of the Sultan of Djoejo- carta Final Reduction of Java. But it was a momentary eclipse which the fame of the Anglo-Indian Army suffered from these unhappy transac- tions : the sun of their glory soon after shone forth with even more than meridian splendour. Our commerce in the Indian seas having suffered im- mense injuries from the French cruisers belonging to the Mauritius and the Isle of Bourbon, the British Cabinet at length resolved to put a check to their proceedings ; and for this purpose a small naval force was despatched under Captain Bowley from the Cape of Good Hope in 1809. At the same time Colonel Keating, of H.M. 56th regi- ment, was sent with a small body of the Anglo-Indian Army to co-operate ; and on the 20th of September they effected a landing seven miles from the town of St. Paul's, in the Isle of Bourbon ; the force consisting of only three hundred and sixty-eight men and officers, with one hun- dred seamen and one hundred and thirty- six marines from the blockading squadron. By seven o'clock in the morning the assailants, having made a forced march to St. Paul's, were in possession of the first two batteries, Lambousiere and La Centiere, and the guns were forthwith turned against the enemy's ship- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 357 ping, whose well-directed fire of grape, from within pistol- shot of the shore, had greatly annoyed the British force. A detachment consisting of the second column, under Captain Imlack, of the Bombay Native Infantry, was now despatched to take possession of the third battery. La Narve, which the enemy had abandoned ; but on its way it fell in with the main force of the enemy, strongly posted within stone walls, with eight six -pounders on its flanks. They were charged in gallant style ; and Captain Harvey, with the third column, having supported Captain Imlack, two of the enemy's guns were taken and the action became warm and general. The French were rein- forced from the hills and from the ships in the harbour, and the British by the advance of the reserve, which had previously covered the batteries. The guns of the first and second batteries were spiked, and the third was occu- pied by seamen under the command of Captain Wil- loughby, who soon opened its fire upon the shipping. The enemy now gave way, the fourth and fifth batteries were won without resistance, and at half-past eight the town of St. Paul's was in possession of the British. Till this period the naval force had been compelled to remain inactive, as they could not venture to attack the enemy's ships lest they should annoy the British troops who were within range. They now stood in and opened their fire upon the enemy's ships, all of which cut their cables and drifted on shore. The seamen, however, suc- ceeded in heaving them ofi" without any material injury. In this destruction of the batteries, and capture of the shipping in the harbour, all that was sought for at present was attained. As much public property as could be carried away was embarked, the remainder was destroyed, and the island for a while abandoned ; the squadron re- suming its usual occupation, and Colonel Keating, with his troops, returning to the Island of Bodriguez, about one hundred miles distant from Bourbon. In the following year, operations were resumed against the French islands, the force under Colonel Keating 358 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. being augmented from the three presidencies to the number of three thousand six hundred and fifty rank and file, of whom about one-half were Europeans. The whole of the expedition consisting, besides transports, of the Boadicea, the Sirius, the Iphigenia, the Magicienne, and the Nereide, under the command of Commodore E-owley arrived on the 7th of July, 1810, at Grande Chaloupe, about six miles to the westward of St. Denis, the capital of the Isle of Bourbon. A landing v/as effected by a part of the force with some difficulty, owing to the state of the weather; and the troops, about six hundred in number, advanced in excellent order towards St. Denis. They found the enemy drawn up on the plain in two columns, each with a field-piece at its head, supported by some heavy cannon in a redoubt. A severe fire of mus- ketry and artillery was opened upon the British force, till, on reaching the plain, orders were given to charge. The French remained steadily at their guns till the British Grenadiers came in contact with them, when they fled before the deadly thrust of the bayonet, but at- tempted to form in rear of the redoubt, from which they were speedily driven by the weapon they so much dreaded, and the main force of the island was totally defeated by this small portion of the invading army. The remainder of the troops having landed under Colonel Keating, preparations were made for a simulta- neous attack upon the capital; when, at the very moment of advance, a flag of truce arrived to treat for the surrender of the island, which was accordingly taken possession of, with the trifling loss of eighteen killed, seventy-jtiue wounded, and four drowned in landing. The capture of the Isle of Bourbon was but a prelimi- nary to an attempt on the more important settlement of the Mauritius, which was destined soon after to share its fate. Before this occurred, however, the British arms sustained a series of nautical disasters, which for a time gave the enemy the dominion of the Indian seas ; but though the proceedings of the British navy do not fall OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 359 within the scope of the present work, we cannot pass over in silence one or two striking episodes of its glorious annals in connexion with the history of our Anglo-Indian Army. On one of these occasions, Captain Pym, who com- manded an English squadron of four frigates, formed the design of attacking the French squadron in Port Sud-Est, in the Mauritius ; but not being sufficiently aware of the difficulties of the navigation, the attempt terminated in defeat and serious loss. Three of the ships took the ground, and the fourth was prevented from closing with the enemy unfortunate occurrences, which enabled the foe to open all their g*uns upon a single vessel, the Nereide, commanded by Captain Willoughby. The fortitude and courage displayed by this officer and his crew were beyond all praise, and probably have never been surpassed. De- prived of all efficient assistance from the other frigates, the Nereide singly maintained the contest for the almost incredible space of ten hours. Captain Willoughby lost an eye, and was otherwise dreadfully injured in the head. A boat was sent from the Sirius to bring him off, but he declared he would neither abandon his men, nor strike the British flag while there was a single man on board able to support it. He kept his word he fought the ship till every man of her whole crew, consisting of two hundred and eighty, was either killed or wounded ; and when the enemy took possession of their dearly-purchased prize, they found only a miserable wreck, peopled with the maimed, the dying, and the dead ! The other incident is as follows : the Ceylon frigate, having on board General Abercrombie, who commanded the troops destined for the reduction of the Mauritius, fe^l in with some French cruisers off the Isle of Bourbon. An action ensued, which was gallantly maintained for five hours, when the Ceylon being dismasted and rendered ungovernable by this and other causes, was compelled to yield to adverse fortune and overwhelming force. The French commander, Hamelen, observed on the occasion 360 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. that he should have the honour of introducing General Abercrombie to the Governor of the Isle of France sooner than he had expected. But, in a few hours after, the Ceylon was retaken by the English ; when the General, thanking Monsieur Hamelen for his kind intention, said he felt extremely happy in being able to return the compli- ment, by introducing him to Commodore E-owley. The different divisions from Bombay, Madras, and Bengal, destined for the attack on the Mauritius, having assembled at the Isle of Rodriguez, the fleet, consisting of nearly seventy sail, got under weigh on the 22nd of November, 1810, and stood for their destination. The coasts of the Isle of France are beset with dan- gerous reefs ; and the French supposing that they rendered a landing impracticable, devoted all their attention to placing Port Louis, the capital, in a posture of defence on the sea face, never anticipating the possibility of being taken in flank. Our gallant and enterprising naval offi- cers, however, discovered a safe anchorage in a narrow strait, between an islet called the Gunner's Coin and the main land, Vv^here there were also openings in the reef, through which several boats might enter abreast, the only objection being its distance from Port Louis. On the morning of the 29th of November, the English fleet came to anchor in this strait. Soon after one o'clock the debarkation commenced ; and in three hours ten thousand men, with their guns, stores, ammunition, and three days' provisions, were landed, without opposition from the enemy, who were astonished by the boldness and novelty of the attempt. The troops were instantly put in motion, to prevent the enemy from gaining possession of a thick wood which lay on the road, and using the means it afforded of harassing the flanks of the invading army. The men were greatly exhausted by their exertions during this advance, the way having lain for four miles among thick brushwood, through which the artillery and stores had to be dragged, with a degree of labour almost OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 361 intolerable ; while the inconvenience arising from the heat of the weather was increased by a deficiency of water, to a degree that occasioned several deaths amongst men and officers. About noon on the 30th a position was taken up at Moulin-a-Poudre, on a gentle elevation ; a wood stretching along its front, and extendiog, with some intervals, to Port Louis, five miles distant. Here the British were reconnoitred by the French general, De Caen, with a party of cavalry and riflemen, which occasioned a skirmish, and a few men were killed and wounded on both sides. At five o'clock on the following morning the troops were put in motion, and shortly after encountered a corps of the enemy, who, with several field-pieces, had taken up a strong position. The march of the British troops lay along a narrow road, with a thick wood on each flank. On meeting the enemy, the European flank battalion, which composed the advanced guard, formed with as much regularity as the bad and broken ground would admit, and charged the enemy with such spirit as compelled them to retire with the loss of their guns, and many killed and wounded ; but this advantage was obtained, by the fall of Colonel John Campbell, of H.M. 33rd, and Major O'Keefe, of the Boyals, two officers of distinguished ability. The weather still continued oppressive, and the troops were greatly exhausted, which, together with the lateness of the day, rendered a suspension of active operations de- sirable till morning, when a general attack was deter- mined on. During the night, however, a mistake occurred which was productive of unfortunate results. A party of Marines arrived to join the British force; but being dressed, as customary in India, in white and blue, they were unhappily taken for French soldiers. An alarm was therefore given ; several corps stood to their arms, some gave fire, and the consequence was that many were wounded and a few were killed. On the approach of morning preparations were made 362 OUR A57GLO-INDIAN ARMY. for the intended attack ; but they were rendered unneces- sary by the arrival of a flag of truce from General de Caen, offering to capitulate upon terms. This brought hostilities to a sudden and unexpected close. The island was delivered up ; but one of the conditions granted to the French -namely, that their troops and seamen should be sent to France excited very general reprobation both at home and abroad. The conquest placed in our posses- sion a large quantity of ordnance and shipping, some of the latter of great value, it having long been the depot for the prizes made by the French privateers in the Indian seas ; and the island was justly regarded as a most valuable acquisition. The next important service in which the Anglo-Indian Army v/as emjiloyed was the conquest of the colonial pos- sessions of the Dutch, especially the Molucca islands and the settlements in Java. The subjection of Holland having placed these possessions in the hands of the French, the British Cabinet directed them to be blockaded ; but Lord Minto, then Governor-General, with a more vigorous policy, planned and directed their conquest. Amboyna was the first place that fell to a small naval and military force ; and to this succeeded the capture of Banda Neira, the principal of the Spice islands ; leaving now to the enemy, of all their possessions in the East, only the Island of Java and its dependencies. Upon these settlements an extraordinary value had been placed by the Dutch, who used to call Java the most precious jewel in the diadem of the Company, and its capital, Batavia, the Queen of the East. The preparations for the reduction of Java were upon a scale commensurate with the object to be attained. The army, which was under the command of Sir Samuel Auchmuty, was divided into four brigades one forming the advance, two the line, and one the reserve. Nomi- nally, the force employed on this expedition amounted to twelve thousand, of which number nearly one-half were Europeans ; bat so many of the troops were disabled by OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 363 sickness that the number capable of service was occasion- ally reduced to little more than one-half. The expedition^ which was accompanied by the Gover- nor-General himself, sailed from Malacca, and arrived in the Batavia roads on the 4th of August, 1811. The landing of the troops took place without resistance, and on the 5th of August the position of the army was advanced towards Batavia, which was surrendered two days after by the burghers, the garrison having retreated to Weltevreden. General Jansens being summoned to surrender the island, replied that he would defend his charge to the last extremity ; but as many circumstances combined to excite a suspicion that the enemy meditated an attack during the night, the troops were silently got under arms, and ordered to bivouac in the great square in front of the town-house. This had scarcely been effected when the head of the enemy's column appeared and opened a fire of musketry ; but Colonel Gillespie having sallied out at the head of a party, with the intention of charging the assailants in flank, the firing immediately ceased, and no more was seen or heard of the enemy durinsc the nisfht. Early on the morning of the 10th of August, the troops, as well as the inhabitants, had a narrow escape : a Malay being fortunately discovered, with a firebrand in his hand, in the act of igniting some wooden maga- zines, containing a considerable quantity of gunpowder. He was taken and hanged. Nor was this the only instance of treachery the troops had to contend with. The com- manding officer's quarters were kept by a Frenchman, who had the baseness to poison the coffee prepared for the breakfast of Colonel Gillespie and his staff; but the atrocious attempt was unsuccessful, the effects of the poison having manifested themselves before sufficient had been taken to produce the intended murder. In the confusion of the moment the villain escaped. On the same day Colonel Gillespie advanced with his corps towards the enemy's cantonment at Weltevreden, 364 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY, supported by two flank battalions of infantry, and found them at a short distance beyond, in a position strongly defended by an ahbatis, occupied by three thousand of their best troops, and four guns, horse artillery. It was promptly attacked by Gillespie, and, after an obstinate resistance, carried at the point of the bayonet. But the enemy, though vanquished, were still greatly superior in numbers to the invading force, and intrenched themselves in a strong position, between a wide river and a broad and deep canal, neither of which was fordable. Their position was further defended by a deep trench strongly palisaded, seven redoubts, and many batteries ; the fort of Meester Corselis being in the centre, and the whole of the works defended by a numerous and well- organised artillery. This formidable position Gillespie, with, his character- istic energy, determined to carry by storm, and at dawn of day on the 26th of August the assault was made. It was proposed to surprise one of the redoubts con- structed by the enemy beyond the canal, to endeavour to cross the bridge over that water with the fugitives, and then to assault the redoubts within the lines. The enemy was under arms, prepared for the combat, and General Jansens was in the advanced redoubt when the attack commenced. After a long detour through a close and intricate country. Colonel Gillespie came on their advance, which he routed almost instantly; and with extraordinary rapidity proceeded, under a heavy fire of grape and mus- ketry, to the advanced redoubt, of which he was soon in possession. He then, in . accordance with the proposed plan, crossed the bridge, and, after an obstinate resistance, carried with the bayonet a second redoubt. The opera- tions of other columns were directed with equal success against different parts of the works ; but the explosion, either by accident or design, of the magazine of one of tlue redoubts destroyed a number of brave mj&n and officers OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMt. 365 who were Crowded on its ramparts, whicli tlie enemy had just abandoned. The park of artillery was also attacked and carried in a masterly manner, and a body of cavalry which had formed to defend it speedily put to flight. A strong body of the enemy who had taken their position in the lines in front of Fort Corselis were attacked and driven from them, and the lort taken. The enemy was now com- pletely put to flight j a vigorous pursuit followed, and the whole of the flying army was either killed, taken, or dispersed. So close was the combat that in the course of the day almost every officer was engaged hand to hand. Colonel Gillespie, in person, took prisoners two generals and a colonel, and another colonel fell by his hand. General Jansens succeeded with some difficulty in reach- ing Buitenzorg, a distance of thirty miles, with a few cavalry, the sole remains of an army of ten thousand men. The loss on the part of the British was severe, that of the enemy still more so. About a thousand of the latter were buried in the works, many perished in the river, and many in the flight. Nearly five thousand were made prisoners, among whom were three general officers, thirty- four field-officers, seventy captains, and one hundred and fifty subalterns. In the Anglo-Indian Army, about one hundred and fifty men, European and native, were killed or missing, and upwards of seven hundred wounded. The conquest of the island might now be considered as achieved ; but General Jansens still held out, and took up in succession two or three other positions, with the view of making head against the invaders. But all his efforts were vain : he was driven from them all, and was finally compelled to give up the island, and to surrender, with all that remained of his army, as prisoners of war. The Sultan of Palimbang, a chief in the south-eastern part of Sumatra, no sooner received intelligence of the' success of the British arms than he formed the atrocious ^ resolution of destroying the Butch Resident, and every ' 366 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. male i^erson belonging to the factory at Palimbang, not excepting even children, and of razing the fort to the ground. This horrible scheme he executed ; the number of persons thus wantonly massacred being nearly a hun- dred, thirty of whom were European born. The destruction of the fort being an act of hostility against those to whom the Dutch establishments had been transferred by right of conquest, Colonel Gillespie was sent thither with a thousand men, to assert the rights of the British Government, and to punish the faithlessness and cruelties of the Sultan. After a tedious progress, which was considerably retarded by currents and con- trary winds, the expedition came to anchor on the l.^th of April, 1812, opposite the west channel of the Palim- bang river ; on which the Sultan fled, having removed his treasures and his women into the interior, and left the fort, palace, and city in a state of inconceivable dis- order. On learning this state of affairs, Gillespie pushed on with a few men in the light boats to put a stop to the confusion and carnage that were taking place in the city, which on their arrival j^resented an awful scene of murder and pillage. The most dreadful shrieks and yells were heard in all directions, and conflagrations appeared in various places. An eye-witness declares that " romance never described anything half so hideous, nor has the invention of the imagination ever given representations equally appalling." Amidst these horrors, Colonel Gillespie stepped on shore, accompanied by only seven Grenadiers, and pro- ceeded into the city, surrounded by the glittering weapons of ferocious Arabs and treacherous Malays. On approach- ing the palace, the horrors of the spectacle were aggra- vated. The apartments had been ransacked, the pave- ments and floors were flowing with blood, the flames were rapidly consuming all that plunder had spared, and, while they were pursuing their devastating career, the crack- ling of the bamboos is said to have resembled the dis- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 367 charge of musketry. At intervals the roofs of the various buildings fell with tremendous crash ; and not- withstanding the descent of torrents of rain, the fire con- tinued to spread, and threatened even that part of the palace where the British forces were compelled to take up their temporary abode. This force consisted of only a few Grenadiers and seamen, and they were surrounded on all sides by hordes of assassins. The best means of defence were adopted by the little band, till the arrival at midnight of a small reinforcement under Major French, of the 89th, and an- other in the morning, under Colonel McLeod, of the 59th. Kesistance was now no longer thought of ; and the reso- lution of Colonel Gillespie had thus, without the loss of a man, placed in the possession of the British the city, fort, and batteries, defended by two hundred and forty-two pieces of cannon. Notwithstanding the subjugation of the Dutch and French power, parts of Java remained in a disturbed state ; and, amongst others, the Sultan of Djoejocarta, one of the most turbulent and intriguing of the native princes, manifested a hostile disposition to the British Government. By his agency, a confederacy was formed of all the native courts, the object of which was to expel all European settlers, of every country, and to sweep from the island every vestige of European power. As soon as the design became known, the Lieutenant- Governor (Mr, Raffles) and the commander of the forces immediately proceeded to Djoejocarta with such military force as could be collected, under the immediate command of Colonel Gillespie, who had opportunely arrived from Palimbang. An attempt was made to negotiate, but without success, and it was clear there was nothing left but an appeal to force. The residence of the Sultan was about three miles in circumference, surrounded by a broad ditch with draw- bridges, possessing a strong, high rampart with bastions, -and defended by nearly one hundred pieces of cannon. 368 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. In the interior were nnmerous squares and courtyards, inclosed with high walls, and all defensible. The prin- cipal entrance or square in front had a double row of cannon facing the gate, and was flanked with newly- erected batteries, right and left. Seventeen thousand regular troops manned the works, and an armed popula- tion of more than a hundred thousand surrounded the palace for miles, and occupied the walls and fastnesses along the sides of the various roads. But nothing could deter the Anglo-Indian Army, led on by the dauntless Gillespie. Two hours before day the leaders of columns received their orders, and instantly proceeded to execute them. The assault was made by escalade, and was completely successful. The British force quickly occupied the ramparts, and turned the guns of the enemy against himself The Sultan was taken in his stronghold. He was subsequently deposed, and the hereditary prince raised to the throne. The other con- federated princes readily acceded to the terms proposed to them : the conquest of Java was thus complete, and the British power was not only paramount in the island, but established throughout the East without a European rival. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 369 CHAPTER XXI. Dispute with the Government of Nepaul Aggressions of the Nepaulese Prepa- rations for WarCommencement of Military Operations Invasion of the Deyra Dhoon Storming of Kalunga Death of General Gillespie Fall of Kalunga and several other Forts Failure at Jyetuck Reduction of Ramgurh and other Forts by Colonel Ochterlony Total Failure of General Wood's Division Unsuccessful Operations of General Marley's Division Brilliant Affair by Lieutenant Pickersgill Inactivity of General Martindell Alarm at Calcutta The Army reinforced, and the sole Command conferred on General Ochterlony His successful Operations The Nepaulese sue for Peace Nego- tiations broken off Advance of Ochterlony Battle of Muckwanpoor Sub- mission of the Nepaulese Transactions in Ceylon, and complete Subjugation of that Island. The tennre by wMcli we hold our Eastern empire is frequently of so delicate and precarious a nature that Governors-General sometimes go out with strict injunctions to preserve peace, and every inclination to obey those injunctions, but find themselves, on arriving in the country, unavoidably compelled to plunge into sanguinary and expensive wars to maintain British supremacy against our ever jealous and encroaching neighbours. Kay, it has sometimes happened that English statesmen have inveighed strongly in their places in Parliament against the warlike proceedings of actual Governors-General, but, on attaining that high position themselves, have far exceeded the martial doings of their predecessors. This was particularly the case with the Earl of Moira, who had, in his inexperience, strongly censured the Marquis "Wellesley for his war with Tippoo ; but had scarcely- put his foot on the soil of India when he found himself involved in several " very pretty quarrels," bequeathed to him by his predecessors. The first of these that required immediate attention a long-pending dispute with the State of Nepaul, 370 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. where the warlike Goorkha tribe liad, in a comparatively short period, established a very formidable power. It is unnecessary to follow this quarrel from its origin through all the complicated forms it assumed under different statesmen and diplomatists ; it will be sufficient to say that several territorial encroachments had been made from time to time on the Company's frontier by the ISTepaulese, and that, when remonstrated with and civilly requested to keep within their own limits, they mistook the forbearance of the Bengal Government for fear, and acted not only with insolence, but atrocity, kilHng and wounding a number of the Company's police-officers, and doggedly maintaining their possession of the visurped territory. War being at length inevitable. Lord Moira took immediate measures for commencing it with activity and vigour along the whole of that extensive region which slopes downward from the summit of the Himalaya to the plain of Hindostan, with a rugged, jungly, and mountainous frontier, about six hundred miles in length. This formidable country, the Switzerland of the East, was broken into a number of narrow valleys, separated by steep and lofty ridges, and peopled by the Goorkhas a rude but brave race of men, who, under a warlike commander, had conquered the valleys that intersect this magnificent range, until their territory extended above 800 miles in length, and comprehended nearly the whole Alpine region of Northern India ; while the British, by the numerous victories gained in the late war, had ex- tended their boundaries along nearly the whole line ol this mountain domain. A plan was laid down for invading the ISTepaulese territory at four different points ; for which purpose four separate divisions of troops were assembled. Major- General Marley, with a force consisting of eight thousand men and twenty-six guns, was to march upon Catmandoo, the capital; Major-General Wood, with five thousand troops, a body of irregulars amounting to nine hundred, OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 371 with fifteen guns, was destined to clear the Terraie, or border of jungle that extends along the base of the mountains, and to re-establish the British authority in the usurped lands; Major- General Gillespie, with ten thousand live hundred men and twenty guns, together with six or seven thousand irregulars, was to seize the passes of the rivers Jumna and Ganges, in order to cut off the retreat of the enemy ; while Colonel Ochterlony, with seven thousand men and twenty-two guns, was to act against the western provinces and the western army of the Goorkhas, under Ummeer Sing Thappa, which was understood to be composed of the flower of their troops. The regular army of the Goorkhas consisted of 12,000 men, dressed, armed, and disciplined in imitation of the Company's Sepoys ; but their principal streng-th lay in the difficult nature of the country, and its almost impregnable passes, of which they were in full possession. The campaign was commenced by the division under General Gillespie, which was assembled at Saharumpore by the middle of October, 1814, and marched soon after to the Deyra Dhoon, one of the finest valleys that diver- sify the Himalaya and the main channel of communica- tion between the eastern and western districts. The Tinley Pass, which led into this valley, was seized on the 20th by Lieutenant- Colonel Carpenter, of the 17th Native Infantry, having been detached for that purpose by General Gillespie, who entered the .Dhoon himself on the 24th, by the Kerree Pass, and immediately marched upon Kalunga, while detachments occupied the passes and ferries of the Jumna. The fortress of Kalunga or Nelapaunee was rendered formidable, not by artificial bulwarks, but by its situation on the top of a hill, where it could only be approached through a thick and entangled jungle. General Gillespie, perceiving that it formed the key of the territory, deter- mined to attempt its reduction ; and for this purpose divided the attacking-party into four columns, which, advancing from different points, were to meet at the f. 372 OUR ANGLO-INDIAK ARMY. summit and engage in a common assault, while a column of reserve was placed under the orders of Major Ludlow, of the 6th Native Infantry. Shortly after daylight on the morning of the 30th, batteries which had been erected during the night opened on the fort with ten pieces of cannon. The signal for the columns to move to the assault was to be given from the batteries two hours previously to the moment of attack, and repeated from the camp below. About eight o'clock the signal was fired ; but, unfortunately, it was not heard by the officers commanding three of the columns ; consequently, only one, under Colonel Carpenter, and the reserve, under Major Ludlow, moved to the assault. These advanced and carried the stockade thrown across the road leading to the fort ; they then pushed on close under the walls, which were stockaded all round. Here their progress was stopped the fire of the batteries having been inefiective, a small opening only was visible, and that was defended by stockades within stockades. The two columns were consequently obliged to retire, after sustaining a frightful loss in officers and men. Soon after these columns had moved, three additional companies had been ordered from the camp ; but, by the time they arrived on the table-land, the columns in ad- vance had been forced to fall back. An attack by so small a force had obviously little chance of success ; but General Gillespie, apprehensive of the unhappy effects likely to follow a repulse at so early a period of the war, and impelled by his distinguished bravery, led this little band on to the assault in person, assisted by two six- pounders. They accordingly dislodged the outposts, and arrived under the very walls ; but were twice driven back by showers of grape-shot, arrows, and destructive missiles peculiar to Indian warfare. Gillespie, however, being determined to carry the fort or die, placed himself for the third time at the head of the storming-party, and cheered them on, waving his hat, and pointing with his Bword to the gate, within thirty yards of which a ball OVM AIfai/0-IKPIAN ARMY. 373 pierced his heart, and he fell ; thus terminating a career which had been niarked*by a courage of the most heroic character, and by services that received from the public authorities the honours they so well deserved. All hopes of success for the present were at once aban- doned^ and the arrival of another division only served to cover the retreat of the former. Colonel Mawbey, of the 53rd, however, on succeeding to the command, felt deeply the importance of not allowing this first great military opei-ation to prove abortive ; but he was obliged to delay his meditated attack till a battering-train was procured from Delhi. Three days after, a breach was effected, and an assault commenced under the command of Major Ingleby ; but this was not more fortunate than the pre- ceding ones. The enemy defended the place with despe- rate valour, and, after a contest of two hours, ColoDeJ. !Mawbey withdrew his troops, with severe loss., 'Jhe storming-party had succeeded in gaining the top of the breach, when a momentary hesitation proved fatal to them, and a large propoi'tion was , ^swept away. This failure wms ascribed by Colonel Mawbey partly \o the bold resistance of the enen^y, and partly to the difficulties of the service ' i 'hos British troops were called upoi^ .to perform : - nt from the top of the breach having h' op ^ad rapid that the most daring of the assail. .d not venture to leap down, especially as a iu;u>iber of pointed stakes 2id bambpos fi:sed at the botto'tti- djireatened them with certain death if tij^'J^ liad done so. The batteries, however, continued to play till the walls were reduced aJmost to a heap of ruins, and the natives then evacuated a place which they had so gallantly defended, on the morning of the 30th of November, when it was immediately taken possession of by Colonel Mawbey. The scene within the fort was of the most appalling description, and bore ample testimony to the desperate spirit which had animated its defenders. Their fortune without the walls was not happier than it had 374 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. be(;n within, their flight being intercepted by detach- ments of the British force, and* the greater part of the fugitives either killed, woinded, or made prisoners. The fall of Kalunga was followed by some other advan- tskges, necessary to the success of the general plan of cp<:trations. The strong fort of Baraut, situated in the noun tains forming the noi-th -eastern boundary of the valley of Deyra, was evac uated by the gamson and forth- \fith occupied by the British ; and the post of Lucker- g'aut, on the Ganges, wt.ere it forms the eastern limit of the Dhoon, also fell into the possession of a British cefcachment, thus completing the occupation of the valley, .nd of the principal passes leading to it. A force under Colonel Carpenter having been left for the occupation of the Dhoon, the rest of the division marched for Nahun, under Major-Greneral Martiiidell, VTho had succeeded General Gillespie in the command. Nahun feii without an effort, the enemy withdrawing to Jyetuck, a fort erected on the summit of a mountain, where a force was ?ancentrated, to the number of two thousand two hundred men, commanded by Bunjore Sing. To dispossess the enemy x9f this strong position, a combined attack was put into ex^wUtion on the morning of the 27th of December, b} two colPmns under Major Ludlow and Major Bichards, which it>K&s calculated would reach the respective points of attack BeiCore day- break. A d^i^ij ^rjiottuv.?.tdy ocun'ed, which dej^rived ^ J^l^'^5!' Xudlow's division of the advantage of approaching '^^ the enemy under cover of darkness j but still the enemy was driven from his advanced position, and comi:)elled to retire into his stockade. Here, however, the tide of success turned : a gallant but inconsiderate charge made hy a part of his Majesty's 53rd was repulsed, and the assailants were driven back in confusion. The ground thus rashly lost might, perhaps, have been yet recovered, had the rest of the detachment performed its duty ; but the native infantry seemed panic-stinick, and all efforts to rally them proved ineffectual. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 375 The column under Major Richards displayed a better spirit, and met with better fortune. They carried the position which they had been despatched to occupy, and maintained it against repeated and vigorous assaults of the enemy, who, after Major Ludlow's defeat, were enabled to turn their whole force against them. They, however, nobly maintained their post through the whole day, until ordered to return to camp, which was not till the whole of theii' ammunition was expended, and they were compelled to employ stones in their defence. The retreat was far more disastrous than the conflict, and was effected under cover of a very gallant charge made by Lieutenant Thackeray, with the light company of the 2nd battalion 26th Native Infantry, in which that officer and nearly his whole company fell j the sacrifice of these brave men probably saving the entire detachment from destruction. During these operations, the division under Colonel Ochterlony had penetrated the hills in the direction of Nalagurh, within a few days after General Gillespie had entered the Dlioon. ISTalagurh surrendered on the 5th of November, 1814; and the jcaptnre of Taragurh, another fort in the neighbourhood, followed. At the former place a depot was ^tablished, which thus afforded the means of an unalt^^urbed communication with the plains. Colonel Oobterlony then advanced upon the enemy, and from tke heights of Golah gained a full view of his Ummeer Sing had concentrated his force on the helgtrtSw^ of Ramgurh, to the number of three thousand, in a posi- tion of extraordinary strength. His right was covered and commanded by the fort of Eamgurh, and his left by a high and nearly inaccessible hill, called Kote, on which a strong party was posted. On a first view, the left stockade appeared to Colonel Ochterlony to be assailable ; but better information induced him to hesitate, and the reports of the country people led him to believe that the hills were more accessible in the rear of the enemy. The 376 OUR ANGLO-IXDIAir ARMY. road, however, by whix;h alone the rear could be gained, was declared impassable for guns ; but this difficulty was overcome by expedients peculiarly OrientaL Six elephanta became the bearei*s of as many pieces of cannon, while seven hundred Coolies wofe put in requisition to carry the necessary ammunition and equipments. In this iBuanner an indescribably bad road was successfully tra- versed, the wild and rugged hills passed in safety, and a descent efiected into the pkiu in the enemy's rear. Here, however, the British troops were as badly oft' as ever, the enemy's rear being found as unassailable as his front ; and uumerous attempts to attack him with ad^ vantage were baffled, either by the difficulty of the ground or the vigilance and bravery of the foe. Bisappointed in the immediate attainment of his object, Colonel Ochter- lony still continued to pursue it with exemplary perseve- rance, though his operations were not distinguished by any of that dashing enterprise which had cost so deadly at Kalunga ; for he seemed to have a juster opinion thsLD. any of his colleagues, or even of the Government itself, of the formidable charaoteii^of the foe he had to cou;teio4 with. At last, after a' steries of s^kilful manamvreg; Ummeer Bing wa compelW to quit his positiojfL a^d move in a directioix to cover his 'syjQjlies, leaving sm^l c^airisons in Bamgurh and the other foHa^in that raiige. The progress of the British arms in^ thuS" ^a.uartev was now steady and satisfactory. ,0n the llijh of 1815, the,lieigMs of EamgiiTh ^vefd- t^keu v jy-i^^Sut opposition : the surrender of the fort followed. The garrison of Jhoo-Jooroo aup v a detachment of irregulars. Taragoirh ww^ eviMuuat^a by the enemy ou the 11th of, ^^ajrch; the; fort of ChumbuU subsequently surrendered, mi B^mgav ^ tyerted into ^ Tprincipal depot. The proceedings of General Wood's divMon of the invading army now require to be noticed. Jts marctj in the first instance, was considerably retaii'dd foy the was-t :of means for transporting the stores and aupplies ; its OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 377 operations were still impeded by delays in the Commis- sariat department, while the hesitation of the General in the choice of a route interposed fresh ones. He was next inveigled by a treacherous Brahmin to attack a redoubt at Jeetgurh, which, though he carried with considerable loss, he could not keep possession of, being deterred by the apparent force of the enemy on the hill behind it. General Wood then proceeded in a westerly direction, with a view of creating a diversion of the enemy's force, and penetrating, if possible, into the hills by the passes of Toolsepore. But his progress was arrested by the movements of the enemy, who advanced into the country, burning the villages and committing horrible devastations in their route. The approach of the rainy season now indicated the necessity of suspending all offensive opera- tions, and General Wood retired towards Goruckpore, to make arrangements for the defence of the frontier ; but sickness spread amongst the troops to an alarming extent, and the division separated and returned to cantonments without effecting a single object for which it had been brouorht tosjether. We have now to notice the operations of General Marley's division, which was destined to march through Muckwanpoor, direct upon the Nepaulese capital. This corps, on the equipment of which _ the greatest care and expense had been bestowed, as the one on which the Governor-General had fixed his strongest hopes, had assembled at Dinapore and crossed the Ganges before the end of November, 1814. Its advance was distinguished by a brilliant affair, which secured the immediate posses- sion of the Terraie of Sarun ; but when General Marley joined the division, which was not until the 11th of December, his proceedings were so dilatory that the Goorkhas were emboldened to make a simultaneous attack on two of his advanced posts situated at Pursah and Summundpore. These posts were about forty miles asunder, and about twenty-five miles from the position which General Marley had taken up at Lowtun. The 378 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Goorkhas were so greatly superior in numbers that the British force was compelled, in each instance, to retire with severe loss, including the two commanding officers, Captains Sibley and Blackney, both of the native infantry. On the 6th of January, 1815, General Marley made a forward movement towards Pursah ; but this position he almost immediately abandoned, alarmed by reports of the designs of the enemy and some desertions amongst his own troops. He accordingly retrograded for the purpose of covering the depot at Betteah, and favouring the junction of a long-expected battering-train ; and here ends ^^the strange eventful history" of General Marley, who was, of course, recalled. By a curious coincidence, Bhagut Sing, one of the Goorkha commanders, having evinced some unjustifiable caution about the same time, was not only recalled, but, being the subject of a semi- barbarous state, he was publicly exhibited in woman's attire as one unworthy to wear the habiliments of man. The interval that elapsed between the departure of General Marley and the arrival of his successor was distinguished by an affair of some brilliancy, which tended to abate the presumptuous confidence of the Goorkhas, and to revive the exhausted hopes of the British force. Lieutenant Pickersgill, while reconnoitring, discovered, at no great distance from the camp, a party of the enemy about five hundred strong ; and the discovery was imme- diately communicated to Colonel Dick, who had assumed the command on the departure of General Marley. A party of irregular horse was, in consequence, despatched to strengthen Lieutenant Pickersgill, and Colonel Dick followed with all the pickets. The Goorkhas, encouraged by the small number of Lieutenant Pickersgill's force, resolved to attack him ; but, on emerging from a hollow where they were posted, they perceived the force that was advancing to his assistance. Struck with j^anic at the discovery, they made a precipitate retreat, but were all eventually cut to pieces ; and so great was the terror OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 379 inspired by this encounter that the Goorkhas hastily retreated, into the hills, abandoning every position which they had established in the Terraie. Major-General Wood succeeded General Marley in the command of the division, which he joined on the 20th of February, 1815 ; but though it had been augmented to ujDwards of thirteen thousand regular troops, the new commander did nothing to redeem the incapacity of his l^redecessor. The division did not march to Catmandoo, nor did it make any attempt to do so. The army under General Martindell also remained inactive before Jyetuck ; after the unfortunate termination of his double attack, that officer having determined to attempt nothing further until the arrival of reinforcements, and not knowing what to do with them when they did arrive. In fact, during this period of moral paralysis, the only activity that prevailed was amongst some corps of irregulars, headed by enterprising officers, which scoured the valleys and clambered the mountains with great energy, till some disciplined body of Goorkhas fell foul of them, when they melted away like the snow in the hot season on the lower ranges of the Himalaya mountains, leaving their British officers in the hands of the enemy. These events produced an alarming sensation at Cal- cutta, but were received with the highest exultation in all the native courts, which were anxiously watching for an opportunity to effect the downfall of British power in India. Lord Moira, however, considering that to obtain some decisive success over the Nepaulese and compel them to sue for peace was the only mode by which the evil could be remedied, augmented and concentrated those forces which had been too widely scattered in the first defective plan of the campaign, and judiciously conferred the sole command on Major-General Ochter- lony. This officer, though hitherto checked by the losses of the division that was to act in combination with him, had already, as we have seen, compelled Ummeer Sing to retire from the heights of Bamgurh to those of Maloun, 380 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. which were also exceedingly strong. He had likewise reduced Ramgurh, Bellaspore, and the other fastnesses that commanded this mountain region. At the same time, the province of Kemaoon being left unprotected, a detachment was sent under Colonel Nicolls, who besieged and, on the 2oth of April, 1815, took Almora, its capital. Ummeer Sing, now closely confined to his fortified post at Maloun, was obliged to capitulate, though on honour- able terms, being allowed to join the main army with the troops under his charge. By these victories, the countries between the Jumna and the Sutlej were effectually cleared ; but the war was not yet terminated, though it had already lasted more than a year. The Government of Nepaul were so deeply discouraged by these reverses that, notwithstanding the opj)osition of several chiefs, they determined to open a negotiation. The terms demanded by Lord Moira were high, including the cession of all the provinces conquered in the west, and also of the Terraie. This last article formed the chief obstacle to the treaty, not so much on account of the actual value of the territory as because most of the principal chiefs at court had in it assignments of land, from which they derived their income. The Nepaulese ambassadors had, however, agreed to the terms and signed them ; but when transmitted for ratification, the Court of Catmandoo was induced, on the grounds just stated, to refuse its consent. Under these circumstances, there was no alternative left but the renewal of war. General Ochterlony had nearly 20,000 effective men under his command, including three of his Majesty's regiments, the 24th, 66th, and 87th, who were better suited to a war among bleak and lofty mountains than the Sepoys from the hot plains of Hindostan. The enemy had intrenched themselves in the strong pass of Chercea- gatee, which formed the entrance into their mountain territory. These works were altogether unassailable in front, but a mountain -track was at length discovered which turned the pass ; and, on a dark night, General OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 381 Ochterlony in person led Colonel Miller's brigade through a deep and narrow chasm, and over the brow of a for- midable barrier of hills. By seven o'clock on the fol- lowing morning the heights on the flank of the enemy's position were occupied without resistance. Colonel Dick's brigade, which had been left at the foot of the pass, having moved up in the course of the morning to the outer stockade, found the position evacuated, owing to the success of Ochterlony's movement, and took immediate possession of its triple row of fortifications. The troops were obliged to bivouac on the bleak mountain-tops for four days, waiting the arrival of their supplies and tents, as no laden animal had been able to accompany them. During the first two days the men suff'ered extreme privations ; but their gallant leader shared in their hardships, having no baggage, and sleeping under cover of a hut, hastily constructed for him with the boughs of green trees, by the men of the 8Tth.* By the 20th of February the supplies and tents were brought up, and roads were prepared for a further advance. The enemy, vexed and disheartened at this unexpected penetration of their first mountain-barrier, continued to retreat from stockade to stockade, until they reached the to^vn of Muckwanpoor, which stood upon a hill, and was defended both by a fort and a stockade. On the 27th of February the British troops took up a position on a hill within two miles of Muckwanpoor, from which the Goorkhas endeavoured to dislodge them, which attempt brought on a general action. In their first attack the enemy drove in a weak outpost, killing its commandant, Lieutenant Tyrrell ; but a small village on the hill was gallantly defended by Lieutenant Kerr and Ensign Impey. To maintain the position. General Ochterlony threw forward the flank companies of the 87th and the 25th Native Infantry ; while, on their side, the Goorkhas poured forth 2,000 men " Memoir of Sir David Ochterlony .' 382 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. from tlieir stockade in front of Muckwanpoor, with a determination to gain the village, and recover all the ridge of the hill. Four more companies of the 87th and the 2nd battalion 12th Native Infantry advanced from the main body of the English, while the Goorkhas reinforced their columns of attack ; and artillery being at length brought up on both sides, a serious and general action ensued, which was hotly contested till the British bayonet was brought into play, when the enemy broke and fled beyond a deep hollow, which separated the ridge from Muckwanpoor. There, however, and in a neighbouring jungle, they maintained themselves for some hours, keeping up an incessant cannonade and fusilade, till a fresh Sepoy battalion being brought up, Major Nation put himself at its head, dashed across the hollow, charged with the bayonet, and captured the nearest of the guns. The Goorkhas then retreated into their fort and stockades, with the loss of eight hundred men ; ours, in killed and wounded, rather exceeding two hundred. The battle of Muckwanpoor threw the Court of Cat- mandoo into a state of consternation ; and the two defeats they had recently experienced from General Ochterlony having convinced the Goorkhas of the folly of contending with British troops when properly led, they made overtures for a fresh negotiation. In this all the points in dispute were yielded, and a definitive treaty was concluded in March, 1816, by which the Com]Dany retained all the territory in Nepaul that was occupied by their troops, including the valley of the Raptee, Hureehurpoor, &c. In addition to this, the Hajah had to write a submissive letter to the Governor- General, while the Goorkha negotiator had to present the ratified treaty on his knees at General Ochterlony's durbar, in presence of all the vakeels in camp. The Rajah further bound himself never to disturb the Com- pany's frontiers, or the territories of any of its allies ; never to advance any claim to the territories which had OUR AJTGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 383 formerly been disputed, or which were now ceded ; never to retain in his service any British subject, or the subject of any European or American state, without the consent of the British Government ; to allow the per- manent residence of an English Minister at the Court of Catmandoo, and to send accredited Ministers of his own to reside at Calcutta. While the Anglo-Indian Army was thus extending its fame, and the Company its frontier, in the extreme north of India, an important acquisition was made at the southern extremity of this vast peninsula, in the ftdl sovereignty of Ceylon ; and though the King's govern- ment of that island was altogether distinct from, and independent of, the Company's government in India, their relative connexion and mutual interchange of advice and assistance render it necessary to take a passing notice in this work of the military events which led to our complete subjugation of that splendid colony. Before the close of the last centuiy, we had dispossessed the Dutch of all their maritime settlements in Ceylon; and in the year 1800 our sway extended over a territory of 12,000 square miles, in a broad belt which inclosed within it the semi-barbarous kingdom of Candy, oc- cupying a similar extent of territory ; the island being thus pretty equally divided between the British Govern- ment and the King of Candy. The interior of the island being excessively woody and mountainous, the Candians had been enabled to maintain for centuries their independence of the foreign nations who had settled on their coasts ; but quarrels, usually accompanied with bloodshed, were constantly occurring between them ; till at length the death of the King of Candy giving rise to a disputed succession, some of the adigars or chiefs courted the assistance of the English against the new king who was placed on the throne in 1802, and whose hostility had already been evinced in the plunder of some coast merchants, subjects of the British Government. The Honourable Frederick North, then Governor of 384 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Ceylon, sent 3,000 men to occupy the mountain capital, and to place a more friendly king upon the throne. This was accordingly effected ; but the king we had made had no party in the country, and our troops were consequently treated as invaders and usurpers. Every night some of them were brought down by the fire of concealed marksmen, or they were assassinated in the jungles, or treacherously led into ambuscades and butchered. It was determined, therefore, to withdraw our troops and our unpopular king ; another adigar, who had partisans, being invested with the supreme authority, on condition of his ceding some territories to the English. On the faith of this treaty, General McDowall quitted Candy for the coast, leaving behind him a garrison of 700 Malays and 300 Europeans, under the command of Major Davie, who unfortunately proved to be an officer of great incapacity. / This garrison, including a number of sick and wounded, was soon reduced to a state of starvation, no proper measures having been adopted to secure magazines and depots of provisions ; and in less than three months the new king fairly starved the British out of Candy. Finally, the sick and wounded were butchered as they lay in the hospital incapable of resistance ; and Davie capitulated in the jungle, when all his troops were murdered, and he himself taken back to Candy, where he lingered out a miserable existence. The Candians now became invaders in their turn, and carried terror and devastation to within fifteen miles of Colombo, the seat of government ; but reinforcements fortunately arrived from Bengal and the Cape, and the Candians were driven back to their woods and mountains. In the year 1804 war was again carried into the interior, but not upon any fixed plan ; it therefore degenerated into a desultory series of outrages, perpetrated on both sides with great barbarity. These continued with little intermission till 1814, when, during the government of Sir Bobert Brownrigg, intelligence was received that OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 385 ten native cloth merchants, subjects of the British Government, had been frightfully mutilated at Candy, by having their ears, noses, and right arms cut off. Forbearance being no longer possible, preparations were made for putting an end to the tyranny of the Candian monarch, and a detachment of troops was organised at Colombo for that purpose, under the com- mand of Major Hook, who began his march up the country on the 11th of January, 1815. The Candians attempted to dispute his passage of the river Calanegangee, but four or five rounds from a six-pounder dislodged and scattered them in all directions. Seven other divisions were put in motion from different parts of the coast to co-operate with Hook; and on the Mth of February, the capital, which was nearly deserted by the inhabi- tants, was taken possession of by General Brownrigg. The King and his family being brought away, were sub- sequently sent to replace Tippoo's family at Vellore ; the fallen tyrant declaring that, as he was no longer per- mitted to be a king, he was very thankful for all the kindness he received from the English. On the 2nd of March, the British flag was hoisted over the palace at Candy ; and a royal salute was fired to announce that his Majesty George the Third was undisputed sovereign of the whole island of Ceylon. 386 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER XXII. Commencement of the great Mahratta "War Character of Trimbuckjec Dainglia He effects the Mm-der of Gungadhur Shastree Suspicious Proceedings of the Peishwa Trimbuckjee given up to the British Resident His singular Escape and Machinations against the EngUsh Remarkable Character of the Pindarries Their predatory Incursions, destructive Proceedings, and atrocious Cruelties Retaliation of the Rajah of Nagpore Destruction of Pindarries by Major Lushington and other Officers Hostile Appearances at Poonah Pre- cautions taken by the Resident The Resident's Ultimatum Humiliating Treaty forced upon the Peishwa His Desperation Commencement of Hos- tilitiesPlunder and Burning of the Residency Defeat of the Mahrattas Flight of the Peishwa, and Surrender of Poonah. When we look back to the days of Chunda Sahib and Salabat Jung, when Arcot and Trichinopoly were the limits of onr peregrinations in the Carnatic, when Central India was a terra incognita, and the Bengal army scarcely ventured to cross the Mahratta Ditch at Cal- cutta, we cannot forbear smiling at the timid caution with which our statesmen and generals then ventured to put one foot before another, in a region so totally un- known to them that, for aught they could foresee, the solid earth might open and swallow them and their handful of soldiers. In contrasting that period with the one of which we are now treating, how the mind dilates, how the heart exults with triumph at the extent of our territories, the expansion of our commerce, and the glory of our arms, acquired within so short a period ! And yet what were they when Lord Moira assumed the reins of government in 1814 compared with what they are at present, after a series of unrivalled wars, in which the Anglo-Indian Army has crowned its country with bound- less prosperity and won for itself imperishable fame 1 Nor was the war upon which we are now about to enter one of the least interesting or important of the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 387 series, presenting as it did a complicated drama of all the elements of military strife, energy, and adventure ; and combining, as it were, in one battle-field, our most numerous and most powerful enemies, to be ciaished and overwhelmed by the united efforts of the three pre- sidencies "a war," it has been justly remarked, "that witnessed an unprecedented number of sieges, an un- precedented number and complexity of movements, and some of the most remarkable forced marches that were ever made in any country."* Lord Moira had no sooner brought to a happy termination one of the quarrels bequeathed to him by the pacific policy of his predecessor, than he found it essen- tially necessary to grapple with another of a more com- plicated nature ; to understand the merits of which it will be necessary to cast a short retrospective glance at some events which occurred before he assumed the reins of government. Among the causes which were likely to disturb the peace of the country, after the termination of the first Mahratta Avar, were certain differences between the Peishwa Bajee Rao, and the Guicowar, or sovereign of Guzerat, which jDartly arose out of the former connexion between those princes ; and the British Government, by the treaties concluded with both, was bound to arbitrate upon their claims. It was, however, obviously desirable that this authority should not be exercised, except in case of absolute necessity ; and that the native powers should be afforded every opportunity of settling their differences by negotiation between themselves. Some attempts to effect this object were made by the Guicowar's vakeel at Poonah ; but they were counteracted by the intrigues of Trimbuckjee Dainglia, one of those imprincipled adventurers naturally generated in the atmosphere of a despotic court. The origin of Trimbuckjee was very low, his earliest employment under the Peishvra being that of a menial Macfarlane's " British India." -F) 388 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. servant. Some desirable services, however, which he rendered to his master raised him rapidly in his favour ; and he so successfully advanced his own interests and influence that at length, though the office of First Minister was nominally held by another, all substantial power was actually in the hands of Trimbuckjee, who, exclusive of his other ill qualities, bore a decided enmity to the English. As the negotiations between the Peishwa and the Guicowar became extremely intricate, it was agreed that Gungadhur Shastree, the Guicowar's Prime Minister, and a man of extraordinary talent and judgment, should repair to the Court of Poonah, and endeavour to place them on an intelligible basis. He accordingly went thither, having previously obtained a safe conduct from the British. Being supposed favourable to our interests, as well as from some personal causes, he incurred the en- mity of Trimbuckjee and the Peishwa ; and, to gratify their revenge, they prevailed upon him to accompany them to Punderpoor, where a religious festival of peculiar solemnity was to be celebrated. This visit took place on the 15th of July, 1815 ; and the Shastree having per- formed his devotions at the temple, was returning with a small escort, when he was set upon by several men, who rushed on him with drawn swords, and literally cut him to pieces. The British Resident at Poonah, the Honourable Mountstuart Elphinstone, immediately on hearing of this barbarous murder, set on foot an active scrutiny into the affair ; the result of which was a conviction that Trimbuckjee was the instigator of the deed. He there- fore demanded of the Peishwa that Trimbuckjee, who was openly charged with the murder, should, with his two principal accomplices, be placed in close confinement, to await a full investigation ; and to give more effect to his demand, he ordered the auxiliary force to approach nearer to Poonah. The Peishwa studiously employed eveiy expedient to save his favourite ; and the suspicion OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 389 thus afforded of a determination to screen the offender induced the Resident, with the concurrence of the Governor-General, to demand that he should be delivered into British custody. This proposal was, of course, still more revolting to the Peishwa, who began to augment his troops ; and it was understood that he was on the point of making common cause with his Minister to flee with him from the capital, and endeavour to raise the Mahrattas against the Company. Mr. Elphinstone then considered it indis- pensable to order the subsidiary force to march on Poonah ; but Bajee Rao, when he saw the sword about to be drawn, lost courage, and Trimbuckjee was delivered into the hands of the English. The crime with which he stood charged being aggravated in the view of the natives by having been committed on a Brahmin of high sanctity, and within the precincts of one of their holiest shrines, threw a great degree of popularity on the vigorous steps taken by the Resident for its punishment. Our countrymen conducted their prisoner to the strong fortress of Tannah, in the Island of Salsette, and watched him so narrowly that they did not admit a single native into the guard ; but, in spite of this excessive precaution, he escaped in the following manner. A common-looking Mahratta groom, with a good character in his hand, came one day to offer his services to the commanding officer ; he was accepted, and had to keep his horse under the window of Trimbuckjee's prison. Nothing remarkable was observed, except a more than usual at- tention to his horse ; and a habit, while currying and cleaning him, of singing verses from Mahratta songs, all apparently relating to his trade, but which really com- municated a plan contrived for the prisoner's escape. Through a small gap in the wall of the fortress, Trim- buckjee reached a stable ; and not being missed for a few minutes, he succeeded in crossing the narrow channel which separates Salsette from the continent. He im- mediately hastened to the southern districts, where he .?: 390 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. began to levy troops, and raise the whole country against the English. This was the unsatisfactory state of our relations with the Court of Poonah, occasioned by a murder not only atrocious in its character, but the source and origin of some of the greatest political changes in the modern his- tory of India, at a period when the most active exertions were called for by our trooj^s, to suppress the outrages committed upon our own territories and those of our allies, by one of the most remarkable confederacies of robbers that ever existed. The Pindarries* were not composed of any peculiar people or tribe, but of a variety of the refuse of all tribes, denominations, and creeds. The ancestors of their chiefs are regarded as of Patau extraction -, their followers were a motley multitude, brought together by the common impulse of necessity. "Every horseman," says Captain Sydenham, '^ who is discharged from the service of a regular government, or who wants employment and subsistence, joins one of the durras-\ of the Pindarries ; so that no vagabond who has a horse and a sword at his command can be at a loss for employment. Thus the Pindarries are continually receiving an accession of asso- ciates from the most desperate and profligate of mankind. Every villain who escapes from his creditors, who is expelled from the community for some flagrant crime, who has been discarded from employment, or who is disgusted with an honest and peaceable life, flies to Hindostan, and enrols himself among the Pindarries." The Pindarries were generally armed with sjoears, in the use of which they were very expert ; a proportion of them were provided with matchlocks, and all were mounted. The mode of warfare adopted by these bandits, if warfare it may be called, was distinguished by the precision yriih. which it was directed to one object * This character of the Pindarries, which is drawn from the pubhcations of Sir John Malcolm, Captain Duff, Captain Sydenham, the Earl ot Munster, &c., we extract from Thornton's excellent " History of India." j,, ; t Principal divisions. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 391 plunder ; tliey brought little with them, and their only object was to carry as much as possible away. A party consisted of one, two, three, or even four thousand. Each man provided himself with a few cakes for his subsistence, and a few feeds of grain for his horse, trust- ing much to the chance of plunder for the means of supplying the wants of both. They frequently marched thirty or forty miles a day, and, in cases of extraordinary emergency, they were capable of accomplishing fifty miles in that period. To effect these extraordinary exertions, they were accustomed to sustain the vigour of their horses by spices and stimulants. The celerity of their marches was not more remarkable than their secrecy. It was scarcely possible to gain information of their movements till they had completed them. They proceeded at once to the place of their destination, and, unincumbered with tents and baggage, they soon reached it. Here they divided into smaller parties, and commenced their career of plunder and de- vastation. Articles of the greatest value were disposed about their persons ; cattle afforded the means of their own transport. But the atrocious propensities of these ruffians were not to be satisfied by what they could carry away. What was not removed they destroyed ; and wherever Jbhey marched villages were seen in flames, with the houseless and often wounded inhabitants flying in dismay to seek a shelter, which not unfrequently they were unable to attain. When the ruffian visitors had laid the country completely waste, they approached a point 01 the frontier distant from that by which they liad entered, and, uniting again into a compact body, returned home. The horrors attending these visitations were such as could not be credited, were the evidence less complete and conclusive. Despatch being indispensable, every variety of torture was resorted to for the purpose of extracting from the unhappy victims information of the treasures they were supposed to have concealed. Red- 392 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. hot irons were applied to the soles of their feet ; a bag filled with hot ashes Avas tied over the mouth and nostrils of the victim, who was then beaten on the back, to make him inhale the ingredients ; large stones were placed on the head or chest, or the sufferer being laid on his back, a plank or beam was placed across his chest, on which two men pressed with their whole weight ; oil was thrown on the clothes, which were then set on fire these, with many other modes of torture equally frightful, were resorted to. Neither sex nor age afforded immu- nity. The hands of children would frequently be cut ofi", as the shortest way of obtaining the bracelets which adorned them ; while women were subjected to outrages compared with which torture and death were mercy. To escape these, numbers rushed upon self-destruction. It is not one of the least revolting features in the economy of these murderous adventurers that their women fre- quently accompanied their male associates in their excur- sions. They were mounted on .small horses or camels, and are said to have exceeded the other sex in rapacity and cruelty. When the work of ruin was completed, the Pindarries withdrew like wild beasts to their lairs. Then a change of scene took place ; the operation of plunder was ex- changed for that of huckstering. The clajm of the Government under which they served had first to be satisfied, or, if they were pursuing their vocation inde- pendently, that of their chief ; but it is not very clear how far either claim extended. By some, the share of each chief has been fixed at a fourth part of the entire booty. By others, it has been alleged that the mode of apportionment was uncertain, but that elephants, palan- quins, and some other articles were heriots appertaining to the highest authority recognised by the captors. After the claim of the Government, or the chief, came that of the actual leader of the expedition ; then the payment of advances made by merchants for, like more civilised nations, these people ocoasionially contracted public debts. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 393 These preliminaries being disposed of, the scene that followed resembled a fair. Every man's share of the plunder was exposed for sale ; purchasers flocked from all quarters, proximate and remote, the business of sale being principally conducted by women, while the men gave themselves up to amusement, of which intoxication con- stituted a considerable portion. This lasted until the produce of the expedition was exhausted, and it became necessary to seek in fresh outrages renewed means of gratification. Thus passed the life of the Pindarrie robber, in an alternation of brutal exertion and sensual abandonment. They were, in truth, except on account of their num- bers, a very contemptible set of miscreants. No redeem- ing virtue marked the character of the Pindarrie : even animal courage, often the sole ennobling quality of his profession, he possessed not. The Pindarrie marched, or rather darted, upon his victims with a rapidity never equalled by any regular force ; but he manifested equal or even greater alacrity in flight. No troops in the history of the world ever displayed such proficiency in the art of iTinning away ; and to this, their strong point, they inva- riably resorted if attacked. They were mean and cowardly thieves, engendered by a vicious and diseased state of society. Such is tlie description of this most atrocious confede- racy, which received especial marks of favour and encou- ragement from many of the native princes ; who mutually employed the Pindarries against each other, to ruin and devastate their respective countries ; and not unfrequently remunerated their services by betraying and plundering their wretched instruments. On one occasion they made an overture to the Government of Bhopal to invade and lay waste the territories of Nagpore, with which state it was at war. Their ofier was declined, upon which they made a like tender of their services to Nagpore for ravaging Bhopal. The ruler of Nagpore accepted their offer, and they executed his order so effectually that, at g 3B4l' OUR ANGLO*INDIAN AKMY. the distance of twenty-five years, Sir JoJin Malcolm re- presents Bhopal as not then recovered from the effects of their visitation., On the return of these faithful instru- ments to Nagpore, the Rajah very unceremoniously sur- rounded their camp, plundered them of all the moveables of which they had plundered the unhappy inhabitants of Bhopal, and threw one of their chiefs into prison. A noted leader amongst the Pindarries was Kurreem. Khan, until he became powerful enough to excite the jea- lousy of Scindia, by whom he was thrown into prison for four years. He purchased his freedom with six lacs of rupees,'"'' and was joined in his subsequent outrages by another notorious chief, named Cheetoo, who, having betrayed his friend and colleague into the hands of his enemies, set up for himself as chief leader of the Pin- darries. He fixed his abode amidst the hills and forests situated between the north bank of the Nerbudda and the Vindhya momitains, the practice of these miscreants being to cross the river as soon as it was fordable after the I'ains, generally in November, and indiscriminately plunder friends and foes. During the season of 1816 17^ the ravages of the Pindarries extended over a wider expanse of territory than had ever before been attempted; Having crossed the Nerbudda with ten thousand horsemen, they separated into two lubhurs, or plundering bands ; one * of which proceeded due south into the country of the Nizam, and reached the banks of the Godavery. The other marched eastward, and entered the Company's territory of Ganjam, where, in the course of twelve days, they killed and wounded nearly 7,000 persons, and ctirried ofi" or destroyed proi>erty to the value of ^100,000, A third party crossed the Taptee, at Burhampoor, and overran the dominions of the Peishwa to some distance beyond Poonah. Thus far the Pindarries had eluded the regular force stationed on- the Nerbudda, to check their inroad ; yet, though tiiey wr still liable to be attacked by several * eo.oooL OUR ANGLOI-IKDIAN ARiffY. 395 detached corps that were scouring the country in different directions, they never stationed sentries, or took any similar precaution against an evil to which they Were always exposed. On the 25th of December, 1816, Major Lushington, who was at Preputwaree with the 4th Madras Native Cavalry, received intelligence that a party of these plunderers had entered the Peishwa's territories by the Wauklee Pass, and were engaged in plundering to the south-east of Poonah. The news arrived at ten o'clock at night ; and three hours afterwards the regiment, with two galloper-guns, moved in the direction in which the plun- derers were said to be employed. The carriages of both guns broke down, and they were consequently left on the road, the regiment pursuing its way to Sogaum, where they arrived at seven o'clock on the morning of the 26th, having marched a distance of twenty-two miles. Here they learned that a large body of Pindarries had, on the preceding day, attacked the place ; but being beaten off, had moved in an easterly direction. Leaving at Sogaum the sick, recruits, heavy baggage*'^ and camp-followers. Major Lushington, with 350 men, again marched, after a pause of only half-an-hour ; and at noon, having performed a further distance of twenty miles, arrived at Kame. At this place he found that the Pindarries had halted on the previous night : they had departed at daybreak ; had occupied the morning in firing and plundering several villages in the neighbour- hood, and it was believed that they were then at no great distance. The short space of three quarters of an hour was allotted for refreshment, on the expiration of which the indefatigable band resumed its march in the direction which it was understood the Pindarries had taken. At Pepree, seven miles from Kame, Major Lushington learned with much satisfaction that his labours and those of his men were likely to be soon rewarded by a sight of the enemy ; it being stated that their whole body were halted at Cowah, about three miles further, for the purpose of taking a meal. He immediately pushed forward at 'ft 396 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. brisk pace, and, on ascending a rising ground, beheld those of whom he was in search busily occupied in cooking and eating. The surprise was complete, and the success pro- portionate. The Pindarries were mounted and in flight, with their usual celerity ; but it happened that the ground was favourable for pursuit, which was kept up by various parties for several miles. The killed and wounded of the enemy were estimated between seven and eight hun- dred, and many who escaped without personal injury were incapacitated from further pursuing their avocation by the loss of their horses. The distance traversed by Major Lushington and his regiment was about seventy miles, and this was performed in seventeen hours ; their only casualty was the death of Captain Darke, who fell by a spear-thrust. About the same time, the party which had proceeded to ravage Ganjam met with several surprises ; in one of which. Lieutenant Bothwick beat up their camp with only fifty men, and dispersed them with heavy loss. The fugitives subsequently suffered severely from falling in with a party of British troops under Captain Caulfield, by whom about 400 were killed, the English losing only one man. Another large body of Pindarries was surprised about thirty miles west of Bedur, while deliberating on their future course, by a light force detached from Hyder- abad under Major McDowall ; the approach of which was so sudden that the infantry were close upon the tents of the chiefs before they were discovered, and scarcely a man of the party was mounted when the first volley was fired. They fled, of course, and the greater part of their horses and booty was abandoned ; but one bold chieftain, with 260 troopers, crossed the peninsula, swept along the western shore, and, ascending the Taptee, reached his home. with less indeed than half his original number, but all of them carrying a rich booty in their saddles. But though in some measure successful, and even tri- umphant, this campaign aftbrded reason to apprehend that India could never be secure from the inroad of these OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 397 marauders, so long as they should have a place of safe retreat. Preparations for their total suppression were therefore made by Lord Moira, with as much privacy as possible, in order to avoid giving alarm to those against whom they were directed ; and the determination of the Government was fortified by a despatch from the Secret Committee of the Court of Directors, conveying a qualified approval of such measures as might be necessary for pur- suing and chastising the Pindarries, in case of actual in- vasion of the British territories. During the interval devoted to these preparations, a discussion took place with the Peishwa as to the escape of the miscreant Trimbuckjee, whom Mr. Elphinstone felt convinced was concealed and protected by his master, though the latter gave the most solemn assurances to the contrary. There was, however, reason for concluding that Trimbuckjee was instigating the Peishwa to hostile proceedings against the English. It was ascertained that considerable bodies of horse and foot were collecting at Mahadeo, about fifty miles from Poonah ; that recruiting was actively going on throughout the Peishwa's domi- nions ; and that even in the city of Poonah, under the very eye of the sovereign, the process was in full operation. These proceedings were publicly ascribed to Trimbuckjee, and the Resident, of course, remonstrated with the Peishwa, urging him to crush the insurrection in its commence- ment, or otherwise unfavourable conclusions would be drawn as to his own intentions. Bajee Pao, however, turned a deaf ear to the counsels of the Pesident, afiecting ignorance of proceedings to which no one in the countiy was or could be a stranger. Meanwhile, troops were raised, forts repaired, and every- thing seemed to announce impending hostility. Mr. Elphinstone then put in motion the British troops at Poonah, and by them the insurgents were driven from their haunts near Mahadeo. This being performed, and the Peishwa's preparations continuing, Mr. Elphinstone drew the light division of the troops at his disposal to ^ $t8 OUB ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Poonah, to be there ready for any emergency that might arise ; but, though authorised by the Bengal Government to proceed with more stringent measures, he still allowed a further season of repentance to the Peishwa, if he were disposed to embrace it. In the meantime, the insurgents continued their pro- gress, began to unite their forces from distant places, and took possession of one of the Peishwa's forts, evidently with that Prince's connivance. Under the presence of this and other circumstances, Mr. Elphinstone resolved to delay no longer, but demanded at once the surrender of Trimbuckjee, as an indispensable condition of adjust- ment. The Peishwa, though informed that the conse- quence would be immediate war, refused to be bound by any engagement, and on the following day the Pesident's ultimatum was delivered to the Peishwa's Minister. Its purport was to demand that the Peishwa should, within twenty-four hours, engage to deliver up Trimbuckjee within a month from that day, and should give up his forts of Singhur, Poorunder, and Ryeghur, as pledges for the fulfilment of his engagement. Bajee Rao delayed some time to give an answer ; but, at length, agreed to the terms. The fortresses were sur- rendered, and a price set on the head of Trimbuckjee. Still the Resident gave warning that these concessions could not be considered as .final ; and that the Peishwa, having forfeited the confidence of the Company, could not expect the treaty of Bassein to be renewed, unless under modifications, the extent of which must depend upon the next despatch from the Governor-General. Accordingly it was soon after announced that amicable relations could only be restored on the following terms : That the subsidiary, force should be augmented by 5,000 horse and 3,000 infantry, for the maintenance of which territories yielding a revenue of thirty-four lacs of rupees must be ceded ; that in this cession the strong city of Ahmednuggur should be included ; that his Highness eiiould renounce the character of head of the Mahratta OUR AKGLO-INDIAN ABMY. '3*99 confederacy, and cease to hold direct communication 'with any of the native powers. These severe conditions the Peishwa sought by every efio'ft to mitigate or elude; but as the Resident remained inflexible, a treaty to this effect was signed on the 13th of June, 1817. ^ut the Peishwa could not forbear contrasting his present humiliated condition with his former lofty pre- tensions as the head of a people who had spread the terror of their arms over a large portion of India ; and a few months only elapsed before it became evident that he was again preparing for some hostile proceedings. Levies of troops took place unremittingly throughout his domi- nions ; and by the 1st of October, 1817, there was not a single horseman in the country out of employ. From this, and various other circumstances, it was inferred that the Peishwa was about to aim a blow at the British power : in the Concan, indeed, whither he would have retired had he been able, some of his chiefs resisted the English. This resistance, however, was soon put down by Colonel Doveton and Colonel Scott : the former routed and expelled the partisans of Trimbuckjee in Candeish ; and the latter making ladders of his tent- poles, gallantly escaladed and stormed the strong fort of Dorana. After the loss of this, their chi^f stronghold, Trimbuckjee's 'adherents ceased to make head, and the murderer himself fled to the jungles in the valley of the Kerbudda, where he could communicate with Cheetoo and his Pindarries.* Among other indications of the spirit by which the Government of the Peishwa was actuated, were nume- rous attempts to corrupt the native troops in the British service. On this discovery, they were removed from the town to the village of Kirkee, in the immediate neigh^ bourhood. There was only one brigade of Sepoys in all, but the position was admirably strong, being protected by a river in the rear and on the left, and supported on the ri^ht by ihe village ; there w<^re also other battalions U^fXst Sjuu-^ a. ^ Afacfarlane's "BritUh India." h 400 OUB ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. cantoned a few miles off to the west. The Peishwa, how- ever, was impressed with the idea that the English had retired to their present position through fear, though Mr. Elphinstone himself continued to remain at the E,esi- dency. He, therefore, as if in defiance, pushed forward his own troops, and it was announced that he intended to form a camp between the old cantonments of the British and the new. Some of the Mahrattas were con- stantly riding round the camp, abusing our men and offi- cei^s ; and an English officer was even attacked, plundered, and wounded, escaping narrowly with his life. It was not until these unequivocal demonstrations had been made that Mr. Elphinstone summoned from Seroor, on the south bank of the Godavery, Brigadier-General Lionel Smith, with the force under his command, con- sisting of a light battalion, and a corps of 1,000 auxiliary horse. These forces left Seroor on the 5th of November, and had marched half way to Poonah, when the Peishwa being apprised of the fact, put his own army in motion also, and threw a strong battalion between the Besidency on the skirts of the town and the camp at Kirkee, for the purpose of cutting off the communication between the two. Mr. Elphinstone having demanded the reason of this hostile proceeding, was told that the Peishwa had only anticipated the hostile movements of the English, for he was determined to be no longer the victim of his irreso- lution : Bajee Bao then mounted his horse and joined the main body of his army, which forthwith advanced on the Besidency. Mr. Elphinstone and his suite had barely time to mount their horses and cross the river towards the English camp, ere the Mahrattas took possession of the buildings, from which there had not been time to remove anything. The Besidency was plundered and afterwards burned, on which occasion much valuable property was destroyed ; but the most irreparable loss was that of Mr. Elphinstone's manuscripts and library. Meanwhile the Resident and his party made good their OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. m retreat along the left bank of the river, skirmishing with some Mahratta horse that followed them, and passing under the fire of the battalion which had been thrust between the Residency and the camp at Kirkee. As soon as Mr. Elphinstone was safe in the camp, it was resolved not to stand there on the defensive, waiting the arrival of the troops that were marching from Seroor, but to recross the river and attack the Mahrattas immediately. The brigade, commanded by Colonel Burr, was now about 2,800 strong, and included the Bombay European regi- ment ; the Mahrattas mustered at least 25,000 men, and they had many guns ; but the Peishwa himself was a coward, and the mass of his force little better than an. armed rabble. The British accordingly crossed the river : the action commenced late in the afternoon, and before nightfall it was ended by the flight of the Mahrattas, who either threw themselves into Poonah, or into a fortified camp near the town. They left about 500 on the field ; our loss being eighteen killed and fifty-seven wounded. It now became necessary to obtain possession of Poonah ; and General Smith having arrived with his force on the 13th of November, arrangements were made on the 14th for attacking the enemy, who were encamped on the opposite side of the river ; but the design was abandoned, owing to the occurrence of unexpected difficulties. On the 16 th all the disposable corps, after providing for the camp and the position at Kirkee, were formed in divi- sions of attack. The passage of one of the divisions over the ford was obstinately resisted by the Peishwa's troops ; but the ill-success of this resistance seems to have com- pleted the panic excited by the previous defeat from Colonel Burr : in the course of the ensuing night the Peishwa fled, and on the following morning, when our troops marched up to the intrenched camp, they found the tents all standing, but there was not a single Mah- ratta to be seen. The British force then recrossed the river, to take the most favourable ground for bombarding Poonah j but ,^ :402 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. this dreadful measure was happily unnecessary. The defence of the place having been left to a few hundred Arabs, they were induced to retire, either by the threats or persuasions of the inhabitants, who opened the gates, and our troops took quiet possession of the city. On the 19th, General Smith, having been joined by a regiment of the Madras cavalry under Lieutenant-Colonel Cole- brooke, started in pursuit of the Peishwa ; but the latter moved too rapidly to be caught ; and throwing himself into the wild and elevated country where the Kistna takes its rise, he eluded pursuit until the following year. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARM . jlf^ CHAPTER XXIII. The Anglo-Indian Army takes the Field Its Numerical Strength Forces of the Mahratta Confederacy Advance of the British Armies Scindia paral.>sed hy a Treaty The Rajah of Berar joins the Confederacy against the English Hostile Proceedings at his Capital, Nagpore The English besieged at the Residency Battle of Seetabuldee Gallant and critical Charge of Captain Fitzgerald Desperate Resistance of the Arabs Surrender of Nagpore The Cholera breaks out in the Anglo-Indian Army Its dreadful Ravages Flight of the Pindarries Hostile Proceedings in the Court of Holkar Battle of Mehidpoor Submission of Holkar Pursuit and Destruction of Pindarries Their complete Dispersion Surrender of their Chief Kurreem Romantic Adventures and tragical Death of Cheetoo Final Extinction of the Pin- darries. The preparations of the Governor-General, now the Marquis of Hastings,* being at length completed, the greatest army that England ever had on foot, either in. India or elsewhere, took the field about the middle of the year 1817, with the avowed purpose of finally crush- ing the Pindarries, so long a living pestilence in the East, and of introducing such order amongst the Mah- ratta and other states as should place our future rela- tions with them on a more satisfactory and stable basis than had ever hitherto existed. The entire amount of this noble army was estimated at 81,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry, of regular troops, of which upwards of 13,000 were British soldiers, to which were added 23,000 irregular cavalry ; of these 13,000 were attached to the Deccan army, and 10,000 to that of Bengal. The army of Bengal, designated the *' Grand Army," was commanded by the Governor- General in person, and, including irregulars, num- bered 44,000 men ; the Madras and Bombay troops, designated the "Army of the Deccan," amounted, * The patent conferring this new title was dated the 7th of December, 1816. 404 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. including irregulars, to 70,000 men of all arms. The Deccan force comprised two army-corps under Generals Sir Thomas Hislop and Sir John Malcolm ; Colonel Adams led the regiments from Berar, while Generals Doveton and Smith took* post in the rear, ready either to support the main body, or to suppress any commotion that might arise at Poonah or Nagpore. The army of reserve was assembled on the frontier of the ceded districts ; and the Guzerat field-force, under General Sir William Keir, was stationed in advance of Baroda, ready to move into Malwa. All these divisions formed a complete circle round the Pindarrie positions, closing in upon them as to a common centre, it being only by such a movement that they could be secured and finally crushed. There was, however, one circumstance attending this campaign which could not be regarded without some degree of alarm ; namely, that it led our armies into the territories of princes who viewed with the most rancorous jealousy the height to which the British power had now attained ; and who, seeing in its success the downfall of their own ambitious hopes, and even of their independence, anxiously watched the favourable moment for striking a blow. It was not possible to estimate the varying force of all our enemies ; but it may be roughly stated that the Mahratta confederacy had 130,000 horse, 80,000 foot, and 580 guns, while the different fragments that remained of their Pindarrie allies would form a total of about 15,000. But it was not their number that was to be so much considered as the extensive field of war, the numerous strong fortresses in Central India, and the well-known Mahratta facilities for making forced marches, and lighting up the flames of war at many and distant points nearly at the same moment. The miteriel and military means we possessed in India at this period were, it is true, stupendous ; but our Anglo-Indian Army had still much to learn, and it was still defective in several very essential departments. V OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 405 It had scarcely any Sappers and Miners, and the engineer department could boast of only a few scaling-ladders, with a miserable supply of intrenching and other tools, and small stores indispensable to the proper execution of siege work. The number both of the artillery and engineer officers was small and disproportionate ; nor were the heavy battering-trains adequate to the work in hand. Through these deficiencies the sieges of this war were prosecuted occasionally at a heavy cost of life and limb, and were sometimes absolute failures. The army, moreover, had no equipment of pontoons, or of other means for the military passage of rivers. Hence the troops, in pursuing the enemy, were often delayed by the numerous small streams which intersect part of the Deccan, and the Mahrattas were allowed to escape when their ruin seemed inevitable.* On the 16th of October, 1817, the Governor-General commenced his march from Cawnpore ; and having joined the central division of the Bengal army at Secundra, crossed the Jumna on the 26th near Calpy, and reached his destined jDosition on the Scind, on the 6th of November. It being necessary that a part of the forces should traverse the territories of Scindia, Lord Hastings considered it essential that, when leaving the dominions of that chief behind him, his consent should be extorted to such a treaty as might withdraw from him the means of hostile interposition in the approach- ing conflict. Colonel Close, the Resident at Gwalior, where Scindia now held his court, was therefore in- structed to demand that he should place his troops entirely at the disposal of the Governor-General ; that he should furnish a contingent of 5,000 horse, and supply funds out of which they might be supported ; finally, that he should provisionally deliver up the forts of Hindia and Asseerghur, on which, to save his honour, his flag would continue to fly. There was even to be a * Macfarlane's ' British India ;" Blacker, " Operations ot the Army in the Mahratta War ;'' and Lake, "Journals of Sieges," during the same period. iT) 406 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ABMY. private understanding that while the contest lasted he should not quit his capital. Scindia manifested the most violent opposition, first to the English entering his dominions at all, and then to the terms attached to that movement ; nor was it till Lord Hastings from one quarter, and General Donkin from another, were each within a day's march of his frontier that the treaty was reluctantly signed. Similar treaties were also extorted, through dread of the stupendous armaments that were now sweeping through the country, from other Mahratta chiefs ; and especially from Ameer Khan, a leader of Patau bands, who has been characterised as " one of the most atrocious villains that India ever produced." But while these new engagements of amity were in course of formation,, the relations of peace previously subsisting between the British Government and one of its native allies were about to receive a shock. Raghojee Bhoonsla, the Rajah of Berar, who had invariably resisted every attempt to subsidise him, died in March, 1816 ; but his son being in a state of imbecility, the Governor-General placed Appa Sahib, his cousin, on the musnud, on condition of his accejiting a subsidiary force of six battalions of our Sej^oys, and a regiment or native cavalry, for which he was to pay seven and a-half lacs of rupees per annum ; engaging at the same time to keep on foot a contingent force of his own of 5,000 men, and to allow this force to co-operate with the English in putting down the Pindarries. But when Appa Sahib was, as he thought, firmly fixed on the guddee, he began to look wuth dislike on his English auxiliaries, and cast about how he could best get rid of them. He was led to enter into that con- federacy against the British power which was formed among the Mahratta chiefs in consequence of the Pin- darrie war ; and was observed to carry on an active correspondence with the Peishwa, while the latter was maturing his plans of aggression. Mr. Jenkins, our OUR ANGIX)-INDIAN ARMY. 4^7' Resident at the Court of Nagpore, remonstrated with the Rajah on his dangerous proceedings; but the only answer he got from Appa Sahib was an invitation to see him invested with a khelaut, or dress of honour, and thejuree putka, or golden streamer an emblem of high command, both of which had been transmitted to him by the Peishwa. Mr. Jisnkins indignantly declined the invitation, as an imprudent and premature insult, by which the Company's servants were warned of approach- ing danger. On the following day all communication between the Residency and the city was interdicted. The palaces were stripped of everything of value, and the families of the Rajah and of his principal Ministers left the city. Upon this, Mr. Jenkins lost no time in sending for the troops from their cantonments. The whole British force then at Nagpore consisted of only two battalions, the 20th and 24th of Native Infantry, three troops of the 6th regiment of Bengal Native Cavalry, and four six- pounders, manned by Europeans of the Madras artillery. Lieutenant-Colonel Hopetoun Scott was the officer in command ; and with this force, which did not comjDrise fourteen hundred men fit for duty, he had to resist an army of eight thousand infantry and twelve thousand cavalry, including three thousand very brave Arab troops,* supported by thirty-five guns. The British troops took post on the hills of Seeta- buldee, overlooking the Residency, which was situated outside the town ; and the brigade was scarcely in posi- tion, when th^ enemy's infantry, cavalry, and artillery drew up around them. At sunset the picquets were fired upon by the Arab infantry, and soon after a general dis- charge of artillery was opened upon the whole of the position, which was continued till two in the morning with much effect; Captain Sadler being killed, and Cap- tain Charleswoiiih woimded. During the night the * Tue Arabs in the pay of the native princes were frequently the only part of tlrtir 'troops that could be dpentJtid on for bravery and fidelity. 408 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. English made the best preparations in their power against the more serious attack which was anticipated in the morning : they had but few intrenching-tools, but they placed along the exposed brow of the hill sacks of flour and wheat, and everything else capable of affording cover. At daybreak the enemy recommenced their fire with greater fury : masses of their cavalry showed themselves all round the position, and the Arab infantry in the Rajah's service displayed great confidence and resolution. At ten o'clock a tumbril exploded on the lower hill, which threw the troops into some confusion ; the Arabs rushed on with loud cries, and, charging up the face of the hill with an overwhelming force, succeeded in gain- ing possession of the British post ; the Sepoys fled, abandoning the guns and the wounded, who were imme- diately put to the sword. The enemy then turned the guns upon the larger hill, and several men and officers fell under the first discharge amongst others, Mr. So- theby, the Resident's assistant, a young man of dis- tinguished merit, while he was endeavouring to rally and restore the courage of his men. The camp-followers, and the women and children of the Sepoys, set up a wild shriek, which, with the dismay of the troops, and the vast numbers and increasing confidence of the enemy, seemed to portend the most fatal result. The day, in fact, seemed lost, and a horrible butchery inevitable, when one of those daring and impromptu exploits, which seem more the result of inspiration than of human thought or impulse, turned the fortune of the fight, and restored the supremacy of British arms. Captain Fitzgerald, who had withdrawn the cavalry within the Residency grounds, seeing the critical state of the infantry, and the fire already extending to his station, felt that affairs could only be retrieved by one of those bold attacks which a native army can scarcely ever resist. Heading the cavalry of the brigade, consisting of three troops of the 6th Bengal regiment, and twenty-five OUK ANGLO-mciAN AEMY. 409 troopers of the Madras body-guard, he dashed across a nullah, and over the bridge, charged an immense body of the enemy's best horse, scattered them like a whirlwind^ and, having taken their guns and turned them against their late possessors, stood master of the plain, which was covered in every direction with the flying foe. The troops on the hills, animated by this glorious example, hailed it with a shout of mingled rage and triumph, threw in a volley on the assailants, and then rushed on the Arabs, who kept their ground bravely for a time, but could not stand before the bayonet : they were driven from the position, the guns they had captured were recovered, and two of their own were taken. In heading this desperate charge. Captain Lloyd and Lieu- tenant Grant particularly distinguished themselves : Grant was wounded three times, and his third wound proved mortal. The Arabs lay thick around the guns among the British and Sepoys they had butchered. This charge was no sooner crowned with success than Appa Sahib's troops gave way on every side, and about the hour of noon they fled from the field in panic and dis- order, leaving all their artillery to the conquerors. Thus ended a conflict more desperate than any that had taken place in India since the early days of Clive. " Courage and military conduct," says Thornton,* " like other meritorious qualities, are not always appreciated accord- ing to their deserts. The magnitude of the stake con- tended for, the proximity or distance of the scene of action, the numbers engaged, and various other accidents, influence the judgment of mankind with regard to them. Little is recollected of the heroic band who, on this occasion, illustrated the triumphant supremacy of living burning courage over the dead force of mere numbers* Yet the prodigies of valour which they performed have rarely been equalled either in ancient or modern times. If glory were to be proportioned to difficulty and danger, the memory of such men would be imperishable." * "History of British India." 10 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Dismayed by the result of his first attempt in hostility, Appa Sahib sought refuge in negotiation ; but while he temporised with the E-esident, he continued to increase his army, and render his artillery more efficient. It was therefore determined to crush him as speedily as possible ; and reinforcements were sent to Nagpore, including the division nnder General Doveton. The movements of this officer at length compelled Appa Sahib to give him- self up as a hostage, and to order the surrender of his artillery both in camp and arsenal. General Doveton suspecting treachery, advanced his whole line to take possession of the guns ; and as he proceeded, a heavy fire of artillery was opened upon his front and right flank. He immediately brought his infantry to the charge, while his cavalry and horse artillery making a detour, took the enemy in flank. In less than an hour all the batteries were carried, the Arabs put to flight, and up- wards of eighty guns, mortars and howitzers, with forty- five elephants, the entire camp, and all Appa Sahib's amp-equipage, were in our possession. Part of the Arab infantry rallied in the city, occupied the fortress, within which were the Rajah's palaces and other strong buildings, and there they maintained them- selves with such desperation that it was not till the 30th of December that they could be driven out. Doveton's siege-artillery not having yet come up, in an attempt to storm the fort through an insufficient breach he lost 90 killed, and 179 wounded. Preparations were then made to invest the place on a more regular plan ; but the garrison, satisfied with the display of valour which they had already made, capitulated, on condition of being allowed to march out with t'heir baggage and private j^roperty. With the departure of these daring Arabs resistance ceased : the Pajah, his city of Nagpore, and all his country were at our feet, and the fate of Appa Sahib remained in suspense for a few months longer. Meanwhile the Pindarrie chiefs could not view the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 411 immense force collected for their destruction without the deepest alarm ; and while the rainy seasons still sus- pended operations, they held frequent conferences on the state of. their affairs ; but the violent dissensions that had long reigned between their two principal heads, Kurreem and Cheetoo, caused them to break up without having formed any definite plan. The invading armies began to move as soon as the rains had abated, and while the swelling of the rivers might yet impede the rapid movements of their adver- saries ; but the opening of the campaign was unexpect- edly retarded by a new and more terrible foe, the Indian cholera morbus, the virulence of which appears to have been increased by the crowded state of our camps. The disease first broke out at Jessore, a populous and un- healthy city near the pestiferous Sunderbunds. From Jessore it ascended the valley of the Ganges, till it reached the camp of General Hardyman about the begin- ning of October ; but this being in a dry, healthy coun- try, the troops suffered comparatively little. Continuing its course westward, it fell with extraordinary violence upon the army-corps of Lord Hastings, then encamped in a low, unhealthy part of Bundlecund : for about ten days that the disease raged with its greatest fury, the whole camp was an hospital. The mortality amounted to about a tenth of the whole number collected there. The camp was abandoned, and the army continued for some days to move to the eastward, in the hope of finding relief in a better climate ; but each day's march many dead and dying were abandoned, and many more fell down on the road so many that it was not possible to furnish the means for carrying them on. Nothing was heard along the line of march but groans, and shrieks, and lamentations ; even the healthy were broken in spirit and incapable of exertion ; and, for the time, the efficiency of this fine army seemed to be entirely des- troyed. Towards the end of November, when the army reached a healthy station at Erech, on the right bank of 412 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the Betwah river, the epidemic had visibly expended its violence.* When the rains were over, the Pindarries, seeing themselves completely inclosed by the advancing corps of the British, made no attempt at resistance, and studied only how to escape. One party succeeded in penetrating into the rear of our army in Bundlecund, where they began to commit serious ravages, and were not dispersed without some difficulty. Cheetoo, with nearly 8,000 men, effected a march westward into the territory of Mewar, where he was assured of support from several quarters, and had the strong mountain fort of Kumulneer as a refuge for his family. Kurreem attempted to push his way to Gwalior ; but his body of Pindarries were driven off in another direction by General Marshall, and sub- sequently surprised by General Donkin, who gave them a complete overthrow, capturing the wife of Kurreem, with all his state-elephants and kettle-drums. His army, therefore, no longer attempted to preserve any appearance of regularity, but broke into detachments, and sought for safety by fleeing in various directions. The greater number endeavoured to reach the corps of Cheetoo ; and, accordingly, the final destruction of that warrior appeared all that was now necessary to finish the Pindarrie contest, when there started up another head of the Hydra which the English were labouring to van- quish, f The councils of the house of Holkar had been involved for some time in the utmost confusion. J eswunt Rao, who had raised that family to power, became deranged after the imfortunate issue of the war with the British, and died in 1811. His heir, Mulhar Rao, was a mere boy ; and the administration, during his minority, was agitated by the most violent dissensions. The chief parties were, on one side Toolsee Bhye, widow of the late Holkar, who had been invested with the office of regent, and, on the other, the Patau chiefs, who were * Macfarlane's " British India." t Murray's " British India." OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 413 strongly attached to the predatory system. The lady, with the direct view of maintaining her influence, made secret overtures to the English for receiving a subsidiary force. This measure was firmly opposed by the leadei's just named, who seized the person of Toolsee Bhye, carried her down to the river Seepra, where she was beheaded, and her body thrown into the water. War was then only delayed till the completion of the necessary preparations. Troops, especially infantiy, were collected with the utmost diligence, and their movements assumed so formidable an aspect that a junction was deemed necessary between the army-corps of Sir John Malcolm and Sir Thomas Hislop, who proceeded together, and found the native army strongly posted at Mehid- poor, with a steep bank in front, at the foot of which flowed the river Seepra. Although this jDosition might have been turned by a circuitous march, Sir Thomas Hislop considered such an advantage more than counterbalanced by the impression that would be produced by pushing on promptly and directly to the attack. It was accordingly determined that the attack should be on the enemy's front, and that the passage of the river should be made by a single ford. Some light troops first passed over, followed by the horse artillery, which opened their guns ; a battery of foot artillery playing from the right bank of the river, and enfilading some cannon on the enemy's left, which had opened a heavy and well-directed fire on the ford. The troops, as they crossed, were successively formed in the bed of the river, and took up their respective positions ; the cavalry ascending the bank to the left, where they were partially screened from the enemy by some rising ground, the horse artillery forming batteries in front of the ford. The light brigade had taken possession of two ravines which opened into the river, the object being to keep it clear for the passage of the remaining brigades, who, on crossing, were directed, by a countermarch, to bring their right in front. As soon ^ 414 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. as this manoeuvre was performed by the first brigade, Sir Thomas Hislop gave orders for the attack of the enemy along the whole front, by the troops that had crossed, leaving the second brigade of infantry to follow as a reserve. The first brigade accordingly ascended the bank, leaving sufficient ground to the right for its formation into line, while the light brigade rose from the ravines, and formed battalion companies on its left. This opera- tion was performed under a galling fire of round shot and grape from several batteries. The fire of the enemy's batteries was likewise very destructive to the British horse artillery, whose guns were all silenced or dis- mounted. The light pieces of the latter, though ad- mirably served, were quite unequal to the heavy guns in their front. The British cavalry also suffered from the same source of annoyance, as well as from a party of the enemy which came down a ravine. The two brigades of infantry advanced to the attack of the enemy's left, under the immediate command of Sir John Malcolm. Their ranks were fearfully thinned by the grape of the enemy ; but, pushing forward, they succeeded in carrying a ruined village which was regarded as the key of the enemy's position, and in gaining the batteries from which they had suffered so severely. The latter were defended with great determination, the men standing to their guns till killed or disabled by the bayonets of the British infantry. The two brigades of cavalry commanded respectively by Lieutenant-Colonel Hussell, of the 3rd regiment, and Major Lushington, of the 4th were to assail the enemy's right, simultaneously with the attack of the infantry on his left. This service was performed by the two brigades, accompanied by the Mysore horse, with extraordinary brilliancy, the as- sailants pushing to the rear of the batteries opposed to them with a decisive rapidity which overcame every obstacle, and spread dismay through the enemy's ranks. The enemy's camp was standing ; and the attention of OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 415 the cavalry, and of the Commander-in-Chief, was directed to it at the same moment : it was, however, found deserted. Some feeble attempts at a stand were made by parties of the foe ; but they were only for the purpose of covering the retreat of the remainder. The fortune of the day was decided. The Anglo-Indian Army were masters of the field, and of the whole of the enemy's artillery, amounting to above sixty pieces. The loss of the enemy in men was estimated at three thousand ; that of the English, though considerably less, was still lamentably heavy. Their killed and wounded amounted to seven hundred and seventy-eight, including thirty- eight European and twenty-seven native officers. Though the Mahrattas retreated with a great part of fj 416 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. their army entire, their courage and confidence were gone ; and if their numbers were not greatly diminished, still they were no longer a regular force. The chiefs, therefore, at once accepted the offered terms : namely, that young Holkar should be placed under the protection of the Company, and surrender to them various districts, forts, and passes ; in consideration of which the British Government was bound to support a field-force of ade- quate strength to maintain the internal tranquillity of Holkar's territories ; Holkar engaging, on his part, never to commit any act of hostility or aggression against any of the Company's allies or dependants, "or against any other power or state whatever" a hard condition for a Mahratta. In fact, those who assumed the management of Holkar's interests and their own must have been con- vinced that they were completely at the mercy of their conquerors, and had no resource but in entire submission. The treaty was scarcely concluded when some of the Patau chiefs attempted to break it ; but these despera- does were defeated,, and most of their adherents slaughtered in Kampoora by some detachments of infantry and cavalry. A few more marches and two or three stormings of forts reduced the whole oountiy of the Holkar Mahrattas to a state of tranquillity and obedience. These rapid suc- cesses kept Soindia steady to the treaty which he had recently concluded, and deprived the wandering Peishwa of almost his last hope. They also enabled our troops to follow the Pindarries, who continued their invariable practice of flying when a British force approached them. "Were it possible," says Colonel Blacker, "to trace the several routes of the Pindarries during the time of their flight, such particulars would, perhaps, give but little additional interest to this account of the operations against them. When pressed, they fled collectively, it possible ; otherwise they broke into parts, again to unite. In some instances, from inability to proceed, or under the apprehension of suddenly falling in with British troops from an opposite quarter, parties of them lurked OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 417 in small numbers in and about remote villages, or lay in the thickest jungles, exposed to the most severe hard- ships, till their enemies had passed by." The hopes of the marauders were now reduced to the lowest ebb. Flight, they knew not whither, became their only resource. They had obtained Kumulneer and other fortresses in the Rajpoot territory ; but these being quickly invested were, after a short resistance, all given up. On the 12th of January, 1818, Colonel Adams detached the 3rd Bengal Cavalry, under Major Clarke, with instructions to march on the village of Ambee, where it was understood that Kurreem's party of Pin- darries were about to plunder. Major Clarke was met on his way by a report of the exact position of the enemy, and, continuing his march till night, halted within a few miles of them. Finding them plunged, as usual, in profound security, he delayed the attack till morning, that they might derive no advantage from the darkness ; and at five o'clock he came upon them with his force in two divisions, just as they were preparing to march. One division instantly cut in amongst the enemy, and a large body, flying from the attack, encountered the other division, from which they suffered severely. The whole durra^ or horde, sustained a complete overthrow, and were dispersed in every direction, leaving a thousand of their number, with several of their chiefs, dead and wounded upon the field. After suffering some further disasters, they were reduced to a miserable condition, till at length an intimation was circulated that, in case of unconditional surrender, their lives would be spared, and the means of an honourable subsistence secured for the chiefs in some remote district. One after another sub- mitted on these terms ; and at length Kurreem, after wandering for some time on foot through the jungles, gave himself up, on the 15th of February, 1818, to Sir John Malcolm. Others, driven from the lands which they had acquired, either by force or concession, sought in vain for a place of security for their families and effects* P 418 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Pressed on every quarter by the British detachments, a large portion abandoned themselves to despair ; numbers relinquished their homes, fled into the jungles, and there perished miserably ; many having died by the hands of the village population, whose vengeance was everywhere roused by the remembrance of their former cruelties. There now only remain to be told the romantic adven- tures and tragical death of Cheetoo, "the last of the Pindarries." Some of this chieftain's durra had followed the Patau chiefs to Mehidpoor; but after our victory there Cheetoo and his crew of marauders fled to shift for themselves, seeing that no aid was to be expected from the Mahrattas. They were closely followed by the Guze- rat field-force, under Sir William Keir, who surprised and cut up part of them in the neighbourhood of Satootta. Harassed by the activity of Sir William's pursuit, and finding that other corps were closing fast around them, the marauders endeavoured to retrace their steps to their old haunts in the valley of the Nerbudda, and in parts of Malwa. Some of the minor chiefs failed, and were cut up in the attempt ; but Cheetoo succeeded in baffling every effort made to intercept or overtake him he and his adherents, after a hard day's ride, sleeping with their horses saddled and the bridles in their hands, that they might be ready for instant flight. This adventurous chief at length effected his object, by penetrating through a most difficult country, and suddenly re-appeared in Malwa, in the neighbourhood of the ancient city of Dhar, situated among rocks, forests, and the sources of rivers ; but his extraordinary march had cost him all his baggage and most of his horses. Cheetoo was now lost sight of for some time, during which the best of his fellow-chiefs, with their durras, were extirpated in other parts. At last hi^ lair was discovered, and on the night of the 25th of January, 1818, a strong party of the British came upon him, and utterly broke up his band : but Cheetoo, who seemed to bear a charmed life till his last dismal hour arrived, escaped, and wandered OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 419' for a short time about Malwa ; his once numerous, cruel, and ferocious band being dwindled down to some two hundred half-starved, exhausted, and despairing followers. In this extremity it struck Cheetoo that possibly the Nabob of Bhopaul might make terms for him and the remnant of his durra with the English; and, rapidly acting on this idea, he suddenly entered the camp of that Prince. But when he learned that the Nabob could offer or promise nothing beyond a slender personal main- tenance in some remote comer of India, whereas he thought himself entitled to a jaghire in his native country and a place in the British service, he decamped as sud- denly as he came. But though Cheetoo got safely off from the camp of our ally and dependant, he was presently pursued by the Nabob's people, and by parties sent after him by Sir John Malcolm. This distressed him so much that Rajun, one of his most faithful and valuable adherents, left him and made his submission. Yet, after all this, Cheetoo found his way into the Deccan, and made common cause with the Arabs and chiefs of the Peishwa's routed army. His end, however, approached, and it was singular and impressive. Having joined Appa Sahib, the Bajah of Berar (of whom more hereafter), he passed the rainy season of 1818 among the Mahadeo hills ; and upon the Rajah's expul- sion by the English in February, 1819, he followed him to his last stronghold of Asseerghur. Here, as he could no longer be of any assistance, his followers having totally melted away from death and desertion, the forlorn Pin- darrie chief and his only son, his last and most faithful adherent, were refused admittance. The parent and child then parted for ever and, whatever their crimes and cruelties may have been to others, it is but charitable to suppose not without some pangs of natural affection. Young Cheetoo fell into the hands of the British Govern- ment, and was indebted to its bounty for the means of life j his father sought shelter in a neighbouring jungle, ^ 420 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. and, on horseback and alone, attempted to penetrate a cover known to be infested by tigers. He was missed for some days, and no one knew what had become of him ; but his well-known horse was at last discovered grazing near the margin of the forest, saddled and bridled, and exactly in the state in which it was when ^. V ^.^^^^^^A^"^"' Cheetoo had last been seen upon it. A bag of two hundred and fifty rupees was found in the saddle, together with several seal-rings, and some letters from Appa Sahib containing promises of future reward to the great robber. A search was made in the cover for the body, and at no great distance ample evidence was afforded of the tiger's horrid meal. He who had so long tyrannised over OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. '421 the innocent and helpless had at length fallen a prey to the grim tyrant of the forest, doubtless while he slept in fancied security, with his bridle-rein in his hand ; and of the once terrific Cheetoo, who had spread ruin and devastation through many a happy homestead and smiling village, nothing now remained but a few rags clotted with blood, some crunched bones, and the head entire, a fearful memento of the last of the Pindarries ! " There now remains," says Sir John Malcolm,* " not a spot in India that a Pindarrie can call his home. They have been hunted like wild beasts ; numbers have been killed ; all ruined. Those who espoused their cause have fallen. They were early in the contest shunned like a contagion ; and even the timid villagers, whom they so recently oppressed, were among the foremost to attack them. Their principal leaders had either died, sub- mitted, or been made captives ; while their followers, with the exception of a few whom the liberality and consideration of the British Government have aided to become industrious, are lost in that population from whose dross they originally issued. A minute investi- gation only can discover these once formidable disturbers, concealed as they now are among the lowest classes, where they are making some amends for past atrocities by the benefit which is derived from their labour in restoring trade and cultivation. These freebooters had none of the prejudices of caste, for they belonged to all tribes. They never had either the pride of soldiers, of family, or of country, so that they were bound by none of those ties which among many of the communities in India assume an almost indestructible character. Other plunderers may arise from distempei'ed times, but as a body the Pindarries are so effectually destroyed that their name is already forgotten, though not five years are passed since it spread terror and dismay all over India." * "Memoir of Central India.'' fj ^^2 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER XXIV. Continued Flight of the Peishwa, pursued by the British He is reinforced by Trimbuckjee Heroic Action of Corregaum Surrender of Sattara Reduc- tion of Mahratta Forts Pursuit of the Peishwa resumed Battle of Ashtee and Death of Gokla Capture of the Rajah of Sattara The Peishwa again defeated Dispersion of his Army, and his continued Flight Capture of Talneir Execution of the Killadar The Peishwa surrenders and retires on a Pension Final Adventures of Trimbuckjee He is captured and im- prisoned for life at Chunargur Last Efforts of the Rajah of Berar He takes refuge with the wild Goands His desperate Proceedings He flies to Asseer- ghur Siege and Capture of that Fortress Escape of Appa Sahib He is sheltered by Runjeet Singh Successful termination of the Pindarrie- Mahratta War. Those two great members of the Mahratta confederacy, Scindia and Holkar, being thus either conquered or paralysed, we must now revert to its other two members, the Peishwa and the Rajah of Berar ; who, though not yet put down, were reaping the fruits of their treachery and daily tottering to their fall. Bajee Rao, after his defeat at Poonah in September, 1817, directed his flight in the first instance to the southward ; but the advance of a force under Brigadier- Greneral Pritzler obliged him to change his course, and he took an easterly direction to Punderpore, whence he struck off to the north-west, followed by General Smith's division, which began its march at the end of November, accompanied by Mr. Elphinstone, who had organised a police and a provisional administration for the city of Poonah. Gokla, the Peishwa's chief counsellor and ablest general, attempted to defend a ghaut leading to the high land where the Kistna had its source, and where Bajee Rao had found a refuge and a rallying point ; but the Mahratta was beaten, and the pass was cleared by the British with great ease. Ko fighting, but OUR AliTGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 42^ rapid and wearying marches ensued, the Peishwa's army flying in a sort of zig-zag, which he continued without intermission, ranging over the wide extent of the Deccan ; at one time approaching Mysore, at another nearly pro- ceeding to the Nerbudda, always distancing his pursuers by the skill and rapidity of his march, and even passing between corps advancing from opposite quarters. At last the Mahratta succeeded in turning Smith's division, and passing between Poonah and Seroor, moved northward as far as Wuttoor, where he was joined by his long-lost favourite Trimbuckjee, who brought him a considerable reinforcement of horse and foot. When General Smith discovered the direction the Peishwa had taken, and had recruited his own worn-out cattle, he started again in pursuit on the 22nd of December. This headlong race to the northward brought Smith close upon the rear of the Mahrattas ; but with the lubricity of eels they slipped through his fingers, and, making a flank movement behind some hills, they turned suddenly to the south, and retraced their steps towards Poonah. Colonel Burr, who commanded in that city, ap- prehending an attack, solicited the reinforcement of a battalion from Seroor ; and Captain Francis French Staunton, of the Bombay army, was forthwith detached with about 600 Sepoys, 300 auxiliary horse, and two six- pounders. Staunton began his march from Seroor at eight o'clock on the evening of the 31st of December, and at ten on the morning of New Year's Day, 1818, he reached the heights of Corregaum, about half way to Poonah. Here, looking down upon the plain which lay between him and that city, he saw it occupied by the Peishwa's army, estimated at twenty thousand horse and eight thousand foot. His march to Poonah was inter- cepted, and he himself was in great danger of being cut off. It was a moment that called for the full exercise of that presence of mind which is the soldier's best quality ; and in this Staunton was equal to the emergency. He 424 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. made a rush at the village of Corregaum, which stood upon the heights, and was composed of a number of stone houses, with strong stone walls round the gardens, hoping to gain possession of it before it could be seized on by the enemy. But the Arabs, who composed the main body of the Mahratta infantry, were equally near to the village ; and as Staunton entered it on one side, they entered on the other, both parties taking possession of the houses and garden walls in their vicinity. A desperate struggle now ensued between the Arabs and the Sepoys for the possession of the whole village, which was rendered still more critical by the rapid advance ot immense bodies of the Peishwa's horse, with two pieces of artillery ; while to enhance the perils of the contest, Captain Swainston, who commanded our auxiliary horse, was wounded early in the day, and his weak squadrons could not show themselves in face of the masses of Mahratta cavalry. Our brave Sepoys, however, led on by the gallant Staunton, maintained their post and kept up an incessant fight from the hour of noon till nine in the evening, dur- ing which time they had no refreshment and not even a drop of water to drink. Attack after attack was made under the eye of the Peishwa, who stood on a neighbour- ing hill ; but they had all failed, when Lieutenant Chisholm, the officer of artillery, having been killed, with most of his men, at a post near a pagoda, and all the European officers having been disabled except three, the Arabs charged and obtained possession of one of our two guns that were stationed at the pagoda. Our wounded were lying thick round that building, and among them were Assistant-Surgeon Wingate, Captain Swainston, and Lieutenant Connellan. The Arabs immediately began, in their savage manner, to massacre these helpless, wounded ' men, and to mutilate the bodies of the slain ; the dead bodies of Dr. Wingate and Lieutenant Chisholm were literally hacked to pieces. But the Arabs did not long enjoy their bloody triumph ; OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 426 the three undisabled officers, Captain Staunton, Lieutenant Jones, and Assistant-Surgeon Wylie, though almost ex- hausted, and with their men fainting from want of water, headed one more charge, the last of the many they had made during the day, recaptured the lost gun, and slaughtered the Arabs in a heap. The charge was one of utter desperation, for every man felt that there was no other alternative but victory to save him from torture and death. On this occasion Lieutenant Patterson, who had been wounded and carried into a house, appeared again at the head of his men, and continued to exert the little strength he had left until he received another wound, which proved mortal. Captain Swainston and Lieutenant Connellan were rescued, and every man of the Arabs who had penetrated to the pagoda was bayoneted without mercy. During this terrific hand-to-hand struggle almost every building in the place was repeatedly taken and re-taken ; nearly the whole of the British artillery- men were either killed or wounded, and about one-third of the infantry and auxiliary horse. The result, however, was most honourable to the British arms. By a little after nine the enemy were completely driven from the village and all the ground near it, and our fainting Sepoys were then enabled to obtain a supply of water, the only refreshment they got during the whole day and following night j they were, however, subject to no other annoy- ance, for the enemy never once attempted to molest them again. At daybreak on the following morning the Mahratta army was seen hovering about the village, but none of them would venture nigh, and this day also passed with- out any molestation. Captain Staunton had consumed so much powder during the nine hours' fighting of the preceding day, that he had only a few rounds of ammuni- tion left ; and provisions there were none to be procured. Despairing, therefore, of being able to reach Poonah, he determined to move back to Seroor, and began his retreat in the dark on the night of the 2nd of January. He 426 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. was unavoidably compelled to sacrijBice much ot his baggage ; but, to his honour, he brought off not only his guns, but all his wounded, and with them he reached Seroor by nine o'clock the next morning, the 3rd of January ; the enemy, notwithstanding their vast supe- riority of force, never having dared to interrupt the march. Although this noble band had then suffered under a total privation of any other refreshment than a tardy supply of water for two whole days, they entered Seroor as became them, with drums beating and colours flying, and were received with all the honours they so richly merited. In this brilliant affair " the medical officers also led on the Sepoys to charges with the bayonet, the nature of the contest not admitting of their attending to their profes- sional duties ; for in such a struggle the presence of a single European was of the utmost consequence, and seemed to inspire the native soldiers with the utmost confidence of success."* The loss sustained was, as might be expected, severe. Of twenty-six artillerymen twelve were killed and eight wounded. Of the native infantry there were fifty killed, and 105 wounded. Of the aux- iliary horse, ninety-six killed, wounded, and missing. Among the officers killed were Lieutenant Chisholm, of the Madras artillery, and Assistant -Surgeon Wingate ; Lieutenant Patterson, of the Bombay Native Infantry, was carried mortally wounded to Seroor, where he died. Two other officers, Captain Swainston and Lieutenant Connellan, were badly wounded. The loss of the enemy was estimated at from 600 to 700. Its extent may be attributed in a great degree to the situation in which most of their attacks were made in avenues raked by the guns of the British party. The action of CoiTegaum, like the defence of the Residency at Nagpore, was an affair of which Olive him- self might have been proud ; and the Governor-General, who forthwith nominated Staunton an honorary aide-de- General Smith's Division Orders. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 42t camp, and soon afterwards conferred on him the com- mand of the important fortress of Ahmednuggur, re- peated the observation which General Smith had made, in his official report to the Hon. Mountstuart Elphinstone, that the action of Corregaum was "one of the most brilliant affairs ever achieved by any army, in which the European and native soldiers displayed the most noble devotion and most romantic bravery under the pres- sure of thirst and hunger almost beyond human en- durance." In the course of the 3rd of January, General Smith's division having arrived at Corregaum, the Peishwa and his Mahrattas fled back to the table-land near the sources of the Kistna. Finding himself now a hopeless fugitive, and learning the triumphs of his enemy in other quarters, Bajee Rao made overtures for a treaty, hoping to be allowed to retain, though in a reduced condition, his rank as a sovereign. But the Governor-General, on consider- ing his long course of hostility, and the treacherous attack made at so critical a moment, had determined to erase his name from the list of Indian princes, and abolish altogether the title of Peishwa. Britain was to exercise the sovereign sway in all the territories which had belonged to him ; though, in order to soothe in some degree the irritated feelings of the Mahratta people, the Bajah of Sattara, the descendant of Sevajee, still deeply venerated even after his long depression, was to be restored to some share of his former dignity. To follow up this purpose, General Smith laid siege to Sattara, which was still the nominal capital of the Mahratta empire, and which sur- rendered to him on the 10th of February, the day on which he first appeared before it. A junction now took place between the forces of General Smith and General Pritzler, the object of which was to form the entire force at disposal for field-service into two divisions : one to be composed wholly of cavalry and light troops, to keep up an active pursuit of the enemy ; the other of infantry, with an ample battering-train, to reduce forts, gradually 428 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. occupy the country, and thus to deprive the Peishwa of places of retreat and means of subsistence. While these last operations were actively carrying into effect by General Pritzler and other officers, General Smith, with the light division, resumed the pursuit of the Peishwa, and by forced marches arrived unobserved, within hearing of the Mahratta kettle-drums, at Ashtee on the 19th of February, 1818. Concealed for some time by the brow of a hill, General Smith, to the aston- ishment of the Mahratta leaders, appeared on its summit with the 2nd and 7th regiments of Madras Light Cavalry, and two squadrons of H.M. 22nd Dragoons. Bajee Rao immediately quitted the field with his attendants ; but Gokla, his general, determined to hazard a battle rather than sacrifice the whole of his baggage. . He, therefore, attacked the British with the greatest vigour, outflanking Smith's small force, and at one moment threatening it in the rear. But the British Dragoons charged his gole* and Gokla in the melee fell mortally wounded. From this moment all was confusion and panic ; each mass of cavalry breaking as our Dragoons approached it, till at last the whole army fled, and the British obtained pos- session of the Bajah of Sattara, who had before been a prisoner in the hands of his rival. Some faint resistance was attempted in the camp ; but our Dragoons dashed in, put the Mahrattas to flight, and made good booty. Twelve elephants and fifty-seven camels formed part of this prize. General Smith was slightly wounded on the head ; and Lieutenant Warrand, of the 22nd Dragoons, was wounded by Gokla, who fought fiercely and wounded several of our men before he fell. After the battle of Ashtee, the Peishwa wandered in almost every direction, in continual dread of some por- tion of the British force. On the 13th of April he becam.e aware of the position of Colonel Adams's force, and, to avoid him, moved to Soondee. On the 16th he was alarmed by intelligence of the approach of General A mass of Mahratta cavalry. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. i%$ Doveton, and made preparations for flying ; but, on the 17th, Colonel Adams came suddenly upon him, with only one regiment of native cavalry and some horse artillery. An action ensued, when the Peishwa was completely routed, with the loss of several hundred men, four brass guns, three elephants, nearly two hundred camels, and a variety of valuable property. The enemy fled through the jungles, and the Peishwa himself had a narrow escape the palanquin in which he had been borne having been taken immediately after he had left it to seek safety by flight on hoi*seback. Being hotly pursue^ by General Doveton, the Peishwa fled to Ormekaii, where, overcome by fatigue, privation, and terror, his army broke up, and the fugitive prince was abandoned by most of his sirdars. His sole object now was to get back to the north-east ; but here he found his progress stopped by General Sir Thomas Hislop, who was returning from Malwa to the Deocan, after taking the fort of Talneir, which commanded a fort across the river Taptee. This was one of the places ceded to the English by Holkar ; but the Killadar having refused to deliver it up, it was stormed by the English, and cap- tured after a desperate defence. On the next morning Sir Thomas Hislop had the Killadar hanged on one of the bastions, on the twofold charge ot rebellion and treachery ; a proceeding for which Sir Thomas was severely and justly censured. The race of the Peishwa was now well-nigh finished : north, south, east and west, his road was cut off*, and forces were moving round him from the intermediate points of the compass. He had wandered in every direc- tion, and in every direction had met with disappointment and defeat. "His flight," says Colonel Blacker, "seemed restricted within a magic circle, from which he appeared destined never to be emancipated." Finding he could no longer escape, he at length opened a correspondence with Sir John Malcolm ; and, after some discussion, it was agreed that he should surrender ; that, on being secured 430 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. in a pension of 100,000 per annum, he should renounce the dignity of Peishwa, with all his claims as a sovereign, and spend the rest of his days in some holy city, at a dis- tance from the seat of his former dominion. The village of Bettoor, or Brimatwar, near Cawnpore, on the Ganges, was finally fixed upon for his residence. There he re- signed himself to voluptuous indulgences, to which, it is said, he had been always addicted, and sought to drown in them every recollection of his former schemes and greatness. When the army of the Peishwa broke up, Trimbuckjee Dainglia retired to the neighbourhood of Nassuck, a large town and place of pilgrimage on the Godavery, princi- pally inhabited by Brahmins. Here, among crowds of Hindoo pilgrims and fakirs, he remained concealed for some time, in spite of the active search making for him. At last, after a fruitless attempt to make terms through Sir John Malcolm, Captain Swainston, one of the heroes of Corregaum, was detached with a body of horse in search of him. The detachment marched with so much rapidity that no intelligence of their approach preceded them, and they were enabled to surround the village where the fugitive lay. Trimbuckjee was reclining on a cot when the gates of the house were forced, and the British troops entered. He had just time to fly to the upper part of the house, and conceal himself among some straw. From this covert he was taken without any resistance, and sent to Tannah, the place of his former confinement ; but he was shortly afterwards sent round to Bengal, and conveyed to the rock of Chunargur, near Benares, where he spent the remainder of his life. His allowance from Government was liberal, and his im- prisonment light and easy. It now only remains to trace the final career of the Rajah of Berar, the last member of the great Mahratta confederacy, who still threatened to give some trouble to the British Government. As none of the last transac- tions at Nagpore could be brought home to Appa Sahib, OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 431: he was not made responsible for tliem ; wherefore, on the surrender of the city by the Arabs, he was liberated, and received notice of the terms on which he might retain his seat on the guddee. These consisted in his being placed entirely on the same footing with the Nizam ; having his military force subjected to the control of the Company, and even his Ministers appointed by them. The Rajah only so far expressed his dissatisfaction as to offer to retire altogether on a liberal pension, a proposi- tion which was not considered admissible. He therefore began forthwith to intrigue, with the view of shaking off this hated dependence. Troops were levied, the gover- nors of fortresses and the mountain chiefs were instructed to muster their forces, and give every possible annoyance to the enemy ; finally, a secret correspondence was dis- covered with Bajee E,ao, and, being invited to join his army to the standard of the Peishwa, he had actually taken steps for that purpose. Mr. Jenkins, the Resident, thereupon placed him in durance ; but he effected his escape in the disguise of a Sepoy, on the 12th of May, 1818, and fled to the Mahadeo hills, where Trimbuckjee had lurked so long. Most of the tribes, denominated Goands, inhabiting these hills were absolute savages ; but a large community, more advanced in civilisation, had submitted to the government of a Rajah or Chief named Chyn Shah, who sheltered Appa Sahib, and concerted a new plan of opera- tions with him. Here the Rajah of Berar collected round his standard some of the unemployed Mahratta troopers and Arabs, who had served in the Peishwa's army till it was broken up ; and with these and the wild Goands he began to commit depredations in all directions, occasion- ally extending his incursions as far as the British terri- tories on the Nerbudda. No country could be better adapted for carrying on a desultory warfare than the one he had chosen for his asylum, it being one continued sue-: cession of mountains, ravines, rivers, and jungles. On one occasion some of the Arabs were pursued by Cap- 432 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. tain Sparkes, with only 107 Sepoys; but, finding they were far more numerous than he had been led to expect, he took up the first position that presented itself. Sparkes maintained this post for some hours, until he had lost half his men, and consumed nearly all his powder. He then displayed a white flag, but the signal was disre- garded. Sparkes was shot dead in attempting to cut a way through the enemy ; and every man of his detach- ment was literally cut to pieces by the Arabs, with the exception of nine who had been left in the rear, in charge of the baggage. At the close of the year 1818, while Colonel Adams was establishing stations of cavalry and infantry round the country of Chyn Shah, that chief, with two or three thousand of his Goands, made a bold attempt to recover for Appa Sahib some of the forts in I^agpore ; but these attempts were frustrated, and both Chyn Shah and the fugitive Rajah were obliged to seek refuge once more in the Mahadeo hills and fastnesses. In the month of February, 1819, Colonel Adams entered these mountains from the Nerbudda valley, with three separate columns ; and other divisions coming up to co-operate with him, Appa Sahib fled to Asseerghur, where he was received and sheltered by the Killadar Jeswunt Eao Lar, a bitter enemy of the English. Asseerghur was a droog, or mountain fortress, belong- ing to Scindia, standing on a scarped hill, the height of which was 750 feet above the plain ; it was exceedingly strong by art as well as by nature, and mounted a tre- mendous artillery, including some guns of enormous size. The force assembled against Asseerghur, under the com- mand of General Doveton, comprised, either in whole or in part, the Royal Scots, the 30th and 67th King's regiments, the Madras European regiment, the 7th, 12th, and 17th regiments Madras Native Infantry, the 2nd and 7th Madras Native Cavalry, and an immense bat- tering-train. General Doveton arrived in the vicinity about the middle of February, 1819, and on the 17th OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 433 of March was prepared to undertake an attack upon the pettah. As the English were at this time Scindia's very good friends, he gave them a written order directing the Killadar to deliver up the fortress to them ; at the same time taking the precaution to send another written order to the Killadar, directing him, if he valued his head, to hold out against them to the last extremity. This he very soon evinced his determination to do, by making two or three desperate sallies, in one of which Lieutenant- Colonel Eraser, of the Royal Scots, was killed ; a disaster which was followed the next day by an accidental ex- plosion of the magazine of one of our breaching-batteries 434 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. containing 130 barrels of powder, which destroyed an entire company of two native officers and a hundred Sepoys. But, in spite of the confusion caused by this frightful explosion, our fire was soon renewed and increased. It continued for several days, when so many shot had been fired that a deficiency began to be feared, and a reward was offered by the besiegers for bringing back to the camp the shot previously expended. This expedient, stimulating the activity of the hordes of followers which hover about an Eastern camp, succeeded in producing an abundant and seasonable supply. The operations of the siege were vigorously pursued till the 5th of April, on which day one of the angles of the upper fort was brought down ; and with it came thundering and crushing over the face of the rock one of the enormous pieces of Indian ordnance. Our storming- parties were ready to act, under the eyes of General Doveton and Sir John Malcolm ; when, on the 7th of April, Jeswunt Rao Lar, who had consumed nearly all his gunpowder, and lost his chief artillery officer, begged a parley, and agreed to surrender at discretion. On the morning of the 9 th a British party accordingly took possession of the upper fort ; and the garrison, amount- ing to 1200 men, chiefly Arab mercenaries, descending into the pettah, grounded their matchlocks in a square of British troops formed for their reception. Few of the besieged bad fallen ; for the rock and the upper fort towered so high above our batteries, that only shells could reach them with any effect. The total loss of the besiegers, Europeans and natives, was, in killed and wounded, 299 men ; and, besides Colonel Eraser, who was killed, ten of our officers were wounded. On taking possession of the fortress, Sir John Malcolm confidently expected to find Appa Sahib in some part of it ; but the Bajah had escaped in the disguise of a fakeer to Burhampore. From thence he proceeded to Lahore, where he took up his residence, receiving a trifling OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 435 allowance from Runjeet Singh, who would not, however, receive him publicly at his durbar, to avoid giving offence to the English. Meanwhile the Governor-General de- clared Appa Sahib dethroned, and proclaimed as his suc- cessor the grandson of Raghojee Bhoonsla,who died in 1816. Eveiy department of Government was, however, placed under the direct control of British officers ; and the whole country of Nagpore, with its resources, was virtually annexed to the Company's dominions. With the fall of Asseerghur ended that glorious war which dissolved the Mahratta confederacy, gave the Com- pany an immense accession of territory and revenue, with a boundless acquisition of moral influence, and totally and for ever exterminated the frightful Pindarrie pest which had so long desolated the fairest regions of Hin- dostan. The exertions of the Anglo-Indian Army during this eventful period were stupendous; independent of several pitched battles, and innumerable skirmishes and forced marches, the reserved division alone performed three sieges those of Singhur, Belgaum, and Sholapoor. Colonel McDowall's detachment and Colonel Adams' division reduced the Peishwa's numerous and strong for- tresses in Candeish ; the most famed of these places were Radjeer, Trimbuk, Mallegaum, and Chunda. But thirty hill fortresses, each of which might have defied the whole Anglo-Indian Army, fell in the course of a few weeks. And all this was done with a very defective engineering department, and without a proper supply of men trained to siege-duty. So deficient was the number even of our artillery officers, that there never were enough of them employed in the same siege to afford a relief At the siege of Asseerghur, in particular, the officers of the Madras artillery actually lived in the batteries. This incessant service was so severe that several of the officers died of sheer fatigue, or were worn out and invalided. * * Macfarlane's " British India ;" Lake's " Journals of the Sieges of the Madras Army." 436 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER XXY. Settlement of the conquered Countries Old Disputes with the Burmese Ag- gressions of that People on our Territories -Declaration of War Expedition to the Burman Empire Capture of Ranj^oon Desertion of that City by its Inhabitants -Sickness and Ditiiculties of the Troops Wavlike Preparations of the Burmese Successful Attack on their Stockades by the English Defeat of the Burmese at Kemmendine Capture of Ten Stockades in one Day- Night Attack by the Enemy on the Shoodagon Pagoda repelled Failure of the Enemy's Attack by Fire-rafts Rangoon set on Fire by Incendiaries- Defeat of the Enemy at Kokeen Advance of the British towards Prome Failure of our first Attack on Donobew Capture of that formidable Stockade. The Anglo-Indian Army having returned to its re- spective presidencies soon after the termination of the Mahratta War, the British Government applied itselt seriously to produce, for the first time for many centuries, something like order and regularity in the conquered provinces ; a sacred task which was ably performed, to the great relief of the unhappy people who had so long been the victims of tyranny and oppression. Accustomed to the extremities of military violence, the inhabitants of the country, on the English first entering it, betrayed feelings of doubt and alarm. These were by some mis- taken for dislike to our supremacy ; but they arose only out of fear of insult or outrage, and they were speedily removed by the strict discipline preserved by our troops, whether stationary or marching. In a very short time, wherever troops or individuals moved, they were received with cordiality, as the friends and protectors of the people. To organise the country, honourable and intel- ligent British officers were sent into every part of it. The result has been fortunate beyond anticipation. These agents within their respective circles have not only, by their direct intercourse with all classes, established great OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 437 influence, but spread a knowledge of our character and intentions, which has increased respect and confidence ; and they have in almost all cages succeeded, by the arbitration of differences, and the settlement of local disputes, in preserving the peace of the country without troops.* On the retirement of the Marquis of Hastings in 1822, he was succeeded as Governor-General by Lord Amherst, who also, like his predecessor, found himself the inheritor of some old disputes, one of which produced an almost immediate war with the Burmese. The sovereign of this country, a rich and extensive peninsula to the eastward of the Bay of Bengal, and adjoining our eastern frontier immersed, like all Oriental despots, in the grossest ignorance and self-sufficiency had, on different occasions, treated the Bengal Government with a degree of haughty insolence that was suffered to pass unrebuked, under the pacific system which then prevailed. Emboldened by a degree of forbearance which they mistook for another motive, the Burmese, to the number of one thousand, invaded the Island of Shapooree, a possession of ours on the coast of Arracan ; expelled its garrison, consisting of thirteen Sepoys ; and, justly proud of so unheard-of an exploit, the Kajah of Arracan reported it himself to the British Government, intimating at the same time some intention of taking by force of arms the cities of Dacca and Moorshedabad from the Honourable Company Bahauder. This casiis belli not being sufficient to rouse the British lion, it was succeeded by several acts of aggression on the part of the Burmese, that brought on a series of petty hostilities between the two Powers, which our limits preclude the possibility of detailing. They ended, how- ever, by a declaration of war on both sides ; that of the Burmese stating the pleasure of " the fortunate King of the White Elephants, Lord of the Seas and Earth," to be that, as the governors on the Burmese frontier had full Malcolm'a " Memoir of Central India ;" Ma;farlane's " British India." 438 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. authority to act, no further communication should be made to the "Golden Feet," till everything should be " settled." The Governor-General accordingly hastened to gratify the celestial possessor of the golden feet and the white elephants ; but, instead of commencing operations on the barren mountains of Arracan, or in the pestilential jungles of Chittagong, he sent an expedition to ascend the Irawaddi, a river which traverses the Burman Empire from north to south ; and to begin by capturing the city of Rangoon, its principal port and trading-place. The expedition was composed as follows : From Bengal, his Majesty's 13th and 38th regiments, 2nd bat- talion 20th Native Infantry, and two companies of Euro- pean artillery, amounting, in the whole, to two thousand one hundred and seventy-five fighting-men. From Madras, his Majesty's 41st and 89th regiments, the Madras European regiment, seven battalions native infantry, and four companies of artillery : total number of fighting-men, eight thousand eight hundred and " sixty-seven. The military force, when united, thus amounting to something more than eleven thousand, with a park of artillery of fourteen heavy guns, ten howitzers, eight mortars, and twelve field-pieces. At- tached to the expedition were twenty gun-brigs and schooners, twenty row-boats, four King's sloops ^the ^W^y-> Commodore Grant, the Lame, Captain Mar- ryatt, the Sophie, Captain Ryves, several Company's cruisers, and the Diana steam-vessel.* On the 9th of May, 1824, the expedition, under the command of Major-General Sir Archibald Campbell, arrived off" the mouth of the Rangoon river ; on the 10th it came to anchor within the bar, on the morning of the 1 1th stood up the river, and about one o'clock on that day came to oft" Rangoon, opposite a landing-place called the King's wharf, the seat of a battery. A fire was opened on the fleet, but was returned from the Liffey * This was the first steamer ever emp oyed in war. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. . 439 with such effect that several of the enemy's guns were split or dismounted, and at the third broadside the Burmese authorities left the town. At three o'clock the troops landed without opposition ; the town was deserted by the inhabitants ; and at four the British colours were flying on the Burman flag-staff. So far all went smoothly ; but it was now found that nearly everything which the town contained had been removed into the surrounding jungle, or carried up the river ; and that nothing in the shape of supplies could be found for the troops, nor a single boat, waggon, horse, or head of cattle. The expedition, in the confident hope ot finding everything necessary at Rangoon, had been sent with a scanty supply of provisions, and very inadequately provided with proper equipments for advancing either by land or water. In addition to these difficulties others existed, seriously affecting the efficiency of the force, and threatening the success of the expedition. With a tropical sun above, thick jungle around, and swamp beneath the feet, these sources of pestilence were aided by frequent deluges of rain. The health of the men, therefore, rapidly declined, and fever and dysentery began fearfully to thin their ranks. Everything in and about Kangoon was in ruins, except the lofty Shoodagon pagoda, which was the key of the British position : there was no passing the swamps and inundated paddy-fields, or the thick jungle beyond them, which was intersected only by a few narrow footpaths ; and behind this screen the un- seen enemy plied their work, raising their levies, and gradually collecting them, so as to form a cordon round our cantonments. Reinforcements and supplies of warlike stores being thus provided, Thakia Woonghee, one of the chief Ministers of State, was despatched to take the chief com- mand, with distinct orders from his master to attack the British, and drive them at once into the sea ; and the bustle of preparation which marked the concluding days of the month of May showed that he was about to make 440 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the trial. On the morning of the 28th, when they had advanced a stockade to within musket-shot of the British picquets, Sir Archibald thought it was high time to punish their temerity ; and accordingly made a move- ment in advance, with four companies of Europeans,* two field-pieces, and four hundred Sepoys. Tor nearly two hours Sir Archibald and his column continued to advance through the wood by a winding and very narrow pathway ; at every turn of which there was some breastwork or stockade, which were all hastily abandoned. After marching about five miles, our troops emerged from the jungle, and suddenly entered a wide open field, intersected by a morass and rivulet, across which there was a long narrow bridge. Here the enemy, in attempting to make a stand, were scattered by the fire of the two field-pieces, and fled into a more distant jungle. At this juncture a terrible storm came on, the rain fell in torrents, and the field-pieces could be dragged no farther. Leaving the four hundred Sepoys to guard the guns. Sir Archibald pushed on rapidly with the Europeans, traversing another jungle and approaching two villages, which were defended in front by two stockades filled with men, shouting out, " Lagee ! Lagee !" (" Come on ! come on !") Without losing a moment. Sir Archibald made a dash at the stockades, f and was received by the enemy with a heavy fire, which our troops could scarcely return, from the wet condition of their muskets. The works, however, not being more than eight feet high, our men forcing their way over, brought their bayonets to bear upon a crowded, dense, and confused living mass. The conflict was short but very sanguinary. The works had only two very narrow ways of egress, and the foremost fugi- tives getting wedged in them, blocked them up, and pre- vented the flight of the rest. When they could run H.M. 13th and 38th regiments. t The 13th were led on this occasion by Major (afterwards Colonel) Dennie, who, after a long career of honourable service in the East, fell at Jellalabad, while nobly leading his regiment to attack the camp of Akbar Khan. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 44]l away they ran, but the Burmese never gave and never expected quarter. Lowering their heads to a butting position, they blindly charged upon our soldiers' bayonets, and were killed in heaps, for our men had dried their muskets, and could now pour in volleys as well as use the bayonet. Few or none were spared, as, from the barba- rous and treacherous mode of warfare practised by the Burmese, death alone afforded safety.* In this desperate hand-to-hand fight the enemy suffered severely, and the victors did not escape, the loss on their part including some valuable and meritorious ofiicers. On the 10th of June Sir Archibald Campbell moved on the strong position of Kemmendine, a war-boat station, only three miles above Rangoon. His force consisted of about three thousand men, with four 18-pounders, four mortars, and seven field-pieces ; and he sent at the same time two divisions of vessels up the river. The enemy had laboured day and night to strengthen this position : the ground behind the village was elevated and commanding, and was surrounded by a thick forest in the rear ; the heights had already been strongly stockaded and abatised in front ; and the approach on the land faces was rendered difficult by a thick jungle, while the swampy nature of the ground towards the Irawaddi strengthened the work on that side. About two miles from the town the head of the column was stopped by a stockade, apparently of great strength, and filled with men ; but two heavy guns and some field- pieces having been opened upon it, in less than half-an- hour a considerable gap became apparent in the outer works. A part of the Madras European regiment, sup- ported by a part of H.M. 41st, then moved on to assault. At the same time an attack by escalade was made on the other side by a party formed from H.M. 13th and 38th regiments, who, by helping each other up the face of the stockade, which was at least ten feet high, succeeded in * Snodgrass. ' Narrative of the Burmese War." ^ 442 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. entering about the same time as the party at the breach ; the first man who appeared on the top of the work being Major E. H. Sale, of the 13th Foot.* The stockade was carried in a few minutes, and the enemy were driven into the jungle, leaving behind them 150 dead, and among them the Burmese commander, whose gilt umbrella, denoting his rank, was found shattered by a shower of grape-shot. Our troops passed the night under arms, amidst a storm of pitiless rain, under the dripping trees of the jungle, or in the inundated rice-fields ; but on the following morning, when they marched to storm the re- maining works of this formidable position, they found them entirely deserted, the Burmese having gone ofi" in a panic to another stockaded post, several miles in the rear of Kemmendine. For a time there seemed to be a general pause and terror on the side of the Burmese, who had now evacuated every stockade in the neighbourhood of Rangoon. But by the end of June they appeared to have somewhat recovered from their dismay ; and on the last day of that month all the woods in front of our position again ex- hibited bustle and commotion. Eight thousand men had crossed to the Rangoon side of the river : the jungles around seemed animated ; clouds of rising smoke marked the encampments of the different corps of the Burmese army in the forest ; and their noisy preparations for attack formed a striking contrast to the still and quiet aspect of the British line.f The Shoodagon pagoda being the key of the British position, was garrisoned by a whole battalion of English troops ; while two roads running from the pagoda to the town were occupied by our forces, native and European ; the minor pagodas, bonze houses, and pilgrims' houses along those two roads affording good shelter to the troops against the inclemency of the season, and some shelter * Afterwards Sir Robert Sale, who immortalised himself by the defence of Jellalabad, and was killed at the battle of Moodkee. t Major Snodgrass. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 443 from the attack of an enemy whose artillery was but light. Two detached posts completed our position one at the village of Puzendown, about a mile below the town, where the Pegu and Rangoon rivers meet ; the other at Kemmendine, about three miles above the town : this second post being chiefly intended to protect our shipping against the descent of the enemy's fire-rafts. On the morning of the 1st of July the enemy issued in dense masses from the jungle to the right and front of the great pagoda. Detaching to their left a column, which succeeded in setting fire to a part of the village of Puzendown, their main body came boldly up to within half a mile of Rangoon, and commenced a spirited attack upon part of our line. But two field-pieces served with grape and shrapnell soon checked their advance, and then a brilliant charge by the 43rd Madras Native Infantry put them all to flight. In a very few minutes not a man could be seen of the Burmese host except the killed ; nor could anything be heard of them except a wild screaming which proceeded from the depths of the jungle. The Burmese general who commanded in this exploit was immediately superseded, and the result seems to have induced his successor, Soomba Woonghie, to conclude that the military genius of the Burmese lay rather for the defensive ; he therefore stockaded his army in the most ^Sifficult part of the forest, whence desultory attacks were made almost nightly upon some part of the British lines. The British commander, however, determined on aflbrd- ing him an opportunity for the display of his talents in a general action ; and on the 8th of July two columns of attack were formed. One proceeded by land, under the command of Brigadier-General McBean ; the other ad- vanced by the river, and with it the Commander-in-Chief embarked. The enemy's principal stockade was erected on a broad and projecting point of land, where the river divides into two branches. On the opposite bank of both branches stockades and other works were erected, enfilading the 444 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. approach to the principal work, and thus all protecting each other. Fourteen pieces of artillery were silenced by the fire from the shipping, conducted by Captain Marryatt ; and at the end of an hour the signal of " breach prac- ticable" being made from the mainmast-head, the troops destined for the assault entered the boats. They con- sisted of a detail of the 3rd, 10th, and 17th Native Infantry, commanded by Major Wahab, under whom they made immediately for the breach. Lieutenant- Colonel Godwin, of H.M. 41st, with two hundred and sixty men of his own regiment, and one company of the Madras European regiment, pushed ashore at a little distance above, and entered the work by escalade. The first stockade was carried with comparatively small loss. Colonel Godwin then re-embarked to attack the second stockade, which was also carried, and the third was evacuated by the enemy. The operations of the land column, under McBean, were equally successful. Though destitute of guns, surrounded by stockades the extent or strength of which he had no means of ascertaining, and with only a comparatively trifling force, he trusted to the courage of his men, who were all from H.M. 13th, 38th, and 89th regiments, and carried seven stockades in succes- sion by escalade, within the space of half an hour, and without firing a shot, all being done with the bayonet. Thus in one day the Anglo-Indian Army captured ten stockades, mounting thirty pieces of artillery, and gar- risoned by numbers incomparably superior to those by whom they were assailed. The enemy lost from eight hundred to a thousand men, their commander-in-chief, and three other men of distinction. The monsoon rains were now at their height ; the ad- jacent country was almost wholly under water, nothing was to be obtained from it, and the sickness of our troops increased to an alarming extent. Still, however, an ex- pedition, consisting of H.M. 89th regiment and the 7th Madras Native Infantry, under the command of Colonel Miles, was detached from Rangoon, with a considerable OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 445 naval force, to subdue the maritime possessions of his Majesty to the eastward. The success of the expedition was complete : Tavoy surrendered ; Mergui was taken by storm, and the people all along the coast of Tenasserim gladly placed themselves under British protection. The " fortunate Lord of the White Elephants," finding that his inferior officers and ordinary soldiers could make no head against the invaders, sent his two brothers, the Prince of Toonghoo and the Prince of Sarrawaddy, with a whole host of astrologers and a corps of " Invulnerables," to direct the future operations of the war, with strict orders to block the channel of the river in our rear, that not one of the " wild foreigners," or " captive strangers," might escape the punishment that was about to overtake them. At last the astrologers, whose business it was to fix the lucky moments for attacking, told the Prince of Sarrawaddy that the stars had declared the time was come for a decisive action ; and on the night of the 30th of August the King's Invulnerables promised to attack and carry the great Shoodagon pagoda, that the princes, and the sages, and pious men in their train might cele- brate the usual annual festival in that sacred place. Accordingly, at the hour of midnight the Invulnerables rushed in a compact body from the jungle under the pagoda, armed with swords and muskets. A small picket thrown out in our front retired in slow and steady order, skirmishing with the Invulnerables till they reached the flight of steps leading from the road up to the pagoda. The moon was gone down, and the night was so dark that the Burmese could only be distinguished by a few glimmering lanterns in their front ; but their noise and clamour, their threats and imprecations upon the impious strangers, if they did not immediately evacuate the sacred temple, proved their number to be very great. In a dense column they rolled along the narrow pathway lead- ing to the northern gate of the pagoda, wherein all seemed as silent as the grave. But hark ! the muskets crash, the cannons roar along the ramparts of the British post, 446 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. drowning the tumult of the advancing coiumn ; and see ! see by the flash of our guns, the column reels back, the Invulnerables fall, mortally wounded, and the rest turn their backs on the holy place, and run with frantic speed for the covering of the jungle. Our grape-shot and our musketry broke the spell those Invulnerables ventured no more near any of our posts.* To counterbalance these successes of the British arms, a detachment under Captain Noton was cut off at Ramoo in Arracan, when he and several of his ofiicers were slaughtered by the Burmese troops, under the command of Mengee Maha Bundoola. The prowess displayed on this occasion by Bundoola and his army made so deep an impression on the Court of Ava that they were withdrawn from Arracan, and sent to fight the English on the Irawaddi. Fortunately, our troops, though greatly re- duced in numbers, were now fast recovering their health and strength ; while two fresh British regiments, some battalions of native infantry, a regiment of cavalry, a troop of horse artillery, and a rocket-troop arrived from Calcutta and Madras, together with admirable draught- cattle of the true Mysore breed. Five hundred native boatmen also came round from Chittagong, and were busily employed in preparing boats for river service. By the end of October the rains had entirely ceased at Kangoon, and Sir Archibald Campbell was completing his preparations for the ascent of the Irawaddi, and for an attack upon Prome, when he learned that the Maha Bundoola had reached Donobew with 60,000 fighting- men, a considerable train of artillery, and a body of Cassay horse, the best cavalry of this part of Asia. On the 30th of November Bundoola's great army assembled in and behind the dense forest which almost touches at one point the conical hill and the great pagoda ; and his line, extending from the river above Kemmendine in a semi-circular direction towards Puzendown, might be dis- tinguished by a curved line of smoke rising above the trees. Macfarlane's '* British India.'' OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 447 "During the ensuing night," says Major Suodgrass, " the low continued murmur and hum of voices proceeding from the enemy's encampment suddenly ceased, and were speedily succeeded by the distant but gradually approach- ing sounds of a multitude in slow and silent movement through the woods ; and we soon became aware that the enemy's masses had approached to the very edge of the jungle, within musket-shot of the pagoda, apparently in readiness to rush from their cover to the assault at the break of day. . . . The day had scarcely dawned on the 1st of December when hostilities commenced with a heavy j&re of musketry and cannon at Kemmendine, the reduc- tion of that place being a preliminary to any general attack upon our line. The firing continued long and animated, and from our commanding situation at the great pagoda, though nearly two miles distant from the scene of action, we could distinctly hear the yells and shouts of the infuriated assailants, occasionally returned by the hearty cheer of the British seamen as they poured in their heavy broadsides upon the resolute and per- severing masses. The thick forest which separated us from the river prevented our seeing distinctly what was going forward ; and when the firing ceased we remained for a short time in some anxiety, though in little doubt as to the result of the long and spirited assault. At length, however, the thick canopy of smoke which lowered over the fierce and sanguinary conflict gradually dissolving, we had the pleasure of seeing the masts of our vessels lying at their old station off" the fort a convincing proof that all had ended well on that side." In the course of the forenoon Burmese columns were observed on the west side of the river, marching across the plains of Dalla towards Rangoon. Opposite E-angoon the leading column of five or six divisions commenced intrenching and throwing up batteries, while their main body were stockading in the jungle. In the course of the day several heavy columns issued from the forest and successively took up their ground along a woody ridge, >^ 448 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. gently sloping towards Rangoon. Here they commenced operations with their intrenching-tools, and with such activity and good will that in the course of a couple of hours their whole line was covered ; their flags and banners, which had been flying in profusion, all disappeared ; and nothing was seen but a parapet of fresh-turned earth, gradually increasing in height. In the afternoon this labour was interrupted by a visit from a detachment of the British army under Major Sale, consisting of H.M. 1 3th regiment and a regiment of Madras Native Infantry, which was so totally unexpected that the approach of the party was not perceived till it was too late to do anything eflectual towards repelling them. Having burst through the intrenchments and slain great numbers, the detach- ment retired unmolested, loaded with the enemy's arms, standards, and intrenching-tools ; and in the evening a mass of skirmishers who had been pushed forward by the enemy were driven back by two companies of the 38th regiment, under Captain Piper. Repeated attacks had been made on Kemmendine during the day, and were all repulsed by our troops, or by the seamen of our flotilla ; but it was not till night that the Burmese made their last desperate efibrt to open their way down the river, and so get possession of the port of Rangoon. Our wearied soldiers had lain down to rest, when suddenly the heavens and the whole surround- ing country became brilliantly illuminated. The enemy had launched their fire-rafts into the stream with the first of the ebb-tide, and had now applied the match to those huge masses of combustible materials, in the hope of driving the Sophie and our other vessels from their stations ofi" Kemmendine ; and as these fire-rafts came down, it was seen by the light of their flames that they were followed by a vast fleet of war-boats, whose crews were ready to take advantage of the confusion which might ensue if any of our vessels should be set on fire ; while, as the rafts floated rapidly down to Kemmendine with the ebbing tide, columns of attack moved once more OUR ANGLO-INDIAN^ ARMY. 449 by land against that well-defended post, with artillery, musketry, and ginjalls. The Burmese fire-rafts were ingeniously contrived and strongly constructed, being made almost entirely of strong bamboos, firmly wrought together. Between every two or three rows of bamboos there was a line of earthen jars filled with petroleum, or earth-oil ; while cotton, gunpow- der, and other inflammable ingredients were distributed in difierent parts of the floating infernal machine, and the almost inextinguishable fierceness of the flames proceed- ing from it could scarcely be conceived. Many of the rafts were considerably more than a hundred feet long, 45<^ OUR ANGLO-UTDIAN ARMY. and were divided into many pieces, attached to each other by means of long and flexible hinges. It was expected by the Burmese that when they caught upon the cable or bow of a ship the force of the current would carry the ends of the raft quite round her, and envelop her in flames from the deck to her mast-head/^ But the skill and intrepidity of our British seamen proved more than a match for the numbers and devices of the Burmese. After gazing for a while at the red, and blue, and yellow, and green flames of the mighty fireworks, our sailors leaped into their boats, pushed ofi" to meet the flaming rafts, grappled them with their grappling-irons, and conducted them past our shipping, or ran them ashore, to finish their short life of fire and flame upon the river- bank, without injury to any one. After this, it is hardly necessary to say that the attack on Kemmendine failed completely. Between the 1st and the 4th of December the enemy continued their ipproaches, and the British posts were annoyed by frequent attacks ; but Sir Archibald Camp- bell resolved to become the assailant on the 5th, The left wing of the enemy was chosen for the intended attack ; and, in aid of it. Captain Chads was requested to move up the Puzendoor creek with the flotilla during the night, and commence a cannonade on the enemy's rear at daylight, which was done with great precision and effect. The enemy were thus- kept employed by the naval force until two columns of attack which had been formed advanced upon them. Major Sale, with one column 800 strong, and a troop of British Dragoons, who had only landed the day before, was directed to fall upon their centre ; and Major Walker (3rd Madras Native Infantry), with 500 men, was sent to make a vigorous attack on their left wing, which had approached within a few hundred yards of Rangoon. Our two columns broke through the enemy's intrenchments, and completely routed both the centre and the left with vigorous bayonet Mtgor Snodgrass. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 451 charges; but Major Walker and a good many of his gallant comrades fell. The loss of the Burmese was ap- palling : they were driven from every part of their works into the jungle, leaving the ground behind them covered with dead and wounded, with all their guns, intrenching- tools, and a great number of small arms. On the Gth of December Bundoola was employed in rallying his defeated troops, and on the 7th the Burmese made their last and grand attack on the great pagoda ; but they were beaten, driven back, and forced into the jungle by the British bayonet. Our troops, worn out by seven days and nights of incessant fighting, or watching, could not pursue the flying enemy, who left in the trenches a great number of dead. During these seven fiery days the Burmese, in addition to a prodigious loss of lives, had lost every gun they possessed, and the entire materiel of their army. Bundoola, whose army of 60,000 fighting-men was now reduced to less than half, was about to retire on Donobew, when he received numerous reinforcements, and immediately began to intrench and stockade himself at Kokeen, about four miles beyond the great pagoda, employing incendiaries at the same time to burn the invaders out of Rangoon, and destroy all their stores, powder-magazines, &c. On the 14th of December the town was fired in several places simultaneously ; but the exertions of the garrison succeeded, after two hours, in stopping the progress of the flames, though not until half the place had been destroyed. On the following day the Burmese army was attacked by the British general, when fifteen hundred of the Anglo-Indian Army, under General Willoughby Cotton, and unaided by artillery, drove Bun- doola and his mighty host from all their intrenchments and stockades at Kokeen, and strewed the position with dead and dying. The remnant of the Burmese army having retreated upon Donobew, Sir Archibald Campbell resolved to ad- vance up the country, at least as far as Prome, reducing 452 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Donobew on his way, and to move in two separate columns, the one proceeding by water, the other by land. The land column, under the immediate command of Sir Archibald Campbell, consisted of 1,300 European infantry, 1,000 Sepoys, two squadrons of Dragoons, one troop of horse artillery, and one rocket-troop. It was to proceed in as direct a line as possible, and to strike the main stream of the Irawaddi at or near Sarrawah. The water column, under Brigadier-General Cotton, counted 600 European infantry, one small battalion of Sepoys, and a powerful train of artillery : it was embarked in a flotilla of sixty boats, commanded by Captain Alexander, E-.N., carrying supplies for the whole army, and escorted by the boats of our men-of-war. Both columns were so to time their movements as to reach Sarrawah nearly at the same period. These arrangements being completed. Sir Archibald Campbell commenced his march on the 13th of February, which he continued till the 11th of March, through a wild and deserted country, desirous of reaching Prome by rapid marches, lest that city, the promised quarters for the rainy season, should be stripped ol everything useful, like other towns he had met on the march. Early on the morning of the above date, however, as he was about to resume his march, official intelligence was received that the marine column had failed in its attack on Donobew. The stockade of Donobew extended for nearly a mile along a sloping bank of the Irawaddi, its breadth varying, according to the nature of the ground, from five to eight hundred yards. The stockading was composed of solid teak beams, from fifteen to seventeen feet high, driven firmly into the earth, and placed as closely as possible to each other. , Behind this wooden wall the old brick ram- parts of the place rose to a considerable height, strengthen- ing the front defences by means of cross-beams, and afford- ing firm and elevated footing to the defenders. Upwards of a hundred and fifty guns and swivels were mounted on the works, and the garrison was protected from the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 453 shells of the besiegers by numerous well-contrived traverses and excavations. On the river face, the deep and rapid Irawaddi presented a sufficient barrier ; its breadth at this season not exceeding seven hundred yards, and not a boat could pass without being exposed to a heavy fire from the stockade.* Instead, therefore, of passing the whole fortress and taking the enemy in flank, which would have rendered his guns almost useless, General Cotton attacked the first part of the works he came to, or the extremity of the stockade that was lowest down the stream. After an obstinate resistance, he carried the first stockade ; but, on proceeding to the second, he received by far the severest check that the European troops met with during the whole war. No fewer than one hundred and fifty of our men were killed and wounded ; and the retreat was so precipitate that the wounded' were not carried off, though it was well known that they would all be put to a cruel death. The whole flotilla retreated ten miles down the river, being constantly assailed and tormented by the Burmese war-boats. The next day most of our killed and wounded men who had been left in the stockade were crucified and put upon rafts, which were sent float- ing down the river towards the flotilla. On receiving the news of this failure. Sir Archibald Campbell resolved to return with his column to assist in the reduction of Donobew ; and, after a most fatiguing march, he arrived before that place on the 25th. He found the fort much too extensive to be surrounded by the force' at his disposal ; and although anxious for the immediate fall of the place, he preferred (using his own words) '' loss of time to loss of lives," and took his measures with great caution and deliberation. The naval com- mander was required to move up the river, to form a junction with the force under the Commander-in-Chief ; and on the 27th the flotilla appeared in sight. It was no sooner observed than the garrison made ,a sortie on * Major Sno.lgrass. >i 454 OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the land side with a considerable force, and seventeen war-elephants fully caparisoned, bearing on their capacious bodies a number of armed men. The Governor-General's body-guard,* under Captain Sneyd, were ordered to charge, which they did with great spirit, dashing in among the elephants, and shooting the riders off their backs. The animals stood the charge with far more coolness that might have been expected, manifesting little fear, and, when released by the shots of the British troops from the control of their drivers, retired very calmly to the fort. The sortie failed to accomplish any object for which it could have been designed, and the flotilla passed the fort with small loss, though exposed to a heavy cannonade, t While the troops on land were engaged in making approaches and erecting batteries, the naval force found occupation in pushing up the river in pursuit of the enemy's war-boats, several of which were captured. On the 1st of April, 1825, the mortar and enfilading batteries commenced firing, and on that day Bundoola was killed by a rocket, after which neither threats nor intreaties on the part of the other chiefs could prevail upon the garrison to remain : they all fled in the course of the night. The breaching-batteries commenced their fire in the morning at daylight ; but at the same moment the enemy's rear- guard was discerned in full retreat towards the jungle, and two Lascars who had been made prisoners came run- ning out of the fort to announce the state of affairs there in the British camp. The line was immediately under arms, and the deserted place speedily occupied by a new garrison. The flight of the enemy had been so hurried that no measures had been taken for the destruction of that which could not be removed, and one of the most welcome prizes secured by the English was a store of grain sufficient for the consumption of our entire force for many months. * Macfarlane, p. 483. t Thornton, v., 54. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY* 455 CHAPTER XXYI. Exertions of the Burmese to retrieve their Losses Successful Operations of our Army and Navy The whole advance upon Prome Attempt to retard their Progress by Negotiation The Anglo-Indian Army takes possession of Prome Devastation of the Country by the Burmese Return of the Inhabitants to Prome Their Confidence in the British Fruitless Negotiations Hostilities resumed Failure of an Attack on the Enemy Combined Naval and Military Victory at Napadee The British advance on Melloon Dreadful State of the Country False Treaty signed bv the Burmese Commanders The British at- tack and carry the Stockade of Melloon Final Defeat and Dispersion of the Burmese Army at Pagahm-mew Submission of the King of Ava Treaty of Peace. The overweening confidence of the Burmese Court, which was at the very highest point when the war com- menced, had been for some time rapidly declining, and almost the last spark of pride and presumption was ex- tinguished by the fall of Donobew and the death of Bundoola. It was confessed openly at Ava, and in the very face of the " fortunate Lord of the White Elephants," that the Burmese were inferior to our European troops, and could not withstand them ; and that to break the lines of the British, or to arrest their advance in action, was an utter impossibility. A new chief was, however, invited to Court, and, with great reluctance on his partj honoured with the command of the forces, while every nerve was strained to recruit the army and to restore its former self-confidence : it was at the same time resolved to amuse the English commanders, and delay their approach, by pretending a readiness to treat with them. Meanwhile other successes had crowned our arms. Major Sale, with a small detachment, had entered the Irawaddi by another of its mouths, cleared and destroyed several stockades, and captured the town of Bassein. 456 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Several more of the war-boats were taken by our navy, together with a vast number of other boats of an excellent description, and well suited for conveying troops up the Irawaddi. This magnificent river being now entirely under our command, from its broad mouths on the ocean to the valley of Ava and Amarapoora, where it becomes unnavigable, Sir Archibald Campbell resumed his advance upon Prome. By the 12th of April he was again on the left bank at Sarrawah ; and on the 14th he reached the spot from which he had retrograded just one month before, having been joined on his route by Brigadier- General McCreagh, with a column of reserve from Ran- goon, and a supply of elephants, which were much wanted for the use of the Commissariat department. Passing over several abandoned camps and stockades, our troops, on the 19th of April, reached Hudadoon, where the blue mountains of Arracan became for the first time distinctly visible. The landscape was beautiful, but the still smoking ashes of numerous villages cast a shade of sadness over the scene. In the evening a mes- senger arrived from Prome, as the bearer of a pacific letter from the chiefs of the Burmese army now collected at that city. The messenger seemed to be a silly old man, who drank much too freely for a diplomatist ; and when he rose to take his departure he whispered in the General's ear, " They are frightened out of their senses ! You may do what you please with them !" On the 24th of April Sir Archibald Campbell was within sight of Prome, of which place he took possession on the 25th without firing a shot, the enemy having deserted it in the night, leaving in the works above a hundred pieces of artillery, and extensive supplies of grain. The town was on fire, and one entire quarter was destroyed ; but, by the great exertions of our troops and navy, a considerable part was saved from destruction. Were it not for the cowardice of the enemy, Prome must have presented an almost impassable barrier to the pro- gress of the British army : by nature and art it was OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 457 rendered so formidable that, in the judgment of Sir Archibald Campbell, ten thousand steady soldiers might have defended it against ten times that force. When the British troops took possession of Prome the rainy season was not far off. There was, however, time before it set in to send a small corps to clear the inland districts of the armed bands which overran the country, plundering and oppressing the inhabitants, and driving them with their cattle into the jungles. This light corps, which consisted of eight hundred infantry and a troop ol the Governor-General's body-guard, with two field-pieces, under the command of Colonel Godwin, left Prome on the 5th of May, and marched to the north-eastward, over a rich and fertile country, abounding in rice-grounds, with every appearance of fertility, industry, and population. This continued so long as they remained in the great valley of the Irawaddi ; but when the column advanced into the interior these appearances rapidly diminished, the country gradually assuming the character of a luxu- riant wilderness, overgrown with lofty forests and brush- wood jungles, with a few miserable villages scattered about at great distances from each other. The inhabitants, though they seemed miserably poor and devoid of com- forts, were found to be a cheerful, a frank, and a kind- hearted people; they soon became familiar, and even friendly, with our soldiers, who paid them for whatever they furnished. As the monsoon rains were now beginning to fall, Colonel Godwin proceeded to the town of Meeaday, situated on the banks of the Irawaddi, about sixty miles above Prome. On this march our column occasionally crossed the track by which corps of the Burmese army had retreated from Prome. It was painful to witness the ruinous effects of their system of warfare : even Russia, in her memorable resistance to the armies of Napoleon, did not offer to the invading host such a continued scene of desolation. Neither man nor beast escaped the retiring column ; and heaps of ashes, with 458 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. groups of hungry, howling dogs, alone indicated where villages had been.* From Meeaday our light column commenced its retro- grade march upon Prome, where they arrived on the 24th of May, with 500 head of cattle purchased from the villagers ; and almost immediately after their return, the l^ersecuted and dislodged inhabitants of the town poured in from every quarter : some from the woods, bringing their families, their cattle, their waggons, and other property ; and some escaped from the military escorts and disjointed corps of the King's fugitive army. Food and covering were given to the starving and naked ; and those who had houses and property were secured in the possession of them. Our British soldiers assisted them in rebuilding their wooden houses, and their bamboo huts ; and in a very short time Prome had risen from its ashes, a greater town than it had been before the war. As the people were punctually paid for whatever they brought, plentiful bazaars were soon established ; and during the rainy season the troops were in comfortable cantonments, living in abundance and unmolested ease. Sickness returned, but not to the same extent as at Rangoon, and the loss of life was comparatively small. The towns and districts in rear of the Anglo-Indian Army followed the example of the provincial capital ; and the banks of the Irawaddi below Prome were soon enlivened by the presence of a contented people. An excellent depot was also formed at Prome, with supplies sufficient not only for the rainy season, but for the long campaign which possibly might follow. The plains which our soldiers had traversed in their advance up the country without seeing a single bullock, were again covered with numerous herds such is the confidence inspired by discipline and regularity. A state of desola- tion and anarchy once more gave way to order and plenty ; and all classes of natives not only contributed their aid in collecting such supplies as the country * Suodgrass. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY, 459 afforded, but readily lent their services in facilitating tlie equipment and movement of military detachments.* During this season of inaction the King of Ava took vigorous measures for recruiting his armies ; and, by the end of September, his whole disjjosable force was estimated at sixty or seventy thousand men. By the beginning of October, the head-quarters of the Burmese army were again at Meeaday, and ruined breastworks and stockades began to raise their heads again. To oppose these forces General Campbell had at Prome something less than 3,000 effective men ; but he was to be joined by 2,000 more before the opening of the campaign. Immediate hostilities were, however, averted by a favourable answer to an overture for negotiation which had been made by the British general ; and an armistice being agreed on till the 18th of October, meetings of Commissioners on both sides took place, midway between the positions of the two camps. The first of these interviews was one of ceremony ; at the second the negotiators entered on business. Sir Archibald Campbell having declared the terms on which he was ready to conclude a treaty of peace, and evacuate the country viz., the cession of Assam and the payment of two crores of rujDees, as an indemnification for the expenses of the war the Burmese, on their side, modestly proposed that the English should quit the country without making any stipulations for their own benefit, and leave their claims to the generosity of the "King of the White Elephants." The Court of Ava would concede neither money nor territory, and at the expiration of the armistice hostilities were resumed. The first movement of any importance was disastrous to the English. The Burmese having pushed forward a division to Watty-goon, a few miles from Prome, a body of native infantry, with the view of dislodging them, was despatched to act on the left, while another body was to attack them in front. Both parties were unsuccessful, * Macfarlane, p. 486. m OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. and Colonel McDowell, who led them on, was shot through the head. Emboldened by this first success, the Burmese army- continued to advance towards the British lines, throwing up intrenchments and stockades as it proceeded ; but its slowness to attack disappointed the British general, who consequently determined to become the assailant. On the 30th of November, preparations were made for a general attack upon every part of the enemy's line, and on the 1st of December it took place, the operations by land being aided by the flotilla, now under the command of Sir James Brisbane. Two columns of attack were formed; one under Brigadier-General Cotton, the other under Sir Archibald Campbell. As soon as these were in motion, the naval force commenced a cannonade, which so disconcerted the enemy that the picquets of his left were withdrawn, and his position exposed in that quarter to any sudden attack. General Cotton's column first reached the enemy's line, consisting of a series of stockades, which he instantly assaulted, and carried in less than ten minutes. Panic and confusion then seized the masses within the works, and great slaughter followed. Sir Archibald Campbell's column pushing rapidly forward in the rear, met the flying masses endeavouring to cross the river, and, opening the horse artillery upon them, did dreadful execution. Among those who fell within the works was the aged commander, Maha Nemiou, who, under the burden of seventy-five years, had been carried in a litter from point to point, to endeavour by his presence and encouragement to sustain the energy of his men.* The mass of the retreating army rallied on the heights of Napadee, in front of a deep jungle, a few miles higher up the Irawaddi. This new position, in which they were attacked the very next day, was uncommonly strong. The nature of the country admitted of no ap- proach to the main defences upon the hills, except in * Thornton, v., 71. OUR ANOLO-INDIAN ARMY. 461 front, and there only by a very narrow pathway, which was defended by seven pieces of artillery, while the river was commanded by several batteries of heavy ordnance. Sir James Brisbane moved forward with the flotilla, and cannonaded the works from the river. On the land side, after the enemy's posts had been driven in, and sufficient impression had been made on the works by artillery and rockets, a brigade commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Sale, consisting of H.M. 13th and 38th regiments, under Major Howlet and Major Frith, advanced by the trench to storm the heights in front, while some companies of the 87th proceeded through the jungle to the right. Scarcely a shot was fired in return of the enemy's con- tinued volleys. The 38th led the way, in entering the intrenchments on the heights ; and the assailants, driving the enemy from hill to hill, secured to the British the whole of the position, which was nearly three miles in extent. During the attack the flotilla, pushing past the works, succeeded in capturing all the boats and stores which had been brought down for the use of the Burmese army. As the right corps of that army still maintained its position, it was attacked on the 5th in flank and rear, while the batteries and boats of the British force cannonaded in front. After a feeble resistance the po- sition was evacuated, the enemy retiring to a second line of stockades, from which they were quickly dislodged ; when disheartened, dispersed, and broken they fled in all directions through the woods. Both banks of the Irawaddi were now completely cleared, and nothing remained to check Sir Archibald Campbell's advance upon Melloon. On the 9th of December our first division, accompanied by head-quarters, began its march across a melancholy deserted country, and through jungles and swamps over- grown with reeds and elephant grass, fifteen feet high. H.M. 1st regiment, or "Royals," went by water; the other regiments of the line, in two divisions, by land. 462 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Two corps of Sepoys were left to garrison Prome, in which place a field hospital was established. On the 12th the cholera broke out among the troops, and before it could be checked carried off a great many of the Madras Sepoys, and rendered two British regiments almost unfit for duty. The roads continued to be execrably bad, and the advance very slow. Some of the horrors of this march are depicted in the following extracts from the journal of Major Snodgrass, Military Secretary to the Commander-in-Chief: ^^ December l^th. Marched to Meeaday, where a scene of misery and death awaited us. Within and around the stockades, the ground was strewed with dead and dying, lying promiscuously together, the victims of wounds, disease, and want. Here and there a small white pagoda marked where a man of rank lay buried ; while numerous new-made graves plainly denoted that what we saw was merely the small remnant of mortality which the hurried departure of the enemy had prevented them from burying. The beach and neighbouring jungles were filled with dogs and vultures, whose growling and screaming, added to the pestilential smell of the place, rendered our situation far from pleasant. Here and there a faithful dog might be seen stretched out and moaning over a new-made grave, or watching by the side of his still breathing master ; but by far the greater number, deprived of the hand that fed them, went prowling with the vultures among the dead, or lay upon the sand, glutted with their foul repast. As if this scene of death had not sufficed, fresh horrors were added to it by the sanguinary leaders of these unhappy men. Several gibbets were found erected about the stockades, each bearing the mouldering remains of three or four crucified victims, thus cruelly put to death for, perhaps, no greater crime than that of wandering from their post in search of food ; or, at the very worst, for having followed the example of their chiefs, in flying from the enemy. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMT^ 463 " 20th. Marched two miles in advance of Meeaday, in the vain hope of getting away from the field of death. For fifty miles up the river, and all along the road by which the enemy retired, similar horrors presented them- selves ; while on some of our grounds of encampment, it was difficult to find room for pitching the tents without previously removing some dead bodies from the spot. " 2lst. The country through which we passed was wholly depopulated, and the villages either burned or laid in ruins ; not a head of cattle, or, indeed, a living thing, except the sick and dying stragglers from the Burmese army, was met with in the march. We appeared to traverse a vast wilderness from which mankind had fled ; and our little camp of 2,000 men seemed but a speck in the desolate and dreary waste that surrounded it, calling forth at times an irksome feeling which could with difficulty be repressed, at the situation of a handful of men, in the heart of an extensive empire, pushing boldly forward to the capital, still three hundred miles distant, in defiance of an enemy whose force outnumbered ours in tenfold ratio, and without a hope of further reinforcement from our distant ships and depots." On the 26th of December, when the division had marched 140 miles from Prome, and was within ten miles of Melloon, a flag of truce was sent to Sir Archibald Campbell from the last-named place, with letters commu- nicating the arrival of a High Commissioner sent down from Ava with full powers to conclude a treaty of peace. The proposal was entertained, but the army continued its march to Patanagoh, opposite the Burmese intrenchments of Melloon. Continued communications, having reference to the proposed peace, were here carried on ; and after much discussion a treaty was agreed to, upon the terms formerly proposed by the British authorities, excepting that three more provinces were added to the territorial cessions, and the pecuniary payment reduced from two crores to one.* The English copy of the treaty was * A crore is a hundred lacs^ or one million sterling. 464 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. signed on the 2nd of January, 1826, the Burmese copy on the 3rd, and an armistice was concluded till the 18th, to allow time for obtaining the ratification of the king. During the quiet interval which ensued, the Burmese visited the British camp in the most friendly manner by day, and by night they worked at their stockades. The ratification was not received by the appointed time, and the Burmese Commissioners then oflfered to pay an instalment of five lacs of rupees, and to give hostages for the safe return of the English prisoners so long con- fined at Ava, provided the British force would return to Prome, or at least agree to a further suspension of hos- tilities for a few days. The British Commissioners per- emptorily refused to retreat, and declined abstaining from hostilities unless the Burmese would evacuate Melloon within thirty-six hours and retire upon Ava ; the march of the British army, however, not to be suspended until the receipt of the ratified treaty. This proposal was in return rejected by the Burmese, and hostilities recom- menced. Batteries were erected opposite the selected parts of attack in the stockade, the heavy ordnance was landed from the flotilla, and by ten o'clock on the morning of the 19th twenty-eight pieces of artillery were ready to open upon the enemy's defences. After two hours' cannonading, the troops intended for the assault, who had been previously embarked in boats, under the superintendence of Captain Chads, now senior naval officer, began to move. A brigade under Colonel Sale, formed of H.M. 1 3th and 38th regiments, was ordered to land below the stockade, and attack it by the south- west angle, while three other brigades were to land above the place to attack it by the northern face. The boats pushed off together, but the current, aided by a strong wind, carried the brigade under Colonel Sale to its des- tined point of attack before the remaining brigades could reach the shore. The troops landed, and immediately formed under Major Frith, Colonel Sale having been wounded in the boats. This being effected, they rushed OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 465 on to the assault, witliout waiting for the landing of the other brigades ; entered by escalade, and established themselves in the works, in the face of upwards of 10,000 men, who were driven away, in a confused and helpless mass, from the strongest stockade they had ever erected. The other brigades took the flying enemy, and completed the victory : the Burmese were driven with severe loss from all their stockades, and left the whole of their artil- lery and military stores in our possession. In the house of Prince Memiaboo, cash to the amount of thirty or forty thousand rupees was found ; all his stud was likewise taken; and, what was considered of still more consequence, as affording undeniable proof of the perfidious conduct of the Burmese during the late nego- tiations, both the English and Burmese copies of the treaty were also found in the house, just in the same state as when signed and sealed by the British and Burmese commanders.* The prince and his beaten army continued to retreat upon Ava with all possible speed, and Sir Archibald Campbell prepared to follow them up without delay. On its advance the army was met by Dr. Price, one of the captive American missionaries who had been seized at Ava, and by Assistant-Surgeon Sandford, of the Royals, who had been taken prisoner some months before. They were commissioned from Ava to ascertain the terms of peace, and were informed that the terms tendered before the capture of Melloon were quite open for acceptance ; and that, with respect to the pecuniary indemnification, the army would retire to Rangoon on the payment of twenty-five lacs of rupees, and would evacuate the Burmese territory on the discharge of a second instalment of the same amount. With this answer the delegates returned. But though the missionary was sanguine as to the immediate favourable termination of the war, his Burman Majesty seemed determined to try his fortune once more before he submitted ; in which resolution he was doubt- * Thornton, v., 76. 466 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. less encouraged by the smallness of the British force, novr considerably under 2,000 fighting-men, as well as by a recent defeat of a weak British detachment before the strong stockade of Zitoung in Pegu, where Lieutenant- Colonel Conroy and another officer were killed, with a very heavy loss in men for so small a force. Sir Archibald Campbell, however, continued to advance ; and on approaching Pagahm-mew, a town about one hundred miles above Melloon, he obtained positive infor- mation that a levy of 40,000 men had been ordered by the " Golden Foot." This new army was honoured with the flattering appellation of " Ketrievers of the King's Glory," and was placed under the command of a savage warrior, styled Nee Woon-Breen, which has been variously translated as " Prince of Darkness," " King of Hell," and " Prince of the Setting Sun." On the 8th of February it was ascertained that the enemy were about five miles in advance on the road to the city of Pagahm, and on the 9th the British columns moved forward to attack. The advanced guard was met in the jungle by strong bodies of skirmishers ; and after maintaining a running fight for several miles, the column debouched into the open country, and there discovered the Burmese army, from sixteen to twenty thousand strong, drawn up in an inverted crescent, the wings of which threatened the little body of assailants on both their flanks. But Sir Archibald pushed boldly forward for their centre, threw the whole weight of his column upon that point, broke it, and left the unconnected wings severed from each other.* The enemy fled into a second line of redoubts and stockades, close under the walls of Pagahm-mew ; but the British column followed them so closely that they had but little time to rally for their defence, and several hundreds perished at this spot, either pierced by the bayonet, or drowned in vain attempts to cross the river. With the exception of two This is the account of the action given by the military secretary. Major Snodgrass; though, strange to say, the official report by Sir Archibald Camp- bell states the attack to have been made on the wings. OtiR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 467 or three thousand men the whole army dispersed upon the spot, and the unfortunate " Prince of Darkness" fled to Ava, where he was put to a cruel death by order of the King. As soon as the action was over the country people came into the British camp for protection ; and many hundred boats, crowded with natives, passed downwards on their way to their respective towns and villages, from which they had been driven by the Burmese army. Sir Archibald Campbell was in full march towards the capital of the Burmese empire, from which he was now only foi-ty-five miles distant, when he was met by Mr. Price and two Burmese Ministers of State, accompanied by Mr. Henry Gouger, Mr. Judson, the American missionary, and his wife, a Scotch sea-captain, who had gone lip the country before the war to make some con- tract about timber, and all the rest of the prisoners, whether Europeans or Sepoys. A sadder spectacle has seldom been presented by living human beings than was offered to the English camp by these liberated captives. They were covered with filthy rags ; they were worn to skin and bone ; and their haggard countenances, sunken, wandering eyes, told but too plainly the frightful story of their long suffering, their incessant alarms, and their apprehensions of a doom worse than death!* The sight exasperated our troops, and made them more eager than ever to advance upon the capital and take vengeance upon the tyrant and his savage court ; but the war was now at an end ; for the Burmese agents had brought not only the ratified treaty, but the sum of twenty-five lacs of rupees, as the first instalment of the crore thereby stipulated to be paid ; together with an authority, under the sign manual, to accept of and sign whatever terms the English might insist upon. The treaty of peace was finally signed at Yandaboo, on the 24th of February, 1826, by which the King of Ava renounced for ever all claims upon the principality of Assam, and sundry contiguous petty states. His * Macfarlane's " British India." 468 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Majesty ceded to the Company in perpetuity the con- quered provinces of Arracan,* and also four other pro- vinoes, with their islands and dependencies ; his Ma- jesty agreed to pay one crore of rupees, as part indem- nification for the expenses of the war that henceforth accredited British Ministers, with a body-guard of fifty men, should be allowed to reside at Ava, that an accre- dited Burmese Minister should be sent to reside at Calcutta, and that free-trade should be allowed to British subjects in all the dominions of his Majesty. The sufferings of our troops, during nearly the whole of this war, were excessively great. The loss by the sword was as nothing compared with the ravages of disease, and the mortality caused by excessive fatigue. It was not often that a score of men fell in escalading and carrying even the strongest stockades; but they died by heaps on their marches through the pestilential jungles, or in their unhealthy camp stations. Through- out the campaigns, and all the way from Bangoon, every soldier of the Anglo-Indian Army had to carry his knap- sack, sixty rounds of ammunition, a blanket and three days' provisions, together with his arms and accoutre- ments, under the scorching rays of a tropical sun. " Perhaps," adds an officer who served in the war,f " there are few instances on record in the history of any nation, of a mere handful of men, with constitutions broken down by many months of previous disease and ' privation, forcing their way in the face of such diffi- culties, and through a wilderness hitherto untrodden by Europeans, to the distance of five hundred miles from the spot where they originally disembarked, and ulti- mately dictating a peace within three days' march of the enemy's capital." * In the month of January, 1825, while the army of Sir Archibald Campbell was cooped up at Rangoon, General Morrison, with H.M. 44th and 54th regi- ments, about 200 European artillery, and several regiments of native infantry and pioneers, who had been assembled at Chittagohg for the purpose, took undisputed possession of the province of Arracan. t Lieutenant-Colonel Tullock. " Statistical Reports on the Sickness, Mortality, and Invaliding among His Majesty's Troops." OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY, 469 CHAPTER XXVII. Mutiny at Barrackpore Its Origin and Suppression Affairs of Bhortpor* Usiu-pation of Doorjun Saul Intervention of Sir David Ochterlony- His Pro- ceedings are countermanded Resignation and Death of Sir David State of Anarchy at Bhurtpore Intervention of British Government Anglo-Indian Army takes the Field Investment of Bhurtpore Mining Operations Pre- parations tor the Assault Storming and Capture of Bhurtpore Restoration of the Rajah Military Reforms of Lord William Bentinck The Batta Question Excitement occasioned by its Discontinuance Suppression of Cor- poreal Punishment amongst the Native Troops Its Invidious Character Attiairs of Coorg Short Campaign in that Country Deposition of the Ri^ah, and Annexation of Coorg. We shall now return to India, where, during the prose- cution of the arduous Burmese war, some occurrences had taken place connected with the history of the Anglo- Indian Army, and greatly adding to its fame; though one, we regret to say, was of a painful and discreditable character, the cause and consequences of which we are now about to relate. About the middle of the year 1824: the 47th Bengal Native Infantry had been marched to Barrackpore, from which at a later period of the year they were to proceed to share in the operations of the Burmese war. To European readers it will be necessary to explain that no military force can move in India without a large number of bullocks and other beasts of burden, which are requi- site not only for carrying provisions and stores, but also for transporting a considerable portion of the personal baggage of the men, such as their knapsacks, cooking- utensils, &c. j the expense of these animals and their drivers, so far as employed for the use of the Sepoys, being defrayed by the Sepoys themselves. Unfortunately, on the present occasion no bullocks could be provided for hire, and they could only be purchased at an extravagant ,^o 470 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY^ price ; and when application was made for assistance from the Commissariat, the men were curtly told that they must provide the required accommodation for themselves. The great inconvenience and hardship occasioned by this circumstance on the march rankled in the minds of the men, and made them brood so bitterly upon other real or supposed grievances that by the time they arrived at Barrackpore they were, unfortunately, too well pre- pared for the unhappy scenes that occurred soon after their arrival. On the 30th of October, at a heavy march- ing order parade, the greater part appeared without their knapsacks j and the cause of the neglect being de- manded, they replied that their knapsacks were unfit to produce. They were informed that new ones were on their way, and that till their arrival they must use the old ones. They refused, however, to produce them ; and part of the regiment, moreover, declared that they would not proceed to Rangoon or elsewhere by sea, as it involved the forfeiture of caste ; nor would they move at all unless they were allowed double batta, the claim for which was . rested on two grounds : first, that increased pay had been given to bullock-drivers, and persons engaged in similar services; secondly, that, according to report, every thing was very dear in the country to which they were going. After some vain attempts to subdue the prevailing discontent by reasoning, Colonel Cartwright, the commanding officer, being unable, from the number of the mutineers, to take any more vigorous measures, dismissed the regiment, and sought the advice of General Dalzell. The latter officer -proceeded to Calcutta to consult the Commander-in-Chief, 8ir Edward Paget ; and on his return ordered a parade to take place at daybreak on the morning of the 1st of November. ' At this parade all semblance of duty was cast aside, a.nd the regiment, with the exception of the officers, com- missioned and non-commissioned, burst into acts of open violence. During the night, the mutineers had slept on their arms, maintaining regular guards and pickets, and OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 471 a strong chain of sentries and patrols. In this state of affairs Sir Edward Paget arrived. Two native regiments, besides the 47th, were stationed at Barrackpore, prepara- tory to their proceeding on service ; but both of them were infected in some degree with the mutinous spirit which had taken entire possession of the regiment last mentioned. It was necessary, therefore, to seek the means of overawing the mutineers elsewhere ; and his Majesty's Royals and 47th regiments, with a battery of light artil- lery and the Governor-General's body-guard, promptly arrived from Calcutta. The force intended to act against the mutineers having taken position, the Commander-in-Chief deputed the Quartermaster-General and the Adjutant-General, accom- panied by Captain Macan, of the 16th Lancers, as inter- preter, and by the commanding officer of the regiment in rebellion, to give on his part an answer to a paper which had been forwarded by the malcontents, as well as to explain to them their situation, and the consequence that must result from their adhering to the course which they had adopted. " Their fate, they were informed, would depend on their obedience to the command which they were about to receive from the Adjutant-General. The word to order arms being given, was instantly obeyed. The next order was to ground arms ; with this only one man complied, while the silence which had hitherto been maintained was now- broken by loud and continued murmurings. These were silenced by a few discharges of grapeshot from a battery in their rear, when the rebel troops speedily broke, and fled in every direction, throwing away their arms and accoutrements, and, whenever practicable, divesting themselves of the military dress altogether. A few of the mutineers were killed by this painfully necessary proceeding ; and the fugitives being hotly pur- sued, many were taken prisoners. These were forthwith brought to trial before a court-martial. A considerable number were found ^gtiilty, and sentenced to death ; but a 472 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. few only of tlie more active were executed, the pnnish- ment of the remainder being commuted to hard labour in irons, for terms proportioned to their guilt. The native officers, though not participators in the rebellious move- ment,were believed to be cognisant of the acts and inten- tions of the mutineers, and they were in consequence dis- missed from the service. The regiment was disbanded, and its number most properly erased from the list of the army, the European officers being transferred to another raised in its place. " Thus," says Thornton, from whose lucid pages we have extracted the foregoing, " arose the mutiny of Barrackpore. It was the offispring of temporary disappointment and privation, and, excepting that all such movements are fraught with evil suggestion for the future, it was calcu- lated to excite little alarm. In the language of the Court of Inquiry appointed to investigate and report on the unhappy affiiir, it was an ' ebullition of despair at being compelled to march without the means of doing so.' " It was not long, however, before an occasion offered itself to obliterate from the annals of the Anglo-Indian Army the stain which had been cast upon them by the mutiny at Barrackpore. This was an occurrence which took place at Bhurtpore in the early part of 1825 ; when but little progress had been made in the Burmese war, and exaggerated reports were circulating throughout all India of the difficulties, the checks, and the reverses which Sir Archibald Campbell was encountering. The particu- lars of this transaction may be briefly summed up as follows : On the 26th of February, 1825, the Kajah of Bhurt- pore, an ally of the Company, died, leaving his infant son, Bulwunt Singh, to succeed him. Knowing that the suc- cession to the musnud could not fail to be disputed, the deceased Rajah had implored the protection of General Sir David Ochterlony for his young son ; and Sir David, who was then Commander of the Forces and Political Besident at Delhi, acknowledged the boy's right to the OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 473 mnsnudj and pledged his word to support him. Imme- diately after the Rajah's death, Doorjun Saiil, cousin to Bulwunt Singh, having gained over part of the Bhurt- pore troops, murdered the uncle and guardian of the young Eajah, and seized the person of the helpless boy. Sir David Ochterlony thereupon assembled troops and a battering-train, and put them in motion for Bhurtpore ; issuing at the same time a proclamation to the Jaut people of the Bhui-tpore country, in which he called upon them to rise in defence of their lawful Bajah ; and told them that the British troops were advancing to rescue Bulwunt Singh. Lord Amherst and the Supreme Council, however, dis- approved of all that Sir David Ochterlony had done, and sent him peremptory orders to recall the troops that were marching on Bhurtpore. Sir David was also commanded to withdraw his proclamation to the Jauts, and to tell them that an inquiry would be instituted by the British Government into the transactions which had taken place in Bhurtpore. It was clearly manifest that Lord Amherst and the Council wished to avoid any final arrangement of the Bhurtpore question, and preferred putting up with temporary inconvenience to the rushing into a new cam- paign at an unpropitious season of the year, and at a time when so large a portion of the attention and re- sources of Government were demanded by the war on the Irawaddi.* But the veteran Ochterlony was too brave a soldier to be startled by the strength of Bhurtpore, or by any other obstacle, and much too high-minded a man to undo what he had conscientiously done, or willingly to abandon the boy after promising hi dying father that he would pro- tect him. Sir David tendered his resignation, declaring that he should be guilty of falsehood if he acknowledged any conviction of having acted incorrectly or with im- propriety. Lord Amherst accepted the tendered resig- nation : Sir David retired to Meerut, with a mortified Macfarlane's " British India." 474 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. and wounded spirit, and died there very soon after. The conqueror of the Goorkhas, the man who remedied the blunders of others in the Nepaul war, the veteran who had served the Company for half a century, was honoured by the high functionaries of Calcutta with minute-guns and a complimentary general order.* The Government of Calcutta, however, was ultimately compelled to adopt the measures recommended by General Ochterlony, and subsequently enforced by his successor at Delhi, Sir Charles Metcalfe ; and on the 18th of September, two months after the death of Sir David, it was determined by the Governor in Council to support the minor, Bulwunt Singh, if all other measures failed, by force of arms. To this course they were still further induced by a quarrel which broke out between Doorjun Saul and his brother, Madhoo Singh, with whom he had previously acted in concert, and who was believed to have been the chief instigator of his proceedings. Madhoo Singh attempted to seize the fort of Bhurtpore and the person of his brother ; but failing in this, he raised an independent standard, early in July, in the fortress of Deeg, subjected or plundered all the neighbouring country, and invited adventurers of all kinds to join and share his fortunes. Among those attracted thither by the cry of war was a considerable body of Mahrattas, who crossed the Chumbul from Scindia's country, and joined Madhoo Singh at Deeg ; near which place Doorjun Saul's troops were defeated with considerable slaughter. The Company's frontiers were thrown into a ferment : many of their subjects took up arms, some to join one, and some the other of the contending brothers ; and those regions were once more threatened with anarchy, which" had been pacified by the happy termination of the Pindarrie-Mahratta war. Meanwhile the usurper was strengthening the always formidable fortress of Bhurtpore ; and the native princes most inimical to the English were inculcating the belief Macfarlane's " British India." OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 4T5 that it could never be taken, and that the Jauts were destined to be the rallying-point of India. But the period was rapidly approaching when the impregnability of the fortress, and the resolution of its usurping master, were to be tested. A vast force, exceed-* ing twenty thousand men, with a field of more than a hundred pieces of artillery, was advancing upon it, under the Commander-in-Chief, Lord Combermere, who had gained such high distinction in the Peninsula war as Sir Stapleton Cotton.* On the 5th of December his lord- ship's head-quarters were at Muttra, from whence he ordered the second division of infantry, commanded by Major-General Nicolls, with the first brigade of cavalry and a detachment of Skinner's local horse, to march from Agra by Danagore to Bhurtpore, and to take up a position to the west of the town. The first division of infantry,' under Major-General Beynell, with the second brigade of cavalry, and the remainder of Skinner's horse, marched by another route to take up a position on the north-east of the town. With this column pro- ceeded the Commander-in-Chief, and his head-quarters were before Bhurtpore on the 10th of December. Here his lordship humanely proposed to Doorjun Saul the withdrawal of the women and children from the town, promising them safe conduct through his camp, but received an evasive answer from th^ heartless tyrant. On the approach of the Anglo-Indian Army the Jauts had cut the bund, or embankment, of an artificial lake, with the view of filling the broad deep ditch that sur- rounds Bhurtpore, as they had done during Lord Lake's siege in 1805 ; but our troops having arrived before they had quite efiected their purpose, instantly made them- selves masters of the embankment, and repaired the breach. Several days were now occupied in the con- struction of works ; during which operations a party of about two hundred of the enemy's horse attempted to make their escape ; but they were intercepted, thirty or Thornton, v., 154. 476 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. forty killed, and upwards of a hundred were made pri- soners. On the 23rd of December the besiegers, under a heavy fire from the garrison, completed their first parallel, and on the morning of the 24th two heavy batteries opened upon the town. Other batteries were brought into play in quick succession ; and during the rest of the month of December a vast quantity of powder and ball was ex- pended : scarcely a roof in the town was left uninjured ; but neither cannon-shot nor shells could make any im- pression on a tough mud wall, the most impenetrable of all possible defences, and whicb, moreover, was from fifty to sixty feet thick. A mine was, therefore, com- menced on the evening of the 6th of January, 1826, in the scarp of the ditch on the northern face of the work, but unfortunately it was not sufficiently advanced by daybreak; and the engineers apprehending discovery if their operations were continued, it was prematurely ex- ploded, and produced no material efiect. A second attempt to mine was made ; but those employed in it were countermined from the interior before they had entered many feet. The gallery was subsequently blown in, it having been discovered that the enemy were keep- ing watch in it. On the 8th of January a shot fired by the enemy set fire to one of our tumbrils, and 20,000 lbs. weight of gunpowder was blown up. On the 14th another mine, under one of the bastions, was exploded too precipitately to produce any effect ; but two more were driven into the same work; and these being sprung on the 16th, so far succeeded that, with the aid of another day's battering, the breach was reported practicable. On the 17th an immense mine was completed and charged with a vast quantity of powder in the north-east angle of the works, and the following day was fixed for the storm. Early on the morning of the 18th of January, 1826, our storming-parties established themselves in the ad- vanced trenches. The left breach, or that which was OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 477 already practicable, was to be mounted by the brigade of General Nicolls, headed by his Majesty's 59th regi- ment ; the breach on the right was to be mounted by General E-eynell's brigade, headed by his Majesty's 14th regiment ; and the explosion of the mine under the north-east bastion was to be the signal for the attack. This took place at eight o'clock with terrible effect : the explosion was sublime ; the whole of the salient angle and part of the stone cavalier behind it were hurled into the air, which for a time became as dark as midnight, while all the garrison who were stationed there were blown to the winds, or buried amidst the ruins. The result was an enormous breach ; but, owing to the de- fective construction of the mine, many of the ejected stones and masses of earth fell upon the head of our column of attack, killing a number of men and severely wounding three officers. The stones fell so thickly about Lord Combermere himself that Brigadier-General Mac Combe was knocked down by his side, and two Sepoys were killed within a few feet of his lordship. The troops, however, rushed on to the assault with admi- rable spirit and in excellent order ; ascended the breaches, and cleared them in the teeth of a very determined resistance. On the left where the ascent was steep and difficult, our Grenadiers moved up slowly and resolutely, without stopping to pull a trigger, in return for the volleys of round shot, grape, and musketry which were fired upon them. Within two hours all the ramparts of the town were in possession of the besiegers, and they had the command of the gates of the citadel, which sur- rendered early in the afternoon. Brigadier-General Sleigh, who commanded the cavalry, had taken excellent measures outside, to prevent the escape of Doorjun Saul ; and when that chief, with 160 chosen horse, attempted to force a passage, he was made prisoner by the 8th Light Dragoons ; one of his wives and two of his sons were taken with him. They were all sent prisoners to Allahabad, to be supported by the Company. Our entire loss, during >^ 478 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. the siege and storming, amounted to 61 Europeans and 42 natives killed, and 283 Europeans and 183 natives wounded. The loss of the garrison was esti- mated at 4,000 men, nearly all killed by the awful ex- plosion of the great mine. After the ammunition, arms, stores, &c., had been removed to places of safety, the principal bastions, cur- tains, and other important parts of the fortification were blown into the air, and it was left to the monsoon rains to complete the ruin of Bhurtpore, whose boasted im- pregnability was thus annihilated for ever. With the fall of this celebrated fortress perished all expectation of successfully resisting the British Government : Deeg, Biana, Kama, and all the other fortresses within the dominions of Bhurtpore, surrendered at once and were garrisoned by British troops, while the inhabitants re- turned peaceably to their homes and occupations, and the young Rajah was restored to the musnud under British protection. On the 20th of February the Commander-in-Chief broke up from before Bhurtpore and returned to Cal- cutta ; and when the conquest was announced in Eng- land, thanks were voted to the army by Parliament and by the Company ; while the prize-money to which the latter were legally entitled was ordered by the Court of Directors to be distributed amongst the troops ])resent at the capture. The siege of Bhurtpore had completely fixed the atten- tion of all India, for on its issue were felt to depend not only the renown of the Anglo-Indian Army, but the permanency of the British empire in Asia. The oppor- tunity it offered for eflfacing the stigma of Lord Lake's failure in 1805 was highly appreciated on the one hand, but on the other it was admitted that a second failure might realise the feeling of the Delhi mob, when they shouted a few months before, " The rule of the Company is at an end !" While the conflict lasted, therefore, a general ferment was observable among the surrounding OUR ANGLO-nTDIAN ARMY. 47^ principalities ; and had the attack failed, the whole country westward of the Jumna would have risen in arms at least so far as to resume the predatory system of warfare so decidedly suppressed by the destruction of the Pindarries ; but the complete and rapid triumph of Lord Combermere overawed the native chiefs, checked the disposition to revolt, and more strongly confirmed the supremacy of Great Britain throughout the East. The reduction of Bhurtpore was the last event of any importance that occurred during the administration of Lord Amherst, whose conduct in that and the Bur man contest was the subject of severe criticism amongst statesmen in England but imperfectly acquainted with the necessity under which he acted. His lordship was doubtless as anxious for peace as the Court of Directors could be, yet nearly the whole of his administration had been occupied by wars, and during a great part of this period the Anglo-Indian Army had been kept up to the enormous number of 274,000 men of all arms. Earl Amherst was succeeded as Governor-General by Lord William Bentinck, the early part of whose admi- nistration was entirely of a pacific tendency; though, as will be seen, by no means of a character to conciliate either the esteem or gratitude of the Anglo-Indian Army ; for immediately after the glorious termination of the Burmese war and the Bhurtpore campaign, he accom- plished two reforms, as they were then called, galling to the feelings of one portion of that army, and detrimental to the interest of another. The heavy expenses which had been incurred by pre- ceding Governments having occasioned much difficulty in meeting them, new measures of retrenchment were loudly called for by the Court of Directors, while others prescribed long before, but never carried into effect, were revived and ordered to be adopted. Among these was the diminution of extra allowances long enjoyed by the (military at distant stations under the name of batta. 480 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. The mode in which these allowances were regulated had varied considerably down to the year 1796, when an uniform system was established, under which officers in garrison or cantonments were to receive what was termed half batta, with quarters or house-rent ; in the field they were to receive full batta ; and double full batta in the dominions of the Vizier of Oude. This last allowance was abolished in 1801 by the Bengal Government, who made another change, or, as it has been justly termed, compromise with the military at the same time. Great expense having been incurred in erecting and repairing quarters for officers at certain half batta stations, to guard against it in future the officers were to be re- quired to provide themselves with quarters ; and to com- pensate them for the loss, they were to receive not the established allowance for house-rent, but full batta instead of half batta. This latter arrangement was adopted without any communication with the home authorities ; but on being reported, it was approved ; the following remark being introduced into the letter to the Court of Directors in which it was so reported : " The loss of the Yizier's allowances will be compensated to the aggregate body of the officers of the army by the grant which his Excellency in Council has made to them in certain cases of extra batta, in cons'lderation of their providing themselves with quarters.""* No further change was made till the year 1814, when orders arrived from the Court of Directors to discontinue the allowance of full batta at those stations where halt batta and quarters had previously been granted ; and that for the future half batta and house-rent, according to a revised scale, should be substituted. This, though a certain loss to the officers of the army in general, consti- tuted a very paltry saving to the Company ; but it was quite in character with those who, while they aped the dignity of princes, too often betrayed the sordid disposi- tion of the petty shopkeeper. Military Letter from Bengal, 28th of May, 180L OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 481 The order, however, arrived in India while the Govern- ment was engaged in the Nepaul war, when, of course, it was impossible to carry it into execution ; the Pindarrie- Mahratta war immediately followed, and threw a fresh obstacle in its way. When, at last, leisure was found to examine the subject, the Bengal Government, instead of acting upon the orders from home, very properly addressed a representation an;ainst them to the Court of Directors, the ground of their remonstrance being the alleged com- pact previously adverted to. " The Court," they said, " could not have been aware that full batta in Bengal stands on the footing of a compromise, for which the Government stands virtually pledged, in foro conscientice, since the order for granting full batta to the whole was contemporaneous with that for withdrawing double batta from a part." This unanswerable argument was only responded to by the Court of Directors by a fresh order to carry its inten- tions into effect ; but neither Lord Hastings nor Lord Amherst would lend himself to the enforcement of so unjust a retrenchment. At length Lord William Ben- tinck was so madly anxious for the post of Governor- General that he did not hesitate to pledge himself to a fall compliance with the wishes of the Court, and accord- ingly enforced them by general orders, dated the 29th of November, 1828. The conduct of his lardship, in this respect, was disapproved of by Mr. Bayley and Sif Charles Metcalfe, two distinguished members of the Supreme Council, who wete both of opinion that the Company and the British empire in India were not to be served or saved by such sordid economy ; and the Com- mander-in-Chief, Lord Combermere, was so disgusted that he resigned and returned to Europe. Nay, Lord William Bentinck himself was so thoroughly convinced of the injustice and impolicy of the measure that, in a Mmute of Council recorded by him in August, 1834, a short time before he quitted India, he thus adverts to the subject "Trifling, however, as this deduction is upon B 482 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. the aggregate amount of the pay of the Bengal army, it has been severely felt by the few upon whom it has fallen, and has created in all an alarm of uncertainty as to their fature condition, which has, perhaps, produced more dis-^ content than the measure itself" But, though Lord Bentinck was not equally successful on the present occasion in exciting a mutiny as on the former, when his infliction of a turban cap on the Madras army occasioned the horrors of Yellore, the publication. of his general order produced an immense excitement in. the army of Bengal ; and the Directors were speedily inundated with memorials upon memorials, the language of which must have made them feel rebuked in the presence of those injured servants to whose bravery in the field they were so deeply indebted for their mighty empire. But Lord William Bentinck was doomed to be as un- fortunate in his military reforms as in his military opera- tions ; for, shortly before he quitted India, he effected another, more calculated even than the former to excite discontent and disaffection : this was the abolition of corporeal punishment in the native army. Though the utter extermination of this reproach to humanity is a consummation devoutly to be wished, its partial removal on the present occasion was of all things most injudicious ; for, having no power to abolish the pimishment with regard to the King's troops, the slightest reflection might have suggested to any mind but his own the imprudence and inexpediency of abolishing it with regard to the remainder. When European and native troops are serving together, either in cantonment or the field, how galling must it be to the feelings of the former to find the latter exempt from a degrading punishment to which they themselves are still exposed ! It is nothing less than establishing a moral superiority in the Sepoy over his European brother soldier, which the former would be otherwise as unwilling to arrogate to himself as the latter would be to submit to any such assumption. " If this OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 483 reflection," says Thornton, who has argued these vexed questions with his usual lucidity, " did not occur to Lord William Bentinck, he had far less of sober thought and deliberative power than became his character of Governor- Greneral of British India : if it did , occur, his lordship cannot be acquitted of the charge of wantonly and reck- lessly provoking consequences which his successors might have bitter reason to lament." We shall leave his lordship between the horns of this dilemma, and now proceed to matters more in unison with the duties of the military historian. Coorg was a small principality on the confines of Mysore, perched upon the range of mountains that look down upon Malabar and the western coast of India. A pass, connecting the coast provinces with Mysore, runs through the Coorg Hills ; and so long as this pass was in the possession of an adverse prince and a brave inde- pendent people, Mysore might become assailable from the Company's western capital, Bombay. Hence Hyder and his still more implacable son had bent every effort to conquer Coorg ; but at the commencement of Lord Corn- wallis's war against Tippoo the Rajah risked all the dangers of Tippoo's success, and boldly volunteered co- operation with the British. He not only allowed the Bombay army to pass through his dominions, but, when distressed for provisions, he supplied it with grain and cattle, refusing all pecuniary compensation. He joined Lord Comwallis before Seringapatam, shared in all the dangers of the campaign, was foremost in every fight, and almost worshipped the British soldiers for their indomitable courage in those desperate encounters. Grateful for these services, Lord Cornwallis undertook never to interfere in the internal aflTairs of Coorg, and commuted a large money payment, insisted on by the Bombay authorities, for an elephant, which the Rajah was yearly to present to the East India Company. In our second and final war with Tippoo the Rajah of .j^ 484 OUR ANGLO-INT)IAN ARMY. Coorarations Advance of the Expedition -Difficult Ma'ch to Caniiahar The Bolan Pass - Destruction of Camels and Horses The IJritish Troops take possession of Candahar Coronation of Shah Snjih The Army ad- vancis towards Cabul Arrival at Ghaznet Preparations for attackiiiK that Fortress Stonninj? and Capture of Ghuznee Siiiifular Incidents of the Attack Entrance of Shah iiujah into C ibul -Cold Recetion of tlie new Monarch Assasdnations at Cabul Part of the British Troops depart for India Storming and Capture of Kelat. There never was, perhaps, a period in history when the military virtues were put to a severer test, by every possible vicissitude of war, than the one we are now approaching ; and there cei-tainly never was one in which so many marches, skirmishes, sieges, pitched battles, retreats, and calamities of all sorts, were crammed, as it were, into so narrow a space of time. It would almost seem as if Destiny in all former wars had been only steeling the hearts and training the physical powers of our soldiers to meet the gigantic contests which now awaited them ; and the glorious manner in which these trials were met and vanquished will shed a radiance through every future age on the annals of the Anglo- Indian Army. With the political transactions which led to the war in Affghanistan it is not ouc province to deal, even were we competent to the task ; nor is it necessary to give more than a very brief sketch of the history of that country to elucidate the origin of those events in which we were unhappily mixed up with its fortunes. After a long series of those revolutions so common to empires in the East, Ahmeed Abdalla, an officer of an R* 490 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Affglian troop in the service of Persia, refounded, in 1747, the Affghan monarchy, which, towards the end of the last century, became one of the most powerful in Asia.- After his victory over the Mahrattas at the battle or Panniput, in 1761, the Mogul throne seemed completely within his grasp ; but he had prudence enough to content himself with the rich provinces on the Indus, and the fine valley of Cashmere. Having added to these Balkh^ Herat, and Sinde, he formed a powerful empire, estimated to contain above fourteen millions of inhabitants ; ancJ this dominion Mr. Elphinstone, on his mission to Peshawur in 1808, found still entire in the hands of hi& successor. Shah Sujah-ul-Mulk. But it w^as then on the eve of a great revolution ; and in a few months afterwards that prince was driven out by his brother Mahmoud, who owed his success to the achievements of his Vizier, Futteh Klian. This Minister, having subsequently incurred the jealousy of his master,, was deposed, and his eyes put out a cruel deed, which roused the vengeance of his numerous offspring. By these the usurper was soon after driven from all his territories except Herat, and, after some vicissitudes, Cabul, Ghuznee, Candahar, and Peshawur, were partitioned among members of Futteh Khan's family, the first two falling to Dost Mahommed, the most powerful of their number. Amid these distractions, Kunjeet Singh, haviug acquired absolute authority over the warlike race of the Sikhs, made himself master of the provinces eastward of the Indus, to which he added Cashmere. Balkh was seized by the sovereign of Bokhara ; the Ameers of Sinde threw off their dependance ; while the fine territory of Herat was occupied by Kamr^n, son to Mahmoud, the only branch of the house of Ahmeed Abdalla to whom anything now remained of this once powerful monarchy. Shah Sujah, after his. expulsion, resided at Loodiana,. being allowed by the British Government four thousand rupees a month. He kept, however, a longing eye upon his lost kingdom ; and, being encouraged by various OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 491 chiefs to attempt its recovery, he did so with the as- sistance of Runjeet Singh ; but, after advancing as far as Candahar, he was there defeated by Dost Mahommed, and driven back to his old retreat at Loodiana. About this time the intrigues of Kussia against our Eastern possessions became so apparent, not only with Persia, but amongst the semi-barbarous tribes to the west- ward of the Indus, as to excite the jealous fears of our statesmen ; and in order to counteract the insidious policy of the Autocrat, Captain Burnes, an officer of the Bombay army, who was an Oriental linguist, and had evinced some diplomatic talent, was despatched in September, 1837, by Lord Auckland, then Governor-General, to the Court of Dost Mahommed, at Cabul. The latter received our Envoy well^ in the first instance ; but, finding that the British were not prepared to support him in all his schemes of aggrandisement, he was induced to prefer the boastful promises of Russian and Persian envoys, who had also arrived at Cabul ; and Captain Burnes returned to India, in April, 1838, bearing with him abundant professions of personal friendship from Dost Mahommed, and a very ambiguous letter from that chief to Lord Auckland. This situation of affairs was considered by the Gover- nor-General to call for the most serious consideration ;. there being every prospect of the whole of Western Asia being united in one vast confederacy under the influence of Russia, which would thereby be able to disturb at will the repose of India, many of whose princes were doubt- less eager to shake off their dependance on Great Britain. Under these circumstances, the system of non-interven- tion, hitherto pursued, was thought no longer practicable,, nor even safe. Shah Sujah had a legitimate claim to the throne of Cabul, and he had a strong party in his favour. He had also formed an intimate alliance with Runjeet Singh, who was then engaged in hostilities with the ruler of Cabul. It appeared, therefore, that Britain, by an union with these two powers, could easily replace the ^ 493 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. exiled monarch on his throne, and thus render the strong country of Affghanistan friendly, and a sure bulwark against all attacks from the westward. In purouance of these views, a treaty between the three parties was signed at Lahore on the 26th of June, 1838. The military preparations consequent on these diplo- matic arrangements were on a scale commensurate with the magnitude of the objects in view. Bengal and Bom- bay wei-e each to furnish a portion of the British force, and the command of the whole was to be intrusted to Sir Henry Fane, Commander-in-Chief in India. The Bengal contingent consisted of two troops of Horse and three companies of Foot Artillery, under the command of Brigadier Graham. The cavalry brigade, under Brigadier Arnold, was formed of her Majesty's 16tii Lancers, and the 2nd and 3rd Light Cavalry. One division of infantry (three brigades) was commanded by Sir Willoughby Cot- ton ; and another, of two brigades, by Major-General Duncan. The first brigade consisted of her Majesty's 13th Light Infantry, and the 16th and 48th Native In- fantry, under Brigadier Sale ; the second, commanded by Major-General Nott, comprised the 2nd, 31st, 42nd, and 43rd regiments of Native Infantry ; the third, under Bri- gadier Dennis, comprehended the Buffs and the 3rd and 27th Native Infantry ; the fourth brigade, composed of the Bengal European regiment, and the 35th and 37th Native Infantry, was under Brigadier Roberts ; and the fifth, comprising the 5th, 28th, and 53rd regiments of Native Infantry, under Brigadier Worsley. An Engineer department, under Captain George Thompson, was pro- vided, together with two companies of Sappers and Miners, native soldiers, with European non-commissioned officers. The equipment of this force was completed by a siege-train of four 18-pounders, two 8-inch and two 5|-inch mortars, with two spare howitzers. The Bombay force, under Sir Tohn Keane, the Com- mander-in-Chief at thac presidency, consisted of two troops of Horse and two companies of Foot Artillery, OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 493 under Brigadier Stevenson ; a brigade of cavalry, com- posed of two squadrons of her Majesty's 4th Light Dragoons, and 1st Bombay Light Cavalry, under Brigadier Scott ; and a body of infantry, consisting of her Ma- jesty's 2nd and 17th, and of the 1st, 5ih, 19th, and 23rd native regiments, under the command of Major-General Willshire. The Poonah auxiliary horse were to accom- pany this force, which also brought into the tield an En- gineer department, a detachment of Sappers and Miners, and a siege-train consisting of two 18-pounders and four 9 -pounders. The British force was in motion by the end of 1838 ; and, for various reasons, chiefly political, it marched, not through the Sikh territory, but by way of Sinde and Beloochistan. The troops from Bombay, under Sir John Keane, embarked on the 21st of November for the ludus, on the banks of which they were to be joined by Sir Henry Fane, with the force from Bengal. On the 3rd of December, the former disembarked at the branch of the river named Hujamree, and by difficult marches arrived on the 28th at Tatta, where negotiations were opened with the Ameers resident at Hyderabad. On the 1 3th of January, 1839, two officers were sent to these chiefs with an ultimatum which demanded the free navigation of the Indus, the admission of a British force to be stationed at Tatta and other points, together with the payment of 170,000 rupees, in part of arrears due to Shah Sujah. On the 25th of January the mission returned, and re- ported the entire rejection of these terms, describing the city as filled with large bands of warlike Beloocliees, and stating that active measures had been taken to strengthen the fortifications. 'J hey advised, therefore, to defer the attack till after the arrival of the Bengal force ; but on the 3rd of February Sir John Keane took post on the opjiosite side of the river ; while Admiral Maitland, with the Wellesley, seventy-four, moved upon Currachee, a large seaport, west of the Indus, and communicating with it by a navigable channel. The governor at first showed 494 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. a bold face ; but as soon as a breach had been made, the garrison fled, and the place was occupied without resist- ance. On receiving this intelligence, and seeing the British army, most of the Beloochees broke up from Hyderabad, and the Ameers at once agreed to the terms demanded. The Bombay force now marched up the banks of the Indus, and on the 21st of February reached Sehwun, where they formed a junction with the Bengal army, which had crossed at Bukkur ; having, by a great exertion of skill and activity, thrown a bridge of boats over the river, which is here four hundred and ninety yards broad. Sir Henry Fane being compelled by severe illness to return to England, the chief command now devolved on Sir John Keane, and the second on Sir Willoughby Cotton. Mr. Macnaghten, Envoy and Minister of the Indian Govern- ment at the Court of Shah Sujah, having urged an imme- diate advance, progress was resumed on the 22nd ; the whole force amounting to 19,350 men, exclusive of the Shah's contingent of 6,000. Having reached Larkhanu on the 5th of March, and halted there nine daja for re- freshment, they quitted the Indus and struck into the interior. The "Army of the Indus," as the force was styled, had then a march of five hundred miles to perform to Canda- Tiar, through a most difficult country, being partly the same in which Alexander, on his return from India, so severely suffered. Great part was quite a desert, and the heat was so excessive that two officers and fifty or sixty men in Colonel Dennie's division alone died from the action of its deadly siuioom. When Sir Willoughby Cotton commenced his march towards the Bolan Pass with the Bengal army, he was attended by about 80,000 camp-followers, who were all to be fed from the Commissariat. Crossing a broad and dreary desert, this Bengal column reached Dadur, at the foot of the mountains of Western Afighan- istan, on the 6th of March. Here supplies began to run short, so that the non-combatants of the column were put OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 495 on half-rations before entering the mountain districts ; yet they had scarcely left the territories of professing friends and allies, and had performed no more than oiie- half of the journey to Cabul. The Bombay column was at this time nine marches, or nearly one hundred miles behind. Close by Dadur is the mouth of the Bolan Pass, a terrible chasm nearly seventy miles long, tortuous, deep, and flanked by lofty rocks, running through a range of mountains that stretch from north to south, which at the head of the pass are 5,793 feet above the level of the sea. This portion of the country is inhabited by the poorest and wildest of the Affghan tribes, and it is almost un- paralleled in nakedness and desolation. The excessive barrenness and steepness of this line of march caused the -destruction of a vast number of horses and camels ; but, fortunately, the Affghan chiefs offered no opposition to the passage of our troops till they were on the point of quitting the defile, when 'some skirmishing took place, and a few of our 2)eople were wounded. Even without such opposition, the army was not a little annoyed by desultory attacks from the Beloochees and the Kakurs tribes inured to plunder, who not only carried away camels, provisions, and other property, but murdered all whom they found straggling, or could entice by false promises to quit the main body. The distress became extreme from the want of water ; the enemy having fided up the wells and diverted the mountain streams. A pestilential air filled the close valleys, and a noisome stench arose from the numerous bodies of camels, and even men, that lay strewed upon the ground. But through all these obstacles they arrived on the 4th of May, without any serious loss, though in a very exhausted state, at the ancient city of Candahar. On the approach of our imposing force, the three brother Sirdars, who had held the city for about twelve years, fled wih their families and some two hundred followers to Ghirisk, a small fortress eighty miles distant. They were pursued by Brigadier Sale, and con- 496 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. tinued their flight, without interruption, to Meshid, in Pel sia. On the 8th of May, 1839, Shah Sujah was solemnly enthroned. The united British army of Bengal and Bombay was drawn up in line in front of the city ; and a platform being erected to answer the purpose of a musnud_, the Shah proceeded to it on horseback, through a line of troops of his own contingent. When he approached the British lines, a salute of twenty-one guns was fired ; and on his passing down the line there was a general salute, accom- panied by the lowering of colours, in honour of his Majesty^ On his ascending the throne, a salvo was discharged from a hundred and one pieces of artillery. Sir John Keane and the other principal authorities then offered nuzzurs ; care being taken that the number of coins presented should in every case be an uneven one, this circumstance being an omen of good luck. Finally, the " Army of the Indus " marched round in review order in front of the throne, and thus the ceremony concluded. At Candahar the army enjoyed a brief interval of comparative rest ; but, beyond this, little cessation of its difficulties was experienced. Provisions still con- tinued scarce, robberies were as frequent as before, and the march towards Cabul was commenced under circum- stances not the most auspicious. A large convoy of grain furnished by the Lohani merchants had been brought in safety ; and this would have enabled the army to march with full rations. But the Lohaiiis refused to accompany the army ; and no means for the conveyance of the grain could be obtained. The con- sequence was, that this supply had to be left in Can- dahar ; and the troops and followers were obliged to march on half rations. By the 1st of July, the whole army had quitted Can- dahar ; and was in full march upon Ghuznee, the celebrated capital of Mahmoud, and still esteemed by the Asiatics an impregnable fortress. The route was through the valley of Tuvnuk, and the distance about OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 497 two hundred and thirty miles. Little occurred worthy of notice until the army arrived on the 20th of July at Nannee, situated ten miles from Ghuznee, where preparations were made for the attack of the latter place, which proved a fortress of considerable strength, and was the residence of one of Dost Mahommed's sons, who dwelt there in the capacity of governor. The works of Ghuznee were found to be far stronger than Sir John Keane had been led to expect ; and the four heavy guns of our battering-train had un- fortunately been left behind at Candahar, in the belief that they would not be wanted. "The works," says Captain Thompson, "were evidently much stronger than we had been led to anticipate, and snch as our army could not venture to attack in a regular manner with the means at our disposal. We had no battering-train ; and to attack Ghuznee in lorm, a much larger train, would be required than the army ever possessed. The great height of the parapet above the plain (sixty or seventy feet), with the wet ditch, were insurmountable obstacles to an attack merely by mining or escalading."* The result of a reconnoissance was a report to the Com- mander-in-Chief that, if he decided on an immediate attack upon Ghuznee, the only feasible mode of proceedings and the only one which held out a prospect of success, was. to make a dash at the Cabul gateway, all the others having been built up, and blow the gate open by bags of powder. Sir John Keane resolved to adopt this method^ and directed the ordnance department to make the- necessary preparations. The requisite orders for the storming of Ghuznee were circulated among the commanding officers on the evening of the 22nd of July, and so much of them com- municated to the troops as was necessary to enable them to perform what was required. The various parts of the- British force destined to take part in the attack were in position before daylight. The night was stormy, and * Memoranda of the Engineers' Operations before Ghuznee in July, 1839. 498 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. loud gusts of wind tended to deprive the besieged of the opportunity of becoming acquainted with the move- ments of their assailants by the noise with which they were inevitably attended. Within the fort a dead calm prevailed. Not a shot was fired, and some suspicion was entertained that the place had been evacuated. When all were in position, the attention of the enemy was partially diverted by a false attack. The British batteries opened, and were answered from the fortress. In the meantime the explosion-jDarty were preparing themselves for the assault. It consisted of Captain Peat, of the Bombay Engineers ; Lieutenants Durrand and McLeod, Bengal Engineers ; three ser- geants and eighteen men of the Sappers. The charge ordinarily recommended to be employed for blowing open gates is from sixty to one hundred and twenty pounds of powder; but, as it was apprehended that the enemy might have taken alarm at the approach of the British army to that side of the place on which the Cabul gate was situated, and might thereupon have strengthened it, the charge was increased to three hundred pounds. The movements of the explosion-party were ob- served from the ramparts, but the enemy did not penetrate their precise object. Blue lights were thrown ujj to afford them a better opportunity of ascertaining what was in progress ; but, being burned from the top of the parapet, instead of being thrown into the j)assage below, they offered little assistance to those who employed them. Had they been thrown over, it would, in the opinion of Captain Peat, have been im- possible to place the powder. As it was, the besieged were content with firing from loopholes upon the explosion-party, and those by whom they were pro- tected random operations, which produced little effect. The powder having been placed, the hose laid, and the train fired, the gate was instantly blown away, together ^th a consideiuble part of the roof of the square OUR AXGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 499' building in which it was placed. Captain Peat was struck down and stunned ; but, recovering almost im- mediately, he had the gratification of finding that the operation of which he had been the acting conductor had entirely succeeded. The British batteries now poured their fire into the works, and the bugle sounded for the assaulting column to push on. It was commanded by Brigadier Sale, and consisted of her Majesty's 2nd, Major Car- ruthers ; iSth, Major Fraser ; 17th, Lieutenant-Colonel Croker; and the Bengal European regiment, Lieutenant- Colonel Orchard. The advance, under Lieutenant-Colonel Dennie, entered the gateway, followed by the remainder of the column, when a series of desperate struggles took place within the gateway. " The most trying and critical part of the affa^ir," says Colonel Dennie, in a private letter, " was when I found myself in the dai-k vault of the gateway. The blue lights the enemy had thrown down became, by the time we had ascended the mound or camp extinguished, and we were involved in total darkness. As friend could not be distinguished from foe, and firing, whilst mixed up with these rufiians, would have been destruction to us, I forbade it with all my energies ; and nothing was done but by the feel. The clashing of the sabre and musket, and sensible sounds of the blows and stubs the cries and groans of those suffering and trampled upon, to one in cold blood would have been very horrid. But sense, with me, was occu- pied in trying to find the gate. Neither to the front, nor to the left, nor even long to the right, could I perceive one ray of light ; but, at last, groping and feeling the wall, I discovered to the right hand, high up, a gleam of sky and stars, and found a dense mass of Affghans still closed up the outlet, and obscured the sight so desired. Then it was that I ordered a volley from the leading section, and the effect was complete. Down fell the obstacles before us ; and a crushing fire kept up incessantly, by ordering ' loaded men to the front,' 500 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. as fast as tlie leading sections gave their volley, brought up, fired, while those in turn were covered and reloaded. We had no time to practise street-firing ; but instinct or impulse supplied its place. When fairly inside, I in- creased ray front, got all into their places that were on their legs, gave the three cheers ordered (as the signal of our having won the gate), and pushed on at the charge into the body of the place ; driving before us a mighty crowd, who showed us the road by the way they took." The entry of the main column was retarded in con- sequence of misinformation as to the success of the advance ; but the mistake was soon rectified, and the onward march of the column was resumed. The fighting was long and desperate, and several ofiicers were wounded, amongst whom was Brigadier Sale. " One of the enemy," says Captain Havelock, in his Narrative of the war, "rushing over the fallen timbers, brought down Brigadier Sale by a cut on the face with his sharp shum-sheer (Asiatic sabre). The Aff'ghan repeated his blow as his opponent was falling, but the pummel, not the edge of his sword, this time took effect, though with stunning violence. He lost his footing, however, in the effort, and Briton and Affghan rolled together among the fractured timbers. Thus situated, the first care of the Brigadier was to master the weapon of his adversary. He snatched at it, but one of his fingers met the trenchant blade." He quickly withdrew his wounded hand, and adroitly replaced it on that of his adversary, so as to keep fast the hilt of his shum-sheer. But he had an active and powerful opponent, and was himself faint from loss of blood. Captain Kershaw, of the 13th, aide- de-camp to Brigadier Baumgardt, happened, in the melee, to approach the scene of conflict ; the wounded leader recognised and called to him for aid. Kershaw passed his drawn sabre through the body of the Aff'ghan ; but still the desperado continued to struggle with frantic violence. At length, in the fierce grapple, the Brigadier for a moment got uppermost ; and, still retaining the* OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 501 weapon of his enemy in his left hand, he dealt him with his right a cut from his own sabre, which cleft his skull from the crown to the eyebrows. The Mahomedan once shouted ' Ue Ullah !' (O God !) and never si)oke or moved again." As soon as the storm ing-party had well entered the centre square^ the enemy made a general rush, some for the citadel, some for the houses, from which those who gained possession of them kept up an annoying fire on the British force below. Her Majesty's 13th and 17th regiments then moved to the attack of the citadel, which was the residence of the governor. There the female members of the principal families had been collected ; and there, too, was the magazine and granary. A strong resistance was expected ; but none was offered. The 17th, on arriving at the gates, forced its way in, followed close by the 13th ; and, while those below were watching for the effects of the heavy fire which it was an- ticipated would be poured on the assailants, the feeling of anxiety was suddenly exchanged for that of gratified astonishment, by the display of the coloui-s of the two regiments on the top of the upper fort. The garrison, in fact, had abandoned their guns, and fled in all directions : casting themselves down, in some instances, from immense heights, in the hope of effecting their escape ; but the firing from the houses was kept up for some time after the capture of the citadel. Some fanatical Affghans, who had succeeded in picking off men from the parties employed in clearing the streets, ob- stinately refused quarter ; and, when escape was im- possible, voluntarily nished on death, consoled by re- flecting that they died fighting the battle of the faith, with the well-aimed shots which had sent so many infidels to their eternal home still ringing in their ears. The reserve, under Sir Willoughby Cotton, which had entered immediately after the storm ing-party, succeeded in clearing many of the houses which had afforded shelter to combatants of this description. 502 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Hycler Khan, the governor, one of Dost Mahommed's sons, surrendered in the course of the morning, and was placed under the care of Sir Alexander Burnes. Meer Khan, the eldest, commonly known as " the lighting son" of Dost Mahommed, had come close upon our camp early in the morning, with 5,000 cavalry. He heard the firing, and only waited for daylight to discover how^ matters stood in the fortress. The dawn showed him the British flag on the ramparts ; and he forthwith fled towards Cabul, leaving all his elephants and baggage behind him. The loss of the British in the capture of this renowned fortress was only seventeen killed and 170 wounded ; about 1,000 AfFghans were slain, and ujiwards of 3,000 wounded and prisoners. Dost Mahommed was in hopes that the siege of Ghuznee would have occupied the invaders a consider- able time; but, on receiving intelligence of what had taken place, he endeavoured, through one of his brothers, to open a negotiation. Being informed that the only terms which could be accepted were resignation of the crown, and residence within the Company's territories, he refused compliance ; but, being deserted by his best troops, he did not attempt to defend even the strong- passes leading to Cabul, but retreated by Bameean over the mountains into Turkestaun. On the 30th of July, 1839, the Indian Army began to move towards Cabul ; and, on the 7th of August, the Shah, under its protection, made his public entry into his caj^ital. After a very cool reception from his subjects, he proceeded to exercise one of the functions of royalty in European fashion, by instituting an order of knighthood, framed on the model of the British Order of the Bath. This new institute of chivalry was called the Dooranee Order, to which the officers of the '' Army of the Indus'' were liberally admitted, as well as a few distinguished civil functionaries ; the latter being selected by Mr. Macnaghten, Envoy and Minister, and the former by Sir John Keane. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AEMY. 503 But though the usurper, Dost Mahommed, had dis- appeared, and everything was apparently settled to the entire satisfaction of Shah Sujah, it very soon became- manifest that he was very unpopular in AfFghanistan> and that nothing but British bayonets kept him on the- throne he had just ascended. . The hostility of the people to their new sovereign was also evinced towards hia sup- porters ; and while all was triumph and rejoicing in.- Cabul, British officers and soldiers were frequently not only insulted, but murdered by the Affghans outside their cantonments. Notwithstanding this general prevalence of hostile feelings, it was deemed safe to withdraw from AfFghanis- tan the larger part of the force which had seated Shah Sujah on its throne. A part of the Bengal force was to- remain under the command of General Nott and Colonel Sale ; the remainder, with the Commander-in-Chief, were to march homeward, and the whole of the Bombay column were to take the same course. The latter quitted Cabul on the 18th of September; the Bengal troops remained for nearly a month longer ; but, by the 20th of October, all the forces returning for the present to India, had left Shah Sujah's capital. The cold was severe irt the mountain passes, thick ice was found upon the roads, the bodies of dead camels and horses lay frozen all around, and the difficulties encountered by our retiring columns, from the loss of camels and similar disasters, were scarcely inferior to those which had attended their advance. The march of the Bombay column was dis- tinguished by an important achievement undertaken to avenge a series of injuries committed several months, before. Mehrab Khan, the ruler of Kelat, a Beloochee state which lay on the left flank of the British in their ad- vance, though professing friendly feelings, had employed all the means and influence at his disposal in impeding^ their progress, even actively directing against them his predatory bands, to harass their flanks and rear. It was 504 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. judged necessary to chastise this conduct ; and in Novem- ber, 1839, General Willshire marched against his capital, before which he arrived on the 12th, and found it de- fended by three heights, each covered with infantry, and guarded by a parapet wall. As nothing decisive could be effected till these troops were driven from that position, General Willshire immediately determined on storming them. Three columns of attack were accordingly formed, commanded respectively by Major Carruthers, of her Ma- jesty's 2nd ; Lieutenant-Colonel Croker, of her Majesty's 17th ; and Major Wilson, of the 31st Bengal Light In- fantry ; the whole under the command of Brigadier Baumgardt. A hill was allotted to each column ; and the artillery, under Brigadier Stevenson, having opened fire on the enemy, the troops moved forward under its cover, and commenced ascending ; but, before they reached the summits, the enemy had yielded to the fire of the artillery, and fled. Hopes were now entertained of reaching a gate in the fortress before it was closed on the fugitives, and a rush was made for the purpose, but our gallant fellows were too late. By some well-directed discharges of heavy shot, however, one of the gates was nearly demolished, when four companies of her Majesty's 17th, under Major Pennycuick, who were in advance, instantly rushed in ; they were closely followed by the storming columns, the whole entering under a heavy fire from the works and the interior, the enemy making a most ob- stinate resistance, and disputing every inch of ground. A company of her Majesty's 17th regiment was now detached, with a body of native infantry, to secure the heights near which the southern angle of the fortress is situated, and intercept the escape of the garrison from that side. These heights were rapidly carried, and the united detachment then rushed on to the gate of the citadel, driving before them a party of the enemy, who succeeded in closing the gate, but had not time to secure it ; it was, therefore, speedily burst open, and a second OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 505 entrance thus effected. But this did not terminate the conflict ; for the enemy continued to fight with desperate valour, and vast numbers were destroyed. Among the slain was Mehrab Khan, whose death was far more creditable than his life had been ; for, after a long career of robbery, he died, bravely defending his birthright.. About four hundred of the garrison were killed, and on our side thirty-two officers and men were killed, and one hundred and seven wounded. This closed the events of the first Affghan campaign, which had been eminently successful in all its operations. A general order, dated January 2nd, 1840, announced the breaking up of the " Army of the Indus ;" and numerous honours were bestowed on the principal persons connected with the expedition. Lord Auckland was created an Earl, Sir John Keane was advanced to the peerage, Mr. Macnaghten and Colonel Henry Pottinger were created baronets, Colonel Wade obtained the honour of knight- hood ; Sir Willoughby Cotton received the Grand Cros of the Bath ; General Willshire, Colonel Thackwell, and Colonel Sale were made Knights Commanders, and Colonels J. Scott, Persse, Croker, and R. Macdonald, Companions of that Order ; while, by an extensive grant of brevet rank, the merits of several other officers were recosnised. ^ 506 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER XXIX. Unpopularity of Shah Soph Resistance oF Mount^iin Chiefs Commencement ofa War of Posts Insurrection or the G'liljie Tribe suppressed Dost Ma- hommed defeated by Colonel Dennie Shimetul Conduct of the 2nd Bengal Cavalry T I leir Punishment Battle of Purwan Defeat and Surrender of Dost Mahommed De-^truction of Lieutenant Clark's Detachment Major Clibborn's ill-fateH Exi)efUtion His T'oops storm the Pass of Mufoosk Their dreadful Sufllerings tor want of Water Disastrous Retreat, with Loss of 'Stores, Artillery, and Baggasje- Conference witu Beloochees Successful Optritioiis elsewhere- of British Troops Threatenin"; Aspect of Affairs at Cahul Cau'^e of the Hostility of the Ghiljies Sir R )bert Sale clears he Khoord Cabul P s-i. and f .rces his way to Gundamuk Arrival of Sir Robert Sales Force at Jellalabad He is ordered to Cabul His Reasons for not going thither. After the constitution of the " Army of the Indus" was thus formally dissolved, the interior of A.fFghanistan remained for a while in a state of precarious tranquillity ; but troops have seldom been left in a more uncertain or more hazardous predicament than those who were left to secure Shah Sujah on his throne. In the month of January, 1840, there was a fall of snow nearly five feet deep, from which the pour Sepoys suffered cruelly ; and even the British soldiers, who were but indifferently pro- vided with clothes and blankets, shivered on those moun- tains and table lands. Though all regular resistance had ceased, there were dear symptoms of the unpopularity of the new Govern- ment, and especially of its foreign supporters. The con- duct of the Shah, too, as well as of his sons, is represented as neither prudent nor conciliatory. Officers aad men found straggling were murdered ; several of the mountain chiefs openly resisted, and not only refused to pay any taxes or tribute to Shah Sujah, but also refused to sell provisions to our Commissariat. As the ice and snow jnelted, and left the roads and mountain-paths passable. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. a fierce war of posts commenced. The most serious of these affairs was at Peshoot, where Colonel Orchard's attempt to blow up the gate, as at Ghuznee, failed through tlie bad quality of the powder ; and he was finally beaten off, with the loss of sixty-nine killed and wounded. The fort, however, with the adjacent one of Khatke, was then evacuated. In May a general insurrectionary movement took place among the Ghiljies, a tribe occupying the high mountain territory between Candahar and Cabul ; who, accustomed to a wild independence, could not brook the stricter rule under which they were now held. Captain Anderson, of the Bengal Artillery, marching against them with twelve hundred men, was attacked by more than double that number, who fought with such bravery as to render the contest for some time doubtful. They were, however, repulsed with great loss. Colonel Wallace, commanding another expedition despatched from Cabul, was equally successful ; and the two corps having joined, several strongholds of the troublesome chiefs were blown up, which led to the present submission of the revolted tribe. This warfare alone would have worn out our army ; but, as the summer advanced, it assumed a bolder character. Dost Mahommed, after a narrow escape from being betrayed and murdered by the Khan of Bokhara, received assistance in his extremity from the Khan of Kokan, on the Persian border ; and, in company with Afzul Khan, one of his sons, he proceeded to Affghanis- tan, to excite the country to a holy War for the expulsion of the unbelieving English. As the expelled ruler marched upon Cabul, he was met in the valley of Bamian by Colonel Dennie, with a very inferior force. But, though the Dost's army was estimated at six thousand men, and the British troops consisted of only two hundred of the 35th Bengal Native Infantry, two hundred and fifty of the Shah's infantry, three hundred native cavalry, and a detail of artillery, with two field-pieces, the gallant Dennie promptly decided on an immediate )K 508 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. attack ; and his confidence was justified by the event. The enemy, who at first made a somewhat vigorous stand, were panic-stricken at the steady advance of the British ; and, after a few volleys, fled in confusion to the gorge of the pass, through which they were followed by our cavalry, cutting down many of the fugitives, and scattering the rest in all directions. After this reverse, Dost Mahommed sought for assist- ance in other quarters ; but. being finally left to his own? resources, he still hoped to effect something by advancing into Kohistan. He was preceded by his son with a con- siderable force, and he himself arrived about the middle of October. To oppose his progress, General Sir Robert Sale hastened to Purwan-Durrah, where he made arrange- ments to attack the enemy, and sent forward the 2nd Bengal Native Cavalry to skirt the eminence on which they were posted, with the view of cutting off their retreat. When they had advanced about a mile, Dost Mahommed rushed down upon them with two hundred horse. They were immediately wheeled into line, and led on to charge by Captains Fraser and Ponsonby, whO' commanded the two squadrons. These officers dashed forward in perfect confidence that their men were behind them ; but the latter, seized with a sadden panic, first faltered, and then gave way at all points. Ponsonby and Eraser, finding themselves in the midst of the enemy unsupported by their troopers, exerted themselves sa gallantly that they succeeded in cutting their way out, being both severely wounded, and then had the mortifi- cation of seeing their men flying before the enemy. In. this unhappy affair Lieutenant Crispin, the Adjutant, was killed, vainly attempting to bring the men to action.. Dr. Lord, distinguished as a man of science as well as a diplomatist, was also killed in this affair, as was Lieutenant Broadfoot, an Engineer officer who had accompanied the- advance. This dastardly proceeding on the part of a corps which had previously borne a distinguished character, warranted OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 509 the irjBiction of the heaviest punishment. The wretched troopers were not subjected to any corporeal sufferings, but the regiment whose name ihey had made a by word of reproach was struck out of the list of the Bengal army. The native officers and privates present on the day of disgrace were dismissed the service, and rendered in- capable of ever re-entering, or being employed in any way under Government : the remainder were draughted into other cavalry regiments. The dismissal of the degraded officers and men was carried into effect, with all the marks of ignominy usual on such occasions. But, though marked by this scandalous instance of 'defection, the battle of Pur wan was not only honourable to the British arms, but important in its consequences. Sir Bobert Sale, having pushed forward his infantry, successively dislodged the enemy from all their strong positions, and drove them to a distance, though unable to keep up a long pursuit. The victory, however, was so complete that Dost Mahommed galloped from the field of battle, and surrendered himself to the power with which he had no longer the means of contending. He was sent off for India, under a strong escort, on the 12th of November, accompanied by his numerous family, consist- ing of nearly 700 persons, of whom about one-half were females. He was allowed to visit Calcutta, where the Oovernor-General received him with much respect and courtesy. Three lacs of rupees, or about <30,000 a-year, were allotted to him ; and he took up his residence at Mussooree, on our north-west frontier, where he remained till 1843. Fourteen of Dost Mahommed's sons also sur- rendered, Akbar Khan alone holding out against us to the end. In another quarter the British arms met with a fearful misfortune, to which we must now revert. Lieutenant Walpole Clark, a young officer of distinguished zeal and bravery, left the fort of Kahun, which had been occupied by the English, for the purpose of procuring supplies, having with him a small party of infantry, a few horse, >^ 510 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. and about five himdred camels. While halting for rest and refreshment in the Nufoosk Pass, he was attacked by the Beloochees in vast numbers, and his party, almost to a man, cut off ; the gallant officer himself maintaining to the last the character which he had previously esta- blished, and sharing the fate that overwhelmed those whom he led. The destruction of this party having rendered it neces- sary that some means should be found to meet the approaching deficiency of supplies which was to be apiDrehended at Kahun, Major Clibborn was despatched for this purpose on the 12th of August, with a convoy from Sukkur. His force consisted of about five hundred rank and file, including thirty-four artillerymen, three guns, two hundred irregular horse, and twenty pioneers. On the 29th they encamped at the mouth of the Nufoosk Pass, which had been so fatal to Lieutenant Clark and his party ; and in the morning they commenced the ascent^ which was rendered oppressively laborious from being performed under the heat of a burning sun. A halt of a few hours then took place to rest the cattle ; but the men obtained little or no repose, being under arms the greater part of the night, a precaution rendered necessary by the enemy continuing to fire into the camp. On the following day the march was resumed over a road presenting, in an almost constant recurrence of ruts and ravines, a series of obstacles to the passage of the guns, which required unceasing exertion on the part of the Sepoys to surmount. A march of six miles brought the force to ground convenient for encamping ; but the guides reported that there was no water, and there was, apparently, no choice but to suffer both men and cattle to perish from thirst, or to carry the Pass of Nufoosk, which was environed by hordes of the enemy. The latter was resolved on, and preparations were made for storming the pass. The movement to attack commenced at two o'clock in the afternoon, when the flank companies of the 1st and OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 511 2nd Grenadiers, led by Captain Raitt, of the former regiment, moved forward to storm the height, supported by the remaining companies of the 1st regiment, and by fifty volunteers of the Poonah Horse, under Lieutenant Loch. The road up the face of the mountain, at all times difficult, had been rendered still more so by the enemy. In some places it had been altogether destroyed, in others it admitted of the advance of only one man at a time, while at other parts breastworks had been raised across, surmounted with thorn bushes. The enemy from above kept up a heavy fire, which told fearfully ; but, not- withstanding, a ridge at the head of the pass was gained. At this moment a dense mass of men rose on the crest of the mountain, and almost overwhelmed the stormers with discharges of musketry and showers of stones. Major Clibborn now deemed it necessary to recall the advance companies to the support of the guns and colours, when a large body of several hundred of the enemy rushed down the mountain, " yelling and howling," as they are described in a private account, like " beasts of the forest." A tem- porary confusion ensued in the British ranks, but it was soon overcome. The "troops performed their duty with their wonted steadiness and alacrity, and the enemy were repulsed with great slaughter. The loss on the part of the British was severe ; several officers fell, and among them Captain Raitt, the leader of the storming-party. A scene followed more terrible than the conflict which preceded it. The heat was intense, and the labours which the troops had undergone sufficient to subdue the physical powers of the strongest among them. The thirst produced by the combined influence of heat and fatigue, in some instances increased by loss of blood, was overpowering but no water was to be had. The cries of the wounded and the dying for relief, which water, and that alone, could afford, were aggravated into shrieks of despa;ir and frenzy. A guide reported that water was procurable at a nullah* a short distance off", and all the animals that * A water-course. 512 OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. could be mustered for the duty were despatched to bring n supply of tlie greedily-desired luxury, escorted by a party of irregular horse. But the hope which, for a time, supported the spirits of the sufferers, proved fal- lacious : not only did the information of the guides prove false, but the guides themselves turned out to be treach- erous. They conducted the water-party to a place v/here they were surrounded by the Beloochees, and killed, with the exception of a few, who cut their way through, and bore to their perishing companions the fearful intelligence of the failure of their mission, and the destruction of the greater part of those who had proceeded on it. What now was to be done? The enemy had been beaten back with severe loss, but the pass was yet in their possession ; aiid the heaps of the dead which they had left on the field scarcely affected their strength, though the repulse they had received might have damped their spirit. They yet numbered several thousands ; and for a few hundred fainting men to fight their way through such a force, over ground almost impassable when without a foe, was obviously hopeless. Moreover, could success have been hoped for, neither the stores nor the guns could have been carried forward, for the artillery hoi'ses had been sent for water and had never returned, while the camel-drivers and dooly-bearers, with an Oriental instinct of disaster, had fled, plundering the commissaries of all they could carry away. There was nothing left, therefore, but to relinquish the hope of throwing supplies into Kahun, and to fall back. But even this step, the only one practicable, involved a vast sacrifice. The safe return of the men was all that the most sanguine could hope for : guns, stores, camp- oquipage, all were to be abandon* d, for the means of transporting them did not exist, even had no enemy been watching the movements of the devoted party. The guns were spiked, and the melancholy march in retrogression commenced. " We moved ofi*, ' says Major Clibborn, " with as much quietness as the frantic state of the men OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 513 would permit" a line pregnant with fearful meaning. At the Pciss of Surtuf the retreating force was attacked, and the small remnant of baggage which circumstances had allowed to be removed fell into the hands of the enemy, who here also slaughtered many of the camp- followers. Pursuing their way without food to sustain their failing strength, or water to quench their burning thirst, or tents to afford shelter from the scorching sun, the force was unable to halt till it reached the town of Poolajee, whence it had not long before departed. In the brief period that intervened it had lost a hundred and seventy- nine men killed, ninety-two wounded, ,to- gether with all its artillery, ammunition, stores, and beasts of burden. ^'Excepting its arms and colours," says the official aeeount, "the detachment is completely disorganised." Yictorious over those who had opposed its progress, it arrived a^t Poolajee with all the disastrous indications of defeat. " We beat the enemy," wrote one of the sufferers^ " but heat and thirijt killed us." Of the coihduiet of Major Clibbom it is irapeesible to speak too highly. He yielded indteed to di^culties, but they were difficulties which no degree of energy or skill could, lan-der the eircumstanees in which he was placed, have sur- mounted.* As a sequel to this disastrous expedition, the retreat of Captain Brown, oOith Bengal Native Infantiy, the gallant defender of Kahun, must not be passed over. It was effected by arrangements with the Beloochees, who took a solemn oath on the Koran, that if Captain Brown would leave the fort in three days, they would protect him from all opposition down to the plains. The agree- ment was ratified by Captain Brown, not without suspicion of treachery ; a similar suspicion seemed also to be enter- tained by bodah, the Beloochee chief, at their interview. " Wishing at once," says Captain Brown, " to see whether it was to be * treachery or no treachery,' I, with Erskine and four native officers, met him about a mile from the * Thornton. " History of British India." 5U OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. fort. I never saw a man in such a fright in my life ; although he had thirty horsemen armed to the teeth, and there were only six of us, he retreated twice -before he would venture near us. He thought from our coming alone there must be treachery, that some men were hidden somewhere : even after we had met, he had his horse all ready close by for a start. Down we all sat in a circle a wild scene. His followers appeared to be exceedingly well armed, and all fine stout-built men. After compli- meints, &c., the nephew began to talk very reasonably. He expressed a hope that there would now be a lasting peace between his tribe and the British ; that they had only fought at the Nufoosk Pass to save their country and their lives ; that it was the least they could do when OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 515 they had the fate of Bejah Khan staring them in the face ; that they had never killed any of our people after the fight, and that all the prisoners had been clothed, fed, and set free. He concluded by saying, that ^he should remain near the fort till we left, to prevent any dis- turbance between his people and mine, and that he would furnish me with trust worthj^ guides down.' There was not the slightest appearance of treachery ! Thus ended this most interesting conference. It will not, I think, be easily forgotten by either Erskine or myself; so much depended on it the good of ourselves and the whole of the detachment. We found these Beloochees the most civil and polite of men. The confidence we placed in their word, by meeting them in the way we did, seemed to j)lease them much ; and from our having been deadly enemies for five long months, we became in one hour the best of Mends. No doubt their joy was just as great in getting rid of us as ours was in gaining our freedom." It is gratifying to add, that the Beloochees kept their faith, and that Captain Brown arrived with his detachment at Poolajee on the 1st of October. The month of November, 1840, opened auspiciously for the British arms : on the 3rd of that month General Nott re-occupied Kelat, which had been taken from us partly by treachery, and was now abandoned by its garrison ; and on the same day Major Boscawen defeated the army of Nazir Khan, son of the ex-Chief of Kelat. On the 1st of December Nazir Khan was again defeated by a force under Lieutenant-Colonel Marshall, consisting of about nine hundred Bombay Native Infantry of the 2nd C4renadiers, the 21st and 25th regiments, sixty irregular horse, and two guns ; on which occasion five hundred of the troops of Nazir Khan yielded up their lives in the cause of their fugitive master, who had fled on the first attack, and in the number of the slain were four powerful chiefs. The conduct of those by whom this gallant action was won was fitly characterised by their commander, in a field-order issued on the day after the engagement ; 516 OUK AKGLO-INDIAN AEMY. " The Lieutenant-Colonel now concludes with saying that he never wishes to lead braver men into the field, for braver men could not be found." The opening of the year 1841 commenced less aus- piciously. The Kojuks, a rude tribe, having refused to pay tribute to Shah Sujah, a force under Lieutenant- Colonel Wilson, of the 3v^ Bombay Cavalry, was des- patched against them in February ; but, for want of adequate siege materiel, the attack on Sebee, the chief place in the Kojuk country, failed. Colonel Wilson was mortally wounded on the occasion ; and Lieutenant Fal- coner, of the 2nd Grenadiers, and Lieutenant Creed, of the Artillery, killed. It was soon after deemed necessary to coerce a tribe in the Nazeem valley, who had refused obedience to Shah Sujah, and a considerable force was despatched thither under Brigadier Shelton. It was composed of her Majesty's 44th regiment, the 27th Bengal Native Infantry, a troop of Horse Ai-tillery, -a detachment of Sappers and Miners, and a considerable body of the Shah's force of various descriptions. The valley was studded with eighty-four small forts, which were attacked and carried in succession, but with the loss of two valuable officers Captain Douglas, Assistant Adjutant-General, a volunteer, and Lieutenant Pigou, of the Engineers, who was blo'svn away by the premature explosion of a bag of powder applied to the gate of one of the forts. But the difficulty of maintaining Shah Sujah on his throne required the incessant efforts of our troops, and kept them in a constant state of field-service. Early in May a fort near Khelat-i-Ghiljie became an object of contention, and was taken by the English after some resistance, the gate being blown open with bags of powder. On the 29 th of the same month a detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Wymar, marching from Candahar, was attacked by a body of five thousand Ghiljies, whom he defeated, but could not pursue, owing to the paucity of his troops, and the magnitude of the convoy under his OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 517 charge. On the 2nd of July a large body of Ghiljies, amounting to six thousand, was defeated by Captain Woodbum, commanding a field detachment on the Hel- mund. Success followed the British arms in various engagements of smaller or greater importance with the same enemy. In the beginning of August a body of Ghiljies was routed by some regular and ii^regular cavalry, commanded respectively by Lieutenant Bazett and Captain Walker ; and later in the same month Captain John Griffin, commanding a field detachment in Zemindawur, attacked and dispersed a body of about five thousand, near Khishwura. By these energetic measures all opposition seemed at length to be completely put down; and at the close of September, 1841, the country generally exhibited greater appearance of tranquillity than it had manifested at any former time since the entry of Shah Sujah under the auspices of his British allies. But the calm was a deceitful one, and the first indi- cation of the coming storm was given at the beginning of the month of October, when three Ghiljie chiefs of note quitted Cabul, after plundering a rich caravan, and took up a strong position in the defile of Khoord Cabul, only ten miles from the capital ; while at the same time in- telligence was received that Akbar Khan, the ablest and fiercest of Dost Mahommed's sons, was collecting troops in various parts of the country, and fanatical Moollahs were proclaiming a religious war against the British. The hostility of the Ghiljie chiefs is mainly attributed to the following circumstance : On the restoration of Shah Sujah to the throne, an agreement was entered into with them that they should receive an annual allowance from the Cabul treasury, on condition of keeping the Khoord Cabul Pass open, and offering no molestation to our troops on their passage between Cabul and Jellalabad. Though little dependence might perhaps be placed on the faith of the Ghiljies, yet this bargain was first broken by us, or our ally. Shah Sujah ; and to this circumstance 518 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. niay, in a great measure, be ascribed the disasters which followed. To prevent our communications from being interrupted. Sir Eobert Sale, who was about marching a force to J el- lalabad preparatory to its return to India, was sent forward with her Majesty's 13th and the 35th regiments of Bengal Native Infantry, to clear the pass of Khoord Cabul. He found the enemy stationed behind a breast- work, which they quitted on the approach of the assailants, but kept up a well-directed fire from the rocky heights on each side. In an early stage of the action Sir Robert Sale was wounded and compelled to quit the field ; but the troops under Colonel Dennie, on whom the command devolved, drove the enemy from all the cliffs except the very highest; whitlier, as the object was only to clear the pass, it was thought needless to follow them. Later in the month of October, Sir Robert Sale having been reinforced, marched in the direction of Tazeen, whither the Affghans had retreated; and though they occupied the surrounding heights, they were driven from all in succession whence they could cause any annoyance. The chiefs then sent proposals of negotiation, making friendly professions, and promising no longer to annoy the march of the column ; but their sincerity was rendered more than doubtful by the continued molestation which the troops experienced. After passing Jugduluk on the 29th of October, they entered a long winding gorge, overhung by terrific eminences, every one of which was held by men showing the most obstinate determination to dispute their progress. An advance could only be effected by the arduous operation of scaling the heights, while a heavy fire was still maintained from above. A single company, however, having dashed through the defile, found its main outlet unguarded. The whole then passed, but their rear-guard continued to be harassed till their arrival at Gundamuk. The labours encountered by the detachment, and the spirit in which they were sustained during this long and OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 519 arduous inarch, will be best illustrated by quoting the language of its distinguished commander, who thus speaks of his men : " Since leaving Cabul, they have been kept constantly on the alert by attacks by night and day : from the time of their arrival at Tazeen they have invariably bivouacked, and the safety of our positions has only been secured by unremitting labour, throwing up intrenchments, and very severe outpost duty ; whilst each succeeding morning has brought its affair with a bold and active enemy, eminently skilful in the species of warfare to which their attempts have been confined, and armed with juzails,* which have enabled them to annoy us at a range at which they could only be reached by our artillery. Though compelled by the effects of my late wound to witness these conflicts from a dooly, I must bear my unequivocal testimony to the gallantry of officers and men on every occasion of contact with the enemy, and especially in scaling the tremendous heights above Jugduluk."f At Gundamuk the difficulties of Sir Robert Sale began to thicken; for the armed natives, whom he terms Ooloose, crowded round him in increasing numbers, while many of them in his own service showed symptoms of disaffection, or went over to the enemy. In these circumstances, and hearing that Jellalabad was menaced by the enemy from the direction of Lughman, he resolved to push on and secure the possession of that important place. He accord- ingly broke up from the cantonment of Gundamuk on the 1 1 th of November, when the Affghans rushed in and blew up the magazine in such haste that many of themselves were killed. During that day our troops were harassed only by predatory attacks ; but on the 1 2th a body of two or three thousand pressed behind, and were j oined by the whole population of the country. Colonel Dennie, who commanded the rear-guard, for some time considered * The long rifles of the Affghans. Tfiis march had doubtless a fatal influence, as it showed the natives the mode of warfare by which they could inflict on u-s the most extensive injury. t Letter Irom Sir Robert Sale to Caotain Grant, 30th of October, 184 520 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. it sufficient to beat them off ; but, on coming to a level tract, he contrived to allnre them on, then suddenly attacked, and put them to flight with great slaughter, by a brilliant charge of cavalry headed by Captain Oldfield and Lieutenant Mayne. After this the army, with little molestation, reached Jellalabad on the 12th of November. This place was found invested on every side by hordes of enemies : its defences were weak, but Sir Hobert Sale proceeded with characteristic vigour to improve them. In the meantime, the enemy were active. They burned down a cantonment raised by the English at great expense in the preceding year ; and, under cover of trees and old buildings, kept up a fire of musketry against the walls at a short range, by which some loss was suffered. To get rid of this continued source of annoyance, a sortie was made on the 14th of November by a party under lieu- tenant-Colonel Monteith. The attempt was entirely suc- cessful, and a body of at least five thousand men were utterly dispersed by a force consisting of three hundred men of her Majesty's 13th, three hundred of the 35th Bengal Native Infantry, a hundred Sappers and Miners, two hundred of the Kyber corps, a squadron of the 5th Light Cavalry, a few irregular horse, and three guns. The divisions on the other sides of the city being then attacked, were also dispersed, and in a short time there was scarcely an armed Afighan to be seen in the vicinity of Jellalabad. Advantage was taken of the interval to repair and strengthen the defences, so as to render them secure against any Asiatic force, unaided by siege artillery; also to collect grain from the adjacent villages ; while, to guard both against famine and internal insurrection, it was judged necessary to remove all the inhabitants except the shopkeepers. Before reaching Jellalabad, Sir Robert Sale had learned that all was not well at Cabul ; and while j^reparing for the defence of the former place, he received a summons to march the troops under his command immediately to the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. o21 capital. This he declined to attempt, representing to head-quarters that the whole of his camp-equipage had been destroyed ; that the wounded and sick had increased to upwards of three hundred ; that there was no longer a single depot of provisions on the route, and that the carriage of the force was not sufficient to bring on one day's rations with it. " I have, at the same time," said the gallant veteran, " positive information that the whole country is in arms, and ready to oppose us in the defiles between this city and Cabul, while my ammunition is insufficient for more than two such contests as I should assuredly havg to sustain for six days at least. With my present means I could not force the passes of either Jug- duluk or Khoord Cabul ; and even if the debris of my brigade did reach Cabul, I am given to understand that I should find the troops now garrisoning it without the means of subsistence. Under these circumstances, a re- gard for the honour and interest of our Government compels me to adhere to my plan, already formed, of putting this place into a state of defence, and holding it, if possible, until the Cabul force falls back upon me, or succours arrive from Peshawur or India."* * Letter from Sir Robert Sale to Captain Paton, 15th of November, l?*!. 522 OUR AXGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER XXX. Shah Sujah's Popularity proves a Delusion AfFj^han Hatred of the English- Blind Confidence of the Civil Functionaries Carelessness of the Military- Amount of British Force at Cabul Its scattered Positions Insurrection at Cabul Murder of Sir Alexander Burnes and other Officers Supineness of the Military and Civil Authorities Increasing Strength of the^Tnsurreetion- Noc- turnal Adventure The Commissariat Fort abandoned Dilatory Proceedings of the British A Change in the Command Storming of the Rika Bashee Fort Destruction of Major Pottinger's Detachment Arrival of Akbar Khan Failure of an Attack on Beymaroo Negotiations with Akbar Khan Inter- view of Sir William Macnaghten with the Affghan Chiefs Assassination of Sir William, and Captain Trevor Disgraceful Treaty with the Affghans for leave to depart. We have hitherto seen the operations of our Indian Army in Affghanistan^ with one or two exceptions, emi- nently successful j and our superiority, not only in science and tactics, but in physical power and courage, trium- phantly established on every occasion, over a people who were unquestionably the best and most daring soldiers we had yet encountered in the East. But we are now about to reverse the medal, and to exhibit a period of unparalleled military disaster, accompanied, we deeply regret to say, by many instances of such military weakness as make us almost doubt that the men who failed at Cabul were the conquerors of Affghanistan, and the victors in many an exploit of field and fortress. We must, however, in com- mon justice, admit that this failure is not so much to be attributed to a want of courage in the soldiers, as to the overweening confidence of the civil authorities, which betrayed them into insuperable difficulties, and the fatal indecision and actual imbecility of their own commander, which paralysed their energies at a moment when they had nothing else to depend upon. The expedition into Afighanistan had been undertaken OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 523 with the belief that the exiled monarch, if once replaced on the throne, would have a party strong enough to maintain him in power ; but it now appeared that he was solely supported by the arms of the British, who were thus placed in the invidious light of conquerors on their own account, and heartily detested as such by the Affghans, who were themselves the proudest and the bravest people in Asia. They now saw themselves a vanquished people, compelled to acknowledge the supe- riority of a distant nation, of strange language, religion, and manners; and it is not so much a wonder that they should feel both indignant and vindictive, as that the operation of these two powerful incentives, on a people of such fervid imaginations, should be entirely overlooked by those civil functionaries in whose hands were now the destinies of all. Such, however, was the case : under their advice and assurances of the pacific dispositions ot the Affghans, the military force at Cabul was reduced to a very inadequate amount, at a period when disaffection and discontent were most rife amongst that people ; and the same total absence of judgment and precaution appears to have influenced both Sir William Macnaghten and Sir Alexander Burnes up to the very moment when not only their own lives were sacrificed, but the safety of the whole force irretrievably compromised by their temerity. This uncalculating reliance on Affghan professions had its natural influence on the military, whose scattered and unguarded positions were such as might be admissible at a cantonment in the Carnatic, but were certainly most injudicious, to say the least of it, under existing circum- stances. In the beginning of October, 1841, the force at and near Cabul had consisted of her Majesty's 1 3th and 44th Foot, the 5th, 35th, 37th, and 54th Bengal Native Infantry, the 5th Bengal Light Cavalry, a company of Foot and a troop of Horse Artillery, two regiments of the Shah's infantry, a mountain train of artillery, with some others belonging to the Shah, and some cavalry, both Hindostanee and Affghan, forming part also of the Shah's 524 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. force. These troops had been reduced by her Majesty's 13th, the 35th and 37th Bengal Native Infantry, a squadron of the 5th Cavalry, and some details of Artillery and Sappers, which constituted the force of Sir Robert Sale. Of these the 37th had been left in position at Khoord Cabul, to keep open the communication, when Sir Robert pushed on for Gundamuk and Jellalabad ; con- sequently, there now remained at Cabul only one British regiment, two regiments of native infantry, part of a regi- ment of native cavalry, and some Foot and Horse Artil- lery ; for of the Shah's contingent we make no account, at a period when a severe winter was rapidly approach- ing, and the hostility of the AiFghans was such that our officers and soldiers were hourly insulted and threatened by them in their very cantonments, and ill treated and assassinated even if they straggled to any distance from them. But, as if the paucity of numbers was not enough to encourage Affghan aggression, the way in which our troops were scattered was altogether at variance with the rules of military discipline, especially in what might now justly be deemed an enemy's country. Some were in the Bala Hissar, or royal residence, a fortified eminence which overlooked the city, and others in a cantonment two or three miles distant, and separated from it by the Cabul river, and by a broad canal. The situation of this can- ^j^^^ tonment was low and swampy, commanded by adjacent '''-"'-Vhills and buildings; while the numerous camp-followers rendered the extent too great for the number of troops appointed to defend it. It had a low rampart and a narrow ditch; its form was a parallelogram ; it had round flanking bastions at each corner, but every one of these bastions was commanded by some fort or hill.* A still more serious error had been committed in making a weak fort at some distance the depository of all the Commis- sariat stores. Some of the British officers resided within the town, and parts of the Commissariat establishment * " Military Operations at Cabul," by Lieutenant Eyre, Bengal Artillery. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 525 were within its walls : the residence of Sir Alexander Burnes was also in Cabul, while that of Sir William Macnaghten was near the cantonment. In this careless and scattered state, our troops at Cabiil slumbered in fancied security, as if their day-dream was never to terminate ; but the morning of the 2nd of November dissipated the spell. At an early hour the city was in a state of commotion ; the shops were plundered, the houses of the British officers attacked, flames were seen to issue from that part of the city where they dwelt, and an incessant report of fire-arms seemed to roll through the town from end to end. Among the first of the houses assaulted were those of Sir Alexander Bumes and of Capfcain Johnson, paymaster of the Shah's forces ; but the confidence of the former was still such that he refused to retire, or defend himself, and attempted to appease the assailants by haranguing them from a high gallery. They soon, however, forced an entrance ; and though the Sepoys who formed the guard of Sir Alexander Burnes fought nobly, he was mercilessly slaughtered, with his brother, a lieutenant in the Bombay army. Captain Johnson, and Lieutenant Broadfoot of the Bengal European regiment, who slew six of the assailants before he himself was killed. The Shah's treasury, as well as the residence of Sir Alexander Burnes, were plundered ; every man, woman, or child found in either massacred, and the buildings burned to the ground. The whole city was now in a state of insurrection, and it was dangerous for an European countenance to be anywhere visible ; but still, by energetic measures the commotion might have been suj^pressed, and the subse- quent calamities prevented. With inconceivable reckless- ness, however, Sir William Macnaghten said that the storm would soon blow over of itself; while General Elphinstone, the Commander-in-Chief, an amiable and intelligent officer, was rendered by age and declining health totally unequal to the emergency. He v/as peculiarly deficient in decision and promptitude, the J 626 OUR AXGLO-INDIAN AEMY. qualities then most lirgently required ; and though a brisk a.ttaek on the city, even by a portion of the 5,000 troops still under his command, would have crushed the immediate rising, a dilatory and defensive system was adopted, while every minute that was lost in inaction increased the numbers and audacity of the insurgents. Orders, however, were sent by the Commander-in-Chief to Sir Robert Sale to rejoin him, which we have seen was an impossibility, and to General Nott to send two regiments from Candahar. Brigadier Shelton, who com- manded a force encamped at Seeah Sung, a short distance from the capital, was directed to join head-quarters, and similar orders were likewise forwarded for the return of the 37th Bengal Native Infantry from Khoord Cabul. Brigadier Shelton accordingly arrived forthwith, and early on the morning of the 3rd the 37th arrived from .Khoord Cabul, under the command of Major Griffiths, having had to fight their way for the whole distance with a body of several thousand Ghiljies who hung ui^on their flanks and rear. They succeeded, nevertheless, in pre- serving nearly the whole of their baggage, and bringing in all their wounded ; and they arrived at Cabul in as perfect order as if the march "had been a mere parade mov^ent."* But, though thus reinforced, nothing d^l^W- was attempted ; and this day, like the preceding, -^;^-as suffered to pass without anything being done demon- strative of British energy and power."f The insurgents consequently gathered strength, and obtained possession of post after post in quick succession. But though the civil and military authorities appeared to be totally paralysed, and incapable of exertion, mental or bodily, numerous individual instances of gallantry and presence of mind were exhibited by subordinate officers. A tower, and a fort near it, occupied by British officers, were bravely defended until ammunition failed, and an application for more was made without effect. In * I^ady Sale's Journal. t Lieutenant Eyre's " Military Operations at Cabul." OUE ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 527 this emergency Captain Trevor, 5tli Cavalry, and his family, who occupied the tower, were safely escorted by some friendly chiefs to the British cantonments, while Captain Mackenzie still defended the fort till he had not a shot to fire, and then he cut his way, with his party, through the enemy to the British lines. The following is his graphic description of his night adventures on this occasion : " Before we had proceeded half a mile, the rear missed the advance, upon whom a post of the enemy had begun to fire. All my regulars had crept ahead with the Ju- zailchees, and I found myself alone with a chuprassee and two suwars,* in the midst of a helpless and wailing crowd of women and childien. Riding on by myself, along a narrow lane, to try and pick out the road, I found myself suddenly surrounded by a party of Afighans, whom at first I took to be my own Juzailchees, and spoke to them as such. They quickly undeceived me, however, by crying out ' Feringhee ust,' ' Here is an European,' and attacking me with swords and knives. Spurring my horse violently, I wheeled round, cutting from right to left, for I fortu- nately had my own sword drawn previous to the surprise. My blows, by God's mercy, parried the greater jDart of theirs, and I was lucky enough to cut off the hand of my most outrageous assailant. In short, after a desperate struggle, during which I received two slight sabre cuts, and a blow on the back of my head from a fellow whose sword turned in his hand, which knocked me half off my horse, I escaped out of the crush, passing unhurt through two volleys of musketry from the whole picket, which by that time had become alarmed and had turned out. They pursued me, but I soon distanced them, crossing several fields at speed, and gaining a road which I per- ceived led round the western end of the Shah's garden. Proceeding cautiously along, to my horror I perceived my path again blocked up by a dense body of Affghans. Re- treat was impossible ; so, putting my trust in God, I * A messenger and troopers. 528 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. cliargcd into tlie midst of them, hoping that the weight of my horse would clear my way for me, and reserving my sword-cuts for my last struggle. It was well that I did so ; for by the time I had knocked over some twenty fellows, I found that they were my own Juzailchees. If you ever experienced sudden relief from a hideous night- mare, you may imagine my feelings for the moment. With these worthies, after wandering about for some time, and passing unchallenged by a sleepy post of the enemy, I reached the cantonments." But the same apathy which had led to the loss of the tower and fort on the 3rd of ISTovember continued to reign on the 4th, and with similar disastrous results. The most urgent object of attention was the Commissariat fort, separated from the cantonment by the Shah Bagh, or royal garden, which afforded extensive cover to the enemy. This fort was occupied with a small force by Ensign Warren, of the 5th Bengal Native Infantry, who reported that he was pressed by the enemy, and that, unless reinforced, he could not long hold out. On the possession or loss of this fort it depended whether the British army at Cabul should be fed or starved ; yet, strange to say, the answer to Ensign Warren's communi- cation was the despatch of a small force to assist him in evacuating a place which it was so essential to retain. On the 4 th Captain Swayne attempted to penetrate thither for that purpose, with two companies of the 44th, but was exposed to so severe a fire from a fort in pos- session of the enemy, that he himself and another officer were killed, and the troops driven back with great loss. Captain Boyd, of the Commissariat, however, represented so forcibly the extreme importance of this post that a stronger detachment was prepared, but delayed till next morning ; when Ensign Warren was compelled to come in with his garrison, the enemy, by forming a mine, and setting fire to the gate, having rendered it untenable. This failure in an object so essential, and seemingly so 6asy, produced a fatal efiect on the s^^irit of both parties : OUR ANGLO-INDIAX ARMY. 529 the enemy became greatly emboldened, and were joined by many who had been hitherto our friends ; while the Bri- tish troops were greatly disheartened, especially when they saw the Affghans crossing and recrossing the road between the Commissariat fort and the gate of the Shah Bagh, laden with the provisions on which depended their ability to make a protracted defence.* To retrieve this disaster, Major Swayne was sent on the 5th to attack a fort which commanded the one lost, and some success was at first gained ; but not being duly fol- lowed up, the detachment was recalled. On the 6th a stronger and more regular corps was employed, when the artillery having made a practicable breach, the place was carried by a storming-party of her Majesty's 4:4th, and the 5th and 37th iSTative Infantry. Ensign Raban, of the 44th, was shot through the heart in the act of waving the British flag on the summit of the breach. For some days after this aiFair shot and shells were thrown from the Bala Hissar into the town, but with little effect beyond the alarm they excited amongst the inhabitants. Plans were also suggested for recapturing the Commissariat fort, and so much of the stores as yet re- mained in it; but they were suggested only, not acted upon. On the 9fch of IS'ovember, the health of General Elphin- stone was so much affected that Brigadier Shelton was desired to take the command ; but he had scarcely done so, when a wide diflference of opinion arose between him and Sir William Macnaghten, which very much retarded the public service ; for while the Brigadier, who from the fi.rst had despaired of being able to hold out the winter at Cabul, advocated an immediate retreat to Jellalabad, the Envoy, on the contrary, conceived the army bound to maintain their position, for which their power, if vigo- rously exerted, appeared to him to be quite sufficient. Between their conflicting counsels, therefore, no decided course of action was adopted, and the very worst conse- quences were the result. ^ * Lieutenant Eyre's " Military Operations at Cabul." 530 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. On tlie 10th the Affghans, with large bodies of cavalry, occupied the surrounding hills, and took possession of several forts. One of these, called Rika Bashee, somewhat commanded the cantonment, and interrupted the supply of provisions, which had now become extremely scarce. A force was therefore ordered to storm it, consisting of her Majesty's 4:4th regiment, the 37th Native Infantry, with some artillery and native troops. Captain Bellew undertook to blow open the main gate, but missed it, from accident or error, and blew open instead the wicket at the side, which admitted only two or three at once. The first who entered suffered severely ; but Avhen a few had forced their way in, the garrison in a panic evacuated the post. Meantime a body of Affghan cavalry charg- ing suddenly round an angle of the fort, spread a panic among the troops before the gate, who, deserted by their usual courage, precipitately fled. Shelton, however, whose gallantry in the field was always conspicuous, twice rallied them, and at last carried the fort, which the enemy had re-occupied. Unhappily, during their temporary possession, they had killed almost all the little party who first entered. Lieutenant Bird, with two Sepoys of the 37th, found shelter in a stable, which they barricaded. One of the Sepoys was killed, but Bird and the other de- fended themselves for a considerable period, maintaining a fire which knocked down all who ventured to approach their retreat, with a precision proportioned to the close- ness of the combat. In this way more than thirty of the enemy met their death j and when the fort was gained the gallant pair were found by their companions un- harmed, their stock of ammunition being reduced to five cartridges. The loss of the British on this occasion was very heavy, amounting to two hundred killed and wounded ; but our object was gained, four other forts being evacuated on the fall of Rika Bashee, and a supply of grain procured. On the 13th the enemy, occupying in force the adjacent heights, fired with some effect into the cantonment ; when OUR ANGLO-IIv^DIAN ARMY. 531 tlie Envoy^, by earnest intreaty, prevailed on the General to send a body of troops against them. The Affghans made an obstinate resistance, and at first repulsed their assailants ; but, by some skilful movements of the ar- tillery and cavalry, they were finally driven from the position. Our soldiers, however, under existing circum- stances, could never hold any ground which they had gained, but were obliged to return to the cantonment, while the enemy, having rallied, pressed closely behind them. On the 15th Major Pottinger arrived from Charekur, in the mountain territory of Kohistan, north of Cabul, which he had defended at the head of 800 Goorkhas. He and some other officers had occujned a small adjacent fort, when they were invited to a conference j and Captain Kattray, being inveigled to a little distance, was suddenly shot dead, while the Major with difficulty escaped. A vast number of insurgents then assembled, who were at first repulsed with great slaughter ; but their force in- creasing, and the post being untenable, the troops with- drew to Charekur. Here they maintained themselves twenty-five days, amid continued assaults from an over- whelming body, and the most severe sufierings from want of water. No resource then appeared but to cut their way to Cabul, amid incessant hardships and attacks. All the troops either perished or were dispersed, and only the Major and Lieutenant Haughton, badly wounded, passing during the night through the city, succeeded in reaching the cantonment. A proposition was now started, and even urged by the Envoy, that the force should quit the cantonment for the Bala Hissar, where the whole would be united in a much more defensible position. The military authorities, how- ever, decided that this plan, including an extensive con- veyance of stores, could not be accomplished without ruinous loss. The measure of retreat was then agitated, but the Envoy still urged a delay of eight or ten days, in the hope of some favourable occurrence. On the 22nd, 532 ^ OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Mahommed Akbar, second son of Dost Mahommed, arrived at Cabul, and was invested with the command of the hostile army, to whose movements he gave an aug- mented energy. He had already distinguished himself by his military talents, having been employed by his father in defending the frontier against the Sikhs. The village of Beymaroo, lying to the north of the cantonment, on the road leading to Kohistan, was now the only quarter through which, at high prices, supplies of provisions were procured ; and the enemy, by marching out in great force every morning, and occupying it during the day, much narrowed this resource. It being necessary, therefore, to get possession of it. Brigadier Shelton marched out a large force at two o'clock in the morning of the 23rd for that purpose. Having occupied the brow of the height, and thrown the enemy into great confusion, he might then have carried the village, but unfortunately delayed the attack till daylight. By this time the natives poured out from the city large bodies, estimated at 10,000 men, and covered all the surrounding heights. The Bri- tish troops were led against them, and maintained a long contest with various fortune, suffering most severely from the juzails, whoserangethe musket could byno means equal. The Affghans having sustained several checks, and being discouraged by the fall of Abdoolah Khan, one of their greatest chiefs, began a retreat towards the city, abandon- ing a gun which they had captured. The cavalry were then ordered to pursue them ; but having been for a long time kept in an injudicious position, exposed to the enemy's fire, they shrunk back, and would not obey the summons. This the Affghans no sooner perceived than they renewed the assault with augmented courage and energy. The square of British infantry was broken ; panic spread through, the troops ; all attempts to rally them were vain ; and, finally, the whole rushed in con- fused and tumultuary flight to the cantonment. A fire opened on the pursuers by part of the Shah's force, and a charge made by Lieutenant Hardyman with a fresh troop OUR AXGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 533 of cavalry, saved the fugitives, scarcely one of whoni would have returned otherwise. Lieutenant Walker, while charging with Lieutenant Hardyman, received a mortal wound. Colonel Oliver, Captain Macintosh, and Lieutenant Laing were also left dead on the field. The 37th Native Infantry behaved bravely throughout the day, and were among the last to leave the hill. One company returned with a naik* and two privates only.f On this fatal day, the loss both of men and officers was immense ; and the spirit of the army was completely broken, for the troops no longer had any confidence in the ability of their commanders, or their judicious lead- ing in the field. The j)roposal of removing to the Bala Hissar was renewed, but again rejected ; and a series of negotiations then took place between the Envoy and the Aiffghan chiefs from this period till the 1 1th of Decem- ber, when Sir William Macnaghten had an interview with a number of them, among whom the Khans Osman and Akbar took the lead. Their deportment was cour- teous j and it was finally agreed that the British should evacuate all Affghanistan on being not only allowed to retire unmolested, but furnished with provisions, and the means of transport. Hhah Sujah was to be granted a pen- sion, with the option of remaining at Cabul, or accom- panying the retreating army. In pursuance of this treaty, the force in the Bala Hissar was removed on the 13th and 14th to the cantonment; not, however, without annoyance from the AfFghans. Yielding to successive demands, the adjacent forts hitherto maintained were evacuated, and several English officers delivered as hostages. Yet the promised supplies indis- pensable to the march of the army were still, on various pretexts, withheld ; and it became evident that, seeing the weak and desponding state of the invaders, the bar- barians had determined to treat them as entii-ely in their joower. Under these circumstances, Akbar formed the scheme * Corporal. t Lady Sale's Journal. 534 OUE ANGLO-INDIAN" AUMY. which brought affairs to a fatal crisis. Captain Skinner, who happened to be in his power, was sent to the Envoy with a proposal to unite with him in seizing AmenooUah Khan, the chief second in influence to himself Shah Sujah was then to be acknowledged king, with Akbar as his vizier ; the English would be allowed to remain till next spring, and then to depart under circumstances that would save their honour. Sir William caught with a fatal facility at this delusive proposition ; and his consent having been secured to the outline of the plan, it was .suggested that a conference, for the purpose of arranging the details, should take place between him and Akbar Khan. To this he also agreed ; and though warned by his friends of the danger of such a step, he declared that it appeared to present the only ray of hope, and that death itself would be preferable to the life he had lately led. The place selected for the interview was an open space near the cantonment ; and thither, about noon on the 23rd of December, Sir William Macnaghten proceeded, accompaniedby Captains Laurence, Trevor, and Mackenzie. He had requested that the General would have two regi- ments and two guns ready for secret service ; and the existence of a feeling that the experiment he was about to make was attended with danger, was indicated by his desiring that the garrison might be kept on the alert, and the walls strongly manned ; but it does not appear that much regard was paid to his wishes on this point, for no troops were in readiness to carry out the objects of the proposed agreement. On approaching the place of meeting, the small escort which had accompanied the Envoy halted, and he advanced with the three officers to the selected Pipot, which was partially screened from view from the cantonments by some small hillocks. Akbar Khan soon afterwards ap- peared, with some other chiefs, among whom was the brother of AmenooUah Khan, the man proposed to be seized and imprisoned. A carpet was spread, and the conference began. It had not long continued when a number of OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 535 Affglians, heavily armed, gradually drew near, and seemed to be forming a circle round the spot. This was noticed by Captain Laurence, who suggested that, as the con- ference was of a secret nature, they should be ordered to a distance. Akbar Khan answered that it was of no importance, for that they were all in the secret. Presently, however, he grasped the left hand of the Envoy, while Sultan Jan seized his right ; and a fierce struggle ensuing, Akbar Khan drew a pistol and shot Sir William dead. This cruel action appears to have been prompted by the dread of his escape, and the excitement of the moment,^ for it would have been better policy to secure him as a hostage. The body, however, was instantly seized by the fanatic Ghazees, who cut it in pieces, and exposed the head to the people in the great bazaar. Captain Trevor also fell into their hands, and was murdered on the spot ; but other chiefs caused Laurence and Mackenzie to mount on horseback, and conveyed them to Cabul, protecting them even at the hazard of their own lives. They were there thrown into a fort, where the multitude made furi- ous attempts to break in and put them to death. The troops forming the Envoy's escort, only sixteen in number, ran away as soon as danger became apparent, with the exception of one man, who was immediately cut down. After this dreadftd scene, it might have been expected that all the generous feelings of the troops would have been roused ; that they would have been impelled to some deed of decisive and desperate valour ; but we are in- formed by Lieutenant Eyre* that the intelligence, '^ instead of rousing our leaders to instant action, seemed to paralyse their Acuities j and although it was evident that our Envoy had been basely entrapped, if not actually murdered before our very gate, and though even now crowds of Affghans, horse and foot, were seen passing and re-passing to and fro in hostile array between Mahommed's fort and the place of meeting, not a gun "Military Operations at CabuL" 53G OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. was opened upon them ; not a soldier was stirred from his post j no sortie was apparently even thought of ; treachery was allowed to triumph in open da}^ ; the murder of a British Envoy was perpetrated in the face, and within musket-shot, of a British army ; and not only was no effort made to avenge the dastardly deed, but the body was left lying on the plain to be mangled and insulted, and finally carried off to be paraded in the public market by a ruffianly mob of fanatical bar- barians." Lower than this in the scale of degradation it was needless to descend ; but still lower was our doomed army pushed down by unrelenting fate ere it was finally exter- minated. With the treacherous and cowardly murderers of Sir William Macnaghten, a fresh treaty was entered into by the military council, consisting of General Elphin- stone, Brigadiers Shelton and Anquetil, Colonel Cham- bers, and Captains Bellew and Grant, by which the troops, on condition of being allowed to depart, were to leave behind most of their guns and all their treasure : bills were drawn on India for fourteen lacs of rupees (140,000) ; and four additional officers were given as hostages ; Captains Drummond, Walsh, Warburton, and Webb, proceeded to join Captains Conolly and Airey, who were already in the keeping of the Affghans. Captains Laurence and Mackenzie, who had been seized with Sir William Macnaghten, were permitted to return, as was also Captain Skinner, who was previously in the power of the enemy. The sick and wounded of the British force, it was arranged, should not accompany their companions on the approaching march from Cabul. They were to be left in care of the chiefs ; and in furtherance of this design, they were conveyed into the Bala Hissar. The movement of the rest was delayed under various pretences till the 6th of January, 1842 ; when^ in the language of Lieut. Eyre, " the fatal morning dawned which was to witness the OUK ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 537 departure of tlie Cabul force from the cantonments in which it had sustained a two months' siege, to encounter the miseries of a winter march through a country of per- haps unparalleled difficulty, where every mountain defile, if obstinately defended by a determined enemy, must inevitably prove the grave of hundreds."-!^ * ' Military Operations at Cabul." 638 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. CHAPTER XXXI. The British Troops commence their Retreat Severity of the "Weather Dreadful Confusion -A dreary Bivouac Sad Condition of the Females and Children- Commencement of the Affghnn Attacks Hostages delivered by the English The Pass of Boothauk The Affghans fire on the Ladies Officers' Children carried off Slaughter in the Khoord Cabul Pass A Night at Khoord Cabul Another destructive Halt Tlie Ladies and their Husbands given up to Akbar Khan Sufferings from Frost, and Snow, and Hunger Slaughter at the Pass of Tunghee Tareekee Proposition to disarm the Troops rejected Slaughter at Tazeen The Fugitives make a stand at JugduApk andrepulse the Enemy- General Elphinstone a Prisoner Final stand at Gundamuk Brave Resist- ance of the English All are slaughtered except one, M^ho escapes to Jella- In approaching the closing scene of this long-pending catastrophe, the mind is struck with awe and horror at the dire calamities and dismal fate that overhung the mass of human beings who entered this fearful chain of mountain passes on the 6th of January, nearly seventeen thousand in number, only one of whom escaped from its destructive jaws, to give the first direful tidings of the event. And, when it is considered that, with the excep- tion of about seventy prisoners and some deserters, the remainder perished miserably in a few days, through cold, through famine, and the murderous fire of overwhelming enemies, it must be admitted that this retreat stands unparalleled, if not in extent, at least in the completeness of its calamity. " Dreary, indeed," says Lieutenant Eyre, "was the scene over which, with drooping spirits and dismal forebodings, we had to bend our unwilling steps. Deep snow covered every inch of mountain and plain with one unspotted sheet of dazzling white ; and so intensely bitter was the cold as to penetrate and defy the defences of the warmest OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 539 clothing." The army still consisted of 690 Europeans,* 2,840 native infantry,! and 970 cavalry ;J in all 4,500 fighting-men, with not less than 12,000 followers, besides women and children, who rendered the preservation of order almost impossible. It was a mingled mass of Europeans and Asiatics, of combatants and non-combat- ants, of men of various climes, creeds, complexion, and habit ; part of them peculiarly unfitted to endure the hardships of a rigorous climate ; which hardships, how- ever, had to be shared by them in common with some whose sex ordinarily exempts them from participating in such scenes, and others whose tender age might well entitle them to the like privilege. |1 The advanced guard, consisting of her Majesty's 4:4th regiment, with some cavalry and artillery, moved ofi" about half-past 9 a.m., and from that hour till the even- ing the throng continued to pass through the gates of the cantonments, which were immediately occupied by hordes of fanatical AfFghans, rending the air with their exulting cries, plundering, destroying, and committing every kind of atrocity. The advance party, under whose escort the ladies, including Lady Macnaghten and Lady Sale, proceeded, was not molested ; but a fire of juzails was opened on the retiring troops of the main body, to which Lieutenant Hardyman, of the 5th Light Cavalry, and about fifty rank and file, fell victims, and a quantity of baggage, ammunition, and Commissariat stores were lost. The cantonments were no sooner cleared than all order was abandoned ; troops, camp-followers, an^ baggage, public and private, became intermingled in one disorderly mass /and confusion, universal and inextricable, prevailed. Thus commenced this inauspicious march. During the whole of the siege the troops had been on half rations, consisting of a pound of wheat per diem, with Her Majesty's 44:th Foot and one troop of Horse Artillery. t 5tli,37tli,and 54th Bengal Native Infantry, 6th Shah's Infantry, and Sappers and Miners. J 5th Light Cavalry, 6th Shah's Irregular do. ; Anderson's, Skinner's horse; one rissala, 4th Irregular do., 1 do. ; body-guard ; besides artillery, 9 guns. il Thornton. 540 . OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. melted ghee^ for figliting-men, and half tliat allowance for camp-followers ; the cattle, both public and private, had long subsisted on the twigs and bark of the trees.* The men had suffered much from overwork as vv^ell as bad feeding, and also from want of firing ; it was, therefore, with greatly diminished strength that they began to march, and their progress was very slow, for the first mile was not accomplished under two hours and a half. An order was then received to return to cantonments, as the chiefs who were to accompany the troops were not ready, but shortly after a counter-order was issued to pro- ceed without further loss of time. The shadows of night overtook the fugitives, still pur- suing their weary course ; but its darkness was relieved by the blaze which rose above the British Residency and other buildings which the enemy had fired, upon taking possession of the cantonments. Many Sepoys and camp- followers, unable to contend longer with their misery, lay down to wait, in silent despair, the approach of death, and of those who struggled forward some joerished before the morning dawn. The provision for encampment was miserably deficient ; here, as on the march, all was dis- order and destitution ; thousands of wretched men were unable to obtain either shelter, fire, or food ; the snow was their only bed, and to many it proved the bed of death. It was two o'clock on the morning of the 7th before the rear-guard arrived at this wretched bivouac, though the whole distance traversed was not more than six miles. But however dreadful these sufierings and privations were to men inured to war, how much more bitter must they have been to females and children, of whom there were numbers, and especially to those whose station in life had accustomed them to indulgence in every luxury ! "It was the General's original intention," says Lady Sale, in her interesting journal, "to halt at Begramee, * Lady Sale's Journal. OUR AJxGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 541 close to the Loghiir river, and about five miles from Cabiil ; but the whole country being a swamp incrusted with ice, we went on about a mile further, and halted at about 4 P.M. There were no tents, save two or three small palls that arrived. All scraped away the snow as best they might, to make a place to lie down on. The evening and night were intensely cold : no food for man or beast procurable, except a few handfuls of bhoossa,* for which we paid from five to ten rupees. Captain Johnson, in our great distress, kindly pitched a small pall over us ; but it was dark, and we had few pegs ; the wind blew in under the sides, and I felt myself gradually stiffening. I left the bedding, which was occupied by Mrs. Sturt (Lady Sale's daughter) and her husband, and doubled up my legs in a straw chair of Johnson's, covering myself vv^ith my poshteen." The morrow brought no alleviation of suffering, but it revealed to sight several men frozen to death, and others so benumbed as to be scarcely able to move. At half-past seven the advance-guard moved off" no order was given no bugle sounded. It had much difficulty in forcing its way a-head of the baggage and camp-followers, all of whom had proceeded in advance as soon as it was light. The remainder resumed their march in the best order they could; "if," says Lieutenant Eyre, "that could be called order which consisted of a mingled mob of soldiers, camp-followers, and baggage-cattle, preserving not even the faintest resemblance of that regularity and discipline on which depended our only chance of escape from the danger which threatened us."f One of the Shah's regiments had disappeared, and was belieyed to have returned to Cabul. The rest of the force proceeded ; numerous bodies of Affghans, horse and foot, hanging on its flanks, and moving in a parallel direction with it. These were at first supposed to constitute the escort promised by the chiefs ; but this belief was dispelled by their suddenly attacking the British rear-guard, under * Chopped straw. t ''Military Operations at Cabul." 542 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Brigadier Anquetil, composed of her Majesty's 44tli, the mountain-train guns, and a squadron of irregular horse. The guns were captured, but gallantly retaken by Lieu- tenant White and a few artillerymen. The 44th, however, could not be brought up, and the guns were in consequence abandoned, though not until they had been spiked, "amid the gleaming sabres of the enemy."* Ten more guns were afterwards spiked and abandoned, the horses attached to them being unable to drag them through the snow, which now lay more than a foot deep upon the ground. As the troops advanced on their road, the enemy increased considerably on both flanks, and greatly annoyed the centre and rear. Between Begramee and Boothauk a body of the enemy's horse charged down into the column, and succeeded in carrying off an immense quantity of baggage and a number of camels, without experiencing the least resistance. Captain Skinner, learning that Akbar was at hand, appealed to his sense of honour and humanity. That trustworthy personage declared that he had been sent to escort the British force to Jellalabad, and that the annoyance which they had suffered was the result of their having marched contrary to the wishes of the Affghan chiefs. He insisted, accordingly, on the force being halted at Boothauk till the following morn- ing, and moreover demanded six hostages to insure its not marching beyond Tazeen till news should be received of the evacuation of Jellalabad by Sir Bobert Sale, for which an order had been despatched in compliance with a stipulation in the treaty. These disgraceful propositions were readily assented to ; and the hostages, amongst whom were Major Pottinger and Captains Laurence and Mac- kenzie, went off to the Sirdar. , , At Boothauk, accordingly, to the dismay of all, for they had only marched five miles, orders were issued to halt till next morning, and another night of suffering was passed by the already half-famished and frozen troops. *' Scarcely any baggage," says Lady Sale, " of either officers * Lady Sale. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 543 or men now remained. In a very small pall of Johnson's we slept, nine, all touching each other. We were also indebted to Johnson and Troup for food. They had a few Cabul cakes and some tea, which they kindly shared with us." There was no ground marked out for the troops : the Sepoys were mixed up with the camp- followers, and knew not where to find the head-quarters of their corps. The snow lay deep upon the ground : there was no food for man or beast ; and even water from the river, though close at hand, was difficult to obtain, for our people were fired on in fetching it. Numbers of unfortunate creatures dropped here, benumbed with cold, to be massacred by the enemy. At sunrise on the morning of the 8th no order had been issued for the march, and the confusion was fearful. The force was perfectly disorganised ; nearly every man paralysed with cold, so as to be scarcely able to hold his muskeb or to move his limbs. Many frozen corpses lay upon the ground, and the Sepoys burnt their caps, accoutrements, and clothes to keep themselves warm. Some of the enemy appearing in rear of the position, the whole of the camp-followers rushed to the iront, every man, woman, and child seizing all the cattle that fell in their way, whether public or private. The ground was strewn with boxes of ammunition, plate, and property of various kinds. A cask of spirits on the ground was broached by the artillerymen and other Europeans. Had the whole been distributed fairly to the men, it would have done them good : as it was, they became too much excited. "For myself," says Lady Sale, "whilst I sat for hours on my horse in the cold, I felt very grateful for a tumbler of sherry, which at any other time would have made me very unlady-like, but now merely warmed me, and appeared to have no more strength in it than water. Cups full of sherry were given to young children three and four years old, without in the least affecting their heads." While in this helpless condition, the Affghans renewed their attacks ; but a party of them was rapidly 544 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. dispersed by Major Thain, at the liead of lier Majesty's 44tli, who on this occasion showed no lack of soldierly spirit. And now the fearful Pass of Boothauk had to be traversed. This defile is about five miles long, and is bounded on both sides by lofty and precipitous hills, A mountain-torrent dashes through it with such impetuosity that the frost had produced no efiect upon it beyond the edgeS; where ice was accumulated in slippery masses, affording to the wretched animals which were still re- tained a footing neither easy nor safe. This stream had to be crossed twenty-eight times. The defile gradually narrows towards the spot where the force was to emerge from it, or such portion, at least, as might survive the dangerous passage ; for the heights were crowned with infuriated Ghiljies, ready to deal death to those below, while the cowards themselves were in perfect security. '- The idea," says Lieutenant Eyre, " of threading the stupendous pass before us, in the face of an armed tribe of bloodthirsty barbarians, with such a dense, irregular multitude, was frightful ; and the spectacle then pre- sented by that waving sea of animated beings, the majority of whom a few fleeting hours would transform into a line of lifeless carcasses, to guide the future tra- veller on his way, can never be forgotten by those who witnessed it,"* But the concentrated difficulties and perils were not to be avoided. The march was com- menced about mid-day, the 5th Native Infantry in front. The troops were in the greatest state of disorganisation ; the baggage was mixed with the advance-guard ; and the camp-followers all pushed a-head in their precipitate flight towards Hindostan. Several ladies accompanied the advance ; but no feeling of respect for the character or the timidity of woman operated to slacken the fire from above. These helpless and unofiending females were compelled to make their way through the pass, with hundreds of shots flying around them. Happily none of * " Military Operations at Cabul." OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 5i5 them sustained injury, excepting Lady Sale, who received a ball in her arm. " After passing through some very sharp firing," says this heroic lady in her most interesting journal, "we came upon Major Thain's horse, which had been shot through the loins. When we were supposed to be in comparative safety, poor Sturt* rode back (to see after Thain, I believe) : his horse was shot under him, and before he could rise from the ground he received a severe wound in the abdomen. It was with great difficulty he was held upon a pony by two people, and brought into camp at Khoord Cabul. The pony Mrs. Sturt rode on was wounded in the ear and neck. I had fortunately only one ball in my arm ; three others passed through my poshteen near the shoulder without doing me any injury. The party that fired on us were not above fifty yards from us, and we owed our escape to urging our horses on as fast as they could go over a road where, at any other time, we should have walked our horses very carefully.'* Akbar Khan, it will be remembered, had promised protection, and several of his adherents rode forward with the advance, exhorting the occupants of the heights to desist from firing. But their admonitions were unheeded ;. the balls fell thickly among the throng laboriously struggling onwards, and fearful was the slaughter. " To maintain," says our excellent historian,f "order and regularity under a murd(;rous fire, which those sustaining it have no power to return with eflfect, may be regarded as one of the highest triumphs of discipline ; but the force exposed to this severe trial in the Pass of Boothauk had become dreadfully deteriorated in moral as ii physical strength ; and it will excite no surprise that among men who for several days had been strangers to both food and repose, and who, for a much longer period, had been gradually losing the sense of duty, and with it that of self-respect, panic should arise, and spread with * Lieutenant Sturt, of the Engineers, her son-in-law. t Thornton. "History of British India." 546 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ABMY. tremendous raj)idity. Such was the fact : soldiers and followers rushed on indiscriminately, impelled by the wildness of despair, caring for nothing but the one object of reaching the end of the pass, and perhaps conscious of nothing but of the dangers which beset them." " Thou- sands," says Lieutenant Eyre, " seeking refuge in flight, hurried forward to the front, abandoning baggage, arms, ammunition, women and children, regardless for the moment of everything but their own lives."* To this sad picture of the complete demoralisation of this devoted army must be added the pitiable sufferings of women and children, and the heart-rending agony of parents deprived of their helpless offspring. " The ladies were mostly travelling in kujavas,"f says Lady Sale, "and were mixed up with the baggage and column in the pass : here they were heavily fired on, and many camels were killed. On one camel were, in one kujava, Mrs. Boyd and her youngest boy Hugh ; and in the other Mrs. Mainwaring and her infant, scarcely three months old, and Mrs. Anderson's eldest child. This camel was .shot. Mrs. Boyd got a horse to ride ; aild her child was ,put on another behind a man, who being shortly after unfortunately killed, the child was carried off by the Affghans. Mrs. Mainwai-ing, less fortuimte, took her own baby in her arms. Mary Anderson was carried off in the confusion. Meeting with a pony laden with treasure, Mrs. M. endeavoured to mount and sit on the l)oxes, but they upset ; and in the hurry, pony and treasure were left behind ; and the unfortunate lady pursued her way on foot, until after a time an Affghan asked her if she was wounded, and told her to mount behind him. This apparently kind offer she declined, being fearful of treachery ; alleging as an excuse, that she could not sit behind him on account of the difficulty of holding her child when so mounted. This man shortly after snatched her shawl off her shoulders, and left her to her fate. Mrs. M.'s sufferings were very great ; and * " Military Operations at Cabul." . t ^Camel-panniers. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 54t slie deserves much credit for having preserved her child through these dreadful scenes. She not only had to walk a considerable distance with her child in her arms through the deep snow, but had also to pick her way over the bodies of the dead, dying, and wounded, both men and cattle, and constantly to cross the streams of water, wet up to the knees, pushed and shoved about by men and animals ; the enemy keeping up a sharp fire, and several persons being killed close to her. She, however, got safe to camp with her child."* The rear was protected by H.M. 44th and the 37th Native Infantry ; but as they neared the pass, the enemy, concealed behind rocks, &c., increased their fire con- siderably upon them. Owing to a halt having taken place in front, the pass was completely choked up; and for a considerable time the 44th were stationary under a heavy fire. The 37th continued slowly moving on with- out firing a shot ; being paralysed with cold to such a degree that no persuasion of their officers could induce them to make any eftbrt to dislodge the enemy, who took from some of them not only their firelocks, but even their clothing. At this time our men were dropping fast from a flanking fire from the heights ; and the attempt to maintain a position in the rear being fruitless, under such circumstances, with only sixty men, or thereabouts, they were withdrawn, and with difficulty forced their way through the crowd to a more commanding position. Here the rear-guard of the 44th was joined by General Elphinstone ; Colonel Cham- bers, of the 5th Light Cavalry, with some troopers ; Cap- tain Hay, with a few of the irregular horse ; and the only remaining gun, one having been abandoned in the pass. After halting full an hour to let the stragglers, &c., get well to the front, they resumed their march ; but owing to the depth of the snow, the troops were compelled to assist the gun by manual labour, the horses being unable to get it on. In this way they reached the encamping ground at Khoord Cabul, five hundred of our regular * Lady Sale's Memoirs. 548 or 11 ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. troops and about 2,500 camp-followers having perished in that fearful pass. But, after all these horrors, what awaited our doomed warriors at this their second encamping ground 1 ^' On the force reaching Khoord Cabul/' says Lieutenant Eyre,* " snow began to fall, and continued till morning. Only four small tents were saved, of which one belonged to the General, two were devoted to the ladies and children, and one was given up to the sick ; but an immense number of poor wounded wretches wandered about the camp, desti- tute of shelter, and perished during the night. Groans of misery and distress assailed the ear from all quarters. We had ascended to a still colder climate than we had left behind, and were without tents, fuel, or food." Then hear the pitiable tale told with such fortitude by Lady Sale : " Poor Sturt was laid on the side of a bank, with his wife and myself beside him. It began snowing heavily : Johnson and By grave got some xummuls (coarse blankets) thrown over us. Dr. Bryce, H.A., came and examined Sturt's wound : he dressed it, but I saw by the expression of his countenance that there was no hope. He afterwards kindly cut the ball out of my wrist, and dressed both my wounds. Half of a Sipahee's pall had been pitched, in which the ladies and their husbands took refuge. We had no one to scrape the snow off the ground in it. Captain Johnson and Mr. Mein first assisted poor Sturt over to it, and then carried Mrs. Sturt and myself through the deep snow. Mrs. Sturt's bedding (saved by the ayahf riding on it, whom we kept up close with our- selves), was now a comfort to my poor wounded son. He suffered dreadful agony all night, and intolerable thirst, and most grateful did we feel to Mr. Mein for going out constantly to the stream to procure water ; we had only a small vessel to fetch it in, which contained but a few mouthfuls. To sleep in such anxiety of mind and intense cold was impossible. There were nearly thirty of us packed together without room to turn. Thff Sepoys and * Military Operations at Cabul." t Female attendant. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN" ARMY. 549 camp-followers, half-frozen, tried to force their way, not only into the tent, but actually into our beds, if such resting-places can be so called a poshteen (or pelisse of sheepskin) half spread on the snow, and the other half wrapped over one. Many poor wretches died round the tent in the night. The light company of the 54th Native Infantry, which left Cabul thirty-six hours previously eighty strong, was reduced to eighteen. This is only one instance which may fairly be taken as a general average of the destruction of our force."* To this miserable night succeeded a morning that brought with it a repetition of the confusion, woe, and butchery which had marked the preceding. Two hours before the time fixed for marching on the morning of the 9th, a large portion of the troops and nearly all the camp- followers moved off, the only order appearing to be, " Come along ; we are all going, and half the men are off, with the camp-followers in advance !" As many as could had appropriated to themselves all the public yaboos and camels, on which they mounted. They had not gone more than a mile, however, when the whole were re- manded back to their former ground ; and a halt for the day was ordered, in accordance with the wishes of the Sirdar, who had represented to the General, through Cap- tain Skinner, that his arrangements were not made, as regarded either the security of the troops or their provi- sions. This palpable juggling of Akbar Khan, for the purpose of wearing down and ultimately destroying the unhappy remnant of the force with the greater facility, was tamely yielded to with the same unhappy imbecility which marked the whole of this deplorable catastrophe, in almost every measure that had been taken since the outbreak in Cabul. " There can be no doubt," says Lieu- tenant Eyre, "that the general feeling in camp was adverse to a halt ; there being scarcely even a native sol- dier who did not plainly perceive that our only chance of escape consisted in moving on as fast as possible. This * Lady Sale's Memoirs. 550 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. additional delay, therefore, and prolongation of their suf- ferings in the snow, of which one more march would have caiTied them clear, made a very unfavourable impression on the minds of the native soldiers, who now, for the first time, began very generally to entertain the idea of de- serting."* " Mrs, Trevor,"! says Lady Sale, " kindly rode a 'ponj, and gave up her place in the kujava to Sturt, who must otherwise have been left to die on the ground. The rough motion increased his suffering, and accelerated his death ; but he was still conscious that his wife and 1 were with him ; and we had the sorrowful satisfaction of giving him Christian burial." This was the fourth day that the cattle had had, no food, and the men were perishing with cold and hunger. More than one-half of them were wounded or frost-bitten, and most of them could scarcely put a foot to the ground. Akbar Kkan, therefore, saw that the completion of his vengeance was nigh at hand, and he now exerted himself to get as many hostages into his power as would insure him a large ransom from the Indian Government. With this view, he proposed that the ladies who accompanied the British force, with their husbands and children, should, in order to preserve them from further hardship and danger, be placed under his protection, he pledging him- self to escort them safely, keeping them one day's march in the rear of the army. This was a startling proposal, but time and circumstances pressed, and the General gave a,n unhesitating consent. It does not appear that any resistance was offered by the individuals concerned, who were doubtless influenced in their acquiescence by the sufferings and dangers that surrounded those who were dear to them, and the belief that no change could be for the worse. They accordingly joined the party of Akbar Khan at the Khoord Cabul forts, and we record with pleasure that Mrs. Boyd's little boy was there restored to- * " Military Operations at Cabul." t This poor lady had nine children with her OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 551 his parents, and satisfactory intelligence received of Mrs. Anderson's little girl. We shall leave these captives for the present, with the melancholy satisfaction that what- ever their sufferings still were, they escaped, at least, the final butchery. After the departure of the ladies, the troops struggled on j and as the food and fuel so liberally promised by the ruffian chief came not, another night of starvation and cold consigned more victims to a miserable death. To add to their wretchedness, many were nearly, and some wholly, afflicted with snow blindness. The men who had proudly marched from the Indus to the heart of Afighan- istan had occupied its fairest cities, beaten down its strongest fortresses, and given law from its capital were now unable to defend themselves from those who thirsted for their blood.* " The European soldiers," says Lieu- tenant Eyre, "were now almost the only efficient men left, the Hindoostanees having all suffered more or less from the effects of the frost in their hands and feet ; few were able even to hold a musket, much less to pull a trigger ; in fact, the prolonged delay in the snow had paralysed the mental and bodily powers of the strongest men, ren- dering them incapable of any useful exertion. Hope seemed to have died in every breast; the wildness of terror was exhibited in every countenance."f On the 10th the army resumed its progress, though the fighting-men were now reduced to a small number. No sooner was it light than the usual rush to the front was made by the mixed rabble of Sepoys, camp-followers, and Europeans, in one huge mass. Hundreds of poor wretches, unable to seize any animals for themselves, or despoiled by stronger persons of those they had, were left on the road to die or be butchered. The end was now rapidly approaching. On arriving at a narrow gorge, about ten feet wide, called Tun ghee Tareekee, or " the dark pass," and two miles distant from their last ground, the advance of the retreating force was * Thornton. " History of British India." t " Military Operations at Cabul.'* 552 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. met bv the destructive iire of the enemy, securely perched on the high ground. The straitened pass soon became literally choked with dead and dying ; and here the last remains of the native infantry disappeared. Many fell ; the rest, throwing away their arms and accoutrements, fled for life. Finally the enemy rushed down, sword in hand, and commenced a general massacre, capturing the public treasure, with the remnant of baggage which up to this point had been preserved. A part of the advance succeeded in getting through the pass, which is not above fifty yards in length, and proceeded to Kubber-i-Jubhar, where they -halted for their comrades. While anxiously looking out for them, a straggler from time to time arrived, bearing heavy news; another and another ap- peared, and in this manner all that escaped the fury of the enemy joined : the direful truth that, with these miserable exceptions, the two missing columns had been cut off and destroyed, at length becoming apparent beyond the possibility of question. The British force now consisted of seventy men of her Majesty's 44th regiment, a hundred and fifty cavalry troopers, and about fifty horse artillerymen, with one twelve-pound howitzer. Such was its strength as to combatants ; but the number of camp-followers was still large. Even reduced as they were to this pitiful hand- ful, on observing a body of cavalry in their rear, they determined to bring their solitary gun into position, and make a last eiTort for existence. It proved, however, to be Akbar Khan, who approached with another of his insidious pro})ositions, to the eflect that the remainder of the British force should be disarmed and placed under his protection, when he would guarantee their safety, and that of all the European officers, to Jellalabad. To this proposition the General would not assent, and once more " Forward !" was the word. The troops resumed their fearful march : the remnant of the camp-folio \vers, with several wounded ofiicers, went ft-head. For five miles the main body saw no enemy ; all OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY, 553 "wlio could not walk were necessarily left behind. They were now going down a long steep descent from the Huffc Kohtul, or summit of a lofty eminence, to the bed of the Tazeen Nullah, and at this dip the scene was horrible ; the ground was covered with all those who had gone forward, dead and dying, and amongst them were several officers. They had been suddenly attacked and over- powered by the enemy, who now crowded from the tops of the hills in all directions down the bed of the Nullah, through which the route lay for three miles. Our men continued their progress through an incessant fire from the heights on both sides, until their arrival about half-past four P.M. in the Tazeen valley, and here they lost the snow. Negotiations were again renewed with Akbar Khan,, who made the sauie proposal as before, but it was again rejected by the British general. Their only hope then appeared to be in making a night march of twenty-two miles to Jugduluk ; when under cover of the darkness,. they might penetrate safely through that terrible pass^ which is about two miles long, very narrow, and com- manded on both sides by high and precipitous hills. On moving off, the last gun was abandoned ; and the same fate befel the wounded and the exljausted. The march commenced at seven o'clock p.m., but the hope that Jugduluk might be reached under cover of the night was not accomplished ; for it was not till dawn of day on the 11th that the advance arrived at Kutter Sung, a place ten miles short of Jugduluk, and the junc- tion of the rear did not take place till eight o'clock. The march had not been without annoyance from the enemy ; but the darkness rendered their fire comparatively harm- less, except by the alarm it excited. The panic-stricken camp-followers now resembled a herd of deer, and fluctuated backwards and forwards en masse at every shot, blocking up the entire road, and fatally retarding the progress of the little body of soldiers who, vmder Brigader Shelton, brought up the rear. They had now been marching for twenty-four hours consecutively, and had still ten miles 55'4 OUS AXGLO-INDIAN ARMY. to go before they could hope for rest, while not a drop of water was iDrocurable, or likely to be had till their arrival. At two miles from Jugdiiluk the descent into the valley commences. The hills on each side of the road were occupied by the enemy, who kept firing from their long juzails ; and again the road was covered with dead and dying, as they were in such a mass that every shot told. On arriving in the valley, a position was taken up on the first height near some ruined walls. As scarcely any Europeans of the advance now remained, and the enemy were increasing, the General called all the officers, about twenty in number, to form line, and show a front to the enemy : they had scarcely done so when Captain Grant, Assistant Adjutant-General, received a ball through the cheek, which broke his jaw. On the arrival of the rear-guard, followed up by the enemy, the latter took possession of two heights close to our position j on which our force went for security wi^iin the ruined walls. The men were maddened with hunger and thirst ; but though a stream of pure water ran within a hundred and fifty yards of the position, no man could venture to go for it without the certainty of being massacred. Here our worn-out fugitives lay down upon the ground, in the hope of getting, at least, a little rest ; but they had scarcely done so, when volley after volley was poured into the inclosure. All was instant confusion, and a general rush took place outside the walls, men and cattle all huddled together, each striving to hide himself from the murderous fire of the enemy. And although Captain Bygrove, at the head of fifteen brave fellows of the 44th, charged up the hill, and drove the enemy before him like a flock of sheep, yet when he returned, they resumed their former position, and murderous sharp-shooting. Our unfortunate force at Jugduluk this day consisted of 1-50 men of the 44th, sixteen dismounted horse artillery- men, twenty-five of the 5th Cavalry, but not a single Sepoy with arms.* * Lady Sale's Journal. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARilY. 555 The wretched resource was again tried of negotiating with Akbar, who demanded that General Elphinstone should come to a conference, and that Brigadier Shelton and Captain Johnson should be delivered as hostages for the evacuation of Jellalabad. All was acceded to : General Elphinstone made ovei the command to Brigadier Anquetil, and, accompanied by Shelton and Johnson, proceeded to wait upon Akbar Khan, who received them courteously, and supplied them with refreshments. At nine on the morning of the 12th a meeting was held, when a number of the chiefs inveighed bitterly against the English, while Akbar pretended to plead their cause : but in this discus- sion the day elapsed without any decisive arrangement, and when General Elphinstone wanted to return to his troops, he found he was a j)risoner. At the British position, the return of the General had been long and anxiously looked for. Throughout the day hunger, thirst, exhaustion, and the galling annoyance of the enemy's unceasing fire, continued to be endured ; and as night drew on, it became obvious that nothing was to be hoped from a longer stay. The whole body accord- ingly sallied forth, to make their way to Jellalabad in the best manner they could. The AfFghans were not at first aware of the movement, but they soon gained intelligence of it, and marched in vast numbers to theirwork of destruc- tion. Officers and men, troops and followers, fell in great numbers, and the progress of the retiring party was a moving massacre. Some officers who were well mounted rode forward with the few remaining cavalry straggling jDarties of EurojDeans, under various officers, followed as cir- cumstances would permit ; but when the morning of the 13th dawned, the remnant of the infantry approached Gundamuk, and now their numerical weakness was obvious to the enemy they could muster only about twenty muskets among them all. An attempt to nego- tiate was made by one of the officers, but it ended in nothing, and the unhappy party had no resource but to stand on their defence, without a hope of ultimate success. 556 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. This gloomy task was executed with an unshrinking determination, which leads te the conviction that, if such men had been properly led in the outset, the British arms would not have suffered this great reverse, nor humanity have to shudder at such pitiable butchery. This handful of heroes, for as such we must regard men who will sacrifice their lives rather than lay down their arms to a ruthless foe, occupied an eminence opposite to another held by the enemy, whose overwhelming fire gradually diminished their numbers, while at intervals the work of extermination was accelerated by a rush, sword in hand, upon the devoted party, by whom not- withstanding the utter hopelessness of their situation the assailants were several times repelled. This mur- derous struggle lasted till nearly every one of these cham- pions of British honour was wounded, when a final onset of the enemy completed their destruction. Captain Souter, of the 44th, one of the few that survived the slaughter, but severely wounded, had, before leaving Jug- duluk, tied round his waist the colours of the regiment, which were thus preserved. It now only remains to record the fate of the officers and cavalry who, as we have stated, rode on a-head of the troops. Six of them dropped before reaching Futteeabad. The rest arrived at that place in safety, and were received by the inhabitants with professions of friendship and sym- pathy. Food was offered them, of which they naturally, but unwisely stopped to partake. The inhabitants in the meantime armed themselves, and, suddenly rushing on the men whom they had ensnared, cut down two of them. The remainder mounted and rode off; but the enemy pursued, and all the fugitives perished before reaching Jellalabad, except one. " Thus," says Lady Sale, " was verified what we were told before leaving Cabul : 'that Mahommed Akbar would annihilate the whole army, except one man, who should reach Jellalabad to tell the tak,' " OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. 557 CHAPTEE XXXII. Arrival of Dr. Brydon at Jellalabad Preparations there for a Siege Earth- quake at Jellalabad It is invested by the Aff^hans Sorties of the Garrison The Affghans defeated in a general Action Colonel Wyld repulsed from the Khyber Pass A British Army assembles at Peshawur under General Pollock He determines to force the Khyber Pass His triumphant Success Cap- tui-e of Ali Musj id General Pollock arrives at Jellalabad General Nott at Candahar Fall of Ghuznee Civil War at Cabul- The British Troops ad- vance on Cabul Destruction of Ghuznee by General Nott General Pollock arrives at Gundamuk The Enemy defeated at J ugduluk TotiU Defeat of the Affghans at Tazeen The British Armies arrive at Cabul Capture of Istaliff Release of the Prisoners Return of the Armies to India. The reader will readily imagine the astonishment and horror of Sir Robert Sale and his gallant companions at Jellalabad, when Dr. Brydon, of the Shah's force, the individual mentioned at the conclusion of the last chapter, tottered into that fortress, sinking with fatigue, hunger, and loss of blood, and faintly informed them that he was the last and only survivor of the 17,000 troops and camp- followers who, a few days before, had entered tlie deadly Pass of Khoord Cabul I The public calamity was so over- whelming, that all private griefs were doubtless absorbed for the moment in the magnitude and horror of the event ; yet it could not be long ere the hearts of all who had friends and relatives among the slain were torn with a feeling of intense agony at their sufferings ; and amongst these the breast of the commandant himself must have been long a prey to the most acute anxiety and the bitter- est anguish. But " courage mount eth with occasion ;" and instead of giving way to vain sorrow and useless repining, or dreaming of flight from the coming vengeance of Akbar Khan, the garrison of Jellalabad occupied themselves with t>56 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. strong arms and stout hearts in preparing to give the ruthless monster such a reception as he merited at the hands of British soldiers. For this purpose every possible exertion was made to reduce the consumption of pro- visions, and to procure fresh supplies, while the difficult task of placing the town in a respectable state of defence was carried on with vigour and success. By the 22nd of January the place was surrounded by an Affghan army of 9,000 men, including 2,500 good cavalry, commanded by Akbar Khan in person. This truculent chief, who had formerly been governor of Jellalabad himself, made the most strenuous efiTorts to establish a rigorous blockade ; while the ravines, hollows, and remains of mosques and mud-forts outside the walls were filled with skirmishers, who kept up an incessant fire on the parapets. Fortunately, Sir Bobert Sale had provisions enough for three or four months, and his foraging parties were so well conducted that they gathered grass for their horses and cattle in spite of the enemy, who possessed but little skill in siege operations, whatever they might display in butchering a helpless enemy in their murderous defiles. The courage of the garrison was further kejDt up by intel- ligence that a force under Colonel Wyld was preparing to march to the relief of Jellalabad, and that General Pol- lock, v\^ith a fresh army from India, was crossing the Punjaub. As, however, a long time must elapse before a march of five or six hundred miles could be efiected, the garrison of Jellalabad wisely determined to trust to their own resources ; and, by skilful and incessant labour, they had brought the tottering old walls into a defensible state, capable of resisting any Asiatic army unprovided with battering-train ; when it pleased Providence to destroy the whole of their work by a tremendous earth- quake, by which all the parapets were shaken down, several of the bastions injured, a considerable breach made in the curtain of the Peshawur face, the Oabul gate reduced to a shapeless mass of ruins, and about one-third of the town itself demolished. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMT. 559 But this did not paralyse the energies of either officers or men. The shocks had scarcely ceased when the whole garrison was told off into working-parties, and tEe nume- rous breaches repaired with such rapidity that Akbar Khan, in stupid amazement, ascribed the whole to Eng- lish witchcraft. Various skirmishes took place from time to time between the besiegers and the besieged, and re- peated sorties were made with spirit, gallantry, and mili- tary skill j which were finally crowned by a decisive and brilliant attack on the camp of the Sirdar on the 7th of Ajpril. At daybreak on that morning the British troops issued from the Cabul and Peshawur gates, and found the whole force of the enemy, alnounting to about six thousand, formed in order of battle, their right resting on a fort, and their left on the Cabul river. Sir E,obert Sale formed his troops in three columns : the .centre, consisting of the larger part of her Majesty's 13th regiment, mustering five hundred bayonets, under Lieutenant-Colonel Dennie ; the left, of the chief part of the ooth JSTative Infa^ntry, also five hundred strong, under Lieutenant- Colonel Mon- teith ; and the right, of one company of the 13th, one of the 35th, with a detachment of Sappers, the whole amount- ing to three hundred and sixty, and under the command of Captain Havelock. The columns were to be supported by the fire of the guns, and by the small cavalry, force at Jellalabad. The attack was led by the skirmishers and column under Captain Havelock, who soon drove in the enemy's advance, while the central column attacked a strong fort which covered that part of Akbar's line, when the gallant Colonel Dennie was mortally wounded while leading his column to the assault. The rear of this work having been gained with some difficulty, orders Avere given for a combined attack on the enemy's line, the artillery advancing at the gallop, and the three columns of infantry rushing on in concert. The enemy gave way instantly at all points, his left being dislodged from his 560 OUR AXGLO-INDIAN ARMY. posts on the river, and men and horses driven headlong into it. Yigorons attempts were made to rally, particu- larly by masses of cavalry, while a battery under cover of a garden wall was directed, it was supposed, by the Sirdar himself. In a very short time the foe was dis- lodged from every part of his position, his guns captured, his camp involved in flames, and Akbar Khan with his discomfited army in full retreat towards Lughman. The victory, in short, was complete, and only alloyed by the fall of Colonel Dennie, who had frequently distinguished himself in this disastrous war. In the meantime, as soon as the first disasters at Cabul had become known to Government, all the troops that could be spared from the north of India were pushed forward into Afighanistan. Their rendezvous was at Peshawur, then belonging to the Sikhs, who were ready to afibrd them every assistance. Early in January, several regiments had been mustered there under Colonel Wyld ; and this officer, with his brigade strengthened (numerically, at least) by some Sikh battalions, and the artillery attached to them, prepared to march through the Khyber Pass. But the Sikhs shrunk from the duty at the critical moment ; camel-drivers and others deserted in vast numbers, a series of disastrous accidents, involving the loss of much baggage and treasure occurred, the JBrigadier was himself wounded, and the whole party obliged to retreat with considerable loss. Reinforcements, however, continued to arrive at Peshawur, and General Pollock, a gallant and clear- headed officer, was fortunately appointed to command all the troops west of the Indus. By the beginning of April his force amounted to about 8,000 men of all arms ; and though this was scarcely adequate to the object of reliev- ing the blockaded garrisons in Afighanistan, releasing the prisoners, and striking such a blow as might restore oui* military prestige, which had materially sufiered by the late events, he determined to attempt the passage of the Khyber, without waiting for a further reinforcement of OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 561 4,000 men which was expected. This tremendous defile was defended by about ten thousand brave mountaineers, thoroughly skilled in this species of warfare. They had raised a strong breastwork to defend the narrow entrance, and tlieir bands covered all the rocky and precipitous heights on the right and left, whence they could take sure aim against the column, which could only march on the road beneath. To have penetrated through this passage exposed to so terrible a fire, would have been scarcely possible, and certainly not without dreadful carnage. The General saw that the only means of securing success w^as to send troops to scale the heights, and dislodge the enemy posted upon them. This was a most formidable operation ; but British soldiers, when projDerly commanded, had shown themselves able to vanquish the enemy under almost any circumstances. Two flanking columns were therefore formed, of twelve companies each, the right under Lieut.- Colonel Taylor, her Majesty's 9th Foot, and Major Ander- son, 64th Native Infantry ; and the left under Lieutenant- Colonel Mosely, 64tli Native Infantry, and Major Huish, 26th Native Infantry ; while 400 of the native troops, or Juzailchees, were led by Captain Ferris. On the 5th of April, General Pollock found himself in a condition to move forward to force the pass ; and the task was accomplished, not indeed without difficulty, but with complete success. Both columns, in the face of a determined opjDosition, which they overcame in the most gallant style, effectually expelled the enemy from the crest of the hill ; and in this achievement they were much aided by Captain A.lexander, of the Artillery, who threw in shrapnell shells wherever opportunity offered. The assailants thus continued to drive the opposing force from height to height, till they had cleared the whole range as far as the fort of Ali Musjid. At the view of this success, the barrier at the mouth of the pass was abandoned ; and the body of the army, with treasure, ammunition, and baggage, marched through without 562 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. opposition. Tliis grand operation was accomplished with the incredibly small loss of fourteen killed, 104- wounded, and seventeen missing ; the first including one, and the second three ofELcers. On the 6th of April the fort of Ali Musjid was attacked, and possession taken after a slight resistance : a full com- mand was thus obtained of the Khyber Pass, and the route lay open to Jellalabad, where General Pollock arrived with little further opposition on the 16th, under a joyful salute of seventeen guns from the garrison, while the two united and victorious armies hailed each other with loud and enthusiastic cheers. While these transactions were taking place at Cabul and Jellalabad, Candahar continued to be maintained by General Nott, who, like Sir Ptobert Sale, refused to obey the order extorted from General Elphinstone for the sur- render of the place. Prince Sufter Jung, a son of Shah Sujah, seconded the hostile chiefs in plundering the adja- cent villages, and exciting the people to rise against the British ; but on the 7th of March, General ISTott moving out of the city with the larger part of his force to attack the enemy, drove them before him across the Turnack, and then across the Urgundab. On the 9th he was able to approach sufficiently near to open his guns on them, when they dispersed in every direction. During his- absence a strong detachment of the enemy made an attack on the city, and succeeded in burning one of the gates ; but they were repulsed with great loss by Major Lane, of the 2nd Bengal Native Infantry, the officer in command of the garrison. General England, who in the middle of March had been repulsed in an attempt to convey stores to Candahar from Sinde, being reinforced at Quetta, on which place he had fallen back, advanced again in the end of April to effect his object, and fully succeeded. The strong fortress of Khelat-i-Ghiljie had been maintained by our troops- with great difficulty during the winter, surrounded by a hostile people, who early in spring formed lines of cir- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN* A45MY. 563 cumvallatioiij and closely blockaded it. Unable to effect any imijression, they retired ; but, on the 21st of May, they made an attack at four in the morning, in two columns each of 2,000 men, with thirty scaling-ladders, w^hen after an hour's contest they were completely beaten off. As for Gluiznee, it fell into the hands of the Affghans in March. Colonel Palmer, who commanded, not having quite a thousand men, was unable to prevent them from entering the city, but maintained himself in the citadel till the Sepoys were all frost-bitten and unfit for duty, provisions not to be obtained, relief despaired of, and, above all, water failing j when on the 6th of March he evacuated the place, in pursuance of a capitulation with some of the Affghan chiefs. The diminished force had scarcely marched out of the citadel ere it was attacked by the savage, fanatic Ghazees.* On one spot an English ofiicer, his wife, their servants, and thirty Sepoys were massacred. Native women and children and Sepoys were butchered by the Ghazee knives, or knocked down in heaps by discharges of artillery. Colonel Palmer himself was put to the torture ; after which he and his nine sur- viving officers were thrown into a small and filthy dun- geon. At this period several of the Affghan chiefs were waging ferocious war upon each other jn the neighbourhood of Cabul. Shih Sujah had been treacherously assassinated, and his youngest son, Futteh Jung, was proclaimed king by one party, while another was opposed to him ; and a civil or clan warfare was carried into the very heart of the city of Cabul. Akbar Khan, however, who had been absent during these transactions, now hastened to Cabul ; and by his talents, influence, and address, regained the complete mastery of that capital. He then turned his arms against the Bala Hissar ; and, having effected a breach, compelled it to surrender. Yet he did not pro- ceed to extremities against Futteh Jung, but acknow- ledged him as Shah, with the understanding that he * Champions of religion. 564 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. himself, under the title of Vizier, should exercise the whole authority. The Prince at first consented ; but not brooking this mere shadow of royalty, and being, in fact, treated as a kind of state prisoner, he made his escape, and presented himself in the camp of General Pollock, whom he urged to advance upon the capital. Akbar was thus left undisputed master of the country, and the only enemy with whom that commander had now to contend. This was the state of afiairs in Affghanistan when, for the honour of the English name, indeed for the safety of the British empire in India, Lord EUenborough, then Governor -General, finally decided, after long doubt and hesitation, that General Pollock from Jellalabad, and General Nott from Candahar, should march upon Cabul, display the superiority of the British arms in open war- fare, expel Akbar Khan, compel the restoration of the prisoners, and level with the ground all the strong fortresses by which the country could be defended, in case a future expedition should become necessary. The orders for this advance, however, were not issued till the middle of July, and in the interim our army at Jellalabad had been strengthened by a brigade under General Bolton. The troops, meantime, were somewhat straitened for provisions ; the heat became intense, and dysentery, with other diseases, began to be prevalent. Bands of the enemy again hovered round, and rendered it impracticable to stir beyond cover of the fortifications without the danger of being speared : the camels and other beasts of burden perished in great numbers, and the troops were depressed at the little prospect there appeared of avenging the injuries sustained by their countrymen. Detachments were, however, sent out to keep open the passes, and to overawe as well as jmnish refractory chiefs. On the 20th of June, twenty-five forts of the Goolai tribe, a desperate race of freebooters, were captured, and a considerable supply of provisions procured from them ; and on another occasion thirty-five forts were set on fire, belonging to the Shinwarees, another fierce OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ^RMY. 565 band^ who refused tribute, and boasted that no conqueror had ever entered their valley. They suffered so severely on this occasion, that their chief immediately afterwards intimated his willingness to pay the revenue. At length, on the i5th of August, 1842, General Nott left Candahar, and put himself in motion for Ghuznee, with the entire conviction that "one thousand Sepoys, properly manayed,yri\\ always beat ten thousand Affghans." He was at the head of about 7,000 men. Akbar Khan declared, with an expression of savage determination in his countenance, that so surely as our army advanced he would take all his English prisoners into Turkistan, and make presents of tlie ladies to different chiefs of that wild country. Sultan Jan started to meet Nott before he should reach Ghuznee : he fancied he was going to certain victory, but he sustained a complete and bloody defeat. After an "illustrious march," General Nott reached Ghuznee ; but found that place deserted. There was neither man, woman, nor child in it, the Affghans having all lied from the town, after fighting among themselves, and unroofing and destroying the houses for the sake of the timber. " I ordered the fortifications and citadel of Ghuznee to be destroyed," said General JSTott. "It had been the scene of treachery, mutilation, torture, starva- tion, and cruel murder to our unresisting countrymen."* On the 20th of August, General Pollock moved from Jellalabad; and was at Gundamuk on the 23rd, the enemy occupying in force the village and fort of Mammoo Khail, only two miles distant. To dislodge them, he marched on the 24th, and found them stationed in an orchard with some inclosures, having their front covered by field- works of loose stones. From these positions they were driven into the village, where they made a show of resistance, but retired as the British troops advanced, and the latter entered the village. The fort and another village in the vicinity were speedily occupied by British * Letter to Major-General Lumlev, Adjutant-General of the Armv, dattd Luckno '.V , A pril 4t li , 1843. 5Q6 OUR A^'OLO-INDIAN ARMY. troops, while others drove the enemy from the hills. Upon the more elevated and precipitous of these a stand was sometimes made, and a sharp fire of juzails main- tained ; but the vigour with which the various attacks were pressed rendered these attempts unavailing, and the whole of the enemy's camp-equipage, with their carriage-cattle, fell into the hands of the English. The troops employed on this occasion were her Majesty's 9th Foot, the 26 th and 60 th Bengal Native Infantry, two squadrons of Light Cavalry, some Sappers and Miners, and a light field-battery. General Pollock spent about a fortnight in this place, collecting, his troops, and making arrangements for their further advance. On the 6th of September, he began his final movement upon Cabul, with the first division of his army, commanded by Sir Robert Sale ; the second division, under General McCaskill, being left to follow on the 8th, on the morning of which day the British troops approached the terrible Pass of Jugduluk. Here the enemy, nearly 5,000 strong, under the standards of different chiefs, had crowned the amphitheatre of hills on the left of the road, whence they were separated by a deep ravine. They opened a formidable fire on the advancing colamn, which caused several casualties in the British ranks. Our guns were well served, and shells burst among them with powerful eflect ; but, as their fire did not slacken, it was found necessary to scale the heights. This was done effectually by a party led by Captains Wilkinson and Broadfoot, consisting of her Majesty's 13th Foot, one company each of the 6th and 35th Bengal Native In- fantry, and some Sappers. This force, in rushing up the steep, raised an animated and enthusiastic cheer, on hear- ing which the enemy fled panic-stricken down the opposite declivities. " Seldom," says General Pollock, " have sol- diers had a more arduous task to perform, and never was an undertaking of the kind surpassed in execution." General Pollock now proceeded with the utmost dili- gence, skirmishing in a similar manner, and driving the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ^RMY. 567 Affglians before him in soldier-like style, over that ground whereon, a few months before^ they basely and treacher- ously slew the helpless mass of our disabled soldiers and camp-followers. On the morning of the 13th, the army entered the Pass of Tazeen, and found mustered there the whole Cabul force, estimated at 16,000 men, under the personal command of Akbar, AmenooUah, and other great chiefs attached to his cause. TheAffghans had most carefully improved the naturally great strength of the position, and manifested a determi- nation to defend it to the last extremity. When, there- fore, the British troops ascended the heights, they found the enemy, contrary to custom, advancing to the contest, which was maintained with desperation, and in many instances decided only by t}.\e bayonet. It was peculiarly obstinate before they were dislodged from the numerous positions on the lofty eminence of the Huft Kohtul. The re- sistance was indeed protracted during a great part of the day ; but at length British valour overcame every ob- stacle, and our troops, with three cheers, established themselves on tiiis mighty summit. The victory was complete ; the enemy lied in every direction, losing their guns and three standards ; and on the spot where the massacre of one British army was consummated, it was now avenged by the triumph of another. The power of the Affghans was so completely broken in this action that General Pollock met with no further o^jposition, even in the dreadful Pass of Khoord Cabul ; and on the 15th of September, 1842, he encamped on the race-ground at Gabul, where he was joined a few days after by General Kott. On the morning of the i6th, with his staff and a party of troops, General Pollock entered the Bala Plissar, on whose summit he planted the colours of his country, amid the shouts of the soldiers, the roar of artillery, and the inspiring strain of the national anthem. After so many disasters, the Affghans retreated into the moimtain territory of Kohistan, immediately north 0G8 OTJR AWGLO-IXDIAN ARMY. of Cabul, taking refuge in IstalifF, the grand rallying point to which most of the chiefe had conveyed their wives and property. General Pollock, however, deter- mined to dislodge them, and a force was despatched for this purpose, under General McCaskill, consisting of two 18-pounders and a detail of Bombay artillery, Captain Blood's light field-battery, Captain Backhouse's mountain- train, head quarters and two squadrons of her Majesty's 3rd Dragoons, one squadron of the 1st Light Cavalry, Christie's Irregular Horse, her Majesty's 9th and 41st Foot, the 26th, 42nd, and 43rd Native Infantry, and Cap- tain Broad foot's Sappers and Miners. This town, with 15,000 inhabitants, consists of clusters of houses and forts, built on the slope of a mountain, having in its rear still loftier eminences, that shut in a defile leading to Turkistan. It could onl}^ be approached across ranges of hills, separated by dark ravines, and covered with gardens, vineyards, and orchards, inclosed by strong walls ; all the heights being occupied by those formidable sharpshooters the Juzailchees. The troops, however, in two columns, under Brigadiers Tullock and Stacey, stormed this formidable position with distinguished gallantry. Pressing on and leaving the enemy not a moment to rally, they carried successively all the inclo- sures, forts, heights, suburbs, and, finally, the town ; when the singular spectacle was presented of the women and children hastening up the mountain-side to effect their escape, which no attempt was made to intercept. The place was found filled with property, conveyed thither for security, and mostly taken from our army in 1841. After removing everything that could be useful, arrangements were made for the entire demolition of the fortress. We ha,ve now the gratifying task of noticing the release of the unhappy captives who had been so long in the hands of Akbar Khan. On the 25th of August this ruth- less ruffian kept his threat by hurrying off his prisoners towards Turkistan. On the 3r 1 of September they had reached Bameean, every indignity having been heaped OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 569 upon them by the way. There they were halted under an old fort, waiting for fresh orders. On the II th Saleh Mahommed, who had charge of them, and was " a man that would do anything for money/' signed an agreement with five of the British officers to make them over to the British general on condition of receiving 20,000 rupees, and an annuity for life of 1,000 rupees per month. Saleh then dismissed the escort, and changed the governor of the fort for one on whom he could rely. Dreading lest the Afighan army, even in its retreat, should take this direction, they made indefatigable efforts to put tlie strong- hold in a state of defence, determined, as Lady Sale says, to hold out until the arrival of assistance, even though they should be reduced to eat the rats and mice, of which they had a grand stock in the old fort.* Fortunately, her ladyship was not reduced to banquet on such " small deer ;" for General Pollock, immediately on arriving at Cabul, had made airangements for the departure of 700 Kuzzilbash horse in search of them, accompanied by Sir Richmond Shakspeare, to whom he advanced ten thousand rupees ; and soon after Sir Robert Sale followed with a corps of 2,06eO men. The prisoners departed from Bameean on the 16th, and next day crossed the KaloG mountain-range, 13,0(K) feet high, being little inferior to Mont Blanc. After descending, they were filled with joy by meeting with Sir Richmond and the Kuzzilbashes on the 17th, and on the 19th with General Sale. " It is impossible," says the heroic Lady Sale, in her simple but afiecting language, " to express our feelings on Sale's approach. To my daughter and myself, happiness so long delayed as to be almost unexpected was actually painful, and accompanied by a choking sensation, which could not obtain the relief of teai-s. When we arrived where the infantry were posted, they cheered all the cap- tives as they passed them ; and the men of the l-3th (Sir Robert Sale's regiment) pressed forward to welcome us individually. Most of the men had a little word of hearty * Lady Sale's Memoirs. 70 OUR ANGLO-INDIAX ARMY. congratulation to offer, each in his own style, on the restoration of his colonel's wife and daughter ; and then my highly-wrought feelings found the desired relief, and I could scarcel}'' speak to thank the soldiers for their sym- pathy, whilst the long-withheld tears now found their course. On arriving at the camp, Captain Backhouse fired a royal salute from his mountain-train guns ; and not only our old friends, but all the officers of the party, came to offer congratulations^ and welcome our return from captivity."* The total number of all who were released on this occasion was one hundred and twenty-two, of whom nine * Lady Sale's Memoirs. OUR AKGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 571 were ladies, including Lady Macnaghten and Lady Sale, and three the wives of non-commissioned officers or privates, twenty-two children, and thirty-four officers, including Major-General Shelton, General Elphinstone having died in captivity : the rest, with the exception of two or three regimental clerks, were British non-commis- sioned officers or privates. Some of the first sad occupations of our troops on reaching Cabul had been to collect the bones of their slaughtered countrymxcn and fellow-soldiers, and to give them interment. In some places the skeletons lay in heaps. They were nearly all headless, the Affghans having carried off most of the skulls as trophies. Hor- rible, agonising efforts were made by some of our officers and men to recognise, in shattered bones and skulls, the mortal remains of some dear friend and comrade. On the spot where her Majesty's 44th regiment made their last heroic stand more than 200 skeletons were found lying close together. No further operations were undertaken against the enemy. Akbar, and other chiefs whom it might have been desirable to punish for their perfidy, had fled beyond the frontier, and sought refuge in Turkistan. It was, however, considered indispensable that, before departing, a severe lesson should be given to the Affghans, as to the hazards which must always attend a war with Britain. The great bazaar, erected under Aurungzebe, by the cele- brated architect Ali Murdan Khan, was esteemed the most spacious edifice, and the chief seat of trade in Central Asia. It was 600 feet long, and contained 2,000 shops ; and here had been exposed to public insult the remains of the late Envoy. It was, therefore, determined to reduce it to ashes ; and Colonel Richmond, with a party of Sap- pers and Miners and a detachment of troops, were em- ployed two days in completing its destruction. The speedy approach of winter now gave warning to lose no time in evacuating a country which had been the scene of so much glory and disaster. Accordingly, on the 572 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 12th of October the army marched on its return to India in three divisions, commanded respectively by Generals Pollock, McCaskill, and Nott ; General Sale being sent with a light corps in advance, to clear the flanks, and crown the heights of the Khoord Cabul Pass. Some annoyance was experienced from the Ghiljies and the Khyberies on the march, which occasioned several casual- ties in the rear division ; but with these exceptions, the troops arrived in safety at Ferozepore on the 1 8th of No- vember, where they were joyfully received by the Governor- General and the Commander-in-Chief To the rough encounters of " grim-visaged war" now succeeded the soft dalliance and gorgeous pageantry of dinners, balls, and reviews ; and on one of these festive occasions, in pro- posing the health of General Sale and the brave garrison of Jellalabad, Lord Ellenborough said, that it was they who had saved the name and fame of the British empire in India. 0X7B ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 573 CHAPTEE XXXIII. Retrospective Glance at Sinde Our Commercial and Political Relations with that Country Imputed Treachery of the Ameers- A British Army assembles at Sukkur under Sir Charles Napier He advances on Hyderabad The Be- loochees attack the British Residency Escape oflthe Commissioner Battle of Meeanee Surrender of the Ameers Treasure taken at Hyderabad Battle of Dubba Final Defeat of the Beloochees, and Annexation of Sinde AiFairs of Gwalior Dreadful State of that Country Intervention of the Governor- General British Troops advance from Agra Battles of Maharajpoor and Punnear Submission of the Refractory, and Settlement of the Country. The Sindian war followed so immediately after that wliich we have just narrated, that it has been justly cha- racterised by its eloquent historian,* as " the tail of the Affghan storm." Much controversy has sprung out of our annexation of Sinde to our empire in the East, Avith which, of course, we have nothing to do ; but a very brief retrospect of its history will be necessary to give the general reader a correct idea of the origin of the war. The kingdom of Sinde, which occupies both banks of the Great Delta of the Indus, immediately to the south of Affghanistan, differs altogether in climate and natural features from that rugged, hilly country. It possesses a fertile soil, and a most unwarlike population, who have always been under foreign subjection, either Affghan or Beloochee. In 1786 a chief of the former race, named Meer Futteh Ali, having gained the ascendancy over another tribe, assigned distinct portions of the conquered country to two of his relations, and thus arose the states of Khyrpoor and Meerpoor. But the larger division of territory was retained by Futteh Ali himself, in connex- ion with his three brothers, whom he associated in the " Major-General W. Napier. 574: OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. government ; and these were called the Ameers of Hy- derabad, the name of their capital. This mode of govern- ment was imitated after the death of Futteh Ali at Khyrpoor, where also a plurality of Ameers claimed and exercised authority, though one was recognised as chief The East India Company had for a long series of years made repeated efforts to establish commercial relations with the Ameers of Sinde : but these chiefs^ independent of the rooted jealousy they entertained towards all strangers, led a very pococurante sort of life, caring very little for anything connected with trade and commerce but the collection of the duties thereon, which was effected for them by their Beloochee troops, while they amused themselves in their shikarc/ahs, or hunting-grounds, which spread over very extensive portions of the country along the banks of the Indus. In process of time, however, the perseverance of the Company's agents effected certain treaties with the Ameers, and a certain footing in the country, which enabled the British in 1838 to interpose their good offices between the Ameers and Runjeet Singh, the Lion of the Funjaub, who was going to pounce upon them ; in consideration of which act of kindness, the Ameers agreed to our unmo- lested right of navigating the Indus, and to the permanent residence of a British minister at the Court of ITyderabad, with the power of changing his ordinary place of abode, and the right of being attended by a suitable escort. This was the narrow end of the wedge, and our Indian diplomatists were too experienced in such matters not to drive it home effectually. When we formed the tripar- tite treaty with Bunjeet Singh and Shah Sujah, for the purpose of reseating the latter on the throne of Cabul, we opportunely discovered that the Ameers were deeply in- debted for tribute to our protegS, Sinde having been for- merly a dependency of Cabul, and we accordingly enforced payment of the same. Subsequently, when we could not get permission to march our troops into Affghanistan through the Punjaub, we took the liberty of doing so OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 575 through Sinde ; and the more conveniently to do so, we took possession of certain towns and fortified places in that country. We made the Indus a high road for the transmission of troops and munitions of war from Bom- bay ; and we not only did this, to the great astounding of the Ameers, but, not content with marching our troops through Sinde, we stationed a large military force at Tatta on the Indus, and called upon the Ameers to pay a certain sum for the maintenance of that force, " from the presence of which," said our diplomatists, "they will derive such vast advantages." From all these premises, the ingenious reader will come to the necessary conclusion, that the Ameers were under our protection ; and that, consequently, any attemj^t on their part to relieve themselves by foreign alliance from this Irish reciprocity system, was nothing short of treason to the majesty of the Honourable Company Bahauder. Now, it was discovered that one of the Ameers had been carrying on a correspondence with Persia, and that others had leagued themselves with the Sikh Chief of Mooitan, and other powerful leaders, for the purpose of gradually forming an extensive combination against iis. Lord EUenborough, therefore, on the termination of the AfF- ghan war, determined to break the strength of the Ameers at once, rather than wait for a future collision, when they might choose their own time, and possibly take us by surprise. The force under General England, amounting to 3,500 men, was, accordingly, ordered to move from Candahar towards Sinde, and other bodies of troops soon followed them, increasing their number to about 5,000 men. On the 4th of October, 1842, Major-General Sir Charles Naj^ier arrived at Sukkur, and assumed the command of the forces in Sinde. On his way he had left with the Ameers at Hyderabad Lord Ellenborough's ultimatum, and a few days after Major Outram, our Besident at that couii;, was commissioned to demand an equally definite reply. For above four months after this, negotiations 576 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. were carried on, with which we have nothing to do ; but a treaty was at length agreed to, and received the signa- ture of the Ameers on the 14th of February, 1843. At this period Sir Charles Napier, with a view of has- tening the negotiations, and determined, as he said, not to lose the advantage of the cold weather, crossed the Indus, thus throwing himself between the northern and southern Ameers, and advanced towards Hyderabad. It was constantly represented by the Ameers tha^t the con- tinued advance of Sir Charles Napier would exasperate the Beloochees, and cause them to resort to arms in de- fence of their country's independence. That officer, how- ever, continued to advance, and on the 15th of February the long- threatened outbreak took place ; the first object of attack being the residence of Colonel Outram, the British Commissioner. A dense body of cavalry and infantry took post in a manner to command three sides of the inclosure in which the residence was situated, the fourth being defended by a British steamer, which, happily, lay in the river at no great distance. A hot fire was commenced and kept up for four hours by the assailants ; but their attempts to efiect an entrance were defeated by the judicious efforts of Captain Conway, the officer in command, ably and zealously supported by his subalterns. Lieutenant Har- ding and Ensign Pennefather, of her Majesty's 22nd, and by two volunteers Captain Green, of the 21st Bombay Native Infantry, and Captain Wells, of the 15thj Captain Brown, Bengal Engineers, was despatched to the steamer, and there rendered valuable assistance in directing her fire. The number of men under Captain Conway was entii'ely inadequate to any protracted defence, and the stock of ammunition was scanty. A reinforcement of men and a supply of ammunition were expected by an- other steamer, but she arrived without either; and it became obvious that nothing could be done but to effect a retreat with as little loss as possible. An attempt was OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 577 made to remove the property witliiii the residence ; but the camp-followers became alarmed, and, after reaching the steamer with their first loads, could not be brought to return ; while the fighting-men had employment more stirring and more important than looking after baggage. The greater portion of the property was therefore aban- doned ; and the British party evacuated their quarters in a body, covered by a few skirmishers. The movement was effected with perfect order ; and the British Commis- sioner, with his brave escort, arrived in safety at the camp of Sir Charles Napier. There was now no mode of deciding the existing differ- ences but by the sword. Sir Charles Napier, accordingly, advanced to oppose the united armies of Upper and Lower Sinde, which were already in the field. On the 16th of Febniary he reached Muttaree, where he learned that the Ameers had taken up a position at Meeanee, about twelve miles distant, with a force of 22,000 men and 15 guns, while the number then with him did not amount to 3,000. At eight o'clock on the following morning his advanced guard came in sight of their camp at Meeanee, within view of the towers of Hyderabad. The position occupied by the Sindians had been chosen with great skill, and their immense superiority in point of numbers allowed them to turn it to the utmost advan- tage. Both flanks were protected by thick woods, which seemed calculated to baffle any attempt to turn them, while the whole length of their front was effectually secured by the dry bed and steep banks of the river Fulailee, one of the branches of the Indus. So soon as the British forces came within range of the enemy's guns, a battery of fifteen pieces of artillery opened upon them with deadly effect. The British had only twelve small field-pieces, which Sir Charles posted on his right, while some skirmishers and a body of native cavalry were ordered to advance and make the enemy show his force. The advance then took place from the right en echelon of battalions, the left wing being declined to escape the fire u 578 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. of a village which protected the enemy's right. The artil- lery and her Majesty's 22nd formed the leading echelon^ the 25th Native Infantry the second, the 12th Native Infantry the third, and the 1st Grenadier Native Infantry the fourth. The British fire of musketry opened at about a hundred yards from the bank of the river, and in a few minutes the engagement became general along the whole line. The dead level of the plain was swept by the Beloochees* cannon and matchlocks ; and when our troops got close up, after the ravine was crossed, our men had to ascend a high sloping bank. "The Beloochees," says the his- torian of the Peninsular War,* " having their match- locks laid ready in rest along the summit, waited until the assailants were within fifteen yards ere their volley was discharged ; but the rapid pace of the British and the steepness of the slope deceived their aim, and the result was not considerable : the next moment the 22nd were on the top of the bank, thinking to bear down all before them, but they staggered back in amazement at the forest of swords waving in their front. Thick as stand- ing corn, and gorgeous as a field of flowers, stood the Beloochees in their many-coloured garments and turbans ; they filled the broad deep bed of the ravine, they clustered on both banks, and covered the plain beyond. Guarding their heads with their large dark shields, they shook their sharp swords, beaming in the sun, their shouts rolling like a peal of thunder, as with frantic gestures they dashed forward, with demoniac strength and ferocity, full against the front of the 22nd. But with shouts as loud, and shrieks as wild and fierce as theirs, and hearts as big and arms as strong, the Irish soldiers met them with the queen of weapons the musket and sent their foremost masses rolling back in blood. . . . Now the Beloochees closed their dense masses, and again the shouts, and the rolling fire of musketry, and the dreadful rush of their swordsmen, were heard and seen along the whole line ; * Major-General W. F. P. Napier. ' Conquest of Sinde.'' OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. 579 and such a fight ensued as has seldom been known or told of in the records of war. These wild warriors continually advanced, sword and shield in hand, striving, in all the fierceness of their valour, to break into the opposing ranks ; no fire of small arms, no thrust of bayonets, no sweeping discharges of grape from the guns, which were planted in one fearful mass on the right, could drive the gallant soldiers back. They gave their breasts to the shot, they leaped upon the guns by twenties at a time ; their dead went down the steep slope by hundreds ; but the gaps in their masses were continually filled up from the rear ; the survivors of the front rank still pressed forward with unabated fury, and the bayonet and the sword clashed in full and frequent conflict." The nature of the ground almost entirely precluded the ordinary manoeuvres of a disciplined force ; and from the vast superiority of the enemy in point of numbers, it appeared for a time impossible that the British could hold their ground. Fast as one wild band of desperate as- sailants fell before their cool and resolute defence, another band, equally numerous and fearless, sprang into their place. On seeing the perilous state of his main body in front, after maintaining their ground for above three hours against a foe that seemed to spring up anew as fast as they were struck down or driven back. Sir Charles ordered his reserve cavalry to force the right wing of the enemy a movement which was most gallantly executed. In the first charge the 9th Light Cavalry took a standard and several pieces of artillery, and another body of native^ cavalry obtained possession of the enemy's camp, from which a large body of their horse were slowly driven, fighting every inch of ground as they withdrew. They were pursued for upwards of two miles, till they were effectually broken and scattered in hopeless disorder. This gallant charge decided the fortune of the day ; for though the main body of the enemy did not immediately give way, their resistance slackened as soon as they saw their wing turned and the chief body of their cavalry 580 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. driven from the field. The 22nd, 23rd, and 12th regi- ments then successively charged up the bank with the bayonet, and forced the enemy's line at all points, the last regiment capturing several guns ; while the Sindeans gave way in all directions, and fled from the field, leaving the whole of their artillery, ammunition, standards, and camp, with considerable stores and some treasure, in the hands of the victors. The battle, however, was not won without considerable loss on the side of the British. Six European officers and sixty sergeants and privates were killed, and fourteen officers and about two hundred men wounded. The loss of the Beloochees was enormous : a careful computation gave it as 6,000 ; one thousand bodies were heaped in the ravine alone. Not a single prisoner was captured by the British ; for in the barbarous system of warfare to which the Beloochees had been accustomed, no quarter is ever given to an enemy : the consequence was that, antici^ pating the same treatment from their British victors, the wounded refused all quarter, and continued to strike at every one that approached them, until they were bayoneted where they lay. At break of day on the following morning, Sir Charles Napier sent to tell the Ameers that he would immediately storm Hyderabad if they did not surrender. Six of these -sovereign princes (three of Khyrpoor and three of Hy- derabad) soon after entered his camp on horseback, and offered themselves as prisoners. They yielded their for- tress, and laid their rich swords and other arms at the British general's feet. "Their misfortunes," said Sir Charles, " were of their own creation ; but as they were gi-eat, I gave them back their swords." On the 20th of February, Sir Charles Napier entered the capital of Lower Sinde. On taking possession of Hyderabad, considerable treasure fell into the hands of the British ; and further discoveries afterwards greatly augmented this, so that a total amount of specie was ultimately reported in the hands of the victors, amounting to above three millions sterling. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 581 Notwithstanding the very severe loss sustained by the enemy, they were still greatly superior in point of numbers to their opponents, and were headed by chiefs who could not hope for any satisfactory terms from the conqueror. The foremost of these was Hoche Mahommed Seedee, one of the Beloochee chiefs, who, along with Meer Shore Mahommed, the chief of Meerpoor, was looked upon as the great promoter of the war. The small number of the forces under Sir Charles's command, amounting, with recent reinforcements, only to about 6,000 men in all, prevented his occupying any extended position beyond the walls of Hyderabad ; the enemy, therefore, began to muster towards the end of March, in numbers not greatly inferior to the force he had already defeated after so 582 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. arduous a struggle. The British general having been reinforced on the 22nd of that month by Major Stack with the 3rd Cavalry, the 8th Native Infantry, and Major Leslie's troop of Horse Artillery, resolved to go in pursuit of the enemy, and attack them wherever they might be found. The Sindeans had again posted themselves in a strong and well-selected position at Dubba, on the banks of the Fulailee, whose dry channel had afforded them such valuable protection in the previous engagement. But they had improved not only on the experience acquired in the former defeat, but strengthened their position with a degree of skill hitherto unknown to them, and which in- dicated the presence of European tacticians in their army. Early in the morning of the 24th of March, Sir Charles put his forces in motion ; and by the time they had marched about two miles, they descried the enemy about a mile and a half in advance. Approaching within twelve hiindred yards of their position, the troops were drawn up in order of battle, and moved forward e** echelon of regiments to the attack. About nine o'clock the British guns o})ened their fire on the enemy's position, producing great confusion in their centre, where considerable bodies were observed to move to the left, apparently unable to sustain the cross-fire of the artillery. The position of the enemy was nearly a straight line. The nullah which formed its front consisted of two deep parallel ditches one twenty feet wide and eight feet deep, the other forty-two feet wide and seventeen feet deep further strengthened by banks and escarpments of the most formidable character. These skilful preparations, however, proved altogether ineffectual in arresting the victorious career of the British army, though manned by such brave and such numerous defenders. When the centre of the enemy was seen to give way under the severe fire of the British artillery, Major Stack, at the head of the 3rd Cavalry, under Captain Delamain, sup- ported by a body of Sinde horse, under Captain Jacob, OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 583 charged them on their left flank, crossing the nullah with such determined valour that the Sindeans gave way before them, and were pursued for several miles with great slaughter. " While this was passing on the right," says Sir Charles Napier, "her Majesty's 22nd regiment, gallantly led by Major Poole, who commanded the brigade, and Captain Greorge, who commanded the corps, attacked the nullah on the left with great gallantry, and, I regret to add, with considerable loss. This brave battalion marched up to the nullah under a heavy fire of matchlocks, without returning a shot till within forty paces of the intrench- ment, and then stormed it like British soldiers. The intre})id Lieutenant Coote first mounted the rampart, seized one of the enemy's standards, and was severely wounded while waving it, and cheering on his men. Meanwhile the Poonah horse, under Captain Tait, and the 9th Cavalry, under Major Storey, turned the enemy's right flank, pursuing and cutting down the fugitives for several miles. Her Majesty's 22nd regiment was well supported by the batteries commanded by Captains Willoughby and Hntt, which crossed their fire with that of Major Leslie. Then came the second brigade, under command of Major Woodbnrn, bearing down into action'with excellent coolness. It consisted of the 25th, 21st, and 12th regiments, under the command of Captains Jackson, Stevens, and Fisher, respectively. These regiments were strongly sustained by the fire of Captain Whitley's battery, on the right of which were the 8th and 1st regiments, under Majors Brown and Olibborne ; these two corps advanced with the regu- larity of a review up to the intrenchments, their com- manders, with considerable exertion, stopping their fire, on seeing that a portion of the Sinde horse and 3rd Cavalry, in charging the enemy, had got in front of the brigade. The battle was decided by the troop of Horse Artillery, and her Majesty's 22nd regiment." The loss sustained by the British in the battle of 584 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. Dubba amounted to two hundred and sixty-seven killed and wounded. Among the former were two valuable officers Captain Garrett, of the 9 th Light Cavalry, and Lieut. J. C. Smith, of the Bombay Artillery. The latter officer fell while exhibiting an instance of desperate valour, in riding along the top of the nullah, in advance of his battery, with a view of ascertaining where his guns could be brought to bear with the greatest effect. Many other acts of intrepid bravery were displayed in this severe con- test ; the General himself being greatly exposed during the whole fight, moving with the utmost coolness where the enemy's shots were flying thickest, and his example was not lost upon his officers. Eleven pieces of ordnance and nineteen standards were taken. Hoche Mahommed Seedee and three other chiefs fell in the battle ; the Beloochee force was entirely routed and dispersed in eveiy direction, and Meer Shere Mahommed fled into the desert, taking his family with him, and attended by only forty followers whom he could attract to his service. Immediately after the action Sir Charles Napier marched forward and took possession of Meerpoor. He was welcomed with joy by the inhabi- tants of the country, who had suffered so much from the fickle rule of the Ameers, that they testified the utmost anxiety to be assured that Sinde was to be annexed to the British possessions. This was the last general action that took place in Sinde, though some affairs of minor importance and but little interest occurred from time to time, until the final submission or extermination of the partisans of the late Ameers. This fine country being thus reduced to com- parative peace, and allowed to develop its resources under the equitable sway of the Company, the Governor- General had time to turn his attention to the affairs of the House of Scindia ; a subject fraught with anxiety from the occurrence of events which threatened to light up again the flames of war so recently extinguished, and of which we shall now give a brief summary. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 585 On the decease of the late Maharajah Dowlut Kao Scindia without issue, his very youthful widow was left regent of the country ; and she, with the concurrence of the chief persons of the Court of Gwalior, adopted a boy named Bhageerut E,ao, who was forthwith seated on the guddee. As the new Maharajah was only eight years old, and his adoptive mother only thirteen, the Court became, of course, a focus of intrigue ; the Maharanee being an instrument by turns in the hands of different parties, struggling with each other for the guardianship of the poor little Maharajah, during so promising a minority, while a very licentious army of 30,000 men threw its weight into either scale as it suited its con- venience. The result was, that the country was rent in pieces by insurrections, plots, wide-s]3reading conspiracies, and assassinations. The British Government being bound by its treaties with the late Rajah to protect his successor, and preserve his territories unviolated, the Governor-General could no longer overlook the fact, that the conduct of the autho- rities of Gwalior involved a virtual violation of the treaty. Lord EUenborough, therefore, immediately ordered the advance of troops, sufficient, as he said, " to obtain guarantees for the future security of the Company's subjects on the common frontier of the two states ; to pro- tect the person of the Rajah, to quell disturbances within his Highness's territories, and to chastise all who shall remain in disobedience," The Indian Ai-my accordingly left Agra, between the 12th and 18th of December, 1843, under the command of Major-General Sir Hugh Gough, and accompanied by Lord EUenborough in person. At the same time another division, under Major-General Grey, advanced upon Gwalior from Bundlecund. The main army crossed the Chumbul on the 23rd, and the Kohuree river on the 29th of December, in three columns, at points considerably distant from each other, and took up their j^osition, by eight o'clock on the morning of that day, about a mile in 586 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. front of Maharajpoor. Here they found the Mahratta forces drawn up in a very strong position, which they had carefully intrenched. The British and native troops were about 14,000 strong, with forty pieces of artillery ; the Mahrattas mustered 18,000 men, including 3,000 cavalry, with 100 guns. Seven regiments of Mahratta infantry were ranged in front, each corps having four guns attached to it, which opened on the advanced forces of the British as they took up their ground. Sir Hugh Gough's order of battle Avas at once simple and compre- hensive : General Littler s column being directly in front of Maharajpoor, was ordered to advance upon it direct, while General Yaliant's brigade was to take it in reverse ; both being supported by General Dennis's column, and the two light field-batteries. The action accordingly commenced by the gallant advance of Major-General Littler's column upon the enemy in front. The Mahrattas received the shock with- out flinching, their guns doing severe execution as our attacking column approached. But the British soldiers rushed on ; and her Majesty's 39th Foot, well supported by the 56th Native Infantry, soon drove the enemy from their guns, bayoneting the gunners at their posts. The Mahrattas rallied in the village, and here the most sangui- nary conflict ensued : after discharging their matchlocks they flung them away, and fought sword in hand with the most determined courage. Meanwhile, General Valiant had led on his brigade, and succeeded in taking Maharajpoor in reverse. Twenty-eight guns were captured by this combined movement, but the Mahrattas still stood their ground ; nor was their strong position taken till nearly every one of its defenders had been left dead upon the spot. The same determined resistance was experienced at every point where the Mahrattas had thrown up intrench- ments and planted their guns ; and in nearly every case the gunners were bayoneted at their posts without at- tempting to fly. At length, after they had fought with OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 587 frantic desperation, and being beaten at all points, and having lost their guns and from three to four thousand men in killed and wounded, they dispersed and fled. But the loss on our side was very severe : we had 106 killed, 684 wounded, and seven missing. Seven officers were either killed on the field or subsequently died of their wounds. Her Majesty's 40th regiment lost two succes- sive commanding officers, Major Stopford and Captain Codrington, who fell at the very muzzles of the Mahratta guns.* The enemy having been dislodged from Maharajpoor, General Valiant, supported by the 3rd Cavalry Brigade, moved on the right of the enemy's main portion at Chonda. During his advance he had to take in succession three strongly-intrenched positions, where, in the lan- guage of the despatch, the enemy defended their guns with frantic desperation. The brigade of General Littler, after dispersing the right of the enemy at Maharajpoor, advanced, supported by Captain Grant's troop of Horse Artillery, and the 1st regiment of Light Cavalry, to attack the main position at Chonda in front. It was carried by a rush of the Queen's 39th, supported by the 56th Native Infantry. The victory was complete ; but so strenuous a resist- ance had rarely been offered by a native army when opposed to a British force, even when the disparity of numbers had been far greater than on this occasion. The Commander-in-Chief thus expresses himself on the sub- ject : " I regret to say that our loss has been very severe, infinitely beyond what I calculated upon : indeed, I did not do justice to the gallantry of my opponents." On the same day another brilliant victory was obtained by the left wing of the army under Major- General Grey, at Punnear, over ten or twelve thousand Mahrattas, who lost all their guns twenty-four in number, a standard, all their ammunition, and some treasure. The consequence of these two victories was the prompt * Sir Hugh Gough's Despatch. 588 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. submission of the Gwalior durbar to Lord Ellenborougb's demands, and the unopposed entrance of the British into that capital. Colonel Stubbs was appointed governor of the fort of Gwalior, which commands the city ; the Mah- ratta troops were disbanded, and a British contingent of several regiments of infantry and two of cavcilry stationed in the country, at the cost of the Gwalior Government, which was also to pay forthwith the expenses of the cam- paign. The young Rajah was installed with great cere- mony at Gwalior, in presence of the Governor-General, the Commander-in-Chief, and an immense assemblage of native chiefs ; and in a proclamation issued on the occa- sion, Lord Ellenborough cordially congratulated the Com- mander-in-Ohief, Sir Hugh Gough, on his able combina- tions, by which two victories had been obtained on the same day, and the two wings of the army proceeding from different points had been united under the walls of Gwalior. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 589 CHAPTER XXXIY. The first Punjaub War Description of the Sikhs They resolve to invade the British Territory Preparatio'ns to repel the Invasion The Sikhs cross the Sutled^e Battle of Moodljee and Defeat of the Sikhs Death of Sir Robert Sale Battle of Ferozeshuhr Night Engajjement- Signal Defeat of the Sikhs Battle of Alivval Glorious Victory over the Sikhs at Sobraon The British Troops ci'oss the Sutledge Capture of Lahore Conclusion of the War. The stormy events related in the preceding chapters were followed by a perfect calm, and our Eastern pos- sessions enjoyed for some time external and internal peace ; but, as the empire which is made by the sword must be maintained with the same weapon, our supremacy wjas at length challenged by a people with whom we had hitherto maintained the most friendly relations. These were the inhabitants of the Punjaub, or country of the five rivers, where Alexander terminated his Eastern con- quests, and expressed his admiration of the martial race who had there ventured to oppose his arms. Nor have the Sikhs, as the people are now termed, degenerated in this respect from their warlike ancestors. Superior in physical power to the natives of all other parts of India, they also greatly excel them in those soldier-like qualities that are best calculated to conquer other countries or to defend their own. To these are superadded intense bigotry and religious zeal, carefully instilled into them by their priesthood ; who, by a pious fraud common to all countries, lead them to fancy them- selves the " Khalsa,'' or chosen people of God. And when it is considered that, for many years past, the great energies and warlike talents of their leader, Runjeet Singh, had been exclusively devoted to the formation of a powerful 590 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. army, for which purpose he had taken into his service many officers who had been long trained in the wars of Napoleon, it must be admitted that the army and the general who were now called on to cope with them in the field had a more arduous task before them than any hitherto recorded in our military annals. It is quite unnecessary, and indeed would only tend to puzzle the reader, to give anything like an historical account of the Sikhs prior to our collision with them on the Sutledge. It will be sufficient to say that, on the death of their great and sagacious sovereign, Runjeet Singh, or the Lion of Lahore, who had always carefully maintained a friendly connexion with the English, the government, in the impotent hands of his successor, became, as is usual in the East, a mere focus of intrigues, plots, and cabals ; producing a fruitful harvest of outrage, assassination, and wholesale slaughter. In these frightful transactions, the leaders of the army bore an active part ; and, could they have agreed amongst themselves, might un- wittingly have imitated the Praetorian bands, and set the empire up to auction. The Court intriguers, however, who then monopolised the royal authority, with a degree of cunning that base minds are so often gifted with, directed the energies of the troops into another channel, and held up to tlieir vanity and ambition the glory of a contest with the English, who, though they had con- quered all other nations of the East, must necessarily yield to their suj^erior prowess. Unhappily for themselves, the army of the Punjaub embraced the idea with enthusiasm. The soldiery talked of themselves as pre-eminently the "Punt'h Khalsajee," or congregation of believers, and their leaders were awed into submission by the resolute spirit with which they were animated. They had been accustomed, under Run- jeet Singh, to invasions and conquests, and to the profits derivable therefrom. They were elated by many years of success ; they formed an immense force numerically ; they possessed what seemed inexhaustible military stores ; OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 591 they knew themselves to be strong of arm and steady in battle ; and they had confidence in the military skill and science of their French and Italian commanders. Then they wanted employment, and they fancied they could best seek it beyond the Sutledge, within the Company's territories. The Maharajah was in the nursery ; his mother and guardian was helpless, and even the more prudent and pacific of the Sirdars were whirled along by the war torrent ; for the will of the soldiery, the dic- tation of the " Punt'h Khalsajee," was not to be resisted without the risk of being murdered. An army was accordingly prepared for the Sutledge, though no ground of offence had been given by the English, and no rational cause could be assigned for the breach of existing treaties. Sir Henry Hardinge, who had just been appointed Governor-General, and was quietly pursuing a series ot civil and military improvements at the seat of govern- ment, was not long kept in ignorance of what was passing at Lahore. As there could be no mistaking the intentions of the Sikhs, he determined to lose no time in preparing to meet and repel an invasion; and, before he had been three months in the country, he had several large corps marching from the furthest confines of the Bengal presi- dency towards the north-west frontier, to reinforce the army of observation on the Sutledge, under the command of Sir Hugh Gough. By thus takijig time by the forelock, every post was reinforced so quietly that even in our provinces the operations passed unnoticed ; and when the war did break out, the Governor-General was censured by the im informed for being unprepared. To disprove this, how- ever, it is sufficient to state that, in the first line from XJmballa to the Sutledge, about 150 miles, there were, when Sir Henry Hardinge arrived in India in July, 1844, only 13,539 men and 48 guns; and when the war broke out in December, 1845, there were 32,479 men and 68 guns, showing an increase of 18,940 men and 20 guns ! The force at Meerut had also been augmented 592 OUR AKGLO-INDIAN AHMY. from 5,873 men and 18 guns, to 9,844 men and 26 guns ; which force being 250 miles to the rear, was not, how- ever, considered available to repel invasion, but as a sup- port to that in advance of Umballa, At this period the Army of Observation was stationed as follows : At ' Ferozepoor, 10,472 men and 24 guns ; at Loodiana, 7,235 men and 12 guns ;' and at Umballa, 12,972 men and 32 guns. This force comprised seven regiments of European infantry, out of the eleven at that time servdng within the Bengal presidency. Umballa was the head-quarters of the Commander-in-Chief. On the 2nd of December, 1845, Sir Henry Hardinge arrived at that station, and on the 6th moved his camp forward towards Loodiana. The first acts of aggression on the part of the Sikhs \yas the carrying off a number of camels from the left bank of the Sutledge to their camp on the right. On the 8th of December, they began to appear in large masses, and their numbers greatly increased the two fol- lowing days. A few days after they were seen to be busy collecting boats about eight miles from Ferozepoor ; and as it was now evident to all that a Punjaub campaign was inevitable, the whole of the ladies in the Governor- General's camp took their departure and returned to Umballa, while orders were issued to troops in all directions to move up with all practicable haste to the frontier. By the 12th about 10,000 Sikhs had crossed the river, with 27 guns, about twelve miles from Feroze- poor ; and on the 13th they were seven miles from that station, crossing men and guns by?is*fepj^e of 'b<3fats, with great activity and expedition. The ladies at Ferozepoor were now all sent into the fort for aiety, and an im- mediate attack was expected. '^*% Sir John Littler, who commanded at Ferozepoor, had * only 7,000 men to make head against the overwhelming forces of the Sikhs ; but he showed a resolute and un- daunted front, and boldly led out his little force to give them battle ; but this was declined by the Sikh chiefs, who had not completed the passage of their heavy guns ) ^ ^f 4 If OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ASMY. 593 till the 16tb. On the 17th their main body, consisting^ according to the Sikh accounts, of 25,000 regulars and eighty-eight guns, under Lai Singh, took possession of the wells around the village of Ferozeshuhr ; while Tej Singh, with 23,000 men and sixty-seven guns, remained opposite to' Ferozepoor. When the news reached the camp of the Governor- General, of the Sikhs having crossed, he ordered Brigadier Wheeler to march with 4,500 men and twenty-one guns, early on the 14th, from Loodiana to Busseean, where the Commander-in-Chief arrived with the main body on the 1-6 th. The united forces then proceeded towards Feroze- poor, and by one o'clock on the Ji*h the Governor- General and Commander-in-Chief arrived at Moodkee, from which village a few Sikh cavalry retired as the British column advanced. The troops had just taken up their encamping ground, and were commencing to cook, after a fatiguing march of twenty-two miles, when news was brought by one of the scouts that the enemy was only three miles distant. The Sikhs were estimated at 30,000 men, with forty guns ; and the forces under Sir Hugh Gough amounted to 12,350 rank and file, of whom 3,850 were Europeans, and forty- two guns. *' The troojDS," says the Commander-in-Chief, in his despatch, " were in a state of great exhaustion, principally from the want of water, which was not procurable on the road, when, about three p.m., information was received that the Sikh army was advancing ; and the troops had scarcely time to get under arms, and move to their positions, when the fact was ascertained. I immediately pushed forward the Horse Artillery and cavalry, directing the infantry, accompanied by the field-batteries, to move forward in support. We had not proceeded beyond two miles when we found the enemy in position. " To resist their attack, and to cover the formation of the infantry, I advanced the cavalry under Brigadiers White, Gough, and Mactier, rapidly to the front, in columns of squadrons, and occupied the plain. They 594 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. were speedily followed by the five troops of Horse Artil- lery under Brigadier Brooke, who took up a forward position, having the cavalry then on his flanks. " The country is a dead flat, covered at short intervals with a low, but in some places thick jhow jungle, and dotted with sandy hillocks. The enemy screened their infantry and artillery behind this jungle and such undu- lations as the ground afforded ; and, whilst our twelve battalions formed from echelon of brigade into line, opened a very severe cannonade upon our advancing troops, which was vigorously replied to by the battery of horse artillery under Brigadier Brooke, which was soon joined by the two light field-batteries. The rapid and well-directed fire of our artillery api:>eared soon to paralyse that of the enemy ; and as it was necessary to complete our infantry dispositions without advancing the artillery too near to the jungle, I directed the cavalry, under Brigadiers White and Gough, to make a flank movement on the enemy's left, with a view of threatening and turning that flank, if possible. With praiseworthy gal- lantry, the 3rd Light Dragoons, with the second brigade of cavalry, consisting of the body-guard and 5th Light Cavalry, with a portion of the 4:th Lancers, turned the left of the Sikh army, and sweeping along the whole rear of its infantry and guns, silenced for a time the latter, and put their numerous cavalry to flight. Whilst this move- ment was taking place on the enemy's left, I directed the remainder of the 4th Lancers and the 9th Irregular Cavalry, under Brigadier Mactier, with a light field- battery, to threaten their right. "This manoeuvre was also successful. Had not the infantry and guns of the enemy been screened by the jungle, these brilliant charges of the cavalry would have been productive of greater eff'ect. "When the infantry advanced to the attack, Brigadier Brooke rapidly pushed on his Horse Artillery close to the jungle, and the cannonade was resumed on both sides. The infantry, under Major-Generals Sir Harry Smith, OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 595 Gilbert, and Sir John McCaskill, attacked en echelon of lines the enemy's infantry, almost invisible amongst wood and the approaching darkness of night. The opposition was such as might have been expected from troops who had everything at stake, and who had long vaunted of being iiTesiatible. Their ample and extended line, from their great superiority of numbers, far outflanked ours ; but this . was counteracted by the flank movements of our cavalry. The attack of the infantry now com- menced, and the roll of fire from this powerful arm soon convinced the Sikh army that they had met with a foe they little expected ; and their whole force was driven from position after position with great slaughter, and the loss of seventeen pieces of artillery, some of them of heavy calibre ; our infantry using that never-failing weapon, the bayonet, whenever the enemy stood. Night only saved them from worse disaster, for this stout conflict was maintained during an hour and a half of dim starlight, amidst a cloud of dust from the sandy plain, which yet more obscured every object." The loss of the British was heavy. Sixteen officers were killed, and 200 men ; 48 officers wounded, and 609 men, of whom 153 died subsequently of their wounds, or were disabled. Amongst those who fell was the hero of Jellalabad, Sir Robert Sale ; his left thigh was shattered by grape-shot, and the wound proved mortal. The loss of the Sikhs in killed and wounded was very severe. Lai Singh, the commander, was among the wounded, and narrowly escaped being taken prisoner. The Sikhs fled rapidly to their camp at Ferozeshuhr, and the British troops returned to theirs at Moodkee about midnight. On the 19th of December, two heavy guns reached Moodkee, escorted by her Majesty's 29th, the 1st Euro- pean Light Infantry, and two regiments of native infantry, the 11 th and 4:1st. Every possible care had been taken of these troops in their rapid advance, by the Governor- General and Commander-in-Chief. Elephants were des- patched to Churrak, seven-and-twenty miles from Moodkee, 596 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. to cany those who might be unable to walk. When near Moodkee, and almost - overcome by fatigue and .the terrible desert thirst, water was distributed to them, which had been brought out on elephants from head-quarters. Being thus refreshed, the men marched vigorously into Moodkee, where the Governor-Oeneral's band welcomed them with a joyous burst of music. This reinforcement did not reach camp till nine or ten o'clock at night ; and it was determined, in order to give them rest, that the army should halt on the 20th. During this halt of two days, the wounded and sick were attended to, and secured in the mud fort at Moodkee. It was now that Sir Henry Hardinge magnanimously offered his services to Sir Hugh Gough. He was appointed second in command of the army, and all officers were directed to obey any orders emanating from him as such, which they were not bound to do so long as he (though the head of the Government) exercised only a civil authority. Expresses were sent to Sir John Littler at Ferozepoor, apprising him of the victory at Moodkee, and directing him to march on the 21st with as large a force as he' could, and effect a junction with the army under the Commander-in-Chief Arrangements were also made for leaving the wounded and the baggage at Moodkee when the army marched, a regiment and a half being told off to protect them against any of the enemy's cavalry and loose plunderers who might penetrate to the rear of our army. Early on the morning of the 21st, Sir John Littler, leaving a party to hold his position and watch Tej Singh, moved off by his right, with 5,500 men and twenty-one guns, to join the Commander-in-Chief. At three o'clock on the same morning the force from Moodkee marched in two open columns of companies, left in front ; the army had therefore only to wheel into line to be in position. The march for the head-quarter column was a distressing one, on account of the heat and dust, and the scarcity of water ; but it was not more than twelve miles, the columns arriving opposite the OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 597 Sikli camp at Ferozeshulir at half-past eleven a.m. The force from Ferozepoor effected its junction a few minutes before one, near the village of Misriwalla. Skirmishers were then thrown forward, but some considerable delay occurred before the arrangements could be completed, and it was within an hour of sunset before the assault was commenced. The whole country is a dead flat, studded with trees and jungle, except in the immediate neighbourhood of the villages ; and what with dust and trees, the movements of troojDS became very difficult to direct. The British force now concentrated comprised 5,674: Euro2>eans and 12,053 natives, making a total of 17,727 rank and file, and sixty-five guns. According to the Sikhs' account, their force at FerozeshuHr consisted of 25,000 regular troops, and eighty-eight guns, exclusive of the Jazedarees and irregular soldiers, making their force in camp upwards of 35,000. Besides this force, Tej Singh, with 23,000 regulars and sixty-seven guns, was only ten miles distant. The Sikh intrenchment was in the form of a paral- lelogTam, of about a mile in length, and half a mile in breadth, including within its area the strong village of Ferozeshuhr, the shorter sides looking towards the Sutledge and Moodkee, and the long one towards Ferozepoor and the open country.* But the Sikhs were fujlj ^^rejmred to |3lace tjisix'. ,gnns in, position on. yviiatr / ever"* sicfe the attack should be made.\ They were y thorbughry acquaifited" with* "fhe^^ount^^^ and knowing li by what roads their enemy could advance, they readily af"^ prepared for their reception. Thus it mattered not much /^^ whether our approach was made on the longer or shorter ^ side, though the preparations on the side fronting Feroze- poor showed that it was considered by the Sikhs as the proper front of their position. "The ground in front, like that of Moodkee, was jungly ; the three divisions of the British, under the * The Commander-in-Chiefs Despatch. 598 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. command of Major-General Gilbert, Sir John Littler, and Brigadier Wallace, were placed in line, with the whole of their artillery in their centre, except three troops of Horse Artillery, one on either flank, and one in support. The reserve was under Sir Harry Smith."* The artillery were ordered to the front ; and after a reasonable time had been allowed for the mortar practice, which it was speedily seen would never silence Lai Singh's guns, our artillery opened their fire to ascertain the position of the batteries, and the Sikhs responded. Our artillery then made a nearer advance, protected by the whole of our infantry. When several hundred yards nearer, our guns were unlimbered, and several rounds of shot fired ; this was repeated until they approached within three hundred yards of the batteries. Then seeing that these Sikh guns could not be silenced, the infantry advanced amidst a murderous shower of shot and grape, and captured them with matchless gallantry. f In the advance. General Littler's division, marching direct on the village, edged away to the left, and caused an opening in the line between its right, and Brigadier Wallace's division. Littler's division, led with the greatest valour by its general, when close up to the enemy's batteries, which fired volleys of grape, was com- pelled to retire : the left brigade of the reserve, under Sir Harry Smith, was ordered forward to fill up the opening, and advanced on the village with great energy. Wallace's and Gilbert's divisions forming the right and centre, were completely successful ; but when all the batteries of the Sikhs seemed to be within our grasp, the night set in (and there is no twilight in India), the dry forage in the camp was on fire, the loose powder exploded in all directions, and it was impossible under these circumstances to retain the occupation of the enemy's batteries, which had been so gallantly won. " Night fell," says Sir Hugh Gough in his despatch, " while the conflict was everywhere raging. Although I The Commander- in-Chiefs Despatch. t Ibid. OUR ANGLO-IXDIAN ARMY. 599 now brought up Major-General Sir Harry Smith's divi- sion, and he captured and long retained another part of the position, and her Majesty's 3rd Light Dragoons charged and took some of the most formidable batteries, yet the enemy remained in possession of a considerable portion of the great quadrangle ; whilst our troops, inter- mingled with theirs; kept possession of the remainder, and finally bivouacked upon it, exhausted by their gallant efforts, greatly reduced in numbers, and suffering ex- tremely from thirst, yet animated by an indomitable spirit. In this state of things the long night wore away. Near the middle of it one of their heavy guns was ad- vanced, and played with deadly effect upon our troops. Sir Henry Hardinge immediately formed her Majesty's 80th Foot and the 1st European Light Infantry. They were led to the attack by their commanding officers, and animated in their exertions by Lieutenant-Colonel Wood, who was wounded in the outset. The 80th captured the gun, and the enemy, dismayed by this countercheck, did not venture to press on further. During the whole night, however, they continued to harass our troops by fire of artillery, wherever moonlight discovered our position. But," adds the Commander-in-Chief, " with daylight came retribution. Our infantry formed in line, supported on both flanks by Horse Artillery, whilst a fire was opened from our centre by such of our heavy guns as remained effective, aided by a flight of rockets. A masked battery played with great eftect upon this point, dismounting our pieces, and blowing up our tumbrils. At this moment Lieutenant-General Sir Henry Hardinge placed himself at the head of the left, whilst I rode at the head of the right wing. Our line advanced, and, unchecked by the enemy's fire, drove them rapidly out of the village of Ferozeshuhr and their encampment ; then changing front to its left, on its centre, our force continued to sweep the camp, bearing down all oppositi(m, and dislodged the enemy from their whole position. The line then halted, as if on a day of manoeuvre, receiving its two leaders, as they rode 600 OUR AXGLO-INDIAX ARMY. along its front, with a gratifying clieer, and displaying the captured standards of the Khalsa army. We had taken upwards of seventy-three pieces of cannon, and were masters of the whole field. For twenty-four hours not a Sikh has appeared in our front. The remains of the Khalsa army are said to be in full retreat across the Sutledge, or marching up its left Ijank towards Hurree- keeputhur, in the greatest confusion and dismay. Their camp is the scene of the most awful carnage, and they have abandoned large stores of grain, camp-equipage, and ammunition." Soon after the battle Tej Singh appeared in view with his army of reserve, but retired in dismay at the destruc- tion which had fallen upon the army of his colleague ; while our scanty cavalry, having been nearly forty-eight hours without food or water, were too exhausted to pursue the fugitives. Such hard contested fields cannot be gained without loss : ours amongst the Europeans was severe, having 488 killed and 1103 wounded. The total loss was 694 killed, and 1721 wounded, of whom 595 died subse- quently, or were disabled. Every exertion was now made to alleviate the sufierings of the wounded, and by noon on the 23rd they were all in quarters at Eerozepoor, receiving every attention, and supplied with all necessary comforts. The Sikhs imagined that our army would follow up its advantages, by crossing the river immediately and march- ing on the capital ; but this was a movement not to be thought of without a powerful battering-train, more European troops, and especially more cavalry. It was, therefore, wisely resolved to wait for the battering-train moving upwards with the 16th Lancers and her Ma- jesty's 10th and 53rd regiments of Foot, which, with the 43rd and 59th regiments of Native Infantry, had com- posed the Meerut force under Sir John Grey. Embol- dened by this seeming indecision of the British, the Sikhs constnicted a new bridge of boats with a tete-du-pont at OUR ANGLO-INDIAK ARMY. 601 Sobraon, resolved to make another effort to maintain their position on the left bank of the Sutledge ; and^ taking advantage of the paucity of our troops at Loodiana, had also effected a passage for a force of about 10,000 men of all arms in the neighbourhood of that town. Meanwhile, Sir Harry Smith had been detached to reduce Dhurmkote, and keep open the communication for supplies and ammunition from our rear. Dhurmkote was evacuated at his approach : but in marching from Jugraon to Loodiana he lost a good deal of his baggage, and sustained some heavy fusilades, which he did not wait to return. Having relieved Loodiana, and being rein- forced by the Commander-in-Chief, on the 26th of Janu- ary, 1846, with cavalry and guns, he marched against the Sirdar Runjoor Singh, who had strongly intrenched him- self at Aliwal, near Loodiana, having 15,000 men and 56 guns. Sir Harry Smith gallantly attacked him on the 28th with not more than 10,000 men in all. The right of the Sikh force rested on Bundree, and their left on Aliwal : they had advanced a short distance from their intrenched camp and cannonaded the British for lialf-an- hour, till our brave fellows stormed the village of Aliwal, the key of their position, when the holders of the post speedil}^ gave way before the determined charge of the British brigades. " The enemy," says Sir Harry Smith, *' fought with much resolution, and maintained frequent rencounters, with our cavalry hand to hand. In one charge of infan- try upon her Majesty's 16th Lancers they threw away their muskets, and came on with their swords and targets against the lance." But their brave resistance proved unavailing. They made several ineffectual attempts to rally, but at length were driven across the Sutledge with immense loss, and in the utmost confusion and terror. The whole artillery of the enemy was either captured or destroyed, 52 guns remaining in the hands of the victors. The whole of the Sikh camp, baggage, stores of ammuni- 602 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. tion, grain, and nearly everybhing brought into the field, remained as the spoils of the conquerors. As Sir Hugh Gough had to wait for his artillery and reinforcements before he j^roceeded with his ulterior measures, there was now for a short time a perfect lull in the campaign, during which the Sikhs at Sobraon were industriously employed in building their defences, under the direction, it is said, of a Spanish engineer, and adding to their guns on their tete-du-pont. On the 8th of February Sir Hany Smith rejoined head-quarters from Aliwal ; on the 9 th the heavy guns from Delhi reached the camp of the Commander-in-Chief, and his Excellency fixed on the following day for storming the position at Sobraon, and driving the Sikhs beyond the river. The enemy's works were very strong ; and though on the first intelligence of the battle of Aliwal, and at sight of the numerous bodies which floated from the neighbour- hood of that , battle-field down to the bridge of boats at Sobraon, the Sikhs seemed much shaken and disheartened, they now appeared to be as confident as ever of being able to defy us in their intrenched position, and to prevent our passage of the river. Their soldiers were chiefly those who had been trained by the French and Italian officers ; and they had strong walls only to be surmounted by scal- ing-ladders, which afibrded a secure protection for triple lines of musketry. In all they were 34,-OOOmen, with 70 pieces of artillery ; and their position was united by a good bridge to a reserve of 20,000 men on the opposite T3ank, on which was a considerable camp and some artil- lery, commanding and flanking the field-works on the side of the British.* To meet this great disparity of numbers, and storm a position which the Sikhs were assured by their French friends was impregnable. Sir Hugh Gough had only 16,224 rank and file, of whom 6,533 were Euro- peans, and 99 guns of difl'erent calibre. The force was ordered to march at half-past three o'clock on Tuesday morning, the 10th of February, when * Commander-in-Chief's Despatch. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 603 the men would be fresh, and there would be a certainty of many hours of daylight. At the very moment ap- pointed the troops began to move out of camji, and marched in silence to their destination. This first move- ment, indeed, was so steadily performed that the Sikhs were everywhere taken by surprise, and beat loudly to arms throughout their wide intrenchments on both sides of the river. Sir Hugh Gough was now much stronger in cavalry than before, and very strong in artillery. He at once put his guns in position in an extended semi- circle, embracing within its fire the works of the Sikhs ; the heavy ordnance being arranged in masses on some of the most commanding points opposite the enemy's in- trenchments. It had been intended that the cannonade should commence at daybreak ; but so heavy a mist hung over the plain and river that it became necessary to wait till sunrise, when the British batteries opened, and for three hours the deadly shower of iron hail poured down upon the Sikh forces within their intrenchments, mingled with the more deadly shells that scattered destruction on <3very side as they fell. But the Sikh intrenchments bristled with the heavy ordnance which had told so eflTec- tively against the light field- pieces that formed the sole British artillery in the earlier engagements, and the sun's level rays hardly pierced through the clouds of sulphure- ous smoke that hung over and around the scene of strife. " Our battery of nine-pounders," says the Commander-in- Chief in his despatch, " opened near the Little Sobraon, with a brigade of howitzers formed from the light field- batteries and troops of Horse Artillery, shortly after day- break. But it was half-past six before the whole of our artillery fire was developed. It was most spirited and well-directed." " Nothing," says Dr. Macgregor,* " could be conceived grander than the effect of the batteries when they opened, as the cannonade passed along from the Sutledge to Little Sobraon, in one continued roar of guns and mortars ; while, * " History of the Sikhs." 604 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. ever and anon, the rocket, like a spirit of fire, winged its rapid flight high above the batteries in its progress towards the Sikh intrenchment. It now became a grand artillery concert, and the infantry divisions and brigades looked on with a certain degree of interest, somewhat allied to vexation, lest the artillery should have the whole work to themselves ! The Commander-in-Chief, however, was de- termined to give full play to an arm which he did not possess to an efficient extent in other hard-fought battles." "Notwithstanding the formidable calibre of our iron guns, mortars, and howitzers," says Sir Hugh Gough, " and the admirable way in which they were served, and aided by a rocket battery, it would have been visionary to expect that they could, within any limited time, silence the fire of seventy pieces behind well-constructed batteries of earth, plank, and fascines, or dislodge troops covered either by redoubts or epaulements, or within a treble line of trenches. The effect of the cannonade was, as has since been proved by an inspection of the camj), most severely felt by the enemy ; but it soon became evident that the issue of this struggle must be brought to the arbitrament of musketry and the bayonet. At nine o'clock Brigadier Stacey's brigade, supported on either flank by Captain Horsford's and Fordyce's batteries, and Lieutenant-Colonel Lane's troop of Horse Artillery, moved to the attack in admirable order. The infantry and guns aided each other correlatively. The former marched steadily on in line, which they halted only to correct when necessary. The latter took up successive positions- at the gallop, until at length they were within three hun- dred yards of the heavy batteries of the Sikhs ; but, not- withstanding the regularity, and coolness, and scientific character of this assault, which Brigadier Wilkinson well supported, so hot was the fire of cannon, musketry, and ziTmbooruks,* kept up by the Khalsa troops, that it seemed for some moments impossible that the intrench- ments could be won under it. But soon persevering gal- * Guns mounted on camels, and carrying a pound shot. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 605 lantry triiimplied, and the whole army had the satisfaction to see the gallant Brigadier Stacey's soldiers driving the Sikhs in confusion before them within the area of their encampments." Every impediment was cleared, the in- trenchments were passed, and our matchless infantry stood erect and compact within the Sikh camp. " Her Majesty's 10th, 53rd, and 80th regiments, with the 33rd, 43rd, 59th, and 63 rd Native Infantry, moving at a firm and steady pace, never fired a shot till they had passed the barriers opposed to them. This attack was crowned with all the success it deserved ; and, led by its gallant commander, Major-General Sir Robert Dick, obtained the admiration of the army which witnessed its disciplined valour. When checked by the formidable obstacles and superior numbers to which the attacking division was opposed, the second division, under Major-General Gilbert, afibrded the most opportune assistance by rapidly advancing to the attack of the enemy's batteries, entering their fortified position after a severe struggle, and sweeping through the interior of the camp."* " At one time," says the British commander, in his des- patch from the field of battle, "the thunder of full 120 pieces of ordnance reverberated in this mighty combat through the valley of the Sutledge ; and as it was soon seen that the weight of the whole force within the Sikh camp was likely to be thrown upon the two brigades that had passed its trenches, it became necessary to convert into close and serious attacks the demonstrations with skirmishers and artillery of the centre and right ; and the battle raged with inconceivable fury from right to left. The Sikhs, even when at particular points their intrench- ments were mastered with the bayonet, strove to regain them by the fiercest conflict sword in hand. Nor was it until the cavalry of the left, under Major-General Sir Joseph Thackwell, had moved forward, and ridden through the openings of the intrenchments made by our Sappers, in single file, and re-formed as they passed them and the * General Order by the GoTemor-General. 606 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 3rd Dragoons, whom no obstacle usually held formidable by horse appeared to check, had on this day, as at Fero- zeshuhr, galloped over and cut down the obstinate de- fenders of batteries and field-works and until the full weight of three divisions of infantry, with every field- artillery gun which could be sent to their aid, had been cast into the scale that victory finally declared for the British. The fire of the Sikhs first slackened, and then nearly ceased ; and the victors then pressing them on every side, precipitated them in masses over the bridge, and into the Sutledge, which a sudden rise had rendered hardly fordable. Tn their efforts to reach the right bank, through the deepened water, they suffered from our Horse Artillery a terrible carnage. Hundreds fell under this cannonade ; hundreds upon hundreds were drowned in attempting the perilous passage. Their awful slaughter, confusion, and dismay were such as would have excited compassion in the hearts of their generous conquerors, if the Khalsa troops had not, in the early part of the action, sullied their gallantry by slaughtering and barbarously mangling every wounded soldier whom, in the vicissitudes of attack, the fortune of war left at their mercy." " The enemy's shattered forces," says the Governor-General, " were driven into the river, with a loss which far exceeded that which the most experienced officers had ever wit- nessed. Thus terminated, in the brief space of two hours, this most remarkable conflict, in which the military com- binations of the Commander-in-Chief were fully and ably carried into effect. The enemy's select regiments of regular infantiy have been dispersed, and a large propor- tion destroyed, with the loss, since the campaign began, of 220 pieces of artillery taken in action."* "Sixty- seven pieces of cannon," says Sir Hugh Gough, "upwards of 200 camel swivels (zumbooruks), numerous standards, and vast munitions of war, captured by our troops, are the pledges and trophies of our victory. The battle was over by eleven in the morning, and in the forenoon I General Order. OUR ANGLO-INDIAX ARMY. 60^ caused our Engineers to burn a pari: and to sink a part of the vaunted bridge of the Khalsa army, across which they had boastfully come once more to defy us, and to threaten India with ruin and devastation." The victory was complete ; but it was not purchased without a severe loss on the part of the victors : 320 British soldiers lay dead upon the field, including Major- General Sir Robert Dick, Brigadier Taylor, and other distinguished officers j the number of wounded was 2,083. But the loss of the Sikhs did not amount to less than 8,000 ! Five days after the action, the sand-bank in the middle of the river was completely covered with their dead bodies, and the ground within their encampment thickly strewn with carcasses of men and horses.. With the permission of Sir Hugh Gough, they returned to carry off their dead ; but the task was found too irksome, and many hundreds, not swept away by the river, were left as food for the jackal, the wild dog, and the vulture. That same night several regiments were pushed across the Sutledge opposite Ferozepoor ; and a bridge of boats having been completed in a day or two, our army quietly crossed the river, but no enemy appeared to resist their progress : the Khalsa troops were irretrievably broken and scattered, without hope of being again able to take the fi.eld. Still more strongly to demonstrate how effectually they were humbled under the supremacy of their conquerors, the British army entered the Sikh capital on the 20th of February, 1846, and two days afterwards an English garrison occupied the citadel of Lahore. The heads of a treaty were soon sketched and agreed to. The Government of Lahore was to pay, as an in- demnity for the expense of the war, a crore and a half of rupees, or about a million and a half sterling. All the guns we had taken were to be retained, and all those which the Sikhs had ever pointed against the British were to be given up, and the turbulent portion of the troops, with their leaders, were to be disbanded for ever. 608 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. CHAPTER XXXV. f resli Insurrection in the Punjaub Treacherous Conduct of the Governor of Mooltan Mur Jer of Mr. Vans A<;nevv and Lieutenant Anderson Alarming Conspiracy discovered at Lahore The Sikhs raise the Standard of Revolt- Successful Diversion of Lieutenant Edvvardes Defeat of the Mooltan Troops by Col. Cortlandt and Lieutenant Edwardes Mooltan invested bv the British under General Whish Defection of Shere Singh Junction of the Sikh Forces- Advanre of the British under the Commander-in-Chief Siej^e of Mooltan Dreadful Explosion Surrender of Mooltan Battle of Chillian- wallah Battle of Goojerat, and tinal Extinction of the Sikh Army The Punjaub annexed to our Empire in the East Conclusion. The Governor-General having left at Lahore a garrison of 10;000 men under Sir John Littler, at the request of the principal Sirdars, to protect them against their own lawless countrymen, and assist them in the reconstruction of a government, returned to England from the scene of his civil and military triumphs, and declared that all danger of insurrection or disturbance in the Punjaub was at an end. But at the very moment this speech of Viscount Hardinge was delivered in England, the Sikhs were agaifi in arms ; and we were once more challenged to the contest by a fierce and gallant foe, whom we thought we had effectually subdued. The locality of renewed aggression and treachery was Mooltan, the capital of a district lying between the left bank of the Indus and the right bank of the Sutledge, where it was found necessary or expedient to substitute Sirdar Khan Singh as governor, instead of Moolraj, who was believed to have shown intentions hostile to the durbar of Lahore and to the British Government. It was believed that Moolraj had accepted the liberal conditions offered to him, and had fully acquiesced in this arrange- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 60^9 ment ; but when Mr. Vans Agnew^ a Bengal civil servant and assistant to the British Resident at Lahore, and Lieu- tenant Anderson, of the Bombay Fusiliers, proceeded to Mooltan to complete the arrangement, on the 17th of April, 1848, they were attacked and desperately wounded They retired with their weak escort to a small fort out side the town, being accompanied by Sirdar Khan Singh ; but, three days afterwards, the Mooltan troops attacked the fort ; the Sikh garrison within immediately opened the gates and let in the assailants, and both Mr, Agnew and Lieutenant Anderson were barbarously murdered. The outbreak at Mooltan was followed by the discovery of a conspiracy of the most alarming character at Lahore, having for its object the massacre of all the British offi- cers, the expulsion of our whole force from the Punjaub, and a revolution in the Sikh government. Attempts had been made to seduce the Sepoys from their allegiance ; on discovering which, the British Resident, Sir Frederick Currie, directed certain native officers whose fidelity he could rely on to fall in with the plans of the conspirators, by which means the whole plot was disclosed. Three native corps, it was found, had been tampered with, but only a small number of the men had yielded to the temptations by which they were assailed : undoubted proofs, however, were discovered of persons of the highest rank being privy to the plot. It speedily became apparent that the zeal of Dewan Khan Singh, in defence of the unfortunate British officers deputed to accompany him to his new government, was altogether assumed, and that he was in league with the conspirators in Lahore and elsewhere, by whom a scheme had been matured for overpowering the British, and ex- pelling them from the country. In the neighbourhood of Lahore, a Gooroo, or priest, named Maharaj Singh, had raised the standard of revolt, and speedily collected a numerous force of the disbanded Sikhs, among whom he enjoyed a reputation for great sanctity. By this means the British forces at Lahore were prevented from at- X 610 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. tempting any movement upon Mooltan, and every succes- sive mail brought news of fresh difficulties or alarms, as to the probable issue of this new revolution in the Punjaub. At this critical moment, fortunately, a diversion was made by Lieutenant Edwardes a young officer of great gallantry and military talent, who was employed, with a small force on the Indus, in the collection of land tax and the settlement of the country. By a series of active movements he distracted the attention of the Mooltan chief from the objects of the general confederacy, till he effected a junction with Colonel Cortlandt, who com- manded a division of 4,000 men at Dhera Ismail Khan ; when their united forces fought several actions with great success against the troops of Moolraj, until at last the insurgents were driven in the month of July to take shelter within the walls of Mooltan. On the 18th of August General Whish arrived from Lahore with her Majesty's 10th regiment, a troop of Horse Artillery, the 7th Irregular Horse, and the Sth and 52nd Native Infantry. He assumed the command of th besieging forces, and was, on the following day, joined by a column from Ferozepoor, consisting of her Majesty's 32nd Foot, a battering-train of thirty heavy guns, a troop of Horse Artillery, the 1 1th Regular and the 1 1th Irregular Cavalry, and the 49th, 51st, and 72nd Native Infantry. By means of this addition, the force assembled round the walls of Mooltan amounted to about 28,000 men, of whom 6,000 were British. General Whish fixed on the 12thof September to make a general attack upon the outworks of Mooltan ; but at this critical juncture Shore Singh went over to the enemy with 5,000 Sikhs that were under his command. In consequence of this defection, the siege was raised on the 15th of September, and the army was withdrawn to a position several miles distant from Mooltan. On the 9 th of October Shore Singh quitted Mooltan to join Chuttur Singh, and on the 21st they effected their junction in OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 611 the neighbourhood of Wuzeerabad. Between them the two chiefs had very soon 30,000 men in hand ; and they were evidently determined to try the issue of another great struggle for supremacy in the Punjaub. In Iho meantime a large force had assembled at Feroze- poor, under the immediate orders of Lord Gough, the Commander-in-Chief, who lost no time in advancing into the Punjaub to put an effectual stojD to the insurrection. Shere Singh and the united armies of the revolted Sirdars had taken post at Ramnuggur, on the river Chenab; but were obliged to abandon that position towards the end of November, by the advance of Lord Gough, and to retire behind the Jhelum. During these manoeuvres General Whish had renewed the siege of Mooltan. Having been joined by a strong body of Bombay troops, our force before that place now amounted to 32,000 men, of whom 15,000 were British, with 150 pieces of artillery. By the 27th of December the enemy were driven out of the suburbs, and we were enabled to take up a position within 400 yards of the walls. By the 29th the besiegers had arrived so close to the city walls that their heavy guns were breaching them at a distance of no more than eighty yards. On the morning of the 30th the principal magazine in the fort blew up with a terrific explosion, for it contained nearly a million pounds of powder, which Moolraj had been five years in collecting. All his principal houses, temples, &c., as well as about 800 men, were blown up with it ; yet the walls and battlements of the fort were not much injured, and the chieftain did not appear to be disheartened by the catastrophe. During the night of the 30th a breach was effected near the Delhi gate of the city, and another next day at the Bohur gate. Our cannonade was sustained without intermission. On the 31st the Sikhs made a sortie, and fell upon the division under Major Edwardes and Lieu- tenant Lake, but they were driven back with great loss. On the 2nd of January, 1849, the town was stormed and 612 OUR ANGLO-IKDIAN ARMY. taken by a column of the Bombay and another of the- Bengal army, the first colours being planted in Mooltan. by a serjeant-major of the Company's Fusiliers. The^ citadel, however, still held out, and therein Moolraj had shut himself up with a very considerable force. Against this formidable work regular parallels of approach were made, and mines were sunk, while the walls were inces- santly battered by shells and shot. On the 18th the counterscarp was blown into the ditch by the explosion of three mines. On the 19th the sap had reached the crest of the glascis, and by the 21st two practicable breaches were made, and orders were issued to the troops, to hold themselves in readiness for storming the fort on the morrow. But when the morning came, and the- British columns were formed for the assault, Moolraj, surrendered at discretion. He was afterwards put upon, his trial for the murder of Mr. Yans Agnew and Lieute- nant Anderson, and sentence of death was passed upon him, which was, however, commuted into imprisonment, for life. We must now revert to the movements of Lord Gough, who on the 10th of January, 1849, received an official communication that the fortress of Attock^. which had so long been defended by Major Herbert, had fallen, and that Ohuttur Singh was advancing to join his- forces to those under his son Shere Singh, which then amounted to near 40,000 men, with sixty-two guns. He^ therefore, determined to lose no time in attempting the complete overthrow of the Sikh army in his front ; and, at daylight on the morning of the 12th, marched from Loah Tibbah to Dingee. The succeeding movements of the battle of Chillianwallah may be narrated in the words of his lordship's despatch : " Having learned from my spies, and from other sources of information, that Shere Singh still held with his right the villages of Lukhneewalla and Futteh Shah-ke-Chuck, having the great body of his force at the village of Lol- lian walla, with his left at Russool, on the Jhelum, strongly OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 61!^ occupying the southern extremity of a low range of diffi- oult hills intersected hy ravines, which extend nearly to that village, I made my arrangements accordingly that evening, and communicated them to the commanders of the several divisions ; but, to insure correct information as to the nature of the country, which I believed to be" excessively difficult and ill-adapted to the advance of a regular army, I determined upon moving on this village >(Chillianwallah) to reconnoitre. " On the morning of the 13th the force advanced. I made a considerable detour to my right, partly in order to distract the enemy's attention, but principally to get as clear as I could of the jungle, on which it would appear that the enemy mainly relied. " We approached this village about twelve o'clock, and I found on a mound close to it a strong picket of the -enemy's cavalry and infantry, which we at once dispersed, obtaining from the mound a very extended view of the country before us, and the enemy drawn out in battle array ; he having, either during the night or that morning, moved out of his several positions, and occupied the ground in our front, which, though not a dense, was a difficult jungle ; his right in advance of Futteh Shah-ke- Chuck, and his left on the furrowed hills before described. " The day being so far advanced. I decided upon taking >xip a position in rear of the village, in order to reconnoitre my front, finding that I could not turn the enemy's flanks, which rested upon a dense jungle extending nearly to Hailah, which I had previously occupied for some time, and the neighbourhood of which I knew, and upon the raviny hills near Russool, without detaching a force to a distance ; this I considered both inexpedient and dangerous. " The Engineer department had been ordered to examine the country before us; and the Quartermaster- General wus in the act of taking up ground for the encampment, when the enemy advanced some Horse Artillery, and opened :a fire on the skirmishers in front of the village. I imme- 614: OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. diately ordered them to be silenced by a few rounds from our heavy guns, which advanced to an open space in front of the village. The fire was instantly returned by that of nearly the whole of the enemy's field-artillery, thus exposing the position of his guns, which the jungle had hitherto concealed. '' It was now evident that the enemy intended to fight, and would probably advance his guns so as to reach the encampment during the night. " I therefore drew up in order of battle : Sir Walter Gilbert's division on the right, flanked by Brigadier Pope's brigade of cavalry, which I strengthened by the 14th Light Dragoons, well aware that the enemy was strong^ in cavalry upon his left. To this were attached three troops of Horse Artillery, under Lieutenant-Colonel Grant. The heavy guns were in the centre. "Brigadier-General Campbell's division formed the left, flanked by Brigadier White's brigade of cavalry, and three troops of Horse Artillery, under Lieutenant- Colonel Brind. The field-batteries were with the infantry divisions." Thus far Lord Gough states the order of attack ; and from other authorities we now continue the narrative of the battle. After a cannonade which lasted between one and two hours, the left division were directed to make a flank movement, in advance ; but on reaching the enemy's guns, they were met by such a tremendous fire that they were obliged to retire with severe loss. As soon as it was known that the 3rd and 4th brigades were engaged, the 5th was sent against the centre of what was supposed to be the enemy's line, and advanced under Brigadier Moun- tain, through the jungle, in the face of a storm, first of round-shot, then grape, and lastly musketry, which mowed down the officers and men by dozens. Still they advanced, and, on reaching the guns, spiked every one in front ; but the Sikhs poured in such a fire of musketry in flank and rear that the brigade was compelled to retreat a move- OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 615 ment which was effected in good order, and with deter- mined bravery. In the meantime, Brigadier Godby, with Major- General Sir Walter Gilbert as a leader, who was on the extreme right of the infantry line, moved forward, and, after marching through dense jung]e for some minutes, came upon the enemy's infantry : the brigade opened their fire, but the enemy were in such numbers that they easily outflanked them. Two companies of the 2nd European regiment were wheeled up, showed front, and the whole charged, but had not gone far when they found they were surrounded. They immediately faced right about, kept up some file firing, and charged rear-rank in front. At this juncture Dawes' battery came to the rescue ; and having beaten off the enemy, their guns were taken. While the infantry were thus highly distinguishing- themselves, and earning imperishable laurels, the cavalry on the extreme left, under Brigadier White, had made a dashing charge, and contributed much to the defeat of the enemy ; while the cavalry on the extreme right were directed to charge a body of the enemy's cavalry, variously estimated at from 1,000 to 5,000. From some unex- plained causes, however, this brigade, in spite of the ener- getic efforts of their officers, retreated from the field,, closely followed by the Sikh cavalry. Unfortunately the: men did not retreat directly to the position from whence they had advanced, but, obliquing, came in front of the guns, some of which were unlimbered, and galloped through them, the Sikhs mixed up with them, or close behind, so that our men could not fire without slaying our own cavalry. The consequence was that many of the gunners were cut down at their guns, and six of the pieces fell into the enemy's hands, two of which were afterwards recovered. A fire of grape was, however,, poured in upon the advancing Sikhs, and they turned and fled. Finally, the enemy was everywhere driven from his. CTV- fiifiB OUR ANGLO-INDIAN AKMY. ground, and the British troops remained masters of the iield, but their loss was very heavy : twenty-six European officers and 731 men were killed ; sixty-six officers and 1,446 men wounded. Four of our guns fell into the hands of the enemy, and live stand of colours ; while the Sikhs, aided by the darkness of the night, were able to Temove the greatest part of the guns which had been Ttaken by us during the struggle. The carnage of the battle of Chillianwallah, which was ^ven more terrible on their side than on ours, did not break the spirit of these hard-fighting Sikhs, who were :iiow supported by a body of 1,500 Affghan horse under Akram Khan, a son of Dost Mahommed. " For the first time," says the noble Governor-General,* "Sikhs and Afighans were banded together against the British power. It was an occasion which demanded the putting forth of .all the means at our disposal, and so conspicuous a mani- festation of the superiority of our armies as should appal .each enemy, and dissolve at once their compact, by fatal proof of its futility."! This conspicuous manifestation was given on the 21st' -of February, near the town of Goojerat, where the enemy were posted, with sixty thousand men and fifty-nine guns. Lord Gough, having a fair field and plenty of daylight, commenced the action with his artillery, and, after a sus- tained cannonade of three hours, compelled the Sikhs and AfiTghans to retire from the positions they had maintained with resolute hardihood. The subsequent advance of the whole British line soon drove them back from every point ; and, retreat being converted into rout, they fled in the utmost disorder, " their ranks broken, their posi- ^tions carried ; their guns, ammunition, camp-equipage, and baggage captured ; their flying masses driven before the vic-torious pursuers from mid-day to dusk, receiving aiiost severe punishment in their flight. "| * The Earl of Dalhousie. t Letter from the Govern or- General to the Secret Committee. I Despatch of Lord Gough. OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. 6X7 The noble Governor-General said that this action of Goojerat "must ever be regarded as one of the most, memorable in the annals of British warfare in India memorable alike from the greatness of the occasion, and from the brilliant and decisiA^e issue of the encounter." The victory of Goojerat was complete and decisive^ iStnd its fruits were the entire surrender of the Sikh army^ including their commander Rajah Shere Singh, his fatlier Chuttur Singh, his brothers, and most of the principal Sikh Sirdars and chiefs. Forty-one pieces of artillery, the whole that remained uncaptured by the British, were at the same time imconditionally surrendered ; and the remains of the conquered army, to the number of 16,000 Sikh soldiers, laid down their arms in the presence of the British troops. The principal scene of this act of sur- render by the vanquished was a place called Hoormuk^ at one of the principal fords of the river, across which their broken ranks had fled in dismay before the final charge of the victors of Goojerat. At this spot the Sikh Boldiers crossed and delivered up their arms, passing through the ranks of two native infantry regiments- appointed for this duty. Each of the Sikhs received a rupee to subsist him on his return home, in addition to- which they were permitted to retain their horses. The Affghans fled in dismay for their own country, and were hotly pursued by Sir Walter Gilbert, who reco- vered Attock, crossed the Indus, and drove the enemy towards the Khyber Pass and Cabul. The immediate consequence of this glorious victory was the annexation of the entire country to the British empire in India ; the insurrection of the Sikh army being quashed eff'ectually and for ever, and a second Punjaub war brought to a glorious termination by Lord Gough, ^h&.g:cids>^i^k-doM^ii^iM>k,h which it has been threatened in modern times. Pseudo critics have endeavoured by con- temptible cavilling to detract from his well-earned fame ; but his lordship, secure in the approbation of all who can CTV- 618 OUR ANGLO-INDIAN ARMY. appreciate the sterling qualities of the real soldier, can well afford to smile in silence at their puny efforts. We have thus endeavoured to trace the career of our Indian troops, through all their glorious vicissitudes, from their earliest formation to the ^^sent day. But though we feel our own i n on^ip p^ten c^ *t o the task, we trust enough has been said to prove to the people of England that, under all circumstances, and in any crisis that may supervene from the machinations of foreign or domestic foes, they can look with confidence to the East fou a numerous, well-disciplined, and well-appointed army of Sepoys, almost as brave as their European comrades, and for every purpose of the field equally competent, in all places where their physical powers are not paralysed, as in Affghanistan, by the severity of the climate. oCu*J>^ V^ ' THE END. LONDON : CLAEKE AND BEETON, PRINTEKS, BOUVEUIE STREET, FLEET STREET. DISRAELI'S WORKS. Popular Edition. s. d. d. VENETIA . . 1 6 CONINGSBY . 6 HENRIETTA TEMPLE . 1 6 IXION 6 SYBIL . 1 6 TANCRED 6 CONTABINI FLEMING . 1 6 THE YOUNG DUKE 6 ALROY . . . 1 6 VIVL\.N GREY 2 Library Edition. Now ready, in Post 8vo, cloth, lettered. s. d. s. d. 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