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 Hainwd oy Sir Hcitry Raetnir" 
 
 iNEMAUL. TIBIE MJKEllLT M©E<D)¥mABlL 
 
 lidmi. PublisQiEa . 1832. by Uichard Ben'djey. S.lsTeW Bvtrliagraa Stree-
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 GENERAL, THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD, Bart. 
 
 G.C.B. K.C. &c. &c. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 RICHARD BENTLEY, NEW BURLINGTON STREET. 
 
 (LATE COLBURN AND BENTLEY.) 
 
 1832.
 
 LOSDON : 
 PBINTER BY HF.NHY BAYLIS, 
 
 Fleet Street.
 
 The following Memoir of Sir David 
 Baird has been carefully collated from 
 the voluminous papers and extensive cor- 
 respondence of that eminent and estimable 
 man. 
 
 If to those, better acquainted with the 
 subjects treated of, than the writer, there 
 should appear any omissions or imperfec- 
 tions in the detail of the services which he 
 performed for his country, the}^ may be 
 attributed to the inherent modesty which 
 ordinarily accompanies exalted merit, and 
 which, in the case of Sir David Baird, led 
 him at all times sedulously to avoid re- 
 ferring to his own exploits, or alluding to 
 the dangers and difficulties which he had 
 encountered during his long, arduous, and 
 distinguished career. 
 
 For the valuable assistance which the 
 writer of this memoir has received from 
 several quarters, his acknowledgments will 
 be found specifically made in those parts 
 
 C^oonQno
 
 IV 
 
 of the work which more particularly derive 
 their interest from it. For himself, his 
 object has been faithfully to transcribe what 
 has now become matter of history; and 
 wherever it appeared to him that a question 
 of opinion might possibli/ arise, he has taken 
 the direct course of submitting to the reader 
 the letters of the different individuals con- 
 cerned in the discussion. 
 
 London, Oct. 28, 1832.
 
 CONTENTS 
 
 THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Birth — Military education— Appointment to an ensigncy — 
 Joins his regiment at Gibraltar — Promoted to a company in the 
 73rd — Ordered to India — Proceeds to Guernsey — Returns to 
 Portsmouth — Insubordination among the troops — Sails for 
 Madeira — Goree — Cape of Good Hope — Madras . 1 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 State of Affairs at Madras — Conduct of the Government of 
 Fort St. George — Hyder Aly — Hjs war with the Mahrattas — 
 Appeal to the East India Company — Their refusal — His junc- 
 tion with the French — Improvement of his army — Coalesces 
 with the Mahrattas — Advances to the mount— Differences of 
 opinion in the Council — Lord Macleod refuses the command of 
 the army — Sir Hector Munro takes the command — Captain 
 Baird marches with Colonel Fletcher to Conjeveram — Joins 
 Colonel Baillie — Attack of Hyder and Tippoo — Sanguinary 
 battle — Treachery and barbarity of Tippoo — The English 
 force betrayed and cut to pieces — Captain Baird desperately 
 wounded ... ... 8 
 
 CHAPTER IIL 
 
 Captain Baird providentially escapes death — Hyder retreats 
 to Damal — Barbarity of his triumph — -Colonel Baillie — Captain 
 Phillips — Dr. Wilson — Captain Baird's sufferings after the 
 action — Sir Hecior Munro retreats to Madras — Arrives there 
 safely, closely pursued by Hyder's cavalry — Captain Baird 
 reaches the French camp and surrenders himself to M. Lally
 
 VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Reception by the French officers — Removed to Hyder's camp 
 — Detained with the army — March — Tippoo's dupHcity — 
 Arrival at Seringapatam — Description of their prison — Put in 
 irons — Dreadful iUness of Captain Baird — Death of Captain 
 Lucas and Mr, Hope — Hyder proposes terms to such officers 
 as would enter his service — His offers rejected — Death of 
 Colonel Baillie .... 34 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Death of Hyder — Disappointment of the hopes entertained 
 of Tippoo's leniency — His religious zeal in forcing the Euro- 
 peans to embrace Mahommedanism — Colonel Braithwaite — 
 Captain Leech — Alarming report — Account of one of Tippoo's 
 sons — Affecting letter from General Matthews — His death — 
 Insanity of Lieutenant Stringer — His accusation — The proba- 
 ble consequences — Murder of sixteen officers — Prospect of 
 release — The prospect realized— Rejoicings and congratulations 
 — Departure for Madras . . . . 51 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 Captain Baird proceeds towards Madras — Interview with 
 Captain Robertson — At Madras finds himself anticipated in a 
 recommendation for the majority of his regiment — Memorial of 
 his brother officers^-Confirmation of General Stewart's recom- 
 mendation refused — Captain Baird assumes the command of 
 the 73rd — Secures the majority — Proceeds to England — Pur- 
 chases a Lieutenant-Colonelcy, and exchanges into his own 
 regiment — Returns to India — Joins Lord Cornwallis's army — 
 Appointed to the command of a brigade — Capture of Hill 
 Forts — Siege of Rundydroog — Its fall . . 71 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Siege of Savendroog — Lieutenant-Colonel Baird commands 
 a brigade — Capture of the Fort — Lord Cornwallis concentrates 
 his forces — March of the allied armies from Hooleadroog — 
 Arrives before Seringapatam — Account of that place — Orders
 
 CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 issued for the march — Detail — Colonel Baird attached to the 
 third column — Gallant attack and pursuit of the enemy — 
 Perilous situation — Joined by Colonel Stewart — General Me- 
 dows deceived by his guides — Fails to execute Lord Corn- 
 wallis's design — His feelings on the occasion — Colonel Baird 
 ordered to recross the river — Arrival of the Bombay army 86 
 
 CHAPTER Vni. 
 
 Orders for opening the trenches — Tippoo's distress and 
 revenge — Destruction of his beautiful gardens — Attempt to 
 assassinate Lord Cornwallis — Frustrated — Attempt to dislodge 
 General Abercromby — Its failure — Tippoo's defeat — Exten- 
 sive preparations for the siege — Stopped by negociation — 
 Treaty — Delays of Tippoo — His sons sent as hostages — Ac- 
 count of their reception — Striking anecdote of General Medows 
 — Treachery of Tippoo — Hostages put under restraint — Tip- 
 poo's explanation — Treaty signed and delivered — Peace con- 
 cluded — The army returns to the different Presidencies 104 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Colonel Baird proceeds to Warrienne as Commandant — State 
 of the 71st regiment — Ordered to the siege of Pondicherry — 
 Commands a brigade — Surrender of Pondicherry — 71st ordered 
 
 to Tanjore — Extraordinary conduct of Mr. M. with 
 
 regard to the Rajah — Correspondence with Colonel Baird — 
 Lord Hobart — General Floyd — Salute fired — Consequences 
 resulting therefrom — The 71st ordered to Pondicherry — Their 
 destination changed — Proceed to Wallajahbad — General order 
 — Orders to disband the 71st — Colonel Baird's feelings upon 
 that occasion . . . . . 115 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Real causes of Colonel Baird's removal from India — His con- 
 scientious feelings upon the point — Injustice of the treatment 
 he received — Arrives at the Cape of Good Hope — Sent for by 
 Lord Macartney the Governor — Offered a command there, 
 with the rank of Brigadier-General — Explanations and arrange- 
 ments — He accepts it, and takes charge of a brigade — Colonel 
 Middlemore's report of their condition and improvement —
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 French policy with regard to India — Tippoo sends Ambassadors 
 to Mauritius — Perilous situation of the British Government at 
 Madras — Arrival of Lord Mornington at the Cape — Meets 
 Lord Hobart — Conversations with General Baird on the state 
 of public affairs in the East — Orders from the Court of Direc- 
 tors concerning Tanjore — Baird's anxiety to know their cha- 
 racter — Lord Mornington declines communicating them — Sub- 
 sequent conduct of the Honourable East India Company 147 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Lord Mornington arrives in India — Commences operations 
 against Tippoo — Malartic's proclamation at Mauritius — Ignor- 
 ance of Tippoo of the French force in that Island — His baseness 
 and duplicity — Colonel Baird promoted to the rank of Major- 
 General — Appointed to the staff in India — -Leaves the Cape of 
 Good Hope — Arrives at Madras — Meets the Governor-General 
 — Co-operation of the Nizam — Affair of Hyderabad — Overthrow 
 of French influence — Voluntary contributions at the different 
 Presidencies — General Harris enters the Mysore — Negociations 
 with Tippoo — General Baird appointed to the command of a 
 brigade — Colonel Wellesley commands the Nizam's force — 
 General Baird's remonstrance and letter to General Harris — 
 Communications between Tippoo and General Harris — March 
 towards Seringapatam- — Battle of Malavelly — Defeat of the 
 enemy — Advance beyond Malavelly — Tippoo's anxiety and 
 want of decision . . . . .163 
 
 CHAPTER XIL 
 
 March to Sosilay — Description of the surrounding country — 
 Alarm of the inhabitants — Passage of Sosilay — Passage of the 
 Cauvery — Retrograde movements of Tippoo — Affair of the 
 Sultaunpettah Tope — General Baird's return — Lieutenant 
 Lambton and the stars — Second attack under Colonel Wel- 
 lesley with the 33rd, and Colonel Shaw with the 12th — Colonel 
 Wellesley returns in the night to camp — A third attack ordered 
 under the command of Colonel Wellesley — His absence from 
 parade to take the command — General Baird directed to assume
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 it — His generous conduct — Colonel Wellesley arrives and takes 
 the command — Explanation of the causes of his absence — 
 Captain Mackenzie's statement — Partiality of General Beatson 
 — General Harris's army takes up its final position — Tippoo 
 opens fresh negociations — Curious correspondence — Demands 
 of the East India Company — Final conclusion of the nego- 
 ciations . . . . . . .185 
 
 CHAPTER Xni. 
 
 The breach reported nearly practicable — General Baird 
 volunteers to command the storming party — His answer to 
 Colonel Agnew — Letter of Instructions — Detail of storming 
 party — Orders — Baird leads the party, and crosses the river — 
 Complete success of the assault — Details of the battle within 
 the fortress — Attack of the Palace — The Princes surrender 
 themselves — Report of Tippoo's being wounded — Search made 
 for him — Detail of his proceedings during the day — Effects of 
 disasters upon his mind — His determined bravery — Is wounded 
 — Receives a second musket-shot close to the first — Tremend- 
 ous slaughter by the fire of the 12th regiment — Personal 
 rencontre of the Sultaun with a soldier — Wounds the soldier, 
 and is shot dead by him — His body discovered by General 
 Baird — Removed by his order to the Palace — Recognized by 
 his people — Shameful misconduct of certain officers — General 
 Baird establishes his head-quarters in the Palace — General 
 order from General Harris — Proclamation of General Baird — 
 Order restored — General Baird superseded in the command of 
 Seringapatam by Colonel Wellesley . . . 199 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 General Baird returns to camp — Transmits his despatch 
 announcing the details of the capture of Seringapatam to 
 General Harris — Additional Orders — Letter of General Baird 
 — Official reply through the military secretary — General 
 Baird's answer — Second letter — Colonel Wellesley presents 
 General Baird with the state sword of Tippoo — Claimed by 
 the prize committee — presented by them to General Baird — 
 General Baird receives another sword — Thanks of the House 
 of Commons — Mr. Dundas's speech — Thanks of the East India
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 Company — Distribution of General Officers — Colonel Welles- 
 ley left in command of the Mysore — General Baird proceeds to 
 Madras . . . . . .227 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Arrival at Madras — Flattering reception by Lord Wellesley 
 
 — Offers General Baird a command in Bengal — General Baird 
 declines, but subsequently follows Lord Wellesley — Appointed 
 to Dinapore — Expedition projected against Batavia and Mau- 
 ritius — Interview with Lord Wellesley — Remonstrance — Is 
 finally appointed to command — Details of preparations and 
 instructions — Colonel Wellesley to be second in command — 
 Proceeds to Saugur — Overland despatch from England — Des- 
 tination of the expedition changed — delays and difficulties — 
 Despatches and correspondence between Lord Wellesley, 
 General Baird, and Colonel W^ellesley — Mr. Dundas's Despatch 
 
 — Final arrangement — General Baird proceeds to Columbo 
 and Point de Galle — Arrives at Bombay, where he finds 
 Colonel Wellesley . . . . .249 
 
 CHAPTER XVL 
 
 General Baird arrives at Bombay — Finds Colonel Wellesley 
 there — Sails for Mocha — Colonel Wellesley's illness — Left 
 behind — General Baird arrives at Mocha — His reception there 
 
 — Letters and proclamations of Lord W^ellesley — His continu- 
 ed anxiety concerning the French islands — Colonel Montresor's 
 arrival — General Baird proceeds to Jeddah — Negociations with 
 the Sheriff of Mecca — Their result — Arrival of Sir Home 
 Popham — Voyage to Kosseir — Colonel Murray — Admiral 
 Blanket — Despatches for General Hutchinson — Commence- 
 ment of the march — Orders — Colonel Eeresford — Diffi- 
 culties which arise — General Baird accompanies the division 
 on its march — - Account of Kosseir — General Baird returns to 
 Kosseir . . . . . .289 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 General Baird takes new precautions — Report of a large 
 French force at Cairo — General Baird's determination there- 
 upon — Staff of the army — Arrival of the Wasp — Letters from
 
 CONTENTS. Xi 
 
 Colonel Wellesley — Memorandum — Sir Home Popham's in- 
 structions for the fleet — General Baird quits Kosseir — Arrives 
 at Moilah — Distresses of the March — Count de Noe — Legeta 
 — Ghennah — Continued silence of General Hutchinson — 
 General Baird's anxiety — Letter from Admiral Blanket — Sur- 
 render of Cairo — General Baird resolves upon halting, and 
 prepares to re-embark the army — Despatches from General 
 Hutchinson — Makes preparations for moving forward to join 
 that officer ...... 332 
 
 CHAPTER XVni. 
 
 General Baird's anxiety — Friendly disposition of the inha- 
 bitants of Upper Egypt — Their sincerity — Rising of the Nile 
 — Change of Plan — Colonel Champagne promoted — Colonel 
 Quarrell ordered to march to Girjee — Impressment of boats 
 — Proposition of Colonel Murray with respect to the ulterior 
 destination of the army — Frustrated — Despatches from Ge- 
 neral Hutchinson — Disposal of the troops — Tonnage of ves- 
 sels — General Baird embarks for Lower Egypt — Notice of 
 Ghennah — Regnier — Bruce. . . . 369 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 General Baird arrives at Gizeh — Removes his head quarters 
 to Rhouda — Proceeds towards Rosetta — Damietta — Lesbie — 
 Refusal of the Grand Vizier to surrender the former — Recall of 
 Colonel Lloyd — Surrender of Alexandria — General Baird's 
 disappointment — Sir John Hutchinson resolves to quit Egypt 
 on account of his health — Arrangements consequent thereupon 
 — Despatch from England — Lord Cavan appointed to command 
 in chief — The Indian army to be united with the European 
 force — General Baird's remonstrance — Reasons against the 
 measure — Appearance of the plague among the troops . 386 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 Solicitude of the Beys — Their danger— Visit of the Capidan 
 Pacha to General Hutchinson — Invitation to Constantinople — 
 General Hutchinson sends to the Beys — Arrival of the Mame- 
 lukes at Gizeh— Colonel Ramsay's precautions— Letter of Sir 
 John Hutchinson to the Grand Vizier — Colonel Ramsay's ne-
 
 XU CONTENTS. 
 
 gociations — The Vizier's answer — Presents arrive from Con- 
 stantinople for General Baird — Declines them — Arrival of M. 
 Rosetti — General Baird sends him to see Sir John Hutchinson 
 — Sir John Hutchinson's departure in the Egyptienne — Lord 
 Cavan Commander-in-chief of the whole army . 409 
 
 Portrait of Sir David Baird . . Vol. I. Frontispiece. 
 
 Prison of Seringapatam . . . . . p. 41 
 
 March across the Desert from Kosseir to Alexandria p. 322 
 March back from Cairo to Suez . . . Vol. II. p. 64 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 p. 5, line 10, /or "East India ships" read "the East India ships." 
 
 P. 10, line 22, for "councOs" read " their councils." 
 
 P. 58, line 9, /or " had been poisoned at Mysore on the 5tli" read " had 
 
 been poisoned at Mysore ; on the fifth," &c. 
 P. 60, line 14, for " alone that lor their own sakes" read " nor was it for 
 
 their own sakes alone." 
 Ibid, bottom line, for " was Strhiger" read " Stringer was." 
 P. 116, line 29, for " letter" read " letters." 
 P. 1.5o, line 'Tjfor " discovered all" read " discovered that all." 
 P. 177, line 26, for " Paiswash" read " Paishwa." 
 P. 201, note, for " Sre. Ranga Pataena under Seringapatam" read " Sre. 
 
 Ranga Patana Unde Seringapatam." 
 P. 2j3, line 10, /or " efiects" read "influence." 
 P. 334, line 25, for " that" read " who." 
 P. 394, line 8, /or " seems" read " serves." 
 P. 429, line 28, for "boats" read " ftoat."
 
 THE LIFE 
 
 OF 
 
 GENERAL, THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD, Bart. 
 
 G.C.B., K.C., &c. &c. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 BIRTH MILITARY EDUCATION APPOINTMENT TO AN ENSI6NCY — • 
 
 JOINS HIS REGIMENT AT GIBRALTAR PROMOTED TO A COMPANY 
 
 IN THE 73d ORDERED TO INDIA PROCEEDS TO GUERNSEY RE- 
 TURNS TO PORTSMOUTH — INSUBORDINATION AMONG THE TROOPS 
 
 SAILS FOR MADEIRA— GOREE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE MADRAS, 
 
 Sir David Baird, the distinguished subject of 
 the present memoir, was the fifth son of Wil- 
 Ham Baird, Esq., of Newbyth, N. B., at which 
 place he was born in December, 17<57. Mr. 
 Baird died when his son David was only eight 
 years old ; but his mother, a remarkably clever 
 woman, very soon discovered the promise of future 
 excellence in her favourite boy. His temper 
 and disposition were every thing that could be 
 desired: — active, spirited, and daring, yet gay, 
 gentle, and affectionate. Blessed with a great 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 share of natural talent, he was too volatile to 
 attend closely to study. He seemed to have been 
 born a soldier, and the evident inclination of his 
 mind and character for a military life was very 
 early gratified; for, on the l6th of December, 
 1772, just as he had completed his fifteenth year, 
 he entered the service as an ensign in the second 
 regiment of foot. He was then placed at Locie's 
 academy, at Chelsea, where he remained some 
 months actively and zealously improving himself 
 in the knowledge of military tactics, a pursuit con- 
 genial with his taste and inclinations, and which, 
 eventually, he turned to such noble account. He 
 however joined his regiment, at Gibraltar, in 
 the year 1773.* 
 
 * An anecdote related by one of his companions at the time 
 to which we now refer, will serve to illustrate his early 
 sense of discipline. At Mr. Locie's academy, as is now the 
 case at Sandhurst, the pupils were subjected to all the routine 
 of military service. One evening, when young Baird was 
 on duty as sentry, one of his companions, considerably his 
 senior, wished to get out, in order to fulfil some engagement he 
 had made in London, and tried to persuade Baird, over whom 
 he was conscious he had great influence, to permit him to pass. 
 " No," said the gallant boy, " that I cannot do, but if you 
 please you may knock me down and walk out over my body." 
 
 Another instance of a similar determination to let nothing 
 interfere with duty, occurred soon after he joined his regiment 
 at Gibraltar. One evening, when he was on guard, having 
 dined with some of his brother officers, they resolved to detain 
 him with them, and locked the door of the room to prevent 
 his visiting his sentries at the usual time. Baird found re- 
 monstrance in vain ; but fixed in his resolution, he sprang to
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. ^ 
 
 In 1776, Lieutenant Baird returned to Eng- 
 land, and on his arrival in this country obtained 
 leave of absence for the purpose of visiting his 
 mother, and the other branches of his family, 
 in Scotland, to all of whom he was most affec- 
 tionately attached, and with all of whom he was a 
 great and deserved favourite. 
 
 Our young soldier, however, was not destined 
 to enjoy, for any great length of time, either the 
 society of his nearest and dearest friends, or the 
 repose and tranquillity of private life. In 1777» 
 when ten new regiments were raised, he was ap- 
 pointed captain of the light infantry company in 
 Lord Macleod's regiment of Highlanders, the 
 celebrated J 3d, (afterwards the 71st,) which was 
 raised at Elgin. In the spring of 1778 the regi- 
 ment was formed at Fort George. 
 
 The personal appearance of Captain Baird at this 
 period, is described as adding greatly to the chival- 
 rous bearing of his manner. His figure was tall 
 and symmetrical ; his countenance, cheerful and 
 animated, was indeed the index of his mind ; and 
 on his open manly brow were legibly displayed the 
 indications of that lofty courage, that firmness of 
 purpose, and that vigour of intellect, which so 
 conspicuously marked the splendid course of his 
 after-life. 
 
 the window which overhung the rampart, and with an 
 agility and dexterity for which he was always remarkable, 
 threw himself out, escaped unhurt, and was at his post at the 
 very minute appointed. 
 
 B 2
 
 4 THE LIFE OF 
 
 When the 73d arrived at Portsmouth, the East 
 India Company's ships were not ready to receive it. 
 For the moment, therefore, its destination was 
 changed, and it was sent to Guernsey, where it 
 remained for six months ; at the end of which 
 period, that fine regiment, a thousand strong, 
 returned to quarters in Portsmouth, in order to 
 await the still delayed sailing of the India fleet. 
 
 While the corps was thus stopped, in transitu, 
 a serious and diabolical attempt was made by 
 some vile incendiaries to poison the minds of the 
 Highlanders composing it. To effect their purpose 
 they endeavoured to persuade the men that they 
 were sold to the East India Company ; that their 
 officers were only to accompany them until they 
 were on board the vessels destined to convey them 
 to their place of banishment, and that when they 
 had once seen them safely off, they were to return. 
 
 The minds of the Highlanders (naturally sus- 
 picious), removed, in the first instance, as the men 
 had been, to a remote distance from their native 
 homes, were seriously operated upon, by the detes- 
 table falsehoods of the hidden traitors who inces- 
 santly laboured to deceive them ; and the effect pro- 
 duced by the exertions of these people, in repre- 
 senting to the brave soldiers of the king and country 
 that they had been trucked and trafficked away to 
 a joint-stock company of merchants in London, was 
 such, that one company of the regiment (Captain 
 Shaw's), which was quartered at Fareham, actually 
 mutinied, and positively refused to march.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 5 
 
 Reason and reflection, however, sliortly got 
 the better of the treacherous falsehoods which had 
 been so actively propagated ; but the extent to 
 which the machinations of the plotters had been 
 carried may be pretty clearly estimated, by the 
 fact that they had gratuitously furnished disguises 
 of various sorts for the men, in order to enable 
 them to desert with impunity. 
 
 In January 1779, the protracted difficulties 
 with respect to the departure of East India shij)s 
 having been at length overcome, the regiment was 
 embarked. Captain Baird being in command of a 
 hundred and fifty men on board the Earl of Ox- 
 ford. But although the important preliminary step 
 of getting the troops afloat had been achieved, it 
 was not until the 7th of the March following, 
 that they actually sailed. 
 
 On that day the fleet, under the command of Ad- 
 miral Sir Edward Hughes, left Portsmouth. It con- 
 sisted of six sail of the line, some frigates, and about 
 twenty East Indiamen, and carried out, besides 
 the 73d regiment, the 7'5th, and a part of the 
 African corps, under the command of Governor 
 Wall, who was destined at that period to assume 
 the command at Goree in the event of its cap- 
 ture, and who, as the reader will no doubt remem- 
 ber, was executed in front of Newgate, twenty- 
 three years afterwards, for an act of tyranny 
 committed during his government in that settle- 
 ment, in the year 1782. 
 
 At the end of March, the ships arrived at
 
 () THE LIFE OF 
 
 the beautiful Island of Madeira, and remained 
 there three weeks, and from its richly clad shores 
 proceeded to the confined and wretched set- 
 tlement of Goree, the taking of which had been 
 determined upon by our government ; but scarcely 
 had the preparations for attacking it commenced, 
 when it was discovered that the French had, upon 
 the appearance of our fleet, considered it prudent 
 to evacuate the place. The ships then came to 
 anchor in the bay, and tKe>75th, a remarkably fine 
 body of young Welshmen, and the African corps, 
 intended for the garrison of the island, were landed. 
 
 During the stay of the ships at this horrid place. 
 Captain Baird went on shore to attend the funeral 
 of a brother officer, who had died on board. Some 
 native Africans, who were employed to dig the 
 grave, remained to witness the melancholy and 
 impressive ceremony of interment. One of them 
 approached Captain Baird, and looking anxiously 
 in his face, gave him to understand, by signs, 
 that all the white men who had come that day, 
 would soon be there — pointing to the grave. 
 And this prediction was too truly and fatally ful- 
 filled, for nearly the whole of the y^th were buried 
 in that wretched settlement ; than which, not even 
 the hateful Sierra-Leone, nor the delusive Fer- 
 nando Po, is more baneful and destructive to Eu- 
 ropean constitutions. 
 
 From Goree the fleet proceeded to the Cape of 
 Good Hope. The Earl of Oxford, and another 
 of the Indiamen, got into Table Bay on the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 
 
 1st of August 1779' Ihe men-of-war, and the 
 other Indiamen, stood round for Simon's Bay, in 
 False Bay, the usual naval rendezvous and an- 
 chorage, where the dockyard and other marine 
 departments are established ; some of them, it 
 appears, did not get to anchor until three weeks 
 after the arrival of the two companion ships in 
 Table Bay. 
 
 At the Cape, however, which at that period was 
 a Dutch colony, the fleet remained for three 
 months : a period little less than that which is 
 now occupied by a whole voyage from England to 
 India ; and during this unaccountably long deten- 
 tion, a homeward bound India fleet arrived. 
 
 It was not until November, 1779, that the out- 
 ward-bound fleet was again on its way to India ; 
 and it was not until January, I78O, that Lord 
 Macleod and his gallant Highlanders landed at 
 Madras ; an entire year having been consumed in 
 the completion of the voyage from the date of 
 their first embarkation at Portsmouth.
 
 8 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 STATE OF AFFAIRS AT MADRAS CONDUCT OF THE GOVERNMENT OP 
 
 FORT ST. GEORGE — HYDER ALY — HIS WAR WITH THE MAHRATTAS 
 
 APPEAL TO THE EAST INDIA COMPANY THEIR REFUSAL HIS 
 
 JUNCTION WITH THE FRENCH IMPROVEMENT OF HIS ARMY COAL- 
 ESCES WITH THE MAHRATTAS ADVANCES TO THE MOUNT DIFFE- 
 RENCES OF OPINION IN THE COUNCIL LORD MACLEOD REFUSES 
 
 THE COMMAND OF THE ARMY SIR HECTOR MUNRO TAKES THE 
 
 COMMAND CAPTAIN BAIRD MARCHES WITH COLONEL FLETCHER 
 
 TO CONJEVERAM JOINS COLONEL BAILLIE ATTACK OF HYDER 
 
 AND TIPPOO SANGUINARY BATTLE TREACHERY AND BARBARITY 
 
 OF TIPPOO THE ENGLISH FORCE BETRAYED AND CUT TO PIECES 
 
 CAPTAIN BAIRD DESPERATELY WOUNDED. 
 
 At the time of the arrival of the 73rd at Ma- 
 dras, the general appearance of affairs was favour- 
 able to tranquillity ; but those to whom the admi- 
 nistration of the government was entrusted should 
 have penetrated below the surface, aware, as they 
 ought to have been, of the hatred — not perhaps 
 altogether unjustified — which Hyder Aly Cawn 
 bore the English, and more especially the pre- 
 sidency of Fort St. George. 
 
 In order to understand the causes of this pecu- 
 liar animosity, it may be necessary to state, that in 
 the year I769, eleven years before the period to 
 which we are now referring, Hyder Aly, after
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 9 
 
 having been engaged with varying success against 
 the EngHsh, had suddenly appeared within a few 
 miles of Madras, greatly to the embarrassment of 
 the government of that presidency, which, besides 
 being extremely reduced in point of revenue, 
 had been for some time divided and distracted 
 by dissensions among the council and superior 
 officers, and driven to expedients which, it must 
 be confessed, reflect no great credit upon the 
 integrity of those who devised them, or upon the 
 wisdom of those who put them into execution. 
 
 Matters, however, pressed, and with the enemy 
 almost at their gates, they found it necessary to 
 check his farther proceedings by negociation, into 
 which he, on his part, was equally ready to enter ; 
 and accordingly a treaty, offensive and defensive, 
 was concluded between Hyder and the British 
 government, on the Srd of April, I769, the prin- 
 cipal condition of which was understood to be, 
 that the forts and places taken on either side 
 should be restored to their original possessors, 
 and each party sit down contented. But in point 
 of fact there was another article in the treaty 
 which was still more important — it was specially 
 agreed, that in case either party was attacked by 
 its enemies, the other should lend the party so at- 
 tacked its aid and assistance ; and to make this 
 compact more binding, the actual number of troops 
 to be supplied for the purpose was distinctly stated. 
 Whether from forgetfulness of that to which they 
 had pledged themselves, or from carelessness of
 
 10 THE LIFE OF 
 
 a distant enemy, at whom they had trembled 
 wlien near at hand, it is not our province to 
 determine ; but certain it is, that when Hyder 
 Aly, a short time after the ratification of this 
 treaty, became involved in a war with the Mah- 
 rattas, and applied to the Madras government for 
 the guaranteed assistance, the Madras government 
 flatly refused to afford it, because, as they alleged, 
 if they took a decided part with Hyder against the 
 Mahrattas, they should in all probability become 
 involved in a Mahratta war themselves. 
 
 Stung by the flagrant injustice of this paltry eva- 
 sion, in a case all the difficulties of which the Ma- 
 dras government should have considered before 
 they pledged themselves ; Hyder, after numerous 
 applications, which were constantly refused, re- 
 solved upon making up his differences with the 
 Mahrattas as soon as he could, and revenging him- 
 self upon his faithless allies, the English. Painful 
 it is, indeed, to think that the English name should 
 have been so sullied in the presidencies of the 
 Honourable East India Company and councils. 
 
 To this shameless breach of faith may fairly be 
 traced the combination of miseries and misfortunes 
 which subsequently involved and overwhelmed 
 thousands of our countrymen, and amongst them, 
 the gallant and distinguished subject of this me- 
 moir; for the course taken by Hyder to satisfy 
 his thirst for revenge upon the English, was one 
 which led to a chain of events, the extent and 
 magnitude of which were not in the islightest de^
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. ] 1 
 
 gree anticipated by the Madras government, when, 
 upon a cool calculating principle of self-preserva- 
 tion, they resolved to violate the faith of their 
 engagements, and outrage the sanctity of their 
 treaties. 
 
 Hyder knew by experience, and by the common 
 course of events, that the French, if made acquaint- 
 ed with the facts of the case, and the feelings of 
 our discarded ally, would not hesitate for a moment 
 in affording him any means that he might require for 
 reducing his Indian enemies, as the first important 
 step towards wreaking a future vengeance on his 
 English friends. Hyder's anticipations with re- 
 spect to succour and support from this quarter 
 were fully justified by the event: the French 
 supplied him liberally with arms and ammunition ; 
 and French officers were permitted, if not encou- 
 raged, to enter into his service, to train and or- 
 ganize his armies, and to form a powerful force 
 of artillery upon the European system. 
 
 The effect of this improvement upon the dis- 
 cipline of his troops was sensibly and rapidly felt ; 
 and in a much shorter space of time than even he 
 himself could have hoped or expected, he found 
 himself enabled to take the field against the Mah- 
 rattas, and the result of his brilliant campaign was 
 a treaty in the highest degree advantageous to his 
 interests. 
 
 But, as if to shew in more glowing colours the 
 real character of the evasion with which the 
 Madras government met Hyder's requisition, on
 
 12 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the faith of their mutual compact made by him ; and 
 to exhibit the fallacy of their expressed apprehen- 
 sion of involving themselves in hostilities with the 
 Mahrattas ; we find the Madras government imme- 
 diately afterwards actually involved in a Mahratta 
 war ; and as the causes which led to that war seem 
 to be quite as creditable to the then government of 
 Bombay, as those which induced the former pacific 
 resolutions of the government of Madras, we shall 
 briefly lay them before the reader, more especially 
 as they may tend to throw light upon subse- 
 quent important transactions. 
 
 The seat of the Mahratta government was 
 originally fixed at Setterah, and the government 
 itself was vested in a Rajah ; and although, in the 
 course of time, the sole and absolute power of the 
 prince had been deteriorated, and the nation 
 become divided into numerous small states, the 
 chiefs of all those states continued to own alle- 
 giance to the ram-rajah, to whom they still con- 
 ceded the right of assembling them, or of calling 
 out their troops whenever he felt inclined to do so. 
 
 But at length the greatness of the ram-rajah 
 became little more than a shadow, and his dig- 
 nity little else than a name ; the whole power of 
 the government being in the hands of the paishwa, 
 or chancellor. The paishwaship being usurped, 
 as we are told, by the family of Nana-Row, the 
 reigning paishwa seized the ram-rajah, and threw 
 him into a dungeon at Setterah. 
 
 When the paishwa died he left two sons, Mada-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 13 
 
 Row, and Narain-Row, of whom Mada-Row, 
 being the eldest, succeeded to the paishwaship, 
 to which, however, his uncle, Roganaut-Row, laid 
 claim. Mada-Row, anxious for his own safety, 
 and the peaceable enjoyment of a dignity to which 
 he was unquestionably entitled, had this uncle 
 seized and placed in confinement ; but being him- 
 self attacked by illness, he released him before his 
 death, recommending, in his last moments, his 
 brother, Narain-Row (who was of course to suc- 
 ceed to the paishwaship), to his special care and 
 affection. 
 
 It is not very difficult to anticipate the fate of 
 the unhappy heir to the honours of his fond 
 brother, when he was confided to the hands of 
 another and more desperate claimant of them. 
 Narain-Row was shortly after murdered by his 
 uncle, who fled to the East India Company's 
 government at Bombay, where, on promising to 
 cede a certain portion of the territories which he 
 was to acquire, as the price of his nephew's blood, 
 the Company's government were pleased to ap- 
 prove his pretensions to the throne of Poonah, 
 and gave him their protection and countenance 
 in supporting them. 
 
 Against this most flagrant act, the Mahrattas, 
 shocked and disgusted at the heartless conduct 
 of the sanguinary monster, whose hands were im- 
 brued with the blood of his nearest living relative, 
 and that relative committed to his fostering care 
 and protection, strongly and pathetically remon- 
 
 VOL. I. B 7
 
 14 THE LIFE OP 
 
 strated ; but, will it be believed, that the principle 
 then apparently laid down by the Honourable East 
 India Company, of availing themselves, whenever 
 they can, of any civil dissensions amongst the 
 natives, in order to extend their own territorial 
 possessions, prevented any notice whatever being 
 taken of their appeal ? 
 
 The outraged Mahrattas then, having resolved 
 upon revenge, formed a coalition not only with 
 Hyder Aly Cawn, but with many other powerful 
 princes and rajahs, (who naturally sympathized 
 with their feelings,) for the purpose, if possible, 
 of expelling from amongst them, a race of people, 
 whom (to use the words of an able writer upon 
 the subject) " no concessions could satisfy, and 
 no treaties could bind." 
 
 But, as if the previously cautious and calculating 
 government of Madras had been inclined to excite 
 their enemies to mischief, they chose, just at this 
 period, to march a body of troops through a part of 
 Hyder's* territory, without his permission, in order 
 to assist a prince who was not in alliance with him ; 
 
 * Hyder Ally Cawn, the Regent of Mysore, had attained 
 that dignity by a combination of powerful abilities and 
 daring crimes, by bi'avery in arms and by policy in negociation. 
 He entered the service of the Rajah, whose throne he after- 
 wards possessed, as a corporal, and like another hero, who 
 seems to have emulated his vices and successes, was distin- 
 guished by the appellation of Corporal for many years. He 
 rose to the command of the army, and on the death of the 
 Rajah seized the government, and confined the heir to the 
 throne, and the whole of the royal family, in the fortress of
 
 SIR DAVID BAIIID. 15 
 
 and as if to cement more firmly the union which 
 existed between him and his new friends, the 
 French, they at the same time thought proper to 
 take possession of the French settlement of Mahie, 
 on the Malabar coast, which formed part of his 
 dominions, at a moment when he declared the 
 French were actually under his protection. 
 
 While these things were in progress, the Madras 
 
 Seringapatam, occasionally shewing them to the people to 
 assure them of their existence and safety. 
 
 He could neither read nor write, but such was the power of 
 his mind, that he invited and encouraged the manufacturer and 
 workman of every nation to settle in his territories. His army 
 was disciplined in the European manner, and he ultimately 
 succeeded in the formation of dock-yards and the establish- 
 ment of a navy. 
 
 The writer, to whom we are indebted for much information, 
 in his " Memoirs of the War in Asia," says, speaking of this 
 extraordinary man, " At the same time that he was sublime in 
 his views, he was capable of all that minute attention which 
 was necessary for their completion. His ends were great — his 
 means prudent— a regular economy supplied a source of libe- 
 rality, which he never failed to exercise whenever an object 
 which he could render in any shape subservient to his ambition 
 solicited his bounty. He rewarded merit of every kind, but 
 he was particularly munificent to all who could bring impor- 
 tant intelligence. He made a regular distribution of his time, 
 and although he sacrificed to the pleasures of life as well as to 
 the pomp of state, in business he was equally decisive and 
 persevering. 
 
 The extent of population in his dominions at the time of 
 which we now treat (1780) was never accurately ascertained. 
 His army, however, at that period, amounted to three hundred 
 thousand men, and his annual revenue to above five millions 
 sterling.
 
 16 THE LIFE OF 
 
 government remained in a state of stupid security, 
 and Hyder, who had been avaiUng himself of 
 every opportunity for making the most extensive 
 warlike preparations, found his way through the 
 Ghauts, and burst like a mountain-torrent into 
 the Carnatic, driving all before him. 
 
 No care whatever had been taken to guard the 
 passes or defiles, nor did Hyder meet with the 
 slightest impediment or opposition to his passage, 
 beyond that which naturally arose from the narrow- 
 ness or difficulty of the passes themselves. Some 
 idea may be formed of the dismay of the presi- 
 dency, and as it should seem its surprise, when 
 the government found that the invading power 
 amounted to nearly 100,000 men, including a 
 large force of European troops, officered by 
 Frenchmen, and commanded by a very distin- 
 guished person. Colonel Lally. 
 
 When the crisis which suddenly presented it- 
 self came to be discussed in council, a very 
 great difference of opinion arose at the board, 
 as to the most adviseable mode of repelling the 
 invaders. One party wished to keep Sir Hector 
 Munro, the commander-in-chief, at the presi- 
 dency, in order to retain a majority in the 
 council, and to despatch Lord Macleod in com- 
 mand of the army (which did not exceed, 
 at that period, six thousand men), against Hyder ; 
 and this it was proposed to do without an hour's 
 delay, and without, of course, waiting for the ne- 
 cessary equipment of a body of troops destined
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 17 
 
 for such an arduous service. This could hardly 
 be believed, if the facts were not recorded ; and 
 much less would it be credited, that although 
 the council themselves admitted Hyder's force to 
 exceed 80,000 men, a great proportion of whom 
 were cavalry, fully prepared for the field; the 
 opinion they entertained, or, perhaps, affected to 
 entertain, of the efficiency of his army, in order 
 to palliate their own former ignorance or neglect, 
 was such, that even the enormous inequality of 
 numbers in his favour was scarcely considered as a 
 serious disadvantage. 
 
 Lord Macleod, however, who was an able man, 
 and a good soldier, took a calmer and wiser view 
 of the subject. He readily agreed to assume the 
 command of the army, when it should be properly 
 formed and equipped for service, but positively 
 refused to do so while it was in its present 
 state ; at the same time offering readily to march 
 instantly at the head of his own regiment. 
 
 In his remonstrance to the council upon what 
 can be called nothing but the absurdity of their 
 conduct, Lord Macleod used the following expres- 
 sion, which, though perhaps somewhat rough, 
 proved, in the sequel, awfully prophetic : — " I," 
 said his lordship, " have been a great many 
 years in the service, and I have always observed, 
 that when you despise your enemy, he generally 
 gives you a d — d rap over the knuckles." 
 
 In consequence of Lord Macleod's refusal, Sir 
 Hector Munro took the command. 
 
 VOL. I. c
 
 18 THE LTFE OF 
 
 On the 24th of July, I78O, the cavahy of 
 Hyder Aly were within nine miles of Madras ; 
 and his troops burned all the villages on the 
 road, which had been abandoned on their ap- 
 proach by the unhappy inhabitants. Things now 
 began to wear an extremely serious aspect, and in 
 order to assemble the English force with all pos- 
 sible expedition, a despatch was sent off to Colonel 
 Baillie, who was in the Northern Circar, with from 
 three to four thousand men, to join Sir Hector 
 Munro's army at the Mount at Madras. Most 
 unfortunately, however, the order was subsequently 
 changed, and Colonel Baillie was directed to 
 proceed direct to Conjeveram, a place about forty 
 miles from the Mount on the road to Arcot, by 
 which change an opportunity was afforded Hyder 
 (of which he took advantage) of throwing himself 
 between the two British commanders. 
 
 Sir Hector Munro marched from the Mount on 
 the 25th of August, I78O, to Conjeveram. In the 
 meanwhile Baillie, who was on his way to join him 
 there, fell in with a detachment of Hyder's army, 
 under the command of his son, Tippoo, consisting 
 of 30,000 cavalry, 8,000 foot, and twelve pieces of 
 cannon. Notwithstanding the vast numerical su- 
 periority of this force over that of Colonel Baillie, 
 which was considerably weakened 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. This victory, 
 splendid as was the achievement, was dearly
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 
 
 19 
 
 bought, since, by again diminishing the effective 
 strength of his Httle army, he considerably added 
 to the dangers and difficulties of his situation. 
 
 At this juncture, Colonel Baillie sent off a mes- 
 senger to Sir Hector Munro, informing him of the 
 precarious state in which he found himself. The 
 severe loss he had sustained, rendered him inca- 
 pable of advancing, while the distressing want of 
 provisions, under which his troops were suffering, 
 made it equally impossible for him to remain long 
 where he was. This representation from Colonel 
 Baillie greatly embarrassed Sir Hector Munro, for 
 it was clear he must either decide on marching to 
 his relief, leaving his sick and stores at Con- 
 jeveram under a guard, or on remaining himself 
 at Conjeveram, and sending a detachment to 
 strengthen Colonel Baillie where he was. 
 
 Unfortunately — as it turned out — for it is the 
 common disposition of man to judge of conduct 
 by consequences — Sir Hector decided on the 
 latter alternative, and a detachment was sent 
 to Colonel Baillie's assistance, under the command 
 of Colonel Fletcher, of which detachment the flank 
 companies of the 73d, under Captain Baird, formed 
 part ; there were two other companies of European 
 grenadiers, and eleven companies of Sepoys, mak- 
 ing altogether about a thousand men. 
 
 The security of this force, and the probability 
 of its effecting a junction with Colonel Baillie, ap- 
 peared to Colonel Fletcher to depend so very 
 
 c 2
 
 9.0 THE LIFE OF 
 
 much upon tlie silence of its proceedings, that he 
 refused four six pounders which were offered him, 
 and marched on the 8th of September, at nine 
 o'clock at night. It appears, however, that Hyder, 
 notwithstanding all the caution that was observed, 
 had obtained accurate intelligence of the move- 
 ment of this detachment, and accordingly de- 
 spatched a strong body to intercept it. Colonel 
 Fletcher and Captain Baird, however, having rea- 
 son to suspect some project of the sort, suddenly 
 altered their line of march, and by a wide detour ^ 
 which, although it added to their fatigue, ensured 
 their safety, succeeded in joining Colonel Baillie 
 on the morning of the 9th, having, nevertheless, 
 fallen in with Hyder's picquets, close to his posi- 
 tion at Perambaukum. 
 
 The troops of this detachment, wearied as they 
 were, were permitted to halt only till the evening, 
 when the whole force marched, under the com- 
 mand of Colonel BaiUie, to join Sir Hector Munro. 
 Hyder had again obtained the most correct intelli- 
 gence 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 were to march, with artillery, and 
 placed his best infantry in ambuscade at every 
 available point. 
 
 The English troops had not proceeded more than 
 four miles, when an alarm was given that the 
 enemy was on their flank. They immediately
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 21 
 
 formed, but finding the attack was not serious, 
 continued their march. The road lay through 
 an avenue of banyan trees, with a jungle on either 
 side, and upon their entrance into this road, they 
 were again attacked on the flank, by the enemy's 
 opening two or three guns, and commencing a fire 
 of some musquetry from the thick part of the 
 jungle. They instantly halted, and immediately 
 afterwards endeavoured to take the guns, but the 
 darkness frustrated their efforts ; and then it was, 
 that Colonel Baillie determined to halt till day- 
 light — a determination at first sight incompatible 
 with the admitted necessity of making the march 
 by night; while it not only afforded an opportu- 
 nity to the enemy to draw off his cannon to an- 
 other and stronger point, which the English had 
 inevitably to pass in the morning, but practically 
 announced to Tippoo the exact position in which 
 he had checked them, and moreover of suggesting 
 to Hyder the importance of advancing, in order, 
 to take advantage of their unexpected halt. 
 Colonel Baillie's words explanatory of his decision 
 addressed to Captain Baird were, " that he was 
 determined to halt till day-light, that he might 
 have an opportunity of seeing about him." 
 
 At day-light they accordingly re-commenced 
 their march, and as the column moved out of the 
 avenue into the plain, a battery of eight guns 
 opened upon it, supported by a strong body of 
 cavalry and infantry. Baillie immediately ordered
 
 22 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Captains Kennedy and Gowdie, with the native 
 grenadiers, to attack them ; they did so, and 
 succeeded in taking most of the guns, and in 
 driving back the troops who supported them. 
 
 But at this moment the heads of the different 
 columns of Hyder's army appeared, (Hyder 
 having passed Sir Hector Munro in the night,) 
 moving down upon the hue, which induced Ken- 
 nedy and Gowdie immediately to call off their 
 detachment from the captured guns to join the 
 main body. At this juncture, Baillie formed 
 his force, consisting of little more than three 
 thousand men, in line upon the bank of an old 
 nullah, or water-course, 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 various descriptions of this memorable 
 and most unequal contest, however, all agree in 
 confirming the belief, that vast as was the dispa- 
 rity between the contending armies, and although 
 Hyder had upwards of seventy pieces of cannon 
 in the field, the day would have been won by the 
 English, if the fortune of war had not been so de- 
 cidedly against them. The enemy were repeatedly 
 and continually repulsed, their infantry gave way, 
 while tlieir cavalry were falling in all directions, 
 and, it is said, Hyder was only prevented from
 
 SIR DAVID BAIKD. 23 
 
 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 ; and at this moment, and 
 while the English were actually sustaining the 
 combined attack of Hyder and his son Tippoo, 
 two of their tumbrils exploded, and 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, 
 dreadful state, under a heavy and tremendous fire 
 of cannon and rockets, these gallant but un- 
 fortunate soldiers remained from half-past seven 
 until nine o'clock. 
 
 The slaughter of the British began to be tre- 
 mendous, as the enemy closed in upon them on 
 every side. Colonel Fletcher had carried off the 
 grenadier company of the 73d to support the rear- 
 guard, and was never heard of more. Hyder Aly 
 came with his whole army on their riglit flank, 
 charging them with columns of horse, while the 
 infantry kept up a heavy fire of musquetry. These 
 were followed by the elephants and Mysore ca- 
 valry, which completed the overthrow of the gal- 
 lant band of heroes. In the midst of this, 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. At length the case became evidently
 
 24 THE LIFE OF 
 
 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 officers 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 Tippoo 
 Saib in person, rushed upon the unarmed troops 
 before they could recover themselves, chopping 
 down every man within their reach. 
 
 * In a letter written by Mr. (afterwards Sir Thomas) 
 Munro, and recently published in Mr. Gleig's able and inter- 
 esting life of that distinguished officer, IMr. Munro, in de- 
 scribing this event, which he does only upon hearsay evidence, 
 says, " Colonel Fletcher, holding up his handkerchief on the 
 point of his sword as a signal for quarter, was wounded in the 
 arm, and wrapping the handkerchief round it, he received a 
 cut across the belly — his bowels dropped out, and he fell dead 
 from his horse." It was Colonel Baillie, and not Colonel 
 Fletcher, who made the signal for quarter, and he was not 
 killed, but lingered long afterwards in captivity. Nothing can 
 more clearly prove the difficulty of ascertaining the truth even 
 in the country where the events have happened, ]\Ir. Munro 
 had heard the account, no doubt, and repeated it as he 
 heard it.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 25 
 
 The greater part of Captain Baird's company 
 were literally cut to pieces by these wretches, and 
 he himself having received two sabre wounds on his 
 head, a ball in his thigh, and a pike-wound in 
 his arm, fell senseless on the gi'ound.
 
 26 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CAPTAIN BAIRD PROVIDENTIALLY ESCAPES DEATH HYDER RETREATS 
 
 TO DAMAL BARBARITY OF HIS TRIUMPH COLONEL BAILLIE 
 
 CAPTAIN PHILLIPS DR. WILSON CAPTAIN BAIRd's SUFFERINGS 
 
 AFTER THE ACTION SIR HECTOR MUNRO RETREATS TO MADRAS 
 
 ARRIVES THERE SAFELY, CLOSELY PURSUED BY HYDER's CA- 
 VALRY — CAPTAIN BAIRD REACHES THE FRENCH CAMP AND SUR- 
 RENDERS HIMSELF TO M. LALLY. 
 
 On recovering, Captain Baird found himself in 
 the midst of the dead and dying, and still sur- 
 rounded by the merciless enemy, who were yet 
 busily employed in the horrid work of slaughter. 
 The very circumstances of his moving and open- 
 ing his eyes, were sufficient to attract the attention 
 of these blood-thirsty barbarians, and in an instant, 
 one of Tippoo's men raised the spear with which 
 he was armed, to despatch him, when another 
 unfortunate soldier happening to stir at the same 
 instant, the new object diverted the fellow's 
 notice, and received the deadly blow. And thus, 
 by an almost miraculous accident, the gallant Baird 
 w^as preserved by Providence to revenge the fatal
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 27 
 
 devastation of Perambaukum, by the glorious con- 
 quest of Seringapatam.* 
 
 Nothing can exceed the horrors of the scene 
 which this defeat produced. Amidst the wounded 
 and bleeding English, the horses and elephants of 
 Hyder were paraded and marched in fiend-like 
 triumph ; and those miserable sufferers, who were 
 not at once released from their agonies, by being 
 trampled to death by these animals, were doomed 
 to linger out a wretched existence, exposed during 
 
 * The following note has been communicated by Captain 
 Mackenzie, late 71st Regiment. 
 
 " The writer of this had, in the year 1796, the honour and 
 good fortune to go over the field of Perambaukum, (called by 
 the soldiers the field of blood,) with Colonel Baird ; when he 
 described with great animation and strong feeling the various 
 occurrences of the memorable 10th of September 1780, and 
 clearly traced and remembered the different positions and 
 movements of Colonel Baillie's unfortunate detachment on 
 that dreadful day, from the very commencement of the action 
 to the last position taken up by them on the rising ground 
 where the flag of truce was hoisted and quarter promised by 
 the enemy ; a promise broken the moment their confiding 
 opponents had grounded their arms, when they rushed in 
 upon them, and commenced the massacre, the issue of which 
 is so well known. 
 
 " At the time the writer visited the field, fragments of 
 pouches still remained lying about, and many of the buttons 
 of the 75th Regiment were picked up. The scene brought to 
 the Colonel's brave and generous mind reflections that deeply 
 affected him ; little imagining at the moment that in less than 
 three years he should fully retaliate for his own sufferings and 
 those of his gallant companions, by overthrowing a treacherous 
 tyrant, and annihilating his government, which he amply did 
 by the capture of Seringapatam, on the 4th of May 1799."
 
 S8 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tlie day to the raging heat of a vertical sun, and 
 through the night to the ravages of tigers and 
 jackals, allured to the scene of their misery by 
 the scent of human blood. 
 
 Hyder, who, naturally apprehensive of pursuit 
 from Sir Hector Munro, had retreated after the ac- 
 tion to Damal, six miles from the field of battle, gra- 
 tified his vengeance by enjoying the sight of his 
 prisoners and the heads of the slain, as he sat in 
 his tent, enthroned as it were, on a chair of state. 
 Colonel Baillie, wounded as he was, was dragged 
 to his presence on a cannon, and while he, and 
 several other officers, in an equally dreadful con- 
 dition, lay on the ground, in the open air at his 
 feet, they experienced the additional misery of 
 seeing the heads of many of their late companions 
 in arms, presented to the heartless conqueror. 
 Nay, to such a pitch of barbarity were his cruelties 
 extended, that the duty of presenting these bleed- 
 ing trophies of his victory, was imposed upon the 
 yet surviving English prisoners. One English gen- 
 tleman in particular was forced to carry two heads 
 to the tyrant, which proved to be those of his inti- 
 mate friends Captain Phillips, and Doctor Wilson. 
 For every European head brought in, Hyder gave 
 his people five rupees, and for every European 
 prisoner alive, ten. 
 
 Amongst the victims who had as yet es- 
 caped the misery of these scenes was Captain 
 Baird. One of Hyder's horsemen, who found 
 liim wounded on the field, took charge of him.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 29 
 
 and strange to say, had the humanity to give him 
 a httle water to drink. From loss of blood he 
 fainted twice on his way towards the camp, and 
 twice his guard and conductor stopped and 
 waited for his recovery, in order to obtain the 
 reward paid for bringing in a prisoner ; but when 
 the unfortunate sufferer a third time sank under 
 pain and fatigue, the patience of the soldier was 
 exhausted, and he left him to die. 
 
 Here then, stretched upon the ground, covered 
 with wounds, still bleeding, lay the noble-minded 
 subject of our memoir, without a human being to 
 minister to his wants, without a living creature to 
 compassionate his sufferings. How long he re- 
 mained in this state is not known, but at length 
 his eyes were gratified by the appearance of a 
 Serjeant and a private of his own company. The 
 latter was disabled in botli arms, and the former, 
 (Serjeant Walker,) in one. They had fortunately 
 escaped so far from the field ; and as they could 
 both walk, wliile the Captain, from the wound in 
 his thigh, could not move without the greatest 
 pain and difficulty, they raised him from the 
 ground, and helped him along as well as they 
 could, and procured him water to drink, a luxury, 
 the extreme value of which, no one who has not 
 suflTered the parching thirst caused by still reeking 
 wounds, under a burning sun, can at all appreciate. 
 
 Captain Baird, while he lay senseless on the 
 field, had been stripped by the enemy, who left 
 him nothing but his shirt and trowsers, wliich
 
 30 THE LIFE OF 
 
 were saturated with blood ; and yet, thus tortured 
 as he was, he, and his equally destitute and bleed- 
 ing companions crawled on, animated by the hope 
 of reaching Sir Hector Munro's camp, which they 
 naturally concluded could be at no very great dis- 
 tance, since they had left it only two days before. 
 But they gi'eatly miscalculated, if not the distance 
 of Sir Hector's camp, the military tactics of Sir 
 Hector himself. 
 
 Sir Hector Munro had been near enough to 
 hear the firing when the action between Hyder 
 and Colonel Baillie began, and, it is generally 
 believed, that his first impulse was to move forward 
 to Baillie's assistance ; but before he had proceeded 
 far on his march, in pursuance of this intention, 
 he met some runaways from the scene of action, 
 and in consequence of what these fugitives, under 
 their impression of affairs, told him. Sir Hector 
 Munro went to the riglit about, leaving Colonel 
 Baillie and his gallant and devoted little army 
 to their fate.* 
 
 So strong was the impression made upon the 
 mind of Sir Hector Munro by what he had heard, 
 although his informants had given practical evi- 
 dence of the value of their opinion by saving them- 
 
 * When the orders were given by Sir Hector Munro to go 
 to the right about. Lord Macleod remonstrated with him in 
 the strongest manner ; nay, the brave old soldier from whose 
 mouth this statement was taken, declared that his lordship went 
 on his knees to Sir Hector, to entreat that he would at any rate 
 allow him to go to the relief of " his own poor fellows ;" — the 
 flunk companies of the 73d, his lordship's regiment.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 31 
 
 selves, tliat he proceeded rapidly to Conjeveram, 
 which he reached by six o'clock in the evening. 
 Here he proceeded to give orders to destroy his 
 cannon, being twenty-four pounders, and a vast 
 quantity of ammunition, which appeared likely to 
 encumber the movements which he had decided to 
 make as rapidly as he could towards ChingMput, 
 to which place, at two o'clock in the morning, 
 the British force moved off without beat of drum, 
 and reached it at day-break on the 12th. The 
 next morning they moved again, and at one o'clock 
 in the morning of the 14th arrived safe at the 
 Mount, at Madras, having been very much an- 
 noyed all the way by Hyder's horse, which con- 
 tinued to pursue, and hover about their rear. 
 
 It is impossible to quit this part of the subject, 
 without stating the opinions and feelings to which 
 the sudden retreat of the army to Madras gave 
 rise. The grief which the loss of so many gallant 
 officers excited, was scarcely less powerful than 
 the alarm consequent upon the probable result 
 of their defeat. Many of the inhabitants made 
 preparations for quitting the Presidency, and 
 flying to England. Others looked for assistance 
 from Bengal. But such a demonstration of popu- 
 lar feeling perhaps modern history can scarcely 
 afford: every inhabitant of Madras put on mourn- 
 ing. The negligence, indolence, infatuation, or 
 stupidity of certain individuals, who had neither 
 prudence to foresee dangers, nor fortitude to with- 
 stand them when they came, were the themes of
 
 32 THE LIFE OF 
 
 general invective and discontent amongst both the 
 civil and military population ; while the peculiar 
 character of the general sentiment might be 
 clearly understood, by the manner in which the 
 same individuals extolled the characters of Co- 
 lonel Fletcher and the brave officers and men 
 who perished with him, and did justice to the 
 valour of Baillie, and applauded the advice given 
 by Lord M acleod ; who, as we have already said, 
 used his most earnest endeavours to prevail upon 
 Sir Hector Munro to move forward to the relief 
 of Baillie's force. 
 
 But to return to our narrative. Captain Baird 
 and his weak and wounded companions, still under 
 the delusion of hope, continued moving as well as 
 they could in the direction of Sir Hector Munro's 
 encampment ; but although they pursued the track 
 they had selected as the best, they saw nothing to 
 encourage them ; on the contrary, the enemy 
 were visible in every direction, in small bodies, 
 and evidently in perfect security. These appear- 
 ances disheartened them, and completely worn 
 out by fatigue and loss of blood, they resolved 
 to abandon all further efforts to escape, and to 
 resign themselves to a fate, which now seemed, 
 alas! too truly, inevitable ; and, accordingly, they 
 laid themselves down under a banyan-tree, where, 
 in spite of all his tortures, mental and bodily. 
 Captain Baird slept soundly, for several hours.* 
 
 * It was a peculiarity in Sir David Baird that he could 
 sleep soundly for the period which he had allotted for repose.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 33 
 
 When he awoke from his slumber he was told by 
 his faithful companions, who had watched by him, 
 that a large body (they imagined the whole) of 
 Tippoo's cavalry had passed by, near where he lay, 
 in pursuit of Sir Hector Munro ; for as soon as 
 Hyder was convinced that Sir Hector, instead of 
 pursuing him, had moved off towards Chingleput, 
 he became pursuer in turn, and so continued, as we 
 have seen, to harass and annoy his enemy during 
 the whole retreat, even to the neighbourhood of 
 Madras itself. 
 
 In this position of affairs, and being perfectly 
 convinced that their lot must be captivity. Cap- 
 tain Baird resolved to attempt to find M. Lally's 
 camp that day, where he hoped that himself and 
 his companions might be made prisoners to the 
 French, instead of falling into the hands of the 
 merciless author of all their misfortunes. Ac- 
 cordingly he and his companions took the direc- 
 tion of the French head-quarters, and by the aid 
 of Providence reached them before night. 
 
 under the most trying and difficult circumstances ; a pecu- 
 liarity attributable perhaps to the general tranquillity of 
 his mind. Without this power he never could have been 
 equal to the arduous and important tasks, which in the course 
 of his eventful life he had to perform. He has often said that 
 he never slept better than he did, after having made all the 
 necessary arrangements the night before the Storming of 
 Seringapatam. 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 RECEPTION BY THE FRENCH OFFICERS REMOVED TO HYDEr's CAMP 
 
 DETAINED WITH THE ARMY — MARCH TIPPOO's DUPLICITY 
 
 ARRIVAL AT SERINGAPATAM DESCRIPTION OF THEIR PRISON — PUT 
 
 IN IRONS DREADFUL ILLNESS OF CAPTAIN BAIRD DEATH OF 
 
 CAPTAIN LUCAS AND MR. HOPE HYDER PROPOSES TERMS TO SUCH 
 
 OFFICERS AS WOULD ENTER HIS SERVICE HIS OFFERS REJECTED 
 
 —DEATH OF COLONEL BAILLIE. 
 
 The reception which Captain Baird and his fel- 
 low sufferers met with in the French camp was 
 such as might have been expected from a brave 
 and generous enemy. The officers gave them tea 
 and refreshments, and a surgeon was immediately 
 ordered to attend them and dress their wounds : 
 but although these personal attentions were 
 shewn them, they were made to understand that 
 they must not expect protection, nor be permitted 
 even to remain where they were ; the orders of 
 the French being imperative to deliver up all pri- 
 soners to Hyder himself. 
 
 Every hope, which these unfortunate men had till 
 now entertained of escaping the barbarities of 
 their cruel foe, vanished; and they found, to their 
 inexpressible grief and mortification, that the kind-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 35 
 
 ness wliich they had experienced, in the French 
 camp, was but the forerunner of cruelties and 
 persecutions, which that very kindness served only 
 to make more dreadful. Remonstrance, however, 
 was in vain, and accordingly they were sent under 
 a guard to the camp. 
 
 When Captain Baird arrived near Hyder*s tent 
 he was conducted into a circle formed by centinels, 
 in which were a few tents pitched under some 
 trees. Here he found Colonel Baillie and the rest 
 of his ill-fated brother officers, who had survived 
 the dreadful slaughter of Perambaukum. The 
 men were separated from the officers, but were 
 lodged in a similar place at a little distance. 
 
 Previously to Captain Baird's arrival all the 
 officers had been carried before Hyder ; but the 
 tyrant having satiated his vengeance by the pro- 
 tracted scene of cruelty which he had been enjoy- 
 ing, this ceremony of exhibition was in Baird's case 
 dispensed with, and he remained, with Colonej 
 Baillie and the others, in the place to which he 
 had been at first conveyed until the 14th, where 
 a regular allowance of rice was served out for their 
 subsistence. 
 
 At about eleven o'clock in the forenoon of the 
 14th, Hyder being about to move his camp to the 
 neighbourhood of Ai-cot, Kistna-Row, Hyder's 
 treasurer, went into the quarter where the English 
 officers were, and ordered such of them as were 
 capable of walking, to stand up. This order having 
 been of course obeyed, an immediate division of 
 
 D 2
 
 36 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the prisoners took place. Colonel Baillie, Captains 
 Baird, Riimley, Lucas, Sherlock, and Wragg, with 
 Lieutenants Lindsay and Fraser were ordered to 
 remain with the enemy^s camp ; and palanquins, 
 which had been taken by Hyder, with the baggage 
 of Baillie's corps at Perambaukum, were sent for 
 their conveyance. 
 
 The officers who were not wounded, amounting 
 to twenty-three, were sent to Bangalore and the 
 Mysore country, and there put in irons ; and tliose 
 who were wounded, in number twenty -seven, were 
 sent to Arn^e, a fort about fifteen miles from 
 Arcot. The wounded privates were by a similar 
 arrangement sent to Arn^e, and those not wounded 
 to Bangalore ; and this measure of separation was 
 carried into effect with such rapidity by Hyder 
 and his officers, that the prisoners had not the 
 opportunity of exchanging a syllable with each 
 other; and after the division had actually taken 
 place, any attempt of the one party to communicate 
 with the other would have been visited in all pro- 
 bability with the severest punishment. 
 
 Painful as it is to record such scenes of misery 
 as those in which these unhappy prisoners were 
 doomed to bear a part, we should not do justice 
 to the firmness and fortitude with which our gal- 
 lant countrymen endured their sufferings, if we 
 did not describe, in the words of one of the vic- 
 tims, the departure of those who had been ordered 
 to the different forts, for the places of their desti- 
 nation.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. SJ 
 
 " Soon after this," says the writer, " some 
 dooHes were brought for the party destined for 
 Arn6e~i. e. the wounded. These doohes are the 
 most inhuman vehicles in which Europeans were 
 ever placed. The common sort are from three 
 feet and a half to four feet long and about two 
 feet and a half broad ; they consist of a frame 
 made of bamboo or common wood, with four 
 posts at the corners to which the sides and ends 
 are fastened at about eight inches from the 
 ground. To each of these posts is fixed a bam- 
 boo or large pole by means of which the machine 
 is carried by four coolies, or bearers. The frame is 
 lashed together by ropes made of the fibres of the 
 cocoa-nut, and sometimes by small rattan canes, 
 which, at the same time they serve to fasten the 
 machine, supply the place of a seat. The doolies 
 are usually covered with coarse cotton cloth, but 
 as ours had no covering of any kind, many of our 
 gentlemen suffered very severely. 
 
 *' The poor soldiers, who laboured under every 
 misery, were some of them put into these doolies, 
 and above fifty of them placed on arrack-bandies 
 or carts. It is impossible to describe the suf- 
 ferings of these unfortunate men, desperately 
 wounded, their bodies exposed to a severe sun, 
 placed six or eight together in these vehicles, 
 knocking against each other from the jolting, and 
 refused even a drop of water." 
 
 Captain Baird and his six unfortunate companions 
 were destined, as we have already said, to move and
 
 38 THE LIFE OF 
 
 subsequently remain with the army; and accord- 
 ingly when the camp broke up, they accompanied it. 
 During the first day's march Tippoo came up, in 
 his palanquin, to Colonel Baillie, and spoke to him 
 in the handsomest manner, complimenting him 
 upon his gallantry, and bidding him keep up his 
 spirits, as his defeat was attributable only to the 
 uncertain fortune of war. He also assured him 
 that it was the intention of his father, Hyder Aly, 
 to render him every assistance, and not to suffer 
 him to want for anything during his captivity ; and 
 even went so far as to request Colonel Baillie, 
 if he found at any time any cause for complaint, to 
 send to him, promising to see the grievance, what- 
 ever it might be, properly adjusted. 
 
 It will scarcely be believed, that at the very 
 moment Tippoo was making these professions and 
 protestations, he knew perfectly well that it never 
 would be in Colonel Baillie's power to send any 
 complaint or remonstrance to /wm, except with the 
 permission and through the medium of his father, 
 whatever might be his wants and sufferings, or the 
 wants and sufferings of his fellow prisoners. 
 
 It would be difficult to account for this piece of 
 hypocritical acting in Tippoo, unless we should 
 attribute it to a malignant desire of raising false 
 hopes and exciting illusory expectations ; but after 
 the first day's march he never came near the 
 prisoners ; nor, as will be seen in the sequel, did 
 he ever evince the slightest disposition to shew 
 them favour, or even mercy, when, after his father's
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 39 
 
 death, they became entu-ely subject to his power, 
 and completely under his control. 
 
 Although Hyder had suffered so considerably at 
 Perambaukum, that he studiously concealed the 
 extent of his loss, he was not prevented from un- 
 dertaking the siege and effecting the capture of 
 Arcot, a city belonging to one of the most faithful 
 allies of the English. By his success, in gettino- 
 possession of this place and an adjoining fort, an 
 immense quantity of ammunition and stores fell 
 into his hands. 
 
 While he was carrying on his operations against 
 Arcot, the English prisoners were kept in the 
 neighbourhood ; their place of confinement was a 
 tent, pitched in the skirts of a village, to which a 
 black doctor was occasionally sent, to look at and 
 dress their wounds. We say occasionally, for it 
 not unfrequently happened that several days passed 
 without his taking the trouble to visit them. The 
 consequences of this inhuman neglect were almost 
 too dreadful to relate ; but such was the state to 
 which the unhappy sufferers were reduced from 
 the combined effects of negligence and the dread- 
 ful heat of the climate, that while they lay lan- 
 guishing in agony, their wounds were literally 
 crawling with maggots. 
 
 In this dreadful condition did they remain for a 
 fortnight, when Captain Baird, together with Lind- 
 say, Bentinck, and Wragg, were separated from 
 Colonel Baillie (with whom Rumley and Eraser re- 
 mained) and were marched to Seringapatam.
 
 40 THE LIFE OF 
 
 During the march to that scene of Baird^s 
 protracted captivity and future glory, nothing of 
 any importance occurred. At the different forts 
 where they halted for the night, the natives seemed 
 disposed to treat the prisoners with pity and re- 
 spect ; and hard indeed must have been the heart 
 that could refuse such a tribute to sufferings like 
 theirs. Nothing in nature could be more pitiable 
 than their appearance, nothing more hopeless than 
 their position, marching under the accumulated 
 sufferings of pain and fatigue to the horrors of 
 a dungeon, whence, in all human probability, death 
 alone could release them.* 
 
 When the captives reached Seringapatam they 
 were conducted to the Durbar ; whence, after a 
 considerable, and as it appeared needless delay, they 
 were conducted to their prison, which was situated 
 at the other end of the square. 
 
 As this hideous place was destined for so 
 
 * Natural as these gloomy reflections appear to the narrator 
 of such a history^ they are widely different from those which 
 filled the heart of the gallant subject of these memoirs. At 
 a later period of his valuable hfe he used often to say that he 
 never for a moment yielded to despondency : he never doubted 
 that he should somehow and at some time get out of the hands 
 of his enemies, and when in aftertimes he was induced to speak 
 on the subject of his sufferings, which in point of fact com- 
 menced only when he reached Seringapatam, it was with so 
 much simplicity, and so little disposition to dwell upon the 
 most painful circumstances of the history, that he seemed desi- 
 rous of lessening the horror they were calculated to inspire, 
 rather than of excitincr the feelings of his auditors.
 
 Opposite p. 41. 
 
 PLAN OF THE PRINCIPAL PRISON OF SERINGAPATAM. 
 
 Corner Rooms, each containing 4 
 cotts. 
 
 Verandas matted off, each contain- 
 ing 7 cotts. 
 
 Inner Yard. 
 
 Old Cook Room, containing 6 cotts. 
 
 Mr. Massy's Kitchen Garden. 
 
 Sied Ibram's Berth. 
 
 Pyals. 
 
 Sied Ibram's Cook. Room. 
 
 House. 
 
 a. Hospital, 2 cotts. 
 
 b. Collery Guards. 
 
 c. Servants Huts. 
 
 d. Prison Cook Room. 
 
 e. Captain liaird's Garden. 
 
 f. Old Mud Walls. 
 
 g. iMudWall, 18 feet high, 
 h. Outer Door of the Prison. 
 
 N.B. Each corner room of the Pri- 
 son about Iti fcut long by 10 feet wide.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 41 
 
 long a period to be the residence of our unhappy 
 countrymen, a particular description of it cannot 
 fail to be interesting. 
 
 The prison consisted of an oblong square, about 
 seventy feet in length, with a sort of shed inwards, 
 and open in the middle, like a square of open stalls 
 for cattle. The space appropriated to cooking was 
 at one end, opposite to the entrance where the 
 guard was stationed. There were four dark rooms 
 at each corner of the square, wholly unfurnished 
 except with mats, which were laid upon the 
 floor, and intended for beds, and this was the 
 extent of the accommodation provided for the 
 wretched tenants of this dismal habitation. 
 
 In lieu of provisions, or any of the necessaries 
 of life, the prisoners were allowed one gold fanam 
 (about sixpence per diem), out of which they were 
 to supply themselves with food, clothing, and 
 every thing they might require ; and as a special 
 indulgence, they were jiermitted to appropriate 
 enough of these fimds to buy one bottle and two- 
 thirds of a bottle of arrack each per week. This 
 favour was granted on account of the dampness of 
 the climate. 
 
 In addition to these kindnesses a Frenchman, 
 who called himself a surgeon, was permitted to 
 attend and dress the still open wounds of Captains 
 Baird and Lindsay ; and two or three black boys, 
 who had been taken with them, were allowed to 
 stay in the prison, and permitted to go to the bazaar 
 to purchase their provisions. It was through
 
 42 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the medium of these menials that the anxious in- 
 mates of the dungeon sometimes heard rumours of 
 what was going on. The French surgeon occa- 
 sionally brought them news ; but from the extra- 
 ordinary caution with which he appeared to speak, 
 and the natural suspicion with which they listened 
 to his reports, they gained but little from his 
 communications. 
 
 They remained in this state for about six weeks, 
 when they were joined by a party of their wounded 
 countrymen from Arnee. On the 23d of De- 
 cember, I78O, at about five o'clock in the even- 
 ing, this detachment of prisoners reached Sering- 
 apatam, and increased the number of the whole 
 to five-and-twenty. The newly arrived captives 
 were not all prepared to find Captain Baird and 
 the other officers at Seringapatam ; nbr had they 
 anticipated (which under the circumstances af- 
 forded them indescribable pleasure) that they 
 should be permitted to share the horrors of im- 
 prisonment with their former companions in 
 arms. 
 
 Our space will not permit us to avail ourselves 
 of the entire journal kept by one of the sufferers 
 during the whole period of their confinement ; but 
 we shall so far borrow from its contents, as to 
 record the occurrence of any remarkable events 
 which for the most part sadly distinguished one 
 day from another, through the monotonous course 
 of time, in their wretched incarceration. 
 
 On the 29th of January, I78I, their number
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 43 
 
 was increased by the arrival of Captain Lucas and 
 Ensign Macaiiley, and, on the 8th of March, Co- 
 lonel Baillie, Captain Rumley, and Lieutenant 
 Fraser, the two former in irons, were brought from 
 Arcot, two hundred and forty English miles, to 
 Seringapatam ; Mr. Skardon, resident at Pondi- 
 cherry ; Mr. Brunton, an ensign in the Company's 
 service ; and Mr. M'Neal, mate of a country ship. 
 Mr. Skardon was the only one of this detachment 
 lodged in the prison with the others, and the pit- 
 tance allowed him was but six cash per diem, and 
 one sear of rice, half a sear of dholl, and a little 
 ghee. But it is one of the most remarkable and 
 beautiful features of this dreadful captivity, that 
 every man during its continuation seemed more 
 anxious for his fellow-sufferers than for himself; 
 and that every opportunity was seized by the 
 whole party, to ameliorate the condition of those 
 who were at times even worse off than them- 
 selves. 
 
 On the 10th of May, the French surgeon's visits 
 were prohibited, and all the prisoners, except Cap- 
 tain Baird, were put in irons, weighing about nine 
 pounds each pair ; and this seemed to be gene- 
 rally considered the first step of a deliberate system 
 which had been adopted of ending their existence 
 without absolute violence ; and so it really proved 
 to be. No reason, other than a desire of even- 
 tually exterminating the unhappy captives, could 
 be adduced for this new act of severity ; but it 
 seemed, from what transpired at the time, that they
 
 44 THE LIFE OF 
 
 had only hitherto escaped this additional cruelty 
 through the humanity of those who had charge 
 of them, without the privity or sanction of Hyder. 
 It is in vain to attempt to describe the feelings of 
 the captives when the order for their being ironed 
 was announced to them ; they remonstrated, but 
 remonstrance was vain, and, as we have just said, 
 the order was carried into effect. 
 
 When about half the prisoners were manacled, 
 the Myar seemed considerably relieved from an 
 apprehension of danger, which had previously af- 
 fected him ; for although he had only to enforce 
 compliance with his orders upon five-and-twenty 
 captives, he was evidently alarmed lest they should 
 make any determined shew of resistance. 
 
 When they were about to put the irons upon 
 Captain Baird, who was completely disabled in his 
 right leg, in which the wound was still open, and 
 whence the ball had just then been extracted, his 
 friend Captain Lucas, who spoke the language 
 perfectly, sprang forward, and represented in very 
 strong terms to the Myar the barbarity of fettering 
 him, while in such a dreadful state, and assured 
 him, that death would be the inevitable termina- 
 tion of Captain Baird's sufferings, if the intention 
 were persisted in. 
 
 The Myar replied, that the Circar had sent as 
 many pair of irons as there were prisoners, and 
 they must be put on. Captain Lucas then offered 
 to wear two sets himself, in order to save his friend. 
 This noble act of generosity moved the compassion
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 4.5 
 
 even of the Myar, who said he would send to the 
 keeladar to open the book of fate. He did so, and 
 when the messenger returned, he said the book 
 had been opened, and Captain Baird's fate was 
 good ; and the irons were in consequence not put 
 on at that time. Could they really have looked 
 into the volume of futurity, Baird would undoubt- 
 edly have been the last man to be spared. 
 
 On the 20th, Lieutenant Coke, taken at Pan- 
 dalore, arrived. On the 4th of June, being the 
 anniversary of the birth of King George the 
 Third, these staunch subjects of that excellent 
 monarch drank his majesty's health in a chatty of 
 sherbet. 
 
 On the l6th of September several of the un- 
 happy prisoners, after having been in irons for four 
 months, solicited the keeladar to release them from 
 the sufferings which they occasioned, but in vain. 
 On the 10th of November Captain Baird was put 
 in irons, and thenceforward, things continued with 
 little variation until the 27th of January, 1782, 
 when a Circar Bramin arrived at the prison, and 
 ordered all the captives to be brought before 
 him ; after examining them closely, he selected 
 six: Captains Baird and Wragg, Lieutenants 
 Lindsay, Bowser, and Cooke, and Ensign Mac- 
 alister. 
 
 On the 17th of March, Colonel Baillie's irons, 
 and those of Captain Rumley and Lieutenant 
 Fraser, were taken off; those of Captain Baird
 
 46 THE LIFE OF 
 
 were removed on the 9th of April, on account 
 of his sickness. The next day, Lieutenant 
 Lind's irons were removed, and on the 14th 
 he died. 
 
 On the 27th of March, the Myar made his ap- 
 pearance in the prison, and described the object of 
 his visit to be to ascertain how many more inha- 
 bitants it could contain. This announcement 
 astonished the captives, since they were already 
 crowded to suffocation, yet they told him they 
 were ready to make any sacrifice to accom- 
 modate others ; for they hoped to obtain some 
 information from the new comers. The Myar 
 told them that eighteen or twenty more Euro- 
 pean officers would be sent in almost imme- 
 diately. 
 
 The conjectures of the prisoners as to whom 
 these new comers could be, were various ; they 
 turned out to be seventeen officers of Colonel 
 Braithwaite's detachment, who had fallen into the 
 hands of Tippoo in the Tanjore country, in the 
 previous February. Tippoo had been extremely 
 kind to them ; he had furnished them with clothes 
 and money, and given orders to his keeladar to 
 be attentive to them during their march to Hyder's 
 camp ; but when they arrived there they were 
 stripped of every thing, and threatened with the 
 loss of their noses and ears, if they concealed the 
 most trifling article. Colonel Braithwaite himself 
 was detained in the camp.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 47 
 
 The information received from these gentlemen 
 was only calculated to increase the gloom and 
 despondency of their fellow-captives ; in addition 
 to all other reports, it appeared that our army was 
 lying useless near Madras for want of carriage 
 bullocks, and that a French fleet had passed Puli- 
 cat. To a question put by Captain Baird to Dr. 
 White, the medical officer of the detachment, 
 whether there were any rational hopes of release, 
 that gentleman declared his sincere belief that 
 there were none, unless, indeed, very great ex- 
 ertions were made from home. 
 
 On the 15th of May, the servants of the pri- 
 soners were prohibited from visiting the bazaar. 
 On the 31st, Ensign Graham's irons were removed, 
 in consequence of sickness. Again, on the 4th of 
 June, the sufferers did all the honour they could 
 to the celebration of another anniversary of their 
 king's birthday. 
 
 Towards the middle of June more European 
 prisoners arrived, who were kept separate from 
 those in the dungeon. On the 22d, Mr. Hope's 
 irons were taken off, on account of illness, and the 
 following week those of Captain Lucas and Ensign 
 Macauley were also removed. 
 
 At this period symptoms of violent disease ex- 
 hibited themselves amongst the captives, but all 
 applications to the keeladar for medicine or medical 
 attendance were wholly disregarded. On the 5th 
 of July died Captain Lucas, whose conduct towards
 
 48 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Captain Baird, which we have recorded, will speak 
 volumes in his praise, and whose amiable and 
 engaging manners, and cheerfulness and vivacity 
 of temper, made his loss a matter of deep calamity 
 to his fellow-sufferers. On the 7th died Mr. Hope, 
 Captain Baird's particular friend, and the eldest 
 son of Sir John Hope ; a slight medicine would 
 have relieved — saved him — but it could not be 
 obtained. On the 9th, Ensign Machonochy also 
 fell a victim to similar barbarity. 
 
 Captain Baird himself, at this period was suffer- 
 ing dreadfully from dysentery, and he has often 
 described the torture, when under the blessing of 
 Providence he was recovering, that he experienced 
 from hunger, which the scanty prison allowance 
 did not afford the means of allaying, even with the 
 coarsest food. He used frequently to declare, that 
 the inclination he felt to snatch a portion of their 
 food from otliers was almost unconquerable, and 
 that if the least morsel was left by any of them, he 
 swallowed it with the greatest eagerness and 
 delight. 
 
 During this period Hyder sent some of his prin- 
 cipal officers to endeavour to induce the English 
 to enter his service. He offered them three times 
 as much pay as they received in our army, as many 
 horses, palanquins, and wives, as they chose, and 
 promised that they should be considered and 
 treated as his children. Of course these offers 
 never obtained a moment's consideration. The
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 49 
 
 prisoners assured the emissaries of the tyrant that 
 nothing in the world could tempt them to serve 
 any sovereign except their own, and desired never 
 again to be insulted by a repetition of such a 
 proposal. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1782, the arrival 
 of European prisoners became very numerous, and 
 most of them had, previous to their arrival, been 
 forced to embrace the Mahommedan religion, and 
 undergo all the frightful ceremonies connected 
 with its adoption. On the 13th of November 
 Colonel Baillie expired, an event which, it should 
 seem, had been anticipated and provided for, by 
 the tyrant ; for during the whole course of his 
 confinement, and his severe and painful illness, he 
 never received medicine or assistance, nor even 
 the advice of a medical man. 
 
 The second year of their captivity was now 
 drawing to a termination. They had from time 
 to time been tantalized by various reports, which 
 had sometimes excited in their breasts a faint hope 
 of regaining their liberty ; such as Colonel Mac- 
 leod*s having landed on the Mahratta coast, sub- 
 sequently a similar rumour w4th respect to Gene- 
 ral Matthews, and accounts of victories said to 
 have been gained by Sir Eyre Coote. At length, 
 however, these flattering fables died away, and 
 nothing appeared before them but the prospect 
 of languishing for the rest of their lives in 
 dismal captivity. Captain Baird, however, as has 
 been already noticed, never gave way to despair ; 
 
 VOL. I. E
 
 50 THE LIFE OF 
 
 he always anticipated, even against all probabi- 
 lity, that he should again see his native country, 
 and this one hope, by God's blessing, supported 
 him through incalculable sufferings both of mind 
 and body, under which almost any other man 
 would have sunk.
 
 sill DAVID BAlllD. 51 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 DEATH OF HYDER DISAPPOINTMENT OF THE HOPES ENTERTAINED 
 
 OF TIPPOO'S LENIENCY HIS RELIGIOUS ZEAL IN FORCING THE 
 
 EUROPEANS TO EMBRACE MAHOMMEDANISM COLONEL BRAITH- 
 
 WAITE CAPTAIN LEECH ALARMING REPORT ACCOUNT OF ONE 
 
 OF TIPPOO's SONS AFFECTING LETTER FROM GENERAL MATTHEWS 
 
 — HIS DEATH — ^INSANITY OF LIEUTENANT STRINGER HIS ACCUSA- 
 TION THE PROBABLE CONSEQUENCES MURDER OF SIXTEEN OF- 
 FICERS PROSPECT OF RELEASE THE PROSPECT REALIZED RE- 
 JOICINGS AND CONGRATULATIONS DEPARTURE FOR MADRAS. 
 
 It was on the 2nd of November, that Tippoo 
 and Lally proceeded to the coast, and on the 15th 
 of December intelhgence was received in the 
 prison, by means of the washerman, that Hyder 
 was dead. Anticipating as they did from the 
 general character of Tippoo, as well as their own 
 experience of his conduct, a favourable change in 
 their circumstances from this event, the prisoners 
 hesitated to believe it implicitly, although they ob- 
 served an unusual bustle about the fort and amongst 
 the guards, which seemed to corroborate the re- 
 port. Shortly, however, new keeladars amved, 
 and new officers took charge of the prisons, 
 which again excited hopes not only of the trutli 
 
 E 2
 
 52 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of the rumour, but of the justice of their hopes of 
 an amelioration of their position ; on the 27th 
 of December these hopes were in a very consider- 
 able degree increased by the fact that the news 
 of Hyder's death was made public at the Cutcheree, 
 and orders were given that the naggars (great 
 drums beaten every day at twelve o'clock in the 
 great square) were not to be sounded for three 
 days in consequence. 
 
 The intelligence thus authenticated, they anx- 
 iously waited for the realization of their hopes in 
 its results ; but they were disappointed. So 
 far from any change for the better taking place 
 in consequence of the accession of Tippoo to the 
 sovereignty, it turned out, that besides proving 
 himself as great a political tyrant as his father, he 
 added to his sanguinary disposition for conquest 
 the fiercest bigotry, and believing, (perhaps sin- 
 cerely,) that the surest mode of rendering himself 
 acceptable in the sight of the prophet, was making 
 proselytes to his religion by any means, all his 
 eiforts, from the moment he ascended the throne, 
 were directed to that one great end. He com- 
 manded that all the handsomest and youngest of 
 the European soldiers should undergo the hateful 
 ceremonies of Mahommedanism ; a compliance 
 with which odious mandate was only secured by 
 giving them a quantity of deleterious stuff called 
 majum, which deprived them of their senses while 
 the barbarians effected the horrid object of their 
 misdirected zeal.
 
 sin DAVID r.AIRD. 53 
 
 Of Captain Baird's company, eighteen men 
 were selected for these ceremonies, and in a state 
 of stupefaction deUvered over to the priests and 
 their myrmidons ; and after their recovery from 
 the maltreatment to which they had been sub- 
 jected, they were compelled to act as drill ser- 
 geants to Tippoo's slave battalion of Carnatic 
 boys, who had been driven out of their country 
 like flocks of sheep. 
 
 The first day that Captain Baird saw, from the 
 window of his prison, these Highlanders on the 
 parade, in the square, in their capacity of Serjeants, 
 his distress and horror at beholding men of his 
 own company voluntarily, as he thought, doing 
 duty in Tippoo's service, are not to be told. He 
 was observed by some of the poor fellows peeping 
 through the grating of his dungeon, and overcome 
 by the sight of their much-loved officer, they 
 rushed from the ranks and called out to him, 
 *' Captain Baird, rely upon us, this is not our 
 fault,"' and wept bitterly. Captain Baird's feelings 
 may be more easily conceived than described, when 
 his guards forced him from the grating, in order 
 to prevent his committing the inexpiable crime 
 of replying to his gallant countrymen and com- 
 rades. 
 
 Tippoo was in the Calicut country when his 
 father died, and immediately on hearing of his 
 death, having, with the natural, or at least usual 
 love of change so conspicuous in regal successors, 
 appointed a new keeladar at Seringapatam, pro-
 
 Mi THE LIFE OF 
 
 ceeded with Colonel Lally to take the command 
 of the army in the Carnatic. 
 
 On the 25th of January, 1783, Colonel Braith- 
 waite and Ensign Holmes arrived at Seringapatam, 
 not in irons ; and the same day Captain Leech 
 was brought in, but placed in a different prison. 
 On the 6th of February Lieutenants Lindsay and 
 Massy were put in irons. On the 26th of the 
 same month Captain Rumley and Lieutenants 
 Fraser and Sampson were removed to Mysore, the 
 last almost dying when he left Seringapatam. On 
 the 22nd of March the body of Hyder Aly Cawn 
 was interred in the Loll Bang garden, one mile 
 from the fort. 
 
 On the 4th of June the prisoners, for the third 
 time since their dismal captivity, celebrated the 
 king's birthday. 
 
 On the 26th of June a letter was received by 
 the prisoners from General Matthews, who, it 
 appeared, had been a prisoner in the fort ever 
 since the 27th of May. 
 
 On the 8th of August it was reported to the pri- 
 soners that they were all to be burned as a retalia- 
 tion for some loss experienced by Tippoo on the 
 Malabar coast. 
 
 At this period, one of the sons of Tippoo, who 
 afterwards became an object of interest, by being 
 one of the hostages to Lord Cornwallis, was in 
 the habit of taking the air in Seringapatam daily, 
 and we copy from tlie journal, to which we have 
 before alluded, the account given by one of the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 
 
 55 
 
 captives of tlie exhibition made upon the 
 occasion. 
 
 " We peeped," says the journaUst, *' eagerly 
 through some small apertures which we had found 
 means to make or improve a little, in the walls of 
 our prison. The young sultan was mounted on 
 a beautiful maneged Arabian horse, finely capari- 
 soned. He was preceded and attended by a num- 
 ber of people, some of whom bore his umbrella, 
 others fanned his face, others proclaimed his rank 
 and high descent. At one particular place which 
 he passed and repassed, two elephants were sta- 
 tioned to pay their compliments to the young 
 prince amongst the rest of his adorers. The 
 creatures were not only taught to kneel at his 
 approach and shew other marks of obedience, but 
 to fan his face as he went along with fans which 
 they grasped and wielded with their trunks." 
 
 On the 11th of August the guard over the 
 prisoners was increased, and on the lyth they 
 heard, through the usual medium of the wash- 
 erman, who had been a havildar or serjeant, 
 and had been taken with Baillie's detachment, 
 that General Matthews had been put in irons.* 
 
 * General Matthews tells his own story in the letter just 
 mentioned, dated the 20th of June, which he sent to the 
 prisoners, in a manner so simple and vmafFected that we 
 cannot but think (explaining too, as it does, his peculiar situa- 
 tion) it Avill be acceptable to our readers. 
 
 " I am sorry for the misfortunes of my friends. Rumley is 
 dead — Featherstone was killed. I was a brigadier-general and
 
 56 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Having felt it necessary to attract the reader's 
 attention to the case of General Matthews, it 
 may be as well to conclude the sad history of that 
 
 commander-in-chief on the Malabar Coast. Mangalore has a 
 very good garrison, and I think will hold out till relieved from 
 Madras. Our fleet is superior to the French in India. Our 
 army victorious in the Carnatic, likewise in the Cuddapa 
 Country. Lang, a brigadier-general, has taken Corrore, and 
 has 10,000 good men under him. Our affairs wear a tolerable 
 aspect. The Mahrattas have made peace and alliance with us. 
 I had .300 Europeans and 800 sepoys effective, at Nagram, and 
 made a treaty with Tippoo, which he broke, plundered us, and 
 made us close prisoners. I think that Tippoo wishes for 
 peace with us, and that something towards it may take place in 
 November. I am used iU, but not in irons. I have neither 
 pen, ink, nor paper, and it is dangerous to correspond. All 
 the strong forts are in our possession. I took the whole Mala- 
 bar Coast. I brought from Bombay 400 Europeans, and 1,000 
 sepoys, and was afterwards joined by the Calicut army. The 
 number of places taken by me required all my troops to gar- 
 rison, and I had not any support from any place. We knew 
 not of your situation — if we had I should not have been a 
 prisoner. General Stewart commands at Madras. , The troops 
 of the French, landed, have been defeated. For myself, two 
 European servants, and one black, I am allowed one fanam 
 and a half per day, with one sear of meat, three of bad rice, 
 and three of ghee. I am compelled to receive what they give, 
 and not allowed to buy any other from the bazaar. I cannot 
 procure any thing but through the Hircarrah. Should any 
 thing happen to my life, I beseech you to remember that the 
 Company owe me for money advanced by me during my com- 
 mand, 33,000 rupees, besides all my pay and allowances from 
 the time of my arrival in India. The troops that were with 
 me are some in the Nabob's service, the rest sent in irons to 
 different parts of the country. 
 
 " Richard Matthews."
 
 SIR DAVID BAIIID. 57 
 
 ill-fated officer, with another extract from the 
 journal. 
 
 " Sept. 8th, 1783. The washerman gave us the 
 melancholy account of General Matthews's death. 
 He died the 7th, and at the time he departed this 
 life, he was in irons. 
 
 " The General, when he learnt from a combi- 
 nation of suspicious circumstances, as well as 
 hints let fall from those who were occasionally 
 about his person, that it was the Sultan's intention 
 to cut him off by poison, was afraid to taste the 
 victuals that were sent to him, at stated times, 
 from the keeladar ; some of the guards, and even 
 the servants who carried the poisoned food, took 
 compassion, and gave him some of theirs. 
 
 *' The havildar, who had charge of the Gene- 
 ral, connived at these acts of humanity at first, 
 but when it was found that General Matthews 
 still protracted his melancholy existence, this 
 officer was sent for by the keeladar, who told him 
 that the General's life, if much longer continued, 
 must be paid for by the havildar's death. Upon 
 this, the havildar communicated his orders with 
 the threat that accompanied them, to his unfor- 
 tunate prisoner, who had now no alternative left, 
 but perishing by poison or famine. The anxious 
 love of life for several days maintained a struggle 
 with the importunate calls of hunger. These, 
 however, prevailed in the issue of the contest ; he 
 ate of the poisoned food ; and drank too, whether 
 to quench the rage of inflamed thirst, or to drown
 
 58 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the torments of his soul in utter insensibility, of 
 the poisoned cup ; within six hours after this fatal 
 repast, he was found dead. This is a faithful 
 and true account of the death of Lieutenant Ge- 
 neral Matthews, which has been set forth in 
 various ways." 
 
 October the Srd, the prisoners heard that their 
 companions, Rumley, Fraser and Sampson, had 
 been poisoned at Mysore on the 5th ; they received 
 further information from Comrah, Sepoy, a Tan- 
 jore man, that eighteen or twenty officers con- 
 fined at Kavel-Drook, had been poisoned by 
 order of Tippoo. On the 9th of November, 
 Lieutenant Butler died absolutely of neglect. 
 
 From this +ime, until the 7th of March, 1784, 
 another dismal period of five months, nothing but 
 increasing arrivals of European Mussulmans oc- 
 curred to vary the sameness of the scene ; but on 
 that day, one of the prisoners became insane, and 
 during the paroxysms of his dreadful disorder, 
 unfortunately raved upon subjects the most 
 vitally important to the hopes and interests of his 
 almost bewildered companions. 
 
 This officer. Lieutenant Stringer, unluckily 
 knew the language so perfectly as to converse flu- 
 ently with his guards, and the first act of his insa- 
 nity was to go to the officer on duty, and request 
 that he miglit be permitted to speak to the keeladar, 
 as he had something of the greatest importance to 
 communicate to him. The consternation oc- 
 casioned amongst the other prisoners by this appli-
 
 SIR DAVID EAIUD. 59 
 
 cation, is not to be described : there was no 
 possibility of guessing what a madman might say, 
 actuated as he was, by a spirit of animosity 
 against his fellow sufferers, upon whom he was 
 prepared to charge the intention of poisoning 
 him. They had, amongst others, one very serious 
 cause of alarm, for although the use of pen and 
 ink was prohibited, on pain of death, they had 
 contrived to obtain them, and several of the of- 
 ficers kept journals, and, as we have already shewn, 
 corresponded with prisoners in other places of 
 confinement. It was quite clear, that if this very 
 important infringement of the regulations was 
 detected, the extreme punishment awarded for 
 it, would be inflicted. 
 
 In these trying circumstances it was debated, 
 whether it would not be expedient, for the com- 
 mon safety, to smother the unhappy maniac 
 during the night. Against this barbarous propo- 
 sition, suggested only by the natural feeling of 
 self-preservation, Captain Baird resolutely opposed 
 himself; and although he did so, upon the high 
 principles of feeling and duty, he made it appear 
 to those, who were but little inclined to put sen- 
 timent in opposition to security, in such an ex- 
 tremity, that, it would be most inexpedient, as 
 a matter of policy, and that the sudden death of 
 one of them, who had manifested a desire to make 
 some communication to the keeladar, would 
 certainly cause a dreadful consternation, which 
 even the wild disclosures of the lunatic himself
 
 60 THE LIFE OF 
 
 might not have the effect of producing. At the 
 same time, he entreated his companions to wait the 
 event of the morning, and to occupy the previous 
 hours of the night in disposing of all written docu- 
 ments which they might have in their possession. 
 
 In pursuance of this advice, the party pro- 
 ceeded to burn some of their papers, digging 
 holes and hiding others, or depositing them 
 under the tiles of the prison, until some future 
 period ; and in the course of the night, they de- 
 stroyed upwards of an hundred sheets of paper, 
 which they had collected, by stealth, in order to 
 amuse themselves by learning different languages. 
 Nor was it alone that for their own sakes they 
 were so anxiously engaged ; it was quite certain, 
 that all those who had contributed to the clandes- 
 tine introduction of the prohibited materials, 
 would have been equally compromised. 
 
 Nothing could be more dreadful than this 
 night ; the unhappy maniac, with a pair of irons, 
 weighing nine pounds, began to walk about the 
 prison at five o'clock in the evening, and con- 
 tinued to do so incessantly at a rapid pace until 
 two in the morning, vowing the most terrible 
 vengeance against all his fellow-sufferers. Next 
 morning the Myar came, and asked to see 
 Stringer ; and at this moment, the feelings of all 
 the prisoners were worked up to the highest 
 pitch of excitement. The question upon which 
 their safety or preservation hung, was, whether 
 was Stringer to be carried before the keeladar, or
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 61 
 
 not ? Tlieir satisfaction can scarcely be imagined, 
 when they found that the keeladar declined seeing 
 him, and had authorised the Myar to receive 
 any communication he might have to make. 
 
 This was another awful moment of suspense to 
 his companions, who now gathered round him, 
 and of course were unable to anticipate the nature 
 of his charge or communication. After much de- 
 lay, the effect of which was greatly to prejudice 
 the Myar against him, Stringer said that his life 
 was in danger, that a conspiracy had been formed 
 against him, and, as a proof of the fact, he drew 
 from his pocket a piece of bread which he af- 
 firmed was poisoned. Captain Baird was next 
 him at this moment ; the Myar seemed struck 
 by the proof adduced, when Baird, having stated 
 that the man was mad, and not to be credited, 
 snatch' ^ the bread from his hand, and ate it : 
 thus, by a prompt and judicious movement, ter- 
 minating an affair which, even in its lightest eon- 
 sequences, might have been to the captives a 
 matter of the most serious importance. 
 
 The unfortunate officer was afterwards confined 
 in a lunatic asylum, at Madras, where, many 
 years afterwards, Captain Baird saw him ; and 
 although, after the period at which he made his 
 charge to the Myar, he had become more tran- 
 quil and composed, there appeared not the 
 slightest hope of his future restoration to reason. 
 
 It was just at this time that a guard, who had 
 been for some time placed over Captain Baird,
 
 62 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 but who had been ordered to a hill fort called 
 Assee-Droog, with the officers of General 
 Matthews, returned ; he appeared melancholy and 
 cast down, and extremely shy of communicating 
 with the prisoners, although before his departure he 
 had been on remarkably friendly terms with them. 
 At length, however, the mystery was solved, and 
 he disclosed the fatal history to which we have 
 before cursorily alluded, of the death of sixteen of 
 General Matthews's officers, who had been poi- 
 soned with the milk of the cocoa-nut tree.* Be- 
 sides these it was ascertained, that Lieutenant 
 Matthews of the Bengal establishment, brother to 
 the unhappy General, and Lieutenant Wredon, of 
 the Bombay army, were, by Tippoo's orders, taken 
 out of the fort at Bednore, at ten o'clock at 
 night, carried to a retired place overgrown with 
 grass, and there cut to pieces. Indeed it was 
 certain that orders had actually been issued by 
 the Sultan, to murder all the English officers in 
 his different prisons, who would not enter his ser- 
 
 * The following are the names of the English officers who 
 suffered : — 
 
 Capt. Campbell, 98th regt. Lieut. Barnwell. 
 
 Capt. Alston, 100th. Capt. Jackson. 
 
 Capt. Fish, do. Captain Richardson. 
 
 Assist.-Surgeon Gifford, do. Lieut. Olivier. 
 Jn the Company s Service. Capt. Eames. 
 
 Brigadier-lMajor Young. Capt. Lendrum. 
 
 Major Fewtrill. Capt. R. Culloch. 
 
 Capt. Clift. Commissary Stewart. 
 
 Capt. Gottick. Dep.-Commiss. Cheek.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIllD. 63 
 
 vice, but that intelligence having arrived in the 
 middle of the bloody work, that the commission- 
 ers for negociating a treaty of peace had set out 
 from Madras, the barbarous orders were for the 
 present countermanded. 
 
 Rumours like these, which reached the prisoners 
 one day, only to be contradicted the next, as it may 
 easily be conceived, kept them in a constant state 
 of excitement, fluctuating between the brightest 
 hope and the darkest despair. The days passed on, 
 and no new events occurred, by which to form 
 any just idea of the probability of results, except 
 that on the 19th of March, the Subadars, who 
 were confined in another prison, with Captain 
 Leech, were withdrawn, and a servant of the late 
 General Matthew^s's was removed. These alter- 
 ations, however, indicated nothing important ; 
 but on the 2nd of March, the Myar and a 
 Bramin, whose duty it was to pay the prisoners 
 their scanty allowance, called upon Captains Baird, 
 Lindsay, and Montrath, and having directed that 
 their irons should be struck off, ordered the pri- 
 soners to accompany them to the presence of the 
 keeladar. 
 
 Baird, who was convinced that this mandate 
 had been issued only because the keeladar had 
 determined to put into execution the barbarous 
 threats which he had some time before fulminated 
 against him, positively refused to stir unless he 
 was informed of the true reason of his being sent 
 for. The Myar, seeing that he was determined,
 
 64f THE LIFE OF 
 
 and knowing that the season for violence was 
 past, announced to him, that peace had been 
 proclaimed — that he had orders to conduct him 
 to Colonel Braithwaite, who had letters for him. 
 
 Letters! Home! Friends! Liberty! — all in a 
 breath — who can attempt to describe the crowd 
 of happy thoughts and delightful images that 
 these few words conveyed to his mind ? — Those 
 who knew and loved him best, describe the 
 animation of his noble countenance, when, in 
 after-life, his eyes glistened at the recollection of 
 this sudden reverse, when all that was dear to 
 him was restored, at the very moment in which 
 he expected to be doomed either to death or 
 eternal captivity. 
 
 When Baird and his companions were con- 
 ducted to the keeladar, there was a considerable 
 crowd gathered about the Kutcheree, or Court- 
 house, amongst whom were several of the poor 
 lads who had been compelled to become Mus- 
 sulmans, and to take service in Tippoo's army. 
 The moment they saw Captain Baird, and com- 
 prehended the object of his being brought thither, 
 they ran to him, and entreated, on their knees, 
 that they might not be exempted from the gene- 
 ral liberation and left behind, and when the kee- 
 ladar, addressing Captain Baird, told him that, in 
 consequence of the conclusion of peace, he was 
 free ! Captain Baird said, " I hope that all the 
 British are to be included." " Ah !" replied the 
 keeladar, " not so much as a dog shall be left be-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 
 
 65 
 
 hind." "Then," said Captain Baird, taking hold 
 of one of the EngHsh boys in the Mussidman 
 dress, " T claim these ;" upon which the keeladar, 
 treacherous to the last, made a sign to the guard, 
 who instantly surrounded the boys, and drove 
 them away. They were seen no more. 
 
 Captain Baird was then conducted to Colonel 
 Braithwaite's prison, where, according to the 
 promise of the Myar, he had the inexpressible 
 delight of receiving the first and only letters from 
 his family and friends, that had reached him for 
 three years and eight months — the tedious period 
 of his horrid captivity ; besides which, he found 
 an essential supply of money, from the officers 
 of his regiment for his own use and that of his 
 gallant companions belonging to the 73rd, who 
 had been his co-mates in prison. 
 
 With Colonel Braithwaite, Captain Baird found 
 Lieutenant Holmes, of the East India Company's 
 service, who had been taken prisoner with him. 
 They were in a small, dismal dungeon, similar to 
 his own, and had been used very much in the same 
 way that he and his companions had been. After 
 this interview, they were removed from the fort 
 into a Choultry, at Soomna Pettah, a village distant 
 two miles from the fort, where, the next day, they 
 were joined by all the other prisoners, from 
 Seringapatam. 
 
 The description which we find in the journal to 
 which we have several times before alluded^ of the 
 feelings which were excited in the breasts of the 
 
 VOL. I. F
 
 66 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 captives, by the announcement of their immediate 
 Hberation, tells us that the pleasure they expe- 
 rienced almost amounted to pain. The whole 
 prison resounded with the frantic voice of exces- 
 sive joy and exultation. 
 
 " This tumult," says the writer, " having in 
 some degree subsided, a proposal was made, and 
 most heartily embraced, to collect all the ready 
 money in our possession, without the least regard 
 to shares or proportions, and to celebrate our ap- 
 proaching deliverance with a regale of plantain 
 fritters and sherbet — the only articles of luxury 
 we could command, on account of our extreme 
 poverty. 
 
 *' By nine o'clock at night, supper was an- 
 nounced, consisting of sixty dozen of plantain 
 fritters, and a large chatty of sherbet ; every one 
 being seated on the ground, the repast was re- 
 ceived with the utmost content and satisfaction. 
 Friends and toasts were drunk as long as our 
 chatty stood out ; and such was the agitation of 
 our minds, that there was not one of us who felt 
 the least inclination, or, indeed, who possessed the 
 power, to compose himself to sleep. 
 
 " We now waited with the utmost impatience 
 for the return of day, and were impressed with a 
 strong desire that our irons might be knocked off 
 immediately ; but, to our great mortification, there 
 arrived, about seven in the morning, only one 
 armourer. Every one struggled to have his fetters 
 knocked off first : promises, threats, bustling and
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. G7 
 
 jostling, every expedient that could be imagined 
 was put in practice, in order to obtain that which 
 would come unsought, in the course of a few 
 minutes, or hours at farthest. The same men who 
 had suffered for years the rigours of imprisonment 
 and the menaces of a barbarous policy, with in- 
 vincible patience and resolution, as well as with 
 general sympathy, were so transported by the near 
 prospect of liberty, that the delay of a few mo- 
 ments seemed now to be more insupportable than 
 even the tedious languor of our long, most alarm- 
 ing, and anxious confinement. About two or 
 three in the afternoon our irons were all knocked 
 off, and we were conducted to the keeladar." 
 
 Their limbs being released from restraint, they 
 joined their former companions, Baird and the 
 others, and proceeded with them to Soomna 
 Pettah ; on their arrival at which place, having an 
 opportunity of conversing with the soldiers, they 
 had the gratification of receiving every mark of 
 affection and respect from their humbler com- 
 panions in arms. 
 
 At Soomna Pettah they were permitted to walk 
 about, and bathe in the river. Every object and 
 every recreation, however simple, became a 
 source of ardent delight. All the satiety which 
 the free enjoyment of the beauties of nature gene- 
 rates, had been overcome by years of restraint and 
 abstinence ; and the mere sight of the country, 
 with all the advantages of scenery and climate, 
 from which they had been so long excluded, 
 
 F 2
 
 68 THE LIFE OF 
 
 excited of itself alone the most agreeable emotions 
 in their hearts and minds. 
 
 One physical fact is curious, but natural ; al- 
 though their irons were knocked off, it was a long 
 time before these liberated prisoners recovered 
 the use of their limbs, so as to walk with perfect 
 freedom. " Never," says the writer of the 
 journal, " was the inveterate power of habit more 
 forcibly displayed, than on this occasion ; we 
 could never get the idea of being in fetters out 
 of our heads. No effort of our minds, no act of 
 volition, could, for several days, overcome the habit 
 of making the short and constrained steps to which 
 we had been so long accustomed. Our crippled 
 manner of walking was a subject of laughter 
 to ourselves as well as to others."* 
 
 * It may not be uninteresting to the reader, to enumerate 
 the articles which were manufactured by the prisoners during 
 their capitivity. They are as follows : 
 
 Hats of leather. 
 
 Caps of coarse dungeree. 
 
 Stocks of ditto. 
 
 Bungar shirts of ditto. 
 
 Sir David Baird used frequently to jest about his expert- 
 ness in cutting out and making his own shirts. One of them 
 he long kept as a memento of his captivity ; but it was lost 
 with his carriage and baggage, many years after, during Sir 
 John INIoore's retreat at Corunna. 
 
 Jackets, ditto. 
 
 Waistcoats, trowsers, socks. 
 
 Buttons of thread. 
 
 Tables of bamboo, covered with mat. 
 
 Stools of ditto.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 69 
 
 After Captain Baird and his companions had 
 remained some time at Soomna Pettah, in order 
 to procure clothing, and make other necessary 
 preparations for their journey, they set out for 
 Bangalore, escorted by a party of Tippoo's 
 troops. On their arrival at that place, they were 
 detained for a fortnight, and confined Avith a 
 strictness and severity for which it was very diffi- 
 cult to account, more particularly as Mr. Sadlier, 
 the chief commissioner for negociating the peace, 
 was actually living in Tippoo's bungalow, in his 
 garden, on his way back to Madras. 
 
 Captain Baird and some of the officers were 
 
 Cots of bamboo, made by means of an old knife, notched 
 into a saw, the cot lashed with coarse rope made from the 
 cocoa-nut. 
 
 Bamboo bird-cages. 
 
 Bamboo trunks, 1,100 pieces in one tnnik. 
 
 Rat-traps of ditto. 
 
 Squirrel-traps. 
 
 Forks. 
 
 Backgammon-tables. 
 
 Dice, sawn with an old knife, the ivory procured by stealth 
 from the bazaar. 
 
 Chess-boards, of paper and cloth. 
 
 Cards, two folds of paper and one of cloth, stuck together 
 with thick congee, and polished with the jaw-bone of a sheep. 
 
 Ink made of lamp-black, with a little gum- water. One chatty 
 was placed over another to collect the smoke of the wick, which 
 was swept off every day. 
 
 Pens of fowl quills. 
 
 This catalogue affords a striking example of the power of the 
 human mind, and the convertibility of its resources in the time 
 of need.
 
 70 THE LIFE OF 
 
 permitted to dine with that gentleman. It was 
 the first dinner, properly so called, that they had 
 seen for nearly four years ; and, under all the cir- 
 cumstances of the case, confessed by themselves to 
 be one of the most agreeable that they had ever 
 partaken of in their lives. 
 
 At length, after various needless delays, the 
 prisoners were allowed to proceed, and on their 
 arrival at Calle, they were joined by Lieutenant 
 Dallas (who had been appointed by the commis- 
 sioners to receive the prisoners) with a detachment 
 of Madras cavalry, and two companies of Sepoys. 
 
 Here, then, the captives were finally released. 
 Lieutenant Dallas had brought out with him clothes, 
 wine, and other necessary stores, from Madras, by 
 order of the government, for their relief. And 
 at this place, once again at liberty, the gallant 
 subject of our memoir took leave, for a time, of 
 Tippoo's territories, to return to them, however, 
 under very different circumstances. It is needless 
 to add, that the rest of the liberated sufferers lost 
 no time in taking advantage of their emancipation, 
 and pushing forward with all possible speed to 
 Madras.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 71 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 CAPTAIN BAIRD PROCEEDS TOWARDS MADRAS INTERVIEW WITH 
 
 CAPTAIN ROBERTSON AT MADRAS FINDS HIMSELF ANTICIPATED 
 
 IN A RECOMMENDATION FOR THE MAJORITY OP HIS REGIMENT- 
 MEMORIAL OP HIS BROTHER OFFICERS CONFIRMATION OF GENE- 
 RAL Stewart's recommendation refused — captain baird 
 
 ASSUMES THE COMMAND OF THE 73d — SECURES THE MAJORITY 
 
 proceeds TO ENGLAND PURCHASES A LIEUTENANT-COLONELCY, 
 
 AND EXCHANGES INTO HIS OWN REGIMENT RETURNS TO INDIA 
 
 JOINS LORD CORNWALLIS'S ARMY APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND 
 
 OF A BRIGADE CAPTURE OF HILL PORTS SIEGE OF RUNDYDROOG 
 
 ITS FALL. 
 
 In his way to Madras, Captain Baird fell in 
 with a body of his own gallant regiment, the 
 73d, and it is impossible to describe his feelings, 
 upon recognising his companions in arms, and 
 their recognition of him. In the course of the 
 ensuing evening, he reached PoonamaUee, where 
 his particular friend, Captain Robertson, was 
 stationed. 
 
 At the time of Captain Baird's arrival at his 
 quarters. Captain Robertson was playing at cards, 
 in the verandah, and Baird, softly stealing behind 
 him, placed himself on the corner of the chair on 
 which he was sitting. Robertson started, and
 
 72 THE LIFE OF 
 
 turned round to see who was the intruder ; when, 
 in spite of the change that severe wounds, con- 
 tinuous privation, and nearly four years of rigor- 
 ous captivity, may be supposed to have worked 
 in the appearance of his gallant young friend, he 
 instantly recognised him, and caught him to his 
 heart. 
 
 To this meeting Sir David Baird used fre- 
 quently to recur, as one of the most gratifying 
 events of his early life. 
 
 The next day Robertson accompanied Captain 
 Baird to Madras, and, it was upon his arrival 
 there, that the latter was doomed to receive his 
 first, but by no means the last, severe mortifica- 
 tion which he encountered in his professional 
 career. He found, to his inexpressible regret, 
 and, we may justly add, surprise, that during 
 the period of his sufferings, and at the end of a 
 series of active services. General Stewart had 
 recommended Lord William Murray, a junior 
 captain from the half-pay, over his head, for the 
 majority of his regiment, and that, until the ap- 
 pointment were confirmed from home, his lordship 
 was actually in command of the regiment. 
 
 The feelings which would be naturally excited 
 in the breast of Captain Baird, by this most un- 
 accountable proceeding, had been anticipated by 
 his brother officers, who, before his return to the 
 regiment, had forwarded a memorial to England, 
 representing the cruel injustice that the confirma- 
 tion of such an appointment would inflict, not
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 73 
 
 only upon Captain Baird, the next officer for 
 promotion, personally, but upon the regiment 
 generally. 
 
 The eventual result of this memorial, was the 
 refusal, on the part of the Secretary at War, to con- 
 firm the appointment to the majority ; which (as 
 if in order to exhibit the impropriety and indeli- 
 cacy of the case in the strongest possible light) 
 turned out not to have been vacant at the time 
 Lord William Murray was nominated to it. 
 
 The letter of the Secretary at War, which con- 
 tained the refusal to ratify General Stewart's 
 nomination, contained some extremely flattering 
 compliments to Captain Baird, who shortly after 
 had the gratification of assuming the command of 
 the 7^d, as senior captain, during the absence of 
 Captain Dalrymple, at Pondicherry.* 
 
 Captain Baird, after he rejoined the 73d, con- 
 tinued to do duty with his regiment at Madras 
 and Arcot, and then proceeded with it to Bom- 
 bay, where he experienced the only attack of ill- 
 ness, excepting from wounds, that he ever suffered, 
 during his long and glorious course of service in 
 India.t 
 
 * It was not until about this period that the ball which 
 Captain Baird received in his thigh at Perambaukum was 
 extracted. 
 
 t Sir David Baird, in speaking of this illness, used to attri- 
 bute his recovery, under providence, to the care and kindness 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Crawford Bruce, who took him to their 
 Gountry-house, and treated him with the greatest care and 
 kindness.
 
 74 THE LIFE OF 
 
 In the year 1787» Captain Baird received the 
 majority, of which he had before been so nearly 
 deprived; and the same year, having obtained 
 leave of absence, he proceeded to Europe, to enjoy 
 the unspeakable gratification of again beholding 
 his numerous relations and friends.* 
 
 Major Baird, whose affection for his family 
 neither time nor circumstances could alter or 
 weaken, arrived safely in his native country. The 
 delight and welcome with which he was received 
 may easily be imagined, and the unmitigated hap- 
 piness he at that time enjoyed was never effaced 
 from his recollection. 
 
 It was while he was staying at his elder brother's 
 
 * Major Baird had a very extensive family connection in 
 Scotland. His eldest sister had long been married to Mr. 
 Erskine, of Dunnottar, a gentleman of good fortune, and repre- 
 sentative of an old family in Angus-shire ; of this marriage, the 
 only surviving issue (1831) is the Marchioness of Ailsa. Sir 
 David's second sister married Mr. Renney, of the same neigh- 
 bourhood ; and in 1 777> before his departure for India, Sir 
 David was present at the marriage of his favourite sister, 
 favourite because nearest his own age, to Mr. Wauchope, of 
 Niddrie. She, at the period of his return, in 1787? was the 
 mother of a fine family, whom he had never seen. In his 
 absence, also, his youngest sister, who was remarkably beauti- 
 ful, had married Lord Haddo, the eldest son of George, Earl 
 of Aberdeen, who died before his father, October 2d, 1791, 
 leaving seven children. His eldest brother, Mr. Baird, of 
 Newbyth, had also married, and lived at the family seat in 
 East Lothian, and he arrived in England in time to be present 
 at the marriage of another sister, to Mr. Gordon, of Haughead. 
 in Aberdeenshire, a near relation of Lord Haddo.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 7*5 
 
 at Newbyth that he received, by express from 
 London, a letter from his friend Captain Dahym- 
 ple, from India, which began by entreating him 
 before he read two hues of it, to order post-horses 
 and start for the Horse Guards instantly, where- 
 ever he might happen to be. 
 
 Captain Dalrymple then proceeded to state, 
 that Lieut.-Colonel Elphinstone, of the 71st, had 
 been put on board ship, on the day his letter was 
 despatched, so ill that in all human probability he 
 would not survive the next fortnight ; and advised 
 Major Baird immediately to start for head quar- 
 ters and endeavour to secure the lieutenant- 
 colonelcy for himself, and — the majority for 
 his anxious correspondent.* 
 
 Baird, all zeal and activity, and really as anx- 
 ious for the welfare of his friend as for his own, 
 obeyed the injunctions contained in his letter, and 
 posted day and night to London ; but with all his 
 energy and expedition he arrived, alas ! too late. 
 Not only had the fatal prognostications respect- 
 ing Lieutenant-Colonel Elphinstone been but too 
 surely verified ; not only had the announcement 
 of his death reached the Secretary of War, 
 before Major Baird's arrival, but the ulterior step 
 of filling up the vacancy had been taken, and 
 
 * It may be proper to remark that, just previous to the 
 period here referred to, the 73d Regiment had changed its 
 number to the 71st Highlanders, and that it was in fact the 
 lieutenant-colonelcy and majority of Baird' s own regiment to 
 which Captain Dairy mple's letter referred.
 
 76 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Colonel Baring had been actually appointed to the 
 lieutenant-colonelcy. 
 
 Major Baird, however, very shortly ascertained 
 that Colonel Baring had no very particular incli- 
 nation to join his regiment in India, and that if 
 Major Baird could find any officer willing to 
 sell his lieutenant-colonelcy, he (Colonel Baring) 
 could exchange with him, by which means Major 
 Baird might still attain his favourite object of 
 becoming lieutenant-colonel of that regiment in 
 which he had served so long, and to which he 
 was so warmly attached by numerous ties and 
 feelings. 
 
 All this, however, was sooner said than done, 
 for Colonel Baring not only stipulated that Major 
 Baird should pay the full price for the lieutenant- 
 colonelcy, but that he should take all the trouble 
 and risk connected with the arrangement of the 
 affair upon himself, and that the various exchanges 
 and commissions should appear simultaneously 
 in the gazette. 
 
 In order to facilitate the completion of this 
 somewhat complex arrangement. Major Baird 
 proceeded by another rapid journey to Dublin, 
 (where the officer of whom he was to purchase the 
 lieutenant-colonelcy in the first instance, was quar- 
 tered,) in order personally to make the necessary 
 arrangements with him, as well as to have an 
 audience of the Lord Lieutenant, whose consent to 
 the sale and purchase was absolutely necessary. 
 Every thing, however, eventually turned out as he
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 77 
 
 wished ; and after a short delay, occasioned as it is 
 represented by the negligence of his agent, the 
 commissions were gazetted as required by Colonel 
 Baring, and the matter was finally and agreeably 
 settled.* 
 
 In March, 1791, Lieutenant-Colonel Baird again 
 left England for India, and arrived at Madras in 
 
 * When Major Baird was in London at this time, and upon 
 this business, he happened one morning to go into a coffee- 
 house, and was expressing to a friend, who was with him, the 
 annoyance he felt at the negligence of his Scotch agent, who 
 had neglected to send up the money requisite for concluding 
 the purchase of the commission. He had not observed that 
 Mr. Ewen, a Madras civil servant, who had been his fellow 
 passenger on the voyage home, was sitting in the adjoining 
 box, and had been paying particular attention to what he 
 had been saying. 
 
 Mr. Ewen, however, followed him out when he quitted the 
 coffee-house, and confessing that he had overheard his conver- 
 sation, offered him any pecuniary accommodation he might 
 require. Major Baird, although he declined the offer (appre- 
 hensive that something more serious than negligence might 
 have delayed his agent's remittances), was yet sensibly touched 
 by the kindness of the proposition, for which he expressed his 
 warmest thanks. But it is curious to observe that in conse- 
 quence of this very piece of delicacy on his part, coupled with 
 the unwarrantable delay of his man of business. Lord Cavan, 
 Lord Ludlow, and Sir John IMoore, were gazetted before him ; 
 and trifling as that circumstance appeared at the moment, its 
 consequences were afterwards most striking. With all these 
 officers Sir David afterwards met on service, and was of 
 course their junior (by three or four days), instead of com- 
 manding them, both in Egypt and in Spain. Nothing can 
 more fully justify the common remark, that the most im- 
 portant effects frequently result from the most trivial causes.
 
 78 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tlie June following. Upon reaching that place he 
 found that his regiment (now the 71st,) had taken 
 the field with the army under Lord Cornwallis. 
 It may naturally be supposed that with his feel- 
 ings and anxiety for service. Colonel Baird re- 
 mained no longer at Fort St. George than was 
 actually necessary for his equipment ; he joined 
 the troops at Oussoor, in company with his gal- 
 lant friend the Hon. Colonel Knox, of the 86th 
 regiment (a brother of Lord Northland's), a most 
 particular friend of his, and who had been his 
 fellow-passenger on the voyage from England. 
 
 As soon as Colonels Knox and Baird arrived 
 at head-quarters, Lord Cornwallis nominated the 
 former, who was the senior officer of the two, to 
 the command of a brigade of Europeans ; Colonel 
 Baird was appointed to the command of a brigade 
 of Sepoys ; and with this appointment commenced 
 his first campaign against Tippoo. 
 
 It may be here proper to give the reader some 
 sliirht idea of the actual state of affairs in India 
 at the time of Colonel Baird's joining the forces 
 in the field. 
 
 On the 27th of May, after overcoming a series 
 of difficulties which it is not necessary to recapitu- 
 late. Lord Cornwallis's army had encamped oppo- 
 site to Seringapatam, in front of what are called 
 the French Rocks, having previously ascertained 
 that the army of Purseram Bhow, amounting to 
 20,000 horse and foot, and two battalions of Sepoys 
 commanded by Captain Little, were approaching
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 79 
 
 to effect a junction with the English, and that 
 they would be almost immediately followed by 
 12,000 horse commanded by Hurry Punt. 
 
 Tippoo obtained intelligence of this proposed 
 union of his enemies, and although he had been 
 greatly elated by the disasters which the climate 
 and other misfortunes had occasioned in Lord 
 Cornwallis's army, he resolved if possible to con- 
 clude a peace with his lordship before this for- 
 midable concentration of force could be effected ; 
 and accordingly on the day succeeding that on 
 which they took up their position, Tippoo sent a 
 flag of truce and presents of fruit for the use of 
 the English Commander-in-chief. The flag and the 
 fruit were returned with an answer declaring that 
 the English could make no peace which did not 
 include their allies; and that no negociation, even 
 should Tippoo agree to that stipulation, would be 
 entered into, unless, as a preliminary step, all 
 British subjects who were prisoners in Tippoo's 
 dominions were, in the first instance, uncondi- 
 tionally liberated. To this part of the proposi- 
 tion Tippoo replied by denying that he had any 
 British subjects prisoners. 
 
 On the 28th, the British army fell back towards 
 Milgotah to effect its junction with the Mahratta 
 forces. The meeting and conference between 
 Lord Cornwallis and General Meadows, and the 
 chiefs Hurry Punt and Purseram Bhow were highly 
 satisfactory to all parties.
 
 80 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The junction was effected most seasonably, for 
 this immense force came provided with every 
 article not only of necessity but luxury ; and the 
 English soldiers, after having been subjected to the 
 greatest privations, ran with delight and eagerness 
 to purchase (at exorbitant prices, it is true,) com- 
 forts to which they had been for some time utter 
 strangers.* 
 
 Lord Cornwallis had a difficult card to play to 
 keep on friendly terms with his allies. He was 
 obliged to defer to all their superstitions, and to 
 endure their constant inattention to their appoint- 
 ments ; want of punctuality being with them a 
 mark of dignity. Nor was it less necessary ^-^ • 
 his lordship to be constantly on the alert in cider 
 to induce them to keep steadily to the arrange- 
 ments entered into for the prosecution of the 
 
 * The description of the appearance of the Mahratta camp, 
 as given by Major Dirom in his work on this campaign, is ex- 
 tremely graphic. 
 
 " The Mahratta camp," says the writer, '^ was at the dis- 
 tance of above six miles from ours, and on approaching it had 
 the appearance of a large irregular town ; for the chiefs pitch 
 their standards, and take up their ground around the general, 
 without order ; and their tents, being of all sizes, and many 
 different colours, at a distance resembled houses rather than 
 canvass. The streets too of the camp, crossing and winding in 
 every direction, display a variety of merchandize, as in a great 
 fair. There are jewellers, smiths, mechanics, and people of 
 every trade and description, as busily employed in their occu- 
 pations, attending as minutely to their interests, as if they were 
 at Poonah and at peace." — Fide Dirom' s Campaign, p. 10.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIUD. 81 
 
 war, since it appeared equally characteristic of 
 their high caste to be as careless of promises, as 
 unmindful of appointments.* 
 
 Lord Cornwallis, however, continued actively 
 and zealously employed in strengthening himself 
 on all sides, and on the 10th of August he was 
 joined by a reinforcement from Amboor, consisting 
 of one hundred elephants, marching two and two 
 abreast, (on the foremost of which was displayed 
 the British flag,) accompanied by six thousand 
 bullocks loaded with rice, one hundred carts 
 loaded with arrack, and several thousand Coo- 
 lies with trunks and baskets of private supplies. 
 
 Ak it this period another attempt was made by 
 Tippoo to open negociations wath the confederated 
 powers, and for that purpose he despatched a 
 Vakeel, named Apagy Row, to Oussoor (where 
 Colonel Baird joined the army), but it was soon 
 evident, from his pertinacious adherence to mat- 
 ters of mere form and ceremony, that he had been 
 
 * Major Dirom gives the following trait illustrative of their 
 customs and discipline. 
 
 " The ground," says he, " upon which our army had en- 
 camped at the junction, being bare of grass and extremely 
 dirty. Lord Cornwallis was desirous of marching, and sent to 
 the IMahratta chiefs to request they would move next morning, 
 as their camp lay directly in our route ; they returned for an- 
 swer, ' that they should be happy to obey his lordship's com- 
 mands, but as they had halted eight days, it was not lucky, nor 
 could they, according to the custom of their i-eligion, march on 
 the ninth day.' His lordship gave way to their superstitious 
 prejudice and deferred his march." 
 VOL. I. G
 
 H'-2 THE LIFE OF 
 
 sent rather as a spy than an ambassador, (not 
 always incompatible characters,) and he was sent 
 back to his master without having been permitted 
 even to enter the camp. 
 
 It was after this occurrence, and after he had 
 taken every precaution with regard to the effi- 
 ciency of his commissariat, that Lord Cornwallis 
 resolved upon the reduction of several hill forts, 
 which lying between Bangalore and Gurramconda, 
 interrupted his free communication with the 
 Nizam's army, and endangered the regularity of 
 whatever supplies he might expect from that 
 quarter, or which might be brought by that route 
 from the Carnatic. These forts were called Ray- 
 manghur, Ambajee - Durum, Chillum - Cottah, 
 Rundy-Droog, and Callarumconda, in the neigh- 
 bourhood of China Balaporam, a highly cultivated 
 and fertile district, through which our army had 
 already passed, in going to join the Nizam's troops, 
 after the reduction of Bangalore. 
 
 Of these forts, Raymanghur was taken by 
 Major Gowdie and Captain Read ; and on the 18th 
 of September, Ambajee-Durum, and Chillum-Cot- 
 tah, the former five, and the latter ten miles from 
 Raymungur, surrendered at the first summons of 
 the latter officer. 
 
 It was immediately after the arrival of Colonel 
 Baird that the siege of Nundy Droog was decided 
 upon, and the particulars of the execution of that 
 design are much too important to be passed over 
 without particular notice.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 83 
 
 Nundy Droog, the capital of a very extensive 
 and valuable district, is built upon the summit of 
 a mountain one thousand seven hundred feet in 
 height; three-fourths of its circumference are posi- 
 tively inaccessible, and the only side on which it 
 can be ascended was protected by two strong walls 
 and an outwork, which, covering the gateway, 
 afforded a formidable flank fire. 
 
 The great object was to cut a road to the 
 top of a hill near the mountain, upon which a 
 battery was erected, and guns carried up with in- 
 finite labour ; but when all these extraordinary 
 preparations had been made, it was discovered that 
 the distance was too great, and the battery wholly 
 ineffective. Under these circumstances there was 
 no alternative but to abandon the attack, or at- 
 tempt to work up the face of this rugged and stu- 
 pendous mountain to within breaching distance of 
 the fort. The latter was adopted. The exertions 
 and labour required to form a gun-road and erect 
 batteries in the front of this work, exceeded any 
 thing previously known in India, and for a fortnight 
 the troops were employed in the arduous work 
 under a constant and tremendous fire. 
 
 On the 17th of October two breaches were re- 
 ported practicable, and the following day Lord 
 Cornwallis, with a view to intimidate the garrison, 
 encamped within four miles of the fort, and hav- 
 ing examined the breaches, ordered the firing 
 to be continued against the fort till night, and that 
 the rising of the moon should be the signal for 
 
 G 2
 
 84i THE LIFE OF 
 
 attack. The period for the assault was afterwards 
 delayed till a later hour. 
 
 Captain Robertson, the senior officer of flank 
 companies, whose name has been before men- 
 tioned in this memoir, led the grenadiers of the 
 36th and 71st regiments to the breach in the cur- 
 tain, and Captain Hart took the command of the 
 light companies which were to attack the outwork, 
 while Captain Doveton, with the flank companies 
 of the 4th native infantry, were destined to esca- 
 lade the inner wall. General Medows, second in 
 command of the army, himself headed the storm- 
 ing party.* 
 
 No sooner had the gallant band rushed forward 
 to the attack, than they were discovered by the 
 enemy. The fort was instantaneously illuminated 
 with blue lights, and a heavy fire of cannon, 
 musketry, and rockets was immediately opened 
 upon the assailants. Luckily it was ill-directed ; 
 but, nevertheless, infinite mischief was done 
 by heavy stones thrown down the rock, which 
 gaining increased power and velocity in their 
 descent, made great havock amongst the ascend- 
 ing troops. The storming party, however, effected 
 a lodgement in both the breaches, and having 
 
 * When every disposition had been made for the attack, and 
 the time for moving forvi^ard had nearly arrived, some one 
 observed, inconsiderately, in the hearing of the troops, that it 
 was reported there was a mine very near the breach. General 
 Medows, overhearing the remark, said, " A mine ! If it be a 
 mine, my boys, it must be a mine of gold,"
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 85 
 
 pursued the enemy with sufficient rapidity to pre- 
 vent their barricadoing the gate of the inner wall, 
 forced it open and entered the body of the place. 
 
 The slaughter which must have ensued would 
 have been dreadful, if great numbers of the inha- 
 bitants had not effected their escape over a low 
 wall on the other side. To this circumstance in 
 some degree, but still more particularly to the 
 humane exertions of Captain Robertson, who, 
 seeing the place was carried, made every exertion 
 to save the effusion of blood, may be justly attri- 
 buted the smallness of the loss on the part of the 
 enemy. 
 
 The principal people and fighting men taken, 
 were sent prisoners to Vellore ; the women and 
 Brahmins were conducted to a small hill fort about 
 six miles from the scene of action. 
 
 For this gallant affair, the consequence of which 
 was the immediate surrender of Cummeldroog, a 
 hill fort dependent on Nundy Droog, the troops 
 concerned, received the thanks of Lord Cornwallis.
 
 86 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SIEGE OF SAVENDROOG LIEUTENANT-COLONEL BAIRD COMMANDS A 
 
 BRIGADE — CAPTURE OP THE FORT— LORD CORNWALLIS CONCEN- 
 TRATES HIS FORCES^ MARCH OF THE ALLIED ARMIES FROM HOO- 
 
 LEADROOG ARRIVE BEFORE SERINGAPATAM ACCOUNT OF THAT 
 
 PLACE ORDERS ISSUED FOR THE MARCH DETAIL COLONEL 
 
 BAIRD ATTACHED TO THE THIRD COLUMN GALLANT ATTACK AND 
 
 PURSUIT OF THE ENEMY PERILOUS SITUATION JOINED BY COLO- 
 NEL STEWART GENERAL MEDOWS DECEIVED BY HIS GUIDES FAILS 
 
 TO EXECUTE LORD CORNWALLIs's DESIGN HIS FEELINGS ON THE 
 
 OCCASION COLONEL BAIRD ORDERED TO RE-CROSS THE RIVER 
 
 ARRIVAL OF THE BOMBAY ARMY. 
 
 Even after the fall of Nundy Droog, and the 
 other Droogs which we have enumerated, there 
 yet remained another more important object to be 
 attained — namely, the reduction of Savendroog, 
 the enemy's possession of which, appeared to Lord 
 Cornwallis to be one of the most serious obstacles 
 to the reduction of Seringapatam. It was a place 
 of immense strength — one huge mountain rising 
 to the height of half a mile from a base eight or 
 ten miles in circumference, enclosed by a wall 
 on every side, and defended in every possible way, 
 wherever it seemed to have been left vulnerable 
 by nature. It had the peculiar advantage of
 
 SIR UAVID 13A1UD. 87 
 
 being divided, towards its summit, into two hills, 
 both of which being strongly fortified, formed, in 
 fact, two citadels, capable of holding out, inde- 
 pendently of the lower works, and naturally 
 affording shelter and security to the garrison, 
 even in the very last extremity. 
 
 Situated eighteen miles west of Bangalore, its 
 position, in a military point of view, was formid- 
 able and commanding. It was no less celebrated 
 for its strength and age, than for its noxious atmo- 
 sphere, whence it derived its fearful name of Sa- 
 vendroog — the rock of death. The garrison to 
 whose care it was entrusted, at the period of which 
 we are speaking, confided greatly in this combina- 
 tion of defences, more especially as the rock itself 
 was surrounded on all sides by a bamboo jungle. 
 Indeed, Tippoo is said to have been very highly 
 elated when he was apprised of Lord Cornwallis's 
 intention to attack it, and even congratulated 
 his army on the rashness of his enemy's un- 
 dertaking an affair which must end in their dis- 
 comfiture, seeing, as he expressed himself, that 
 half the Europeans who besieged it would be 
 killed in the attack, and the other half destroyed 
 by the noxiousness of the climate.* 
 
 * The labour of penetrating such a jungle or wood, can only 
 be appreciated by those who are acquainted with the peculiar 
 character of that shrubby bush, the bamboo, which grows in 
 clumps, from the corners of rocks, and more effectually, perhaps, 
 than any other tree resists the influence of fire, or the operation of 
 the axe. A jungle, or " bound hedge" as in this case it was
 
 88 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The preliminary measures of this memorable 
 siege, having been taken under circumstances of 
 inconceivable difficulty, (the troops being in many 
 places obliged to drag the guns over rocks of con- 
 siderable height, and nearly perpendicular,) two 
 batteries were opened on the 17th of December, 
 one at a thousand, and the other at seven hundred 
 yards. On the 19th, another battery was opened, 
 which had been advanced to within two hundi'ed 
 and fifty yards of the wall ; and in the course of 
 that and the succeeding day, made a practicable 
 breach ; whereupon Lord Cornwallis ordered the 
 assault to be made on the 21st. 
 
 The storming party was entrusted to the com- 
 mand of Lieutenant-Colonel Nesbitt, and directed 
 to four different attacks. Captain Gage, with the 
 grenadier and light infantry of the 76th, to 
 gain the eastern hill on the left ; the Honour- 
 able Captain Monson, with the light company 
 of the 5!2d to scour the works towards the western 
 hill ; and the Honourable Captain Lindsay and 
 Captain Robertson, with the flankers of the 71st, 
 to attack whatever works or parties they might 
 discover in the hollow or ravine between the 
 eastern and western peak of this military Par- 
 nassus. The 52d and 72d regiments were to 
 follow the flankers. 
 
 termed (and the word will be found hereafter to recur fre- 
 quently in the account of the sieges of Seringapatam), sur- 
 rounded the whole of the lines of the stupendous fortress of 
 Savendroog.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 89 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Baird, with his brigade of 
 Sepoys, was directed to proceed, very early in the 
 morning, to the opposite side of the mountain, to 
 make his way through the jungle, and shew him- 
 self in force just at the time that the assault was 
 made on the other side, in order, in the first in- 
 stance, to draw off the attention of the garrison, 
 and, in the second place, to be prepared to cut 
 them off, should they attempt to escape on that 
 side. 
 
 This service Colonel Baird most successfully 
 executed, notwithstanding the difficulties which 
 the nature of the ground opposed to him ; and 
 made good his entrance into the fort on one side, 
 at the very moment the storming party had carried 
 the place on the other ; and such was the ardour 
 of the attack, that Captain Monson, with his own 
 company of the 5 2d, and a seijeant and twelve 
 grenadiers of the 71st, entered the different bar- 
 riers, mingled with the retreating enemy, and 
 killing a considerable number (amongst whom was 
 the second keeladar), they never relaxed their 
 exertions, till they got possession of the top of the 
 mountain, when the head keeladar was captured. 
 Some idea may be formed of the boldness and ra- 
 pidity of the pursuit, when the reader is told, that 
 the man who was shutting the first gate against 
 the assailants, was shot by Serjeant Leary, of 
 the 71st. 
 
 The promptness and gallantry of our troops 
 need little eulogy on this occasion, further than
 
 90 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the statement, that the hitherto-believed impreg- 
 nable fortress of Savendroog fell into their pos- 
 session, after a storm in open day, without the loss 
 of one individual,— one soldier only having been 
 wounded in the attack. — In a few hours after the 
 completion of this important conquest, in which 
 he bore so effective a part. Col. Baird and his 
 brigade returned to the camp. 
 
 On the 24th the important fortress of Outre- 
 droog, twelve miles from Savendroog, was taken 
 by Lieut.-Col. Stuart's detachment, without the 
 loss of a single man ; and on that day Lord Corn- 
 wallis followed with the army, and encamped at 
 Magr6, a place lying between the two places.* 
 
 * " Colonel Stuart, on his arrival before Outretlroog, sent a 
 party to summon the place. The keeladar, who, when sum- 
 moned the year before, had answered that he would not sur- 
 render his post till we had taken Seringapatam, seemed stiU 
 determined in that intention, and, to avoid any communication, 
 fired on the flag of truce. 
 
 " In consequence of this conduct. Colonel Stuart made his 
 disposition to attack the lower fort and Pettah next morning. 
 Captain Scott, of the Bengal Establishment, with four bat- 
 talion companies of the 52d and 72d regiments, and his own 
 battalion of Sepoys^ were sent on this service : while another 
 body made a feint and opened some guns on the opposite side 
 of the fort. 
 
 " Captain Scott carried the lower part of the fort by escalade 
 so rapidly, that the keeladar sent to request a parley ; while 
 this took place, an appearance of treachery was observed in 
 the upper fort, and that the garrison were employed in mov- 
 ing and pointing guns to bear upon the assailants. Fired at 
 this sight, and impatient of delay, the troops again rushed on
 
 SIR DAVID 13A1KD. 91 
 
 These conquests were followed by the capture 
 of several other important places, the garrisons of 
 which, strongly aifected by the fate of Savendroog, 
 no longer seemed disposed to offer resistance to a 
 force which they began to believe irresistible. 
 
 It would be foreign to our purpose to enter into 
 the details of Lord Cornwallis's arrangements sub- 
 sequent to the fall of the places we have enume- 
 rated, and the siege and relief of Gurramcondah. 
 Suffice it to say, that having, towards the end of 
 January, 1792, concentrated his forces, and made 
 every necessary disposition for carrying into effect 
 his intended expedition against the capital of the 
 Mysore country, he commenced the march of the 
 
 to the assault. Lieutenant M'lnnes^ of the 72cl regiment, led 
 the storm with part of the Europeans and the pioneers, com- 
 manded by Lieutenants Dowse and Macpherson, supported by 
 Captain Scott, who followed in more regular order with the 
 rest of his force. Some of the gateways were broken open, 
 others escaladed, till passing five or six different walls which 
 defended the steep and difficult rock, the troops at length 
 gained the summit^ and put the garrison to the sword. So in- 
 fatuated were the enemy, that whenever they saw a single 
 European above the walls they fled, and although such was the 
 steepness and narrowness of some parts of the road in the 
 ascent, that a few resolute men might have defended the place 
 against an army, it was only at the last gateway that they at- 
 tempted any resistance, and that only by firing a few musquet 
 shot, by which two soldiers were wounded. The keeladar was 
 made prisoner ; a number of the garrison were killed, and many, 
 terrified at the approach of the Europeans with their bayonets, 
 are said to have precipitated themselves over the rocks."' — 
 Dirom's Narralive, pp. 74, 75-
 
 92 THE LIFE OF 
 
 allied armies from Hooleadroog on the 1st of Fe- 
 bruary in that year, and on the 5th of the same 
 month, having arrived on its ground, took up its 
 position under the French rocks, about six miles 
 from Seringapatam. 
 
 The camp was divided by the Lockany, a small 
 stream whose course is from the lake below Mil- 
 gotah, through the valley to the Cavery, of which 
 it is a tributary stream. The right wing of the 
 British army reached from the river, along the rear 
 of the French rocks, to a large tank which covered 
 that flank ; the left wing with the artillery reached 
 from the other side of the Lockany to the foot of 
 the hills which had been last passed. The stores 
 and baggage being parted between the line and 
 the reserve (joined afterwards) at about a mile 
 distance. 
 
 The whole force was so disposed as to create 
 the least possible alarm to Tippoo, who was en- 
 camped with all his force under the walls of Seringa- 
 patam, having previously cleared the country of 
 every thing like forage, which might otherwise 
 have been within reach of his enemies. 
 
 From the position taken up by the English, there 
 was a perfect view of the city, and of the sultan's 
 fortified camp. Colonel Baird was not a man who 
 ever enlarged upon his personal feelings on any 
 occasion, — yet even lie admitted that the sensa- 
 tions he experienced on his return to Seringapa- 
 tam, under circumstances so utterly at variance 
 with those under which he first beheld it, were of
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 93 
 
 no ordinary nature, nor could they be easily con- 
 trolled when he found himself in a proud situation 
 of command, reconnoitering the spot where for 
 nearly four years he had suffered the torture of an 
 unmitigated confinement, aggravated by the bar- 
 barity of the tyrant with whom he now came to 
 cope upon equal ground. 
 
 As we shall have to recount the events of two 
 sieges of this most important fortress of Seringa- 
 patam, it may not be unnecessary (although per- 
 haps the subject may be familiar to many of our 
 readers) to give a short topographical sketch of its 
 position and defences. 
 
 Seringapatam is situated on an island in the river 
 Cavery; on either side of which, a space of land, 
 opposite to the island, is enclosed within what is 
 called a bound hedge, or fringe of bamboo jungle. 
 This jungle is the limit of the capital, and more- 
 over offers shelter to the people of the country, 
 being on the outer side, from incursions of pre- 
 datory cavalry. The space within this bound 
 hedge, on the south side of the river, was filled 
 with inhabitants— that on the north side was oc- 
 cupied by Tippoo's troops. 
 
 The space comprized within the bound hedge 
 on the north side of the river, is about three miles 
 in length, and of a breadth varying from half a mile 
 to a mile, stretching from the western end of the 
 island to the estuary of the Lockany, where it falls 
 into'theXavery. J^ Within this enclosure was the 
 most commanding ground, on the north side of the
 
 94 THE LIFE OF 
 
 fort, for besides the bound hedge, it was covered in 
 front by rice-fields, by a large canal, and partly by 
 the windings of the Lockany itself. The left of 
 the encampment was covered by a very large and 
 powerful redoubt, near a mosque on a rising ground 
 within the north-west of the hedge, while four 
 other redoubts upon elevated positions, although 
 not so much advanced as the one already men- 
 tioned, added most strikingly to the strength of a 
 position, the right of which was not only equally 
 well covered by the Lockany, but beyond that 
 river by the great Carrighaut Hill, which Tippoo 
 had recently fortified most efficiently, and which 
 being opposite to the lower part of the island, 
 actually commanded the ford. 
 
 The eastern end of the island was fortified 
 towards the river by various redoubts and batteries, 
 so that the island itself formed a second line, which 
 supported the defence of the first line, on the 
 other side of the river; thus it was clear, that 
 if the enemy were beaten from their posts on the 
 main land, they could with perfect safety retreat 
 into the island, and then into the fort, as if they 
 were falling back from outworks to the body of a 
 place. 
 
 Tippoo had most judiciously fortified himself. 
 In his first line, a camp — in which camp he had at 
 least a hundred pieces of cannon, and in the island 
 and fort (which, as we have just observed, formed 
 in fact his second hue,) at least three times that 
 number.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 95 
 
 Having taken up his position then, on the 5th 
 of February, Lord Cornwallis, on the morning of 
 the 6th, ordered Colonel Maxwell, who com- 
 manded the left wing, to proceed with the chief 
 engineer, and a strong party from Colonel Baird's 
 brigade, which Baird himself commanded, to re- 
 connoitre the right of the enemy's position: — very 
 shortly after Colonel Maxwell had made his report 
 to Lord Cornwallis, the following orders were 
 issued — ■ 
 
 " February 6, 1792. 
 " The army marches in three divisions, at seven this even- 
 ing, to attack the enemy's camp and lines. Picquets to join 
 field-pieces, quarter and rear-guard and camp to stand fast. 
 
 Right division — General IMedows. 
 
 36 ^ . 
 
 ^P > Regiments — Lieut.-Col. Nesbitt. 
 
 3rd Brigade — Lieut.-Col. Cockerell. 
 22d Native Battalion — Capt. Oram. 
 
 Lieut. Lennox's Pioneers, a detachment of officers from the 
 Engineer Corps, and a proportion of scaling ladders. 
 
 Centre — Lord Cornwallis. 
 
 52^ 
 
 71 > Regiments — Lieut.-Col. Knox. 
 
 74 s 
 
 4th Brigade — JMajor Russell. 
 
 J!}^ > Native Battalions — ]VIajor Langley. 
 
 Lieut. Dowse's Pioneers, a detachment of officers from the 
 Engineers, and a proportion of scaling ladders. 
 
 Left division — Lieut.-Col. Maxvpell. 
 
 Ensign Sloper's Pioneers, and a proportion of scaling 
 ladders.
 
 9C) THE LIFE OF 
 
 In the right division there were 900 Europeans, and 2,400 
 Natives — together, 3,300 men. 
 
 In the centre, 1,400 Europeans, and 2,300 Natives, making 
 3,700. 
 
 And in the left division, 500 Europeans, and 1,200 Natives, 
 making 1,700. Altogether comprising 2,800 Europeans, and 
 5,900 Natives. A total of 8,700 men. 
 
 Nothing: could be more beautiful or more im- 
 posing than the movement of these gallant troops ; 
 the evening was cool and calm, and the moon 
 shone in all its splendour, and as the steady 
 columns moved to the attack, not a sound could be 
 heard but the tramp of their feet as they marched 
 to victory. 
 
 The plan of the attack was as bold as it was 
 novel, and perhaps its boldness and novelty may 
 best account for Tippoo's disbelief in its proba- 
 bility. With his views and ideas of military tac- 
 tics he could not be persuaded that Lord Corn- 
 wallis would think of attacking a fortified camp — a 
 powerful army — and a large train of artillery — with 
 infantry alone, without carmon, and at night ; nor 
 were our allies themselves at all convinced of the 
 prudence of the Commander-in-chief in trusting 
 his infantry to fight at such odds ; but when they 
 were told that he was gone himself personally to 
 mingle in such a conflict, their amazement knew 
 no bounds. 
 
 We shall, of course, notice the proceedings of 
 the different divisions of the army, but the third 
 or left column being that to which the gallant sub-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 97 
 
 ject of this memoir was attached, it is the only 
 one of which we are enabled from his personal ob- 
 servations to give a distinct account. 
 
 The troops proceeded in silence along the hills 
 on the left of the line to the enemy's post on the 
 Carrighaut Hill. This was about half-past ten ; 
 and just as the centre column within a mile of the 
 bound hedge had disturbed the enemy's grand 
 guard, a body of cavalry who were advancing 
 towards our camp to harass and annoy us with 
 rockets as they had previously done, rapidly re- 
 tired, the moment they discovered the approach of 
 the column, leaving, however, the rocket-boys to 
 endeavour to impede its march. 
 
 Just at this moment the great Carrighaut Hill 
 became illuminated with the fire of the musquetry 
 of the left division ; the whole line being alarmed by 
 the rocketing below, and the sentries having fired 
 on the advance of Colonel Baird's column, he 
 instantly dashed forward, sprang over the breast- 
 work before they were aware of his intention, and, 
 gallantly backed by his brave comrades, drove all 
 before him at the point of the bayonet. The enemy 
 fled to a post lower down, near a pagoda, into 
 which Colonel Baird followed them till they were 
 forced from the hill, when he was compelled to halt 
 his men and wait for Colonel Maxwell, who, upon 
 his arrival, also halted for a short time to observe 
 the movements of the centre column, which at that 
 time had become generally engaged. As soon as 
 he perceived, by watching the line of fire, that this 
 
 VOL. I. H
 
 98 THE LIFE OF 
 
 column was evidently gaining ground, he ordered 
 Colonel Baird to proceed down the hill with the 
 advance, and pointed out the road, which proved 
 to be nothing better than a difficult, steep, rocky, 
 and winding path ; and when Baird, whose anxiety 
 to get forward nothing could check, reached a 
 water-course to which it appeared the path only 
 led, and with which it terminated, his astonish- 
 ment may be better conceived than described, 
 when, on turning round, he found himself accom- 
 panied but by one officer (Wheatly), and about 
 twelve grenadiers of the 72d regiment, and a few 
 Sepoys. 
 
 At this moment a heavy firing began on his left, 
 and, true to his principle of advancing, he again 
 pushed forward at the head of his little band, and 
 luckily fell in with the rest of his men, who having 
 been less eager than their commander in the pur- 
 suit of glory, had continued to descend the hill by 
 an easier though somewhat more circuitous rout. 
 Thus strengthened and cheered, Colonel Baird 
 continued to follow the enemy even across the 
 Lockany river into their own camp. 
 
 The troops of this column were very much 
 galled by the enemy during their descent, for be- 
 sides being harassed from the other side of the 
 water-course, they had to sustain the fire of the 
 right of Tippoo's line within the bound hedge ; 
 they however eventually dashed through the 
 enemy's camp, and effected a junction with the 
 centre of Lord Cornwallis's division. In descend-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 99 
 
 ing the hill Captain Mackenzie of the 72d regiment 
 was killed, and Major Fraser of the same regiment 
 severely wounded. 
 
 Colonel Baird, when he reached the enemy's 
 camp, fell in with Major Petrie, and a small party 
 of the 72d regiment, and immediately ex- 
 pressed the most anxious desire to cross the north 
 branch of the Cavery, but the water was deep and 
 rapid, the bottom rocky and uncertain, and the 
 attempt appeared extremely hazardous. It was 
 however made, and in spite of all the natural dif- 
 ficulties, considerably aggravated by a heavy fire 
 from the lines and batteries on the island, Colonel 
 Baird, after a desperate struggle, in which the 
 71st and 72d regiments lost a great many men, 
 gained the opposite bank, with Lieutenant Su- 
 therland, and about twenty men of the 72d, and 
 was almost immediately followed by Major 
 Petrie, and another small party. The moment 
 they had reached a place of safety, if dry land ex- 
 posed to fire may be so called, they discovered, 
 that in fording the river, which in some places 
 was neck deep, they had destroyed all their am- 
 munition, and found themselves actually on the 
 island, within the lines of their ferocious enemy, 
 without a serviceable cartridge ; the British wea- 
 pon, the bayonet, was, however, left them, and 
 no doubt exists, that had its use been necessary, 
 it would have been found as efficient upon that 
 occasion as it has been in British hands, every 
 where else in the world. It fortunately was not 
 
 H 2
 
 100 THE LIFE OF 
 
 required, for as the party advanced towards the 
 batteries in front of which they had landed, they 
 found that the enemy had been just driven out 
 of them by Colonel Knox's division. 
 
 Colonel Maxwell had discovered a better ford 
 to the left, than that by which the more impetu- 
 ous of the troops had passed, and entered the 
 island, followed by Colonel Stewart, who having 
 joined Baird and Knox at the Pettah, a town on 
 the outside of the fortress of Seringapatam, 
 assumed the command of the whole, as senior 
 officer. 
 
 It would occupy a larger space of our memoir 
 than we should be justified in giving to details 
 which have already been before the public, were we 
 to enter into a minute description of the operations 
 of the other divisions of the victorious army ; but, 
 in order to give some idea of the results, it is ne- 
 cessary to state, that the intention of Lord Corn- 
 wallis was to penetrate with the centre division the 
 centre of the enemy's position ; and in pursuance of 
 these intentions, his lordship's orders were that the 
 two other columns, the right under General Me- 
 dows, and the left under Colonel Maxwell, should 
 turn the two flanks and move forward, so as to join 
 the centre column through the middle of the 
 enemy's camp — that is to say, from flanks to centre. 
 
 In these arrangements, the centre and the left 
 completely succeeded ; but unfortunately, tlie 
 right being misled by their guides, got too near 
 the Eadgeah, a redoubt near the mosque, whicli
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 101 
 
 we have already noticed as protecting the enemy's 
 left flank, and which Lord Cornwallis had no in- 
 tention whatever of disturbing, but which, as it 
 turned out. Colonel Herbert, who commanded 
 the advance of this column, found himself abso- 
 lutely compelled to attack. 
 
 This proved an extremely severe business, and, 
 although ultimately successful, caused a great 
 loss of time and strength ; besides which, in con- 
 sequence of the exertions necessary to secure that 
 redoubt, they were obliged to leave the enemy in 
 possession of two others, which lay in their line of 
 march, and the capture of which did actually 
 form part of Lord Cornwallis's plan of attack. 
 
 The possession of those redoubts by the enemy, 
 situated as they were in the centre of the camp, 
 compelled the British forces to return to the out- 
 side of the bound-hedge, after having passed it, 
 and so to march towards the centre division ; 
 under the immediate command of Lord Corn- 
 wallis, which by some fatality they missed, and 
 it was not until they found their way to the Car- 
 righaut Hill, on the extreme left, that they fell 
 in with any part of the English army. 
 
 The feelings of General Medows, at this most 
 untoward frustration of his own hopes, and the 
 designs of the Commander-in-chief, may easily be 
 imagined, although it was universally admitted, 
 that no blame whatever could personally attach to 
 him. Sir David Baird used, whenever he related
 
 102 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the particulars of this affair, to state his entire con- 
 viction, that the whole misadventure arose from 
 the stupidity of the guides ; and added, that in 
 niffht-attacks such mistakes must often occur.* 
 
 Although the success of the British force had 
 been eminent, much yet remained to be done, in 
 order to secure the rich harvest of victory. Co- 
 lonel Baird was ordered to remain with Colonel 
 Stewart, who took up a position across the island, 
 of which Colonel Baird commanded the left divi- 
 sion. 
 
 The gallant conduct of the troops, on every oc- 
 casion during this trying service, but particularly 
 the defence of the Sultan's redoubt, by Captain Sib- 
 bald, of the 21st, who gloriously fell within it, are 
 already chronicled in the annals of fame. Suffice 
 it therefore to say, that the successes of the fol- 
 lowing night put Lord Cornwallis in a situation to 
 commence operations against the fortress of Se- 
 ringapatam, on the 9th of February, 1792, when 
 he made his arrangements for the siege. Colonel 
 
 * When General Medows at last did meet Lord Cornwallis 
 on the Carrighaut Hill, which the reader will recollect was 
 on the extreme left of the whole line, he naturally exclaimed, 
 " Why, Medows, where have you been all night ?" " Your 
 Lordship may well ask that question," said the mortified 
 General, and after giving all the explanation he could of the 
 disaster, perceiving Lord Cornwallis to be wounded in the 
 hand, he said, with an expression of stronger feeling than the 
 words convey, " It is I, my Lord, and not you, who should 
 have got a rap over the knuckles on this occasion."
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 103 
 
 Stewart was then ordered to maintain his position 
 in the island, while Colonels Knox and Baird were 
 directed to re-cross the river with their brigades, 
 and take up their positions in the new camp ; where 
 on the l6th Lord Cornwallis was joined by the 
 Bombay army, under the command of General 
 Sir Robert Abercromby.
 
 104 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 ORDERS FOR OPENING THE TRENCHES TIPPOO S DISTRESS AND RE- 
 VENGE DESTRUCTION OF HIS BEAUTIFUL GARDENS ATTEMPT TO 
 
 ASSASSINATE LORD CORNWALLIS — FRUSTRATED ATTEMPT TO DIS- 
 LODGE GENERAL ABERCROMBY ITS FAILURE TIPPOO's DEFEAT 
 
 EXTENSIVE PREPARATIONS FOR THE SIEGE STOPPED BY NEGOCIA- 
 
 TION TREATY — DELAYS OF TIPPOO HIS SONS SENT AS HOSTAGES 
 
 ACCOUNT OF THEIR RECEPTION — STRIKING ANECDOTE OF GENE- 
 RAL MEDOWS TREACHERY OF TIPPOO HOSTAGES PUT UNDER 
 
 RESTRAINT TIPPOO's EXPLANATION TREATY SIGNED AND DELI- 
 VERED PEACE CONCLUDED THE ARMY RETURNS TO THE DIF- 
 FERENT PRESIDENCIES. 
 
 The arrival of the Bombay army was an event 
 of the highest importance ; consisting as it did of 
 four European regiments, and seven battaHons of 
 Sepoys, it put at the disposal of Lord Cornwallis a 
 force of 2,000 Europeans, and 4,000 natives; and 
 his lordship thus reinforced, issued his orders, 
 on the 19th of February, for opening the 
 trenches, giving directions for a diversion to be 
 made simultaneously from the island, in order to 
 break up the enemy's horse-camp, on the south 
 side of the river.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 10.5 
 
 It does not appear necessary, in this place, to 
 detail minutely the progress of this vastly important 
 siege, which was carried on with the most consum- 
 mate skill and unqualified courage, Tippoo, as 
 the work of conquest proceeded, became more and 
 more irritated ; the condition of his mind may 
 be better imagined than described, when he saw 
 his beautiful gardens hacked to pieces by the 
 enemy, and that, too, merely as a preparatory step 
 to the destruction of his citadel. He could not 
 command his feelings, but indulged his animosity 
 and revenge, by firing, from all parts of the fort, 
 towards an army which, being out of range of 
 his shot, witnessed with scorn and impunity the 
 ill-judged effects of his malice and indignation. 
 
 Tippoo, however, had recourse to expedients 
 more dangerous to the interests of his enemies 
 than these displays. He despatched a party of 
 horsemen in the night, to assassinate Lord Corn- 
 wallis ; and in all probability they would have 
 effected their sanguinary purpose, had they not 
 betrayed their intentions, by too anxiously inquir- 
 ing for his lordship's tent. When they were 
 discovered, they galloped off with such rapidity, 
 that they suffered little for their rashness — a rash- 
 ness by no means indicative of inherent bravery, 
 but rather attributable to the state of intoxication 
 to which it is necessary to bring the troops of the 
 native princes before they can be excited to un- 
 dertake such perilous expeditions. 
 
 Tippoo, at length, wearied with the sight of
 
 106 THE LIFE OF 
 
 his progressive ruin, resolved to make one despe- 
 rate effort to dislodge General Abercromby, who 
 was in command of the Bombay army. But as 
 that effort was unsuccessful, so it was his last. 
 After maintaining an action for the whole day 
 under the guns of the fort, he was forced to retreat 
 towards evening, and thenceforward abandoned all 
 hope of retrieving his broken fortunes. 
 
 On the nights of the 22d and 23d of February, 
 the second parallel was completed, and the ground 
 for breaching batteries was marked out within 
 about five hundred yards of the fort, and furnaces 
 for heating shot were prepared. These batteries, 
 one of twelve and the other of twenty guns, 
 would have been ready to open on the 1st of 
 March ; which, together with the cross fire from 
 the island, and Sibbald's redoubt, with tlie mortars 
 and howitzers of the train, would liave brought 
 no less than fifty pieces of ordnance to bear 
 upon the enemy. In addition to this force, Pur- 
 seram Bhow's army, consisting of 20,000 cavalry, 
 and several thousand infantry, with thirty pieces 
 of cannon, were, as well as a brigade of Sepoys, 
 commanded by Captain Little, hourly expected. 
 Major Cuppage, from the Coimbettore country, 
 with a European brigade, three battalions of 
 Sepoys, and several field-pieces, had already as- 
 cended the Guzzelhatty Pass, to which place sup- 
 plies, to a vast amount, from Trichinopoly and 
 Pulgautcherry were in readiness to be brought up. 
 Lord Cornwallis had the entire command of the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIUD. 107 
 
 grain merchants in all quarters, whilst a constant 
 supply was ensured from the Malabar coast, in 
 communication with General Abercromby. 
 
 With such prospects and advantages, what had 
 the besiegers to fear? But, under the same cir- 
 cumstances, what had the besieged to hope ? It 
 is impossible to describe the dejection, the sorrow, 
 the disappointment, which filled the breast of every 
 soldier in the army, when, on the very eve of con- 
 quest, and on the threshold of glory, orders were 
 received from head-quarters, on the morning of the 
 g-ith, to discontinue working at the trenches, and 
 to desist from all further hostilities. 
 
 The preliminaries of peace between the con- 
 federated powers and Tippoo had been settled the 
 previous night ; a fact, the announcement of which 
 was not rendered more palatable to the troops by 
 being coupled with another ; namely, that long 
 since the negociations had been entered into, and 
 even after they had actually received the order to 
 desist from work and hostilities, a heavier fire than 
 ever was kept up upon them from the great guns, 
 and even musketry, of the fort, wherever they 
 could be brought to bear upon them ; nor was it 
 until noon that this outrageous infraction of every 
 honourable principle was put a stop to. 
 
 By the four articles of the treaty which had been 
 entered into, it was stipulated: — 
 
 I. That one-half of Tippoo's dominions, of which 
 he was possessed before the war, should be ceded 
 to the allies.
 
 108 THE LIFE OF 
 
 II. That he should pay three crores and thirty 
 lacs of rupees, in gold mohurs, pagodas, and bullion. 
 
 III. That all prisoners of the four powers should 
 be unequivocally released. 
 
 IV. That two of Tippoo's three eldest sons 
 should be given as hostages for the performance of 
 the treaty. 
 
 This last article has formed the subject of so 
 many works, literary and graphic, and was so re- 
 plete with interesting consequences, that we shall 
 not hesitate to give a condensed account of its ful- 
 filment, from the work of Major General Dirom, 
 to whom we are already indebted for many parti- 
 culars connected with this campaign, in which he 
 himself bore a distinguished and honourable part. 
 
 Some time was spent in persuading Tippoo to 
 consent to the terms which were proposed to him, 
 and even when, as a last sacrifice, he had made 
 up his mind to part with his children, the un- 
 easiness their proposed departure excited in the 
 seraglio was extreme, and another day was begged, 
 under the pretence that they were not quite pre- 
 pared to attend his lordship. Lord Cornwallis, not 
 insensible to the ties of nature, kindly granted the 
 request. 
 
 On the 26th, at noon, it was found that the 
 step must be taken, and accordingly the young 
 princes left the fort, which was everywhere 
 crowded to witness their departure. Their father 
 was on the rampart over the gateway. A salute 
 of twenty-one guns was fired as they left the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 109 
 
 fort ; another salute of twenty-one guns was fired 
 as soon as they reached our camp, and the line 
 which they passed, turned out and received them 
 with all the honours of royalty. They were met 
 by Sir John Kennaway, the Mahratta and Nizam 
 vakeels, and so conducted to Lord Cornwalhs's 
 tent. 
 
 Their procession was splendid and picturesque 
 in the extreme. It was led by several camel hur- 
 carrahs and seven standard-bearers, carrying small 
 green standards suspended from rockets, followed 
 by a hundred pikemen, bearing spears inlaid with 
 silver. The princes were mounted each on an 
 elephant richly caparisoned, seated in silver how- 
 dars, and attended by their vakeels. Two hundred 
 Sepoys and a body-guard of horse brought up the 
 rear. As they approached the English head- 
 quarters, the battalion of Bengal Sepoys, com- 
 manded by Captain Welch, formed a street through 
 which they passed. 
 
 Lord Cornwallis, surrounded by his staff, and 
 attended by the principal officers of his army, re- 
 ceived the princes at the door of his tent, and 
 having embraced, led them, one in either hand, 
 to seats which had been prepared for them, placing 
 himself between them. When he had done so, 
 Gullam Ally, the chief vakeel, addressed his lord- 
 ship, and said : " These children were this morn- 
 ing the sons of the sultan, my master ; their 
 situation is now changed, and they must look up 
 to your lordship as their father."
 
 110 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Lord Cornwallis, who had received the princes 
 as though they had been his own children, assured 
 the vakeel, as well as the princes themselves, that 
 every attention should be paid them, and every 
 care taken of their persons. Their little faces 
 brightened up ; the scene became highly inte- 
 resting, and not only their own attendants, but all 
 the spectators, were delighted to see that their con- 
 fidence was established, and that they would be 
 soon reconciled to their new friends. 
 
 The grace and elegance of both the boys, and 
 the propriety of their manners, had a striking 
 effect upon the English, particularly those of the 
 younger one ; independently of being, not only the 
 favourite son of Tippoo and his intended heir, 
 but moreover handsomer in his person and more 
 amiable in his manners, he became an object of 
 increased interest from the fact that his mother, 
 a beautiful delicate woman, sister of Burham- 
 ud-Deen, who was killed at Sottimungulum, had 
 actually died of alarm in the early part of the siege. 
 After some conversation. Lord Cornwallis pre- 
 sented each of them with a gold watch, which 
 pleased them greatly. Betel nut and otto of 
 roses being served according to custom, they de- 
 parted, and the next day Lord Cornwallis went 
 in state to visit them at the tents which had 
 been pitched for their reception, when they pre- 
 sented his lordship with two Persian swords ; Lord 
 Cornwallis, in return, gave the elder a fowling- 
 piece, and the younger a pair of pistols. The
 
 sill DAVID BAIRD. Ill 
 
 splendour and magnificence with which, even in 
 their captivity, they received Lord Cornwallis, pro- 
 duced a very extraordinary sensation in the minds 
 of the Europeans who witnessed them.* 
 
 After this interesting ceremony, which seemed 
 to mark the termination of hostilities, great delay 
 
 * On the day of the arrival of the princes in camp, a cir- 
 cumstance occurred productive of great alarm and uneasiness, 
 but which fortunately did not terminate fatally. General Me- 
 dows, to w^hose bravery, skill, and good conduct. Lord Corn- 
 wallis repeatedly and pointedly referred, in private conversa- 
 tions and public orders, during the siege, never recovered the 
 mortification he experienced by the failure of his division of 
 the army in the night attack, which, although (as we have 
 already shewn,) it originated in the negligence and ignorance 
 of his guides, preyed deeply upon the General's spirits. One 
 of the first evident effects of his feelings was his constant and 
 heedless exposure of himself to fire upon all occasions, in spite 
 of the remonstrances of his brother officers. 
 
 On one occasion he placed himself on the top of the trenches 
 in the thick of the musketry from the fort, and when his aid- 
 de-camp. Colonel Harris, afterwards Lord Harris, found him 
 deaf to his entreaties to move from such a perilous position, 
 he jumped up and placed himself beside him, saying, " If 
 you. Sir, think it right to remain here, I know it is my duty to 
 stand by you." This had its effect for the moment, but the 
 same disposition to invite destruction frequently evinced itself 
 during the siege. At length, after the affair had terminated 
 brilliantly, and on the very day of the arrival of Tippoo's sons 
 in the camp. General IMedows, declining to be present at their 
 reception, retired to his tent, and drawing one of his pistols 
 from his holster, lodged the contents in his side. By one of 
 those interventions of Providence which frequently occur, it 
 appears that the ball had accidentally dropped from the pistol, 
 and the wadding alone entered his body. But even under these
 
 112 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and procrastination took place on the part of 
 Tippoo, who, during the period of negociation, 
 continued the miHtary improvement of the fort, a 
 proceeding contrary to the usual practice of war ; 
 until at length Lord Cornwallis, tired of the frivol- 
 ous evasions of his adversary, gave notice that the 
 hostage princes should be moved to the Carnatic ; 
 and their guard and escort were made prisoners, 
 and treated accordingly.* 
 
 The princes themselves were very much affected 
 by this change, and when the order came to pre- 
 pare themselves for the journey, they declined en- 
 tering the palankeens which were to convey them, 
 unless they were assured that they belonged to 
 Lord Cornwallis himself. 
 
 At this juncture the vakeels pressed for another 
 
 fortunate circumstances the wound assumed a very serious ap- 
 pearance, and for some days his life was despaired of. 
 
 A short time after this, the Honourable Colonel Knox (who 
 had obtained leave of absence to return home) called on the 
 General, to know if he had any commands for England. He 
 said to him, " Knox, you are going to England, you will see 
 many of my friends, tell them that Mr. Medows and General 
 Medows have had a quarrel, but that they have settled it like 
 gentlemen, and are now perfectly good friends." 
 
 * Upon receiving Lord Cornwallis's first remonstrance 
 upon his unwarrantable conduct in strengthening his military 
 works pending the consideration of a treaty, Tippoo is reported 
 to have replied to his lordship, with a degree of courageous 
 effrontery, that his lordship must have been misinformed as 
 to his actions ; but that for his lordship's satisfaction, if he 
 desired it, he would throw down one of the bastions that he 
 miffht see into the fort.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 113 
 
 day's delay, in the course of which Tippoo sent to 
 assure Lord CornwaUis, that desiring as he did 
 that the treaty might be delivered into his lord- 
 ship's hands by his sons themselves, the post- 
 ponement arose only from his anxiety that it might 
 be done with all due solemnity. On the 18th, 
 the vakeel returned from Tippoo, the princes* 
 guard was restored to them, and the next day 
 fixed for the delivery of the treaty. 
 
 On the 19th, the princes went, in similar state 
 to that which had been observed on their first ar- 
 rival, to the tent of Lord CornwaUis, by whom 
 they were again received with the greatest kind- 
 ness and cordiality, and the eldest boy, after 
 having been seated, rose and delivered the treaty 
 in triplicate to his lordship. This part of the 
 ceremony he performed with great ease and grace, 
 but when he was told that he was to deliver the 
 two other copies to the vakeels of the other Native 
 Powers, his manner assumed an air of constraint 
 and dissatisfaction, wholly different from that 
 which accompanied his presentation of the copy 
 for the English government.* 
 
 Thus terminated the war with Tippoo in 1792, 
 
 * One of the vakeels who received the treaty (for neither 
 the Nizam's son, nor Hurry Punt thought it consistent with 
 their dignity to appear in person) muttered something as he 
 took it from the Prince, who, without giving him time to 
 explain himself, told him, " that they might as well be silent, 
 for certainly their masters had nothing to complain of" This 
 remonstrance, indicative of the boy's manliness and spirit, made 
 a powerful impi*ession on the bystanders. 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 THE LIFE OF 
 
 in which he lost 49,340 men, 801 guns, and no 
 less than C7 forts, together with the territories 
 we have mentioned as ceded under the treaty, 
 and three crores and thirty lacs of rupees. 
 
 The results of this brilliant campaign have al- 
 ready employed the pen of the historian, to 
 whom we refer such of our readers as may not 
 have turned their attention very much towards 
 Indian politics. In the capacity of biographers it is 
 our duty merely to state, that immediately after its 
 termination the army broke up and returned to 
 the different presidencies.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 115 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 COLONEL BAIRD PROCEEDS TO WAKRIENNE AS COMMANDANT — STATE 
 
 OF THE 7lST REGIMENT ORDERED TO THE SIEGE OF PONDICHERRY 
 
 COMMANDS A BRIGADE SURRENDER OF PONDICHERRY 7 1 ST 
 
 ORDERED TO TANJORE EXTRAORDINARY CONDUCT OF MR. M- 
 
 WITH REGARD TO THE RAJAH — CORRESPONDENCE WITH COLO- 
 NEL BAIRD LORD HOBART GENERAL FLOYD SALUTE FIRED — 
 
 CONSEQUENCES RESULTING THEREFROM THE 7lST ORDERED TO 
 
 PONDICHERRY THEIR DESTINATION CHANGED PROCEED TO WAL- 
 
 LAJAHBAD GENERAL ORDER ORDERS TO DISBAND THE 71ST 
 
 COLONEL BAIRd's FEELINGS UPON THAT OCCASION. 
 
 Upon the dispersion of the troops, Colonel 
 Baird returned with the southern division of the 
 Madras army to Warrienne, where he was com- 
 mandant, and thence proceeded with his own 
 regiment to Secundumallee, and two companies 
 were detached under Major Dalrymple. 
 
 Few regiments ever were in so high a state of 
 order and disciphne as the 71st at this period; in 
 none were there fewer corporal punishments ; no- 
 thing indeed but the most serious crimes, subjected 
 the men to flogging. The punishment inflicted 
 by Colonel Baird for more venial offences, con- 
 sisted of some additional hours labour in a garden 
 from which the regiment was supplied with vege- 
 
 I 2
 
 116 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tables. The men were every morning put through 
 some few manoeuvres, by which means they were 
 kept in constant practice without inordinate fatigue. 
 Officers and men were on parade every day at sun- 
 rise, excepting two days in the week, on which the 
 officers were permitted to hunt, and on Sunday 
 the barracks were minutely inspected by Colonel 
 Baird, the officers of each company being in the 
 barracTv-rooms ready to receive him. 
 
 Colonel Baird paid the greatest attention to the 
 comforts of his men ; under his care the regimen- 
 tal fund rapidly increased ; not only was the re- 
 gimental school entirely supported by it, but each 
 woman received a weekly allowance if she kept 
 her children neat and clean ; and when on the 
 Sunday mornings they appeared respectably 
 dressed, the women themselves received little 
 rewards to encourage their good conduct. 
 
 Temperate and regular in his own conduct, 
 Colonel Baird succeeded more than almost any 
 commanding officer in securing at once the respect 
 and obedience of the soldiers, while his known 
 courage and dauntless presence of mind in action 
 gave them that confidence in him as a leader, 
 which more than any thing else contributes to the 
 successful issue of the most desperate enterprises. 
 
 Ample evidence of Colonel Baird's conscien- 
 tious care for the prosperity and comfort of his 
 regiment is before us in his letter addressed, during 
 this period, to General Gordon, their colonel, and 
 to Ross and Ogilvie the agents in London ; but it
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 117 
 
 would be needless to make extracts on this point, 
 when we are permitted to make use of the com- 
 munications contained in the note below ; one 
 from General Robertson, who will be remembered 
 by the reader as the gallant Captain Robertson so 
 often mentioned already in this memoir, and the 
 other, from Captain Mackenzie, also living in 
 Scotland, and who served in the 71st during the 
 whole period that Colonel Baird commanded it.* 
 
 In 1793, Colonel Baird was again destined for 
 active service. The capture of Pondicherry had 
 been resolved upon by the East Indian Govern- 
 ment, and an army was ordered to be formed, 
 under the command of Colonel Braithwaite, for 
 
 * General Robertson says, " Whenever any new regiments 
 arrived at Madras from England, the officers were anxious to 
 know the best method of managing the men, and settling the 
 economy of their corps ; the commander-in-chief recommended 
 them to go up to Wallajahbad, where they would see the 71st 
 regiment, in the highest state of discipline, not only with re- 
 spect to their movements in the field, but with regard to their 
 interior economy and arrangement." 
 
 Colonel Baird never lost sight of the personal comforts of 
 his men, and took care that their different allowances were 
 regularly and duly delivered ; and in 1793 he established a 
 regimental mess, which at that period was a very uncommon 
 thing. 
 
 Captain Blackenzie says, speaking of the discipline of the 
 corps, " Yet with all this he was the sincere friend and social 
 companion of his officers, joining in their amusements, and en- 
 joying their happiness. Parties of them were constantly invited 
 to his house to partake of his hospitality, where the suavity of 
 his mann"ers engaged their esteem, as his undoubted ability com- 
 manded their respect for their commanding officer."
 
 118 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the purpose of carrying this resolution into effect ; 
 and of this force, the European brigade was to be 
 commanded by Colonel Baird. 
 
 Pondicherry, on the Coromandel Coast, is a 
 large town situated on a flat ; the anchorage for 
 ships being at least a mile and a half from the 
 shore. The fort is an irregular brick building, 
 covered with chunam, about two hundred paces 
 from the sea. All its fortifications had been de- 
 stroyed in 1761, when Sir Eyre Coote took it 
 from the French, but in 1J63 the settlement had 
 been restored to them. 
 
 For the reduction of Pondicherry, which, from 
 the barrenness of the surrounding country, is 
 chiefly indebted to extraneous supplies for sup- 
 port, the troops took up a position on the Red 
 Hills, and shortly after preparations were made for 
 commencing the siege, but no resistance was 
 offered, and the place surrendered. The fact was, 
 that the garrison were in a state of open mutiny. 
 Intelligence had been received of the *' glorious 
 revolution" in France, and anxious to follow the 
 noble example of the liberal cut-throats of Europe, 
 the myrmidons of the colonies were everywhere 
 in the highest possible state of excitement. 
 
 The British troops, while before the place, re- 
 ceived accounts of the martyrdom of the unfortu- 
 nate Louis XVIth, in Paris, and in order that the 
 garrison might as speedily as possible be made ac- 
 quainted with so great a result of liberalism and 
 reform, newspapers and prints, descriptive of the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 119 
 
 execution of the murdered king, were thrown 
 into the place in dead shells by the commanding 
 officer of artillery. 
 
 After the surrender of Pondicherry, the army 
 again broke up, and the 71st were ordered to 
 Tanjore, of which place Colonel Baird was ap- 
 pointed to the command ; and there, in fact, his 
 more distinguished career of public service began, 
 under circumstances, which, without stopping to 
 designate the conduct of the great body to whom 
 he was opposed, we must say, reflected the highest 
 honour upon his firmness, his wisdom, and his 
 benevolence. 
 
 The Rajah of Tanjore was a man of extremely 
 good character and high principle, and exceedingly 
 well disposed towards the British Government. 
 He had been placed by Sir Archibald Campbell, 
 on the musnud on the death of his brother, who 
 left only an adopted son. During the early 
 part of Colonel Baird's military command at 
 Tanjore, he acted also in the capacity of civil 
 resident, but not being duly acknowledged by the 
 Madras government, and finding that letters for 
 the Rajah were forwarded direct to his highness 
 by tlie ordinary post. Colonel Baird, on the 3rd 
 of October, 1794, addressed Lord Hobart, the 
 Governor of Fort St. George, upon the subject ; 
 and after stating that upon the abolition of the 
 civil residency at Tanjore, the senior military 
 officer (as in the case of Colonel Maxwell, to 
 whom he had succeeded,) had always acted as
 
 120 THE LIFE OF 
 
 civil resident, added, that he should feel grati- 
 fied by being so considered, which, as it would 
 add to his personal weight, would naturally give 
 increased respectability to his character as senior 
 military officer ; the request, however, was not 
 acceded to, and shortly after the office of civil 
 
 resident was revived in the person of Mr. M — ■ 
 
 of the Honourable East India Company's service. 
 
 Mr. M had not long assumed the func- 
 tions of his office before the Rajah, who had a 
 warm affection for and an implicit confidence in 
 Colonel Baird, began to complain bitterly of his 
 conduct, which he represented as not only dis- 
 respectful, but positively harsh ; and, in the course 
 of time, circumstances gradually transpired which 
 convinced, not only the Rajah, but Colonel Baird 
 himself, that this civil servant of the Honourable 
 East India Company had been placed at the court 
 of Tanjore for no other purpose than that of 
 inducing, or even (if necessary,) compelling, the 
 unfortunate Rajah to give up his territory and 
 become a pensioner of the said Honourable East 
 India Company for the remaining term of his 
 natural life. 
 
 We have had occasion, in an earlier part of this 
 memoir, to shew that in those days, whatever may 
 be its mercy and moderation now, the Honourable 
 East India Company was not exceedingly scrupu- 
 lous as to the means by which territory was to be 
 acquired; and Mr. M 's proceedings in fur- 
 therance of the object of his mission at length
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 121 
 
 became so evident and so oppressive to the Rajah, 
 that his highness stated to Colonel Baird that 
 
 Mr. M was far exceeding the just limits 
 
 of his duty ; that he had expressed to him his 
 readiness to abide by the treaty into which he 
 had entered with the Company, and that he was 
 ready and willing to continue to pay in full, the 
 tribute which had been agreed upon by that 
 treaty, and which guaranteed to him under such 
 payment the quiet and undisturbed possession of 
 his kingdom ; but it was perfectly clear that Mr. 
 
 M was not to be so satisfied, and that the 
 
 primary object of his mission was to make new 
 terms with the Rajah while under the influence of 
 fear. To the proof of this fact we shall presently 
 come. 
 
 To persons conversant with such subjects, it 
 will not be necessary to make any observation 
 lipon what can only be considered the honourable 
 jealousy which exists between civil and military 
 officers on service, and perhaps that jealousy is not 
 decreased upon occasions where the one indivi- 
 dual belongs to the king's army, and the other to 
 the writer's department of the East India Com- 
 pany's service. In the present case, it is placed 
 beyond a doubt, that the hostility which confes- 
 sedly manifested itself on the part of Colonel 
 
 Baird to the arbitrary proceedings of Mr. M 
 
 had its origin in no such feeling ; he was actuated 
 by sentiments of a much higher character, and by 
 feelings of an infinitely more generous nature.
 
 122 THE LIFE OF 
 
 While matters were in this delicate state, and 
 while the Rajah was pouring his fears and lamen- 
 tations into the ear of Colonel Baird, the colonel, 
 at nine o'clock in the evening of the 28th of De- 
 cember, 1795, received the following letter from 
 Mr. M— . 
 
 To Lieut. -Col. Baird., commanding Tanjoye.* 
 
 Sill, 
 Having received some instructions from the fjovern- 
 ment for the execution of certain objects, to perform which, 
 I am to call upon you for a military force, I have to re- 
 quest that on receipt of this, you will be pleased to order 
 a company of your regiment to march with all possible 
 expedition, and halt in the street, near the New Gate of 
 the Palace, with orders to the officer commanding the 
 party to follow such directions as he may receive from me. 
 I have the honour to be, &c. 
 
 A. M , Resident. 
 
 Tanjore, 7 p. m. 28th Dec. 1795. 
 
 Colonel Baird, whatever his private feelings or 
 opinions might be, did not hesitate for a moment 
 in sending the troops, under the command of a 
 captain ; but they had scarcely reached the ap- 
 pointed spot, when Mr. M sent out a 
 
 verbal message from the interior of the palace 
 that the troops might go. 
 
 On the following morning. Colonel Baird, in 
 
 * One of the numberless peculiarities which distinguish the 
 public correspondence of the Honourable East India Company, 
 is that of addressing their letters at the top, and dating them 
 at the bottom.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 123 
 
 consequence of this conduct, wrote to Mr. 
 
 M , and after recapitulating that part of 
 
 his letter which contained his request for the 
 soldiers, their consequent march, and their ulti- 
 mate dismissal, the Colonel says, " but I beg to 
 acquaint you that the government order of the 
 10th of December, 1794, draws the line so clearly 
 between the power of the civil and military, that 
 it is out of my power to comply in future with any 
 requisition from you for troops, unless I am at 
 the same time made acquainted with the nature of 
 the service to be performed, when I shall be 
 enabled to judge what force will be adequate to 
 the execution of it." 
 
 This correspondence Colonel Baird forwarded 
 to Lord Hobart and Colonel Floyd, and in his 
 letter giving cover to it, stated to his lordship the 
 great inconvenience (putting the principle out of 
 
 the question,) of the interference of Mr. M 
 
 with military details, shewing that from that gen- 
 tleman's ignorance of the meaning of the word 
 company, the greatest mischief might arise. "The 
 established strength of a company in the 71st 
 regiment," said Colonel Baird, *' is one hundred 
 rank and file, but from the reduced state of the 
 corps at this time, the company sent out on the 
 
 requisition of Mr. M at a minute's warning 
 
 last night, besides its men sick, on duty, leave, 
 and detachment with the artillery at Trichinopoly, 
 regimental works, &c. consisted of no more than 
 thirty-four rank and file."
 
 124 THE LIFE OF 
 
 This course of proceeding, which Colonel Baird 
 felt it his duty to adopt, was very much at vari- 
 ance with that which the Honourable East India 
 Company considered most conducive to its in- 
 terests, and the abrupt conduct of Mr. M 
 
 was justified and supported by the following 
 letters which Colonel Baird received ; the first 
 in answer to his letter to Lord Hobart, the 
 second in reply to that which he addressed to 
 Colonel Floyd. 
 
 To Lieut. -Col. Baird, commanding at Tanjore. 
 
 Sir, 
 I AM directed by the Right Honourable the President 
 and Council, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter, 
 dated the 29th ult., and to acquaint you that as the situa- 
 tion of the Resident at Tanjore is merely political, the 
 order of the 29th of December 1794, does not apply to 
 him. 
 
 You will be pleased in future to acquiesce in any re- 
 commendation of Mr. M 's for granting an armed 
 
 force, that may be consistent with the safety of the garri- 
 son under your command. 
 I am, Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient Servant, 
 
 W. C. Jackson, Secretary. 
 Fort St. George, IJth Jan. 1796. 
 
 Colonel Floyd's was an infinitely more elabo- 
 rate letter, but as the case is one of peculiar 
 interest, and well calculated to throw a light upon 
 the civil proceedings of the East India Company,
 
 SIK DAVID BAIRD. 125 
 
 we think it will not be imamusing to the reader, 
 to sift the affair to the bottom. 
 
 Lieut. -Col. Baird, or Officer commanding at Tanjore. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Mr. M , Resident at Tanjore, has stated in an 
 
 official letter to me, dated the 2d instant, that he is charged 
 by Government to execute some objects of a secret nature, 
 which make it necessary he should have a considerable 
 military force at his disposal — that he is so strictly en- 
 joined to secrecy that he is not at liberty to disclose the 
 nature of those objects to me at present, and that it is 
 
 important it should not be known that Mr. M wishes 
 
 to call in troops till the moment they are wanted. 
 
 For these reasons I have judged it necessary to comply 
 with the Resident's desire, and shall immediately report 
 to Government accordingly, not doubting but such com- 
 pliance will be approved. 
 
 You will therefore be pleased, upon the requisition of 
 
 Mr. M , Resident at Tanjore, in the name of the 
 
 Right Honourable the President in Council, to give him 
 such troops as he may deem necessary, and order the com- 
 manding officer to comply with such instructions as Mr. 
 M finds it necessary to give. 
 
 You will please to reserve a sufficient portion of your 
 garrison for the purpose of temporary security, and with 
 the reflection of the very great improbability of any seri- 
 ous attack being made upon you, — I have the honour to 
 be. Sir, your most obedient humble Servant, 
 
 T. Floyd, 
 Colonel, commanding the Southern 
 Division of the Army. 
 
 Trichinopoly, Jan. 3, 1796.
 
 126 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Thus encouraged in his pretensions, and sup- 
 ported in his operations against the unfortunate 
 
 Rajah, it is not to be supposed that Mr. M 
 
 lost any time in exhibiting the power and autho- 
 rity with which he was invested, and accordingly, 
 on the 23rd of January, he addressed several letters 
 to Colonel Baird. 
 
 In the first, he says, " In consequence of in- 
 structions which I have received from govern- 
 ment, I beg leave to require, in their name, that 
 you give orders, so that neither Shiverow, the 
 Rajah's Sirkeel, nor either of his brothers, 
 Trimbee, or Shankerow, be permitted to pass out 
 of the fort." And in this he encloses a second, 
 beginning : — 
 
 My Dear Sir, 
 Exclusive of the accompanying letter, I have in my 
 hands a public letter, directed to you, and to be delivered 
 to you or not, as occasion may require. I may probably 
 have occasion to send it in the course of this day. It 
 respects the employment of a large part of your garrison 
 Yours, very truly, 
 
 Alexander M . 
 
 2Srd. 
 
 Circumstances, which certainly were not then 
 allowed to transpire, but which we will charitably 
 suppose to have been of more importance than Mr. 
 
 M 's mere anxiety to display his potentiality, 
 
 occurred, which induced that gentleman, in the 
 course of the same day, to send Colonel Baird tlie
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 127 
 
 following letter, enclosing a copy of that from 
 Colonel Floyd, which the reader has already seen. 
 The style and diction of the following epistle 
 need no comment. 
 
 To Lieut. -Col. Baird, commanding at Tanjore. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Enclosed I have the honour to send a letter from the 
 officer commanding the Southern Division of the Army, I 
 have also another order from Government to the same 
 effect, but as it is not directed immediately to you, and 
 involves public circumstances which I do not think myself 
 authorized to communicate, T do not send it. 
 
 I have now to require, in the name of Government, that 
 you order as large a portion of your garrison, both Euro- 
 peans and sepoys, as you can spare, from the necessary 
 guards, &c., consistently with the defence of the fort, to 
 parade in front of the Resident's house in the fort, with 
 orders to the officer commanding the party to follow such 
 directions as he may receive from me. 
 
 The first paragraph of your letter of this date seems to 
 suppose that my orders from Government extend merely 
 to the restriction of the Sirkeel and his brothers to the 
 fort. The orders extend much further. 
 
 In your letter you have been pleased to suppose it pos- 
 sible that the military force may be employed against the 
 person of the Rajah, and that such employment of it would 
 tarnish the honour of our country. As representative of 
 the Honourable Company here, I am entrusted with a cer- 
 tain portion of the British honour, which I will take care 
 shall never be tarnished ; I will further take care that tlie 
 suspicion of the possibility of having it tarnished, shall 
 not, as far as respects my representations, pass without 
 remark and explanation.
 
 128 THE LIFE OF 
 
 When the military force above required shall be assem- 
 bled, I shall do myself the honour to communicate to you 
 the object of the Government orders, and to rely upon you 
 for the execution of it. — I have the honour to be. Sir, 
 your most obedient Servant, 
 
 Alexander M . 
 
 Tanjore^ 6 p. m. 23rt? Jan. 1796. 
 
 Upon the receipt of this requisition, Colonel 
 Baird, whose generous nature recoiled at the idea 
 of the service to which it but too plainly appeared 
 his brave soldiers were to be devoted, and anx- 
 iously alive to the pecuUar situation of the unfor- 
 tunate Rajah, sent to Mr, M to entreat him 
 
 to explain his object then. This Mr. M 
 
 positively refused to do. 
 
 The results are so pleasingly, so candidly, and 
 so honourably stated by Colonel Baird, in a letter, 
 which on the following morning he wrote to Lord 
 Hobart, the governor of Madras, that they cannot 
 be given to the reader in any way so touching and 
 affecting as in his own words. Copies of the same 
 letter he despatched to Colonel Floyd and Ge- 
 neral Clark. 
 
 To the Right Hon. Lord Hobart, President in Council, 
 4"C. ^c. ^c. 
 
 My LoED, 
 
 I HAVE the honour to enclose, for your Lordship's in- 
 formation, copies of two letters received from Mr. M , 
 
 the Resident, yesterday, together with a copy of my 
 answer, and of another received from Mr. M in the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 129 
 
 evening, enclosing Colonel Floyd's orders to furnish the 
 Resident with any number of troops he might require in 
 the name of the Right Honourable the President in Coun- 
 cil ; in consequence of which I instantly complied with the 
 requisition made in the Resident's letter, and put all the 
 
 troops under arms, went myself to Mr. M , whom I 
 
 found at the house of Mr. Swartz, and endeavoured to 
 prevail on him not to employ the troops, assuring him 
 repeatedly, that I could answer with my life for the com- 
 pliance of the Rajah, without force, with any demand I 
 should make of him in the name of Government, and that 
 it would be more for the honour of our country to carry 
 the orders of Government into effect in this mild manner, 
 than by offering any personal affront to the Rajah, by 
 marching troops, with an appearance of using violence 
 against him ; which was the meaning of the expression in 
 
 my letter to Mr. M , and not what he seems to have 
 
 misunderstood it, that the employment of the force that 
 might be directed would tarnish the honour of our coun- 
 try — and this I explained last night to Mr. M . Mr. 
 
 M still requiring the march of the troops, I sent 
 
 orders for that purpose (taking such precautions as were 
 necessary for the security of the place), directing that they 
 should halt in the street between the Resident's house and 
 
 the palace. I then earnestly requested Mr. M would 
 
 allow me to accompany him into the palace, being confi- 
 dent from the attention I have ever paid to the Rajah, 
 and the good footing we have been on, that he considered 
 me as his real friend, and that what I might say on the 
 occasion could not fail to have great weight. 
 
 But Mr. M declining my offer, and not communi- 
 cating to me his instructions from Government, I went 
 and placed myself at the head of the troops, determined 
 to take upon myself the execution of the orders of Go- 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
 t—^.
 
 130 THE LIFE OF 
 
 vernment, and to take care of the personal safety of the 
 Rajah, should matters have proceeded to extremities. 
 
 But after halting in the streets for several hours, I re- 
 ceived a note from Mr. M , informing me that he had 
 
 no further occasion for the force under my command. 
 
 I beg leave to inform your Lordship that I have this 
 day received your instructions to acquiesce in future in any 
 
 recommendation of Mr. M ^'s for granting an armed 
 
 force that may be consistent with the safety of the gar- 
 rison under my command, which shall be strictly com- 
 plied with. — I have the honour to be, with the highest 
 respect, your Lordship's most obedient humble Servant, 
 (Signed) D. Baird, Lieut-Col. 
 
 Tanjore, 2^th Jan. I796. 
 
 Colonel Baird, when he had despatched this 
 letter and its enclosures, felt that he had per- 
 formed his duty to his country and to the Rajah, 
 who was living under its protection. But what- 
 ever satisfaction he might himself have derived 
 from those feelings, his efforts on behalf of the un- 
 fortunate prince were unavailing ; for on the fol- 
 lowing day, the unliappy man communicated to 
 Colonel Baird, that at the dictation of that most 
 zealous minister, Mr. M , and under the posi- 
 tive influence of fear, he had been induced, on the 
 preceding evening, to sign a document, ceding the 
 whole of his territory to the management of the 
 Honourable East India Company ; but that, con- 
 sidering how much he had been alarmed by threats, 
 and how grossly deceived by misstatements, he
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 131 
 
 resolved to address the governor general, and ap- 
 peal to him for the restoration of his country. 
 
 From this determination, he was certainly not 
 discouraged by Colonel Baird, who was so deeply 
 impressed with the justice of his claims, and the 
 rectitude of his intentions, that he himself for- 
 warded a copy of the correspondence here pub- 
 lished, to Sir John Shore, at Calcutta. The con- 
 sequences of this measure to Colonel Baird are 
 yet to be seen. 
 
 As far as the Rajah was concerned, his own 
 remonstrances, coupled with the explanations and 
 statements of Colonel Baird, induced the governor 
 general to order restitution to be made ; and so 
 far Colonel Baird succeeded to the full extent of 
 his wishes, and had the gratification of seeing his 
 much injured friend reinstated in his rights and 
 sovereignty ; but even in this unwilling act of 
 justice, there were quibbles and delays, the mean- 
 ness of which, if they were minutely examined, 
 would astonish the reader. Amongst others, Mr. 
 
 M , having received orders to replace the 
 
 Rajah in possession of his territories, refused to do 
 so, unless he became security for whatever private 
 debts his people might owe to British subjects. 
 
 The Rajah's answer to this demand, translated 
 literally, by a native writer, is so cogent, and yet 
 so simple, that we think, as a contrast to the more 
 polished literary effusions of the oriental diplo- 
 matist with whom he had to treat, it may be ac- 
 ceptable to the reader. 
 
 K ^2
 
 132 THE LIFE OF 
 
 To Alexander M , Esq., Resident at Tanjore. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I have received your letter, last night, at ten o'clock, and 
 have understood the contents. You mentioned in your's, 
 that the three Soubah's collectors as advanced some money 
 to the inhabitence for Vurkum and Morromett, and more- 
 over that I should be answerable for the debts of the inha- 
 bitence, to let you know on the subject if the collectors 
 sends the account of what money advanced for the Vurkum 
 and Morromett, and if the inhabitence acknowledges that 
 they have received whatever amount rises in the time of 
 arvest, I shall pay the amount to the Company's treasure ; 
 and if the inhabitence have contract any private debts, 
 what business of mine to be responsible for their debt. If 
 my country is restored, I shall give such necessary order 
 to the inhabitence to pay their debts. 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 Tanjore., 5th August, 1796. 
 
 Colonel Baird was quite aware that the part he 
 had taken in the affair, however congenial to his 
 own feelings, and consonant with the purest prin- 
 ciples of justice, would subject him to the frowns 
 of the Madras government. 
 
 The disposition he thus anticipated manifested 
 itself at the very first possible opportunity — upon 
 the occasion of the restoration of the Rajah, 
 when, at his Highness's request, Colonel Baird 
 caused a salute to be fired from the battery. 
 
 This was complained of by Mr. M , and a 
 
 reproof was in consequence forwarded from the 
 presidency.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 
 
 133 
 
 If this conduct of Colonel Baird's should re- 
 quire any explanation, the following letter, which 
 he addi'essed to Lord Hobart, will not only^amply 
 afford it, but will throw additional light upon 
 the wavering and undecided conduct of those 
 who had received the commands of the govern- 
 ment to carry its orders into execution. 
 
 To the Right Hon. Lord Hohart, President iji Council, 
 Fort St. George, ^c. Sfc. <Sfc. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 I have the honour to inform your lordship, that his ex- 
 cellency the Rajah sent to me yesterday, acquainting me 
 
 that Mr. M had informed him, that your lordship 
 
 had been pleased to order the delivery of his countries to 
 him at twelve Vclock. At the same time he informed me, 
 that he had published it to all his nobles and principal 
 men, and that he would be ready to receive their congra- 
 tulations at that time, and requested that I would order a 
 royal salute to be fired. 
 
 As my instructions from Sir Charles Oakeley, on being 
 appointed to this command, were to pay every attention in 
 my power, and comply with all proper requisitions from 
 the Rajah, and being well convinced that these are your 
 lordship's sentiments, I immediately gave the order for the 
 salute, but directed the non-commissioned officer who com- 
 manded not to fire till his excellency sent him word to do so. 
 No salute being fired by half- past two o"'clock, I sent my 
 hurcarrah to learn the reason ; on his return he acquainted 
 
 me that Mr. M had sent his dubash to the Rajah in 
 
 full durbar, when they were waiting for the ceremony, who 
 told his excellency, that he was desired by his master to 
 inform him, that he could not give up the countries till
 
 134 THE LIFE OF 
 
 next day, as he understood a salute was to be fired, and 
 that he must write to your lordship on that subject. 
 
 I of course ordered the men from the battery ; they had 
 not got to the little fort, when they were sent after by the 
 Rajah, reqviesting they would come back and fire the salute, 
 which was complied with. His excellency fired afterwards 
 a number of guns in his own palace on this occasion. Of 
 course I conceived the countries were delivered over to 
 him. But this morning I was astonished to be informed 
 from his excellency, that the countries were not delivered 
 
 over to him, agreeably to Mr. M ""s promise, made in 
 
 your lordship's name, and that, rather than submit to the 
 disgrace of acknowledging that he had been deceived, in 
 the eyes of his people, he desired the salute to be fired. 
 
 As the circumstances are so very particular, I considered 
 it my duty to acquaint your lordship with these particu- 
 lars, which I trust will meet your lordship"*s approbation. — 
 1 have the honour to be, with the greatest respect and 
 esteem, your lordship''s most obedient servant, 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 Tanjore, 3d Sept. 
 
 The restoration of the Rajah, and the firing of 
 the salute, took place on the 2nd of September ; 
 on the 7th of that month, Colonel Baird received 
 the following letter from head-quarters. 
 
 To Colonel Baird, commanding at Tanjore. 
 
 Sir, 
 I AM directed by the Right Honourable the President 
 in Council to acquaint you, that orders have been this day 
 transmitted to Major General Floyd, for the immediate re- 
 moval of the whole of the 71st regiment to Pondicherry. 
 This communication is made to you that there may be no
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 135 
 
 delay in the execution of the orders, after you have received 
 them from General Floyd. It is of course meant that all 
 the officers of the corps, yourself included, should proceed 
 to Pondicherry. — 1 am, Sir, your most obedient servant. 
 
 W. C. Jackson, Secretary. 
 Fort St. George, "Jth Sept. 1796. 
 
 To this letter, Sir David Baird wrote the 
 following answer: — 
 
 To W. C. Jackson, Esq., Military Secretary. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM honoured with your letter of the 7th instant, ac- 
 quainting me, by order of the Right Honourable the Pre- 
 sident in Council, that orders had been that day trans- 
 mitted to Major General Floyd for the immediate removal 
 of the whole of the 71st regiment to Pondicherry. I have 
 the honour to request that you will acquaint the Right 
 Honourable Lord Hobart in Council, that his Majesty's 
 71st regiment has always been, and is ready to march at an 
 hour''s warning. I expect to receive General Floyd's orders 
 for the march to-morrow morning, and am only sorry that 
 I cannot march the regiment in the evening, as I know the 
 state of the stores cannot furnish us with camp equipage. 
 But as I am determined that no time shall be lost on my 
 part, I have this day indented on the stores at Trichi- 
 nopoly for what articles this place does not furnish. 
 
 You will oblige me by informing me, if it is the Right 
 Honourable the President in Council's wish that his Ma- 
 jesty's 71st regiment should make forced marches to Pon- 
 dicherry. — I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obe- 
 dient humble servant, 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 Tanjore, Wth Sept. 1796.
 
 136 THE LIFE OF 
 
 On the 14th, Colonel Baird received the 
 following, from the military secretary, which 
 is worthy of a place here, as having elicited 
 the manly answer of Colonel Baird, which fol- 
 lows it. 
 
 To Colonel Baird, commanding His Majesty's ^\st 
 Regiment. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I AM directed hy the Right Honourable the President 
 in Council, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
 dated the 3rd instant, and to acquaint you, that his lord- 
 ship is decidedly of opinion that the orders issued by you 
 for firing a royal salute on the occasion of the surrender 
 of the Soubahs to the authority of the Rajah of Tanjore, 
 was unnecessary and improper, and that, in receiving a 
 message from the palace, and acting upon it, without any 
 communication with the resident, you opposed yourself to 
 the general order of government dated the 27th of Novem- 
 ber, 1795, which specially enjoined all Europeans from 
 having communication with the Rajah of Tanjore but 
 through the channel of the Company's resident. 
 
 As you have, however, been recalled from Tanjore, the 
 President in Council refrains from further animadversion 
 on your conduct. — I am. Sir, your most obedient servant, 
 
 W. C. Jackson, Secretary. 
 Fort St. George, 14th September, 1796. 
 
 It was not until Colonel Baird*s arrival at 
 Madras that he received this letter, and several 
 very important events had occurred in the interim. 
 This, however, appears to be the proper place 
 for the insertion of the answer which he returned 
 to it.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 137 
 
 To W. C. Jackson, Esq. Military Secretary, SfC. SfC. Sfc. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I WAS only yesterday honoured with your letter of the 
 14th September, informing me of the Right Honourable 
 President in Council's decided disapprobation of the order 
 issued by me at Tanjore for firing a royal salute on the 
 restoration of the country to the Rajah. 
 
 I request you will be pleased to express to his Lordship 
 in Council my regret that he should have formed an 
 opinion of my attempting to oppose myself to the orders 
 of government on such an occasion, when in reality I con- 
 ceived I was paying equally proper respect to the govern- 
 ment by whose orders the restoration was made, as to his 
 excellency the Rajah ; especially as at his request a royal 
 salute had been fired on a similar occasion formerly, and. 
 as it had been usual, ever since the arrival of the resident 
 at Tanjore, to fire salutes and grant guards at the request 
 of the Rajah's people without any remark or objection 
 havine: been offered. I therefore did not then conceive it 
 necessary that it should come through the resident, nor 
 possible it could in any way be construed into the slightest 
 disrespect to government, so contrary to my intention on 
 this and on all occasions. 
 
 You conclude by saying, that as I have been recalled 
 from Tanjore, his Lordship in Council refrains from 
 further animadversions on my conduct. I must beg leave 
 to state that I was not recalled, which would have perhaps 
 implied a censure ; but ordered to march with the 71st 
 regiment, to which I belong, and have the honour of com- 
 manding, and the reason I have since learnt was to have 
 us at hand to embark for the Cape, and, if necessary, to 
 form part of an army in the field. Let me add, that being 
 unconscious of deserving the animadversions of the Right
 
 138 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Honourable President in Council, I am truly sorry that 
 any part of my conduct should have been misconstrued 
 into the slightest intention of disrespect to government. — 
 I have the honour to be, Sir, yours obediently, 
 
 D. Baird, Colonel. 
 Madras, 9th Nov. 1796. 
 
 It will be easily seen how unacceptable to the 
 Madras government and its agents the indepen- 
 dent conduct of Colonel Baird was ; he was 
 necessarily removed with his regiment from 
 Tanjore, where his presence afforded very great 
 satisfaction to the Rajah, and deprived of what, 
 in a pecuniary sense, was the only advantageous 
 command he ever held during the long period of 
 his service in India, and sent to Pondicherry, 
 where the climate is execrable, and the command 
 was worth nothing ; and, what is worse, as the 
 sequel will shew, any temporary advantages whicli 
 arose, from his strenuous exertions in behalf of 
 the Rajah, and of justice, turned to no other ac- 
 count than that of affording Colonel Baird the 
 gratifying reflection of having acted honourably. 
 The Rajah was devoted, and ere long, added 
 another proof, to the many already existing, that 
 whenever policy or aggrandisement seemed to 
 warrant the measure, a pretext was never wanting 
 to the Honourable East India Company, to re- 
 move a native Prince. 
 
 It is as impossible for us to deny, as it was 
 impossible for his candid generous nature to 
 conceal, the mortification which Colonel Baird
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 139 
 
 experienced at the abrupt and sudden order for 
 his removal, and that of the regiment. At first, 
 conscious of having done nothing, but that 
 which honour and generosity prompted, and 
 which justice and wisdom must have approved, 
 he imagined that intelUgence had been received 
 of a projected invasion of Pondicherry by the 
 French, or rather that they had actually landed 
 there, and hence, his anxiety to ascertain whether 
 it were considered essential to push forward by 
 forced marches to its relief gr defence ; than which 
 nothing would have given him greater pleasure, — 
 but no — having reached Trichinopoly, on his way 
 to Pondicherry, where every thing was perfectly 
 quiet, he there found another order, changing the 
 route of his regiment, and ordering it to Wal- 
 lajahbad, — this alteration at once unveiled the 
 mystery, and explained the real cause of his re- 
 moval from Tanjore. 
 
 But unpleasant as was this manifestation of the 
 feeling of the Honourable East India Company's 
 government towards him, which he could only 
 have excited by the generous and humane con- 
 duct that he had adopted with regard to the 
 persecuted Rajah, there were yet greater trials in 
 store for him. 
 
 At Wallajahbad, Colonel Baird remained till 
 the autumn of 1797> and considering the arrange- 
 ment which very shortly afterwards was made, it 
 will not perhaps be considered out of place, to 
 give here the official description of His Majesty's
 
 140 THE LIFE OF 
 
 71st regiment, at that period from the general 
 order of Major General (now Field-marshal) Sir 
 Alured Clark. 
 
 G. O. — By the Commander -in-chief. 
 
 Major General Clark experienced infinite satisfaction 
 this morning at the review of his Majesty's 71st regiment. 
 He cannot say that on any occasion of field exercise he 
 ever was present at a more perfect performance. Where a 
 corps is so striking in its appearance, and so complete in 
 every branch of its discipline, little can occur to the Com- 
 mander-in-chief to particularize — he cannot, however, but 
 notice that the 71st has excited his admiration from its 
 expertness in those parts of its exercise which are most 
 difficult and most essential to execute. He alludes to its 
 order and regularity when moving in line, its extreme accu- 
 racy in preserving distance, and the neatness and prompti- 
 tude that are so evident in all its formations. So much 
 perfection in a corps, whose services in India will long be 
 held in remembrance, does the greatest honour to Lieu- 
 tenant-colonel Baird and all his officers, to whom, and the 
 corps at large, the Commander-in-chief desires to offer his 
 best thanks. 
 
 Signed, Barry Close, 
 
 Asst. Ad. Gen. of the Army. 
 Head-quarters, Wallajahbad, 2d Jan. 1797- 
 
 A general order, more flattering, more grati- 
 fying than this, is rarely, if ever, to be met with, 
 and no one certainly ever conveyed a stronger 
 idea of the efficiency of a regiment than it does. 
 
 At no very considerable distance of time, from 
 the period at which Colonel Baird experienced all
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 141 
 
 the pleasureable feelings which such a testimonial 
 could not fail to excite in the heart of a thorough 
 soldier, he found, one day, on returning from field 
 exercise to his quarters, a number of letters, each 
 of which was opened and read in its turn, until at 
 length he found in his hand, an order immediately 
 to break up his regiment, and draft the men fit 
 for service, into the 73rd and 74th, directing 
 him then himself to proceed with the colours, 
 officers, non-commissioned officers, band and drum- 
 mers to Madras, so as to arrive there within four 
 days from the receipt of the order. 
 
 Words would but inadequately describe Colo- 
 nel Baird's sensations, when he had read this 
 letter. He had been in the 71st regiment from 
 the day it was raised ; he had served with it 
 constantly ; had risen after long and hard service 
 to command it— had commanded it for six or 
 seven years, during which period (as we may easily 
 judge, by General Clark's order, were there no 
 other evidence of the fact) he had brought it to 
 a perfect state of discipline. Attached to his men 
 by every tie that exists between soldiers and their 
 commanders who have fought and bled together, 
 he was completely overcome by the very unex- 
 pected mandate he had received j but duty (to 
 which every personal consideration of Colonel 
 Baird's succumbed,) was to be done, and thatj 
 as he was directed to do it, promptly. 
 
 He ordered the men of the regiment to remain 
 in barracks till he came to them, as he had some-
 
 142 THE LIFE OF 
 
 thing to communicate to them from head-quarters. 
 Shortly afterwards, he proceeded to the barrack- 
 yard ; the men were ordered to fall in ; and he 
 attempted to read the order for their dispersion, 
 and for his eternal separation from them ; but 
 the effort was vain ; and the lion heart, for 
 which war had no terrors, danger no fear, melted 
 at the thought of parting from comrades who had 
 so long and so nobly shared his toils, his perils, 
 and his glory. — He gave the paper to the adju- 
 tant, who read the order. 
 
 The effect produced by it was beyond descrip- 
 tion. It seemed as if a sudden dismay had seized 
 the whole regiment. The old men who had fami- 
 lies in India were distressed that they should be 
 forced to leave them, while the young ones were 
 equally affected by the prospect of being drafted 
 into other regiments, and left behind. It was a 
 moment of trial in which there was something 
 awful; but Baird, who knew his duty, and who 
 always did it, addressed the men thus : *' My 
 poor fellows — not a word — the order must be 
 obeyed." And then, to conceal emotions of which 
 even he need not have been ashamed, he turned 
 round, and ordered the band to strike up the 
 popular Scottish air, the chorus of which is in 
 these words — 
 
 " The king commands^, and we'll obey. 
 Over the hills and far away."* 
 
 * The power of their own national music over the minds of 
 Highland soldiers is inconceivably great, as has been indeed
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 143 
 
 Having performed thus much of his painful 
 task, he returned to his quarters to make all 
 necessary arrangements for its completion ; and 
 those who are conversant with military mat- 
 ters will easily comprehend what the internal state 
 of the 71st at that period was, when they are told 
 that after settling every detail, paying up every 
 account, and regulating every part of its economy, 
 every thing was ready for the literal fulfilment of 
 the government order, and that on the fourth 
 morning from that in which it was received, the 
 regiment was dispersed, and the colours, officers, 
 band, and invalids, were on their march to 
 Madras. 
 
 They were accompanied for some part of the 
 way by their comrades, who now being turned 
 over to other regiments, had at the moment they 
 took leave of their fellow soldiers, no prospect 
 whatever of revisiting their native country. 
 
 Such scenes as these never can recur — thanks 
 to the kind, the humane, the excellent Duke of 
 York — the soldier's friend — The barbarous custom 
 of transferring the effective men from one regiment 
 to another, in India, has been abolished, and sol- 
 diers now have the option of coming home with 
 
 proved on many occasions. Baird himself was passionately- 
 fond of the native airs of his country ; they were associated 
 with the home of his childhood, and he used frequently to 
 speak with the most affectionate delight of the way in which 
 his mother used to sing them, and had them similarly arranged 
 for the band of his resriment.
 
 144 THE LIFE OF 
 
 their colours, if they choose, and no man can be 
 so far enslaved as to be drafted from one regiment 
 into another without his own consent.* 
 
 Colonel Baird proceeded in the command of 
 his regiment to Madras, where he arrived on Sa- 
 turday, the 14th of October, according to the 
 very letter of his instructions, and we find the sub- 
 joined order issued on the Monday following : — 
 
 Fort St George, October 16, 1797- 
 G. O By Government. 
 
 The officers non-commissioned officers, drummers and 
 privates of the 71st regiment under orders for Europe, to 
 embark to-morrow morning at six o'clock. 
 
 The President in Council has much satisfaction in ex- 
 pressing the just sense entertained by the government of 
 the active, zealous, and important services of the 71st regi- 
 ment during the eighteen years they have been stationed 
 in India, by which they have contributed so largely to the 
 reputation of the British army, and so essentially promoted 
 the interest of the East India Company. 
 
 Ky order of the Right Hon. the President in Council. 
 Signed J T. Web be. 
 
 Secretary to Government. 
 
 This high testimonial of the approbation of the 
 civil government, was accompanied by the follow- 
 ing mark of commendation from the military 
 commander-in-chief : — 
 
 * Several of the men now left behind were in the trenches 
 at Serin <;rapatam, in 1799j with Colonel Baird^ when he, as 
 General Baird, commanded the memorable attack and conquest 
 of that place.
 
 SIR DAVID I5AIRD. 145 
 
 General Orders by Lieutenant-General Harris. 
 
 The Commander-in-chief cannot think of parting with a 
 corps that has been so eminently distinguished as the 71st 
 regiment in India, by a series of long, spirited, and ardu- 
 ous services, without requesting Colonel Baird, the officers, 
 non-commissioned officers, and every man belonging to that 
 regiment, to accept of his warmest acknowledgments for 
 conduct which has been equally honourable to themselves 
 and advantageous to their country. The alacrity with 
 which Colonel Baird has arranged, at a short warning, 
 every thing relative to the drafting, confirms Lieutenant- 
 General Harris in the favourable opinion he had formed of 
 the internal order and discipline of that corps, and he trusts 
 that the regularity and zeal of the men destined for the 73d 
 and 74th regiment will be such as to maintain the higli re- 
 putation they have so deservedly acquired. 
 
 Signed, J. Robertson, 
 
 Dep. Adj. General. 
 Head-quarters^ ChouUrij-plam, Oct. 16, 1797- 
 
 If any thing could alleviate the regrets which a 
 commanding officer must naturally experience at 
 parting from a regiment receiving such praises 
 as these public documents convey, it was the as- 
 surance that it deserved them, and a conscious- 
 ness, which (however modest he might be) Co- 
 lonel Baird could not fail to feel, that he him- 
 self had mainly contributed to bring the corps 
 to that state of discipline and good order, which 
 had elicited the commendations it obtained. Ac- 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 THE LIFE OF 
 
 cording to the instructions above quoted, the 
 skeleton of the regiment embarked on Tuesday, 
 the 17th of October 1797? on board an East 
 Indiaman, for the Cape of Good Hope.
 
 SIR DAVIU BAIRD. 147 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 REAL CAUSES OF COLONEL BAIRd's REMOVAL FROM INDIA HIS 
 
 CONSCIENTIOUS FEELIxNGS UPON THE POINT INJUSTICE OF THE 
 
 TREATMENT HE RECEIVED ARRIVES AT THE CAPE OF GOOD 
 
 HOPE SENT FOR BY LORD MACARTNEY THE GOVERNOR 
 
 OFFERED A COMMAND THERE, WITH THE RANK OF BRIGADIER- 
 GENERAL EXPLANATIONS AND ARRANGEMENTS HE ACCEPTS 
 
 IT, AND TAKES CHARGE OF A BRIGADE COLONEL MIDDLE- 
 
 MORE's report OF THEIR CONDITION AND IMPROVEMENT 
 
 FRENCH POLICY WITH REGARD TO INDIA TIPPOO SENDS AMBAS- 
 SADORS TO MAURITIUS PERILOUS SITUATION OF THE BRITISH 
 
 GOVERNMENT AT MADRAS ARRIVAL OF LORD MORNINGTON AT 
 
 THE CAPE MEETS LORD HOBART CONVERSATIONS WITH GENERAL 
 
 BAIRD ON THE STATE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS IN THE EAST ORDERS 
 
 FROM THE COURT OF DIRECTORS CONCERNING TANJORE BAIRd's 
 
 ANXIETY TO KNOW THEIR CHARACTER LORD MORNINGTON 
 
 DECLINES COMMUNICATING THEM SUBSEQUENT CONDUCT OF THE 
 
 HONOURABLE EAST INDIA COMPANY. 
 
 The regret which Colonel Baird so deeply felt 
 in leaving India, at this period, arose not only 
 from a repugnance to quit his noble regiment, 
 but from seeing it dispersed and scattered, while 
 in point of fact it had not been so long from Eu- 
 rope as several others ; and what made the case 
 even still stronger, was the circumstance of draft- 
 ing the men of the 71st principally into the 73rd, 
 
 L 2
 
 148 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the regiment of the longest standing in India, 
 except the 71st itself; and from which it would 
 have been just as proper to draft men into other 
 regiments which had arrived many years after it. 
 In fact, it was upon military feeling alone, that 
 his disinclination to return to England was 
 founded, because upon every other account he 
 was anxious to be removed. 
 
 By his conscientious partizanship in the cause of 
 the Rajah, and by the earnestness witli which he 
 had espoused the cause of that unhappy prince, he 
 had made an implacable enemy of Lord Hobart 
 and the Madras government ; for, in consequence 
 of Colonel Baird's letter on the subject, to Cal- 
 cutta, having been much spoken of, Sir John 
 Shore, afterwards Lord Teignmouth, called for 
 the official correspondence which had occurred 
 respecting Tanjore ; and it is clear that Sir John's 
 subsequent reprobation of the conduct which had 
 been observed towards the Rajah, was, as has 
 been already suggested, the real cause of the re- 
 moval of Colonel Baird, by Lord Hobart, who 
 had encouraged if not originated all the measures 
 of the resident.* 
 
 * Sir John Shore, eldest son of John Shore, Esq., of Mel- 
 ton, in Suffolk, was born in 1751, and early in life proceeded 
 to India, as a writer. He rose progressively in the service, until 
 in 1792, he succeeded Lord Cornwallis, as Governor-General, 
 in which year he was created a baronet, and on the 7th of No- 
 vember 1797j he was created an Irish peer, by the title of 
 Baron Teignmouth. His lordship married, in 1786/ Charlotte,
 
 SIR DAVID EAIRD. 149 
 
 It appears also that tliis was not the only mark 
 of displeasure which had been manifested by 
 the Madras government towards Colonel Baird ; 
 for about the time of which we are now speak- 
 ing, it had been resolved to undertake an ex- 
 pedition against Manilla, the preparations for 
 which had proceeded so far that the first di- 
 vision of the fleet, with part of the troops, 
 had actually sailed for Prince of Wales's Island, 
 where the whole force was to assemble, when an 
 overland despatch, announcing that the Emperor 
 had made peace with France, caused the under- 
 taking to be abandoned. This expedition was to 
 have been commanded by Sir James Craig ; and 
 Cf lonel Baird, always eager for service, concluded, 
 that from the acknowledged and declared efficiency 
 of the 71st, his regiment would have been 
 amongst those to be employed in this enterprize ; 
 but the same influence prevailed against him, and 
 the 12th, under Colonel Harvey Aston, and the 
 33rd, under Colonel the Honourable Arthur Wel- 
 lesley, (the present Duke of Wellington,) were 
 selected for the purpose, although neither of those 
 regiments were thoroughly formed, but were at 
 that time in every respect inferior in the essen- 
 
 only daughter of James Cornish, Esq., of Teignmouth, by 
 whom he has three sons and four daughters. 
 
 His lordship has published the Life and Works of Sir William 
 Jones, and a vai-iety of tracts and pamphlets with reference to 
 the propagation of Christianity in India, and to the proceedings 
 of the African Institution.
 
 150 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tials for active service to the 71st, which, besides 
 its own merits, had the advantage of a strong 
 recommendation from General Clarke, whose 
 opinion we have already recorded in his general 
 order from Wallajahbad.* 
 
 All these things combined to harass Colonel 
 Baird severely. He felt himself marked for in- 
 justice and persecution, and as he himself says, 
 in one of his letters, written about this period, " I 
 have often thought of returning to Europe, but 
 at such a time, how is it possible to absent myself 
 from my post."t 
 
 With respect to the order for drafting the 
 regiment. Colonel Baird had been given to under- 
 stand that such a measure was decided upon so 
 early as the latter end of August ; but he still 
 entertained hopes that the active preparations of 
 the enemy would at all events delay, if not super- 
 sede it altogether. The effect it produced upon 
 him when it actually arrived, we have seen, and 
 
 * Colonel Harvey Aston^ who was for a long period a 
 prominent member of fashionable society in England, was 
 subsequently killed in a duel in India. 
 
 f It appeared highly probable just then, that war 
 would almost immediately be declared by Tippoo, who had 
 collected a very large army, and seventy pieces of artillery, in 
 the neighbourhood of Seringapatam. Colonel Baird, in a let- 
 ter to General Gordon, dated August 29, 1797? from Walla- 
 jahbad, mentions that fact, and adds, " it is reported that he 
 expects to be supported from France." How completely these 
 reports were eventtially confirmed, our record of subsequent 
 events will best shew.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIllD. 151 
 
 a reference to the expression of his personal feel- 
 ings, contained in his private letters, completely 
 proves that that effect was excited entirely by an 
 affection for the corps which he had so long 
 served with, and commanded. 
 
 Colonel Baird, with the skeleton of his regi- 
 ment, arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, in 
 December 1797? a day made memorable in that 
 colony by the execution of several sailors, who 
 had been the ringleaders in a mutiny which had 
 broken out on that station, in the fleet under the 
 command of Admiral Pringle, and which had just 
 been suppressed. 
 
 As Colonel Baird and his fellow passengers 
 rounded into Table Bay, the yellow flag of death 
 flying on board the men-of-war at anchor, told 
 from afar that the dreadful work of retribution 
 was yet in progress. It is curious to observe 
 the wide spread of those detestable principles, 
 which, in the earlier part of the same year had 
 overthrown the discipline of our sailors at home, 
 and excited that formidable naval revolt at the 
 Nore, which, luckily for the country, was termi- 
 nated by the same awful results as those which 
 we have just stated to have occurred in Africa. 
 
 As soon as Colonel Baird landed, he proceeded 
 to the government-house, to pay his respects to 
 the governor. Lord Macartney, not merely 
 as a matter of ceremony, but because he had 
 been well known to him in India. His recep- 
 tion was as extraordinary as it was uncourteous
 
 152 THE LIFE OF 
 
 — not by his lordship, but by one of those sub- 
 ordinate ornaments of a government-house, who 
 are not unfrequently in the habit of displaying 
 airs somewhat at variance with the characters and 
 dispositions of their chiefs. An aid-de-camp who 
 received Colonel Baird, not only refused him ad- 
 mittance to the governor, but told him, in a 
 scarcely civil manner, that his excellency could 
 not see him. 
 
 The importance of this gentleman must, how- 
 ever, very soon after his abrupt dismissal of the 
 gallant and distinguished soldier, have undergone 
 a painful degradation, when he found himself made 
 the medium (if not by actually carrying, at least 
 by writing, a note to Colonel Baird) of expressing 
 his Excellency's deep regret at not having seen 
 the colonel when he did him the pleasure of 
 calling, and begging that he would do him a 
 similar favour the next morning.* 
 
 If these indications of Lord Macartney's feel- 
 ings towards Colonel Baird had any effect upon 
 the miscalculating subordinate who had thought 
 it high and fine to treat him in a very different 
 manner, he and his colleagues must have felt them- 
 
 * Although Colonel Baird did not think it worth while to 
 notice to Lord Macartney the ill-breeding of this member of 
 his personal staff, he never forgot it; and he has been heard to 
 say that this officer's behaviour taught him to keep what he 
 called " a sharp look-out" after his own aids-de-camp when 
 he himself was called to high commands, so that no officer 
 who came to him, should meet with the same sort of recep- 
 tion as that with which he was greeted upon this occasion.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 153 
 
 selves in a somewhat difficult position when they 
 learnt that Lord Macartney's earnest desire to see 
 Colonel Baird the next morning, arose from his 
 anxiety to make a proposal to him, of no less im- 
 portance than that of sending the skeleton of the 
 71st home, and retaining the colonel himself 
 at the Cape, with the rank and command of bri- 
 gadier-general. 
 
 This flattering offer Colonel Baird hesitated at 
 the moment to accept. He begged Lord Macart- 
 ney to allow him four-and-twenty hours to con- 
 sider whether he could with propriety, and without 
 injury to the service, avail himself of it. His 
 request was immediately granted, and as soon 
 as their interview was over, he proceeded to find 
 General Dun das, the commander of the forces, 
 who was an old and esteemed friend of his : but, 
 anxious as he was to see that officer before he 
 gave his definitive answer to Lord Macartney, he 
 was foiled in his hopes, for the general had gone 
 into the country, and was not expected to return 
 until after the hour appointed for Col. Baird's an- 
 nouncement of his determination to the Governor. 
 
 Finding this to be the case, and having satisfied 
 himself as to the propriety of accepting the com- 
 mand offered him, he returned to Lord Macartney, 
 and told him that for himself, he should be happy 
 to meet his Excellency's wishes, and remain on 
 the Cape staff": but that his motive in requesting 
 the delay of four-and-twenty hours was, that he 
 might have the opportunity of consulting General
 
 154 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Dundas, and ascertaining whether his stay there 
 would be equally consonant with the general's 
 views and wishes. 
 
 Lord Macartney, who in a moment saw that 
 this caution and delicacy on Colonel Baird's part 
 arose from his friendship for Dundas, and from a 
 recollection of a serious misunderstanding which 
 had arisen in India between his lordship and the 
 king's officers at Madras, put an end to all his 
 apprehensions lest the appointment might have 
 been proposed to him in consequence of the exist- 
 ence of some unpleasant feeling between the 
 governor and the general, by telling him that he 
 had himself consulted the general on the point, 
 that he was equally anxious with himself for his 
 stay at the Cape, that he, Lord Macartney, had 
 full power to appoint him to the staff, and, added 
 his lordship, " had I known as much of you 
 military gentlemen, when I was in India, as I have 
 learned since, we never should have had any 
 difference ; for I should have put the general be- 
 tween myself and the army, as I have done in the 
 present instance." 
 
 Treated in this liberal and candid manner, and 
 encouraged by the approbation of his friend, 
 Colonel Baird no longer resisted the wish of the 
 governor, and his name appeared the same day 
 in general orders as brigadier-general, and pre- 
 sident of a court martial, to assemble for the trial of 
 Lieut.-Colonel Robinson, of the 86th, on charges 
 of disrespectful conduct towards General Dundas.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 155 
 
 The circumstances which gave rise to this trial, 
 were but the prelude to future scenes of insubor- 
 dination, and Brigadier-General Baird had been at 
 the Cape but a very short time before he discovered 
 all the officers in command of regiments were vio- 
 lently opposed to the general : opposed in so serious 
 a degree as to render the appearance of military 
 affairs in the colony any thing but agreeable 
 or satisfactory. To Baird, who had been for 
 many years the personal friend of Dundas, this was 
 particularly painful ; but the course he pursued 
 was at once so active and so judicious, and its 
 effect so striking, that we shall avail ourselves of 
 a communication from Colonel Middlemore, now 
 inspecting field officer at Cork, then a captain of 
 the 86th, and an eye-witness of what he so vividly 
 describes, to give the reader a just idea of its 
 complete success. 
 
 *' General Baird," says Colonel Middlemore, 
 " soon after his arrival at the Cape, was appointed 
 to the command of a brigade, composed of the 
 86th and the Scotch brigade, each 1000 strong, 
 and both remarkably fine bodies of men. This 
 brigade he employed himself in drilling and com- 
 pleting on the new (Dundas's) system." 
 
 " These young regiments," continues the co- 
 lonel, " required a master's hand to perfect 
 them in discipline : and we (the 86th) had the 
 good fortune to form part of the brigade. 
 
 " By some mischance we happened to labour 
 under the ban of an ill name, and it must be ad-
 
 156 THE LIFE OF 
 
 mitted, that we felt somewhat uneasy, not to say 
 indignant, under the constant animadversions of 
 our superior ; but the very idea of becoming one of 
 Brigadier-General Baird's regiments, roused us 
 into zeal and energy. His open, manly, kind 
 manner, soon won our hearts ; and could you have 
 seen a fine body of men, a thousand strong, level- 
 ling before them, at his command, a whole wood, 
 to form a field for exercise, you might have judged 
 the effect of a stimulus given to exertion, by the 
 voice of authority, when mingled with encourage- 
 ment and approbation. 
 
 " We were placed in a perfect wilderness, and 
 until Jie taught us first to laugh at difficulties, and 
 then to overcome them, had despaired of ever 
 having ground to work upon ; but he instructed 
 us how to use, and yet husband, our strength, by 
 mingling judgment with labour; and in a week we 
 had changed the whole face of the country, and 
 animated by his constant presence, and his cheer- 
 ing praise, had formed a regular and excellent 
 parade, where a few days before was a forest, 
 which had stood undisturbed for ages. 
 
 " Our intervals of labour, and our time of relief 
 from hard work and hard drills, were occupied in 
 hunting, a diversion to which our chief was ex- 
 tremely partial, and on these occasions we were 
 favoured by invitations to his hospitable table."* 
 
 * Sir David Baird was an excellent horseman, and like all 
 his family, exceedingly fond of the sports of the field, hunting 
 especially. An anecdote is related of him in Scotland con-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 157 
 
 " Our review was excellent. The commander- 
 in-chief was delighted to witness our great and 
 rapid improvement. Nor w^as ours the only regi- 
 ment that became perfect in order and appear- 
 ance, under General Baird's care and abilities. 
 The whole brigade was in the highest state of 
 discipline, and every man that served in it gloried 
 in belonging to General Baird." 
 
 If General Baird, by constant activity, urbanity, 
 and a display of all those qualities which soldiers 
 first admire, and then try to emulate, rendered 
 himself so popular with those immediately under 
 his command, his satisfaction was not a little in- 
 
 nected with its pursuit, highly illustrative of that quickness 
 in emergency, and presence of mind in the midst of peril, which 
 so mvich distinguished him on greater occasions. 
 
 He was once following his elder brother, the late Mr. Baird, 
 after the hounds, at full speed, when the horse of the latter, in 
 attempting to take a hedge, fell with his rider into a ditch on 
 the opposite side. IMajor Baird (as he was at that period) was 
 so close upon them that it was utterly impossible to pull 
 up or avoid them : but seeing his brother's danger, the only 
 mode of preserving him from farther mischief occurred to him 
 with the rapidity of lightning, and instead of hesitating or 
 endeavouring to avoid the objects before him, he stuck spurs 
 into his horse, and taking the leap which the other had missed, 
 cleared hedge and ditch, together with the horse and its master, 
 who were still lying in it. He used often to joke Mr. 
 Baird, who was also a capital rider, upon this event, who did 
 not above half like to be reminded of it ; although the dexte- 
 rity and anxiety of the major would not be a little enhanced 
 in value in the opinion of a great many sportsmen of the pre- 
 sent day, by the recollection that Mr. Baird was the major's 
 elder brother.
 
 158 THE LIFE OF 
 
 creased by the uniform and unqualified kindness 
 of Lord Macartney, the governor, and the unvary- 
 ing friendship of General Dundas, the commander- 
 in-chief. 
 
 It will be recollected that previous to General 
 Baird's departure from Madras, it was believed there 
 that the French nation had serious intentions of 
 assisting Tippoo with all the means in its power, 
 against the government of British India ; a very 
 short time only was wanting to disclose the whole 
 of their designs, the countenancing and fur- 
 thering of which, appeared extremely natural 
 in Tippoo, whose hatred of the English was in- 
 creased to an inconceivable ferocity by his defeat 
 at Seringapatam. But besides Tippoo, there were 
 other powers of great consideration, all at liberty 
 to unite themselves with the French against our 
 troops and territories. More than two-thirds of 
 the ancient Mogul empire remained in the posses- 
 sion of princes professing the Hindoo or Maho- 
 medan faith. Of these, the Nizam and the King 
 of Mysore, held the first rank ; while in the states 
 which were independent of those, five powerful 
 Mahratta chiefs, professing Brahmanism, main- 
 tained unlimited sway. 
 
 It had been the policy of the old French go- 
 vernment, and a policy which had succeeded 
 admirably well, to engage some of those princes 
 in the French interest, and thus divide the forces 
 which they were able to throw into the scale of 
 either contending power ; but the new republican
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 159 
 
 government, not satisfied with half measures, pro- 
 posed to unite the whole of these magnates in one 
 great confederation against the English. Spies and 
 agents had been sent out, officers from France had 
 disciplined their troops, and for several years the 
 system had been working with the view of under- 
 mining British influence in India, until the op- 
 portunity should arrive for exploding it alto- 
 gether. 
 
 The Island of Mauritius was at that time pos- 
 sessed by the French, and afforded a certain 
 shelter for any force proceeding from Europe 
 with a view to operations in the east ; thither Tip- 
 poo sent ambassadors, who were received with the 
 greatest cordiality and respect by the governor, 
 General Malartic, as well as by the inhabitants, 
 who were at that period inflamed with the wildest 
 and most savage notions of republicanism, and an 
 innate hatred of the English, which our subse- 
 quent possession of the island, and kind treatment 
 of its population, have not even up to this time 
 entirely eradicated. 
 
 The certainty that the objects of this mission 
 from Tippoo, were connected with his extensive 
 projects against the British possessions, in con- 
 junction with France ; the knowledge of the for- 
 midable preparations making by the French in 
 the Mediterranean ; the peculiar position in which 
 the court of Hyderabad was placed; the avow- 
 ed threats and suspected intentions of Zemaun 
 Shah ; the critical state of our alliances in the
 
 1()0 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Deccan ; the weakness of the Madras army, owing 
 to the necessary detachments made from it to the 
 recently captured Dutch East India islands, as well 
 as to different parts of the Carnatic, and to Ceylon, 
 all combined, rendered the situation of British 
 India at this particular juncture, perilous in the 
 highest degree. 
 
 It was at this period, but before all the sus- 
 picions which had been excited were verified, 
 and before the anticipations of such a vast combi- 
 nation were realized, that the Earl of Mornington, 
 now Marquess Weilesley, was appointed governor- 
 general. 
 
 In his way out to assume his authority. Lord 
 Mornington touched at the Cape of Good Hope, 
 where he met Lord Hobart, who was on his 
 return to England. Lord Mornington was ex- 
 tremely anxious to obtain from General Baird 
 whatever information he could, with respect to the 
 state of India when he quitted it ; and General 
 Baird, with his characteristic openness, gave all 
 the details of which he was in possession, as well 
 as his views and opinions upon the facts and 
 circumstances connected with them. 
 
 Upon the subject of the Tanjore country, (one 
 particularly exciting to General Baird,) Lord Mor- 
 nington's inquiries were extremely numerous and 
 minute ; and General Baird discovered, in the 
 course of their conversations on this topic, (which 
 appeared to be as interesting to the governor- 
 general as to himself,) that his lordship actually
 
 SIR DAVID BAIllD. i(Jl 
 
 carried out with liim definitive orders relative to 
 its settlement, founded, of course, upon the repre- 
 sentations which had been made to Leadenhall- 
 street ; and he was naturally anxious to ascertain 
 the probable fate of the oppressed Rajah, and 
 whether he was to be eventually permitted the 
 quiet enjoyment of his own territories. 
 
 Having candidly expressed his own opinion. 
 General Baird, with his accustomed frankness, 
 inquired of Lord Mornington what were really 
 the intentions of the Honourable East India 
 Company upon this important and delicate matter ; 
 but Lord Mornington stated that he felt himself 
 bound not to answer General Baird's questions at 
 that period, the decision of the Court of Directors 
 being only known to himself and the secret 
 committee. 
 
 This diplomatic avoidance of giving him any 
 information. General Baird too justly construed 
 into an unfavourable result for the Kajah. What 
 the specific instructions from Leadenhall-street 
 actually were, General Baird never discovered ; 
 but Lord Mornington had not long been in Lidia, 
 before, as usual, a pretext was formed, and the 
 adopted son of the Rajah's elder brother was placed 
 on the musnud, although his claims, which had 
 been formally and carefully investigated long 
 before, had been disallowed by Sir Archibald 
 Campbell and all the lawyers at Madras. 
 
 But what have legal decisions in India to do 
 with strokes of state policy? or who shall be 
 
 VOL. I. M
 
 162 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of sufficient importance to stop the progress of 
 a resolution of the secret committee of East 
 India directors? Interest declared for the pos- 
 session of Tanjore — justice upheld the claims of 
 the Rajah, the undoubted heir, the legally ac- 
 knowledged prince, the actual possessor of the 
 territories. But when the Honourable East In- 
 dia Company discovered that this prince, who had 
 sense enough to resist their usurpation of his 
 rights, until actually frightened by British bayo- 
 nets (how misused !) into an opposite line of con- 
 duct, was, in his present state, not sufficiently 
 subservient to their will, the claims of the adopted 
 son were again seriously brought forward and 
 admitted ; and an unknown foundling was placed 
 on the Rajah's throne, upon condition that he 
 would cede the revenue of his country to the 
 company, and become their pensioner for the rest 
 of his precarious life. 
 
 We have traced this case from its beginning to 
 its end, rather with a view of illustrating the 
 generous firmness of Colonel Baird's attachments 
 and friendships, than of entering into any disqui- 
 sition upon the policy of the company's govern- 
 ment in its conduct and termination.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. lC)3 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 LORD MORNINGTON ARRIVES IN INDIA COMMENCES OPERATIONS 
 
 AGAINST TIPPOO MALARTIc's PROCLAMATION AT MAURITIUS 
 
 IGNORANCE OF TIPPOO OF THE FRENCH FORCE IN THAT ISLAND 
 
 HIS BASENESS AND DUPLICITY COLONEL BAIRD PROMOTED TO 
 
 THE RANK OF MAJOR-GENERAL APPOINTED TO THE STAFF IN 
 
 INDIA LEAVES THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE ARRIVES AT MADRAS 
 
 MEETS THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL CO-OPERATION OF THE NIZAM 
 
 AFFAIR OF HYDERABAD OVERTHROW OF FRENCH INFLUENCE 
 
 VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTIONS AT THE DIFFERENT PRESIDENCIES 
 
 GENERAL HARRIS ENTERS THE MYSORE NEGOCIATIONS WITH 
 
 TIPPOO GENERAL BAIRD APPOINTED TO THE COMMAND OF A BRI- 
 GADE COLONEL WELLESLEY COMMANDS THE NIZAM's FORCE GE- 
 NERAL BAIRd's REMONSTRANCE AND LETTER TO GENERAL HARRIS 
 
 COMMUNICATIONS BETWEEN TIPPOO AND GENERAL HARRIS MARCH 
 
 TOWARDS SERINGAPATAM BATTLE OF MALLAVELLY DEFEAT OF 
 
 THE ENEMY ADVANCE BEYOND MALLAVELLY TIPPOo's ANXIETY 
 
 AND WANT OF DECISION. 
 
 When Lord Mornington arrived in India, he 
 immediately set about commencing operations 
 against Tippoo, a step to which he was led with- 
 out hesitation by the general appearance of affairs, 
 which we have already attempted to describe ; 
 but amongst all the authenticated circumstances 
 which had transpired relative to the views of the 
 sultaun, none produced the eftect which was cre- 
 
 M 2
 
 164 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ated by the arrival in Bengal, in June, 1798, of 
 copies of a proclamation issued at Mauritius by 
 the governor, Malartic, upon the arrival there of 
 the ambassadors from Seringapatam, whose mission 
 we have before noticed. 
 
 This proclamation, considering that its contents 
 were the first, and remain almost the only offi- 
 cial declaration of Tippoo's real objects and re- 
 sources, as well as from the effect its receipt in 
 Calcutta produced, may not be considered un- 
 worthy of a place here. 
 
 Liberty ! — Equality ! 
 The French Republic One and Indivisible. 
 
 PROCLAMATION, 
 
 By Anne Joseph Hippolite Malartic, Commander-in-chief 
 and Governor-General of the Isles of France and Reunion, and 
 of all the French establishments eastward of the Cape of Good 
 Hope. 
 
 Citizens, — Having for several years known your zeal and 
 attachment to the interests and to the glory of the republic, we 
 are very anxious, and we feel it a duty to make you acquainted 
 with the propositions which have been made to us by Tippoo 
 Sultaun, through two ambassadors whom he has despatched 
 to us. 
 
 This prince has written particular letters to the colonial as- 
 sembly, to all the generals employed under the government, 
 and has addressed us a packet for the executive directory. 
 
 1. He desires to form an offensive and defensive alliance 
 with the French, and proposes to maintain at his charge, as 
 long as the war shall last in India, the troops that may be sent 
 to him. 
 
 2. He promises to furnish every necessary for carrying on
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. l65 
 
 the war, wine and brandy excepted, with which he is wholly 
 unprovided. 
 
 3. He declares that he has made every preparation to receive 
 the succours which may be sent to him, and that on the arrival 
 of the troops the commanders and officers will find every thing 
 necessary for making a war to which Europeans are but little 
 accustomed. 
 
 4. In a word, he only waits the moment when the French 
 shall come to his assistance, to declare war against the English, 
 whom he ardently desires to expel from India. 
 
 As it is impossible for us to reduce the number of soldiers of 
 the 107th and 108th regiments, and of the regular guard of 
 Port Fraternite, on account of the succours which we have fur- 
 nished to our allies, the Dutch, we invite the citizens who may 
 be disposed to enter as volunteers, to enrol themselves in their 
 respective municipalities, and to serve under the banner of 
 Tippoo. 
 
 This prince also desires to be assisted by the free citizens of 
 colour ; we therefore invite all such who are willing to serve 
 under his flag, to enrol themselves. We can assure all the ci- 
 tizens who shall enrol themselves, that Tippoo will allow them 
 an advantageous rate of pay, the terms of which will be fixed 
 with two ambassadors, who will further engage, in the name of 
 their sovereign, that all Frenchmen who shall enter into his 
 armies, shall never be detained after they have expressed a 
 wish to return to their own country. 
 
 Done at Port North- West, the 30th of January, 1798. 
 
 (Signed) Malabtic. 
 
 There are some circumstances connected with 
 this proclamation which are worth noticing, in 
 order to exhibit the extraordinary mixture of 
 intellect and ignorance, bravery and treachery, 
 which existed in the mind and character of 
 Tippoo.
 
 166 THE LIFE OF 
 
 As a specimen of his ignorance, take for exam- 
 ple, that his final direction to his ambassadors to 
 Mauritius, was to bring back with them 30,000 
 cavalry, and 40,000 infantry, with 100 guns and 
 mortars, from that island, the troops in which, 
 never at any time exceeded 1500 or 2000 men, 
 and did not, when General Decaen made his own 
 terms of surrender to General Abercrombie, at 
 the head of an army of 13,000 men, in the year 
 1810, possess a greater force (marines included) 
 than about 900. 
 
 As a proof of his baseness and duplicity, 
 take his letter to Lord Mornington, dated 25th 
 December, 1798, explaining the nature of this 
 very negociation. He says, " In this Sircar, 
 (the gift of God) there is a mercantile tribe, 
 who employ themselves in trading by sea and 
 land. Their agents purchased a two-masted ves- 
 sel, and having loaded her with rice, departed 
 with a view to traffic. It happened that she went 
 to Mauritius, whence forty persons, French, and 
 of a dark colour, of whom ten or twelve were 
 artificers, and the rest servants, paying the hire 
 of the ship, came here in search of employment ; 
 such as chose to take service were entertained, 
 and the remainder departed beyond the confines of 
 this Sircar (the gift of God) ; and the French, who 
 are full of vice and deceit, have, perhaps, taken 
 advantage of the departure of this ship, and put 
 about reports, with a view to ruffle the minds of 
 both Sircars."
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. iGj 
 
 But a previous letter, dated 20th of November, 
 is, if possible, more declaratory of the attributes 
 of his character, than this ; it is as follows : — 
 
 " It has lately come to my ears, that in consequence of 
 the talk of interested persons, military preparations are on 
 foot. Report is equally subject to the likelihood of being 
 true or false. I have the fullest confidence, that the pre- 
 sent is without foundation. By the favour of God, the 
 conditions or obligations of peace established between us, 
 have obtained the utmost degree of strength and firmness ; 
 under the circumstances of their having been firmly ob- 
 served and adhered to, of the daily increasing union and 
 friendship, and of the constant intercourse of correspond- 
 ence, the report cannot be possibly entitled to credit. But 
 the promulgation of such reports. My friendly pen writes 
 this. I hope your lordship will be pleased to gratify me 
 by writing of it. From a desire to maintain the obliga- 
 tions of treaty and engagement, I have no other intention 
 or thought, than to give increase to friendship ; and my 
 friendly heart is, to the last degree, bent on endeavours to 
 confirm and strengthen the foundations of harmony and 
 union. 
 
 " Let your lordship continue to gratify me with glad- 
 dening letters, notifying your welfare." 
 
 Lord Mornington, who received these pro- 
 fessions with a confidence regulated by informa- 
 tion obtained from other quarters, never doubted 
 the course to be pursued, and the absolute neces- 
 sity of striking a great blow before Tippoo could 
 receive any available assistance from the French, 
 and while he was labouring under disappoint- 
 ment, created by the weakness of the reinforce-
 
 168 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ments which they had as yet been able to afford 
 him, and under anxiety excited with respect to 
 those which were to follow.* 
 
 It is a remarkable coincidence, that at this 
 period the English government were employed 
 in framing instructions for the administration of 
 affairs in India, (rendered necessary by the pre- 
 sence of a French force in the Mediterranean, and 
 by Malartic's proclamation at Mauritius,) and 
 that Lord Mornington having devoted his mind 
 to the same subject, so completely anticipated 
 those instructions, that upon a comparison of the 
 two papers, there does not appear the most 
 minute variation between the orders of the mi- 
 nistry at home, and his lordship's propositions, 
 previously recorded in council at Calcutta. 
 
 While these matters were in progress on the 
 continent of India, a reference to which we have 
 considered essential, in order to keep up the 
 chain of the narrative, (shortly to be rendered 
 interesting to our readers, by the prominent 
 part borne in coming transactions by the dis- 
 tinguished object of our memoir,) H. M. S., 
 Albatross, arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, 
 from England, bringing Brigadier-General Baird 
 intelligence of his promotion to the rank of 
 Major-General; accompanied by orders for him 
 to rejoin the army in India, to the stafi' of 
 
 * At the very time Tippoo wrote the letter from which the 
 last extract is made, he was in actual correspondence Avith 
 Buonaparte, who was at Cairo.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIIID. iGi) 
 
 which he had been appointed, and to take with 
 him the Scotch brigade, and the 86th regiment, 
 and the men of the 28th dragoons, who were 
 to be drafted into the different dragoon regi- 
 ments already in India. 
 
 With his usual promptitude, General Baird 
 obeyed these instructions, and embarked as 
 speedily as possible on board H. M. S., Sceptre, 
 for Madras, where he arrived in January, 1799- 
 There he found the governor-general, who had 
 come thither from Calcutta, for the purpose of 
 collecting and forming the army, which he had 
 determined should take the field against Tippoo, 
 the hoUowness of whose professions, and the 
 idleness of whose delays, in coming to terms, 
 had become too evident to admit of further 
 doubt or qualification. Indeed, if the inten- 
 tions of Lord Mornington could have been 
 earlier carried into effect, they would not have 
 been so long delayed ; but he had been in- 
 formed, that from the dispersed state of our 
 military forces on the Coromandel coast, it would 
 occupy a much greater space of time than he had 
 previously conceived necessary, to assemble a 
 body of troops equal to any offensive movements 
 against the enemy ; and thence arose the postpone- 
 ment of the execution of his design. 
 
 At Bombay, the governor-general's orders were 
 carried into effect with the greatest alacrity ; but 
 the difficulty of mustering the Carnatic army, 
 combined to force him into abandoning his first
 
 lyO THE LIFE OF 
 
 intention of taking the field immediately, and 
 therefore his lordship applied himself to the 
 arrangement of such a system as, while it would 
 restore to the Madras government the power of 
 repelling any hostilities on the part of the sultaun, 
 might enable his lordship to demand a just indem- 
 nification for the expences which Tippoo's unjust 
 violation of faith had occasioned, and an available 
 security against the consequences of his coalition 
 with the French. While, therefore, the armies 
 were gradually collecting on the Malabar and 
 Coromandel coasts, his lordship devoted his 
 attention to the improvement of the defensive 
 alliance, which had been formed with the Nizam 
 and the Peishwah, under several treaties, so as 
 to keep in check the insatiable ambition of their 
 common enemy ; for, as matters stood, when Lord 
 Mornington first took his extended view of the 
 subject, the English appeared to him to have lost 
 every advantage deriveable from the cessions 
 extorted at the surrender of Seringapatam, by the 
 actual weakness of their allies, and by the estab- 
 lishment of a French force of 14,000 troops, 
 which were now close at hand, for the service of 
 the sultaun, on the very frontier of the Carnatic. 
 
 In October, the British succeeded, in co- 
 operation with the Nizam's army, in surrounding 
 the French camp at Hyderabad, and taking ad- 
 vantage of a mutiny, which had broken out among 
 the combined forces, achieved without bloodshed 
 the important object of disarming no fewer than
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. l?! 
 
 eleven thousand men. This was a blow of the 
 greatest importance ; in fact, the overthrow of the 
 French influence was its almost immediate result, 
 and that too, at the very moment when all the 
 energies of the revolutionized republic were de- 
 voted to the spread of conquest and the annihi- 
 lation of the British power in India, and indeed 
 every where else in the world.* 
 
 But when in addition to this partial, however 
 important success, intelligence was received at 
 Calcutta, on the 31st of the same month, of Lord 
 Nelson's glorious victory of the Nile, the ap- 
 pearance of affairs was totally changed ; for as 
 the events at Hyderabad had quieted the un- 
 easiness of the govenor-general, with respect 
 to the power of the French near at hand, so the 
 decisive blow struck by our fleet in the Medi- 
 terranean, calmed his apprehensions of attack 
 from the French force in Egypt; and accord- 
 ingly, having assembled what he considered 
 an adequate military force, to maintain his de- 
 mands, he commenced those negociations with 
 Tippoo, of which the letters we have already 
 extracted, to exhibit the sultaun*s baseness and 
 duplicity, formed part. 
 
 It was in the midst of these preparations, 
 
 * The French officers taken in this affair, who were with 
 difficulty preserved from the violence of their own men, were 
 treated with every respect due to their respective ranks, and 
 sent to Bengal in his Majesty's frigate Bombay, where they 
 were allowed every indulgence compatible with the security of 
 their persons.
 
 172 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and with a view to accelerate them, that Lord 
 Mornington quitted the usual seat of the 
 supreme government, and proceeded to Madras, 
 where his excellency's presence inspired the 
 merchants and bankers, as well as the civil 
 servants of the presidency, with such zeal and 
 activity, that a large sum of money was raised by 
 way of loan for the public service, so that, aided 
 by the simultaneous exertions of Sir Alured Clark, 
 whom he had left vice-president in council at 
 Calcutta, Lord Mornington, in so short a time 
 that the movement of the army was not delayed 
 for an hour, had raised an additional aid of twenty 
 lacs of rupees, or £240,000 sterling. 
 
 Finding it impossible to bring Tippoo to 
 any thing like a serious consideration of the ob- 
 jects proposed to him. General Harris was direct- 
 ed, on the 3d of February, to enter the Mysore 
 country with the army under his command; 
 the same day orders were issued to Lieut.- 
 General Stuart to be in readiness to co-operate 
 from Malabar ; and notice was given to Admiral 
 Rainier, as well as to the company's allies, that the 
 governor-general considered the British govern- 
 ment to be at war with Tippoo Sultaun. 
 
 It is not here necessary to go into a vindication 
 of Lord Mornington's policy, the results of wliich 
 have been so long and so advantageously known ; 
 but it may be right, even now, to say (especially 
 as the praise we are bound to bestow, we are by 
 no means induced universally to afford to all orien-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 173 
 
 tal proceedings) that the course adopted in this 
 crisis by the government towards Tippoo, is 
 generally admitted to have been marked by every 
 prudent consideration, and an anxiety for per- 
 manent peace ; while, on the other hand, the 
 sultaun's bearing towards the English was indi- 
 cative of a carelessness amounting to insolence, 
 and a studied neglect of communications and ap- 
 peals, which too clearly proved that he was not 
 likely to be satisfied with the mere enjoyment of 
 the territories he yet possessed, but that his rest- 
 less ambition sought to recover those which he 
 had previously been compelled to surrender. 
 
 At the time of Major-General Baird's arrival at 
 Madras, the army under the command of Lieut.- 
 General Harris was assembled at Vellore, where 
 Gen. Baird was appointed to the command of the 
 first European brigade, consisting of his majesty*s 
 12th» y^th, and 94th regiments, and the Scotch 
 brigade. On the 1 1th of February the army moved 
 towards Mysore, and on the 28th encamped at Cari- 
 mungalum, where, on the 18th of February, it was 
 joined by the Nizam's force, consisting of above 
 6,000 of the company's troops subsidized by his 
 highness — about an equal number of his own in- 
 fantry, including a portion of a French corps, (late 
 Peron's,) now commanded by English officers, 
 and a large body of cavalry. 
 
 At the head of this force Meer Allum, the Ni- 
 zam's son, was nominally placed, but the whole 
 body of troops was in fact under the command of
 
 17^ THE LIFE OF 
 
 Colonel the Hon. Arthur Wellesley, brother to 
 the governor-general. 
 
 The circumstance of placing an officer so much 
 junior in rank to General Baird in a command so 
 considerably superior, occasioned a strong remon- 
 strance on the part of the general, who expressed 
 to General Harris a deep sense of the grievance, 
 considering himself as he did, upon all established 
 principles, entitled to the preference. Accord- 
 ingly, after consulting several officers of high 
 reputation on the subject, he addressed the fol- 
 lowing letter, on the 4th of March, (the day the 
 army encamped at Ryacottah,) to the commander- 
 in-chief on the subject: — 
 
 Dear Genehal, 
 
 By a conversation I had with Captain Young this morn- 
 ing, I was happy to learn your private sentiments with 
 regard to myself, and to find, that the reasons which have 
 induced you to appoint a junior ofiicer to a higher com- 
 mand in this army than that which I hold, were such as 
 would have been satisfactory to me, had they been public- 
 ly known. I am perfectly sensible that you have the right 
 to select such officers as you may think proper for every 
 service that may occur, without being obliged, or expected, 
 to assign your reasons to any one ; and I am the very last 
 who would expect you to act inconsistently with your si- 
 tuation. 
 
 It must, however, appear to every one, extraordinary 
 that a major-general, sent out expressly by his Majesty to 
 serve on the staff in India, should remain in command of 
 three battahons, while a lieutenant-colonel, serving in the 
 same army, is placed at the head of seven, or rather thir- 
 teen corps.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. IJ^) 
 
 Meer Allum's request to have the brother of the go- 
 vernor-general in command of the troops under him, is cer- 
 tainly a reason ; but this is only made known to me pri- 
 vately, whilst, as the order now stands, I am apparently 
 degraded in the eyes of the army, and of my friends at 
 home. Under these circumstances, I trust to your adopt- 
 ing such measures as to you may appear proper, that the 
 real cause may be made known, why Colonel Wellesley is 
 appointed to a superior command. 
 
 I have the honour, &c. 
 
 To General Harris. D. Baied. 
 
 This appeal was most natural, but it produced 
 no result. General Baird's long and distinguished 
 services in India, and his perfect knowledge of 
 the local circumstances of the country to which 
 they were going, where, seven years before, he 
 had commanded a brigade, and of the enemy to 
 whom they were to be opposed, (for his previous 
 service against whom, under Lord Cornwallis, he 
 had received no common share of approbation and 
 applause,) all strengthened his claim, in a military 
 point of view, to the command which had been 
 conferred upon Colonel Wellesley ; more espe- 
 cially as his promotion to the major-generalship 
 was made, and he was sent back to India by the 
 Duke of York, without any application on his part, 
 Jbr the express purpose of serving in this particular 
 campaign. It should be here distinctly under- 
 stood, that, although General Baird felt these 
 circumstances deeply, yet his feelings were not 
 of a nature to deteriorate, in the sHghtest degree.
 
 170 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the high opinion which he always entertained of 
 his more favoured companion in arms. 
 
 From Ryacottah, General Harris forwarded a 
 letter addressed to Tippoo, from the governor-gene- 
 ral, expressive of his regret at the line of conduct 
 which his highness had thought proper to adopt, 
 assuring him that his desire was still for peace, 
 that nothing but his continual delays and procras- 
 tinations had induced the movement of the troops, 
 and that General Harris was fully authorized, 
 even now, to receive any communications that the 
 sultaun might be inclined to make, or any ambas- 
 sadors whom he might feel disposed to send. The 
 same day General Harris published his lordship's 
 declaration against Tippoo (which was made in the 
 name of the allied powers), and commenced hosti- 
 lities by sending a detachment, under the com- 
 mand of Major Cuppage, against the hill-forts of 
 Neeldurgun and Anchitty. This force, however, 
 met with no opposition ; the forts had been aban- 
 doned and dismantled before their approach. 
 
 On the 7th March Lieutenant-Colonel Oliver 
 took possession of Oodeadurgum ; and another 
 hill-fort called Ruttengheri, was captured, after a 
 slight resistance, by a small detachment under 
 Captain Urton : on the 9th, the whole army, 
 consisting of 30.959 figliting men, exclusive of 
 6000 of the Nizam's cavalry, were assembled at 
 Kelamungalum, and never was force in India 
 more perfectly equipped or victualled, as the 
 details (which even if we had room for them,
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 177 
 
 it would be superfluous here to insert) clearly 
 shew. The cavalry was more numerous than any 
 European power had ever brought into the field 
 in India. General Stuart's division on the Mala- 
 bar coast, was equally efficient ; that under Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonel Brown in the south, and that of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Read from the Barramaul, were 
 also in the highest order ; and the simultaneous 
 appearance of Admiral Rainier's fleet, with two 
 large Indiamen (which at such a distance might, 
 by inexperienced eyes, be mistaken for-line-of 
 battle ships), off Tippoo's coast, added to his 
 embarrassments, as destroying at once all his 
 hopes of succour or reinforcement from the 
 French. The gloom which this combination of 
 circumstances tended to cast over the sultaun's 
 affairs, was rendered more powerfully effective 
 by the prosperous appearance of things on the part 
 of his enemies. The court of Hyderabad, whose 
 policy hitherto had been considered questionable, 
 and whose ardent co-operation had been by many 
 very much doubted, had now in the most unequi- 
 vocal manner, evinced its readiness and zeal. The 
 Nizam's force was actually in the field, and besides 
 that, a considerable force was expected in aid of 
 the Marhattas from Bombay, and the Paishwash 
 had promised to lend his assistance with a large 
 body of cavalry. At the same time it was known 
 that Tippoo's finances were in no flourishing state, 
 and that his councils were disunited; in short, 
 
 VOL. I. N
 
 178 THE LIFE OF 
 
 it seemed, as it eventually proved, that the sun 
 of his splendour was near its setting. 
 
 It would be foreign to our purpose here, to 
 describe in detail each day's march of the army 
 towards Seringapatam ; but it may be necessary 
 to observe, that on the 6th of March, Tippoo 
 crossed his own frontier, and made an attack upon 
 part of the Bombay army, under General 
 Stuart, which, however, proved unsuccessful. 
 Tippoo's defeat in this affair, was decisive, 
 and he retreated rapidly to Periapatam, having 
 lost about 1500 killed and wounded ; the loss of 
 the Bombay army being only 29 killed, 98 
 wounded, and 16 missing. 
 
 To shew, however, that a delusion very similar 
 to that which has been prevalent amongst the 
 French generals and subalterns in later battles, 
 existed in the mind of the sultaun, we beg leave 
 to submit to the reader a memorandum which 
 was found in his own hand-writing, relating to 
 this affair ; nor should we do justice to the extra- 
 ordinary attributes of his mind, were we not to 
 add, that he was principally incited to the hazard- 
 ous undertaking, because it rained very hard on 
 a particular day, a circumstance which he has 
 recorded, as being of most auspicious omen. 
 
 The autograph memorandum of Tippoo, is as 
 follows : 
 
 *' On Wednesday, the 80th, or last day of the 
 month Hazy, of the year Shadid, 1226 from the 
 birth of Mahommed, corresponding with the 29t]i
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 179 
 
 of Ramzan, (when the moon is not visible,) 1213, 
 of the Hegira, or 6th of March, 1799, tlie victo- 
 rious army of the sultaun, liaving left their bag- 
 gage at Periapatam, and formed themselves into 
 three divisions or detachments, entered the woods 
 of Coorga, by three different roads, where the 
 Christians had taken post, and advancing, gave 
 battle, fighting with firelocks and spears, and the 
 whole army of the infidels was routed, some of 
 the Christians taking to flight." 
 
 On the 10th of March, the army under General 
 Harris moved from Kelamungalum by the right ; 
 the cavalry in advance, the baggage on the right, 
 and the Nizam's contingent, which had marched 
 by the left, moved parallel at some distance on 
 the right flank of the army — the army reached 
 Callacondapilly, where it remained until the 12th, 
 when it marched and encamped two miles south- 
 east of Jiggeny. It continued moving forward 
 with little or no interruption, and on the 24th, 
 encamped on the west bank of the Madoor, on 
 the same ground which Tippoo's army had occu- 
 pied for five days. Here it was that General 
 Harris received the first official intelligence of 
 Tippoo's attack upon the Bombay army, vvhich we 
 have just mentioned. 
 
 This intelligence was highly important, as it 
 clearly proved that at the very moment the sul- 
 taun was expressing a wish to negociate, he had 
 himself commenced hostilities upon the Englisli, 
 and that too, without waiting a sufficient time to 
 
 N 2
 
 180 THE LIFE OF 
 
 allow of his receiving an answer to the last letter 
 he had addressed to the governor-general. 
 
 On the 25th, the army again moved, and on 
 the 26th, encamped at Mallavelly ; here the ene- 
 my's advanced posts were visible upon a distant 
 ridge of hills, but they by degrees disappeared. 
 At daybreak of the 27th, the army marched from 
 its left flank ; the Nizam's force moving in a 
 parallel line on the left, to cover the baggage, or 
 ready to act as circumstances might render it 
 necessary for it to do so. 
 
 A division under Major-General Floyd, con- 
 sisting of five regiments of cavalry, formed the 
 advance ; but a large body of the sultaun's horse 
 being discovered on the right flank, with a con- 
 siderable force of infantry resting on the heights 
 beyond Mallavelly, it halted at the distance of a 
 mile from the village. At this period, the enemy 
 were employed in moving several guns to the 
 right of their line, towards a rising ground, 
 whence it appeared to be their intention to open a 
 fire upon the troops, as they crossed the valley. 
 It was determined to foil this attempt, by imme- 
 diately attacking them. 
 
 Colonel Wellesley's division was ordered to 
 attack their right flank, supported by General 
 Floyd's five cavalry regiments, and the right wing 
 of the army, under Major-General Bridges, was 
 to march with the picquets under Colonel Sher- 
 brook, straight through the village of Mallavelly 
 to the centre of the enemy's line, while the left wing
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 181 
 
 and the rear-guard were to remain in Mallavelly, 
 under the command of Major-General Popham. 
 
 Upon the first movement of the Nizam's troops 
 under Colonel Wellesley, the enemy withdrew his 
 guns to a second rising ground, farther removed, 
 and here his infantry took post. General Harris, 
 who had led the piquets and the right wing 
 himself, was at Mallavelly, and so convinced was 
 he that the enemy had actually begun to retire, 
 that he ordered Colonel Richardson, the quarter- 
 master-general, to mark out the ground for the 
 day*s encampment ; but the moment Colonel Rich- 
 ardson proceeded to execute this duty, supported 
 by the piquets, the king's 25th light dragoons, 
 and the 2nd regiment of company's cavalry, 
 twelve or fourteen of the enemy's guns opened 
 upon them at the distance (General Beatson says) 
 of two thousand yards ; they soon got the range 
 and did some execution ; but when Colonel 
 Richardson had completed his duty, Colonel 
 Sherbrook pushed forward and drove the enemy 
 out of a village in front of their left, in which 
 Colonel Cotton, with the 25th dragoons, main- 
 tained his position, and kept in check a body 
 of the enemy's cavalry, which were on our right 
 flank. 
 
 The action here, in reality, commenced, for the 
 piquets being so much in advance, although 
 posted with great judgment, by Colonel Sher- 
 brook, and the cannonade continuing, orders 
 were given for the 5th brigade to advance and
 
 182 THE LIFE OF 
 
 form upon Sherbrook's left, while Baird advanced 
 with the first or European brigade, to form on 
 the left of the 5th, and the 3d on that of the 1st, 
 and Wellesley with the Nizam's force, advanced 
 en echelon of battalions, supported by Floyd with 
 the three remaining regiments of cavalry. 
 
 The line thus formed moved slowly, so that the 
 whole might act together. Such field pieces as 
 could be brought up answered the enemy's can- 
 nonade, and the action became general along the 
 whole front, but Wellesley and Floyd bore the 
 brunt of it. 
 
 It was at this period that General Baird ob- 
 served a body of the enemy's cavalry coming ra- 
 pidly down on the left of his brigade, upon which 
 he ordered three companies of the 74th to advance, 
 give fire, and fall back — but it is no easy task to 
 moderate the courage of British troops when once 
 elated, and instead of obeying these orders, the 
 whole regiment fired, cheered, and rushed forward 
 to the charge. 
 
 At the instant this occurred. General Baird per- 
 ceived a second mass of cavalry, coming at the 
 charge from the right — the danger of the 74th was 
 imminent, but Baird was in an instant resolved, 
 and galloping into the front (although by so doing 
 he exposed himself to the fire of both parties), he 
 succeeded in restoring order and compelling the 
 men to halt and form, while a steady and well 
 directed fire from the gallant 12th, and the Scotch 
 brigade, on his right, checked the attack of Tip-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 183 
 
 poo's horse : such however was the intrepidity 
 of the sultaun's troops, that man}' of them suc- 
 ceeded in penetrating the intervals in the Bri- 
 tish line, and passing so far beyond it, as to fall 
 in with General Harris and his staff, with some of 
 the officers of which, they even exchanged pistol- 
 shots. It is scarcely necessary to add that to these 
 adventurous men there was *' no return," and that 
 they all paid the forfeit of their temerity with their 
 lives. 
 
 A body of 2,000 men moved forward in the 
 best order towards Colonel Wellesley's regiment, 
 the 33d, which reserved its fire, and received 
 that of the enemy at a distance of about sixty 
 yards, when it rapidly advanced upon the ap- 
 proaching column, which instantly gave way; 
 this advance being seconded by General Floyd, 
 who made a rapid charge with his cavalry, com- 
 pleted the disorder, and the enemy retreated be- 
 fore the whole of our line, which immediately 
 moved forward. The retreat was continued until 
 the enemy was beyond the reach of guns, when 
 General Harris considering that no serious advan- 
 tage was derivable from further present pursuit, 
 ordered the troops to return to camp at Mallavelly. 
 The loss of the enemy in this engagement amounted 
 to 1,000 killed and wounded, but the moral effect 
 produced upon the mind of Tippoo by so decided 
 a defeat of a chosen body of his troops, was, 
 even, of greater importance than any imme- 
 diate result of the action. He became unsettled
 
 184 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and anxious, in a degree which he had never 
 evinced before, and, as will be perceived by the 
 variations of his designs and movements in the 
 subsequent part of the campaign previous to the 
 siege, doubtful upon the most important points of 
 his conduct.* 
 
 On the 28th, the day following the battle, the 
 army quitted Mallavelly, and took up a position 
 four miles to the south-west of it, it being General 
 Harris's intention to cross the Cauvery at Sosilay, 
 a determination which it was quite certain the 
 enemy did not anticipate. 
 
 * The loss of the allied forces in this brilliant affair was very 
 trifling : six Europeans killed, and thirty-four wounded — one 
 native killed, sixteen wounded, and six missing — twelve horses 
 killed, thirty-three wounded, and three missing. — Beatson.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 185 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MARCH TO SOSILAY DESCRIPTION OF THE SURROUNDING COUNTRY 
 
 ALARM OF THE INHABITANTS PASSAGE OF SOSILAY— .-PASSAGE OF 
 
 THE CAUVERY RETROGRADE MOVEMENTS OF TIPPOO AFFAIR OF 
 
 THE SULTAUNPETTAH TOPE GENERAL BAIRD's RETURN LIEU- 
 TENANT LAMBTON AND THE STARS SECOND ATTACK UNDER 
 
 COLONEL WELLESLEY WITH THE 33d, AND COLONEL SHAW WITH 
 
 THE 12th COLONEL WELLESLEY RETURNS IN THE NIGHT TO 
 
 CAMP A THIRD ATTACK ORDERED UNDER THE COMMAND OF 
 
 COLONEL WELLESLEY HIS ABSENCE FROM PARADE TO TAKE THE 
 
 COMMAND — GENERAL BAIRD DIRECTED TO ASSUME IT HIS GE- 
 NEROUS CONDUCT COLONEL WELLESLEY ARRIVES AND TAKES 
 
 THE COMMAND EXPLANATION OF THE CAUSES OF HIS ABSENCE 
 
 — CAPTAIN Mackenzie's statement — partiality of general 
 
 BEATSON GENERAL HARRIs's ARMY TAKES UP ITS FINAL POSI- 
 TION — TIPPOO OPENS FRESH NEGOCIATIONS CURIOUS CORRES- 
 PONDENCE DEMANDS OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY FINAL 
 
 CONCLUSION OF THE NEGOCIATIONS. 
 
 The country leading to the ford at Sosilay 
 having been reconnoitred, and the reconnoitre- 
 ing force, consisting of about 300 men, having 
 returned in the night, with a favourable report, 
 the army was put in motion at day -break, on the 
 29th. 
 
 The country which the troops had just entered 
 was fertile and open, and the beauties of nature
 
 186 THE LIFE OF 
 
 appeared yet uninjured by the devastating hand 
 of war. The villages, although the inhabitants had 
 fled, were full of forage, and in the open fields 
 numerous stacks still remained untouched ; but as 
 the troops approached Sosilay, they discovered 
 thousands of the former tenants of these peaceful 
 plains huddled in clusters under the walls of the 
 fort. They had deposited their flocks and herds, 
 amounting in number to not less than twelve or 
 fifteen thousand head of cattle, besides abundance 
 of sheep and goats, in the dry ditch which sur- 
 rounded the place. For the protection of their 
 property they had built themselves temporary 
 huts, and the first object of the British officers was 
 to conciliate them, to overcome their fears and 
 apprehensions, and induce them to remain on the 
 spot where the actual presence of so large a stock 
 of provisions enabled the army to take up its 
 ground before Seringapatam with all the advantage 
 of a well-supplied commissariat. 
 
 From intelligence received in the English camp, 
 it was ascertained that the last movement of 
 the English troops had been wholly unexpected 
 on the part of Tippoo, who was so firmly con- 
 vinced that they would advance by Arakery, that 
 he had not only neglected taking any measures for 
 checking or harassing them on their march, but 
 had despatched the main body of his army to 
 Arakery on the morning of the 30th, for the pur- 
 pose of giving them battle. 
 
 The line, however, taken by General Harris
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 187 
 
 was in every respect the most advantageous ; for, 
 besides the good which naturally arose from 
 gaining Sosilay and all the materiel which it af- 
 forded, the possession of it not only facilitated 
 the communication with the Bombay army, but 
 enabled General Harris to obtain supplies from the 
 stores which had been providently prepared in the 
 Coorga country, while at the same time it gave 
 him the power of ensuring the approach of the 
 convoys from the Barramaul and the southern, 
 districts. 
 
 At two o'clock the tents were struck, and the 
 army, except one battalion left to cover the rear 
 and give protection to the people at Sosilay, 
 crossed the Cauvery. This river, the name of 
 which is already familiar to the reader, is a fine 
 clear stream with a sandy botton, and, at the ford, 
 three hundred yards wide and about three feet 
 deep. 
 
 On the 31st, when the troops halted, it was 
 ascertained that Tippoo had, with his cavalry, 
 re-crossed to the south side of the river, and that 
 all his guns and infantry had gone to Seringa- 
 patam. 
 
 The following day the army had arrived within 
 thirteen miles of Seringapatam. On the 2d of 
 April they marched by the left ; but owing to 
 some negligence on the part of the Nizam's ca- 
 valry, a considerable delay took place, and the 
 army encamped for the night only three miles in 
 advance of their position on the 1st.
 
 188 THE LIFE OF 
 
 This day Tippoo in person reconnoitred the 
 enemy's forces from a hill, and his cavalry conti- 
 nued in front of it during the whole of the day, 
 at the close of which, the British army encamped 
 within five miles of Seringapatam. From this 
 position the island and city of Seringapatam were 
 distinctly visible, and from the appearances which 
 presented themselves, it was evident that the 
 sultaun had anticipated an attack from the east- 
 ward, and had regulated his proceedings and pre- 
 parations accordingly. 
 
 On the Sd and 4th the army marched by the 
 left, along the high grounds about four miles from 
 Seringapatam ; and of this march Tippoo on the 
 latter day was an eye-witness. What he then 
 saw, probably had the effect of disconcerting his 
 previous arrangements, and making alterations in 
 his plans of defence ; for when he returned from 
 reconnoitreing on the 2d, it was ascertained that 
 he had formed the intention of opposing the 
 march, of which he was now a peaceable spectator, 
 by cannonading the enemy from the very ground 
 over which they were actually passing ; and had even 
 gone so far in his proceedings towards this opera- 
 tion, as to send, in addition to his cavalry, seven- 
 teen or eighteen thousand infantry, and twenty 
 guns, across the river. It was clear, whenceso- 
 ever this indecision and change of measures had 
 arisen, that his plans were totally altered; for 
 he had taken up a position under the east and 
 south faces of the fort of Seringajoatam, and.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 189 
 
 having destroyed and abandoned all the pettahs 
 on the eastern part of the island, had determined 
 upon a defence likely to be available if the enemy 
 commenced a similar course of attack to that which 
 they had adopted in the last siege. 
 
 It was on that day that a body of troops and 
 rocket-men assembled in considerable force in 
 front of the line under cover of a betel tope,* 
 called the Sultaunpettah Tope. General Baird 
 was directed, with part of his brigade, to dislodge 
 them. He marched at eleven o'clock at night, 
 and after scouring the tope in all directions, (at 
 no time a work of easy operation, on account of 
 ditches five or six feet deep by which it is inter- 
 sected for the purpose of watering the betel 
 plants, and rendered infinitely more difficult by 
 the darkness,) he discovered that the enemy 
 had already quitted their post. Their retreat ren- 
 dered General Baird's further stay in the tope un- 
 necessary, and he accordingly prepared to return 
 to the camp, and an officer, who had been attached 
 to his force as a guide, confidently undertook to 
 lead the way. 
 
 At that period. Lieutenant Lambton of the 
 33rd regiment, (afterwards Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Lambton, whose scientific labours have made his 
 name so familiar to the learned of all countries,) 
 
 * A tope is a small wood or thicket. Betel, is the piper 
 betel of Linnaeus, and an article of universal consumption 
 amongst the natives of India.
 
 190 THE LIFE OF 
 
 who was on General Baird's staff, came up to 
 him, and assured him that the troops were 
 moving in an opposite direction to that which 
 was intended, and were in fact marching directly 
 towards the enemy. The guide was again appealed 
 to, and was confident as before, although Lieu- 
 tenant Lambton supported his opinion by the 
 fact, that as the night was clear, he had convinced 
 himself by watching the stars, that instead of 
 proceeding in a southerly direction, which it 
 was necessary to do, to regain head-quarters, 
 they were travelling due north. 
 
 In this dilemma, General Baird took a compass 
 from his pocket, and putting a fire-fly upon the 
 glass, ascertained beyond a doubt that Lieutenant 
 Lambton was right, or as he used humourously to 
 observe, that the " stars were correct," and imme- 
 diately the troops were faced about ; but owing to 
 the detour which they had made, they fell in with 
 one of the enemy's piquets, which they surprised, 
 and having made prisoners of several of the men 
 composing it, and seized their horses, they returned 
 to camp, whence next morning the army was to 
 march, to take up its ground before Seringapa- 
 tam. 
 
 The next day, however, the enemy again pos- 
 sessed themselves of tlie Sultaunpettah Tope, as 
 well as of some other neighbouring posts, whence 
 it was deemed absolutely necessary to expel them. 
 For this purpose, his Majesty's 33d regiment, 
 commanded by Colonel Wellesley, was directed
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 191 
 
 to perform a similar duty to that which it would 
 have been General Baird's province to execute 
 the night before, if the enemy had not abandoned 
 their position ; and Colonel Shawe, with the 12th 
 regiment, was ordered to take possession of some 
 other posts to the left. 
 
 This force marched at sunset — Colonel Shawe 
 got possession of a ruined village, and com- 
 pletely succeeded in his object ; but Colonel 
 Wellesley advancing at the head of his regiment, 
 the 33d, into the tope, was instantly attacked, 
 in the darkness of the night, on every side, by 
 a tremendous fire of musquetry and rockets — the 
 men gave way, were dispersed, and retreated in 
 disorder, several were killed, and twelve grena- 
 diers were taken prisoners. 
 
 The report of this disaster, ran through the 
 camp like wildfire, and the mortification and dis- 
 tress of Colonel Wellesley himself, are described 
 as having been excessive. 
 
 On the following morning. General Harris 
 ordered a detachment to be formed, consisting of 
 the 94th regiment, two battalions of Sepoys, and 
 five guns, under Colonel Wellesley's command, 
 to make a second attempt upon the tope. As 
 the 94th regiment formed part of General Baird's 
 brigade, he accompanied it to the parade, where 
 he found General Harris walking about. Upon 
 the arrival of the 94th, all was in readiness for 
 the march, but Colonel Wellesley did not appear
 
 192 THE LIFE OF 
 
 to take the command. The troops having waited 
 more than an hour under arms for their leader. 
 General Harris became impatient, and ordered 
 General Baird himself to take the command of 
 them. He instantly mounted his horse, and called 
 his aid-de-camp ; but a moment afterwards a 
 generous feeling towards Colonel Wellesley, (al- 
 though he seemed destined to be his rival through- 
 out the campaign,) induced him to pause, and 
 going back to General Harris, he said, " Don't 
 you think, Sir, it would be but fair to give Wel- 
 lesley an opportunity of retrieving the misfor- 
 tune of last night ?" General Harris listened to 
 the kind and considerate proposal, and shortly 
 afterwards Colonel Wellesley appeared, took the 
 command of the party, and at its head succeeded 
 in getting possession of the tope. 
 
 This plain statement, while it successfully vin- 
 dicates Colonel Wellesley from any imputation but 
 that of ill success in a night attack upon the tope, 
 establishes the magnanimity and honourable feel- 
 ing of General Baird, in the highest degree ; and 
 it ought to be added, that it was with the great- 
 est difficulty, in after times, that General Baird 
 could be brought ever to allude to the circum- 
 stance ; and it was only a most absurd report 
 connected with Colonel Wellesley's conduct upon 
 the occasion, that induced the general to explain 
 the case which, as it occurred on parade, and 
 in the face of the whole army, is universally
 
 SIR DAVID BAIHD. 193 
 
 known to have been exactly as it is here de- 
 scribed.* 
 
 * What we have given above, is that which occurred within 
 General Baird's own knowledge. By statements of various 
 persons, and especially that (which is subjoined) of Colonel 
 M'Kenzie, who was with Colonel Wellesley in the tope, his 
 absence from parade is easily accounted for. 
 
 " When the light company of the 33d, with which Colonel 
 Wellesley was leading the column, pushed perhaps too eagerly 
 into the tope, they came suddenly on a work of the enemy, 
 who opened a heavy fire upon them : the men, too much in 
 advance, finding themselves not supported, retreated precipi- 
 tately, leaving Colonel Wellesley and Captain M'Kenzie by 
 themselves. In such a helpless and hopeless situation, the 
 only thing for these two individuals to do, was to endeavour 
 to regain the division ; but in attempting it, the darkness of 
 the night was such, that they lost their way, and it was not 
 until they had groped about through strange ground for se- 
 veral hours, that they alone reached the camp. 
 
 " When they arrived, Colonel Wellesley proceeded to head- 
 quarters, to report what had happened ; but finding that 
 General Harris was not yet awake, he threw himself on the 
 table of the dinner tent, and, worn out with fatigue and 
 anxiety of mind, fell asleep." 
 
 This is the statement made by the gallant Colonel IM'Kenzie, 
 who was Colonel Wellesley's companion in the adventure. We 
 give it as it has been repeated to us, and as we believe it ; but 
 we caimot quit the subject without remarking on the invidious 
 partiality of Colonel Beatson (who, before he wrote his history 
 of the war with Tippoo, had been an aid-de-camp of Lord 
 WeUesley's), who, in describing the affair of the discomfiture 
 of Colonel Wellesley's detachment in the tope, says : — "Colonel 
 Wellesley advancing about the same time, to attack the Sul- 
 taunpettah Tope, was, upon entering it, assailed on every side 
 by a hot fire of musquetry and rockets. This circumstance, 
 
 VOL. I. O
 
 lO^ THE LIFE OF 
 
 The possession of the Sultaunpettah Tope, and 
 the other posts which had now fallen into our 
 hands, enabled General Harris to proceed with the 
 regular approaches of the siege. General Floyd, 
 on the 6th of April, with four regiments of ca- 
 valry, and the whole left wing of the army, except 
 Meuron's regiment, marched to Periapatam, to 
 join the Bombay army. 
 
 On the 7th the army took up its final posi- 
 tion — the enemy were employed in fortifying a 
 ruined powder-mill at the distance of seven 
 hundred and fifty yards from the north-west angle 
 of the fort, and their cavalry marched towards 
 Periapatam. 
 
 On the 9th General Harris received the fol- 
 lowing letter from Tippoo, who appeared con- 
 siderably moved by the extensive preparations 
 
 which he saw^ in progress. 
 
 • 
 
 joined to the extreme darkness of the night, the ixncertainty of 
 the enemy's position, and the badness of the ground, induced 
 him to conjine his operation to the object of causing a diversion, 
 and to postpone the attack of the enemy's post until a more favoiir- 
 ahlc opportunity should offer." 
 
 Did Colonel Beatson imagine that such a misrepresentation, 
 however it might please Lord Wellesley, would gratify such a 
 man as his brother ? or did Colonel Beatson's concealment of 
 the whole affair which transpired on parade the next morning, 
 arise from the fear of exciting Lord Wellesley's displeasure, by 
 exhibiting General Baird's magnanimity and high feeling in 
 their proper colours ? The tone given to this portion of Colonel 
 Beatson's narrative is somewhat too courtier-like to be satisfac- 
 tory to the man who reads for information.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 19^ 
 
 " The governor-general, Lord Mornington Bahander, 
 sent me a letter, the copy of which is enclosed — you will 
 understand it. I have adhered firmly to treaties. What, 
 then, is the meaning of the advance of the English armies, 
 and the occurrence of hostilities ? Inform me. What 
 need I say more.''"" 
 
 To this General Harris, on the following day, 
 returned this answer : — 
 
 " Your letter, enclosing copies of the governor-generars 
 letter, has been received. For the advance of the English 
 and allied armies, and for the occurrence of hostilities, I 
 refer you to the several letters of the governor-general, 
 which are sufficiently explanatory of the subject. What 
 need I say more ?" 
 
 « April 10, 1799." 
 
 The peculiar style of oriental diplomatic lite- 
 rature, will perhaps render this letter and answer 
 worthy the notice of the reader. General Harris, 
 however, continued his operations, and no further 
 communication took place between his lordship 
 and the sultaun until the 20th of the same month, 
 by which time numerous batteries had been erected, 
 several important outposts taken, and the means of 
 defence upon which he had relied turned against 
 himself — again Tippoo made an appeal, and Ge- 
 neral Harris, on the evening of the SOth, received 
 the subjoined address from him. 
 
 " In the letter of Lord Mornington it is written, that the 
 clearing up of matters at issue is proper, and that, tliere- 
 fore, you having been empowered for the purpose, will ap- 
 
 o 2
 
 196 THE LIFE OF 
 
 point such persons as you judge proper for conducting a 
 conference, and renewing the business of a treaty. You 
 are the well-wisher of both Sircars. In this matter, what 
 is your pleasure ? Inform me, that a conference may take 
 place. What can I say more .?"" 
 
 To this General Harris made the following 
 reply, which was despatched from camp by noon 
 of AprH 22, 1799. 
 
 " Your highnesses friendly letter has been received, and 
 its contents understood. 
 
 " The governor-general, Lord Mornington Bahander, 
 informed you in his letter of the 8th of November, that the 
 British government and the allies wishing to live in peace 
 with all their neighbours, entertaining no projects of am- 
 bition, nor any other views in the least incompatible with 
 their respective arrangements, and looking to no other 
 objects than the permanent security and tranquillity of 
 their own dominions and subjects, will always be ready, as 
 they now are, to afford you every demonstration of these 
 pacific dispositions. 
 
 " The governor-general in that letter expressed his de- 
 sire of communicating to your highness a plan calculated 
 to promote the mutual security and welfare of all * parties, 
 and proposed to depute Major Doveton to you for that 
 purpose. You rejected the pacific advances of the governor- 
 general and the allies, and you refused to receive Major 
 Doveton, until the lateness of the season had compelled the 
 governor-general to order the armies to advance. But 
 since you now express a desire to know my pleasure upon 
 the adjustment of the business at issue, and as I hope this 
 request is made with sincerity, and with a regard to your 
 
 * Sic orig.
 
 SIR DAVID BATIID. 19? 
 
 true interests, I have to inform you in reply, that being 
 vested by the governor-general with full powers of treat- 
 ing and concluding a treaty, the demands contained in the 
 enclosed draft of a preliminary treaty, are those alone on 
 which any negociation can be founded — and I have further 
 to acquaint you, that unless these demands are agreed to 
 and your acquiescence signified to me under your seal and 
 signature within twenty-four hours from the moment of 
 your receiving them, and the hostages and specie delivered ! 
 within twenty-four hours more, the allies reserve to them- 
 selves the right of extending these demands for security, 
 even to the possession of the fort of Seringapatam, till a 
 definitive treaty can be arranged, and its stipulations carried 
 into effect. 
 
 " The four sons demanded of your highness as hostages 
 are, Sultaun Padshaw, Futteh Hyder, Moyer ud Deen, and 
 Abdul Khalick ; the four sirdars, INIeer Kummer ud Deen, 
 Meer Mahomed Sadick, Syed GofFar, and Purneah. 
 
 " What need I say more?" 
 
 It would be rather difficult to answer this naive 
 official question ; but it appears that General Har- 
 ris did say much more in his draft of a treaty, 
 amongst the other conditions of which, were these 
 — that Tippoo was not only instantly to dismiss all 
 the French, and other Europeans in his service or 
 dominions, but to send them to the British camp, 
 in forty-eight hours. That he was to surrender 
 half the dominions of which he was in possession 
 before the war, agreeably to the selection of the 
 allies. He was to relinquish all claims to any 
 thing he had ever disputed with the allies ; to 
 grant a free and uninterrupted communication
 
 198 THE LIFE OF 
 
 with the Malabar coast, and the Cai'iiatic ; to re- 
 lease all prisoners, and to pay two crores of sicca 
 rupees, one immediately, in pagodas or gold mo- 
 heers, or in gold and silver bullion, and the other 
 crore in six months. 
 
 These were amongst the conditions which the 
 Honourable East India Company deigned to 
 offer to the same Tippoo whom they had con- 
 descended to relieve, by a similar process of treaty, 
 of three crores and thirty lacs of rupees, just 
 seven years before. 
 
 During these amicable negociations the building 
 of batteries went on with undiminished activity, 
 various posts were carried and taken possession of, 
 and by the 1st of May all the preparations were 
 completed. 
 
 Tippoo had indeed made another attempt at ne- 
 gociation on the 28th of April, but General Harris, 
 in reply, told him that he had allowed the time to 
 elapse which he had mentioned for treating, and 
 that now he was prepared to reject any ambassa- 
 dors who did not come fully prepared to agi'ee to 
 all the conditions of the treaty, and bring the 
 money with them. 
 
 With this letter, and its concluding question, 
 " What need I say more ?" the negociations for 
 ever terminated.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 199 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE BREACH REPORTED NEARLY PRACTICABLE GENERAL BAlRD 
 
 VOLUNTEERS TO COMMAND THE STORMING PARTY HIS ANSWER 
 
 TO COLONEL AGNEW LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS DETAIL OF 
 
 STORMING PARTY ORDERS BAIRD LEADS THE PARTY, AND 
 
 CROSSES THE RIVER COMPLETE SUCCESS OF THE ASSAULT 
 
 DETAILS OF THE BATTLE WITHIN THE FORTRESS ATTACK OF THE 
 
 PALACE THE PRINCES SURRENDER THEMSELVES REPORT OF 
 
 TIPPOO'S BEING WOUNDED SEARCH MADE FOR HIM — DETAIL 
 
 OF HIS PROCEEDINGS DURING THE DAY EFFECTS OF DISASTERS 
 
 UPON HIS MIND HIS DETERMINED BRAVERY IS WOUNDED 
 
 RECEIVES A SECOND MUSKET SHOT CLOSE TO THE FIRST TRE- 
 MENDOUS SLAUGHTER BY THE FIRE OF THE 12TH REGIMENT 
 
 PERSONAL RENCONTRE OF THE SULTAUN WITH A SOLDIER 
 
 WOUNDS THE SOLDIER, AND IS SHOT DEAD BY HIM HIS 
 
 BODY DISCOVERED BY GENERAL BAIRD REMOVED BY HIS 
 
 ORDER TO THE PALACE RECOGNIZED BY HIS PEOPLE SHAMEFUL 
 
 MISCONDUCT OF CERTAIN OFFICERS GENERAL BAIRD ESTABLISHES 
 
 HIS HEAD-QUARTERS IN THE PALACE GENERAL ORDER FROM 
 
 GENERAL HARRIS PROCLAMATION OF GENERAL BAIRD ORDER 
 
 RESTORED — GENERAL BAIRD SUPERSEDED IN THE COMMAND OF 
 SERINGAPATAM BY COLONEL WELLESLEY. 
 
 On the 3d of May the breach was considered 
 nearly practicable, when General Baird, who had 
 gallantly volunteered his services to command tlie 
 storming party, (it having been determined that
 
 200 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the storm should take place the following day,) 
 was sitting with General Harris in his tent, dis- 
 cusssing some details of service, together with 
 Colonel Agnew, the deputy -adjutant-general, when 
 a sudden explosion took place in one of the 
 batteries which had taken fire. General Baird 
 and Colonel Agnew instantly ran to the front to 
 discover the cause not only of the explosion, but 
 of a heavy firing which was kept up upon those 
 who were attempting to extinguish the flames, 
 in which service many lives were lost, amongst 
 others, that of Captain Henry Cosby, who was 
 killed by a grape-shot after he had descended from 
 the merlons into the battery. 
 
 In looking at this affair, General Baird saw in 
 an instant that the whole strength of the enemy's 
 fire came from a number of guns planted all 
 round the breach. This he observed to Colonel 
 Agnew, and also observed that under the cir- 
 cumstances he thought it would be better to give 
 the breach an additional four-and-twenty hours' 
 firing, in order to knock off those defences, and 
 prevent the needless loss of a great number of 
 men in the assault. 
 
 Colonel Agnew replied, " If you knew our 
 actual situation as well as / do, you would not 
 think so. We have but two days' rice in camp 
 for the fighting men, and if we do not succeed to- 
 morrow, we must go." 
 
 *' I am answered, Sir," said General Baird, 
 " either we succeed to-morrow, or you will never
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 201 
 
 see me more ;" and he instantly prepared to pro- 
 ceed on the service.* 
 
 The following is a copy of the official letter from 
 Colonel Barry Close, adjutant-general of the 
 army, containing General Baird's instructions. 
 
 To Major-General Baird. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 You have been informed by the commander-in-chief, 
 that he proposes placing you in the command of the troops 
 which are to assault the fort of Seringapatam. 
 
 A statement of the troops intended for this service is by 
 his desire enclosed. He wishes the whole to be lodged in 
 the trenches during this night, in the order detailed in the 
 enclosure, from which you will perceive that the European 
 flank companies, from the division under Lieutenant-General 
 Stuart, are to lead the attack. 
 
 Of the troops destined for the supporting party in the 
 trenches, the 2d battalion, 5th regiment, is to be ordered 
 from camp — it will be on the general parade at 3 o'clock, 
 and there wait to receive your orders. 
 
 The whole of the troops for the assault will be placed 
 under your orders this evening, and you will be pleased to 
 direct the different corps to proceed to the trenches at such 
 hours during the night, and in such succession as will place 
 them in the trenches agreeably to the order required, a 
 little before daybreak. 
 
 Colonel Sherbrooke, coming on the duty of a general 
 
 * Seringapatam lies in Lat. 12° 26' N., 76° 51' E. In the 
 Mysore country Seringapatam is called Patana ; and in their 
 maps, Sre. Ranga-Palama — under Seringapatam. It is distant 
 from Calcutta 1170 miles, from Bombay 622, and from Ma- 
 dras 200.
 
 202 THE LIFE OF SIR DAVID BAIRD. 
 
 officer of the trenches, will be directed to obey such 
 instructions as you may have occasion to send him rela- 
 tive to the movement, or disposition, of the troops in the 
 trenches. 
 
 When the whole of the troops intended for the assault 
 have left camp, you will report on the subject to the .com- 
 mander-in-chief, who will then give you his further in- 
 structions. — I have the honour to be, Sir, your very obe- 
 dient servant, 
 
 Barry Close, 
 Adj. Gen. of the Army. 
 Head Quarters^ Camp before 
 Seringapatam, 3d May, 1799. 
 
 The force appointed for the storming party is 
 detailed in the following official return : —
 
 •sAnt3>ionj 
 
 OJ <>) 
 
 
 
 (M 
 
 •SFP«!X 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 C 00 
 
 OS 
 
 •SiCodag 
 
 
 
 Cl CI 
 Ci "* -t 
 
 05 
 
 •s.iamiunj(i 
 
 o«c 
 
 
 •sSlBJiiJ 
 
 t c 
 
 
 •SJEp^IABH 
 
 CO CO 
 
 •0 
 
 •saBpuaaf 
 
 
 
 eo 
 
 05 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 •sjEpiqns 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 SO^ft-lttCOt—C 
 
 
 
 
 ~f 
 
 •^]A puB ^mu 
 
 55 (Mp-^??-^^^ 
 
 
 © 
 
 
 •sj9uiuin.i(i 
 
 to iD -- ec '^ c 
 
 p— 1 r-l r-l C. 
 
 
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 •SlUB3pI3S 
 
 (N M (N (N 
 
 
 01 
 
 05 
 
 •suoa^jng 
 
 -^ — — (M (M 
 
 
 
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 lUB^sissy 
 
 
 
 
 
 •suoaSjng 
 
 - 
 
 
 
 -* 
 
 •s}UB5nfp\r 
 
 ^ ^ --- 
 
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 •su§tsu3 
 
 — . -* M <N 00 
 
 M 
 
 •s^nai^ 
 
 w-^-^cq-H^eoc 
 
 
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 •sinaiT; -53 
 
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 (N 
 
 •SUIB^dB^ 
 
 (NC-lfNr-C^eOtNIN 
 
 
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 •SJOfBJYf 
 
 (N -- Pi — 
 
 
 
 •spuopo-^T 
 
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 fciC 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 9 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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 '; (u oj oj a;'3c''3'^'^ 
 
 
 
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 2-S -5:552 
 
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 5P=iuc: 
 
 
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 ^ H
 
 204? THE LIFE OF 
 
 This force, under General Baird*s orders, was 
 disposed of as follows : — 
 
 Disposition of the troops ordered for the Assault of the Fort 
 of Seringapatam, on the 4th of ]May 1799^ under the command 
 of Major-General Baird. 
 
 Left attack, under Lieut.-Col. Dunlop, to consist of six com- 
 panies of European flankers from the Bombay army. 
 
 His Majesty's 12th regiment. 
 33d ditto. 
 
 Ten companies of Bengal Sepoy flankers, under Lieut.-Col. 
 Gardiner. 
 
 Fifty artiUery-men, with a proportion of gun Lascars, under 
 Capt. Prescott. 
 
 To move in column, left in front. 
 
 To take possession of the cavalier, close to the breach, and 
 move along the north rampart of the fort ; to proceed till they 
 join the night attack, leaving a battalion company of the 33d 
 regiment in charge of the cavalier already mentioned, close to 
 the breach, and occupying such other parts on the ramparts, by 
 detachments from the 12th and 33d regiments, as shall be 
 thought necessary by Lieut.-Col. Dunlop. 
 
 Right attack, under Col. Sherbrook, to consist of four com- 
 panies of European flankers, from the Scotch brigade, and 
 regiment de Meviron. 
 
 His Majesty's 73d regiment. 
 74th ditto. 
 
 Eight companies of Coast Sepoy flankers, under Lieut.-Col. 
 Dahymple. 
 
 Six companies of Bombay Sepoy flankers, under Lieut.-Col. 
 IMignard. 
 
 Fifty artillery-men, with a proportion of gun Lascars, under 
 INIajor Bell. 
 
 To move in column, right in front. 
 
 To move along the south rampart of the fort, leaving such 
 parties as may be thought necessary by Colonel Sherbrook, 
 from the 73d or 74th regiments, in charge of such parts of
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 205 
 
 the ramparts as he may deem it essentially necessary to 
 occupy. 
 
 Half of the European, and half of the Native pioneers, to 
 accompany each attack with hatchets, the European pioneers 
 to carry the scaling ladders, assisted by forty men from the 
 battalion companies of each of the leading regiments ; the na- 
 tive pioneers to carry a proportion of facines. 
 
 If the road across the river and the breach shall be deemed 
 sufficiently broad, the two attacks to move out to the assault at 
 the same moment ; on coming to the top of the breach they are 
 to wheel to the right and left, so as to get on the face they are 
 ordered to move on, but if the road and breach are too narrow, 
 the left attack is to move out first. 
 
 The leading companies of each attack to use the bayonet 
 principally, and not to fire but in cases of absolute necessity. 
 
 Each attack to be preceded by a serjeant and twelve volun- 
 teers, supported by a subaltern officer and twenty-five men. 
 
 The leading flank companies of each attack to be provided 
 with hand-hatchets. 
 
 The whole of the troops here detailed were in 
 the trenches before day-break on the 4th, and in 
 passing along, General Baird, as has been already 
 mentioned in a note, recognized a number of his 
 old companions of the 71st, (who were, as the 
 reader will recollect, drafted into other regiments,) 
 and even some of his fellow sufferers in his ori- 
 ginal captivity at Seringapatam. To these he 
 spoke with his usual kindness and affability, and 
 bade them recollect that they would soon have an 
 opportunity of " paying off old scores.'* It may 
 easily be imagined that such an appeal from their 
 old commander had its effect. 
 
 In the course of the forenoon General Baird
 
 206 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 received the following communication from Colo- 
 nel Close, the adjutant-general. 
 
 To Major-General Baird, commanding the Troops ordered 
 for the Assault of Seringapatam. 
 Sir, 
 The breach being reported practicable, the commander- 
 in-chief desires that the assault may be made this day, at 
 1 p. M. — I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient 
 servant, 
 
 Barry Close, 
 Adj. Gen. of the Army. 
 Head Quarters, Camp, 4th May, \ 799. 
 
 P.S. You are requested to shew this order to Major- 
 General Popham, senior officer in the trenches. 
 
 B. C. 
 
 It was ten minutes past one o'clock in the after- 
 noon, when General Baird, having completed all 
 his arrangements for his heroic enterprise, stepped 
 out of the trenches, and drawing his sword, ex- 
 claimed to the men, in the most gallant and ani- 
 mating manner, " Now, my brave fellows, follow 
 ME, and prove yourselves worthy of the name of 
 British soldiers." 
 
 The effect was like magic. In an instant both 
 columns rushed forward, and entered the bed 
 of the river, and being of course immediately 
 perceived by the enemy, were in a few minutes 
 assailed by a tremendous fire of musketry and 
 rockets. 
 
 The night before the assault Lieutenant Far-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 207 
 
 quliar had crossed the river and placed sticks, 
 indicating the best ford of the Cauvery. Colonels 
 Sherbrook and St. John of course led the flankers 
 of each column. General Baird had intended to 
 lead the left column himself, but observing that 
 the troops, being very severely galled by the 
 enemy's lire, had swerved from the line of marks 
 which had been made to direct their passage over 
 the river, and had got into deep water, (where, 
 although they found themselves protected by the 
 high bank of an old tank, their progress was 
 necessarily retarded,) dashed forward himself by 
 the shortest and most exposed passage.* 
 
 By tliis intrepid movement he gained the oppo- 
 site bank just at the moment the head of the first 
 column reached it. He cheered the men by his 
 personal example, and himself rushed onwards 
 close to the forlorn hope, which in spite of the 
 determined opposition of the enemy, made good its 
 lodgment in the breach, in which, in six minutes 
 from the first assault, the British colours were 
 seen proudly floating in the breeze, by the troops, 
 who were eagerly following their noble leaders. 
 The gallantry and rapidity of this attack overcame 
 all obstacles. 
 
 In a few minutes more, the breach was crowded 
 with men, who, according to General Baird's 
 
 * An eye-witness hcas described this scene as most extraor- 
 dinary. General Baird, he says, went forward with a cool, 
 steady intrepidity, as if " he bore a charmed life," while the 
 shot fell around him in every direction like hail.
 
 208 THE LIFE OF 
 
 orders filed off to the right and left. As the troops 
 pressed forward, the enemy retired, and in a very 
 short space of time, another British flag was hoist- 
 ed on the north-west bastion. 
 
 When General Baird had reached the top of 
 the breach, he discovered, to his inexpressible sur- 
 prise, a second ditch full of water within the outer 
 wall. The almost insurmountable difficulty of 
 overcoming this unexpected impediment stag- 
 gered him, and he exclaimed, " Good God! how 
 shall we get over thisf* Fortunately, however, 
 in leading the troops along the ramparts, he dis- 
 covered some scaffolding, which had been raised 
 for the use of the workmen wlio had been 
 repairing the wall, by availing himself of 
 which, he was enabled to surmount that which 
 at first appeared an unconquerable obstacle. 
 Having immediately taken advantage of the op- 
 portunity which thus luckily presented itself, 
 he crossed the inner ditch, and proceeded by the 
 ramparts to the other side of the fort, where the 
 two columns were to meet, and enter the body of 
 the town.-'^ 
 
 The attack was so sudden and even unexpected, 
 being made in the broad noon of day, and at the 
 general hour of dinner, that the assailants met 
 with no very considerable resistance. The left 
 
 * General Baird's official report of the storm made to Gene- 
 ral Harris, will be found in a subsequent page, where, as it 
 was not forwarded to head-quarters until the 6th of May, it is 
 placed for tlie purpose of coming in chronological order.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 209 
 
 column, however, was more vigorously opposed ; 
 they proceeded along the north rampart, which 
 they found traversed and well defended. It was 
 there Tippoo placed himself — he was the last man 
 to quit the traverses, as they were successively 
 taken possession of by the European troops, and 
 was seen firing upon his enemies with his own 
 hand, his attendants loading and handing him the 
 firelocks ; being wounded, however, he endea- 
 voured to return with his people through the sally- 
 port into the fort. 
 
 It is necessary to observe that part of the 12th 
 regiment, not in strict obedience to orders, instead 
 of proceeding with the rest of the left column 
 along the ramparts, pressed forward into the body 
 of the town, and kept along the inside of the ram- 
 part, and found themselves opposite the sally-port, 
 through which the sultaun proposed returning. 
 They instantly halted, and commenced firing from 
 the inside, while the rest of the column were firing 
 from the outside, so that Tippoo was literally 
 placed between both fires ; and it is to this acci- 
 dental variation from the orders given to the 12th, 
 that his death may be attributed, for it was on 
 this very spot, as we shall presently see, that he 
 was found buried under the bodies of hundreds of 
 his faithfully devoted subjects and defenders. 
 
 Meanwhile, General Baird, with the right 
 column, having cleared the south rampart, halted 
 at the east cavalier to give the men breathing- 
 
 VOL. I. p
 
 210 THE LIFE OF 
 
 time after the fatigue they had endured under 
 a burning sun, before they entered the town to 
 summon the palace ; and while they were resting. 
 Colonel Close came to General Baird, and told 
 him, that a native officer who accompanied him, 
 assured him that Tippoo had caused the twelve 
 grenadiers of the 33d regiment, whom it will be 
 recollected had been taken prisoners on the night 
 of the 5th of April in the Sultaunpettah Tope, to 
 be murdered. 
 
 General Baird desired Colonel Close to be ex- 
 tremely particular in his inquiries touching the 
 truth of his report, which the Mussulmaun per- 
 sisted in repeating; and when General Baird 
 marched towards the palace, he told Colonel 
 Wallace, of the 74th, that if the man's story was 
 true, the instant he laid hands on Tippoo, he 
 would deliver, him over to the grenadiers of the 
 33d regiment, to be tried for the murder, in cold 
 blood, of their comrades. 
 
 As the troops were now in possession of every 
 part of the ramparts, and it appeared hopeless in 
 the sultaun to make further resistance. General 
 Baird sent forward Major Allan, to offer protection 
 to all persons, Tippoo himself included (for Ge- 
 neral Baird did not believe the story of the murder 
 of the English soldiers, knowing the mendacity of 
 natives, who may be interested in doing mischief), 
 provided they all surrendered themselves uncon- 
 ditionally ; and this proposition was made, with
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 211 
 
 the alternative, that if it were not accepted, the 
 palace would be instantly assaulted, and no quarter 
 given.* 
 
 Upon arriving at the palace. Major Allan found 
 Major Shee, with part of the S3rd drawn up 
 opposite to the gate, in the balcony, over or near 
 which, several of the sultaun's family appeared, 
 evidently in a state of great alarm and agitation. 
 In a short time, however. Major Allan, together 
 with Captain Scohey and Captain Hastings Frazer, 
 were admitted into the palace by the killadar, and 
 brought into the presence of two of the younger 
 princes, whom the British officers endeavoured to 
 re-assure by promises of protection ; and for the 
 purpose of calming all their personal apprehen- 
 
 * Although General Baird could not bring himself to credit 
 this report, it eventually proved to be true. Captain William 
 Macleodj who conducted what in Indian phraseology is called 
 " the intelligence department of government/' subsequently 
 made an official report upon the subject to General Harris. 
 
 Eight of those who suffered death were men belonging to 
 the 33d, who had lost their way on the night of the Sultaun- 
 pettah Tope affair, a fact ascertained by Colonel Wellesley, who 
 sent some of the officers of the regiment, by whom the body of 
 one of their men was identified, a Peon having undertaken to 
 show where the European prisoners were buried. 
 
 These unfortunate captives, it seems, were murdered at 
 night, in parties of three at a time — the mode of killing them 
 was by twisting their heads, while their bodies were held fast, 
 and thus breaking their necks. It seems, therefore, not impro- 
 bable that much of the desperation of Tippoo, which has been 
 dignified into heroism, arose from the consciousness of what he 
 himself deserved, should he fall into the hands of his enemies. 
 
 P 2
 
 212 THE LIFE OF 
 
 sions, Major Allan offered to remain with them 
 himself. 
 
 Soon after this, General Baird arrived at the 
 gates of the palace, when Major Allan communi- 
 cated to him what had occurred with regard to 
 the two princes, who both continued most so- 
 lemnly to declare that they knew nothing of the 
 sultaun, their father, except that he was not in the 
 palace ; but as far as they themselves were per- 
 sonally concerned, they were ready to surrender 
 themselves and the palace itself on the promise of 
 protection from the British. 
 
 General Baird at this period utterly disbelieved 
 the statement of these youths that the sultaun was 
 not in the palace, and, entering as he did, into the 
 feelings which were quite natural in their state, 
 hesitated to grant terms to the sons, in hopes that 
 they might be excited by the delay to give infor- 
 mation of their father's place of concealment j 
 threatening at the same time, if they refused, to 
 search the most private quarters of the palace, 
 but as their repeated denials of any knowledge of 
 the sultaun were persisted in with apparent inno- 
 cence and simplicity, he resolved at all events to 
 take charge of the princes, and convey them out 
 of the fort before it became dark ; and accord- 
 ingly he gave them into the charge of Major 
 Allan, who having received them with every mark 
 of kindness, and given them every assurance of 
 personal safety, delivered them over to Lieutenant 
 Colonel Agnew and Captain Marriot, who con-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 213 
 
 ducted them, under a suitable escort, to General 
 Harris in camp.* 
 
 It still remained a point of the greatest political 
 importance to ascertain the actual fate of Tippoo 
 himself; and General Baird was so fully impressed 
 with the absolute necessity of reducing this ques- 
 tion to a positive certainty, that, accompanied by 
 Colonel Close and Major Allan, he proceeded to 
 search the palace, scrupulously avoiding, how- 
 ever, the zenana, over which a sufficient guard 
 had been placed to prevent the sultaun's escape, 
 should he have taken refuge in its sanctuary. 
 The killadar, however, who attended them, be- 
 trayed such emotions on being severely ques- 
 tioned, that they no longer entertained any expec- 
 tation of finding him there, and at length that 
 officer, who seemed anxious as long as possible to 
 conceal the truth, admitted his having heard that 
 the siiltaun had been severely wounded in a gate- 
 way in the north face of the fort, and that he still 
 lay there ; adding that he would conduct them to 
 
 * The following passage from Major Allan's narrative we 
 feel it right to submit to the reader : — " The indignation of 
 General Baird was very justly excited by a report which had 
 reached him soon after he had sent me to the palace, that Tippoo 
 had inhumanly murdered all the Europeans who had fallen into 
 his hands during the siege : this was heightened probably by a 
 momentary recollection of his own sufferings during more than 
 three years' imprisonment in that very place ; he was neverthe- 
 less sensibly affected by the sight of the princes ; and his gallan- 
 try in the assault was not more conspicuous than the modera- 
 tion and humanity which he displayed on this occasion/'
 
 214 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the spot, and if found to have deceived them would 
 willingly suffer death. 
 
 Upon receiving this information General Baird 
 quitted the palace, accompanied by several officers, 
 and proceeded to the gateway pointed out by the 
 killadar. The details of the result of this search, 
 as collected from the killadar of Seringapatam and 
 some of the sultaun's servants, are so curious and 
 interesting, that, although they are somewhat 
 lengthened by the account of what had previously 
 occurred to Tippoo on the day of his overthrow, 
 we are inclined to submit them to our readers 
 entire. 
 
 " When the sultaun 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 his right shoulder, and a small cartridge- 
 box hung to another embroidered belt thrown over 
 his left shoulder ; his talisman was fastened under 
 the jacket on his right arm, a little below the 
 shoulder. He went out early in the forenoon, as 
 was his custom daily, to one of the cavaliers on 
 the outer ramjDart of the north face, whence he 
 could observe what was doing on both sides. He 
 remained there till about noon, when he took his 
 usual repast under a pandal. It would appear that 
 he had at that time no suspicion of the assault 
 being so near ; for when it was reported to him 
 that our parallels and approaches were unusually
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 215 
 
 crowded with Europeans, he did not express the 
 least apprehension, nor take any other precaution 
 but desiring the messenger to return to the west 
 face, with orders to Meer GofFar, and the troops 
 on duty near the breach, to keep a strict guard. 
 
 " A few minutes afterwards he was informed 
 that Meer GofFar had been killed by a cannon- 
 shot near the breach ; which intelligence appeared 
 to agitate him greatly. He immediately ordered 
 the troops that were near him under arms, and his 
 personal servants, to load the carbines which they 
 carried for his own use, and hastened along the ram- 
 parts towards the breach, accompanied by a select 
 guard and several of his chiefs, till he met a num- 
 ber of his troops flying before the van of the Eu- 
 ropeans, who he perceived had already mounted 
 and gained the ramparts. Here he exerted himself 
 to rally the fugitives, and, uniting them with his 
 own guard, encouraged them by his voice and ex- 
 ample to make a determined stand. He repeatedly 
 fired on our troops himself; and one of his servants 
 asserts, that he saw him bring down several Euro- 
 peans near the top of the breach. 
 
 " Notwithstanding these exertions, when the 
 front of the European flank companies of the lefl 
 attack approached the spot where the sultaun 
 stood, he found himself almost entirely deserted, 
 and was forced to retire to the traverses of the 
 north ramparts. These he defended, one after 
 another, with the bravest of his men and officers ; 
 and, assisted by the fire of his people on the inner
 
 216 THE LIFE OF 
 
 wall, he several times obliged the front of our 
 troops, who were pushing on with their usual 
 ardour, to make a stand. The loss here would 
 have been much greater on our part, had not the 
 light infantry, and part of the battalion companies 
 of the 12th regiment, crossing the inner ditch, 
 and mounting the rampart, driven the enemy from 
 them, and taken in reverse those who, with the 
 sultaun, were defending the traverses of the outer 
 ramparts. 
 
 " While any of his troops remained with him, 
 the sultaun continued to dispute the ground, until 
 he approached the passage across the ditch to the 
 gate of the inner fort. Here he complained of 
 pain and weakness in one of his legs, in which he 
 had received a bad wound when very young ; and, 
 ordering his horse to be brought, he mounted : 
 but seeing the Europeans still advancing on both 
 the ramparts, he made for the gate, followed by 
 his palankeen, and a number of officers, troops, 
 and servants. It was then, probably, his intention 
 either to have entered and shut the gate, in order 
 to attack the small body of our troops which had 
 got into the inner fort, and, if successful in driving 
 them out, to have attempted to maintain it against 
 us, or to endeavour to make his way to the palace, 
 and there make his last stand; but as he was 
 crossing to the gate, by the communication from 
 the outer rampart, he received a musket-ball in 
 the right side, nearly as high as the breast : he, 
 however, still pressed on, till he was stopped.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 217 
 
 about half way through the arch of the gateway, by 
 the fire of the 12th Hght infantry from within, when 
 he received a second ball close to the other. The 
 horse he rode on, being also wounded, sank under 
 him, and his turban fell to the ground. Many of 
 his people fell at the same time, on every side, by 
 musketry, both from within and without the gate. 
 
 " The fallen sultaun was immediately raised by 
 some of his adherents,* and placed in his palan- 
 keen, under the arch, on one side of the gateway, 
 where he lay, or sat, for some minutes, faint and 
 exhausted, till some Europeans entered the gate- 
 way. A Serjeant, who has survived, relates, that 
 one of the soldiers seized the sultaun's sword-belt, 
 which was very rich, and attempted to pull it off: 
 that the sultaun, who still held his sword in his 
 hand, made a cut at the soldier with all his re- 
 maining strength, and wounded him about the 
 knee ; on which he put his piece to his shoulder 
 and shot tlie sultaun through the temple, when he 
 instantlyj^expired.t 
 
 " Not less than three hundred men were killed, 
 
 * "Loyal subjects" would^ perhaps^ have sounded as well 
 in a conqueror's account of the death of a sovereign prince. 
 
 t One cannot but regret, for the honour of human nature, 
 and even for the sake of England, that the end of such a man as 
 Tippoo (for, let it never be forgotten in this great contest, who 
 were, in fact, the oppressors), that he should have been shot in 
 cold blood by a man who was endeavouring to rob him. 
 Doubtless the feeling that prompted the blow which actually 
 cost him his life, was that of rage at the indignity and conta- 
 mination he had suffered by the attack of the private soldier. 
 Let us hope the man was a Sepoy.
 
 2liS THE LIFE OF 
 
 and numbers wounded under the arch of this gate- 
 way, which soon became impassible, excepting 
 over the bodies of the dead and dying. 
 
 " About dusk. General Baird, in consequence 
 of information he had received at the palace, came 
 with lights to the gate, accompanied by the late 
 killadar of the fort, and others, to search for the 
 body of the sultaun ; and after much labour it 
 was found, and brought from under a heap of 
 slain, to the inside of the gate. The countenance 
 was no ways distorted, but had an expression of 
 stern composure. His turban, jacket, and sword- 
 belt were gone f but the body was recognised by 
 some of his people, who were there, to be the sul- 
 taun, and an officer who was present, with the 
 leave of General Baird, took from off his right 
 arm the talisman, which contained, sewed up in 
 pieces of fine flowered silk, an amulet of a brittle 
 metallic substance of the colour of silver, and some 
 manuscripts in magic Arabic and Persian characters, 
 the purport of which, had there been any doubt, 
 would have sufficiently ascertained the identity of 
 the sultaun's body. It was placed on his own 
 palankeen, and, by General Baird's orders, con- 
 veyed to the court of the palace, where it remain- 
 ed during the night, furnishing a remarkable in- 
 stance to those who are given to reflection, of the 
 uncertainty of human affairs. He who had left 
 his palace in the morning a powerful imperious 
 sultaun, full of vast ambitious projects, was 
 brought back a lump of clay ; his kingdom over- 
 thrown, his capital taken, and his palace occupied
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 219 
 
 by the very man (Major-General Baird), who, 
 about fifteen years before, had been, with other 
 victims of his cruelty and tyranny, released from 
 near four years of rigid confinement in irons, 
 scarce three hundred yards from the spot where 
 the corpse of the sultaun now lay. 
 
 *' Thus ended the life and the power of Tip- 
 poo. It will require an able pen to delineate 
 a character apparently so inconsistent ; but he 
 who attempts it must not decide hastily." * 
 
 After General Baird had discovered the body 
 of the sultaun, and had caused it to be brought to 
 the palace, he despatched officers and parties in 
 every direction, to endeavour to restore order 
 and prevent the plunder and confusion which 
 hardly any efforts could entirely suppress at the 
 first moment of success ; although it ought to be 
 
 * In another very interesting account of this scene by Major 
 Allan, a more particular description is given of the personal 
 appearance of the sultaun. 
 
 " When Tippoo," says Major Allan, " was brought from 
 under the gateway, his eyes were open, and the body w^as so 
 warm that for a few moments Colonel Wellesley and myself 
 were doubtful whether he was not alive — on feeling his heart 
 and pulse, that doubt was removed : he had four wounds, three 
 in the body and one in the temple, the ball having entered a 
 little above the right ear and lodged in the cheek. 
 
 " Tippoo was of low stature, corpulent, with high shoulders 
 and a short, thick neck ; but his feet and hands were remark- 
 ably small — his complexion was rather dark, his eyes large and 
 prominent, with small arched eyebrows, and his nose aquiline- 
 he had an appearance of dignity, or perhaps sternness, in his 
 countenance, which distinguished him above the common order 
 of people."
 
 220 THE LIFE OF 
 
 stated, to the honour of the victors, that although 
 eight thousand of the enemy's troops fell in the 
 assault, very few of the unarmed inhabitants suf- 
 fered, and those who did, subsequently proved to 
 have been hit accidentally, a circumstance highly 
 indicative of the admirable discipline of the troops, 
 and the humane exertions of their officers. 
 
 The loss of the European and Indian army 
 during the siege, was twenty-two officers killed, 
 and forty-five wounded, one hundred and eighty- 
 one European non-commissioned rank and file 
 killed, six hundred and twenty-two wounded, and 
 twenty-two missing, one hundred and nineteen 
 natives killed, four hundred and twenty wounded, 
 and one hundred missing — of the officers twenty- 
 five were killed and wounded in the assault. 
 
 Upon his return to the palace. General Baird 
 took with him the 74th and the 33d regiment, 
 ordered them to pile their arms in one of its mag- 
 nificent courts, and posted guards for the protec- 
 tion of the zenana, and after the fatigues of the 
 eventful day, laid himself down to rest on a car- 
 pet in the verandah ; thus ensuring and enforcing 
 by his presence the protection he had promised to 
 the helpless women and the family of the dead 
 sultaun, who had in the days of his ascendancy 
 inflicted on him the horrors of a long and dismal 
 imprisonment, and that too, as has been observed, 
 within a few paces of the very spot where he then 
 reposed, his conqueror! 
 
 Several of General Baird's staff, and Colonel 
 Wallace, of the 74th, were, like the general, en-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. ^^1 
 
 joying the comfort of rest after their toils ; but 
 their quiet was soon disturbed ; for very shortly 
 after they had lain down, intelligence was brought 
 to them that the town was on fire in several 
 places, and that the followers of the camp, who 
 had come in, were committing all sorts of ex- 
 cesses. General Baird instantly roused himself, 
 gave the necessary orders for checking the irre- 
 gularity, and then again settled himself to sleep, 
 when a new alarm was raised that the soldiers had 
 gained access to the treasury, and were loading 
 themselves with gold. 
 
 Colonel Wallace and his aid-de-camp were im- 
 mediately despatched to the spot, which proved to 
 be the " expense" treasury, where Tippoo always 
 kept an immense store of money and jewels for 
 present use. This treasury had been pointed out to 
 General Baird, and he had posted a strong guard 
 over it, but a door had been discovered which 
 opened into it from another court of the palace, 
 through which the marauders had entered. 
 
 Colonel Wallace, on his arrival, found the place 
 filled with soldiers and (to their shame be it said) 
 officers, loading themselves with gold and jewels. 
 One gentleman in particular, when he perceived 
 Colonel Wallace and the aid-de-camp approaching, 
 affected to be highly incensed against the men, 
 and actively employed in preventing the pillage, 
 while at the very moment they saw him filling his 
 own pockets. That individual is now dead, and 
 General Baird never would run the risk of paining
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 his family by the chance of the story reaching their 
 ears — he knew, but never mentioned his name. 
 
 Soon after the dawn of day, one of Tippoo's sons, 
 Abdul Khalick, was brought to General Baird — 
 he had surrendered himself to an officer outside 
 the fort, who had been reconnoitring. He was 
 received by the general with the greatest kind- 
 ness, who, after a short time had elapsed, inquired 
 of him if he knew any thing of the sultaun, his 
 father. He replied — No — but earnestly begged 
 to be informed if the general did. The general 
 told him that it was thought he had fallen in the 
 assault, and that a body, supposed to be that of 
 his highness, lay in the adjoining apartment. 
 
 " That may be easily ascertained," said the 
 prince ; at the same time requesting permission to 
 send for an old man, one of his attendants, in 
 order that he might go and look at the corpse — 
 the permission was granted — the old man went — 
 he returned bathed in tears. 
 
 The young prince looked stedfastly at him for 
 an instant, and laying his finger on his lips to im- 
 pose silence, turned to the general with a calm 
 dignity, and without uttering a syllable, signified 
 by the expression of his countenance that the body 
 was his father's.* 
 
 * " The remains of the late sultaun were interred in the even- 
 ing of the same day ; the bier was supported by the attendants 
 of the late court, preceded by two companies of English gre- 
 nadiers, and followed by a similar force. Abdul Khalick fol- 
 lowed the corpse on horseback, attended by the killadar and
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 223 
 
 It was on this day, the 5th, that General Harris 
 issued the following general order from head quar- 
 ters, and although the insertion of that order just 
 at this point of time may involve us in something 
 like an anachronism, it seems more convenient, 
 with reference to circumstances which closely 
 follow, to give it in this place, 
 
 G. 0. — Bi/ the Commander-in-chief. 
 
 Camp at Seringapatam, 5th Ma?j, 1799. 
 The commander-in-chief congratulates the gallant army 
 which he has the honour to command on the conquest of 
 yesterday. The effect arising from the attainment of such 
 an acquisition as far exceeds the present limits of detail as 
 the unremitting zeal, labour, and unparalleled valour of 
 the troops, surpass his power of praise. For services so 
 incalculable in their consequences, he must consider the 
 army as well entitled to the applause and gratitude of 
 their country at large. 
 
 other officers on foot. The cauzee chanted some verses from 
 the Koran, which were repeated by the attendants. 
 
 " The streets were thronged with the inhabitants, the greater 
 part of whom prostrated themselves before the earthly remains 
 of their late monarch and master. At the entrance of the town, 
 Baug Meer Allum, and the chief of the Nizam's army, after 
 paying their respects to the prince, fell into the procession ; 
 when, having reached Hyder's mausoleum, the grenadiers 
 formed a street and presented arms. The burial service having 
 been performed, a keerout, or charitable gift of 5,000 rupees, 
 was distributed by the cauzee to the different Facquirs and to 
 the poor who attended the funeral ; and, to add to the solem- 
 nity of the scene, the evening closed with a most dreadful 
 storm, attended by rain, thunder, and lightning, by which two 
 officers, and some others in the Bombay camp, were killed, 
 and many severely hurt." — Beatsons War with Tippoo.
 
 224 THE LIFE OF 
 
 While Lieutenant-General Harris sincerely laments the 
 loss sustained in the valuable officers and men who fell in the 
 assault, he cannot omit to return his thanks in the warmest 
 terms to Major-General Baird, for the decided and able 
 manner in which he conducted the assault, and the humane 
 measures which he subsequently adopted for preserving 
 order and regularity in the place. He requests that 
 Major-General Baird will communicate to the officers and 
 men who, on that great occasion, acted under his com- 
 mand, the high sense he must entertain of their achieve- 
 ments and merits. 
 
 The commander-in-chief requests that Colonel Gent, 
 and the corps of engineers under his orders, will accept his 
 thanks for their unremitting exertions in conducting the 
 duties of that very important department ; and his best 
 acknowledgments are due to Major Beatson for the essential 
 assistance given to this branch of the service by the con- 
 stant exertion of his ability and zeal. 
 
 The merits of the artillery corps are so strongly ex- 
 pressed by the eifects of their fire, that the commander-in- 
 chief can only desire Colonel Smith to assure the officers 
 and men of the excellent corps under his command, that 
 he feels most fully their claim to approbation. 
 
 In thus publicly expressing his sense of their good con- 
 duct, the commander-in-chief feels himself called upon to 
 notice, in a particular manner, the exertions of Captain 
 Dowse and his corps of pioneers, which, during the pre- 
 sent service, have been equally marked by unremitting 
 labour, and by the ability with which that labour was 
 applied. 
 
 On referring to the progress of the siege, so many oc- 
 casions have occurred for applause, that it is difficult to 
 particularize individual merit ; but the gallant manner in 
 which Lieutenant-Colonel Sherer, the Hon. Col. Wellesley, 
 Lieut.-Col. Money])enny, the Hon. Lieut -Col. St. John, 
 Major Macdonald, Major Skclly, and Lieut.-Col. Wal-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 225 
 
 lace, conducted the attacks on the several outworks and 
 posts of the enemy, demand to be recorded ; and the very 
 spirited attack led by Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, of 
 H.M.'s 7'ith regiment, which tended so greatly to secure 
 the position our troops had attained in the enemy's works 
 on 28th ultimo, claims the strongest approbation of the 
 commander-in-chief. 
 
 The important part taken by the Bombay army since 
 the commencement of the siege, in all the operations which 
 led to its honourable conclusion, has been such as will 
 sustain its long established reputation. The gallant man- 
 ner in which the village of Agrar was seized by the force 
 under Colonel Hart, the ability displayed in directing the 
 fire of the batteries established there, the vigour with 
 which every attack of the enemy on the outposts of that 
 army was repulsed, and the spirit shewn in the assault of 
 the breach by the corps led by Lieutenant-Colonel Dun- 
 lop, are points of particular notice for which the com- 
 mander-in-chief requests that Lieut. -General Stuart will 
 offer his best thanks to the officers and troops employed. 
 
 Lieu tenant-General Harris trusts that Lieutenant-General 
 Stuart will excuse his thus publicly expressing his sense 
 of the cordial co-operation and assistance received from 
 him during the present service ; in the course of which he 
 has ever found it difficult to separate the sentiments of hi» 
 public duty from the warmest feelings of private friendship. 
 
 Having, with a view to exhibit distinctly the 
 feelings of exultation, praise, and gratitude, which 
 pervade the general order of the commander-in- 
 chief, submitted a copy of the original document 
 in this part of our narrative, we shall return to 
 what was doing in the interior of the palace on the 
 morning of the day upon which that order was 
 issued. 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 THE LIFE OF 
 
 In spite of all his anxious exertions, General 
 Baird perceived that plunder was still going on, 
 and he therefore sent out the tom-tom (or great 
 drum used upon all occasions of making proclama- 
 tion), and announced publicly that any man, be 
 he whom he might, detected in pilfering, should 
 be hanged ; and in order to shew the earnestness 
 of his intention upon this important point, the 
 provost marshal was ordered to be in attendance. 
 This decision had considerable effect. 
 
 General Baird having done this, was proceed- 
 ing to make further arrangements for the tranquil- 
 lization and regulation of the town, when Colonel 
 Wellesley arrived at the palace, bringing with him 
 an order from General Harris to General Baird, 
 directing him to deliver over to him (Colonel 
 Wellesley) the command of Seringapatam ; the 
 city which he had conquered the day before, and 
 the conquest of which was to him, above all living 
 men, most glorious — and, to use the memorable 
 words of the hero himself (found in the copy of 
 a letter in his possession), " Before the sweat 
 was dry on my brow, I was superseded by an in- 
 ferior officer." 
 
 Deeply did General Baird feel this unexpected 
 blow — but his regret, though mingled with sur- 
 prise, we may even add, with indignation, partook 
 of no personal feeling of hostility against Colonel 
 Wellesley, whose actual merits, as we have already 
 observed, he always justly appreciated, and whose 
 future exaltation he always confidently anticipated.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 227 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 GENERAL BAIRD RETURNS TO CAMP — TRANSMITS HIS DESPATCH 
 ANNOUNCING THE DETAILS OF THE CAPTURE OF SERINGAPATAM 
 
 TO GENERAL HARRIS ADDITIONAL ORDERS LETTER OF GENERAL 
 
 BAIRD OFFICIAL REPLY THROUGH THE MILITARY SECRETARY 
 
 GENERAL BAIRD's ANSWER SECOND LETTER COLONEL WELLES- 
 LEY PRESENTS GENERAL BAIRD WITH THE STATE SWORD OF 
 
 TIPPOO — CLAIMED BY THE PRIZE COMMITTEE PRESENTED BY 
 
 THEM TO GENERAL BAIRD GENERAL BAIRD RECEIVES ANOTHER 
 
 SWORD — THANKS OF THE HOUSE OF COMMONS MR. DUNDAs's 
 
 SPEECH THANKS OF THE EAST INDIA COMPANY — DISTRIBUTION 
 
 OF GENERAL OFFICERS — COLONEL WELLESLEY LEFT IN COMMAND 
 OF THE MYSORE GENERAL BAIRD PROCEEDS TO MADRAS. 
 
 When General Baird returned to camp (which 
 he did immediately after he was superseded), and 
 not before, he discovered that, without waiting for 
 any report from hiniy General Harris had issued the 
 general orders which we have already given in a 
 preceding page, in which, as the reader will have 
 seen, thanks were offered to the storming party, 
 particularizing several officers, and omitting the 
 names of several others who had distinguished 
 themselves as much as those who were named, if 
 not more. By what rule, or upon what data the 
 commander-in-chief had regulated his praises and 
 commendations of individual merit in the begin- 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ning of that order, it is difficult to guess ; for the 
 fact is, that the first report his excellency ever 
 received from General Baird, of the storming or 
 any thing connected with it, was after his having 
 been superseded hy Colonel TVellesley^ and after his 
 return to camp. 
 
 This report is here subjoined. 
 
 To Lieutenant-General Harris, Commander-in-chief, 
 
 Sfc. SfC. 
 Sir, 
 
 Having, in obedience to your orders, taken the com- 
 mand of the troops ordered for the assault of the fort of 
 Seringapatam, consisting of a corps of the six companies 
 of European flankers from the Bombay army under 
 Lieut.-Col. Dunlop, a corps of four companies of European 
 flankers from the Scotch brigade, and the regiment de 
 Meuron, under Colonel Sherbrooke. 
 
 His Majesty's 12th, 33d, and 74th regiments, ten com- 
 panies of Bengal Sepoy flankers under Lieut.-Col. Gardiner, 
 eight companies of coast Sepoy flankers under Lieut.-Col. 
 Mignan, one liundred artillery-men, with a proportion of 
 gun-Lascars, under Major Bell, the European and native 
 pioneers, under Captain Dowce, amounting, as per en- 
 closed return of men actually under arms at the assault, 
 
 Firelocksj g""?-;;:.; ?«* }Total...4376 
 
 I have now the honour to report to you the measures I 
 took to secure the success of the important object intrusted 
 to me, and the result, and to enclose a return of the killed 
 and wounded on the assault. Having received your in- 
 structions to make the capture of the ramparts, my first 
 object, as the force under my command was not deemed 
 sufficient to assault the ramparts and the town at the same 
 time, when defended by Tippoo's whole army, I directed
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 229 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Dunlop, with six companies of Bom- 
 bay European flankers, supported by his Majesty's 12th 
 and 33d regiments and ten companies of Bengal Sepoy 
 flankers, with fifty artillery-men, to assault the north ram- 
 parts, and to push on with the European flank companies 
 until he met the south attack under Colonel Sherbrook, 
 consisting of the flank companies of the Scotch brigade 
 and regiment de Meuron, reinforced by the grenadier com- 
 panies of his Majesty's 73d and 74th regiments, in con- 
 sequence of the vigorous resistance there was reason to 
 apprehend at the several heavy batteries on the south face 
 of the fort ; and supported by his Majesty's "JSA and 
 74th regiments, eight companies of coast natives, and six 
 of Bombay native flankers, with fifty artillery-men, when 
 the whole were directed to form on the east face until 
 arrangements were made for the attack of such of the 
 cavaliers as might not have already been seized, or for pro- 
 ceeding to the attack of the body of the place, if with the 
 force remaining, such a measure should be deemed advisable. 
 The assault commenced, in obedience to your orders, at 
 one P.M. Colonels Sherbrook and Dunlop were directed 
 on no account to quit the inner rampart, previous to their 
 junction, for any other object but that of seizing t)n the 
 cavaliers in the neighbourhood of their respective attacks, 
 and to lose no time in regaining their situation on the 
 ramparts as soon as that object should be obtained ; and 
 every cavalier, or post, on the ramparts, which it might 
 be deemed essential to secure, were immediately to be oc- 
 cupied by a battalion company, or companies, from the 
 supporting European regiments ; so that the whole of the 
 ground once captured might be secured, and the flankers, 
 on their junction, be in full force to follow up their success 
 by an attack on any of the cavaliers which had not fallen 
 in their way, or by an assault on the body of the town and 
 the palace of the sultaun.
 
 230 THE LIFE OF 
 
 In the success of every part of this plan my warmest 
 wishes were gratified. The whole of the ramparts and 
 every cavalier in the fort were, in a vigorous assault of a 
 few hours, in the possession of our troops, who were too 
 well acquainted with the value of their conquest to render 
 their retaining it against the whole of Tippoo's army at all 
 doubtful. 
 
 The place, therefore, being so securely our own, I was 
 not anxious, by an immediate attack on the palace, to 
 bring on a fresh and unnecessary slaughter ; and, indeed, 
 the exhausted state of the gallant flankers rendered it ex- 
 pedient for me to halt a short time before I proceeded to 
 the attack of the palace, which, if Tippoo was in it, there 
 was every reason to suppose would, if possible, be as gal- 
 lantly defended as attacked. 
 
 During this halt two fresh battalions of Sepoys arrived, 
 and, trusting that by this time the sultaun would see how 
 fruitless any further resistance must prove, I requested 
 Major Allan, deputy quarter-master-general, who had just 
 arrived from camp, and who, from his knowledge of the 
 language, was well qualified to execute the duty, to pro- 
 ceed with a flag of truce to the palace, and oiFer quarter to 
 Tippoo Sultaun, and every person in his palace, on his 
 immediate and unconditional surrender of himself and 
 family to me ; at the same time informing him, if there 
 was the smallest hesitation in accepting tliis offer, that an 
 immediate assault on the palace would take place, and 
 every man in it be put to the sword. 
 
 The grenadier and part of the J 2th regiment, under 
 Major Craigie, with the 2d battalion, 9th regiment of 
 Sepoys, accompanied Major Allan to put this tlireat into 
 immediate execution, if necessary ; and I prepared the 
 flankers, now a little recovered from their fatigues, to fol- 
 low to the attack of the palace on the first signal of hosti- 
 lities having recommenced (for the firing had ceased on all
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 231 
 
 sides for upwards of an hour). In the mean time, I re- 
 ceived intelligence from one of the prisoners of whom I 
 caused inquiry to be made, as to the place where the Eng- 
 lish soldiers, who had been taken in the different assaults 
 on the enemy's outposts during the siege, were confined, 
 that they had all been put to death, about ten days before, 
 in the most barbarous manner, by having nails driven 
 through their skulls. On this, I immediately advanced 
 with the flankers of the 7'ith regiment, and the light in- 
 fantry and remaining part of the 12th regiment, resolved, 
 if quarter had not already been granted, and the dreadful 
 accounts of the fate of our fellow-soldiers were confirmed, 
 to sacrifice the tyrant to their manes. 
 
 On reaching the palace. Major Allan came out to me, 
 and informed me he had been with Tippoo's two youngest 
 sons, who were ignoi'ant where their father was, but were 
 disposed to surrender themselves and the palace on a 
 promise of protection. Anxious, if possible, to discover 
 Tippoo, who, I had been informed, was certainly in the 
 palace, I hesitated to agree to these conditions unless they 
 would inform me where their father was, and threatened 
 to search the most secret recesses of the palace if he was 
 not instantly produced ; but not being able to learn from 
 them where the sultaun was, and wishing to get them out 
 of the fort before it was dark, after giving them every as- 
 surance of protection and kind treatment, I sent them off 
 to you under charge of Lieutenant-Colonel Agnew, your 
 public secretary, and Captain Marriott, your aid -de- 
 camp, escorted by the light infantry company of his Ma- 
 jesty's 33d regiment. The palace was thus taken posses- 
 sion of without opposition. 
 
 I now proceeded to search the palace, accompanied by 
 Lieutenant-Colonel Close and Major Allan, taking care, 
 however, to avoid the zenana, round which I had posted 
 a sufficient force to make his escape from it impracticable.
 
 232 THE LIFE OF 
 
 In the palace we found a man who, on being severely 
 threatened, said that the sultaun was killed in attempting 
 to escape through the northern sally-port, and offered to 
 conduct us to the body ; we accordingly proceeded thither, 
 and, under a slaughtered heap of several hundreds, many 
 of whom were men of consequence in his service, had the 
 pleasure to discover the body of the sultaun. He had 
 been shot through the head and body, and was quite 
 dead : I caused him to be immediately put into a palan- 
 quin and conveyed to the palace, where the body was 
 identified by some of the principal men who had fallen 
 into our hands, and by two of the eunuchs belonging to his 
 haram. 
 
 I now proceeded to give such protection to the inhabi- 
 tants as was in my power ; and, although it was by this time 
 dark, as I have heard no complaints of outrage or insult 
 being offered to any after the conflict ceased, I think I may 
 venture to say the natives of India will be satisfied that the 
 British soldiers are not more brave than humane. 
 
 Early the next morning Abdul Khalick, the second son 
 of Tippoo, and the elder of the two who were delivered to 
 Lord Cornwallis as hostages, at the conclusion of the last 
 war, was met by Lieutenant-Colonel Dalrymple coming 
 from the island to deliver himself up ; he was immediately 
 assured of protection and the most liberal treatment, and I 
 went to meet him, to shew him how much satisfied I was 
 with the confidence he placed in us, by thus delivering 
 himself into our hands when the means of escape were 
 perfectly in his power. Having been led to expect you in 
 the fort yesterday morning, I waited with Abdul Khalick 
 to deliver him into your own hands, but, on being relieved 
 by Colonel Wellesley, I proceeded with him to camp, and 
 delivered him over to you. 
 
 I perceive in the general order of yesterday that no 
 mention is made of Colonel Sherbrooke ; this, I presume.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 233 
 
 is owing to that order being published before I had time 
 to make any report to you of the conduct of the troops 
 under my command in the assault, which was highly ex - 
 emplary throughout ; and if, where all behaved nobly, it 
 is proper to mention individual merit, I know no man so 
 justly entitled to praise as Colonel Sherbrooke, to whose 
 exertions I feel myself much indebted for the success of 
 the attack. 
 
 I make no doubt Lieutenant-Colonel Dunlop, who com- 
 manded a party of equal force with that of Colonel Sher- 
 brooke, would have merited equal praise for his exertions, 
 had he not, most unfortunately, been disabled by a wound 
 very early in the assault, — a circumstance I most sincerely 
 regretted, as, from the well-known character of that officer, 
 and the clear manner in which he understood the instruc- 
 tions I gave him relative to the attack he was to lead, I 
 felt the greatest confidence in its success. 
 I have the honour to be. 
 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient, humble servant, 
 
 D. Baikd. 
 Camp, Seringapatam, 6th May, 1799. 
 
 The effect produced by this letter of General 
 Baird was the publication of an additional extract 
 from general orders, which follows. 
 
 Seringapatam, Sth May, 1799. 
 
 LiEUTENA-NT-General Harris has particular pleasure in 
 publishing to the army the following extract of a report 
 transmitted to him yesterday by Major-General Baird, as 
 it places in a distinguished point of view the merit of an 
 officer on the very important occasion referred to, whose 
 gallantry and good conduct, since he has served with his
 
 234 THE LIFE OF 
 
 army, have not failed to recommend him strongly to the 
 commander-in-chief : — 
 
 " If, where all behaved nobly, it is proper to mention 
 individual merit, I know no man so justly entitled to 
 praise as Colonel Sherbrooke, to whose exertions I feel 
 myself much indebted for the success of the attack." 
 
 True copies. (Signed) P. A. Agnew, 
 
 Military Secretary. 
 
 Although General Baird, by making the report 
 just given, had fulfilled his duty to his superior 
 officer, it appeared to him that there yet remained 
 a duty to be done to himself. It was impossible 
 for him to sit down patiently and quietly under the 
 injury which he considered had been done him by 
 his removal from Seringapatam. To have been 
 eventually relieved from the command, would have 
 been nothing — perhaps even as it was, not much, 
 had he not been superseded by a junior officer, and 
 that junior officer one who had previously, and seve- 
 ral times, been "preferred before him," and one for 
 whom (although that had nothing to do with mere 
 details of duty) he had shewn a noble and gene- 
 rous consideration ; but it was something — it was 
 much, very much, that he should have been re- 
 moved so abruptly, so suddenly, and with as little 
 courtesy or ceremony as if he had failed in the 
 attack, instead of having achieved a conquest, the 
 vital importance of which to the integrity of Bri- 
 tish India, is amply detailed in the despatches of 
 Lord Wellesley himself, and universally acknow- 
 ledged by every individual at all conversant with 
 oriental politics.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 235 
 
 General Baird had of course no alternative but 
 submitting to authority — yet he felt it, as we have 
 just said, a duty incumbent on himself to put upon 
 record such a protest against the proceedings by 
 which he felt himself aggrieved, as might vindicate 
 his character to the army in India, and his friends 
 in Europe ; and accordingly he accompanied the 
 official report above given, by the following letter 
 addressed to General Harris : — 
 
 To Lieutenant-General Harris, Commander-in-chief^ 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Having, in a letter which I had this moniing the 
 honour to address to you, given a detailed account of 
 the assault of the fort of Seringapatam, the conduct of 
 which you did me the honour to intrust to me, permit me 
 now. Sir, to address you on the subject of the events which 
 have taken place since that time. 
 
 Having been honoured with the conduct of the assault, 
 and having executed that duty to your satisfaction, I 
 naturally concluded that I should have been permitted to 
 retain the command of Seringapatam, or, at least, that I 
 should not be superseded in it by a junior officer. Judge, 
 then, my surprise, when expecting to have the honour of 
 delivering to you the keys of Seringapatam, in the palace of 
 the late Tippoo Sultaun, and of congratulating you on the 
 most brilliant victory that ever graced the British arms in 
 India, to have an order put into my hands by Colonel 
 Wellesley, by which I found myself instantly superseded 
 in the command by that officer. I am really ignorant 
 what part of my conduct could merit such treatment. 
 
 When, on a former occasion. Colonel Wellesley was ap- 
 pointed to the command of the detachment serving with 
 his highness the Nizam, while I remained in charge of a
 
 236 THE LIFE OF 
 
 brigade, you informed me that matters of a political nature 
 made it necessary to have that officer with the Nizam's 
 army. Although I severely felt the appointment of a 
 junior officer to so distinguished a command, while I re- 
 mained in an inferior station, I submitted to the necessity 
 which you informed me dictated the measure ; but this 
 second supercession I feel most sensibly, as it must have 
 the effect of leading his Majesty and the commander-in- 
 chief in England to believe that I am not fit for any 
 command of importance, when it has been thought proper 
 to give the command of Seringapatam to Colonel Wellesley, 
 while he, at the same time, continues to hold the command 
 of the Nizam's detachment. 
 
 In camp it is rumoured to have been at my own re- 
 quest that another officer was appointed to the command 
 of Seringapatam ; you. Sir, must know that this is not the 
 case. The request, if made, must have been made by me 
 to you ; and, so far from its ever being my intention to 
 make such a request, if (after the assurances I have re- 
 peatedly received from you, that you would take the first 
 opportunity of placing me in a situation more adequate to 
 the rank I hold than that of the command of a brigade,) I 
 had deemed it necessary to make any request to you, it 
 would have been to be placed in the eommajid of Seringa- 
 patam ; and when I reflected that my two seniors, belonging 
 to the coast army, continued to stand appointed to the 
 northern and southern divisions of the Carnatic, and that 
 the Hon. Col. Wellesley, the next junior to me, stood ap- 
 pointed to the command of an army, while I remained in 
 charge of a brigade, I should have felt that I was hinting a 
 doubt, which I never entertained, of the sincerity of those 
 assurances, if I had made a particular application for the 
 command of Seringapatam — indeed, I could not think it 
 necessary. 
 
 Some mistake may have arisen from my having, through
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 237 
 
 Major Beatson, expressed a desire that the whole storming 
 party might be relieved from camp ; so that order might 
 be established, and troops more equal to take the fatigue 
 of guard mounting during the night, be placed in the fort ; 
 and I wished to be relieved for a short time that 1 might 
 myself have had the honour of reporting our success, and 
 informing you in person of every particular relative to the 
 storm. This not having been found convenient, I desired 
 Captain Young, deputy adjutant-general of his Majesty's 
 troops, who was proceeding to camp at daylight next 
 morning, to inform you that, as I was much recovered 
 from the fatigues of the preceding day, I wished not to 
 be relieved till I had examined the state of the works and 
 ascertained the number of cannon captured. I received a 
 letter from Captain Young, long before Colonel Wellesley 
 superseded me, informing me that he had made my request 
 known to you. 
 
 I cannot but feel obliged by your having enabled me to 
 act so distinguished a part in the storm, though I find so 
 little attention has, in every other instance, been paid to 
 my requests, that I am almost led to believe my being 
 employed on that occasion, was owing to my being the 
 only officer of rank who had made a voluntary offer of his 
 services. 
 
 I request that cbpies of this letter may be transmitted 
 to his Royal Highness the Duke of York, Commander-in- 
 chief, for the information of his Majesty, that, at the 
 same time he is informed of my having been twice super- 
 seded by Colonel Wellesley, he may be in possession of 
 such reasons as you shall think proper to give for it, that 
 he may be satisfied the measure was dictated by necessity, 
 and not by any want of capacity on my part to fill the 
 
 situation. 
 
 I have the honour, &c. 
 
 D. Baird. 
 Camp, Seringapafaniy 6th May, 1799-
 
 238 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The official answer to this letter, written, or 
 rather signed by Colonel Agnew, the military 
 secretary (for we cannot imagine that a military 
 secretary would venture to originate so much of 
 himself in a matter of such importance,) we lay 
 before our readers ; and we believe we may chal- 
 lenge the annalists of history to find either prece- 
 dent, or parallel, or prototype for such an address 
 to a victorious general two days after his having 
 achieved a conquest, the memory of which will 
 live till time shall be no more. 
 
 Sth May. — Camp, Seringapatam. 
 To Major-General Baird, S^c. Sec. Sfc. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 The commander-in-chief directs me to inform you that 
 he has this day received from Major of brigade Falconer, 
 your report of the assault intrusted to your conduct on the 
 4th instant, and that, ever ready to do justice to the merits 
 of officers under his command, he is happy in the occasion 
 you have given him for taMng particular notice of the 
 conduct of Colonel Sherhrooke ! 
 
 I am also directed to acknowledge the receipt of the 
 very improper letter which accompanied your report. 
 
 The distinguished command for which you were selected 
 by the commander-in-chief, and the sentiments he has so 
 publicly and recently expressed on that occasion, suffi- 
 ciently mark what was his sense of your military merit ; 
 and it is with regret that he now finds himself compelled 
 to blame a total want of discretion and respect in an 
 officer of your high rank and length of service, in terms so 
 opposite to those in Avhich he was lately so happy to ap- 
 plaud yovu' gallantry, humanity, and zeal.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 239 
 
 Lieutenant-General Harris is persuaded that an officer 
 who th'mks himself authorized to remonstrate with his 
 immediate superior, can never be usefully employed in the 
 army he commands. Should you, therefore, continue to 
 hold sentiments so opposite to the principles of military 
 subordination, you have his permission to proceed by the 
 Jirst safe conveyance to Fort St. George. 
 
 The commander-in-chief will certainly forward to his 
 Royal Highness the Duke of York, copies of your letter 
 and his reply. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 Sir, 
 Your very obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) P. A. Agnew, 
 Mil. Sec. to the Commander-in-chief. 
 
 To this letter, which we have already taken the 
 liberty of characterizing, General Baird made the 
 following reply, addressed to General Harris : — 
 
 SiK, 
 
 I YESTERDAY received a letter from Lieut.-Col. Agnew, 
 your public secretary, which has created in me the greatest 
 astonishment. 
 
 Conceiving myself injured, and my military character in 
 some degree impeached, in the repeated preference that 
 had been shewn to my junior, the Honourable Colonel 
 Wellesley, in nominating him to distinguished commands, 
 while I, serving with the same army, was still left in my 
 original situation of commandant of a brigade ; and feel- 
 ing, as I conceived every military man in a similar situation 
 would have felt, on being superseded by the same officer 
 in the command of the important fortress of Seringa- 
 patam, I thought it due to my own character to address 
 you on that subject, and I can safely affirm that, in that
 
 240 THE LIFE OF 
 
 address, it was my firm intention to make to you the most 
 respectful statement of facts. 
 
 On the receipt of your secretary ""s letter, I again and again 
 perused the one I had had the honour to address to you; 
 and, after every attempt, must acknowledge myself unable 
 to discover one paragraph, or even one word, which can be 
 construed into the smallest disrespect. God knows, such 
 an idea was the farthest from my thoughts. I, therefore, 
 feel with double sensibility the unmerited asperity of your 
 secretary's letter, which I can hardly bring myself to be- 
 lieve to contain your real sentiments. If, however, I am 
 wrong in this conjecture, 1 trust you will enable me to 
 clear myself before a general court martial, from which I 
 can have nothing to fear, being satisfied in my own mind 
 that there is not an officer in this, or in any array, who 
 more abhors the crime of which I stand accused. 
 
 It was my intention, from the moment I was superseded 
 in the command of Seringapatam, to apply for permission 
 to quit the army, as soon as I deemed my services to my 
 king and country no longer required my remaining with it. 
 My wish is still to do so, and I shall, when there is no 
 longer an appearance of the army's being actively em- 
 ployed, make an application to you to that effect. If, 
 however, you should still persevere in your determination 
 of ordering me from the army, in consequence of the res- 
 pectful representation I have thought myself authorized 
 to make to you, I shall, in that case, only have to regret 
 the necessity there will be for making my removal from 
 the army, and the circumstances which occasioned it, 
 equally public. 
 
 (Signed) D. Baird. 
 
 This explanation of General Baird's feelings and 
 views seemed to have no effect upon the com- 
 mander-in-chief, who, again through the medium
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 241 
 
 of his military secretary, made the following reply 
 to it : 
 
 To Major-General Baird, ^c. ^c. ^c. 
 
 Sir, 
 The commander-in-chief has received your letter of the 
 9th instant, and directed me to inform you in reply that 
 the explanation therein given has produced no change in 
 the sentimerits expressed by his order on the 'Jth instant, 
 in my letter to you. 
 
 It was not the words, but the tenor of your letter of the 
 6th instant that the commander-in-chief thought it his 
 duty to remark. He never can admit the right of any 
 subordinate officer to remonstrate with him on the pro- 
 priety of measures he has adopted for the public service, 
 or on his selection of officers for situations of public trust. 
 In assuming this privilege, he still thinks that you have 
 been wanting in discretion and respect ; and your letter of 
 yesterday has in a great measure removed the concern he 
 felt at the necessity which obliged him to inform you that 
 such were his opinions. 
 
 Lieutenant-General Harris desires that this letter may 
 conclude a correspondence which you are at liberty to 
 make as public as you think proper. 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 (Signed) P. A. Agnew, 
 Mil. Sec. to the Commander-in-chief 
 Seringapatam, 10th May, 1799. 
 
 There are few people in the world, not versed 
 in the complexity of public arrangements, who 
 would be prepared for such a correspondence be- 
 tween a commander-in-chief and a major-general 
 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 THE LIFE OF 
 
 who had devoted himself to the post of danger 
 and difficulty, who had overcome both, in the 
 most decisive and victorious manner, and who was 
 chiefly anxious — let his other feelings be what 
 they might — to establish the fact that it was for 
 no professional fault (whatever was the policy of 
 the case) that he had been so suddenly dis- 
 placed from a command which, at the moment 
 of his removal from it, no human being on earth 
 so unquestionably deserved. 
 
 It appears that Colonel Wellesley, to whom no 
 blame whatever but that of accepting promotion 
 when offered (no very heavy charge) could 
 attach, felt a strong personal anxiety to evince 
 his regard and esteem for Major-General Baird ; 
 for at the very time that this peculiarly dis- 
 agreeable correspondence was in progress between 
 the major-general and the commander-in-chief, he 
 wrote a very handsome note to General Baird, 
 accompanied by Tippoo Sultaun*s state sword, 
 which had been found in his bed-chamber, re- 
 questing General Baird's acceptance of the splendid 
 trophy, to which he said he was convinced the 
 major-general had the best right. 
 
 But here the good-natured intentions of Colonel 
 Wellesley were crossed by the interference of 
 the Prize Committee, who, in a letter address- 
 ed to the commander-in-chief. General Harris, by 
 General Floyd, its president, stated that it having 
 been understood that Colonel Wellesley had sent 
 General Baird the state sword of the late Tippoo
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 243 
 
 Sultaun, he, the commander-in-chief, was request- 
 ed by the committee, in tlie name of the army, to 
 desire that the sword might be immediately re- 
 turned to them, as it was theirs and not Colonel 
 Wellesley's to give — and General Floyd added 
 (which it should seem, under the existing circum- 
 stances, could not have been a very agreeable 
 announcement to General Harris), that their ob- 
 ject in pressing the immediate restitution of the 
 sword was, that they might forthwith fulfil a reso- 
 lution which they had formed of presenting it 
 themselves to General Baird, hy the hand of his 
 excellency the commander-in-chiefs himself. 
 
 This letter coming less in the shape of an appeal 
 than a demand, was answered by the issuing of 
 an order from head-quarters for the general and 
 field-officers to assemble in General Harris's tent, 
 where his excellency " had the pleasure" of pre- 
 senting the sword to General Baird, " in the 
 name of the army, as a testimonial of their high 
 admiration of his courage and conduct in the 
 assault."* 
 
 But additional honours from his brethren in 
 arms were in store for the general ; and on the 
 morning of the anniversary of the king's birthday 
 a meeting was held of the field-officers who had 
 served under him at the storming of Seringa- 
 patam, when it was unanimously resolved to 
 present him with a sword, as a mark of the high 
 
 * This sword is now at Fern Tower, tlie seat of the late Sir 
 David Baird. 
 
 R 2
 
 244* THE LIFE OF 
 
 sense they entertained of his admirable conduct on 
 that occasion ; and Colonel Sherbrooke, the senior 
 officer present, was desired to write the following 
 letter to General Baird upon the occasion: — 
 
 Sir, 
 I AM requested by the field-officers who had the honour 
 of personally serving under you at the storming of Seringa- 
 patam, on the 4th ultimo, to inform you that they have or- 
 dered Messrs. Jeffreys and Jones to make a dress sword, 
 value two hundred guineas, bearing the following inscrip- 
 tion : — " Seeing AP AT AM, taken by storm the 4<th May, 
 1799,"" on one side, and on the other, ^'^ Presented by the 
 Field Oncers who personally served under Major-General 
 Baird on that occasion^'' which they beg you will do them 
 the honour of accepting as a mark of their esteem, and of 
 their admiration of your personal exertions on that day. 
 Jeffreys and Jones have been directed to send out the 
 sword by the earliest conveyance, and we hope you will 
 receive it before the anniversary of the capture. 
 
 I have the honour to be, with respect, 
 Sir, 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 J. C. Sherbrooke, Col.^ 
 Camp, 4th June, 1799. 
 To Major-General Baird. 
 
 To which General Baird returned the following 
 answer : — 
 
 Sir, 
 I HAVE been favoured with your obliging letter, in- 
 forming me of the honourable testimony of their approba- 
 tion intended to be presented to me, by the field-officers 
 
 * Afterwards Sir John Coape Sherbrooke^ one of the heroes 
 of the Peninsula, and subsequently Governor of Canada.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 245 
 
 who served in the successful and glorious assault of 
 
 Seringapatam ; and I beg you to assure them, that this 
 
 distinguished mark of the favourable opinion and esteem 
 
 of those excellent officers, whose gallant exertions secured 
 
 the memorable victory of that day, will ever be regarded 
 
 by me as a recompense of the highest value. 
 
 I have the honour to be, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 With the utmost respect, 
 
 D. Baird. 
 To Colonel Sherhrooke. 
 
 The following were the field-officers who served 
 on the occasion, viz. Colonel Sherbrooke, Lieu- 
 tenant-Colonels Dunlop, St. John, Dalrymple, 
 Mignan, Wallace, Gardiner, and Monypenny, 
 Majors Shee, Picton, Forbes, Craigie, and Bell. 
 
 These marks of iesteem, regard, and admiration 
 from men who loved him and appreciated his 
 merits, must have been highly flattering and gra- 
 tifying to General Baird ; but, strange to say — and 
 it is a miracle which more than once or twice 
 recurs in the course of the eventful narrative 
 which follows — they were his only rewards. 
 
 He received an extremely handsome letter from 
 Lord Mornington, who had been created Mar- 
 quess Wellesley, in which, after expressing his 
 high sense of General Baird's services, he offered 
 to recommend him either to the Honourable East 
 India Company for a pension, or to the King for 
 the red riband. Can anybody doubt for a moment 
 which Baird would select? — a badge of honour from 
 his sovereign, or an annuity from a company of
 
 246 THE LIFE OF 
 
 merchants in Leadenhall-street, trading to India ? 
 He of course made choice of the riband. But 
 for all that happened subsequently, it appears 
 he might as well have chosen the pension, for 
 neither the one nor the other did he receive, nor 
 indeed did he ever hear more from Lord Welles- 
 ley on the subject, nor did he even get so far into 
 the history or mystery of the affair as to ascertain 
 whetlier his lordship actually ever did make the 
 application in his favour to the British govern- 
 ment.* 
 
 The thanks of both houses of parliament were 
 voted, on the 4th of October, 1799, to General 
 Baird, and the other officers who command- 
 ed at Seringapatam, upon which occasion Mr. 
 Dundas said, in the House of Commons, 
 
 " With regard to the military, I can only say, 
 that from the highest of them to the lowest of 
 them, they vied with each other in doing service 
 to their country — to all of whom a proper acknow- 
 ledgment should be made by this house. But I 
 cannot help observing here the great praise that 
 is due to General Baird for his brave conduct in 
 tlie storming of Seringapatam. It is singular that 
 this heroic officer was upwards of three years in 
 
 * Lord Wellesley's letter, in which the offer of recommen- 
 (Lition for the riband was made, we are unable to lay before 
 our readers. General Baird having, in the year 1821, sent it to 
 Lord Sidmouth without keeping a copy of it. It should be re- 
 collected, that at the period when Lord Wellesley's offer was 
 made, the honourable order of the Bath consisted of but twenty- 
 four military and twelve civil knights.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 247 
 
 imprisonment by order of the very tyrant whose 
 barbarity in this instance he was the instrument 
 of Providence to avenge." 
 
 A copy of the resolution of the House of 
 Commons was transmitted to General Baird, in a 
 letter from Lord Mornington, of which the follow- 
 ing is a copy: — 
 
 Fart William, April 26, 1800. 
 Sir, 
 
 In obedience to the commands of the House of Commons 
 of Great Britain, I have the honour to transmit you a copy of 
 their resolutions of the 4th of October, 1799. 
 
 It is a peculiar satisfaction to me to be employed to signify 
 to you, in the name of the Commons of Great Britain, their 
 sanction of those sentiments of applause and approbation which 
 it has been my duty to express in public orders on various oc- 
 casions during the progress and since the termination of the 
 late glorious war in Mysore. 
 
 I have the honour to enclose a copy of the letter from the 
 Speaker of the House of Commons, which accompanied the 
 resolution. 
 
 With the most grateful and cordial sense of your distin- 
 guished and meritorious services, I remain. Sir, 
 
 Your faithful and humble servant, 
 
 MORNINGTON. 
 
 Major-General David Baird. 
 
 At the East India House, a meeting of the di- 
 rectors and proprietors, or, as it is called there, a 
 general court, was held on the 13th of Novem- 
 ber, and resolutions of thanks, similar in purport 
 to those of parliament, were unanimously carried ; 
 the one more particularly applying to the distin- 
 guished subject of our memoir is in the following 
 words : — 
 
 " Resolved — That the thanks of this court be
 
 248 THE LIFE OF 
 
 given to the officers of the king's and company's 
 forces employed in the assault of Se7'ingapatam, 
 on the 4th of May, 1799, for the rapidity, ani- 
 mation and skill which they manifested in the exe- 
 cution of that important service ; and to the non- 
 commissioned officers and privates for the courage 
 and intrepidity of their conduct on that brilliant 
 occasion, and especially for the exemplary huma- 
 nity displayed by the assaulting party under cir- 
 cumstances which reflect equal honour upon their 
 discipline, valour, and exalted generosity." 
 
 A special resolution of thanks to General Baird 
 was proposed, in which a detail of his personal me- 
 rits and services was most elaborately embodied, 
 but it was withdrawn, on a suggestion from the 
 chairman that a comprehensive resolution was pre- 
 ferable to separate resolutions of thanks to each 
 officer, and because it appeared to some of the 
 proprietors to partake more of the character of a 
 disquisition than a resolution. As we shall in a 
 subsequent part of this memoir refer somewhat at 
 length to the circumstances connected with these 
 proceedings, we shall in this place make no fur- 
 ther observation upon them. 
 
 Shortly after the capture of Seringapatam, and 
 the consequent subjugation of the Mysore coun- 
 try, the different general officers were directed to 
 return to their several stations and presidencies ; 
 an order which left Colonel Wellesley in the 
 command of the whole Mysore country — General 
 Baird went to Madras.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 249 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 ARRIVAL AT MADRAS FLATTERING RECEPTION BY LORD WELLESLEY 
 
 —OFFERS GENERAL BAIRD A COMMAND IN BENGAL — GENERAL 
 BAIRD DECLINES, BUT SUBSEQUENTLY FOLLOWS LORD WELLESLEY 
 
 APPOINTED TO DINAPORE EXPEDITION PROJECTED AGAINST 
 
 BATAVIA AND MAURITIUS INTERVIEW WITH LORD WELLESLEY 
 
 REMONSTRANCE IS FINALLY APPOINTED TO COMMAND DE- 
 TAILS OF PREPARATIONS AND INSTRUCTIONS — COLONEL WELLES- 
 LEY TO BE SECOND IN COMMAND — PROCEEDS TO SAUGUR OVER- 
 LAND DESPATCH FROM ENGLAND DESTINATION OF THE EXPEDI- 
 TION CHANGED DELAYS AND DIFFICULTIES DESPATCHES AND 
 
 CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN LORD WELLESLEY, GENERAL BAIRD, 
 
 AND COLONEL WELLESLEY MR. DUNDAS's DESPATCH FINAL 
 
 ARRANGEMENT GENERAL BAIRD PROCEEDS TO COLUMBO AND 
 
 POINT DE 6ALLE ARRIVES AT BOMBAY, WHERE HE FINDS CO- 
 LONEL WELLESLEY. 
 
 When General Baird reached Madras, he found 
 there, his excellency, the governor -general, 
 who had been created Marquess Wellesley, and 
 who had, as it will be remembered, temporarily 
 removed the seat of supreme government from 
 Calcutta, for the specific purpose of personally 
 superintending and accelerating the war in the 
 Mysore country, which had now terminated so 
 successfully.
 
 250 THE LIFE OF 
 
 As soon as Lord Wellesley was made acquainted 
 with General Baird's arrival at the government- 
 house, he ran down stairs to meet him, caught 
 him in his arms, and embraced him. Words can- 
 not do justice to the warmth of his excellency's 
 reception ; and having loaded him with the most 
 gratifying expressions of regard and esteem, his 
 excellency inquired, more particularly with re- 
 ference to the letter which we have already men- 
 tioned, but which we have not in our possession, 
 in what way he could most agreeably and satis- 
 factorily promote his interests in India ; indeed, 
 his excellency even went so far as to beg the 
 general to state frankly what command he should 
 like to have. 
 
 General Baird, whose opinion of others was 
 formed upon a knowledge of himself, and who 
 met the cordial inquiry by a candid avowal, told 
 Lord Wellesley, that, as he understood his valued 
 friend. General Floyd, was on the point of return- 
 ing to England, the object of his ambition would 
 be to succeed that distinguished officer in his 
 command of the southern division. 
 
 Lord Wellesley (speaking of whom it would be 
 an ill compliment to deny him the character of a 
 finished diplomatist) hesitated for a moment, and 
 then told General Baird, that he considered the 
 southern district to be in the patronage of Lord 
 Clive (Governor of Madras), with whose arrange- 
 ments, as the general might know, his excellency 
 made a point of never interfering ; but he advised
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 251 
 
 the general himself to make his application to 
 Lord Clive, adding a promise to support that ap- 
 plication by his own influence. Lord Wellesley, 
 however, at the same time suggested to General 
 Baird a readier road to the attainment of his 
 object, and one which he most earnestly desired 
 him to take — namely, that of accompanying hhn 
 (Lord Wellesley) to Bengal, assuring him that 
 if he chose to accede to that proposition, any 
 command that he chose to select in that presi- 
 dency, should be at his service.* 
 
 Nothing could be more gratifying to General 
 
 * Lord Clive, now Earl of Powis, is son of the governor- 
 general. Lord Clive, one of the most celebrated officers of 
 his age, by whose means the East India Company acquired 
 the extensive territories and vast revenues of the provinces of 
 Bengal, Orissa, and Bahar. His lordship dying in 1774, was 
 succeeded by his son, the present Lord Clive, who was born in 
 ]754; in 17^34 his lordship married Lady Henrietta Herbert, 
 daughter of Earl Powis, and, her ladyship's brother dying with- 
 out issue, she succeeded to the whole of the family estates. In 
 1794, Lord Clive was advanced to an English peerage, as Baron 
 Clive of Walcot ; and, in 1802, was appointed Governor of Ma- 
 dras ; he returned to England in 1804, and received the thanks of 
 both houses of parliament for his conduct in his government ; in 
 the same year his lordship was created Earl of Powis and Vis- 
 count Clive, and was nominated, in 1805, Lord Lieutenant of 
 Ireland, which office, however, in consequence of the death of 
 Mr. Pitt, and the consequent change of ministers, his lordship did 
 not assume. Lord Clive, his lordship's eldest son, is married 
 to a daughter of the Duke of Montrose, one of his lordship's 
 daughters is married to Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, and ano- 
 ther daughter is the present amiable and excellent Duchess of 
 Northumberland.
 
 252 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Baird than this display of kindness and friendship 
 on the part of the governor-general. But Baird 
 was a soldier, and he considered that Madras 
 would probably continue the seat of war for some 
 time to come, and that events might occur, in the 
 course of which he might again do good service 
 to his country and distinguish himself in the field. 
 This honourable and gallant feeling, added to the 
 circumstance, that as he never had served on the 
 Bengal establishment, he should enter upon it as 
 a stranger, instead of being surrounded by officers 
 and men by whom he was perfectly known, and 
 (as he must have been conscious) highly esteemed, 
 induced him to prefer making his application to 
 Lord Clive for the southern district, according to 
 Lord Wellesley's suggestion. But his hopes were 
 completely dissipated by Lord Clive's answer, 
 from which it was clear that his lordship was 
 aware of the pre-determination of Lord Wellesley, 
 to remove the major-general from the Madras 
 establishment, in order, as it might appear to 
 some, that his superior rank should not interfere 
 with the interests of Colonel Wellesley, to whom 
 his excellency (not very unnaturally) was attached 
 as a brother, and whose encouragement of that 
 brother's pretensions to fame, it must be univer- 
 sally admitted, time and circumstances have most 
 fully justified. In a military life, however, in 
 which every step and promotion is regarded, 
 as it should be, with honourable jealousy, men 
 are sensibly alive to the effects of favouritism.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. Q53 
 
 however great the merits of its object ; and 
 although in the present instance, as in all 
 the others, where, as if by some fatality, the 
 claims of General Baird and Colonel Wellesley 
 had been brought into collision, he attributed 
 neither blame nor indelicacy to an officer who 
 merely accepted the favours with which his ex- 
 alted relation took every opportunity of loading 
 him, he could not help feeling their immediate 
 effects. 
 
 Under these circumstances. General Baird re- 
 solved upon accepting the invitation of Lord 
 Wellesley, to follow his excellency to Calcutta. 
 At Fort William he was received by his excel- 
 lency with every mark of affectionate friendship 
 and respect ; but when they came to business, 
 and General Baird alluded to his excellency's 
 promise of allowing him to select any command 
 which he might prefer, he found, to his surprise 
 and disappointment, that the choice was very 
 closely circumscribed, seeing that onli/ one com- 
 mand was actually vacant — that of Dinapore ; 
 this, of course, as he had no choice. General Baird 
 accepted, and it was conferred upon him by 
 Lord Wellesley, with renewed expressions of good 
 will. 
 
 To Dinapore, General Baird in consequence 
 proceeded, to assume the command, which he 
 continued to hold for upwards of a year, when 
 rumours reached him from Madras, that an expe- 
 dition was fitting out at that presidency, the object
 
 254 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of which, it was generally believed, was the cap- 
 ture of Batavia, and eventually that of the Isle of 
 France. General Baird, having ascertained from 
 his friends at Fort St. George the correctness of 
 this report, immediately wrote to Sir Alured 
 Clarke, the commander-in-chief, to solicit to be 
 appointed to command it. 
 
 To this application his friend, Sir Alured, 
 returned an answer, stating that he would most 
 readily comply with the request, and that in fact 
 he had originally intended General Baird for the 
 service, and had mentioned his name to the go- 
 vernor-general, but as his excellency had taken 
 the whole of the appointments connected with the 
 enterprise into his own hands, he considered it 
 impossible to interfere any further. 
 
 Upon the receipt of this information. General 
 Baird requested leave of absence from Sir Alured 
 Clarke, in order that he might make a personal 
 application to Marquess Wellesley on the sub- 
 ject, which Sir Alured not only granted, but 
 gave General Baird special permission to use his 
 name as the authority whence he had derived all 
 his information upon the subject. 
 
 On General Baird's arrival at Calcutta, he pro- 
 ceeded to pay his respects to the governor- 
 general, who was at Barruckpore. His ex- 
 cellency received him with all his usual ur- 
 banity and kindness ; but notwithstanding these 
 agreeable appearances, his excellency spoke so 
 rapidly, and changed the topics of conversation so
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 9,55 
 
 suddenly and so frequently, that with all General 
 Baird*s anxiety to draw his excellency's attention 
 to the subject nearest his heart, (and indeed the 
 only object of his visit,) he was completely foiled, 
 and actually took his leave of Barruckpore in the 
 evening, without once having found an opportu- 
 nity of doing so. 
 
 General Baird's desire to come to some under- 
 standing upon the point, however, having been in 
 no small degree increased, by hearing it positively 
 stated, that the new and extensive force in pre- 
 paration was to be commanded by Colonel WeUes- 
 ley, he requested an audience of the governor- 
 general the next morning, which, being granted, 
 he, in the course of a long, and somewhat stormy 
 conversation with his excellency, repeated all 
 that he had heard, and urged the injustice that 
 would be committed by giving the command 
 of the proposed expedition to a junior colonel, 
 when he, General Baird (as indeed he had 
 unsuccessfully argued before) had been actually 
 sent back as a major-general from the Cape, 
 without being permitted to reach Europe, because 
 the services of an officer of that rank were ex- 
 pressly required in India, and because he had been 
 personally selected as the best qualified officer to 
 go there. 
 
 Truth, the historian's only guide, compels us to 
 state, that this remonstrance had, if possible, a 
 more violent effect upon the noble marquess, than 
 even General Baird's former representation, upon
 
 Q56 THE LIFE OF 
 
 a similar point, had upon General Harris ; and in 
 a high state of irritation, his lordship told General 
 Baird (misunderstanding his intentions), that if 
 he meant to ask him any questions as to the 
 destination of the expedition, he very plainly told 
 him he would not give him an answer. 
 
 General Baird expostulated — assured the mar- 
 quess that he had no desire to know where 
 the expedition was going ; all he wished to know 
 was, who was to command it, as he felt it his 
 duty to press his own claim as a major-general on 
 the staff, appointed from home, in preference to 
 that of a regimental officer of inferior rank. 
 
 The conversation was warm and animated, and 
 much was said on both sides, until at length 
 General Baird prepared to take his leave, saying, 
 — *' I suppose then, my lord, I am to con- 
 sider your lordship's answer final, and that I 
 am not to command" (or to be employed) " on 
 this expedition ?" 
 
 The marquess, who had by this time overcome 
 the violence of his first excitement, desired Gene- 
 ral Baird to remain in Calcutta until he heard 
 from him again, and the next day the General 
 received a note from Sir Alured Clarke, desiring 
 him to wait upon the governor-general immedi- 
 ately, which of course he did ; when his excel- 
 lency informed him that he liad finally arranged 
 matters so that Ae, General Baird, should command 
 the expedition. 
 
 The object of this expedition proved to be, as
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 257 
 
 the general had heard, and as we have ah'eady 
 stated, the capture of the islands of Java and 
 Mauritius. The force to be employed on this 
 service consisted of his Majesty's 10th, 19th, and 
 80th regiments, with detachments from the 86th 
 and 88th, a corps of Bengal native volunteers, 
 and two companies of European and native artil- 
 lery, with Lascars attached. 
 
 These troops were assembled at Trincomalee ; 
 and on the 5th of February, 1801, General Baird 
 received orders to proceed to that place to assume 
 the chief command ; the Honourable Colonel Wel- 
 lesley being the second in command. 
 
 Lord Wellesley had long contemplated this un- 
 dertaking, the advantages of which, although not 
 destined at that period to be achieved, have since 
 been made evident by our possession of both the 
 objects of the then meditated attack.* 
 
 The governor-general's orders were, that the 
 whole force which we have just detailed should 
 proceed in the first place to Batavia, and having 
 reduced it by siege or obtained possession of it by 
 capitulation, should then be divided ; and whilst an 
 adequate number of troops were left at Batavia with 
 General Baird, who was to remain there with the 
 rank of lieutenant-governor, all who could be 
 
 * The attainment of Mauritius from the enemy by any 
 moderate opposing force had always been treated as proble- 
 matical, from the very well contrived histories of its military 
 strength and natural protections, which had been constantly 
 kept up by the French. 
 
 VOL. I. S
 
 258 THE LIFE OF . 
 
 spared from the defence and maintenance of the new 
 conquest were to proceed under the command of 
 Colonel Wellesley to gain possession of Mauritius, 
 an island eminently favoured by nature as pos- 
 sessing a port where ships may securely anchor, 
 and facilities for repairing and refitting in case 
 of any damage having accrued to them before their 
 arrival. 
 
 General Baird was directed to proceed with the 
 force assembled at Trincomalee as soon as he 
 should have been joined by Admiral Rainier, 
 without waiting for that division of the army, which 
 was coming from Point de Galle, under the com- 
 mand of Colonel Wellesley ; leaving, however, in- 
 structions for that officer to make the best of his 
 way to Batavia. 
 
 Lord Wellesley had clearly and minutely pro- 
 vided for all contingencies which might arise in 
 the progress of this undertaking. 
 
 In case of a capitulation being entered into, 
 before the actual commencement of hostilities. 
 General Baird was instructed, in assuming the 
 lieutenant-governorship and chief military com- 
 mand in the colony, to form a garrison of so 
 many of the Dutch troops as he might consider it 
 prudent or advisable to entertain in his Britannic 
 Majesty's service, together with the whole of the 
 Bengal volunteers and the detachments from the 
 king's regiments which we have already named ; 
 in addition to which, the .51st regiment had 
 been ordered to proceed from Point de Galle ;
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 259 
 
 and as Lord Wellesley anxiously expected and an- 
 ticipated that the reduction of Batavia would be 
 completed by the 30th of March, he was in hopes 
 that this regiment would arrive there in time, 
 partly to strengthen the garrison which was to be 
 left, and partly to co-operate with the force des- 
 tined for Mauritius, 
 
 But to guard against the consequences of their 
 possible delay, the governor-general directed Ge- 
 neral Baird to select 500 men from his Majesty's 
 80th regiment and put them under the command of 
 Colonel Champagne ; and when these arrangements 
 were completed Colonel Wellesley was forthwith 
 to proceed with the force under his command on 
 the distinct service, the acceleration of which ap- 
 peared to Lord Wellesley to be a matter of the 
 greatest importance ; and the departure of which 
 force he positively commanded should take place 
 the moment it was possible for it to move — 
 naming indeed the 30th of March, the very day 
 upon which his excellency calculated that Ba- 
 tavia would be completely in our possession — and 
 that not even the junction of the 51st regiment 
 from Point de Galle should be waited for, unless 
 Colonel Wellesley himself should consider its aid 
 indispensable to the success of the enterprise. 
 
 The adding the 51st to Colonel Wellesley's ex- 
 pedition, or retaining them to strengthen the gar- 
 rison in case they did arrive, was, however, left to 
 the discretion of General Baird, subject only to 
 some suggestions of Lord Wellesley's, with respect 
 
 s 2
 
 260 THE LIFE OF 
 
 to the badness of the cUmate of Batavia ; a know- 
 ledge of which had induced him to form the de- 
 termination of keeping down the European force 
 in garrison at that place as much as possible. It 
 was in consonance with this feeling that he di- 
 rected, in case Colonel Wellesley should not 
 require the 51st, and General Baird could pos- 
 sibly spare it, that it should return to the Coro- 
 mandel coast or to Ceylon, rather than be detained 
 on so unhealthy a station as Batavia. 
 
 It was upon this feeling and opinion, too, that 
 Lord Wellesley had given directions to General 
 Baird to raise a native corps in Batavia for the per- 
 manent defence of the place, and also to make 
 application to Lord Clive, the governor of Madras, 
 for one of the regiments of native infantry from 
 that presidency for the same service. 
 
 If, however, contrary to the expectations Lord 
 Wellesley entertained with regard to the reduction 
 of Batavia, the place held out, and the conse- 
 quences of a siege and resistance so reduced the 
 troops, or that other circumstances should abso- 
 lutely require the presence of so large a garrison 
 as to render the force destined for the command 
 of Colonel Wellesley, too weak in /i?^ judgment to 
 ensure his success. Colonel Wellesley was fully 
 authorized to exercise his own unshackled opinion 
 upon the point, and the detachment was by no 
 means, and in no case, to proceed upon the second 
 expedition without Colonel Wellesley's express 
 consent and approbation ; and in case under the
 
 SIR UAVID BAIRD. 26l 
 
 circumstances he should decline proceeding, Ge- 
 neral Baird was then to select his garrison by 
 rules which were laid down for his guidance, and 
 to send the rest of the forces, under Colonel Wel- 
 lesley's command, to the nearest port, as in the 
 former case, either in Ceylon or on the Coro- 
 mandel coast, at the same time communicating 
 the relinquishment of the enterprise against Mau- 
 ritius to the governor of the Cape of Good 
 Hope, and to the Admiral, Sir Roger Curtis. 
 
 At all events (at least in case of success), Colonel 
 Champagne was to remain at Batavia as second in 
 command, and member of the provisional govern- 
 ment, which Lord Wellesley proposed eventually 
 to establish for the administration of affairs in that 
 colony : but in case of failure, which Lord Wel- 
 lesley (knowing the character of the force em- 
 ployed) seemed never to anticipate. General Baird 
 and Colonel Wellesley, if they concurred in opinion 
 that they could jointly make the attack on the 
 Isle of France with whatever remained available 
 of the force under their command, were autho- 
 rized to undertake it ; but upon the clear under- 
 standing, as Colonel Wellesley was perfectly mas- 
 ter of the whole arrangement and design of the 
 attack upon Mauritius, as projected by his noble 
 brother, that if he objected to such a proceeding 
 it was to be abandoned, and the remaining force 
 was to return, as had been already directed 
 under other circumstances, either to Ceylon or the 
 Coromandel coast.
 
 262 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Thus it appears that Lord Wellesley had made 
 the most ample provision for every possible or 
 probable casualty or contingency ; for in his in- 
 structions to General Baird, he proceeds to say that, 
 " if he and Colonel Wellesley agree to proceed 
 to the Isle of France, he in the chief command 
 and Colonel Wellesley as second in command, the 
 instructions previously given to Colonel Wellesley 
 are to direct General Baird's operations." In case 
 of success at the Isle of France, Colonel Wellesley 
 was to assume the civil and military government 
 of the French islands, and to exercise his discre- 
 tion as to the formation of the garrison there •, in 
 which case General Baird was to return with 
 whatever troops Colonel Wellesley might not feel 
 inclined to retain, to the nearest and most accessi- 
 ble port of India or Ceylon. 
 
 All that we have hitherto noticed in detail, re- 
 lates to the military operations and arrangements 
 at Batavia, or at the Isle of France. Lord Wel- 
 lesley had, with equal minuteness, furnished other 
 instructions for the establishment and conduct of 
 the civil government; and his excellency hoped 
 that General Baird would duly appreciate the 
 extent of the confidence which he manifested in 
 his temper, judgment, and public spirit, by sub- 
 jecting in so great a degree to his power tlie 
 success of an expedition subsequently to be com- 
 manded by another officer. He entertained no 
 doubt that he should find his conduct in the whole 
 of the interesting and delicate trust which was
 
 sill DAVID BAIIID. 
 
 263 
 
 reposed in him answerable to his expectations, 
 and to the character which the general had esta- 
 blished in his excellency's estimation by his ex- 
 ertions in the late glorious war in Mysore. 
 
 General Baird was further instructed, when the 
 expedition sailed for Mauritius, that Colonel Wel- 
 lesley was to select such transports as he chose, 
 aided by the Admiral (Rainier), if he were present, 
 and if not, by Mr. Charles Stokes, the agent, or 
 any naval officer he might choose to name. 
 
 Several minor difficulties which might present 
 themselves in the course of negotiation, from the 
 incompetency of the Batavian government to 
 negotiate for certain dependencies. Lord Wellesley 
 was equally prepared to meet. Ample funds were 
 allotted to the undertaking and every thing was 
 done that could conduce to its success, to the ex- 
 tremest point of its professions. 
 
 The " additional instructions" forwarded to 
 General Baird, from Lord Wellesley, evince the 
 acumen and foresight which his excellency pos- 
 sessed. As they were destined never to be acted 
 upon, we should needlessly occupy our space 
 by recapitulating them here. His excellency, 
 however, issued an order, directed to General Baird, 
 Colonel Champagne, and Richard Conyers Birch, 
 Esq., appointing the first named officer acting 
 lieutenant-governor, and the two latter gentle- 
 men, respectively, councillors ; which order con- 
 tained the form of an oath to be administered to 
 each other, and subscribed by each of them, and by
 
 264 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 all persons who might succeed them in the offices 
 of heutenant-governor and comicillors. 
 
 The despatches and instructions from which 
 these details are derived, were dated February 5, 
 and we find that General Baird had on that day 
 embarked in the Phoenix, Captain MofFatt, in 
 Saugar Roads, where he remained for two days 
 after the receipt of his instructions. 
 
 On the 6th of February, however, only two 
 days after his departure from Calcutta, an over- 
 land despatch was received by the governor- 
 general from Mr. Secretary Dundas, of which the 
 following is a copy : — 
 
 {To Marquess Wellesley.) 
 
 Downing Street, 6th October, 1800. 
 My Lord, 
 By the private letter I received from your lordship, 
 No. 25, dated the 5th of March last, and the communica- 
 tions I have since had with Major-General Stewart, I am 
 apprised that the subject of annoying the French army in 
 Egypt, from the Red Sea, has been under your consi- 
 deration. For that reason, and because I concur in your 
 lordship's sentiments, as stated in the letter above-men- 
 tioned, I feel it the less necessary to enter into any details 
 in this despatch ; which cannot, indeed, be extended to 
 any great length, as it is to be forwarded over-land. T 
 shall, therefore, confine myself to shortly stating to your 
 lordship that Sir Ralph Abercrombie has received his 
 Majesty"'s orders to proceed up the Mediterranean, and, 
 by an attack on Alexandria and the coast, to co-operate 
 with the Turkish army assembling in Syria, in whatever 
 plan may be concerted with them for expelling the French 
 
 1
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 
 
 ^(55 
 
 army from Egypt ; and that it is thought expedient that 
 a force should also be sent from India to act in such man- 
 ner as may appear conducive to that essential object, from 
 the side of the Red Sea. With this view, Captain Sir 
 Home Popham, with a proper squadron, will be imme- 
 diately sent into that sea, taking with him a regiment from 
 the Cape of Good Hope. His first rendezvous will be the 
 Port of Mocha. I enclose for your information, the letter 
 I have written to the Lords Commissioners of the Admi- 
 ralty on the subject of the expedition under his command, 
 and I am to signify to your lordship his Majesty's plea- 
 sure that a force of about 1000 Europeans and 2000 native 
 infantry is to be sent from India to the proposed place of 
 rendezvous in the Red Sea, with as little delay as possible, 
 to co-operate with Sir Home Popham in the object of his 
 instructions. The command of these troops should be 
 given to some active and intelligent officer, and care should 
 be taken that they be furnished with every necessary re- 
 quisite for such a service. I have thought it right to send 
 a copy of this despatch to the governors of Fort St. 
 George and Bombay. To the latter it is necessary, be- 
 cause Bombay is the most proper place from whence to 
 send the proposed force ; but I have thought it likewise 
 proper to send it to Fort St. George, in case, upon a full 
 consideration of the places where the force upon the two 
 coasts is at present stationed, it should appear to that pre- 
 sidency expedient to make any new arrangement of any 
 part of the army under their presidency, in order to enable 
 the Bombay government to detach the requisite force from 
 their coast without any real inconvenience to the territo- 
 ries under their own immediate charge. 
 
 I have directed those two presidencies to proceed in 
 making those preparations without delay, and even to 
 carry these orders into execution without waiting for your 
 lordship's directions, if they are ready in other respects.
 
 266 THE LIFE OF 
 
 If nothing unforeseen occurs to prevent or to retard it, I 
 hope that the armament under Sir Ralph Abercrombie will 
 reach the coast of Egypt in the month of December ; and 
 that Sir Home Popham may arrive in the Gulph of Arabia 
 in the month of February. It is, therefore, earnestly re- 
 commended that the forces from India may join him as 
 soon after as possible ; for this reason it will be desirable 
 that you should not wait till the troops are all collected, if 
 it will save time to forward them in two or three distinct 
 detachments. 
 
 I have the honour to be, &c. &c. &c. 
 
 Henry Dundas. 
 
 The following is Lord Wellesley's private letter 
 to General Baird : — 
 
 Fort JVilliam, February 6th, 1801. 
 Major-General Baird. 
 
 My Dear General, 
 
 I WAS upon the point of sealing my instructions, and of 
 dispatching them to you by express this morning, when I 
 received despatches, over-land from England, which will 
 probably render it necessary for me to make some essential 
 variations in the objects of the armament which I have 
 equipped. No change, however, can take place which 
 will deprive you of a respectable and active command. 
 
 As much time would be lost by your returning to Cal- 
 cutta, I desire that you will remain on board the Phcenix, 
 and urge the captain to make every necessary preparation 
 for sailing. In the course of this day I hope to be able to 
 decide the precise nature of such variations as the recent 
 intelligence from Europe will require in my plans. I 
 therefore entertain little doubt that you will receive your
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 267 
 
 sailing orders within eight and forty hours after the receipt 
 of this despatch. 
 
 I have the honour to be, my dear General, 
 
 With great esteem, your faithful servant, 
 
 Wellesley. 
 
 The arrival of this over-land despatch changed 
 the whole course of events, and while General 
 Baird was anxiously expecting merely some alter- 
 ation in his final instructions for the reduction of 
 Batavia, he received the following letter from Co- 
 lonel Kirkpatrick : — 
 
 (Secret.) 
 Calcutta, 10th February, 1801, 3 p.m. 
 
 My Dear General, 
 Lord Wellesley desires me to inform you that your 
 new instructions are nearly ready. I am in hopes that 
 they will be despatched either to-night or early to-mor- 
 row. The over-land packet from England has made it 
 necessary for his lordship to change his whole plan ; and 
 you are now to assist Sir Ralph Abercrombie in driving 
 the French from Egypt instead of seizing on Batavia. 
 I am, my dear General, 
 
 Your's most faithfully, 
 
 Wm. Kirkpatrick. 
 Major-Geiieral Baird. 
 
 To this letter General Baird wrote the follow- 
 ing characteristic answer : — 
 
 Colonel Kirkpatrick, 8^c. S^c. S^c. 
 
 Saugar Roads, Feb. 11, 1801, 
 My Dear Colonel, 
 I AM this moment honoured with yours of yesterday, 
 dated 3 o'clock p.m., by express. I request you will as-
 
 ^68 THE LIFE OF 
 
 sure Lord Wellesley that I am always ready and xoilUng 
 to serve, wherever I am required hy my Mng and country. 
 I am also happy to inform you that the ship is ready for 
 sea. I beg you to present my best respects to Lord Wel- 
 lesley. 
 
 I have the honour, dear Colonel, &c. 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 It was perhaps one of the most curious coinci- 
 dences that ever occurred, that at the very mo- 
 ment at which Lord Wellesley was sealing the 
 despatches, which directed the movements of one 
 of his most favourite schemes, he should have 
 received Mr. Dundas's letter, which induced, or 
 rather forced him to turn the whole power of his 
 resources to another plan which he had not only 
 projected a year before, but on the subject of 
 which, he had been in constant communication 
 with Admiral Blankett, with the view of establish- 
 ing ports in the Red Sea, and eventually applying 
 the resources of India to the ejectment of the 
 French from Egypt. From putting this plan 
 into execution he had been deterred only by 
 inevitable ignorance of the actual state of the 
 French force in that quarter ; but now that he 
 had derived authentic information from England, 
 and found, moreover, that the \'iews of the go- 
 vernment at home coincided with his own, he 
 considered the correspondence in which he had 
 been engaged witK the admiral, of so much 
 value and importance, as to annex a copy of it 
 to the despatches which were transmitted to
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 269 
 
 General Baird for his subsequent guidance and 
 information. 
 
 The full extent of the objects contemplated by 
 the English government will be best understood 
 by a perusal of Mr. Secretary Dundas's letter to 
 the Board of Admiralty. 
 
 Downing Street^ 6th October, 1800. 
 My Lords, 
 
 It being judged expedient that measures should forth- 
 with be taken for dispossessing the French of Cosseir, 
 Suez, and any other ports and places they may now oc- 
 cupy upon the coast of the Red Sea, and to encourage the 
 inhabitants of the countries bordering on that part of 
 Egypt to assist in expelling them from the whole of that 
 province, I am commanded to signify to your lordships 
 his Majesty ""s pleasure that a ship of war of not less than 
 fifty guns, together with such armed troop-ships as may 
 be competent to the accommodation and conveyance of a 
 regiment of not less than 800 men, destined to assist in 
 this service, are forthwith to be fitted for foreign service, 
 and sent to the Cape of Good Hope, where the said regi- 
 ment is to be embarked. 
 
 It will also be necessary that the troop-ships in question 
 should, in the first instance, convey another regiment, 
 amounting to at least the same number of men, from this 
 country to the Cape ; and it is therefore his Majesty's 
 pleasure that your lordships should give directions and 
 make the necessary arrangements accordingly. 
 
 Your lordships will not fail to select for this service an 
 ofiicer of acknowledged enterprise and ability ; and, with 
 respect to the instructions with which he is to be furnished 
 from your lordships, it is his Majesty's pleasure that, after 
 receiving on board the regiment which the commanding
 
 270 THE LIFE OF 
 
 officer at the Cape will be ordered to embark, he should 
 be directed to make the best of his way into the Red Sea, 
 and on his arrival there to endeavour to procure intelli- 
 gence respecting the number of the enemy at Cosseir and 
 Suez, and the state of defence of each of those places. 
 Should the reports he may receive on this point be svich 
 as, in his judgment, and that of the officer commanding 
 the land forces, to warrant an immediate landing and at- 
 tack on one or both of these places, no time is to be lost in 
 making the attempt ; and, should it prove successful, they 
 are to make the best arrangements in their power for re- 
 taining possession of the same. As soon as in this, or in 
 any other manner, a secure footing shall have been ob- 
 tained in the country, or sooner, if possible, every proper 
 method is to be used to conciliate the inhabitants to our 
 interests, and to induce them to make a common cause 
 with us against the enemy. In order to enable them to do 
 this with more effect, it will probably be necessary to sup- 
 ply them with arms and ammunition; and I shall therefore 
 give orders that a certain proportion of side-arms, mus- 
 kets, and cartridges shall be sent on board the ships of the 
 squadron with a view to this object. 
 
 Supposing the enemy to be driven from Suez, Cosseir, 
 and the whole coast, it will then remain for the respective 
 commanding officers of the land and sea forces to take 
 every method in their power for harassing and annoying 
 them in any other posts they may retain in Upper Egypt, 
 and to prevail upon the Arabs, tlie Mamelukes, and other 
 troops in that part of the country, to act against the 
 French, wherever they may take post, with union and 
 vigour, until they can be finally expelled from Cairo and 
 the remainder of the province, giving the beys, or other 
 officers having command in those countries, such advice 
 and assistance as may appear best adapted for that pur- 
 pose. Upon this point, as well as upon every other whicli
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 271 
 
 relates to the mode and detail of proceeding in the execu- 
 tion of the services I have pointed out as the objects of 
 this expedition, much latitude must be left to the dis- 
 cretion and judgment of the commanding officers; and it 
 is therefore impossible for me to do more than point out, 
 as I have already done, the views for the attainment of 
 which the plan has been formed ; and to add, that they 
 are to be pursued with the utmost vigour, and by every 
 means that may suggest themselves to the ingenuity of the 
 commanding officers, provided only they are not incon- 
 sistent with those usages which are deemed fair and 
 honourable between nations in a state of war. 
 
 It is intended that the land forces to be sent from the 
 Cape shovild be reinforced as soon as possible by another 
 regiment of Europeans^ and about 2000 Sepoys from 
 India. It will be ri<»:ht that the commanding; naval officer 
 should be apprised of this circumstance, in order that he 
 may suspend until their arrival the proposed attacks 
 against Cosseir and Suez, unless the prospect of success 
 with the regiment from the Cape is so satisfactory as to 
 warrant the attempt without waiting for a further rein- 
 forcement. 
 
 Should this last division of troops, on the other hand, 
 find our forces in possession of Suez and Cosseir, they will 
 be employed from thence in making diversions in Upper 
 Egypt ; and in annoying and harassing the enemy as 
 much as possible, in conformity to the suggestions already 
 mentioned in these instructions. 
 
 In the event (not impossible) of the French having 
 actually evacuted Egypt before the arrival of the expedi- 
 tion in the Red Sea, the troops must be carried back to 
 their former stations ; and the ships, in that case, may be 
 disposed of for such other purposes as your lordships may 
 think proper. But should Cosseir and Suez be retaken 
 from the enemy by his Majesty's forces, the one or the
 
 272 THE LIFE OF 
 
 other, as may appear most commodious for the troops and 
 shipping, is, for the present, and until further orders can 
 be transmitted from this country, to be retained by a de- 
 tachment of his Majesty's forces. The commanding 
 officer, however, taking care, in order to avoid all jea- 
 lousies, to have it understood that he remains there, not 
 from any intention of interfering with the right of sove- 
 reignty vested in the Ottoman Porte, or with the rights 
 and privileges of the native princes, or their subjects ; but 
 that, from considerations of military precaution, with a 
 view to our Indian interests, which cannot appear extra- 
 ordinary after what has happened, the British troops cannot 
 be withdrawn without further authority from home. 
 
 Your lordships will not fail to direct the commanding 
 naval officer, and, through him, all other officers serving 
 under him, to maintain and cultivate the friendship and 
 good understanding now existing with the native princes 
 and powers of Asia having ports or territories upon the 
 coast of the Red Sea. 
 
 You will also direct the said officer to transmit a de- 
 tailed report of his proceedings, by every opportunity, for 
 his Majesty's information ; and to correspond with the 
 company's governor at Bombay, and with the governor- 
 general in council, who will give the necessary directions 
 to furnish him with any supplies of which he may stand in 
 need, and to pay every attention to such requisitions as he 
 may make for the advancement of the service on which he 
 
 is employed. 
 
 Henry Dundas. 
 
 The result of the receipt of these despatches and 
 their enclosures, was, as we have already seen, an 
 immediate change in the destination of the wliole 
 collected force, and the necessary instructions for 
 effecting the change were immediately forwarded
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. T/S 
 
 to General Baird. As their object has been already 
 made manifest, it would only needlessly occupy a 
 space here to recapitulate them, we therefore omit 
 them, as well as the instructions to Admiral 
 Rainier, and their enclosures, which consist of a 
 long correspondence between Admiral Blankett 
 and the different presidencies, relative to an in- 
 quiry concerning the localities of the Red Sea, 
 which had been instituted by Lord Wellesley 
 when he first contemplated the undertaking which 
 he was now officially directed to execute. 
 
 The letter of Marquess Wellesley to Colonel 
 Wellesley, as being the shortest we have before 
 us, and yet containing all necessary information 
 upon the subject, we submit. 
 
 To the Honourable Colonel Wellesley. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 1. Since the date of my last despatches to you on the 
 subject of the intended expeditions against Batavia and 
 the Isle of France, I have received despatches overland 
 from England, which have determined me to rehnquish 
 for the present the prosecution of these expeditions. 
 
 2nd. For the contents of those despatches, and for the 
 measures which I now propose to pursue, I must refer 
 you to my instructions of this date to Major- General 
 Baird, which he is directed to communicate to you. 
 
 3rd. I have appointed Major-General Baird to com- 
 mand the armament which is now destined to the Red 
 Sea, and I have appointed you to be second in command 
 on that important service. 
 
 4th. For my instructions for your guidance, I must 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 THE LIFE OF 
 
 refer you to my above-mentioned despatches of this date 
 to Major-General Baird. 
 
 5th. I have forwarded a copy of this letter to Major- 
 General Baird for his information and guidance. 
 I have the honour to be, Sir , 
 
 Your obedient servant, 
 
 Wellesley. 
 Fort William, February 10th, 1801. 
 
 The following private letter, addressed by the 
 Governor-General to General Baird, and dated the 
 same 10th of February, we lay before our readers, 
 because we consider the answer which General 
 Baird made to it, quite worthy the hero, who had 
 ever exhibited the most friendly feeling towards one 
 who, by events over which, it is true, he himself 
 had no control, had been frequently brought in 
 contact with him, under circumstances which 
 might (as it seems Lord Wellesley anticipated) 
 have excited a sentiment in the bosom of a senior 
 officer, which General Baird most assuredly never 
 entertained. 
 
 Fort William, February 10th, 1801. 
 
 My Dear General, 
 You will find by your instructions of this date that your 
 present destination is to the Red Sea and Egypt, for the 
 purpose of co-operating in the great object of expelling the 
 French from that most important position. A more worthy 
 sequel to the storm of Seringapatam could not be pre- 
 sented to your genius and valour. I have chosen my 
 brother to second you in this glorious enterprize ; and I 
 rely on your giving the public the full benefit of his
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 275 
 
 talents, by admitting him to your cordial confidence, and 
 by uniting most harmoniously and zealously with him in 
 the prosecution of my wishes. 
 
 I have manifested an honourable confidence in you by 
 selecting you for this service, Avhich, if successful, will 
 attract the applause and admiration of the whole world. 
 In return, I claim from you the full benefit for myself and 
 my country, not only of your services, but of those of my 
 brother, and of all the gallant and able officers whom he 
 has brought with him to the army. I desire that you will 
 arrange some mode of confirming in active and honourable 
 stations the whole of his staff*, and of those who have accom- 
 panied him. 
 
 I recommend it to you also to employ Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Murray, of the 84th, whom I shall send to Mocha ; he 
 has been active, and has manifested ability at Suez and 
 Aden. I also recommend Captain Wilson, aide-de-camp 
 to Mr. Duncan, on the same grounds of experience in the 
 affairs of Arabia and Egypt. 
 
 May the same providential protection which accompanied 
 you to the gates of Tippoo Sultaun's palace conduct you to 
 Cairo; and may you be the happy instrument of completing 
 the expulsion of the French from India ; a work so nobly 
 commenced in Mysore. Remember, that the harmony and 
 cordial union of our counsels in the field were the main 
 sources of all our triumphs in that glorious war, which 
 has rendered your name memorable in the annals of your 
 country. For the rest I have no apprehension ; and I 
 trust you will preserve my favourable opinion by preserv- 
 ing unanimity in your army. 
 
 Believe me, my dear General, 
 
 Your obliged friend and faithful servant, 
 
 Wellesley. 
 To Major-General Baird. 
 
 T 2
 
 276 THE LIFE OF 
 
 General Baird replied to this letter in the fol- 
 lowinoj; terms : — 
 
 To the Marquess WeUesley. 
 Saugur Roads, 13th Feb. 1801, 1 o'clock, p.m. 
 
 My Lokd, 
 
 I HAVE this moment been honoured with your lord- 
 ship's letter of the 10th instant, accompanying your final 
 despatch. 
 
 Your lordship may rest assured that every thing in my 
 power shall be done to promote and maintain harmony in 
 the army of which you have honoured me with the com- 
 mand; and particularly with your brother, for whom I 
 entertain the most sincere regard. 
 
 1 shall have much pleasure in doing every thing in my 
 power for the staff, but your lordship will, I trust, be 
 aware that I must have some of my own confidential staff" 
 about me. 
 
 I am happy to find that your lordship has ordered 
 Colonel Murray to join me, as from my knowledge of 
 him, as well as from your lordship's mention, I am con- 
 vinced he will be of the greatest use. 
 
 I will also pay particular attention to your lordship's 
 recommendation of Captain Wilson.— I have, &c. 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 General Baird, in another letter to Lord Wel- 
 lesley, dated from the ship Phanix, at sea, tells 
 him, that having studied his orders, and looked at 
 the serious difficulties which must attend their 
 execution, he shall use every exertion to sur- 
 mount them. " As yet," says General Baird, " 1 
 have never met with any obstacles that were not 
 to be got the better of, by steady perseverance,
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 277 
 
 and I hope I shall not upon this occasion. The 
 greatest difficulties I shall have to encounter are, 
 the absolute necessity of a regular supply of pro- 
 visions, and the attainment of a power of moving 
 with celerity. But these greatly depend upon 
 your lordship's foresight ; and from the arrange- 
 ments you have already made, I have no doubt 
 that we shall surmount them. 
 
 "It is unnecessary, my lord," he continues, 
 " to say more than that the most vigorous mea- 
 sures shall be adopted to endeavour to carry into 
 full effect the grand object of the expedition. 
 Equally unnecessary is it for me to assure your 
 lordship that the talents of your brother, as well as 
 of every other officer in the army, shall have full 
 scope. Trust me, my lord, I harbour no little 
 jealousy — all in my breast is zeal for my King and 
 Country. 
 
 " I shall endeavour to make such arrangements 
 for the employment of those officers intended for 
 the staff by the Honourable Colonel Wellesley, as 
 I trust will meet with your lordship's approaeh 
 tion. 
 
 " I have now to request your lordship's accept- 
 ance of my warmest acknowledgments for the very 
 handsome and friendly manner in which your 
 lordship has been pleased to express yourself to- 
 wards me, and particularly on this occasion, in 
 your private letter of the 10th instant." 
 
 The next we hear of the progress of this most 
 important expedition, one which would alone have
 
 ^78 THE LIFE OF 
 
 immortalized the name of Baird, we find, in a 
 letter dated on board the Phoenix, at Trincomalee, 
 the 23d of February, in which it appears, that 
 upon General Baird's arrival there, he discovered 
 that Colonel Wellesley had sailed from that place 
 and was to touch at Point de Galle, 
 
 *' I," says General Baird, " shall follow him 
 with all despatch — I also find that the 19th regi- 
 ment has been left behind to garrison Trincoma- 
 lee. I trust your lordship will order them to 
 follow — and I have also written to Lord Clive 
 that they may be relieved and forwarded. 
 
 " I imagine Colonel Wellesley has not received 
 any of your lordship's despatches, as I have seen 
 Captain Malcolm's orders to the naval command- 
 ing officer at this port, for all ships belonging to 
 the expedition to follow him to Point de GaUe, 
 Cannanore, and Bombay." 
 
 But it seems that General Baird, although placed 
 in the situation which he could have wished, was still 
 destined to encounter fresh worries and anxieties ; 
 for having left Trincomalee in pursuit of the force 
 under the command of Colonel Wellesley, where> 
 as he proceeded to join him, he expected to find 
 him, he pushed forward to Point de Galle, whence 
 he again addressed the governor-general, in a 
 letter from the Phoenix, dated the 28th of February, 
 which, as it is strongly indicative of that ardour 
 and energy by which all his pubUc services were 
 characterized, we give.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 279 
 
 Hon. Company's Ship Phceniw, Point de Galle, 
 28th February, 1801. 
 
 Marquess Wellesley, SfC. Sj-c. SfC. 
 
 My Lord, 
 
 I DID myself the honour to address your lordship from 
 Trincomalee on the 23rd instant, a duplicate of which I 
 now enclose. 
 
 Having remained only a few hours I omitted, from 
 hurry and my anxiety to follow the troops, to mention to 
 your lordship that I could not procure any certain intel- 
 ligence respecting his Excellency Vice-Admiral Rainier ; 
 the naval commanding officer at that port. Lieutenant 
 Mayo, of his Majesty's armed brig Providence, mentioned 
 to me that he expected the vice-admiral, but had no in- 
 formation as to the certainty of his excellency touching at 
 that port. On that account, and my being hopeful of 
 overtaking Colonel Wellesley and Captain Malcolm at 
 Point de Galle, I thought it proper to bring on with me 
 your lordship's despatches for Vice-Admiral Rainier, with 
 the view of consulting Captain Malcolm as to the most 
 speedy mode of their being transmitted to his excellency. 
 
 I have now to inform your lordship, that on my arrival 
 at this port yesterday evening, I learned, with much con- 
 cern, that the armament had sailed hence on the 19th in- 
 stant. From this circumstance, and from my not having 
 found any letters for myself from Colonel Wellesley, I am 
 aware he could not have received any of your lordship's 
 despatches respecting my being appointed to the command 
 of the expedition, though for this I am at a loss to ac- 
 count, considering the time that has elapsed since your 
 lordship first communicated your having been pleased to 
 confer that honour upon me. 
 
 Every practicable expedition in my power shall be used
 
 280 THE LIFE OF 
 
 in order to overtake the armament, and I have accordingly 
 ordered Captain MofFat to proceed with me until I fall in 
 with the fleet. The ship Shah Byramgow being a heavy 
 sailer, I have ordered her to follow me under convoy of 
 the Honourable Company ""s brig Waller, Lieutenant David- 
 son, to whom I have given sealed instructions as to the 
 port of destination. I have taken out of the Byramgow a 
 quantity of provisions for the use of the troops on board 
 the Phoenix, and the master-attendant at this port has 
 supplied me with water and firewood at my request. 
 
 I have thought it proper to leave your lordship's 
 despatches for his Excellency Vice-Admiral Rainier, of the 
 5th and 11th instant, the letter on service, copies of Mr. 
 Secretary Dundas*'s despatch to your lordship of the 6th 
 of October 1800, of Mr. Secretary Dundas's letter to the 
 Lords of the Admiralty, and a copy of your lordship's 
 secret instructions to me of the 10th instant, enclosed for 
 his excellency the vice-admiral, with Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Dalrymple, commanding this garrison, to be by him de- 
 livered to the admiral's order. I have written to the com- 
 manding naval officer at Trincomalee to communicate to 
 his excellency in the event of his touching at that port. 
 I have also requested of his Excellency the Honourable 
 Governor North to forward by express my despatch of 
 this date to the vice-admiral, whenever he may have heard 
 certain intelligence from his excellency. 
 
 * Frederick North, afterwards Earl of Guilford, was the 
 third son of Lord North, so long prime-minister of England. 
 He was born in 17^4, and was early in life appointed one of the 
 chamberlains of the Tally Court in the Exchequer. He was 
 appointed governor of Ceylon, and remained there some years. 
 His lordship died in 1829 unmarried, and was succeeded in his 
 titles and estates by the Reverend Francis North, eldest son of 
 the late Bishop of Winchester, now Earl of Guilford.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 281 
 
 Having had several conversations with Mr. Stokes* on 
 the subject of the future supplies of provisions, &c. for 
 the army, I have this day, in consequence, transmitted to 
 the government of Fort St. George an application for the 
 quantity, as per enclosed statement. And I have done this the 
 more, because I am led to believe the armament assembled 
 at Ceylon must have sailed in consequence of orders from 
 the president of Fort St. George, acting under Mr. Secre- 
 tary Dundas''s despatch of the 6th of October, 1800, and, 
 therefore, cannot have provided sufficiently for the ex- 
 tent of the armament intended by your lordship for the 
 Red Sea ; and I have again requested of the presidency of 
 Fort St. George that his Majesty's 19th regiment may be 
 relieved and ordered to join the armament with all prac- 
 ticable expedition. 
 
 As it is my intention to touch at Cannanore in hopes of 
 receiving information respecting the armament, I shall 
 transmit to the presidency of Bombay the like demand of 
 supplies required for the army as that made on the govern- 
 ment of Fort St. George. — I have, &c. 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 After having despatched this, General Baird 
 ordered the ship to be got under way for Can- 
 nanore, and just as he was on the point of sailing 
 he received a letter from Colonel WeUesley, which 
 was forwarded by General Macdowall, announcing 
 that he had sailed for Bombay for provisions, and 
 that he had left the IQth regiment behind, thinking 
 that Lord Wellesley woidd perhaps undertake both 
 expeditions at the same time. 
 
 It was evident to General Baird, upon the 
 
 * Mr. Stokes was agent and commissary of provisions.
 
 282 THE LIFE OF 
 
 receipt of this letter, that Colonel Wellesley 
 had become acquainted with the change in 
 the destination of the expedition, although he 
 had not yet fallen in with him ; and accord- 
 ingly General Baird wrote to Lord Wellesley 
 from Columbo, stating that he had received this 
 announcement from Colonel Wellesley, at the same 
 time detailing all the principal points of his letter ; 
 that he had proceeded to Columbo in order per- 
 sonally to make the necessary application for 
 getting the 19th regiment embarked on board the 
 provision ships expected daily at Trincomalee from 
 Calcutta, which it was his opinion should be done 
 with the greatest expedition, and that thence they 
 should proceed, without any delay, to Mocha. 
 
 On the following day, when General Baird had 
 reached the Gulf of Manara, he wrote the sub- 
 joined letter to Colonel Wellesley. 
 
 Phcenix, Gulf of Manara, 5th March, 1801. 
 Hon. Colonel Wellesley, ^c. *^'C. 4*c. 
 
 My Dear Colonel, 
 I RECEIVED a copy of yours to me on the 21st, at Point 
 de Galle, forwarded by General Macdowall. It is much 
 to be regretted that you had not remained at Trincomalee 
 until my arrival, or until you had received some of your 
 brother's letters after my appointment to the chief com- 
 mand, as you would then have learnt that three transports 
 were to sail in the course of a few days after my depar- 
 ture from Calcutta, laden with provisions, &c. for the 
 army — a statement of which I enclose for your informa-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 283 
 
 tion — and that Lord Wellesley has made every possible 
 arrangement for supplying the army with provisions, &c. 
 As the above three ships call at Trincomalee, I am in 
 hopes the 19th regiment may be embarked on them, as 1 
 have made an application to Governor North for it. 
 These ships, however, are not to be detained but to pro- 
 ceed direct to Mocha. 
 
 As the season is so far advanced, I am apprehensive we 
 shall be too late to get to the head of the Red Sea, I 
 therefore request that you will endeavour to have as many 
 of the troops as possible embarked in the men of war and 
 fast sailing transports. I am confident Captain Malcolm 
 Avill give every assistance in his power to forward the ser- 
 vice. I am in hopes, on my arrival at Bombay, I shall 
 find the fleet ready for sea. I send this by the Waller 
 brig, on the chance of her arriving a few days before us. 
 I wrote you yesterday from Columbo by express. 
 
 I have the pleasure to inform you that you are ap- 
 pointed second in command. — I am, &c. 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 This letter from General Baird was forwarded 
 from the Gulf of Manara on the 5th of March ; but 
 it appears from the following despatch, addressed 
 to the General by Lord Wellesley, dated the 
 18th of the same month, that Colonel Wellesley ' 
 had, as General Baird anticipated, been put in 
 possession of the change of circumstances, and 
 of Mr. Secretary Dundas's letter long before. As 
 this despatch is of great importance to the thread 
 of our narrative we give it entire.
 
 284 THE LIFE OF 
 
 To Major- General Baird, Sj-c. SfC. S^c. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 1. On the 3rd instant I received advices from the 
 Honourable Colonel Wellesley, intimating that he had re- 
 ceived from the government of Fort St. George copies of 
 ]Mr. Secretary Dundas''s despatches of the 6th and 10th of 
 October, 1800, to the Right Honourable Lord Clive and 
 to me, and informing me that he had determined, in con- 
 sequence of those despatches, to proceed with the troops 
 under his command (excepting his Majesty ""s 19th regi- 
 ment, for which he could not procure tonnage) to Bom- 
 bay, and thence to the place of rendezvous pointed out in 
 the despatches from Mr. Secretary Dundas ; and, by a 
 subsequent despatch, I am informed that, in pursuance of 
 that determination, he embarked with the troops from 
 Ceylon on the 14th ultimo. 
 
 2. Colonel Wellesley was induced to adopt this mea- 
 sure by the consideration that my principal object in as- 
 sembling those forces at the island of Ceylon, was to be 
 prepared to meet the eventual demand on the part of his 
 Majesty ""s ministers for the co-operation of a force from 
 India in an attack upon the French possessions in Egypt. 
 By proceeding to Bombay, Colonel Wellesley supposed 
 that he would be enabled to complete the number of native 
 troops directed to be employed in this expedition, and 
 would have it in his power to obtain for the troops a suf- 
 ficient stock of such provisions and refreshments as are not 
 procurable at Ceylon. Colonel Wellesley also supposed 
 that in proceeding with the troops to Bombay, he should 
 not materially retard the arrival of the armament at the 
 place of rendezvous, and that my orders might reach him 
 at Bombay before the close of the month of March, if I 
 should deem it expedient to employ the troops under his 
 command in any other direction.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 285 
 
 3. Under all the circumstances of the case, I entirely 
 approve of the alacrity which Colonel Wellesley has mani- 
 fested in moving the troops towards the place of rendez- 
 vous, and I trust that tliis measure will accelerate their 
 arrival at the ultimate point of their destination, and will 
 enable you to assume the command under additional ad- 
 vantages. 
 
 4. With a view to give the earliest intimation to Colo- 
 nel Wellesley of the measures which I have adopted for 
 carrying his Majesty's orders into effect, I directed a copy 
 of my instructions addressed to you on the 10th of February, 
 to be dispatched to him by Bombay on the 3rd instant. 
 He will consequently be prepared to receive you either on 
 your arrival at Bombay (to which place I conclude you 
 will have proceeded from Ceylon at the earliest oppor- 
 tunity) or at Mocha. 
 
 5. I enclose for your information a copy of the letter 
 addressed, by my directions, to Colonel Wellesley by the 
 chief secretary. 
 
 6. By a letter from the Right Honourable Lord Clive, 
 under date the 2nd instant, I understand that his lordship 
 has determined to send six companies of his Majesty's 
 74th regiment to Bombay by the ships under dispatch at 
 Fort St. George, for the purpose of supplying the place of 
 the 19th regiment left by Colonel Wellesley at Ceylon. 
 The 19th regiment will therefore remain at Ceylon for the 
 defence of that island. This arrangement appears to be 
 judicious, as, in the approaching season, it would require 
 a considerably longer time to transport the 19th regiment 
 from Ceylon to Bombay, than will be occupied in convey- 
 ing the six companies of the 74th directly to that place 
 from Fort St. George. 
 
 7- Advices have recently reached me which induce me 
 to apprehend that the French may have reinforced 
 Mauritius, with a view to hostile operations against India ;
 
 ^86 THE LIFE OF 
 
 I have therefore judged it expedient to leave the governor 
 in council of Bombay the option of detaining the companies 
 of the 74th for the garrison of Bombay, if he should judge 
 it necessary. 
 
 I have the honour to be, Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient servant, 
 
 Welleslky. 
 Fort William, 18th March, 1801. 
 
 If this despatch to General Baird. contains an 
 ample justification of Colonel Wellesle/s proceed- 
 ing, the following letter, addressed to Colonel 
 Wellesley by the governor-general in council, in 
 answer to his communication of the 3rd of May, 
 entirely warrants what he did subsequent to its 
 receipt, but before the arrival of General Baird at 
 Bombay. 
 
 To the Honourable Colonel Wellesley. 
 
 Sir, 
 I AM commanded by the most noble the governor- 
 general in council, to inform you that I have received, 
 through the chief secretary to the government at Fort St. 
 George, and have laid before his excellency in council, 
 copies of your letters to the chief secretary at Fort St. 
 George, and to the governor of Bombay, dated the 7th 
 ultimo. 
 
 2. I am further directed by his excellency to enclose a 
 copy of his instructions to Major-General Baird, and of 
 his letter to you under date the 10th of February, which 
 documents will furnish you with the plan which his ex- 
 cellency has adopted for the execution of his Majesty's 
 commands of the 6th October, 1800. 
 
 3. As soon as this despatch siiall reach you, his excel-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 287 
 
 lency in council directs you to proceedi mmediately to 
 Mocha. 
 
 4. If Major-General Baird should not have arrived at 
 that place, you will act as chief in command of the whole 
 force directed to assemble at Mocha, and you will carry 
 into execution, with every practicable degree of dispatch, 
 the plan stated in his excellency's instructions to General 
 Baird, dated the 10th of February. 
 
 5. When Major-General Baird shall join the forces des- 
 tined to be employed on the coasts of the Red Sea, you 
 will act as second in command, according to the tenor of 
 the same instructions. 
 
 6. Adverting to your letters to the chief secretary to 
 the government at Fort St. George, and to the governor 
 of Bombay, of the 7th ultimo, the governor-general in 
 council directs me to remark, that under his excellency's 
 orders of the month of October (adverted to in the 11th 
 paragraph of the instructions to you from the most noble 
 the governor-general in council, dated the 11th Novem- 
 ber, 1800), the government of Bombay were directed to 
 hold in readiness a considerable force of native troops for 
 the purpose of co-operating, in Egypt or elsewhere, with 
 the armament assembled at Ceylon ; and that a force of 
 sixteen hundred Sepoys has accordingly been ready for 
 embarkation for some time past at Bombay. 
 
 7. His excellency also directs me to remark that the 
 stores embarked on the ships Shah Byramgow,* Cecilia, 
 and Anstruther, contain provisions which, in most articles, 
 appear more than sufficient to meet the demand trans- 
 mitted by you to the governor of Bombay. 
 
 * Shah Byramgow left the pilot on the 14th ultimo. 
 
 Candidate 20th ditto. 
 
 Cecilia and Anstruther expected to leave the pilot on the 
 5th instant.
 
 288 THE LIFE OF 
 
 8. Major-General Baird embarked for the port of Trin- 
 
 comalee in the Honourable Company's ship Phoenix, 
 
 which ship parted with the pilot off the Sand Heads at the 
 
 entrance of the river Hoogly on the 14th ultimo. 
 
 I have the honour to be, &c. 
 
 (Signed) G. H. Barlow, 
 
 Chief Secretary to the Government. 
 Fort William, 
 
 ^rd March, 1801. 
 
 On the 31 st of March, General Baird readied 
 Bombay in the Wasp gun-vessel, on board of which 
 he embarked on the 23rd, a little to the southward 
 of Goa, in hopes of arriving a few days before 
 the Phoenix, the whole anxiety of his mind being 
 directed to expediting the departure of the trans- 
 ports as much as possible.
 
 SIR DAVID BATRD. 289 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 GENERAL BAIRD ARRIVES AT BOMBAY FINDS COLONEL WELLESLEY 
 
 THERE SAILS FOR MOCHA — COLONEL WELLESLEY's ILLNESS 
 
 LEFT BEHIND GENERAL BAIRD ARRIVES AT MOCHA HIS RE- 
 CEPTION THERE — LETTERS AND PROCLAMATION OF LORD WEL- 
 LESLEY HIS CONTINUED ANXIETY CONCERNING THE FRENCH 
 
 ISLANDS COLONEL MONTRESOr's ARRIVAL GENERAL BAIRD 
 
 PROCEEDS TO JEDDAH NEGOCIATIONS WITH THE SHERIFF OF MECCA 
 
 THEIR RESULT ARRIVAL OF SIR HOME POPHAM VOYAGE TO 
 
 KOSSEIR COLONEL MURRAY ADMIRAL BLANKETT DESPATCHES 
 
 FOR GENERAL HUTCHINSON COMMENCEMENT OF THE MARCH 
 
 ORDERS — COLONEL BERESFORD DIFFICULTIES WHICH ARISE 
 
 GENERAL BAIRD ACCOMPANIES THE DIVISION ON ITS MARCH 
 
 ACCOUNT OF KOSSEIR GENERAL BAIRD RETURNS TO KOSSEIR. 
 
 When General Baird reached Bombay, he found 
 that owing to the activity of Governor Duncan 
 and Colonel Wellesley, several of the transports 
 were nearly ready, and before the 3d of April six 
 of them had actually sailed, under the command of 
 Colonel Beresford, with sealed orders. 
 
 General Baird, whose zeal was indefatigable, 
 reached Bombay several days before the Phoenix ; 
 and when she arrived, having calculated the 
 
 VOL. I. u
 
 290 THE LIFE OF 
 
 time which she would require for getting ready 
 for sea, he determined to embark on board 
 the William, which had been represented to him 
 as a remarkably fast sailer. In that ship he re- 
 solved to make the best of his way to Mocha, so 
 as to gain as much time there, as possible, for 
 making his further arrangements. 
 
 It was then arranged that Colonel Wellesley 
 should sail in the Susannah, another fast sailing 
 ship, which led General Baird to hope that they 
 might reach Mocha nearly about the same time. 
 
 In his voyage to Bombay, General Baird had 
 fallen in with some transports off Goa, and finding 
 that they were remarkably dull heavy vessels,* he 
 ordered them into that port to take in their water, 
 and, after having done so, they were instructed to 
 sail under the orders of Colonel Champagne, to 
 whom he delivered sealed instructions, intending 
 to carry from Bombay sufficient provisions, not 
 attainable at Goa, to complete their stock for six 
 months, substituting salt fish for beef and pork ; 
 resolving also, for well-founded reasons, to adopt 
 similar measures with respect to all the other 
 transports. 
 
 At tliis period General Baird appointed Major 
 Macquarie, of his Majesty's 77th regiment, deputy- 
 adjutant-general of the army under his command, 
 from a conviction that he was eminently qualified 
 
 * These were the London, the Wellesley, the Experiment, 
 and the Hydra, Grab.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 291 
 
 for the duties of that important department ; and 
 also nominated Captain Wilson, Persian trans- 
 lator. 
 
 To Lieutenant-Colonel Colman, the general 
 offered the deputy-quarter-master-generalship, but 
 he declined it, although, as general Baird says, 
 in one of the letters which passed on the occasion, 
 " It is a situation of equal honour and importance 
 with that of deputy-adjutant-general." It ap- 
 pears, however, by the list of the general's staff, 
 which we shall presently submit to the reader, that 
 Colonel Colman persisted in refusing the appoint- 
 ment. 
 
 There was one subject of annoyance to general 
 Baird, which circumstances prevented his over- 
 coming, — he was obliged to sail with his expedition 
 without the convoy of any of the men-of-war, then 
 at Bombay. The Trident and Orpheus, which 
 were there, were in dock, and the Suffolk was in so 
 bad a state as to require a general repair before 
 she could be trusted at sea. 
 
 But this vexation even did not come alone. On 
 the 3d of April, just as every arrangement was 
 complete. Colonel Wellesley was seized with a 
 return of intermitting fever, which had previously 
 attacked him at Trincomalee. His anxiety to 
 embark was with difficulty repressed by the in- 
 junctions of Mr. Scott, the surgeon. He had 
 resolved to go, and to that determination he ad- 
 hered until the last moment, thinking, as he 
 said, that the voyage would be of service to 
 
 u 2
 
 292 THE LIFE OF 
 
 liim, and that he should be completely recovered, 
 long before the expedition reached Mocha. 
 
 But these expectations were unfortunately not 
 realized in the sequel, and on the 5th of April, the 
 day which General Baird had fixed for the em- 
 barkation, Colonel Wellesley was pronounced 
 incapable of proceeding. General Baird, who 
 was most anxious for his co-operation, hoped 
 that a few days might work such a change in his 
 disorder as would enable him, at all events, sub- 
 sequently to join him; and as the Susannah, in 
 which he was to take his passage, was a fast 
 sailer, anticipated that his arrival at Mocha 
 would follow close upon that of his own. 
 
 General Baird derived some consolation for the 
 loss of Colonel Wellesley's immediate presence at 
 starting, from the circumstance that Admiral 
 Rainier being known to have left Point de 
 Galle on the 9th of March, might be hourly ex- 
 pected at Bombay ; for the general felt that con- 
 siderable advantage would be gained from Colonel 
 Wellesley's having the opportunity of discussing the 
 practical parts of the expedition with the admiral, 
 and urging him to afford whatever assistance to 
 the arduous enterprise he could spare. 
 
 It proved, however, with all General Baird's 
 mental anxiety and personal exertion, impossible 
 to get away from Bombay until the morning of the 
 6th of April, upon which day he commenced an 
 expedition such as has been rarely attempted at any 
 period of history.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 293 
 
 It would be superfluous here to enlarge upon 
 the gigantic combination of labour and peril which 
 a general must necessarily have to encounter in an 
 enterprise like this, which had been hitherto unat- 
 tempted, and which presented, besides the ordi- 
 nary array of military, naval, and political difficul- 
 ties, the awful responsibility of conducting a con- 
 siderable army through an arid and (by him) un- 
 trodden desert. It is sufficient to call the attention 
 of the reader to the following details — he will 
 thence be able to judge of the magnitude of the 
 undertaking, and the gallantry, wisdom, prudence, 
 and humanity, with which it was so nobly and suc- 
 cessfully achieved. 
 
 General Baird reached Mocha on the nineteenth 
 day from his quitting Bombay. On his arrival there 
 he found that Colonel Murray, who had been des- 
 patched to that place several months before, had 
 sailed for Jeddah on the 17th, having previously 
 sent off the Bombay detachment on the 12th, under 
 the command of Colonel Ramsay. 
 
 The detachment which we have already men- 
 tioned, as having left Bombay so late as the 3d of 
 April, under the command of Colonel Beresford, 
 had arrived at Mocha on the 21st, but Colonel 
 Beresford had likewise sailed on the 22d, without 
 leaving any intimation of his instructions with Mr. 
 Pringle, who was placed at Mocha by Colonel 
 Murray in the character of resident ; a silence 
 on the part of Colonel Beresford which he no 
 doubt observed in obedience to his orders, which
 
 294 THE LIFE OF 
 
 directed him to deliver his instructions, sealed, to 
 the senior officer in the Red Sea ; in pursuance 
 of which, General Baird concluded he had made 
 the best of his way to follow Colonel Murray. 
 
 General Baird, when he became acquainted 
 with the actual state of affairs at Mocha, felt 
 convinced that the moment Beresford reached 
 and joined Murray they would make an effort 
 conjointly to attack Kosseir ; and the possibility 
 of their failure in such an enterprise seemed to 
 him to be fraught with so much danger to the 
 ultimate success of the great undertaking in which 
 they were all engaged, that he sent off despatches 
 to both Colonel Murray and Colonel Beresford, in 
 order, if possible, to prevent any of the ill con- 
 sequences which might arise from a misapplica- 
 tion of their well known zeal and gallantry j his 
 object being to await the arrival of another de- 
 tachment under Colonel Montresor, to proceed 
 with it to Jeddah, and thence carry on Colonel 
 Murray to Kosseir, where he proposed to wait 
 the arrival of the whole armament. In short, 
 Kosseir was the place selected by General Baird 
 for the rendezvous, and accordingly he left des- 
 patches at Mocha,* detailing the arrangement he 
 had decided upon, for Colonel Wellesley and Colo- 
 nel Champagne, and for Sir Home Popham, who 
 was also expected from England. 
 
 * IMocha, a place of considerable trade in cofFee, said to 
 be tlie best in the worlds bears from Cape Bab-el-mandeb
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 29<5 
 
 In a letter which General Baird addressed to 
 Lord Weilesley from Mocha, on the 26th of April, 
 he says, 
 
 " When I was at Bombay, Governor Duncan 
 informed me of the very high expectations he 
 had from the abilities and exertions of Mehedi 
 Ali Khan in the present service, and recommend- 
 ed him to me in the strongest manner. On my 
 arrival, the Khan came on board and explained his 
 reasons for not wishing to proceed to Jeddah ; since 
 which I have had several conversations with him, 
 and being convinced that every possible effort 
 should be made to bring over the Sheriff of Mecca 
 to our interest, or at least to be on friendly terms 
 with us, I have with some difficulty prevailed 
 upon Mehedi Ali to accompany me. 
 
 " From the present disposition of the Sheriff of 
 Mecca towards the British cause, no assistance is 
 to be expected from Jeddah. I am given to under- 
 stand that he has positively forbidden the pilots 
 along the coast to carry any of our ships into that 
 port ; and a number of Dhows from this, with 
 horses and forage for the army, are detained at 
 
 about N. by W. half W. true bearing, distant thirteen and 
 a-half leagues. By the mean of many observations selected 
 from the journals of several intelligent commanders employed 
 in the expedition, INIocha is in lat. 13° 20' N., long. 43° 20' E., 
 corresponding exactly with Sir Home Popham's observations, 
 and those made by Captain Charles Court during his survey 
 of the Red Sea; the variation in the road in 1799 was 9° W. 
 
 — HORSBURGH.
 
 296 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Hodeida on that account. It is also reported here 
 that Admiral Blankett has had some disagreement 
 with the sheriff. I have, however, to hope, that 
 through the good offices of Mehedi Ali Khan we 
 shall yet be able to procure some assistance from 
 him. 
 
 " Your excellency is to be apprized, that at this 
 moment there is not one camel with any part of the 
 army, and should those which Ali Khan has com- 
 missioned from this country not leave Mocha 
 prior to the 20th of May, there is every reason to 
 believe, that from the lateness of the season they 
 will not reach Kosseir in time to be of any use to 
 the army. It is also to be presumed, from the 
 influence of the French, that the Arabs in the 
 neighbourhood of Kx)sseir will be hostile to our 
 cause, and that camels there, will not be procur- 
 able at any rate. 
 
 " From these circumstances it follows that no 
 movement of the army (in the event of the cap- 
 ture of Kosseir) can be possibly undertaken for a 
 considerable lapse of time, unless the enemy have 
 met with a check in Lower Egypt, and the com- 
 munication is opened with some of the native 
 Beys, the Turkish, or Sir Ralph Abercrombie's 
 army. 
 
 *' Of the total impossibility of an army attempt- 
 ing to march across the desert from Kosseir to 
 Ghenna, a distance of 120 miles, without the 
 requisite number of camels, your excellency must 
 be fully aware ; and 1 beg leave to enclose an
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 297 
 
 estimate of the probable number of camels 
 sufficient to enable an army of four thousand 
 fighting men, and a thousand Lascars as followers, 
 to perform the above march in twelve days.*' 
 
 It appears by the despatch from which these 
 paragraphs are extracts, that General Baird had 
 been compelled to relinquish all hope of reach- 
 ing Suez by sea, in consequence of the lateness of 
 the season ; indeed he had great apprehensions 
 that he should not be able to procure means of 
 conveyance either from the Arabian coast or in 
 Egypt itself, so as to enable him to carry into 
 etfect the great object of his expedition, that of 
 creating a diversion in favour of the combined 
 English and Turkish forces, in which case he 
 was prepared, in accordance with Lord Wellesley's 
 instructions, to advise with Admiral Rainier and 
 Colonel Wellesley as soon as they should arrive, 
 upon the most eligible plans of future operations. 
 
 The information which General Baird received 
 from Colonel Murray, who had preceded him, 
 and from other sources, was extremely vague and 
 contradictory. It was stated by some, that the 
 French had evacuated Suez and Cairo, but the 
 general prudently resolved to wait until he either 
 met, or could again communicate with Colonel 
 Murray or Admiral Blankett, before he gave cre- 
 dence to any of the numerous reports which were 
 in circulation, or decided upon the measures which 
 those reports were calculated to influence. 
 
 At Mocha General Baird Avas well received by
 
 298 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the Dola ; he had an audience immediately after 
 his arrival, and the Dola promised to aiford him 
 every assistance in his power ; to him he also de- 
 livered some presents, and left others in the charge 
 of Mr. Pringle, to be delivered to the Imaum of 
 Sana, and the Sultaun of Aden, refreshing the good 
 intentions of the sub-Dola of Mocha, (who was 
 very much respected there, and whose assistance 
 he considered likely to be very valuable,) with a 
 present of five hundred rupees ; gratifying also the 
 harbour-master with a purse of three hundred, of 
 which the general anticipated the beneficial effects 
 in the expedition with which, under the inspec- 
 tion of that officer, the transports might get their 
 water on board. 
 
 The immediate negotiation which was to con- 
 ciliate the Arab chiefs, was one of the strong 
 points of Lord Wellesley's policy in the outset of 
 the expedition, and he accordingly wrote to 
 the Sultaun of Aden, to the Imaum of Sana, to 
 the Imaum's eldest son, to his first Vizier, to the 
 Governor of Mocha, to the Sheriff of Mecca, to 
 the first Vizier of the Sheriff of Mecca, and to 
 the Vizier of Jeddah. 
 
 These letters, as shewing the political objects 
 and character of the expedition itself, will be in- 
 teresting to the reader ; we therefore insert them, 
 together with the proclamation with which Lord 
 Wellesley accompanied them. The following was 
 addressed to the Sheriff, the Imaum, and the 
 Sultaun.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 299 
 
 To the Sheriff of Mecca, 
 Imaum of Sana, 
 SuLTAUN OF Aden, 
 {Written IWi March, 1801.) 
 
 The friendship and harmony which, during a long 
 course of years, has firmly subsisted between the Sublime 
 Porte and his Britannic Majesty is well known to you. 
 That friendship has been still more closely cemented by 
 the faithless conduct of the French towards the Ottoman 
 Porte ; the French are now become the common enemy of 
 both states. That perfidious people, disregarding all the 
 obligations of friendship and the stipulations of treaties, 
 has sent forth its armies to invade the peaceful provinces 
 of Egypt, the acknowledged territory of the Ottoman 
 Porte. Without urging the slightest pretext to justify 
 this outrage, but, on the contrary, professing sentiments of 
 perfect friendship and regard, these disturbers of the 
 peace of nations have carried war and desolation into the 
 most fruitful provinces of the empire, the venerated sanc- 
 tuary of the Mahomedan faith. They have attempted to 
 establish their authority upon the ruins of your religion. 
 They have now unequivocally declared their resolution to 
 maintain by force what they have acquired by the viola- 
 tion of every principle of public faith, and of every maxim 
 of civil and religious obligation. 
 
 I entertain too high an opinion of your attachment to 
 the interests and independence of the parent state, and of 
 your zeal for the support of the religion which you revere, 
 to believe that you can have witnessed without indignation 
 and alarm this unexampled instance of the inordinate am- 
 bition and perfidious conduct of the French nation. 
 
 I am persuaded you cannot view with unconcern, the 
 ambitious and encroaching spirit of the French nation,
 
 300 THE LIFE OF 
 
 which, unresisted, must inevitably complete the downfal 
 of the Mahomedan authority, not only in Egypt, but in 
 all the neighbouring territories, and must establish the 
 supremacy of the French power in the most sacred seats 
 of the Mahomedan religion. 
 
 It has been the uniform policy of the French to en- 
 deavour to disarm the resentment of the people whose 
 country they have invaded, by professing the most amica- 
 ble intentions, and by pretending that the sole motive of 
 their actions is to mitigate the tyranny of oppressive 
 governments ; to establish the independence of oppressed 
 nations, and to secure to mankind the full enjoyment of 
 civil and religious rights. By these insidious arts the 
 French have succeeded in reducing to their absolute power 
 many of the states of Europe, which they have invaded 
 and ravaged widiout the slightest pretext or provocation. 
 
 They have employed the same means to reconcile the 
 inhabitants of Egypt to their unprovoked violence and 
 unjust usurpation; and they will endeavour to practise 
 the same perfidious policy for the purpose of subjugating 
 the remaining dependencies of the Ottoman empire in 
 Arabia. 
 
 They will labour to impress you with a belief of their 
 amicable disposition, and of their regard for the sanctity 
 of your religion. Under the pretence of establishing your 
 independence, they will endeavour to subvert your govern- 
 ment and to erect their tyrannous misrule upon its ruins. 
 
 With the most friendly solicitude I warn you to take 
 example from the unhappy fate of other states, and to 
 beware of yielding to the insidious professions of a nation 
 which has forfeited all pretensions to credit by a systematic 
 contempt of the obligations of public faith, and of the 
 law of nations, especially by their unprovoked and unjus- 
 tifiable invasion of the province of Egypt. 
 
 You liave no other security for the preservation of your
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 301 
 
 independence, and for the maintenance of your rights, 
 than by a determination to resist the force and to frustrate 
 the frauds of the French nation. 
 
 You are called upon, therefore, by every motive of in- 
 terest and self-preservation, by every principle of national 
 honour and of religious attachment, to unite your efforts 
 with the combined exertions of the British power and of 
 the Ottoman state for the expulsion of the French from 
 Egypt. A formidable army of Turkish troops is already 
 acting with vigour for the purpose of dispossessing the 
 French of their usurped authority in Egypt, and a nume- 
 rous body of British troops now co-operate in Egypt with 
 the army of the Porte in effecting the expulsion of the 
 French from Egypt. 
 
 With a view to second the operations of the combined 
 army, I have detached a considerable force of European 
 and native troops from India, to unite in a joint effort for 
 the expulsion of the common enemy. This measure, 
 while it favours the success of the operations to be carried 
 on from the side of Syria and the Mediterranean, is cal- 
 culated to provide for the security of the INIahomedan 
 possessions on the Arabian side of the Red Sea. 
 
 As the existence of the Mahomedan dominion in Arabia, 
 and the interests of the Mahomedan religion, are obviously 
 concerned in the expulsion of the French, I cannot doubt 
 that you will employ all the resources of your country and 
 the influence of your authority in promoting the success of 
 the projected enterprise. I am the more induced to rely 
 upon your exertions by the report which has been made to 
 me by Captain Wilson and by Lieutenant-Colonel Murray, 
 who were lately deputed, under my orders, to the Red 
 Sea, of the friendly disposition which you entertain to- 
 wards the Britsh nation. 
 
 I trust you will employ every effort to procure and to 
 facilitate the dispatch of provisions and of stores to the
 
 302 THE LIFE OF 
 
 troops employed in the Red Sea ; that you will furnish a 
 reinforcement of the troops of your country to act with 
 the British array, and that you will encourage the several 
 chiefs and states in Arabia and in Egypt to make common 
 cause against the common enemy of your nation and of the* 
 British power. 
 
 Major-General Baird, the commander-in-chief of the 
 Indian forces, or a proper person deputed by him, will 
 have the honour to deliver to you this letter, and will pre- 
 sent to you a few articles, the produce of Europe and of 
 this country, as a token of my friendship and regard. 
 
 I request your favourable attention to tlie suggestions 
 and applications which may be made on my part for your 
 assistance in promoting the object of the expedition. 
 
 For the rest, believe me anxious for accounts of your 
 welfare, &c. &c. &c. Wellesley. 
 
 The letter written to the Viziers, although 
 shorter, was conceived in a similar spirit, and writ- 
 ten in a similar tone. The proclamation follows : 
 
 Proclamation. 
 
 The ancient friendship and harmony subsisting between 
 the Sublime Porte and his Britannic Majesty have recently 
 been confirmed by additional ties of reciprocal danger, and 
 of common injury from the government of France. 
 
 That faithless government, disregarding the obligations 
 of amity and the stipulations of treaty, has sent forth its 
 armies to invade the peaceful provinces of Egypt, the 
 acknowledged territory of the Ottoman Porte ; the cruel- 
 ties and outrages practised by the French in Egypt are 
 known to all mankind, and have excited universal horror 
 and indignation. 
 
 The French have now unequivocally declared their re-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 303 
 
 solution to maintain by force the territory which they have 
 acquired by fraud, and by the violation of every principle 
 of faith, and of every maxim of civil and religious obliga- 
 tion. 
 
 It has been the uniform policy of the French to en- 
 deavour to disarm the resentment of the people whose 
 country they have invaded, b} professing the most amica- 
 ble intentions, and by pretenaing that the sole object of 
 the French arms is to mitigate the tyranny of oppressive 
 governments, to establish the independence of suffering 
 nations, and to secure to mankind the full enjoyment of 
 civil and religious rights. By such insidious arts the 
 French have succeeded in reducing many of the states of 
 Europe to the lowest condition of misery and humiliation. 
 The French have employed the same artifice in Egypt, 
 and they will continue to employ it for the purpose of estab- 
 lishing universal dominion and boundless power. 
 
 They will profess to maintain the independence of the 
 Mahomedan goverment, to secure to the inhabitants of the 
 country the enjoyment of their prpperty, and the free 
 exercise of their religion, to administer to the people their 
 own laws, and to protect them from oppression. 
 
 Can the enlightened inhabitants of Egypt be del^ided 
 by professions of the French, who have forfeited all pre- 
 tensions to credit by a systematic contempt of the obliga- 
 tions of public faith, and of the established law of nations ? 
 Can the people of Egypt persuade themselves that the 
 French who, under the mask of friendship, have treacher- 
 ously invaded and ravaged the dominions of an ally with- 
 out pretence or provocation, will maintain faith with the 
 people whose habitations they have usurped, and whose 
 government they have laboured to subvert ? 
 
 A nation which has openly abjured all religion cannot 
 be expected to regard the sanctity or maintain the interests 
 of the Mahomedan faith.
 
 304 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The real view of the French is to gratify their criminal 
 ambition ; their object is the absolute subversion of the 
 Ottoman power, and the permanent establishment of their 
 own dominion. 
 
 For the salutary purpose of restoring to the dominion of 
 the Porte the territory which the French have so unjustly 
 usurped, of recovering for the inhabitants of Egypt what- 
 ever they may have lost by the unprovoked aggression of 
 France, a formidable body of troops has been sent from 
 England to join the army of the Ottoman state ; and the 
 combined forces of the Grand Seignor and of his Britannic 
 Majesty are now employed in the most active operations 
 for the purpose of effecting the expulsion of the French 
 from Egypt. A considerable British force is also arrived 
 from the British empire in India to co-operate from the 
 Red Sea with the allied army now acting from the shores 
 of the Mediterranean. 
 
 A favourable opportunity is now afforded to the inhabi- 
 tants of these provinces of deliverance from the tyranny 
 and usurpation of the French ; Major-General Baird, the 
 commander-in-chief of the British forces detached from 
 India, invites all the chiefs and inhabitants of these pro- 
 vinces to avail themselves of the protection and assistance 
 of the British troops, and to unite their efforts in the com- 
 mon cause. 
 
 The commander-in-chief, while he offers protection and 
 assistance to those who may be induced to join the British 
 standard, warns the chiefs and inhabitants of these coun- 
 tries of the destructive consequences to which they will 
 expose themselves by supporting the cause of the enemy ; 
 the commander-in-chief, however, trusts that a just ab- 
 horrence of the principles, views, and conduct of the 
 French, and a firm reliance on the benevolent intentions, 
 justice, and moderation of the British nation, will induce 
 the inhabitants of these provinces to embrace with eager-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 305 
 
 ness the opportunity now happily offered to them of 
 uniting in a common effort with the friends and allies of 
 the Ottoman Porte, against the depredations, violence, 
 and outrages of the French nation in this quarter of the 
 globe. 
 
 General Baird delivered these letters and the pre- 
 sents according to their different addresses ; and 
 at Mocha made an arrangement that Seid Hamed 
 Aga should accompany the expedition, taking his 
 passage in the head-quarter ship ; an agreement 
 being entered into that he should be rewarded for 
 his services in proportion to their magnitude and 
 importance. 
 
 On the 28th of April, Colonel Montresor's divi- 
 sion of the expedition reached Mocha, and anchor- 
 ed in safety and good health ; but the boisterous 
 state of the weather rendered watering the ships 
 a work of extreme labour and difficulty, if not of 
 actual danger ; indeed the impediments which 
 were thrown in the way of completing their 
 stock, induced the general to engage pilots, with 
 a view of touching at the island of Camaran, 
 where the water was said to be remarkably pure 
 and good ; a measure of great wisdom and pru- 
 dence, inasmuch as none could reach the ships 
 from Mocha after the 20th of the next month, and 
 the supply from Jeddah was extremely precarious ; 
 but in this design he was unexpectedly thwarted 
 by the positive refusal of the pilots to take the ships 
 to that place. This extraordinary conduct Gene- 
 
 VOL. I. x
 
 306 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ral Baird could never exactly account for ; but at 
 the moment it was extremely unpleasant, because, 
 independently of the frustration of his prudential 
 arrangement for the comfort and safety of the 
 troops, it afforded, as he thought, evidence of an 
 undue influence over the pilots, exerted in some 
 hostile quarter. He did not, however, suffer this 
 opposition to delay his movements, and taking 
 into consideration all the circumstances, resolved 
 to proceed, without further delay, to Kosseir, by 
 Jeddah. 
 
 While these operations were in progress. Lord 
 Wellesley had dispatched the Mornington Packet 
 to the Cape of Good Hope, to Sh' George Young, 
 who was governor of that colony, as well as to Sir 
 Roger Curtis, the admiral commanding the sta- 
 tion, requesting their aid in furnishing certain 
 supplies to the Indian army in Egypt, desiring 
 them also to send any information of which they 
 might happen to be in possession, relative to the 
 actual state of affairs at Mauritius and Bourbon, 
 upon which islands Lord Wellesley continued to 
 keep a constant, watchful, and jealous eye ; 
 and so anxious was his lordship for the in- 
 telligence which he considered it probable the 
 packet might bring, that he directed that she 
 should on her return proceed to Mocha, and 
 that as soon as she had landed whatever stores 
 and supplies she might have for the army, she 
 should sail to Calcutta ; at the same time instruct- 
 ing General Baird to consult with Admiral Blan-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 307 
 
 kett, so that in case the object of the Egyptian 
 expedition should fail, and the enterprise against 
 the French islands could be undertaken, he might 
 endeavour to secure his co-operation to the fullest 
 extent of his means.* 
 
 Affairs, however, were destined to take a dif- 
 ferent turn, and it was General Baird's fortune to 
 succeed in achieving an object till then deemed 
 impracticable. Every movement of this yet un- 
 recorded undertaking, is full of interest ; every 
 letter, illustrative of its progress, teems with in- 
 struction and information ; and while the corres- 
 pondence of General Baird, during the continuance 
 of his toils and difficulties, marks his firmness and 
 decision, it exhibits in the strongest light the 
 affectionate humanity of the man, united with the 
 comprehensive intelligence and indefatigable ac- 
 tivity of the soldier. 
 
 It may be easily conceived that Lord Wellesley's 
 constant anxiety with regard to the French islands, 
 was not a little increased by intelligence which 
 reached Bombay on the 4th of March, that a fleet 
 had sailed from Brest, which was believed to be 
 intended as a reinforcement for those colonies, 
 
 * Although that part of Lord Wellesley's design which 
 originally included Batavia in the conquest to be achieved, was, 
 if not frustrated, at all events necessarily delayed by the new des- 
 tination given to the troops previously designed for its reduc- 
 tion, the still more desirable object — the capture of jMauritius — 
 might even yet have been effected as early almost as it 
 otherwise would, supposing the efforts of General Baird to join 
 General Hutchinson to have been frustrated. 
 
 x 2
 
 308 THE LIFE OF 
 
 preparatory to some great attack upon our Indian 
 possessions. General Baird, who had, even be- 
 fore Lord Wellesley received this information, 
 weighed in his mind the probable effects of this 
 measure, and coupling it with the avowed hostility 
 of Russia, which he conceived might have a pow- 
 erful influence over the movements of Sir Ralph 
 Abercrombie in Egypt, began to consider it pro- 
 bable, that his proceeding to Cairo or Alexandria 
 would be superfluous, and that the expedition 
 against Mauritius, would still be undertaken. 
 Under these circumstances he felt an increased 
 anxiety for a reinforcement of European troops ; 
 so that, in case of finding on his arrival at 
 Kosseir that the Egyptian campaign was to be 
 abandoned, he might strike at two colonies, the 
 strength of which had always, as we have already 
 shewn, been so judiciously magnified by the French 
 government* 
 
 Lord Wellesley, however, formed a more accu- 
 rate opinion of their real state, upon information 
 which he had derived from Mr. Stokes, who had 
 long been a prisoner at Mauritius, and whom his 
 lordship had appointed, with very considerable 
 powers, as commissary of stores, to the expedition 
 commanded by General Baird ; no doubt as well 
 with the view of marking liis confidence in that 
 gentleman during the Egyptian expedition, as of 
 securing his services, which he considered might 
 be made particularly available, should the destina- 
 tion of the force be eventually changed to Mau-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 309 
 
 ritius, with the localities of which Mr. Stokes 
 appeared to be so well acquainted. 
 
 One of the principal difficulties 'which General 
 Baird contemplated in making his way across the 
 desert, w^as the hostility, or disaffection, or trea- 
 chery of the Beys of Upper Egypt. As yet the 
 camels necessary for the transport of the army 
 had not been secured in Arabia, and General 
 Baird's efforts, in the midst of all his uncertainties 
 and difficulties, were constantly directed to the 
 conciliation of the Sheriff of Mecca, upon whose 
 disposition he seemed fully persuaded the success 
 of his great enterprise must depend. 
 
 The task of conveying, in the first instance, five 
 thousand troops, and all their followers, from Kos- 
 seir to Ghennah, across a barren desert, was one 
 which it required a most unshrinking mind even to 
 contemplate ; and although bullocks might have 
 been procured (a large number of those animals 
 having been sent from Bombay), they would have 
 been perfectly useless in the conveyance of the 
 army: for their power, as beasts of draught or 
 burden, would not have been adequate to more 
 than the carriage of the forage and water, absolute- 
 ly necessary for their own existence 
 
 On the 1 8th of May, General Baird arrived at 
 Jeddah, and found upon his arrival that Colonel 
 Murray, not having received his despatches, had, 
 taking advantage of the earlier part of the season, 
 proceeded with the Bombay detachment, and Co- 
 lonel Beresford's division, up the Gulf to Suez.
 
 310 THE LIFE OF 
 
 — General Baird's first impulse was at all ha- 
 zards instantly to follow him. — But his natural 
 desire for action was checked by the absolute 
 necessity of taking in a fresh stock of water — that 
 invaluable article (so little regarded when in plenty, 
 and so ardently sought when scarce or difficult 
 of access) ; and accordingly he resolved to remain 
 where he was, for a few days, to fill up the stock, 
 taking advantage of the delay, to secure by every 
 means in his power, the friendship and co-opera- 
 tion of the Sheriff of Mecca.* 
 
 On the evening of his arrival at Jeddah, a 
 despatch was received by Captain Hardyman, 
 from Admiral Blankett, announcing the British 
 successes in Egypt, the victory of the 21st of 
 March, and the lamented death of the gallant Sir 
 Ralph Abercrombie. 
 
 On the following day, the Sheriff of Mecca 
 having arrived. General Baird had an audience of 
 
 * Jeddah, or Juddah, according to Horsburgh (founded 
 on observations taken during the Egyptian expedition), is in 
 lat. 2r 29' N., long 89° 15' E. ; the tomb of Mahomet, at 
 Mecca, is distant twenty one miles inland. 
 
 " It would be very imprudent for a stranger to sail out of 
 Juddah roads without a pilot. The native pilots are guided 
 by the eye, as there are no cross bearings or proper marks to 
 lead them clear of the numerous sunken rocks which, in hazy 
 weather, or when the sea is obscured, cannot be discerned 
 until the ship is nearly upon them." — Vide Horshurgh's Sailing 
 BirectioHS, Vol. I. p. 221. 
 
 It was on one of the rocks to the southw'ard of the outer 
 gate, as it is called, that his Majesty's frigate La Forte struck 
 and was lost.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 311 
 
 him, in company with Mehedi Ali Khan, and 
 dehvered to his highness the letters and presents 
 destined for his acceptance. It was a matter of 
 very great satisfaction to General Baird, to find 
 that the sheriff was, or at least expressed himself to 
 be, extremely well disposed towards the English ; 
 and that moreover he promised his assistance ; 
 so that at the conclusion of the interview, the 
 general felt almost assured that he should even- 
 tually obtain, under his highness's sanction, as 
 many horses and camels as the vessels then in 
 port were competent to convey.* 
 
 It was now arranged by General Baird, that 
 instead of proceeding with him, Mehedi Ali Khan 
 should remain behind at Jeddah, and that if his 
 services should be required farther up the gulf, 
 he was to follow. 
 
 At this juncture, and just as General Baird was 
 preparing to sail for Kosseir, Sir Home Popham 
 
 * This seeming cordiality of the sheriff was the more agree- 
 able to General Baird from being entirely unexpected ; the 
 impression upon the general's mind being that his highness's 
 conduct would be unfavourable to the English. General Baird 
 had been induced to form this opinion from the fact that when, 
 as has already been stated, the pilots at Mocha decidedly 
 refused to take the ships to Camaran by water, they alleged 
 as a reason their fear of offending the Sheriff of Mecca. But 
 General Baird subsequently discovered that their unwillingness 
 to go to that island arose from the interference of the East 
 India Company's broker, who got no profit if ships were 
 supplied with water at any other place than that at which he 
 himself resided.
 
 312 THE LIFE OF 
 
 arrived off Jeddah, in H. M. S. Romney, 50 
 guns, with the Victor, of 20 guns, in comjDany. 
 The rest of his squadron (having on board the 
 6lst regiment, several troops of Hght dragoons, 
 and a detachment of artillery,) were hourly 
 expected; but it was a matter both of regret 
 and surprise to General Baird, to learn from Sir 
 Home Popham, that when he left Mocha, no 
 news whatever had been received there, either of 
 the provision-ships which were expected, or of 
 the division of the army, under the command of 
 the Honourable Colonel Wellesley and Colonel 
 Champagne. 
 
 We believe that this was the first meeting 
 between Sir Home Popham and General Baird, 
 and it is clear that a very strong feeling of mutual 
 friendship arose out of their acquaintance. Ge- 
 neral Baird was greatly struck by the activity and 
 decision of Sir Home, and upon this, as it will be 
 seen he did on various subsequent occasions, lie 
 placed the firmest reliance upon his zeal and exer- 
 tions in accelerating whatever duty there was to be 
 performed ; nor was this opinion at all weakened by 
 the manner in which Sir Home, in an audience with 
 the sheriff, adjusted a misunderstanding which 
 had unfortunately arisen with respect to the deten- 
 tion of one of the sheriff's vessels at Bombay. 
 The sheriff was entirely soothed and satisfied by 
 Sir Home's explanations, and requested that the 
 subject might never be mentioned again. Both 
 Sir Home and General Baird were extremely well
 
 sill DAVID BAIRD. 313 
 
 pleased with the line of conduct adopted by the 
 sheriff upon this occasion, and met his readiness 
 to forget what he had previously felt as an injury, 
 by declaring their intention to apply immediately 
 and jointly to the governor-general to exempt his 
 highness's vessels from the payment of duties in 
 any of the Indian ports. 
 
 In addition to this liberal termination of the 
 difference which had existed, the sheriff offered to 
 raise an Arab force for the purpose of co-operating 
 with the English army ; but General Baird hesi- 
 tated before he accepted this offer, because it was 
 evident to him that he must advance very consider- 
 a>ble sums of money to the sheriff for the purpose 
 of equipping these men, without, as he believed, a 
 corresponding certainty of his ever seeing them after 
 the money had once been paid. In consequence 
 of this apprehension, founded upon experience, 
 General Baird directed Mehedi Ali Khan not to 
 conclude any agreement upon that point, until he 
 received further instructions from him. 
 
 On the 26th of May, General Baird embarked, 
 at Sir Home Popham's request, on board his ship, 
 the Romney, and sailed for Kosseir, where they 
 expected to meet Admiral Blankett. 
 
 In the despatches brought out by Sir Home 
 Popham, many new staff-appointments from Eng- 
 land were announced, which had the effect of 
 superseding those which General Baird had pro- 
 visionally made. Colonel Auchmuty was ap- 
 pointed adjutant-general to the army, and by a
 
 314 THE LIFE OF 
 
 letter from Mr. Huskisson, then under secretary 
 of state, the general was directed to place the 
 whole of the troops from the Cape, on their 
 arrival, on India allowances. 
 
 Nothing remarkable occurred on the voyage 
 from Jeddah towards Kosseir. The winds in the 
 Red Sea, as our readers of course are aware, blow 
 six months from the north, and six from the 
 south. The season was now far advanced, and as 
 has been frequently stated, by no means favour- 
 able for the voyage ; yet on the 8th of June, the 
 Romney arrived at the place of her destination.* 
 
 When General Baird reached Kosseir and found 
 that Admiral Blankett was not there, he felt se- 
 verely disappointed, inasmuch as he expected to 
 have had an opportunity of concerting with him 
 the most eligible plan of operations to be carried 
 on against the enemy ; and this disappointment 
 
 * Kosseir, Cossier, Cosire, or Kosire, lies in lat. 26° 8' N., 
 long. 34° 15' E. ; the road is confined, and cannot contain 
 more than four or five ships safely, the quality of the ground 
 being very indifferent for anchorage, and much exposed to 
 easterly winds. On the first appearance of an easterly wind, 
 ships should put to sea, for the bank of anchorage being of 
 small extent, they are obliged to lie near the shore, and there 
 is always a heavy swell setting into the road. 
 
 " The northern part of the road is formed by a reef of rocks, 
 steep to. A ship may anchor in thirteen fathoms, with the 
 body of the fort N. W. half W. a large half-mile off shore, or 
 further-in where the depths are less, 7? 8, and 10 fathoms, and 
 be sheltered from northerly winds." — Horsburgh, Vol. I. 
 p. 224.
 
 vSIR DAVID BAIRD. 315 
 
 was by no means diminished, by finding that the 
 admiral had left no letters, from which the ge- 
 neral might collect any information respecting the 
 actual state of affairs in Egypt, or of the force or 
 position of the Turkish and English armies. 
 
 General Baird, however, found Colonel Mur- 
 ray with his detachment at Kosseir, having been 
 there nearly three weeks ; during which time the 
 colonel had made such active arrangements with 
 respect to procuring camels sufficient for the 
 transport of the troops under his immediate com- 
 mand, to Ghennah, that the general, finding the 
 road open, and the inhabitants apparently well 
 disposed towards the English, resolved to move 
 them forward in the course of a few days ; intend- 
 ing as soon as the other division of the army 
 should arrive, for which he determined to wait at 
 Kosseir, to follow with all practicable expedition 
 himself. 
 
 After General Baird had been a short time at 
 Kosseir, he received a despatch from Admiral 
 Blankett, informing him of General Hutchinson's 
 success in Lower Egypt, and his consequent junc- 
 tion with the Grand Vizier's army. General 
 Baird immediately wrote off to General Hutchin- 
 son, announcing the arrival of the troops from the 
 Cape, and requesting to know as speedily as pos- 
 sible, whether he considered it absolutely neces- 
 sary for them to join him at Cairo. Colonel 
 Murray, it appears, had written repeatedly to 
 General Hutchinson without receiving any reply.
 
 316 THE LIFE OF 
 
 for in a letter of General Baird's, to General Hut- 
 chinson, dated Kosseir, 10th of June, 1801, he 
 says, " As Colonel Murray has repeatedly written 
 to you, without (as yet) receiving any answer, I 
 shall, for fear of accidents, write daily, until I shall 
 have the pleasure of hearing from you." 
 
 This trait of resolute perseverance on the pub- 
 lic service is highly characteristic, more especially 
 when it is recollected how many, and what totally 
 opposite duties, necessarily occupied General 
 Baird's time and mind on the eve of such an ex- 
 pedition as that he was about to undertake. The 
 general, however, was destined to find General 
 Hutchinson a better correspondent than Colonel 
 Murray had found him ; for Admiral Blankett, 
 who arrived himself at Kosseir on the 15th of 
 June, brought with him a despatch for General 
 Baird, which appears to be of sufficient importance 
 to merit insertion here. 
 
 Head-quarters, British Camp, 
 15 miles above Rahamenie, on the Nile, 
 
 May I3th, 1801. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 I HAVE heard, with great satisfaction, from Admiral 
 Blankett of your arrival at Jeddah on the 17th of April, 
 and I am very happy to find that his Majesty's troops 
 from India are under the command of so able and so 
 experienced an officer. 
 
 I have thought it necessary to send my aide-de-camp, 
 Major Montresor, who will give you intelligence of every 
 thing that has passed in this country.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 317 
 
 It is my intention to push forward towards Cairo, so as 
 to keep the French troops there in check, and to prevent 
 the possibility of their attacking you before you have 
 formed your junction with the Grand Vizier. I have also 
 written, and caused the Captain Pacha to write in the 
 strongest manner to the Grand Vizier, to give you all the 
 assistance required for the passage of the desert. I am 
 afraid that you will find great, but I hope not insurmount- 
 able difficulties. The season is advancing; — the hot wea- 
 ther is coming on, and, I believe, that you will find no 
 water on the route ; but I speak with extreme diffidence, 
 as the minds of men in this country are so brutalized that 
 it is impossible to get just information of the state and 
 circumstances of countries which are even within a few 
 miles"' distance. 1 have a sanguine hope, however, that your 
 troops, more inured to a hot climate than those immediately 
 from Europe, may be enabled to bear up against the 
 fatigues incidental to such a march as that across the de- 
 sert naturally must be. 
 
 I mean to continue in my position near Cairo until I 
 hear that you are in a state of security ; it is then my in- 
 tention to descend the Nile, and to besiege Alexandria in 
 conjunction with the troops under the orders of his High- 
 ness the Captain Pacha. It is rather my present opinion 
 that you should join yourself to the army of the Grand 
 Vizier, and take the direction of military affairs with him. 
 It will probably be necessary to besiege the citadel and forts 
 of Cairo, which I do not think will be difficult, as we have 
 found that the stone of this country being of a bad quality, 
 and the masonry new, they do not resist cannon for any 
 lengthened period. I must, however, think of procuring 
 you the necessary heavy artillery for that purpose, as you 
 cannot bring any across the desert, and I know the Grand 
 Vizier has none, from having been placed in similar circum- 
 stances.
 
 318 THE LIFE OF 
 
 I shall not enter into further details, as Major Montre- 
 sor, a very intelligent officer, and perfectly in my confi- 
 dence, will give you every intelligence which you can. 
 desire, and much more than could be contained in the 
 bounds of a letter. 
 
 I am glad to find that you are accompanied by my 
 friend Colonel Wellesley, to whom I desire to be remem- 
 bered in the kindest manner. 
 
 1 suppose, as you are coming from a wealthy country, 
 that you have brought your own means with you ; don't 
 hope to derive any assistance from us, for we are plunged 
 in the most abject state of poverty ; perhaps, in this res- 
 pect, you may be able to assist us. If you could lend us 
 ten or twenty thousand pounds it would be a great object. 
 Every thing is in arrear, even the pay of the soldier. 
 You know that this arises from most of the ports of 
 Europe being shut against us. 
 
 I fear I shall be under the necessity of making requi- 
 sitions on the country ; I shall endeavour, however, to 
 avoid this painful extremity as long as possible. 
 
 Colonel Wellesley being senior to Brigadier-General 
 Oakes, now acting under my command, I suppose he also 
 is to be a brigadier-general ; I tell you this for your 
 information, as I do not know how it may interfere with 
 the regulations laid down in India, and whether there are 
 any company^'s officers acting with you, of the rank of 
 colonel, senior to him. 
 
 If I can be of any manner of use to you, I need not say 
 that you may command me, and that you may believe me 
 to be, with much regard. 
 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient, and most humble servant, 
 
 J. H. Hutchinson. 
 
 Major-General Baird, SfC. SfC. Sfc.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 319 
 
 To this General Baird sent an immediate reply, 
 in which he informed General Hutchinson, that 
 Admiral Blankett's opinion against attempting to 
 proceed by sea to Suez was fixed and irrevocable, 
 lamenting at the same time that the difficulties of 
 effecting a junction by that means with General 
 Hutchinson's army were rendered insui'mountable 
 by the lateness of the season. Under these circum- 
 stances, and under the advice of Sir Home Pop- 
 ham, in whom upon all occasions General Baird 
 reposed the most perfect confidence, the general 
 resolved upon sending off Colonel Murray, 
 the quarter-master-general, to Ghennah, whence 
 he would transmit the letter he was then writing, 
 and that the colonel should either remain at 
 Ghennah or proceed down the Nile, for the pur- 
 pose of opening an immediate communication 
 with General Hutchinson, and gaining from him 
 every possible information. 
 
 According to this arrangement Colonel Murray 
 quitted Kosseir for Ghennah, on the route towards 
 which place General Baird had already established 
 posts for nearly half the distance, at which he had 
 directed the men to dig for water. Having for- 
 tunately succeeded in all the spots where they 
 halted, the general was naturally encouraged to 
 push forward by corps, and on the 19th, the first 
 body of troops began the march, having been 
 delayed by the unsoundness of the mussacks or 
 bags in which they were to convey their water. 
 
 Just as General Baird was closing his despatch
 
 320 THE LIFE OF 
 
 to General Hutchinson, announcing this move- 
 ment, and expressing his zealous determination 
 to effect a junction with him as speedily as pos- 
 sible, he received the following letter from that 
 officer. 
 
 Head -quarters. Camp near Aksas, 
 3rd June, ISO] . 
 Sir, 
 
 I SEND you this letter by one of Osman Bey's mam- 
 alukes : Osman Bey promises every assistance in liis power, 
 and I dare say will keep his word. He joined our army 
 three days ago with about a thousand cavalry. We march 
 to-morrow and shall arrive at the head of the Delta on the 
 7th instant ; I mean to besiege the Citadel of Cairo as soon 
 as ever the Turks arrive. The Grand Vizier's army acts 
 on the other side of the rirer ; we shall be enabled to as- 
 semble a considerable force, and I do not believe that the 
 works of the enemy are very formidable. 
 
 There is some difficulty in bringing up the heavy can- 
 non, on account of the present low state of the river ; the 
 French have about 5,000 men in Cairo, and Gizeh. and 
 probably near the same number at Alexandria ; General 
 Coote occupies an entrenched camp in front of that town, 
 with about 5,000 men ; should the enemy not receive rein- 
 forcements they will find it hardly possible to continue the 
 contest. We took from them in the course of the last 
 month 1 ,600 men ; some of their best troops ; and we are 
 in possession of the whole country but Cairo and Alexan- 
 dria. I hope after you have once got over the desert, you 
 will find your march an easy one. The country I under- 
 stand is abundant, and boats are numerous. I do not 
 suppose that the enemy will march into Upper Egypt, in 
 order to oppose your progress ; should they venture it, I
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 321 
 
 mean to march a strong corps of cavalry, and some pieces 
 of cannon to j^oiir assistance. I hope you have received 
 ray letter of the 13th of May, which I forwarded to Ad- 
 miral Blankett 
 
 I have sent camels to Suez, to bring up the detachments 
 of the 86th regiment embarked on board the fleet ; Lieute- 
 nant-Colonel Lloyd is to join the Grand Vizier's army, 
 where I have also ordered three other British battalions. 
 I shall be happy to hear from you as often as you conve- 
 niently can. I beg my best compliments to Colonel Wel- 
 lesley. I hope you have brought money with you ; for our 
 part we have not sufficient even to pay the subsistence of 
 the troops, nor is there much probability of our situation 
 being bettered ; this country affords no money resources, 
 and our communication with England is extremely slow 
 and uncertain. 
 
 The plague has by this time ceased in Upper Egypt ; 
 you had better, I think, be cautious about entering the 
 villages, as there may still be a lurking remnant of the dis- 
 order in the covmtry ; it has been in our hospital at Rosetta, 
 and I believe at Aboukir ; there has been no appearance 
 of it in this corps, and we are much more healthy than that 
 which is stationary at Alexandria; indeed, I have observed 
 that it is uniformly the case in all armies, and that fixed 
 camps are very prejudicial to the health of the 'soldier. 
 I have the honour to be, 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 J. Hely Hutchinson. 
 
 Major-General Baird, ^-c. i^c. S^c. 
 
 The contents of this letter were of a nature to 
 increase General Baird's anxiety for despatch, and 
 accordingly the troops destined for the advance 
 began to move. 
 
 VOL. I. y
 
 322 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The corps which first started on this perilous 
 enterprise, was commanded by Colonel Beresford, 
 and as we have already expressed our conviction 
 that every detail by which the progress of the 
 expedition can be authentically traced, even to 
 the most minute particulars, will be interesting in 
 the highest degree, we do not hesitate to subjoin 
 the following order of march, which was issued to 
 the several officers in command. 
 
 You will march this evening to the new wells, distance ten 
 miles, there fill your water. 
 
 22d. Half-way, if possible, to Moilah, distance 15 or 20 
 miles. 
 
 23d. To Moilah, distance 15 or 20 miles. There you will 
 find water and provisions. You may halt a day there if you 
 find it necessary. 
 
 24th. Half-way to Legeta ; about 15 miles, no water. 
 
 25th. To Legeta, about 15 miles. Water and provisions. 
 
 26th. Half-way to the Nile, 15 miles. 
 
 27th. To the Nile. 
 
 The camels are not to be allowed to drink at the wells at 
 INIoilah ; if it is necessary the camels should drink, they can 
 have water at a short distance forward from Moilah, bullocks 
 and asses must also be sent there. 
 
 Colonel Beresford thinks the best mode of marching, is fifteen 
 miles at night, and five early in the morning, you, however, will 
 judge for yourself. I would recommend marching the whole 
 distance without halting, if you find your men are not too 
 much fatigued. 
 
 You will give particular attention to the orders of the 19th 
 instant, for your guidance on the march. 
 
 You will not issue more than one gallon of water per man, 
 which may be given to them as soon as you arrive at your 
 ground in the morning, but on no account is any to be distri- 
 buted whilst on the march.
 
 - ® 
 
 h

 
 SIR DAVID BAIllD. 39,3 
 
 The bags which leak most to be first emptied, and as your 
 camp-kettles will not be wanted for cooking, water may be 
 started into them from leaky bags whilst you halt. 
 
 As your route is discretional, you will of course be guided 
 by any information Colonel Beresford may give you. He is 
 directed to correspond with you. 
 
 General Baird, anxious to watch the first move- 
 ment of the troops, accompanied the division to 
 its first halting place, nearly twelve miles from 
 Kosseir, and it was then discovered that a very 
 great number of the bags had entirely emptied 
 themselves through the leaks : a circumstance 
 which the more alarmed him, because although 
 the wells which had been dug, yielded water, it was 
 still to be procured but in small quantities. 
 
 This misfortune operated dreadfully upon the 
 movement of the troops : however, General Baird 
 was compelled to forward the camels laden with 
 water which were ready and intended for the se- 
 cond division, to Colonel Beresford, delaying of 
 course the march of that division ; but during 
 all these harassing events General Baird never 
 lost his presence of mind, nor seemed moved by 
 the difficulties which surrounded him, declaring, 
 even at the moment of this discomfiture, his con- 
 viction that he should eventually succeed, and 
 that each division would have crossed the desert 
 in nine days. 
 
 But the general had need of all his firmness. 
 The accounts received from Colonel Beresford of 
 the situation of the first division were most dis- 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 THE LIFE OF 
 
 tressing. One hundred camels from the 10th re- 
 giment were immediately forwarded, fifty of which 
 were laden with water. The general, under the 
 circumstances, desired Beresford, when he arrived 
 at Moilah, to halt there until further orders, and in 
 the meantime to endeavour to ascertain the exact 
 distance between that place and Legeta, and whe- 
 ther water was procurable at the latter ; and if not, 
 whether the plan which they had tried in other 
 places, of digging for it, would be likely to succeed 
 there, and in the event of that being the case, im- 
 mediately to set working parties to sink wells. 
 
 The consideration for others, and the anxiety 
 which he began to feel for the men under his 
 command, operated upon General Baird's feelings 
 in a way which no personal ill or inconvenience 
 could have produced, and at the time the camels 
 were pushed forward, to rescue the advance from 
 the horrors of the most dreadful of deaths under a 
 scorching sun, he sent to Colonel Beresford to 
 desire him to communicate openly, fairly, and 
 fearlessly his real opinions as to the ulterior prac- 
 ticability of the undertaking. He ordered the 
 guns and tumbrils to be sent back, and gave di- 
 rections to the head camel-man, whom he dis- 
 patched with them, to the effect, that if Colonel 
 Beresford should feel convinced that the failure 
 of the mussacks or water-bags had destroyed the 
 probability of their continuing the march — a con- 
 viction which General Baird himself appeared 
 apprehensive might be confirmed by the absolute
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 325 
 
 impossibility of getting the bags repaired or ren- 
 dered serviceable — the advanced force should im- 
 mediately fall back. 
 
 The generaPs solicitude for the men is well il- 
 lustrated by the following extract from a letter to 
 Colonel Beresford, written by Captain Molle, his 
 aid-de-camp and secretary. 
 
 " One day's provisions were sent from camp last night, 
 and forwarded by Captain Sturt, which the general trusts 
 have reached you, and he has desired Colonel Quarrel 
 immediately to forward you by the camels now sent, one 
 half day's provision out of his own stock, if possible. The 
 general suggests the expediency of moving on to Moilah as 
 many of your sick and fatigued as there may be camels 
 without burthen, and to desire Mr. Shubrick immediately 
 to forward by them such supply of water and provisions as 
 may be required till you reach Moilah. The general trusts 
 you will husband the provisions at Moilah as much as pos- 
 sible — more will be forwarded in order to make up your 
 consumption. You will order Mr. Shubrick to forward 
 provisions to Legcta. Colonel Murray informs the general 
 that water is to be had about four miles from Moilah, on 
 the road to Legeta — good, but in small quantities ; and 
 that about seven or eight miles from Moilah, he found water 
 at a place called Manah-har, and where plenty might be 
 had by digging for. If this is possible, and sufficiency can 
 be found, it would ensure the first stage from Moilah, as 
 this does from Kosseir."" 
 
 When the 10th regiment, and first company of 
 sepoys began their march next night, it was dis- 
 covered that their water-bags were in as bad a 
 state as those of Colonel Beresford's division ; in-
 
 326 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 deed the loss was so great, and their efforts to 
 secure the water so precarious, that they could not 
 depend on more than twelve hours' supply. Under 
 these circumstances, and seeing that it was impos- 
 sible to march the army on foot across the desert, 
 and equally impossible, under any circumstances, 
 to transport the artillery. General Baird began to 
 falter — not in his hopes — but in the certainty 
 which till now he had felt of carrying his plan into 
 execution. 
 
 At this period of our narrative it may not be 
 amiss to give a brief account of the town of Kos- 
 seir, which has derived considerable interest from 
 having been the landing-place of General Baird's 
 expedition. 
 
 Count de Noe, who served in the expedition as 
 an officer in the English 10th regiment of foot, 
 published in 1826 a work called " Memoirs re- 
 latifs a VExpedition Anglaise de Vliide en Egypte,** 
 in which he says, speaking of Kosseir : — 
 
 ** I shall never forget the deep impression of 
 melancholy made upon my mind by the first sight 
 of this desolate coast. Such barrenness, such 
 solitude, such a total and wretched absence of 
 every thing like verdure or foliage, except indeed 
 in the shape of a few blighted date trees. The 
 heart shuddered at tlie idea of even a temporary 
 residence upon its arid shores. 
 
 " Kosseir itself is a miserable cluster of wretched 
 hovels, built with shells and mud, yet it is never- 
 theless a port of considerable commercial impor-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 327 
 
 tance ; in fact it is the point of communication 
 between Arabia and Egypt, and is the regular 
 mart for the exchange of corn and other produc- 
 tions of tlie country, against the coffee of Mocha 
 and tlie musHns of India. The town of Ghennah 
 is the general entrepot^ and although several days' 
 journey distant from Kosseir, is the source whence 
 the latter derives all the necessaries of life. 
 
 ** The water at Kosseir is exceedingly bad, and 
 so bitter that even boiling does not correct it ; but 
 the merit of finding the springs — bad as the water 
 is — is due to the soldiers of the 21st demi-brigade, 
 under General Belliard ; before their discovery all 
 water consumed at Kosseir was brought over from 
 Arabia. The fort which defends the place, and 
 which was built by Generals Belliard and Donzelet, 
 is so well masqued as to be entirely impercepti- 
 ble to troops in their approach, until they are 
 literally under its fire. In 1800 a detachment of 
 English soldiers were landed here from H.M.S. 
 Fox, who were repulsed with considerable loss and 
 compelled precipitately to re-embark." 
 
 The account given by Bruce of this place, and 
 the country between it and Ghennah, is even 
 more unfavourable than that of the count. " Our 
 road," says he, "was all the way on an open 
 plain, bounded by hillocks of sand and fine gravel, 
 perfectly hard, and not perceptible above the 
 level of the plain country of Egypt. About 
 twelve miles distant there is a ridge of mountains, 
 of no considerable height, perhaps the most bar-
 
 328 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ren in the world — between them our road lay, 
 through plains near three miles broad, but with- 
 out trees, shrubs, or herbs ; there are not even 
 the traces of any living creatures, neither serpent 
 nor lizard, antelope nor ostrich, the usual in- 
 habitants of the most dreary deserts ; there is no 
 sort of water on the surface, brackish or sweet ; 
 even the birds seem to avoid the place as pestilen- 
 tial, not having seen one of any kind so much as 
 flying over. The sun was burning hot, and upon 
 rubbing two sticks together, in half a minute they 
 flamed."* 
 
 His description of starting on the march is 
 highly graphic : — " When all was ready, the whole 
 party, at a funeral pace, slowly advanced into 
 the gloomy region of the desert. There was 
 nothing in the prospect to excite the energies of 
 the mind, or to arouse the feelings. Men, and 
 camels, and horses, drooping as they went, 
 seemed alike to be aware, that the courage they 
 had now to exert, was only of the passive descrip- 
 tion—all that was required of them was to suffer! 
 Anger, hatred, and other revengeful feelings, 
 which, like brandy, too often make men careless 
 and insensible to danger, afforded them no such 
 excitement — they had not the savage pleasure of 
 contending with human beings — the burning sand, 
 
 * Vide Life of Bruce, Murray's Family Library, No. 17, 
 p. 90.
 
 SIR DAVID BALRD. 329 
 
 and the burning sun, it was out of their power to 
 injure."* 
 
 The wilds of Egypt are inhabited, or to speak 
 more correctly, traversed successively by bands 
 of Arabs, known by the distinctive name of Be- 
 douins, who again are subdivided into numerous 
 tribes. They are thieves by profession, and are 
 in themselves the strongest possible living proofs 
 of the existence of honour among that frater- 
 nity. The striking point of character amongst 
 them, is that of defending to the death any 
 one once under their protection, either from 
 having purchased their services, or from having 
 been led by accident to their dwellings, and par- 
 taken of their hospitality. 
 
 They levy tributes on jthe caravans which pass 
 through their territories ; and woe be to those 
 who should refuse to pay. They possess great 
 numbers of cattle, horses, and goats. Their dress 
 consists only of a hnen shirt, with large sleeves, 
 which descends to their heels, and over that a 
 black or white woollen jacket. They occasionally 
 throw a shawl across their shoulders, and wear tur- 
 bans, the under part of which consists of a hand- 
 some crimson cap. Always mounted either on 
 horses or dromedaries, of which the fleetness is 
 proverbial, they are constantly armed with fusils 
 and pistols, sabres, and sometimes spears. They 
 are the self constituted proprietors of the wells, 
 
 Ibid.
 
 330 THE LIFE OF 
 
 near which their camps are pitched, a circum- 
 stance which renders it impossible for the cara- 
 vans that cross the desert to escape their exac- 
 tions. 
 
 Kosseir, however, if not fertile on its surface, 
 contains some hidden treasures. Bruce says, *' it 
 has been a wonder among all travellers, and myself 
 among the rest, where the ancients procured the 
 prodigious quantity of fine marble with which all 
 their buildings abound. That wonder now ceases ; 
 after having passed in four days, in the neighbour- 
 hood of Kosseir, more granite, porphyry, marble, 
 and jasper, than would build Rome, Athens, Co- 
 rinth, Syracuse, Memphis, Alexandria, and half-a- 
 dozen such cities." 
 
 We have devoted some space to these accounts, 
 because they serve to illustrate the progress of the 
 gallant subject of our memoir, and enable the 
 reader to form some opinion of what he and his 
 gallant army were doomed to undergo. Only let 
 it be recollected, that in addition to the hard- 
 ships, the exertions of mind and body, the 
 fatigues and vexations, and the hopes and dis- 
 appointments incidental to his elevated and re- 
 sponsible situation. General Baird had to endure 
 all the other afflictions so sensitively described by 
 De Noe and Bruce. 
 
 Think, too, what must have been General 
 Baird's feelings on the discovery of the failure of 
 the conveyance for water, by which his whole 
 arrangement would be destroyed, and the expe-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIIID. 331 
 
 dition in all probability itself terminated ; add to 
 this another serious evil which he experienced, 
 and which he describes in a letter to General 
 Hutchinson, dated from the New Wells, (to which 
 place he had gone forward,) arising from the mis- 
 information which he almost invariably received 
 as to the relative positions of places on the route — 
 distances estimated by the natives at twenty miles, 
 almost always proved to be double that amount — 
 in some instances more ; so that he found the 
 calculations which he had made, not only as re- 
 garded time, but in estimating the number of 
 camels requisite for the performance of the jour- 
 neys on different days, all erroneous. 
 
 With his mind full of these distracting diffi- 
 culties, but with a firm heart and an unshaken re- 
 solution. General Baird, having despatched Colonel 
 Murray's detachment, returned to Kosseir, on the 
 evening of the 22d of June.
 
 333 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 r.ENERAL BAIRD TAKES MEW PRECAUTIONS REPORT OF A LARGE 
 
 FRENCH FORCE AT CAIRO GEN. BAIRd's DETERMINATION THERE- 
 UPON STAFF OF THE ARMY ARRIVAL OF THE WASP LETTERS 
 
 FROM COLONEL WELLESLEY MEMORANDUM — SIR HOME POPHAM's 
 
 INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE FLEET — GENERAL BAIRD QUITS KOSSEIR — 
 
 ARRIVES AT MOILAH DISTRESSES OF THE MARCH COUNT DE NOe' 
 
 LEGETA GHENNAH — CONTINUED SILENCE OF GENERAL HUTCH- 
 INSON GENERAL BAIRd's ANXIETY LETTER FROM ADMIRAL BLAN- 
 
 KETT — SURRENDER OF CAIRO — GENERAL BAIRD RESOLVES UPON 
 
 HALTING, AND PREPARES TO RE-EMBARK THE ARMY DESPATCHES 
 
 FROM GENERAL HUTCHINSON MAKES PREPARATIONS FOR MOVING 
 
 FORWARD TO JOIN THAT OFFICER. 
 
 While General Baird continued busily occupied 
 in making the necessary preparations for the march, 
 the perils and difficulties of which seemed awfully to 
 increase in number and magnitude as he approached 
 them more nearly, in repairing the mischief which 
 had already occurred to the mussacks, upon which 
 so much, in fact everything, depended, and in pro- 
 viding against a recurrence of similar misfortunes, 
 his active mind had been employed in endeavouring 
 to turn to advantage some intelligence which he 
 had, as he believed, exclusively obtained from an
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 333 
 
 Arab, that there was a force of fifteen thousand 
 French troops and ten thousand Greeks and Copts 
 in the neighbourhood of Cairo * 
 
 It appeared quite possible to General Baird that 
 supposing that to be the case, a large detachment 
 of troops might be pushed forward from Cairo to 
 Ghennah by the Nile, in order to check his progress, 
 long before any intelligence of their movement could 
 reach him from General Hutchinson ; and consider- 
 ing the practicabiHty of such a measure, he consulted 
 Sir Home Popham as to the expediency of deferring 
 the march of his forces on to Ghennah until he should 
 be reinforced by European troops ; since the detach- 
 ment which was to advance under Colonel Murray 
 amounted to no more than seven hundred men. 
 
 Finding it impossible to communicate with Admi- 
 ral Blankett, as he very much wished, by an over- 
 land dispatch to Suez, on account of the wars in 
 which the different tribes of Arabs, in all directions, 
 round that place, were engaged. Sir Home Popham, 
 at his solicitation, put a fast-sailing vessel at General 
 Baird's disposal, by which the General forwarded 
 the important information which he had received. 
 " Indeed," says the general, in a letter to Lord Wel- 
 lesley, " I feel myself highly indebted to Sir Home 
 Popham for his ready assistance and cordial co-oper- 
 
 * To ordinary readers, the importance attached to the supply 
 of water may appear somewhat over-rated, but it is an esta- 
 bUshed fact, that if General Baird had not, with his inherent 
 foresight, caused wells to be dug at the halting-place on the 
 road to Moilah, every man of the advanced detachment would 
 have perished in consequence of the failure of the mussacks.
 
 334 THE LIFE OF 
 
 ation on this, and on every other occasion ; his zeal 
 for the service is so great, that he determined to 
 accompany me to Ghennah with a body of seamen, 
 in order to assist us in making our arrangements 
 for embarking on the Nile." 
 
 After Admiral Blankett's arrival, and that the 
 communication between Generals Baird and Hutch- 
 inson was opened, and the falsehood of the story 
 told by the Arab respecting the French and Copts 
 force established, General Baird determined to lose 
 not a moment in pushing forward, to cross the 
 desert and effect a junction with the English army, 
 at the same time, with a view to the ulterior 
 operations projected against the Isles of France 
 and Bourbon, so constantly remembered, and so 
 frequently efe.rred to by him, he wrote to Mehedi 
 Ali Khan not lo purchase any additional camels or 
 horses at Jeddah, but on the contrary, to dispose of 
 those which he had already bought, to the best 
 advantage. 
 
 But when General Baird had, by every possible 
 care and activity, overcome the leading difficulties 
 which presented themselves in opposition to the 
 march, a new misfortune assailed him. The troops 
 that had advanced under the command of Colonel 
 Beresford and the other officers, were attacked with 
 a dreadful dysenterial complaint, brought on by the 
 badness of the water, the heat of the weather, and 
 the exertion of marching in such a climate over such 
 a country, after a long confinement on ship-board, 
 where indeed, their food (consisting necessarily.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. '335 
 
 almost entirely, of salted provisions,) had not a little 
 contributed to render their constitutions more sus- 
 ceptible of the malady which so severely assailed 
 them. 
 
 Under these circumstances, and as Sir Home 
 Popham, in consequence of orders issued by Admiral 
 Blankett, was unable himself to accompany General 
 Baird, and as the general became more and more 
 convinced of the great difficulty of moving^' Eu- 
 ropeans, he declined taking any of the seamen from 
 the ships. Seamen on shore, unless commanded by 
 ti.eir own officers, and those officers accustomed to 
 act with troops, are seldom very efficient. 
 
 Another source of uneasiness to General Baird 
 was, the extraordinary delay in the arrival of the 
 detachments under Colonel Wellesl*^" ihd Colonel 
 Champagne, the hopes of a junction with which he 
 now was compelled, at least for that season, to aban- 
 don. To wait any longer on their account would 
 have been an unjustifiable waste of time, because 
 under the circumstances the period of such a delay 
 must have been indefinite ; and accordingly the ge- 
 neral made up his mind to try the result without the 
 aid and co-operation of that re-inforcement, for 
 which he had been so long and so anxiously lock- 
 ing out. 
 
 As many of the names of the officers composing 
 the staff of this gallant force under General Baird 
 have since become familiar to the ears of their coun- 
 trymen, we think it may not be unacceptable to 
 give them as they stood on the 24th of June 1801.
 
 336 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Major-General Baird, His Majesty's 54th Regiment, Com- 
 mander-in-chief. 
 Colonel Samuel Auchmuty,* H. M. 10th Foot, Adjutant-Gen. 
 Colonel John Murray,f H.M. 84th Foot, Quart.-Mast.-Gen. 
 
 * Colonel Auchmuty entered the army in 1776, as a volun- 
 teer in the 48th Foot, and received an ensigncy in the following 
 year. He was shortly after made Lieutenant, and served in 
 the actions of Brooklyn and Whale-plains. He exchanged, and 
 went to India, where he served from 1783 to 1796, having 
 obtained in 1795 the Majority of the 75th Foot. In 1801 he 
 went from the Cape to Egypt, with troops, and the rank of 
 Adjutant-General to the army. He afterwards served in South 
 America, and took Monte Video in' 1807, and held the com- 
 mand of the army until the arrival of General Whitelock. In 
 1810 he was appointed Commander-in-chief at Madras, and 
 obtained a complete victory over the Dutch, the result of which 
 was the capture of the Island of Java. In 1813 he returned to 
 England, and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant-General. 
 He also received the thanks of Parliament, a medal for the 
 capture of Java, and was made a Knight Grand Cross of the 
 Bath. Sir Samuel was afterwards appointed Commander of the 
 Forces in Ireland, where he died in the year 1823. 
 
 f Colonel John Murray, a native and Baronet of Scotland, 
 entered the army in 1788, and served in the campaigns in the 
 Netherlands in 1793 and 1794, during which he was aid-de- 
 camp to Marshal Freytag, and subsequently to His Royal High- 
 ness the Duke of York. In May 1794 he obtained the rank of 
 Lieutenant-Colonel, He was at the capture of the Cape, and 
 proceeded with a division of troops to Egypt, where, in 1801, 
 he acted with the rank of Colonel, as Quarter-Master-General 
 to Sir David Baird's army. He afterwards commanded the 
 Bombay division at Poonah, and subsequently the British army 
 during the wars with Scindiah and Holkar. In 1805 he 
 attained the rank of Major-General, and from that period till 
 1808 was on the staff of the Eastern District in Great Britain. 
 In 1808 and 1809 he commanded the King's German Legion
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 3.'i7 
 
 Major L. Macquarie,* H. M. 77th Foot, Deputy Adj.-Gen. 
 Major S. Wilson, 2nd Reg. Bombay N. I., Persian Interpreter. 
 Captain H. Falconer, H. M. 71st Reg. Deputy Quarter- 
 Master-General. 
 Capt. George Molle, Scotch Brigade, Sec. and Aid-de-Camp. 
 Capt. George Tucker, H. M. 22nd Foot, Major of Brigade* 
 Capt. W. Cox, H. M. 68th Reg. Assist. Quarter-Mast.-Gen. 
 Lieut. White, H. M. 13th Lt. Dragoons, ditto, ditto, ditto. 
 Lieut. T. Budgeon, H. M. 84th Reg. Addit. Aid-de-Camp. 
 Dr. W. R. Shapter, Inspector of the Hospitals. 
 Mr. J. Foreman, Surgeon to the Forces. 
 Mr. R. Moss, Purveyor to the Forces. 
 Mr. J. Paterson, Field Apothecary. 
 Mr. J. Rice, Hospital Mate. 
 Mr. T. Price, ditto. 
 
 J. Ryder, Esq. Paymaster to the Bengal Troops. 
 T. White, Esq. ditto, ditto. 
 
 On the 24th of June we find, by a letter to Gene- 
 ral Hutchinson, that General Baird had, by great 
 exertions, completed such arrangements about the 
 
 under Sir John Moore and Sir Arthur Wellesley, and shared in 
 all the actions which led to the expulsion of Soult from Portu- 
 gal. In May 1809 he was appointed Colonel of the 3rd West 
 India Regiment. In 1811 he became Lieutenant-General, and 
 served with Lord William Bentinck; he was afterwards ap- 
 pointed to command the Anglo-Sicilian army in Catalonia, 
 where, being compelled to raise the siege of Tarragona, he was 
 obliged to retire with the loss of his artillery. For this failure 
 he was tried and found guilty of an error in judgment ; he was, 
 however, subsequently appointed Colonel of the 18th Foot, a 
 Knight of the Red Eagle of Russia and of St. Januarius, and a 
 Grand Cross of the Guelphic Order. 
 
 * Major Lachlan Macquarie, after a long career of service, 
 became Governor of New South Wales. 
 VOL. I. Z
 
 338 THE LIFE OF 
 
 provisions and water as made him, as he says himself, 
 " again sanguine in his views." The bags had 
 been repaired, and rendered, as he hoped, service- 
 able ; and on the 24th the General issued the fol- 
 lowing order, from the tenor of which it appears 
 that some persons, who had neither his perception 
 nor his perseverance, had suggested the absolute 
 necessity of using casks on the march, instead of 
 what no doubt appeared to them the more fragile 
 and precarious receptacles for water, which, besides 
 their general inefficiency, had, in the present in- 
 stance, given signs of uncertainty and insecurity. 
 
 " I have," says the General, " very attentively 
 considered every mode by which water can be car- 
 ried across the Desert, and can devise no means m 
 our power, except with casks or puckallies (mus- 
 sacks). As to the former, I am now convinced that 
 even if we had small casks, (which we have not,) 
 and they could be slung between two camels, or on 
 the camel's back — both of which modes I have endea- 
 voured to adopt, with larger ones, without success — 
 the plan would not succeed. If a corps with casks 
 were to move from the wells, the next morning, the 
 water of many of the casks would be consumed, and 
 the empty casks exposed to the sun and land-wind 
 during the whole of that day, would be so warped 
 that they would be unserviceable at Moilah. 
 
 " Casks, therefore, would not answer, and we must 
 either trust to the puckallies or find water on the 
 desert, or re-embark. 
 
 " To-day's march of the 88th will decide the first
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 339 
 
 point, and if it is possible to carry water, it should 
 be done in this way. 
 
 '* The 88th should take their bags on to Legeta, 
 and after the next day's march thence, send them 
 back to Legeta, for the next corps. 
 
 " The 10th should take their bags to Moilah, and 
 after the next day's march send their bags back to 
 Moilah, for the next division. The artillery, in- 
 creased to a hundred puckallie camels, should take 
 their bags one day's march to the wells, and send 
 them back. By these three divisions of bags the 
 whole army could, in succession, be supplied. Care- 
 ful steady men should be appointed to each division, 
 and the principle should be well explained to every 
 body. A European officer should also go with each 
 division of puckallies. 
 
 " If the puckallies will not answer, and the 88th 
 get on to Moilah, a company should be sent to clear 
 the wells, seven miles from Moilah, and two compa- 
 nies should be sent half-way from that towards Le- 
 geta to dig wells, and, as fast as they find water, 
 more companies should follow. 
 
 " In the same manner, the 10th should send two 
 companies half way to Moilah, and endeavour to 
 dig wells. 
 
 " If water is found at these stations, the 88<^h 
 must halt at Legeta, and send on two companies to 
 dig wells between that and Ghenne. 
 
 " The sepoys at the stations may go and assist, 
 and the two companies at Legeta should imme- 
 diately begin between that and Ghenne." 
 
 z 2
 
 *340 THE LIFE OF 
 
 On the 27th of June, the day fixed for General 
 Baird's departure from Kossier, His Majesty's sloop 
 Wasp arrived from Bombay, bringing intelligence 
 that Colonel Wellesley was prevented by serious 
 illness from quitting that presidency. In a letter to 
 General Lake, General Baird expresses his sincere 
 regret at the absence of '* that able and experienced 
 officer" on the occasion, and trusts that his recovery 
 may soon take place. 
 
 By the Wasp, General Baird received several 
 letters, public and private, from Colonel Wellesley 
 himself, which, for various reasons (independently of 
 the general feeling of interest attaching to the names 
 connected with them) are so important in them- 
 selves, in relation to the Egyptian expedition, that 
 it would be something like sacrilege to mutilate 
 them ; we therefore make no apology for giving 
 them entire. 
 
 We begin with Colonel Wellesley 's public letter of 
 the 9th of April, a few days (as the reader will re- 
 collect) after General Baird's departure from Bombay. 
 
 Bombay, April ^th, 1801. 
 Sir, 
 I have the honour to enclose a letter from Captain 
 Moore, the garrison store-keeper of Bombay, which will 
 explain the arrangements which have been made at this 
 Port to complete the supply of provisions to me for six 
 months for the Europeans and natives embarked. Besides 
 the supply noticed in th.e inclosed letter to have been sent, 
 there is a farther supply on board the other ships despatch- 
 ed from hence, and one will sail in a few days for the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 341 
 
 troops on board the Wellesley, London, Experiment, Ann 
 and Maria, Hydra Grab, and Fancy Brig, of the amount 
 of which Captain Moore will apprise you in due course. 
 
 I likewise inclose a packet containing the invoices and 
 bills of lading of treasure sent for the service of the arma- 
 ment when I had the honour of commanding it. Inclosed 
 is the receipt of Mr, Rider, the Paymaster, for the treasure 
 on board the Experiment, which he has carried to account. 
 
 I have the honour to inclose a packet of papers and 
 returns relating to the armament, the nature of which their 
 titles will explain. In obedience to your orders, I des- 
 patched Lieutenant-Colonel Capper to Sir Ralph Aber- 
 cromby on the 7th instant, with a letter, of which a copy 
 is inclosed. 
 
 I have the honour to inclose copies of the Orders which 
 I have signed for money received from the Pay Office at 
 Bombay since your departure. When all the troops will 
 have gone from hence, I propose to take up all the vouch- 
 ers, and to forward them to Mr. Rider, and to give the 
 Paymaster-General at Bombay a receipt according to the 
 form inclosed. 
 
 I beg leave to refer you to my private letter of this date 
 for a statement of the reasons which have prevented me 
 from joining you. 
 
 I have the honour to be, Sir, with great respect, 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 Arthur Wellesley. 
 
 The following is another public letter, of a date 
 two days later. 
 
 Bomhay, April Wth, 1801. 
 Sir, 
 
 I have the honour to inclose a letter from Captain 
 
 Moore, giving an account of the provisions which have
 
 342 THE LIFE OF 
 
 been embarked in some of the ships in this harbour. I 
 likewise inclose a letter from Colonel Champagne ; and a 
 copy of a letter which I have written to the Governor of 
 Bombay upon the subject of the mode of settling the ac- 
 count of the money received from the Paymaster-General 
 since the departure of Mr. Rider and yourself. This 
 mode appears well calculated to insure the satisfactory set- 
 tlement of the account without the risk of the loss of the 
 vouchers. If it should meet with your approbation, I 
 request that you will order Mr. Rider to transmit his 
 receipt to the Paymaster-General in Bomba}'^, as soon as 
 certified copies of the vouchers, as proposed in the inclosed 
 copy of my letter to the Governor, will reach him. 
 
 I have the honour to inclose accounts of the sums of 
 money which have been received from the Paymaster-Ge- 
 neral under authority from me since I wrote to you last. 
 I have the honour to be, Sir, with great respect, 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 
 Arthur Wellesley. 
 
 The next is a private letter from Colonel Welles- 
 ley to the General, which does so much honour to 
 the manly straight-forward feeling of one party, and 
 the high character of the other, that we are quite 
 sure it will be read with pleasure and admiration. 
 
 Bombay, April 9th, 1801. 
 My dear General, 
 The first circumstance I have to detail to you is the 
 state of my health, which is indeed the cause of this letter. 
 I have had no fever since I saw you, but I am sorry to say 
 that the breaking out of which I complained, is worse than 
 it was, and has become so bad as to induce Mr. Scott to 
 order me to begin a course of nitrous baths. This reme-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 
 
 dy, exclusive of the disease itself, is sufficient to induce me 
 to be desirous to wait at least rather longer than the Su- 
 sannah will, if not to give over all thoughts of joining you. 
 I do this, I assure you, with reluctance, notwithstanding 
 that I think it very probable that I shall soon hear of your 
 being recalled ; however, considering that circumstance, 
 and the bad state of my body, and the remedy which I am 
 obliged to use, I should be mad if I were to think of going 
 at this moment. 
 
 As I am writing upon this subject, I will freely acknow- 
 ledge that my regret at being prevented from accompany- 
 ing you has been greatly increased by the kind, candid, 
 and handsome manner in which you have behaved towards 
 me ; and I will confess as freely, not only that I did not 
 expect such treatment, but that my wishes before you 
 arrived regarding going upon the expedition, were directly 
 the reverse of what they are at this moment. I need not 
 enter farther into this subject than to intreat that you will 
 not attribute my stay to any other motive than that, to which 
 I have above assigned it ; and to inform you, that as I know 
 what has been said and expected by the world in general, 
 I propose, as well for my own credit as for yours, to make 
 known to ray friends and to yours, not only the distin- 
 guished manner in which you have behaved towards me, 
 but the causes which have prevented my demonstrating 
 my gratitude, by giving you every assistance in the ardu- 
 ous service which you have to conduct. 
 
 I shall stay here as long as the season will permit, and 
 then I propose to go round to Madras, and if I cannot get 
 well, I believe I must try a cold climate. 
 
 The Maria Louisa is unable to go on at present, and the 
 80th will sail by Saturday in the Morad Bey, 150 ; the 
 Nelson, 70 ; the Dundas, 70 ; and about seventy follow- 
 ers distributed in the three ships. They will have six 
 months provisions of every thing, even of meat. The
 
 344 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Asia would have been taken up for this detachment, ac- 
 cording to your desire, only that she is dismasted, and 
 wants copper on her bottom, and the owners were desirous 
 that she should go into dock, if only for three days, before 
 she should take her departure for the Red Sea. This 
 operation, however, and the equipment of her with masts, 
 &c. was likely to take more time than will be lost by the 
 slow sailing of the vessels above-mentioned, and I therefore 
 preferred them, and they will be ready immediately. 
 
 I inclose the memorandum upon your operations, and I 
 refer you to my public letter for other matters. Wishing 
 you every success, believe me. 
 
 My dear General, ever yours most sincerely, 
 Arthur Wellesley. 
 
 The memorandum to which Colonel Wellesley 
 alludes in the above letter, and which was an inclo- 
 sure in his despatch, we also lay before the reader. 
 
 Memorandum on the Operations in the Red Sea. 
 
 The object proposed by Mr. Dundas, and by the Go- 
 vernor-General, in the expedition to the Red Sea, are — 
 First, to get possession of the forts and posts which the 
 French may have on its shores. Secondly, to urge and 
 encourage the natives of Upper Egypt (Mamelukes and 
 Arabs) to commence hostilities against them. Thirdly, to 
 assist the operations of the natives, by giving them arms 
 and ammunition, or by a junction with them, either of a 
 part or of the whole of the force. 
 
 The advanced state of the season renders it probable 
 that it will be so difficult to reach Suez that that object is 
 not attainable. It is possible, however, that the force 
 which left Bombay in December last, under the orders of 
 Admiral Blankett, may have succeeded in effecting the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 345 
 
 objects in view when it was fitted out, as far as they relate 
 to Suez. 
 
 Cosseir will then be the first object of attention, and the 
 operations of the army ought to be directed, in the first 
 instance, to gain possession of that place.* 
 
 The General is already acquainted with the measures 
 which have been taken to facilitate those operations, and it 
 is needless to enumerate them here ; and I shall now pro- 
 ceed to the consideration of the second object of the expe- 
 dition, viz. to encourage the natives of Upper Egypt to 
 shake off the French yoke, and to act on our side. The 
 success of this measure, it is evident, will operate most 
 forcibly in favour of Sir Ralph Abercromby ; and it ap- 
 pears to me to be the principal object of the expedition. 
 
 From the intelligence lately received from the Red Sea, 
 I am induced to believe, that after the Turkish army was 
 beat by Kleber, in March last, and after Colonel Murray 
 had evacuated Suez, Morad Bey made peace with the 
 French, and that the latter ceded to him all Upper Egypt. 
 
 He is now stationed there, and from the accounts and 
 distribution of the French force in Egypt, which I have 
 occasionally seen, I am induced to believe that they have 
 no troops in Upper Egypt excepting such as are necessary 
 to watch Morad Bey, who are encamped with him, and 
 such as are necessary to keep up the communication with 
 their post at Cosseir. It is probable, that when Sir Ralph 
 Abercromby commences his operations, they will draw to 
 Lower Egypt all the troops not absolutely necessary for 
 their safety in Upper Egypt, and thus they will leave to 
 Morad Bey the power of acting as his own sense of his 
 own interest may point out. 
 
 * It may be as well to observe, that Kossier is frequently 
 spelt Cossier and Cosire, and Ghennah or Ghenne equally often 
 used for Kennah, Kenne, or Kene.
 
 346 THE LIFE OF 
 
 I have always understood this man to be the head of the 
 Mamelukes, and certainly, till the French made peace with 
 him, he was supposed to be a friend of the English, and 
 shewed his power of doing injury to the French by keep- 
 ing in constant employment a large part of their army 
 under Dessaix in pursuit of him. 
 
 It is probable that he does not deem his tenure of Upper 
 Egypt very secure ; he must be aware that as soon as the 
 French gain quiet possession of Lower Egypt, they will 
 have the power to break their engagement with him, and 
 from his own experience of their fidelity in adhering to 
 treaties, he must expect that they will use that power to 
 his disadvantage. Indeed, the fact that the French have 
 found it necessary to have a body of their troops encamped 
 with Morad Bey's army, is a clear proof that they do not 
 place much faith in him ; and as he must know that he is 
 suspected and watched, he has still stronger reason to ex- 
 pect, that as soon as the French have the power, they will 
 not fail to exert it to get rid of a neighbour and an ally in 
 whom they have so little confidence. Without being too 
 sanguine, we may expect then that as soon as Morad Bey 
 shall perceive a prospect of driving the French from 
 Egypt, he will co-operate and join with those employed in 
 that object. For this reason, the very first opportunity 
 ought to be taken to open a communication with him ; 
 his situation and his prospects, if the French should re- 
 main in Egypt, ought to be clearly pointed out to him, 
 and he ought to be urged in the strongest manner to exert 
 himself to shake off the yoke. The power of the armies 
 employed on the side of Lower Egypt ought to be made 
 known to him ; their prospects of success, founded as well 
 on their own strength as on the impossibility that the 
 French should receive assistance, ought to be stated to 
 him ; and finally, an offer ought to be made to supply him 
 with arms and ammunition, and even to join him with a
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 347 
 
 part or the whole of the army in the Red Sea, in order to 
 insure the speedy success of the objects which he, as well 
 as the English, must have in view. 
 
 The possession of the Port of Cosseir, and of the navi- 
 gation of the Red Sea, will be a strong inducement to 
 Morad Bey, as the Governor of Upper Egypt, to be 
 favourable to the Enolish. 
 
 The trade in corn is carried on by this Port to Jedda in 
 Arabia ; and this trade is such an object both to Upper 
 Egypt and to Arabia (and to Mecca in particular), that it 
 may be expected that the Governor of Upper Egypt will 
 not be disinclined towards those who will have it so much 
 in their power to annoy him. Having now stated the rea- 
 sons which induce me to believe that it will not be difficult 
 to urge the head of the Mamelukes to shake off' the French 
 yoke, I proceed to a consideration of the third object of 
 the expedition, viz. to assist the natives with arms and 
 ammunition, and even to join them with a part or the whole 
 of the army. 
 
 The first question which I shall consider, and which will 
 lay the grounds for a consideration of, and decision upon 
 others, is, whether it would be practicable, or even desira- 
 ble, to cross the Desert from Cosseir at all, if that opera- 
 tion is not performed in concert and co-operation with a 
 body of the natives posted upon the Nile. 
 
 It is needless to enter into a statement of the difficulties 
 to be apprehended in crossing the Desert ; they are cer- 
 tainly great, but I imagine not insurmountable. But, if 
 it is not certain that the army or detachment which will 
 cross the Desert, will partake of the plenty of the banks of 
 the Nile when they reach them, if they should be certain 
 of having water only, and such forage as their cattle should 
 be able to pick up, I apprehend that the difficulty will be- 
 come so great that the operation ought not to be attempt- 
 ed. It is impossible that the Mamelukes in Upper Egypt
 
 348 THE LIFE OF 
 
 can be neutral in the contest in contemplation ; they must 
 take part with the French or with us. If they take part 
 with the French, the army will be in the situation in which 
 I have above described it, enjoying no advantage from 
 having reached the banks of the Nile, excepting water, and 
 probably some forage ; and it is needless to point out, that 
 if the Desert is to be crossed under those circumstances, 
 care must be taken not only to send with the body of 
 troops which will cross, a very large proportion of provi- 
 sions, but means must be adopted to add to them until the 
 operations of this body shall have given them such a hold 
 of the country as to leave no doubt of their steady supply 
 of provisions. It is obvious that this will require a great 
 number of cattle, a number much larger than the Govern- 
 ments of India, with all the zealous exercise of their power 
 and means, can supply ; but there is another consideration 
 connected with this subject besides the supply of the 
 cattle, and that is, the means of feeding them when landed 
 from the ships. 
 
 Upon this point I need only call to the GeneraPs recol- 
 lection the difficulties to which he has been a witness in 
 moving large supplies of stores and provisions even in fer- 
 tile, cultivated, and inhabited countries, well supplied with 
 water, and under every advantage of arrangement in the 
 supply, in the distribution, the care, and the food of the 
 cattle, and draw a comparison between such difficulties, 
 and those to be expected in a march through a desert. 
 But that is not the worst that is to be apprehended ; the 
 cattle will of course land in weak condition, in a desert ; 
 and it must be expected that even those which survive the 
 voyage will starve, or at least be in such a state before 
 they commence their march, as to render it very probable 
 that they will not carry their loads to the end of it. Upon 
 the whole, then. I am decidedly of opinion, that if the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. .'349 
 
 Mamelukes are not on our side, no attempt ought to be 
 made to cross the Desert. 
 
 This opinion the General will observe is by no means 
 founded on the impracticability of crossing with troops, 
 because I am convinced that it can be done ; but it is 
 founded upon the danger that the troops will starve, if 
 they do not return immediately, and upon the inutility 
 of the measure if they do. 
 
 It may be imagined that (supposing the Mamelukes to 
 be wavering,) if an attempt is not made to cross the Desert, 
 the advantage of their co-operation will be lost. Upon 
 this point I observe, that a knowledge of our strength (not 
 of our weakness) will induce them to come forward, and 
 that it might be expected that the sight of our weakness, 
 occasioned by our march over the Desert without concert 
 with them, might induce them to take advantage of it, and 
 to join the French. 
 
 But those who will urge this consideration, must sup- 
 pose it possible that tlie Mamelukes can be neutral for a 
 moment ; and this their history from the beginning of 
 time, particularly since the French invasion, will shew to 
 be impossible. 
 
 I come now to consider the propriety and mode of cross- 
 ing the Desert, supposing that the Mamelukes should be 
 inclined to shake off the French yoke, and to co-operate 
 with us. The first point for the General to ascertain is, 
 their sincerity in the cause, of which, as I have above 
 stated, there is every probability. As soon as he will have 
 ascertained this, it will be necessary that he should make 
 arrangements with them for posting a supply of water on 
 that part of the Desert where it is most wanted, and for 
 having a supply of provisions ready on the Nile ; and he 
 might cross over a part of his army immediately. The 
 first object on his arrival on the Nile should be to establish
 
 350 THE LIFE OF 
 
 a post at Ghennah, and, if possible, another in the Desert 
 between that place and Cosseir, in order to insure his com- 
 munication between the sea and the Nile. At Ghepnah, 
 he should make the depot of his stores, &c. which might 
 be brought across the Desert by degrees, and then he might 
 commence his operations against the enemy. 
 
 In the consideration of the question regarding the cross- 
 ing of the Desert, I have omitted to mention the interrup- 
 tion which may be given to that operation by the enemy, 
 because it is entirely distinct from the difficulties which 
 are peculiar to the operation itself. It is obvious, how- 
 ever, that if the Mamelukes are not on our side, and if 
 they should not have driven out of Upper Egypt the small 
 French force supposed to be in that country, before the 
 operation is attempted, that force, however small, will 
 greatly increase the distress of the British troops who will 
 cross the Desert. 
 
 I have not adverted to the supply of arms and ammuni- 
 tion to be given to the natives. As long as their co-opera- 
 tion is doubtful, these supplies ought to be withheld, but 
 promised ; when they will have shewn their sincerity in 
 our cause, the arms may be given to almost any extent. 
 
 A. W. 
 
 Considering the place which its illustrious writer 
 fills in the world, this paper is both curious and 
 interesting. As it turned out, however, General 
 Baird's plans were arranged, and all his measures 
 taken long before it reached him. Indeed, the ad- 
 vantages he possessed, derived from local knowledge, 
 were of a nature to gain no improvement by advice, 
 however ably and distinctly given at a distance from 
 the scene of operation.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 351 
 
 Colonel Wellesley's anxiety with respect to the 
 success of the expedition, appears to have been un- 
 mitigated by the indisposition which prevented his 
 sharing its perils and its honours. He availed him- 
 self of another delay in the sailing of the ships, again 
 to write to General Baird, and the following closes 
 the series of letters which he despatched by the 
 Wasp. 
 
 Bombay, April 13, 1801. 
 My dear General, 
 
 The detention of the ships till this morning has given 
 me an opportunity of sending you a farther report on the 
 provisions sent from hence. You will observe from that 
 report, that Major Bell has a tolerably large quantity of 
 provisions, besides what he brought here. Allowance 
 ought also to be made for about one hundred and fifty 
 natives, taken out and drafted from the Rockingham, which 
 of course leaves a larger share of provisions for those who 
 remain. 
 
 I am sorry to tell you, that the Dundas and the Nelson 
 are so small, and have so little capacity to hold provisions 
 and water, that there is not a supply of the latter for more 
 than four months on board of each of those ships. The 
 Morad Bey, however, has provisions and water for six 
 months, as indeed have the two others a supply of provi- 
 sions for the same time. 
 
 Believe me, my dear General, 
 
 Yours most sincerely. 
 Major General Baird. Arthur Wellesley. 
 
 I must inform you, that none of the ships have their full 
 quantity of rice; the reason is, that rice is scarce at Bom- 
 bay, and as I knew there was in the fleet about 10,000 
 bags of rice, I did not wish to press to have a large quan- 
 tity taken hence.
 
 352 THE LIFE OF 
 
 The day after the arrival of the Wasp, General 
 Baird sent off a despatch to Marquess Wellesley, 
 expressive of his regret at being deprived of the 
 valuable services and advice of his lordship's brother ; 
 at the same time stating, that he felt more sanguine 
 of success than he had for the last few days. In 
 that despatch he refers the Marquess to the nu- 
 merous details of distress and difficulties contained 
 in various letters which he wras daily receiving from 
 the officers in command of divisions and corps in 
 advance ; but his hopes were cherished in conse- 
 quence of the almost unvaried success of his expe- 
 dient of digging for water, wherever a probability of 
 finding it existed. 
 
 In this despatch the General reiterates the high 
 opinion he had previously expresed of the zeal and 
 ability of Sir Home Popham, from whom we be- 
 lieve, just before his departure, he had received 
 the following observations with respect to the Nile, 
 on which it was General Baird's intention to era- 
 bark the army, as soon as it had crossed the Desert. 
 The information contained in this document is cu- 
 rious, and as it may afford serviceable information 
 at some future period, we give it as we find it; 
 more especially as it is calculated, whatever other 
 advantages may be derivable from it, to illustrate 
 the manifold difficulties which combined to assail 
 the General on every side, and the caution, pru- 
 dence, and resolution which it required to combat, 
 and as it proved, overcome a combination of opposing 
 obstacles to the attainment of his object.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 353 
 
 " The accounts of the winds and currents of the NiJe," says 
 this paper, " vary so very materially, that it is impossible 
 to calculate the precise time it will require for the army to 
 move from Cosseir to Cairo ; but taking for granted that 
 this monsoon prevails there, which is the rising of the Nile, 
 boats will have a favourable current, but a strong wind to 
 contend against, and will in all probability require twenty 
 days from Ghennah to Cairo. If, after their service can 
 be dispensed with at Cairo, they should be enabled to sail 
 during this monsoon from Cairo to Ghennah, they may 
 make the passage in eight days ; but if they are delayed 
 till the ensuing monsoon sets in, it will take them in all 
 probability twenty-eight days to accomplish their voyage. 
 This applies to the water conveyance of the Nile ; but if 
 that is not to be procured, a calculation must be made of 
 the march, which can certainly be done by information 
 from the most intelligent Arabs ; and from what I have 
 learnt on the subject, it will require thirty-five days to go 
 from Ghennah to Cairo. Wishing to ascertain as nearly 
 as possible the time necessary to move the troops from 
 Cosseir to Cairo and to return, I have taken these different 
 suppositions as so many data from which I shall endeavour 
 to produce the object of enquiry ; and after hearing Gene- 
 ral Baird's views subsequent to his reading this paper, I 
 shall be better enabled to make arrangements for the future 
 conduct of the fleet. 
 
 " Taking the quickest and most dilatory passage, as well 
 as the mean passage, it is evident that the army cannot 
 reach Cairo in less than twenty-nine days ; and if, on their 
 arrival, there is no occasion for their services, they must halt 
 several days less probably, if they can procure boats, than 
 if obliged to march; but in any case it is fair to give a 
 week for the arrangements it will be necessary to make ; 
 and this, with the fifty-eight days to go and return will 
 
 VOL. I. 2 A
 
 354 THE LIFE OF 
 
 make sixty-five.* And from what I see at present, it will 
 be impossible for the army to quit this in toto till about 
 this day week, probably later, which will bring their return 
 to Cosseir to the beginning of September, without calcu- 
 lating on the casualties of delay to which an army in such 
 a route must certainly be liable. The embarkation of them 
 and their stores will also take some time, and bring the 
 complete embarkation towards the middle of September, if 
 it were possible for the ships to remain here so long. 
 
 " It is possible there may be some error in the theory of 
 this calculation, as it is deduced entirely from information, 
 and not from practical experience ; but I dare say it is 
 sufficiently correct to enable a judgment to be formed on 
 the expediency of moving the troops from Cosseir when 
 Admiral Blanket arrives, who is in possession of every 
 information relative to the precise situation of General 
 Hutchinson''s army before Cairo. There will be then two 
 bases to consider the embarkation of the army at Cosseir, 
 its future operations, and the disposition of the men-of-war 
 and transports in case the army moves forward. I shall at 
 present confine myself to the latter case, as the other can 
 easily be decided on, when circumstances make it necessary 
 to take it into consideration. 
 
 * To Ghennah 8 days 
 
 March to Cairo . 35 
 
 43 
 
 Return. — Cairo to Ghennah .... 8 
 
 To Kosseir 8 
 
 16 
 
 59 
 
 Mean journey days 29i 
 
 Kosseir to Ghennah . 8 
 
 Ghennah by the Nile with this monsoon 20 
 
 Days 28
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. f>55 
 
 " The position of the ships in the present monsoon, and 
 the situation of this bay in the ensuing one, are points of 
 infinite moment and importance; and I am decidedly of 
 opinion, that if the weather continues to blow as it has 
 done for the last twenty-four hours, in three weeks not one- 
 third of the ships will have an anchor or cable left. Two 
 ships parted yesterday, and the Romney's second cable is 
 very much chafed, and I think in the course of a month 
 her cables will be so much strained, that it will be impru- 
 dent for her to go on either coast till the monsoon abates. 
 
 " This is a consideration in the present monsoon; but 
 when the south-east one sets in, the road will be much more 
 dangerous, and if it blows as hard as it does at present, 
 lying here will be totally impracticable ; indeed, if it should 
 fly suddenly round to the south-east, or if we should have an 
 easterly squall, I think most of the ships would be lost. 
 
 " The south-east monsoon is fairly set-in in September, 
 and the Company never suffer their ships to remain at Suez 
 after the 10th of August. 
 
 " From this it is evident, that if the army moves to Cairo, 
 it cannot be re-embarked at Cosseir on account of the 
 monsoon, consequently it will be necessary to consider how 
 to dispose of the ships to the best advantage, consistently 
 with the subsequent services in agitation for the army, the 
 want of equipment in the different ships, and the provisions 
 and supplies which will be at that time absolutely requisite 
 for the army in its future operations. 
 
 " If it is determined to move the army to Cairo, they must 
 return by Suez ; and in that case, 1 see little probability 
 of being able to carry on any further enterprize this year ; 
 but, certainly, advantage may be taken of the earliest time 
 in the ensuing year, to prosecute the different objects pointed 
 out by the Governor-General. 
 
 " By the journals I am in possession of, I think it possible 
 for ships to beat down from Suez in December; the months 
 
 2 A 2
 
 356 THE LIFE OF 
 
 of September, October, and November, being the most 
 violent for the southerly monsoon. But although I say the 
 ships will be able to beat down in December, I do not mean 
 that they should absolutely remain below till that month ; 
 on the contrary, I should propose, that the moment the 
 decision is made to move the army to Cairo, the ships 
 (except two or three to contain all the provisions now re- 
 maining, and two or three small cruisers which may move 
 to Suez as soon as the monsoon abates,) should proceed to 
 Bombay and Calcutta, and respectively quit those places in 
 the month of August, with a complete and regular supply 
 of every thing which may be necessary for the army, and 
 such reinforcements as the Governor-General may think 
 proper to send. 
 
 " The ships in this case will be at Suez by the end of Sep- 
 tember at the very latest, ready to supply the army with 
 every thing it may want, and to take the earliest advantage 
 of the abating of the monsoon, or its becoming sufficiently 
 variable to allow the ships to proceed downwards, and 
 commence their future operations. 
 
 " The troops, if they move to Cairo, and have any ser- 
 vice to perform, if General Hutchinson thinks their pre- 
 sence necessary for a short time to give respectability to his 
 force, cannot in that case well be at Suez till September, 
 and if they are obHged to remain a short time for the trans- 
 ports, they will suffer little inconvenience from the climate 
 at that season, and they will be plentifully supplied with 
 provisions. 
 
 " Every argument urges the necessity of ordering the 
 transports to Bombay and Bengal, if the troops move to 
 Cairo ; and no time ought to be lost in that respect in 
 order to ensure their speedier return to Suez. 
 
 " What I have already said has reference more immedi- 
 ately to the army at Cosseir, as it is generally presumed to 
 be morally impossible for the ships with the last division to
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 357 
 
 get up from Mocha ; and, indeed, doubts arise in my 
 mind whether the remainder of the ships at Jeddah will be 
 able to accomplish this object. It however becomes pro- 
 per to consider how far it may be expedient to negociate or 
 enforce a landing of the troops at Mocha, as essential to 
 their health, or to move them to Aden ; in either case the 
 ships will naturally attend upon them ; and I do not think 
 it absolutely necessary, on second consideration, for all the 
 ships in Cosseir Roads to go to India ; only a proportion 
 to bring provisions and stores, and such reinforcements as 
 . General Baird conceives the Governor-General mav be in- 
 clined to send him. But the whole of the ships should be 
 moved as soon as practicable, to some harbour, probably 
 Jeddah, to save their anchors and cables, and be ready to 
 proceed to Suez when the monsoon abates, laden with 
 bullocks and such other articles as the army may require, 
 and the place produce. 
 
 " It is hardly necessary to say, that Le Sensible has but 
 three weeks' salt provisions for her own complement, and 
 not a biscuit on board. 
 
 " The Romney has about seven weeks' salt provisions, and 
 three weeks' bread. The latter article can be obtained, or 
 expedients devised in lieu of it, at least for a short time. 
 
 " As I have before observed, it is not my intention to say 
 any thing at present on the subsequent operations, till it is 
 determined to embark the army, and not go to Cairo, when 
 I may probably trouble General Baird with my ideas on 
 that head. The present ones have been written in vast 
 haste, hurried probably a little by the weather last night, 
 though it has been my intention, as well as it is my duty, 
 as soon as I became a little acquainted with the subject." 
 
 On the 30th of June, General Baird quitted 
 Kossier, and on the. 1st of July took up his head 
 quarters at Moilah, determined to move the army
 
 358 THE LIFE OF 
 
 with all possible expedition, having for that purpose 
 entered into a negociation, the object of which was, 
 that the camels, as soon as they arrived at Ghennah, 
 should return direct to Kossier, without being stopped 
 at any intermediate station. 
 
 A description of the march is given in a letter 
 from Colonel Auchmuty, the Adjutant-General, to 
 Colonel Montresor, dated Moilah, July 2nd, 1801. 
 He says : — 
 
 The 10th marched from Moilah Wells, about five miles 
 in front of Moilah, last night ; and the artillery from hence 
 to the wells this morning. 
 
 The 10th were met with by Lieutenant Warden, the 
 Commissary of Stores, suffering greatly, and getting on 
 badly. We are certainly in a sad scrape. We can hardly 
 get forward or go back, and the prospect does not brighten ; 
 but we must not despair. Among many causes of uneasi- 
 ness, is not hearing from Hutchinson. The General is 
 much alarmed at it, and his plan now is, to push every- 
 thing forward on the road to Ghennah, collect all the camels 
 we can muster, (and I fear we shall not muster many,) and 
 send them back to Kosseir until we get a letter — we must 
 then finally decide. 
 
 In the mean time you must continue your preparations ; 
 order the cavalry to send aboard their painted cloths which 
 are too weighty for their horses, order twelve camel loads 
 of rice to Moilah ; the camels to deposit their rice, and then 
 to push forward with two Bengal companies to Ghennah. 
 
 These extracts will serve to shew the state of the 
 expedition, which was traversing the sea of sand 
 under the rays of the fiercest sun.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. ' "359 
 
 On the evening of the 3rd, the General removed 
 from Moilah Wells, and reached Legeta, a distance 
 of forty-one miles, on the 5th ; and on the Gth, 
 he arrived at Ghennah. Colonel Auchmuty describes 
 Ghennah as being in some degree cultivated, that it 
 produced figs and peaches, in which, together with 
 " copious draughts" from the Nile, the nearly ex- 
 hausted troops indulged themselves, full of gratitude 
 to Heaven for the alleviation of their miseries. 
 
 There are some details given by the Count de 
 Noe, in his work already quoted, which, as the 
 narrative of the progress of the army given in this 
 memoir is purely official, may be advantageously 
 brought to the notice of the reader, as having been 
 recorded by an officer whose duties did not interfere 
 with the task of keeping a journal of the march, 
 and from whose notes may be derived a fair and 
 faithful account of the difficulties which he in com- 
 mon with the rest of the army was destined to 
 undergo. 
 
 The Count de No^, who, as we have already stated, 
 held a lieutenant's commission in the English 10th 
 regiment of foot, marched with his corps in the 
 division under Colonel Beresford. 
 
 " At four o'clock in the afternoon," he tells us in his 
 narrative, " we began to move from Kosseir ; and at two 
 o'clock on the following morning arrived at the first springs, 
 sixteen miles from that place. During the whole of this 
 dreary progress, not the smallest trace of vegetation was 
 visible. It was only when we reached the station where 
 the springs were, that we saw a few straggling stumps of
 
 360 
 
 THE LIFE OF 
 
 a plant, the leaves of which were round, and highly aro- 
 matic, resembling in appearance pieces of grey velvet. The 
 water, without being exactly good," says the Count, " was 
 better than that which we had left at Kosseir. We esta- 
 blished ourselves in the valley, and rested ourselves under 
 a steep and rugged rock, at the foot of which the springs 
 were situated. 
 
 " Some of our rear-guard who had straggled, were obliged 
 to increase their rate of marching, in order to come up 
 with us; and to effect this object, they had ventured to 
 brave the scorching rays of the sun, and all the miseries of 
 excessive thirst. They at length rejoined us, but so ex- 
 hausted by fatigue, that one of the party actually died 
 in my tent soon after his arrival. We buried him at the 
 foot of the rock. 
 
 " At this place we made a melancholy discovery ; one of 
 our officers having thought proper to climb up the side 
 of the rock, was shocked by the sight of the corpses of 
 five or six English marines, which the sun had completely 
 dried up. They no doubt had belonged to His Majesty's 
 frigate Fox, which had some time before landed some men 
 at Kosseir ; and, as we have already stated, received a 
 very warm reception from the French. 
 
 " General Baird," continues the Count de Noe, " came 
 to pay us a visit at this place, and told us that Colonel 
 Beresford was in want of provisions and water. We im- 
 mediately despatched as much of both as we could possibly 
 spare, and sent them forward notwithstanding that our own 
 stock was by no means abundant. The springs were nearly 
 dry, and we were obliged frequently to wait till nature re- 
 plenished them. In the midst of the suffocating heat, only 
 two bottles and a half of water per man, per diem, could 
 be spared. But our comrades at Moilah were in absolute 
 want, and we did not pause for a moment to calculate the 
 probability of any distress which might arise to ourselves,
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 361 
 
 but gave them all we could spare. Amongst the expe- 
 dients which it occurred to me to try in order if not to 
 quench, at least to allay my thirst, was that of carrying a 
 small pebble in my mouth, which kept my tongue moist, 
 and very materially alleviated the distress of the march." 
 
 This expedient was found so successful, that it 
 was adopted throughout the English army, by order 
 of General Baird. 
 
 Count de Noe proceeds to describe the difficulties 
 they had to contend with, and the painful effects 
 produced on their sight by the drifts of sand, and 
 the powerful reflection of the sun upon it, and attri- 
 butes the most beneficial properties to tea, the tonic 
 qualities of which, while its grateful flavour overcame 
 the bad taste of the water, he seems to think were 
 highly conducive to strengthening the system against 
 the deleterious attacks of the heat. Indeed, he 
 declares it to be the very best beverage that can be 
 used in crossing the Desert.* 
 
 It was on the 9th of July, that General Baird, 
 growing daily more uneasy at not hearing direct 
 from General Hutchinson, and still keeping in view 
 the object for which the expedition had first been 
 
 * The sufferers from Ophthalmia have been so numerous, 
 that it may not be unserviceable to observe that the Count de 
 Noe states, that at the time when all his brother soldiers were 
 labouring under the most violent attacks of that dreadful com- 
 plaint, he never felt the slightest disorder in his eyes'; a circum- 
 stance which he attributes with great probability to a precau- 
 tion which he adopted of covering his face during the march, 
 with a piece of green gauze, in the manner of a veil."
 
 362 THE LIFE OF 
 
 formed, addressed a letter to His Royal Highness 
 the Duke of York, expressive of his anxiety to know 
 whether his continuance in Egypt was likely to be 
 productive of any beneficial results to the service; 
 his natural solicitude for instructions being consider- 
 ably increased by the fact, that so very much de- 
 pended upon the period of the monsoon, whether he 
 should be enabled (if he were not required to stay 
 and co-operate in Egypt) to secure his return to 
 India in time to carry into effect his other contem- 
 plated and favourite enterprize against Mauritius 
 and Batavia. 
 
 General Baird, though disappointed and much 
 disturbed by the long delay which occurred in re- 
 ceiving despatches, took every necessary precaution 
 under existing circumstances ; and although in con- 
 sequence of his confident expectation of having free 
 communication with Hutchinson, he had, as it were, 
 cut off the retreat of his own advanced corps by 
 sending back the camels to bring up the troops who 
 were in the rear, his resources did not fail him ; 
 and finding the country as he advanced much better 
 calculated for defence than he had anticipated, he 
 made every arrangement that the nature of the 
 ground admitted, to establish himself in force at 
 Ghennah, so that, if any misadventure had befallen 
 General Hutchinson (which his silence gave very 
 plausible grounds for imagining), he should be able 
 to oi)pose the enemy if they attempted to land a 
 reinforcement at Alexandria. 
 
 In this state of perplexing suspense did General
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 36.1 
 
 Baird remain ; day passed after day, and not a line 
 from the General in command, by which he could form 
 the slightest opinion of the actual state of affairs, 
 till at length he received a letter from Admiral 
 Blankett, containing a copy of a letter written to 
 him by Major Holloway, in which he gave the Ad- 
 miral the very important intelligence, that the Go- 
 vernor of Cairo, not thinking it prudent to make any 
 resistance to the combined armies, had entered into 
 a treaty with General Hutchinson. 
 
 The moment General Baird received, by this very 
 circuitous route, intelligence so vitally important to 
 the interests of his army, he was convinced that there 
 could be no longer any cause for his farther advance, 
 and still less for bringing up any more troops ; 
 on the contrary, feeling assured that their presence 
 must be perfectly useless, he directed every pre- 
 paration to be made for their return and re-em- 
 barkation at Kossier, although he did not think 
 proper to begin to fall back until he had obtained 
 something more official and satisfactory than a 
 letter written by one officer to another, having 
 received a copy even of that, at second hand. 
 
 Accordingly, he despatched an aid-de-camp, Lieu- 
 tenant Budgeon, down the Nile to Colonel Murray, 
 in order to ascertain from that officer whether it was 
 not possible to open a direct communication with 
 General Hutchinson, through which, even late as it 
 must now inevitably be, he might receive something 
 like authenticated information, and specific instruc- 
 tions. The only active measure General Baird took,
 
 364 THE LIFE OF 
 
 upon the strength of the news he had received, was 
 that of discontinuing the entertainment of the Turks 
 and Arabs, whom he had taken into his pay, and 
 ordering them to be distributed in their respective 
 neighbourhoods. 
 
 At last, however, the long-expected despatch 
 arrived, the contents of which immediately decided 
 General Baird's future proceedings. The following 
 letter from General Hutchinson, dated the 10th, 
 which is a reply to the despatch forwarded by Ge- 
 neral Baird to him by the hands of Lieutenant 
 Budgeon, contains a full account of his proceedings 
 and wishes, and is therefore given instead of that of 
 the 5th, to avoid needless repetition. 
 
 Cairo, July 10th, 1800.* 
 Sir, 
 I have this morning received your communication by 
 Lieutenant Burdon,-|- who deserves much credit for the 
 diligence he has made use of. I have written to you fre- 
 quently ; I did not inform you of the surrender of Cairo, 
 because from my letters I concluded that you were then 
 marching towards me, and I did not think it advisable 
 to stop your march, for two reasons — because I doubted 
 the sincerity of the French, and, though the capture of 
 Cairo may be an event decisive of the fate of Egypt, yet 
 still I could not think myself justified in giving you orders 
 which might be contradictory to the instructions of the 
 Government ; indeed, every thing that related to you, tend- 
 ed to embarrass me in a most extraordinary degree. 
 
 • General Hutchinson's letter is so dated by mistake for 1801. 
 f Sic orig. ; the officer's name was Budgeon.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIKD. 365 
 
 Before your arrival, we had nothing but an unauthenti- 
 cated rumour of a force coming from India, which Sir 
 Ralph himself did not believe ; consequently I could not 
 have any idea of your force, or of the time when you were 
 likely to arrive. Your second destination was a matter of 
 which I had never heard, and indeed, when you mentioned 
 it in cypher, 1 was incapable of comprehending it, as I do 
 not possess the key. 
 
 Lord Hobart's despatch, though he says but very little, 
 has put the matter out of doubt, and it is clearly intended 
 that you should march into the interior of Egypt, as it. is 
 specified that the sepoys are to compose part of the garri- 
 son of Alexandria. I should rather suppose, from the 
 terms in which the letter is couched, that the remainder 
 of the troops are destined for another service ; but this 
 is rather conjecture than otherwise, though I have little 
 doubt that I am founded in my opinion, provided the siege 
 of Alexandria should not take up too much time. 
 
 Menou has refused to receive the French officer who was 
 sent by General Belliard to lay before him the capitulation 
 of Cairo, of which his garrison might have availed them- 
 selves, as it is so stipulated by an express article of the 
 treaty. He is likely to defend himself with great obsti- 
 nacy, and certainly may give us a great deal of trouble. 
 I should be extremely glad, therefore, to have your able 
 assistance and co-operation. I am thoroughly aware, that 
 from the season, and from the inundation, the march by 
 land will be impracticable. You must do all you can 
 to collect boats, but whether you should use force or not, 
 is entirely out of the question, because, for the last thou- 
 sand years force has been the only law in this country, and 
 the inhabitants are so little used to think for themselves, 
 that they are at a great loss how to act when it is not 
 adopted against them. 
 
 Upon my part, I will do every thing in my power to
 
 366 THE LIFE OF 
 
 procure you boats, and have given Colonel Stewart, Com- 
 mandant of Giza, directions upon this subject — but there 
 are great difficulties in our way. We were obliged to fur- 
 nish three hundred to transport the French baggage and 
 sick ; the Turks have seized on an immense number ; our 
 Commissariat and artillery occupy not a few. Upon this 
 subject you had better apply to Osman Bey Perdicci ; he 
 knows the country, and I think will be active and diligent. 
 There is a Frenchman with him, in whom I think you may 
 place some kind of confidence. 
 
 In my last letter I gave you some intelligence of what 
 was going on in the ports of France and Spain. They cer- 
 tainly have a great expedition in view, probably against 
 Egypt ; a reinforcement of six thousand men is ordered 
 out to us, part of which is already arrived, and I have 
 no doubt of receiving the whole in the course of ten days. 
 The Government at home attaches at least as much im- 
 portance to Egypt as it deserves — they appear to have set 
 their hearts upon it, and are determined not to be foiled. I 
 should wish you to advance as soon as you conveniently 
 can, without pressing or fatiguing your troops. You 
 may march by detachments; and let them be ever so small 
 there can be no risk in making your general rendez- 
 vous at Giza, which I have occupied entirely for your con- 
 venience. You have only to intimate your wishes to Colo- 
 nel Stewart, and every thing will be procured for you that 
 this country affords. 
 
 The army marched yesterday, and will arrive at Rosetta 
 about the 29th. From thence I shall proceed, without 
 loss of time, to besiege Alexandria. I wrote you a letter, 
 dated the 2nd or 3rd of this month, but it was detained for 
 several days, and could not have reached you in course. 
 The conveyance in this country is very uncertain ; it is 
 often tardy, and frequently never reaches the place of its 
 destination at all. I have sometimes received your first.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 36? 
 
 second, and third copy at the same moment, and from the 
 same messenger. Your last letter was three weeks on the 
 road. I should recommend you either to send forward 
 your Quarter-Master-General, or one of his department, 
 to make preparations for you at Gizeh. I thank you 
 very much for your offer of money, but we have no 
 occasion for it, as we have received lately upwards of two 
 hundred thousand pounds from England. 
 I have the honour to be. Sir, 
 
 Your most obedient humble servant, 
 J. Hely Hutchinson, 
 Lieut.-Gen. 
 
 The moment that General Baird was satisfied of 
 General Hutchinson's wish that he should join him, 
 and that a new prospect of active service opened 
 upon his view, he proceeded instantly to push for- 
 ward the troops, who were already in advance, and 
 to bring up as rapidly as possible those who were in 
 the rear.* 
 
 He directed Colonel Montresor, to whom he had 
 entrusted the arrangements for moving the army, 
 
 * The route from Kossier to Ghennah is thus officially stated : 
 
 Kossier to the New Wells 
 
 11 miles. 
 
 Water may be had. 
 
 Half-way to Moilah 
 
 17 
 
 — 
 
 No water. 
 
 Moilah 
 
 17 
 
 — 
 
 Water and provisions. 
 
 Advanced Wells 
 
 9 
 
 — 
 
 Water. 
 
 Half-way to Legeta 
 
 19 
 
 — 
 
 No Water. 
 
 Legeta 
 
 19 
 
 — 
 
 Water and provisions. 
 
 Baromba 
 
 18 
 
 — 
 
 Water. 
 
 Ghennah 
 
 10 
 
 — 
 
 The Nile. 
 
 l;20
 
 368 THE LIFE OF 
 
 to put them in motion without loss of time, having 
 assured himself of their being well provisioned, not 
 only from Kossier but from the depots which he 
 had established on the Desert ; by having concen- 
 trated an adequate supply of camels for the carriage 
 of water, by having had the mussacks repaired, and 
 by having opened more wells in various places along 
 the route. By thus taking advantage of the expe- 
 rience he had painfully acquired, he provided the 
 means of saving his followers much of the toil and 
 fatigue which he had himself undergone, and at the 
 same time accelerated their progress in a manner 
 most conducive to his own views, for the good of 
 the service, and most in accordance with the wishes 
 of General Hutchinson.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 369 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 GENERAL BAIRD S ANXIETY FRIENDLY DISPOSITION OF THE INHA- 
 BITANTS OF UPPER EGYPT THEIR SINCERITY RISING OF THE NILE 
 
 CHANGE OF PLAN COLONEL CHAMPAGNE' PROMOTED COLONEL 
 
 QUARRILL ORDERED TO MARCH TO GIRJEE IMPRESSMENT OF BOATS 
 
 PROPOSITION OF COLONEL MURRAY WITH RESPECT TO THE ULTE- 
 RIOR DESTINATION OF THE ARMY FRUSTRATED DESPATCHES 
 
 FROM GENERAL HUTCHINSON DISPOSAL OF THE TROOPS TONNAGE 
 
 OF VESSELS GENERAL BAIRD EMBARKS FOR LOWER EGY'PT NO- 
 TICE OF GHENNAH REGNIER — BRUCE. 
 
 General Baird's mind being now freed from 
 all anxiety, but that of proceeding, and all respon- 
 sibility, except such as attached to the expeditious 
 accomplishment of General Hutchinson's wishes, it 
 might be supposed that he was destined to carry on 
 the preparations for doing so, without any new ac- 
 cession of annoyances ; but the difficulty of commu- 
 nication with General Hutchinson, the uncertainty 
 of the conveyance and receipt of his letters, kept 
 him in a continued state of anxiety. 
 
 On the other hand, it must be confessed, that in 
 addition to the advantages so surely derivable from 
 the system he had adopted, founded upon experience 
 
 VOL. I. 2 b
 
 370 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and practical knowledge, he received great encou- 
 ragement in his enterprise from the friendly dispo- 
 sition of the principal inhabitants of Upper Egypt, 
 who exhibited every inclination to assist the army 
 in its progress; but this apparent friendship was 
 greatly deteriorated by an instability and carelessness 
 of obligations quite natural, perhaps, in narrow 
 minds, ignorant of the world, and under the do- 
 mination of a Government corrupt in itself, and 
 either unwilling or unable to correct corruption in 
 its subjects. In promises, these people were as 
 liberal as Portuguese politicians, but the just fulfil- 
 ment of those promises, it was soon ascertained, 
 depended very considerably upon the eflfect it would 
 have upon their personal interests ; and not unfre- 
 quently upon the possibility of their being able to 
 do, what in fact, and in spite of their large profes- 
 sions, they never had it in their power to effect.* 
 
 * The liberality of profession on the part of the natives may 
 be tolerably well appreciated by the following letter, addressed 
 to General Baird on his arrival at Ghennah, by the Capidan 
 Pacha. 
 
 " His Highness Hussein Capidan Pacha, Sfc. 8fc. S^c. to his friend 
 General Baird, commanding a Corps of British Troops. 
 
 " Having learnt that you are happily arrived at Ghennah with 
 the troops under your command, and desiring nothing so much 
 as to provide for the repose and welfare of British troops, we 
 have selected Osman Bey Perdicci, (a Prince of Cairo, and 
 who will join you with all expedition,) and have charged him 
 with firmans, and orders written in Arabic, to facilitate the re- 
 quisition and procuring of provisions and other necessaries, of
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 371 
 
 But although affairs looked thus prosperously, and 
 the greater part of General Baird's army had suc- 
 ceeded in struggling across the burning sands of the 
 Desert, with the loss of only three men, between 
 Kossier and Ghennah, there were difficulties of ano- 
 ther kind now threatening them in their front. 
 The Nile had, during the last few days, risen so 
 considerably, that the intention of marching by its 
 bank, (a circumstance which, it must be evident, 
 was of the greatest importance, inasmuch as upon 
 
 which you may be in want during your march, and when you 
 halt. We therefore hope, that on his joining you, you will 
 begin your march and proceed to us with as little delay as 
 possible. 
 
 " With respect to us, having in concert with the English 
 troops, our companions, and our dear friend General Hutchin- 
 son, and his Highness the Grand Vizier, laid siege to the City 
 of Cairo, to Barlak and Gizeh, and having had some actions, 
 the besieged, convinced that they ought not to resist our com- 
 bined force, have offered to evacuate Cairo and its depen- 
 dencies at the end of twelve days, on condition of being sent 
 back to France with their arms and baggage, and they have 
 begun by giving us possession of a fort, and one of the for- 
 tresses of Gizeh. 
 
 " As we proceed in fulfilling the terms agreed on, the French 
 are employed in transporting their effects from Cairo to Gizeh, 
 and on the Wednesday next of this present month, we shall 
 take possession, God being willing, of the city and the different 
 works that surround it. 
 
 " This letter is written in great haste, and hurried off for the 
 purpose of communicating the above intelligence to you. 
 " Head Quarters of His Highness Hussein Capidan Pacha, 
 " Before Gizeh, 28th Saphar, 1216." 
 
 (Corresponding to 9th July, 1801.) 
 2 B 2
 
 372 THE LIFE OF 
 
 that route the essential difficulty of carrying water 
 for the army would have been entirely obviated,) 
 was necessarily abandoned. 
 
 This interruption to the arrangements of the Ge- 
 neral had been, as it will be seen, anticipated by 
 General Hutchinson, who appears by his letter to 
 have considered a march by the inland route out of 
 the question ; although dreadful as it appeared to him, 
 and would appear to any one acquainted with the 
 dreary waste of sand which it presented, that course 
 was, in many respects, infinitely preferable to the 
 trials which the same brave troops had already over- 
 come. 
 
 General Baird, however, decided upon trying 
 every possible means of conveying the army to Cairo 
 by water ; and besides forwarding a despatch to Ge- 
 neral Hutchinson, begging him to send him as many 
 boats as he could procure, he adopted the General's 
 plan of taking by force all those, which, notwith- 
 standing their protestations of friendship, the natives 
 would not voluntarily grant the use of, and sent out 
 parties in various directions to press whatever vessels 
 they could meet with. This measure was rendered 
 absolutely necessary, not only by the importance of 
 the object in view, but by the great demand for 
 boats at this particular season of the year. 
 
 But with aU his exertions, General Baird never, 
 from the first, anticipated that he should be able to 
 convey the whole army by the river. On the con- 
 trary, he was fully convinced that the means upon 
 which, at the very best, he could calculate, would be
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 373 
 
 wholly inadequate to the purpose ; he, therefore, de- 
 termined to send the principal part of his guns and 
 stores by water, and as many of the men as were 
 least able to bear the fatigues of a land march as 
 could be accommodated in boats, taking the best 
 men, the cattle, and the remainder of the stores by 
 the inland route ; leaving a battalion of Bombay 
 troops in Kossier and on the Desert, and another 
 battalion at Ghennah, so as to keep up an easy and 
 certain communication with the ships at the former 
 place ; in order the more effectually to do which, he 
 caused the fort at Ghennah, which the French had 
 (after having built it) dismantled, to undergo such 
 repair as might render it serviceable. 
 
 Nothing could exceed the prudence and activity 
 of the General, surrounded as he was by diffi- 
 culties, and having only a variety of evils to choose 
 from. If he delayed his departure from Ghennah, 
 until he could receive an answer to his application 
 from General Hutchinson, and ascertain from him 
 what number of boats he might be able to send him, 
 and if that number should prove insufficient, he 
 would lose the possibility of using any part of the 
 road along the bank of the Nile ; whereas if he 
 proceeded immediately to embark his forces in the 
 boats, of which he was certain, it was evident that 
 the greater proportion of the troops would be com- 
 pelled to march for a very considerable part of the 
 way by the inland route at all events.* 
 
 * The Nile, swelled by the rains which fall in Abyssinia, 
 begins to rise in Egypt about the month of May, but the in-
 
 374 THE LIFE OF 
 
 About this period the General was reinforced by 
 the arrival at Kossier, of four companies of the 61st 
 regiment, Colonel Ramsay and two companies of 
 the 80th, the horse artillery from Bengal, and the 
 artillery and pioneers from Madras ; but this ad- 
 dition to his gallant little army brought with it 
 much mortification. The Susannah (the ship in 
 which Colonel Wellesley was to have sailed) was 
 lost on the passage, and the Rockingham, ano- 
 ther of the store-ships, unfortunately had struck 
 and was forced to remain at Jeddah. The Rock- 
 ingham struck at eight o'clock in the evening of 
 June 8th, 1801, upon a shoal which now bears her 
 name ; it lies eleven leagues from the Arabian shore, 
 and has other shoals between it and the coast, and 
 more dangers to the northward ; the south part of 
 the shoal is in lat. 20° 16' W. and Ion. 39° 39' E. 
 The coast of Cape Ibrahim, opposite to the shoal, 
 
 crease is inconsiderable until towards the end of June, when it 
 is proclaimed by a public crier in the streets of Cairo, about 
 the time it has usually risen five or six cubits ; and when it has 
 risen to sixteen, great rejoicings are made, and the people cry 
 Waffuh Allah ! — that is, " God has given them abundance." 
 This commonly takes place about the latter end of July, or at 
 farthest before the middle of August, and the earlier it occurs, 
 the greater the hopes of a good crop. In the year 1705, it did 
 not swell to sixteen cubits, and the consequence was a general 
 pestilence and famine. 
 
 In order to secure the advaritage derivable from this irriga- 
 tion, canals are cut at right angles with the river, which convey 
 the water to places remote from its banks. Almost every town 
 and village has one of these canals.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 375 
 
 appears by the observations of the Rockingham, to 
 be about 1° 50' west from Gebel Tor. 
 
 To these mortifications were added, the pro- 
 tracted absence of Colonel Champagne, who was 
 expected from Goa, and that of the provision ships 
 long due from Bengal ; while in minor matters, 
 the General found himself contravened and incon- 
 venienced by the friendly Mehemed Ali Khan, who 
 had been making very extensive purchases of camels 
 and horses, on account of the English army. He 
 had made these purchases from the Sherriff, who 
 would not permit anybody except himself to deal 
 with him, and accordingly had sold him beasts of 
 such a description, that out of one troop of forty- 
 nine horses, which arrived in a dow, ten only were 
 serviceable ; and although he had spared him five 
 hundred camels at his own price, of the first fifty 
 which were delivered, seventeen only were alive, and 
 of those seventeen not one was capable of doing any 
 work. 
 
 We mention these circumstances, not as exhibit- 
 ing any very serious obstacle to the completion of 
 the great design of General Baird, but to show how 
 constantly and how variously employed the mind 
 of that man must have been, who, in addition to 
 all the ordinary details of an extensive expedition, 
 had to contend with difficulties of a nature which 
 nothing but actual experience and practical know- 
 ledge could have rendered him adequate to en- 
 counter and overcome. 
 
 On the 24th of July, General Baird ordered Co-
 
 376 THE LIFE OF 
 
 lonel Quarrill with the 10th regiment to Girjee with 
 all possible expedition. At that place, or coming 
 from it, Colonel Quarrill was to meet Colonel Murray 
 returning to command at Ghennah during the advance 
 of the army, in company with Osman Bey, who had 
 instructions to supply the troops during their march 
 with provisions, according to the promise contained 
 in the Captain Pacha's letter to General Baird ; and 
 who brought his orders for the supply of the army 
 with meat, bread, salt, grain, and all other articles 
 of provision from the different towns and villages. 
 
 A letter received by General Baird about this 
 period from General Hutchinson, will serve to throw 
 a little light on the character of this Osman Bey, and 
 the carefulness and fidelity with which he executed 
 the trust reposed in him, as well as the activity of 
 his exertions in forwarding the service, the success of 
 which, so materially depended upon the rapid and 
 constant communication between the two Generals. 
 
 To Major-Generul Baird. 
 
 Head Quarters, Camp near Gizeh, July \^th 1801. 
 
 Sir, 
 I received your letters of the 22nd of June only three 
 days ago, as they were near three weeks coming. The 
 delay has been very vexatious, but, however, there is no 
 relying on an Arab, or even on a Mameluke. Osman Bey 
 Perdicci, kept my last letter fur you. Jive days, and then 
 lost il ! The accounts you give of your own proceedings 
 are very afflicting. I was always apprehensive that Euro- 
 pean troops would find difficulties almost insurmountable 
 in passing the Desert.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 377 
 
 I yesterday received despatches from Lord Hobart, 
 dated the 19th of May. From their contents I am led 
 to imagine, that should you not be able to penetrate into 
 the lower part of Egypt, and form a junction with me, it 
 will be a great disappointment. 
 
 In my last letter to you, I expresssd some doubts about 
 bringing the sepoys forward, but from a paragraph in his 
 Lordship's letter, it has now become absolutely necessary, 
 as he expresses a wish that they should be left in garrison 
 at Alexandria ; and provided that it is not inconsistent with 
 any stipulations entered into with them, I am directed to 
 leave them as part of that garrison, whenever it shall fall 
 into our hands. 
 
 I tell you this and what follows in the utmost con- 
 fidence. There are six thousand men to arrive im- 
 mediately from Europe, and after the final departure of 
 the French from this country, we are ordered to ren- 
 dezvous at Malta, there to wait for further instructions. 
 I have no doubt, from the tone and tenor of the letter, 
 that it is meant to employ the remainder of this army on 
 some other service. I do not think of leaving above four 
 thousand men behind in Egypt, so that I hope there will 
 remain a considerable body of disposable troops. Should 
 you not be able, however, to approach us, our calculation 
 on the subject will be miserably defective. 
 
 We move from this the day after to-morrow, (15th 
 July,) and shall reach Rosetta about the 29th or 30th. 
 I leave six hundred men, under Colonel Stewart, as a gar- 
 rison for Gizeh. You had better communicate with him 
 as frequently as you can. I shall direct him to do the 
 same by you. 
 
 I hear of nothing of any great importance. I am to 
 congratulate you on succeeding to the command of the 1st 
 battalion of the 54th regiment, by the death of General 
 Frederick. Major-General Cradock has got the 2nd bat-
 
 378 THE LIFE OF 
 
 talion. His Majesty has been pleased to appoint me to 
 the chief command of the troops in Egypt, with the rank 
 of Lieutenant-General in the Mediterranean. 
 
 I have the honour to be with respect and regard. Sir, 
 Your faithful and obedient servant, 
 J. Hely Hutchinson, 
 Lieutenant-General. 
 
 P.S. I enclose a letter for Lord Wellesley, the Governor 
 General, which I beg you will be pleased to forward as 
 soon as possible. J. H. H. 
 
 This letter was not altogether agreeable to General 
 Baird, inasmuch as he had never yet, during the 
 operations in Egypt, lost sight of the ulterior, or 
 rather, as we have before said, the primary object 
 of his expedition ; and, indeed, Colonel Murray, who 
 had been at Gizeh, and was well acquainted with the 
 actual state of the British force there, and the cer- 
 tainty of the speedy reduction of all obstacles in its 
 way, had suggested to General Baird that when the 
 Egyptian campaign was over. General Hutchinson 
 would probably not only spare him adequate stores 
 for his army, without the necessity of making a 
 circuitous voyage back again to India and thence to 
 Mauritius, but that he would allow him to take an 
 additional regiment with him ; for which, as Colonel 
 Murray said, room might be made in the ships with 
 a little crowding, and by sending the numerous 
 female followers of the army back by some other 
 conveyance. The announcement in General Hutch- 
 inson's letter of a totally different destination for
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 379 
 
 the whole of the forces, of course terminated all 
 hope of assistance from him. 
 
 General Hutchinson about the same time also put 
 an end to General Baird's expectations of seeing 
 Colonel Champagn^, whom he had so long looked 
 for, by announcing that that officer had been ap- 
 pointed to the command of a regiment, and that his 
 commission was actually filled up. This intelligence 
 General Hutchinson forwarded under the belief that 
 Colonel Champagn6 was then with the army. A 
 similar promotion had been accorded to Colonel 
 Ramsey, who had actually arrived.* 
 
 Colonel Quarrill was directed by General Baird, 
 on his arrival at Girjeh, to inquire into the state 
 of the roads and the inundations, upon which their 
 practicability depends ; and if he found that he 
 could with safety proceed to Syout, or any town 
 capable of furnishing adequate supplies for his de- 
 tachment, he was to march thither and so proceed 
 as rapidly as he could towards Cairo, taking care 
 never to expose himself to the chance of being over- 
 taken by the flooding of the Nile at any consider- 
 able distance from a large town. 
 
 He was farther instructed, if he found the roads 
 impassable, to select some high ground, and wait the 
 arrival of the river fleet with the commander-in-chief. 
 
 The service of pressing and otherwise procuring 
 
 * Colonel, now General Sir Joseph Champagne, who is Colo- 
 nel of the 17th foot, received the Grand Cross of the Guelphic 
 Order in February, 1832.
 
 380 THE LIFE OF 
 
 boats for the transport of the army, went on briskly, 
 and much more successfully than had at first been 
 anticipated ; indeed so plentiful was the supply, that 
 Colonel Quarrill was permitted, when he reached 
 Girjeh, to keep a sufficient number for the convey- 
 ance of his regiment down the river. In order that 
 he might form some estimate of the number he 
 should require, he was informed by Colonel Auch- 
 muty, the Adjutant- General, that the largest boats 
 were capable of carrying one hundred and fifty men, 
 three field officers, with the regular proportion of 
 officers not of that rank, and their servants ; that the 
 next sized boats would carry one hundred and 
 twenty men, and the smallest size, not including 
 fishing-boats, thirty-five men each. The 88th regi- 
 ment, consisting of five hundred and ninety men and 
 officers with eight horses, occupied seven boats of 
 these different sizes. 
 
 Every arrangement for the march of the force 
 from Ghennah having been made, and Colonel Murray 
 appointed to the command of the troops in Upper 
 Egypt, and having received instructions to remain 
 at Ghennah until the rear of the army should have 
 come up and been forwarded to Gizeh, and himself 
 to proceed with it. General Baird embarked for 
 Lower Egypt on the 31st day of July. 
 
 A short extract from the work of M. Regnier 
 may not here be unacceptable to the reader. He 
 says : — 
 
 In Upper Egypt a chain of mountains present them- 
 selves to the eye of the traveller on either side of the Nile ;
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 381 
 
 the valley between these tuountains, through which the 
 course of the river is directed, is nearly five leagues broad, 
 which the periodical inundations of the river completely 
 cover ; this valley alone is inhabited and susceptible of 
 cultivation. The eastern chain of mountains by which the 
 Nile is separated from the Red Sea, surpasses that on the 
 west in respect of height, terminating by precipices towards 
 the valley, assuming in different places the appearance of 
 an immense wall broken irregularly by narrow valleys, 
 which have owed tiieir origin to the sudden and temporary 
 torrents of water, and serve as passes over these stupen- 
 dous mountains. The western chain, by which the valleys 
 of the Nile is separated from that of Oasis, has in general 
 a gradual and gentle declivity, although it becomes more 
 abrupt towards Syout, and is steep from the angle formed 
 by the Nile towards Hennh till it reaches Syene, at which 
 place the mountain has a more considerable height, afford- 
 ing but a narrow passage to the river. 
 
 The distance between these two chains of mountains is 
 increased as you approach Cairo, the eastern chain ter- 
 minating near the extremity of the Red Sea, without the 
 appearance of any junction with the Arabian mountains, 
 which have a similar termination. The western chain de- 
 clines towards Fayoum, taking a north-west direction 
 near Grand Cairo, and forming the INIediterranean coast 
 in a direction to the west. Lower Egypt lies between 
 these two great chains of mountains and the sea, which has 
 most probably been formed, at least in a great measure, by 
 the slime or mud which the Nile deposits, as it is inter- 
 sected by its branches and a vast number of canals. 
 
 The following military opinion of General Regnier 
 is curious — 
 
 " Egypt,"" says he, " is separated from Asia by deserts of 
 considerable extent, and should a hostile army attempt to
 
 382 THE LIFE OF 
 
 approach it on that side, it would have to take its route 
 through marshy grounds, below its general level, and pre- 
 senting to the traveller little else than brackish water. Its 
 flat shore towards the Mediterranean and the mouth of the 
 Nile, gorged up with mounds of sand, presents to the 
 - enemy very few places which will be found proper for the 
 debarkation of troops. Immense deserts constitute its 
 natural boundaries on the west, on which account it has 
 nothing to dread but the incursions of the Arabs from 
 Barbary. A desert also separates Egi/pt from the Red 
 Sea, which gives no flattering invitation to an enemy to in- 
 vade it from that quarter ; the two ports of that sea being 
 destitute of resources, and Egypt itself being the only 
 country from which a hostile army could procure provi- 
 sions and camels suficient to enable them to cross the 
 Desert. 
 
 " It is obvious," continues General Regnier, "from this 
 succinct account of the general face of the country, that no 
 invading army could carry on any military operations in 
 Lower Egypt during more than seven months in the year. 
 It may perhaps be admitted with truth, that the confines 
 of the Desert might be traversed during the five remaining 
 months, but the villages in that direction are ill qualified 
 to grant those necessary supplies to an army, which after 
 crossing the Desert must be in want of every thing. No 
 communication could be kept open from the Desert with 
 the interior from September to December inclusive. At 
 this period, therefore, an enemy could not carry on any 
 military operations in the interior but by water." 
 
 These opinions and statements, made by an officer 
 of Regnier s ability little more than two years before 
 General Baird overcame all the difficulties which he 
 enumerates, are full of interest.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 38.3 
 
 Kenne or Ghennah itself, which had been so long 
 the head-quarters of General Baird, perhaps deserves 
 a word or two of remark liere. It is the Coptos of 
 the ancients, and is of considerable extent. To an 
 eye which has rested for days and weeks on the arid 
 sameness of the Desert, the country immediately 
 round it, which is laid out in gardens, where the 
 vine is cultivated with industry and success, and 
 in which fruit-trees of great produce grow even 
 luxvu'iantly, affords a most delightful contrast. 
 
 The town itself is surrounded by a wall, and the 
 houses are flat-roofed and of one story. It has a 
 pottery, in which jars and vessels are made possess- 
 ing the quality peculiar to Egyptian ware, of keep- 
 ing water cool and rendering it clear. Of these jars 
 they m.ake immense rafts, by tying them together in 
 vast numbers, and floating them down the Nile, 
 carrying them sometimes afterwards even as far as 
 Rosetta, where, from their singularly advantageous 
 properties, they meet a ready sale. Oranges, dates, 
 and melons are to be procured at Ghennah in abund- 
 ance, and the sugar-cane has been successfully cul- 
 tivated there. All this refreshing produce is eagerly 
 sought by the merchants and pilgrims who travel 
 from Cairo to barter the cloths of Europe, the corn 
 of Egypt, and the carpets of Turkey against the 
 coffee of Mocha and the shawls and muslins of India. 
 
 The people of Ghennah are darker than those of 
 Lower Egypt, whom, however, they very closely 
 resemble in the form of their features and the cha- 
 racter of their countenances ; like all Mahommedans
 
 384 THE LIFE OF 
 
 the women remain continually veiled, but neverthe- 
 less they blacken their eyelashes, and in order to 
 give an Oriental delicacy to their hands, tinge their 
 finger-nails with red. 
 
 During the stay of the troops at Ghennah they 
 were constantly exposed to the whirlwinds peculiar 
 to that part of the world. Their tremendous force, 
 and the effects of their irresistible violence, have so 
 often been described, that an observation upon them 
 may seem superfluous ; but as constituting one only 
 of the innumerable ills and difficulties by which the 
 army was assailed, they certainly deserve mention 
 in this place. Mr. Bruce describes a visitation of 
 this sort, which must have been most awful. 
 
 " We were here," says he, (at a place called Woadi el 
 Halbout,) " at once surprised and terrified by a sight, 
 surely one of the most magnificent in the world. In the 
 vast expanse of desert, from W. to N. W. of us, we saw a 
 number of prodigious pillars of sand at different distances, 
 at times moving with great celerity, at others stately or 
 with a majestic slowness ; at intervals we thought thev 
 were coming in a very few minutes to overwhelm us, and 
 small quantities of sand had actually reached us. Again 
 they would retreat so as to be almost out of sight — their 
 tops reaching to the very clouds — there the tops very often 
 separated from the bodies, and then, once disjointed, dis- 
 persed in the air and did not appear any more. Sometimes 
 they were broken near the middle, as if struck by a large 
 cannon shot. 
 
 " About noon they began to advance with considerable 
 swiftness upon us, the wind being very strong at north. 
 Eleven of them ranged alongside of us, about the distance
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 385 
 
 of three miles ; the greatest diameter of the largest ap- 
 peared to me at that distance, as if it would measure ten 
 feet. They retired from us with a wind at S. E. leaving 
 an impression upon my mind to which I can give no name, 
 though surely one ingredient in it was fear, with a consider- 
 able deal of wonder and astonishment. It was in vain to 
 think of flying, the swiftest horse, the fastest sailing ship, 
 could be of no use to carry us out of this danger, and the 
 full persuasion of this riveted me as if to the spot where 
 I stood.'' * 
 
 In the next chapter we shall have to trace the 
 conduct of General Baird through a series of diffi- 
 culties, which if not so -pevilows personally, as those 
 which he had already seen, were, to an officer of his 
 character and principles, perhaps not less painful to 
 endure. 
 
 * Murray's Family Library, No. 17, p. 467. 
 
 VOL. I. 2 C
 
 386 THE LIFE OF 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 GENERAL BAIRD ARRIVES AT GIZEH — -REMOVES HIS HEAD QUARTERS 
 
 TO RHOUDA PROCEEDS TOWARDS ROSETTA DAMIETTA LESBIE 
 
 REFUSAL OF THE GRAND VIZIER TO SURRENDER THE FORMER — RECALL 
 OF COLONEL LLOYD — SURRENDER OF ALEXANDRIA — GENERAL BAIRD'S 
 
 DISAPPOINTMENT SIR JOHN HUTCHINSON RESOLVES TO QUIT EGYPT 
 
 ON ACCOUNT OF HIS HEALTH ARRANGEMENTS CONSEQUENT THERE- 
 UPON DESPATCH FROM ENGLAND LORD CAVAN APPOINTED TO 
 
 COMMAND IN CHIEF THE INDIAN ARMY TO BE UNITED WITH THE 
 
 EUROPEAN FORCE GENERAL BAIRd's REMONSTRANCE REASONS 
 
 AGAINST THE MEASURE — APPEARANCE OF THE PLAGUE AMONG THE 
 TROOPS. 
 
 General Baird, it will be recollected, before he 
 embarked, placed Colonel Murray in command of 
 the whole army of Upper Egypt until the rear 
 should have come up to Ghennah (where his head- 
 quarters were fixed), whence it was to be sent for- 
 ward to Gizeh with all practicable expedition, leav- 
 ing two companies of the 1st, and six companies of 
 the 7th Bombay regiment in possession of different 
 parts on the route, so as to keep up a free and con- 
 stant communication between the army and Kosseir. 
 
 Orders were despatched to that place to send for- 
 ward the 80th, or any other regiment, the moment
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 387 
 
 it arrived, and Colonels Ramsay and Montresor 
 were ordered forthwith to proceed to Gizeh, which 
 place General Baird himself reached on the 8th of 
 August.* 
 
 The General lost not a moment after his arrival 
 in making arrangements for the supplies and com- 
 forts of his men, whose welfare and accommoda- 
 tion were always objects nearest his heart ; and 
 having completed those arrangements, he shifted his 
 head-quarters to the little island of Rhouda, to 
 which he removed on the l6th.t 
 
 * Gizeh is a considerable town built along the banks of the 
 river, which is here above four miles in width. M. De Noe 
 says, that the house in which he was quartered at the northern 
 extremity of the town, on a very handsome quay, was surround- 
 ed by gardens filled with flowers and orange-trees ; the rooms 
 were spacious, and the stables sufficiently extensive to contain 
 three hundred horses. 
 
 This sounds capacious, but falls very far short of Dr. Clarke's 
 account of Murad Bey's residence, in which Colonel Stewart 
 was quartered. " Of this edifice," says the Doctor, " it is diffi- 
 cult to give an idea by description. It contained barracks 
 capable of containing sixty thousand mex, including a yreat 
 proportion of cavalry^ a cannon foundry, and everything neces- 
 sary for the system of war carried on by that prince," &c. — 
 Vide Clarke's Travels, vol. i. p. 83. 
 
 M. de Noe writes in favourable terms of the civilization of 
 the inhabitants, and observes, that the greater part of them 
 spoke French. Gizeh is distant from the Pyramids about 
 nine miles. 
 
 t It is on the island of Rhouda, situated on the Nile, between 
 Gizeh and Cairo, that the Mekeas, or, as we translate it, Nilo- 
 meter, is erected for the purpose of measuring the rise of the 
 inundation. The Nilometer is a round tower, containing an 
 
 2 c 2
 
 388 THE LIFE OF 
 
 When General Baird quitted Gizeh he appointed 
 Colonel Ramsay to the command of that place, a 
 situation which, however high and honourable, con- 
 nected as it inevitably must become with the nego- 
 ciations to be carried on with the Grand Vizier, 
 Colonel Ramsay felt very much disinclined to fill, 
 apprehensive that being fixed at Gizeh he might be 
 deprived of a chance of more active service in the 
 field. The General also appointed Colonel Lloyd 
 to the command of a force destined for Damietta, 
 consisting of about three hundred men of the 80th 
 regiment, and three hundred sepoys, together with a 
 proportionate force of artillery and engineers. The 
 object of this detachment was to garrison Damietta 
 and Lesbie, which General Hutchinson had ordered 
 the Turks to surrender to the English troops when- 
 ever they should arrive. But it appears, that some 
 difficulty interposed at the time of their arrival, for 
 the Grand Vizier, whose professions of friendship we 
 have already observed upon, seems to have hesitated 
 about giving up the whole of the works and bar- 
 racks at that place to the British force, and to have 
 
 apartment, in the middle of which, is a cistern Unedwith marble, 
 the bottom of which reaches the bottom of the river, having a 
 large opening through which the water can freely enter. 
 
 The rise of the water is shewn upon an octangular column of 
 blue and white marble, on which are marked twenty cubits of 
 twenty-two inches each. The two lowermost have no divisions, 
 but all the others are divided into twenty-four parts, each part 
 called a digit ; the whole height of the pillar being thirty-six 
 feet eight inches.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 389 
 
 proposed that the place sliould be garrisoned by a 
 force half Turkish and half European. 
 
 As this was the line taken by the Grand Vizier, 
 and as General Baird found that the works required 
 very extensive repairs, he suggested to the Vizier, 
 that unless the English troops had entire possession 
 of the place, he should not feel justified in permit- 
 ting his Government to incur any expense on ac- 
 count of it. In the propriety of General Baird's 
 view the Grand Vizier, as it turned out, entirely 
 coincided, and accordingly promised an immediate 
 supply of men and money to put the works in good 
 order. 
 
 Although General Baird succeeded in obtaining 
 this promise from the Vizier, he had, on the other 
 hand, new difficulties to contend with, from Osman 
 Bey. Tambourga Osman Bey and Hussein Bey, 
 who had relied implicitly upon General Hutchinson 
 for arranging their several claims upon the Grand 
 Vizier previously to his quitting the country, began 
 to consider themselves in an extremely perilous posi- 
 tion, and accordingly pressed the delicacy and diffi- 
 culty of their different cases upon General Baird, 
 with no small degree of pertinacity ; and (as it even- 
 tually turned out, not without reason) expressed 
 their opinion to him, that the moment the British 
 force should be entirely withdrawn from Egypt, the 
 Turks would fall upon and persecute them in utter 
 violation of all their most solemn engagements. 
 
 The Beys declared themselves ready not only to 
 obey any orders that General Hutchinson might think
 
 390 THE LIFE OF 
 
 fit to make, but even to obey the commands of the 
 Grand Vizier or of the Porte itself, if General Hutch- 
 inson desired it ; and there can be little doubt that 
 General Baird, who had all along placed great reliance 
 in their affection for the Enghsh, most conscientiously 
 coincided in their views, and sympathized in their 
 apprehensions of danger, and pressed upon General 
 Hutchinson the absolute necessity of interposing his 
 authority in their behalf With what degree of success 
 this interposition was crowned, we shall hereafter see. 
 
 By the 27th of August General Baird had assem- 
 bled all his force in the Isle of Rhouda ; and on the 
 night of that day the right wing of the army began 
 to move.* 
 
 We have observed, in an earlier part of this me- 
 moir, upon the extraordinary difficulty which exists 
 at getting at anything like truth in affairs of this 
 world. A very striking instance, certainly not of 
 wilful misrepresentation (for the writer who makes 
 the statement was an amiable and generally vera- 
 cious man) occurs at page 59 of the late Dr. Clarke's 
 Travels, in which he describes an entertainment of 
 
 * As a proof of the energy and activity displayed by Gene- 
 ral Baird during his arduous enterprise, it may not be uninter- 
 esting to observe, that in a letter from General Hutchinson to 
 General Baird, dated Cairo, July 25, 1801, the former says — 
 " Every exertion in my power shall be used to procure you 
 boats, as soon as the French prisoners are once embarked on 
 board the ships. You shall have the earliest intelligence of 
 everything that takes place at Alexandria; but I fear your 
 corps cannot be collected at Gizeh before the end of September. 
 — They hud left it before tlic end of August !"
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 391 
 
 which he partook, in General Baird's tent, while his 
 head-quarters were at this very island of Rhonda. 
 
 " A dinner," says Dr. Clarke, " given by General Baird 
 to the English officers, and others, our countrymen, in 
 Cairo, took place while the camp remained upon the Isle of 
 Rhoda. We were invited, and the scene was so extraor- 
 dinary, that it ought to be noticed. The dinner was 
 given in the pavihon before-mentioned. This was lighted 
 by glass lustres suspended from an enormous bamboo cane, 
 sustaining the inner covering of the tent, and by wax can- 
 dles in glass cylinders. English porter, roasted pigs, and 
 other English fare, together with. Port, Claret, and Ma- 
 deira wines, appeared upon the table. 
 
 " The dinner was cooked by Indian servants, upon the 
 sand, before the tent, and a view of the extraordinary 
 cleanliness observed by these cooks, as well as their pecu- 
 liar habits, were among the most curious parts of the exhi- 
 bition. Having drawn a line around them, they suffered 
 no person to pass this boundary. The rules of their caste 
 enjoined that none of their cookery vessels should be 
 touched except by their own hands. After dinner the offi- 
 cers smoked the hookah : every pipe had its peculiar atten- 
 dant upon the outside of the tent, the long flexible tubes 
 alone being brought under the sides of the pavilion to 
 those seated at table. 
 
 " The servants in waiting were principally negroes, 
 dressed in white turbans, with mushn jackets, but without 
 stockings or shoes. The upper part of the pavilion was 
 adorned with beautiful net-work ; the hangings were of 
 green silk, and the floor covered with Indian mats. The 
 tables were of polished, mahogany, and the company pre- 
 sent were in full uniform. An association of things so 
 incongruous, with the natural horrors and barbarism of 
 the country, upon the border of an interminable desert,
 
 392 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and in the midst of such a river as the Nile, where persons 
 from India and from England were met to banquet toge- 
 ther, that perhaps no similar result of commerce and of 
 conquest is ever likely to occur again in any part of the 
 habitable globe." 
 
 It will scarcely be believed, that of all this detail 
 there is scarcely one particular in which it is correct 
 (true is perhaps too strong a word). The glass lus- 
 tres were two common lamps ; the hangings of the 
 tent, instead of green silk, consisted of a green baize 
 lining to the canvass, and the tent itself, instead of 
 a pavilion, was the mess-tent of the 10th Regiment ; 
 the mahogany tables were of teak wood ; and there 
 was not a single negro present. Such however is 
 the effect of unexpected impressions, and such the 
 difficulty afterwards of believing that those impres- 
 sions could have been so strong at the moment, un- 
 less the objects by which they were produced were 
 much more splendid than in fact they either were or 
 could have been, that the " traveller" is frequently 
 incorrect, even without meaning it. 
 
 It is curious enough, that in the same page of his 
 book, Dr. Clarke undertakes to justify Bruce against 
 the calumnies which have been occasionally levelled 
 at his fidelity of narration, and illustrates his justifi- 
 cation by the fact, that General Baird himself assur- 
 ed him that he considered Great Britain indebted 
 to Bruce's invaluable chart of the Red Sea for the 
 safety of the transports which had been employed in 
 conveying the British forces. 
 
 As Dr. Clarke's desciiption of the magnificent
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 'J93 
 
 banquet at which he was a guest has frequently 
 been quoted ill-naturedly, in evidence of the luxu- 
 riousness and effeminacy of a portion of the brave 
 men who composed the army under General 
 Baird, and as more recent writers have availed 
 themselves of various similar misrepresentations to 
 substantiate a charge of this nature against their 
 character, it is only justice to the troops as well 
 as to the historian, to give another passage from 
 Dr. Clarke, which we find in page 55 of the 
 same work, and where, although still labouring 
 under a delusion, hardly intelligible, as to the splen- 
 dour and comforts of the officers, the writer at least 
 does justice to their qualities as soldiers. 
 
 " Every morning at sunrise," says the Doctor, " as in 
 Lord Hutchinson's army, a gun was fired, and the whole 
 line of the troops from India were under arms, amounting 
 to three thousand men." 
 
 The anachronism in this passage, by which Sir 
 John Hutchinson's peerage is anticipated, is not 
 worth noticing ; the strength of the Indian army, 
 however, is inaccurately stated ; the force amount- 
 ed to seven, and not three thousand men as the 
 Doctor states. 
 
 " At this hour," continues the Doctor, " we often re- 
 sorted to the Isle of Rhouda, to view the magnificent 
 parade; an immense grove of the most enormous sycamore 
 fig-trees, larger than any of our forest trees, secured 
 almost the whole army from the rays of the sun. Troops 
 in such a state of military perfection, or better suited for 
 active service, were never seen, not even in the famous
 
 394 , THE LIFE OF 
 
 parade of the chosen ten thousand belonging to Buona- 
 parte's legion, which he was so vain of displaying before 
 the present war in front of the Tuileries at Paris ; not an 
 unhealthy soldier was to be seen." ' 
 
 The testimony here borne to the actual state of 
 this army — the greater portion of which, as the 
 Doctor says, were volunteers, who never before had 
 been out of their native country — seems to show 
 that the luxury and comfort which he so much 
 magnifies and expatiates upon, had no very ill 
 effect either upon the privates or the officers who 
 commanded them. 
 
 But to return to our narrative. — Before the troops 
 were put in motion General Baird had despatched 
 Colonel Montresor to Rosetta, to make all the neces- 
 sary arrangements for securing there an adequate 
 supply of provisions on the march to Alexandria ; 
 for although our ally, the Grand Vizier had pi^omised 
 to furnish them with everything essential, not only 
 for their subsistence but their comfort, he had not 
 as yet begun to fulfil those promises, and there- 
 fore the General considered it only prudent to take 
 care that the men should be provided for, as in ordi- 
 nary cases, by the commissariat department. 
 
 On the 26th, General Baird took leave of the 
 Grand Vizier, and notwithstanding the want of zeal 
 and activity which his Highness had uniformly ex- 
 hibited, presented him and his officers and the Beys, 
 according to the custom of the country, with some 
 valuable presents. 
 
 The news which was received just on the eve of
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. ^ 395 
 
 the departure of the array, announcing the favour- 
 able commencement of the siege of Alexandria, will 
 come more agreeably to the reader in its original 
 shape, namely, a letter from General Hutchinson, 
 which will at the same time serve to throw a little 
 light on the hesitation of the Grand Vizier with 
 respect to Damietta and Lesbie. 
 
 Head Quarter s. Camp before Alexandria, 
 August 25\.\\,^S0\. 
 Sir, 
 
 I received your letter of the 20th of August last night, 
 and am happy to find that we are likely to meet so soon. I 
 shall make every exertion in my power to make your march 
 from Rosetta to Alexandria as little irksome and fatigu- 
 ing as possible ; and I would recommend you to leave 
 all your guns and unnecessary baggage there. 
 
 We commenced our operations against Alexandria, both 
 on the east and west side, on the 17th of this month. It 
 is weak on the west side, and cannot, I should imagine, 
 hold out more than three weeks or a month longer ; but 
 in this I may be mistaken. We are in great want of 
 engineers and artillery men. I wish you could send us for- 
 ward a few engineers, and a detachment of artillery, as soon 
 as possible, it would be a great relief to us. 
 
 I had agreed previous to my departure from Cairo, to 
 send a garrison of our troops to Damietta ; at that time, 
 the Grand Vizier expressed a high sense of obligation, and 
 supposed it was a great favour done him. He ought 
 doubly to wish it now, as his own troops lately mutinied at 
 that place, and insisted on being embarked on board trans- 
 ports, in order to return to Constantinople. I have not 
 heard how the matter ended ; but I know that they were 
 in possession of the town for two days, threw every thing
 
 396 THE LIFE OF 
 
 into the greatest confusion, and levied contributions. Should 
 the enemy make their appearance there, the Turks would 
 be very glad to give up the command to the senior British 
 officer. I do not know that it is absolutely necessary that 
 Colonel Lloyd should for the present occupy the fort. 
 He may either encamp, or place himself in Damietta. We 
 are to have nothing to do with the expense of the repairs. 
 I do not imagine that they can be considerable, unless the 
 Turks themselves have been extremely industrious, and 
 destroyed the works. The French left them in a perfect 
 state of defence, and with many guns mounted. Some of 
 the guns have been removed, but can easily be replaced. 
 
 When first I spoke to the Grand Vizier, he was extremely 
 rejoiced that we should occupy Damietta ; the Turks are as 
 ignorant as children, and as suspicious as women : at any 
 rate, had he even refused his consent, I should have done 
 the same thing. It is a post of too great military import- 
 ance, to leave unoccupied ; besides, it affi^rds such natural 
 advantages, that I understand a few men might prevent 
 the advance of a numerous corps. 
 
 Half the stores and cannon captured at Cairo and Gizeh, 
 certainly belong to the British army, and the other half to 
 the Turks. I so stated it to the Reis EfFendi, and claimed 
 it on the part of our army. He acquiesced, and thought 
 it very reasonable ; but then, as it would be difficult to 
 remove the cannon and stores, the British Government 
 must be ultimately our debtor to the amount of their value. 
 They may claim it from the Turkish Government if they 
 please, or place it as a set-off in part payment for the 
 quantity of forage and provisions which the Turks have 
 furnished to our army. You had better, therefore, supply 
 them with what they demand, and desire Colonel Ramsay 
 to take receipts from their commissaries, not only for what 
 he issues, but for what was issued before. I think you
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 397 
 
 judge very right, to appoint him Commandant of Gizeh ; it 
 was necessary to have an old and experienced officer there. 
 There is no late news. I suppose you have heard of the 
 briUiant success of Sir James Saumarez. Every thing looks 
 like peace. I have no official accounts, however, to that 
 effect. On the 16th of July, the French had twenty-five 
 sail of the line at Brest, ready to put to sea with Jifteen 
 thousand men on board ! * 
 
 I have the honour to be, with great respect and regard, 
 Sir, 
 Your most obedient and very humble servant, 
 J. H. Hutchinson, 
 Major General Baird, Lieut. Gen. 
 
 &c. &c. &c. 
 
 With respect to the occupation of Damietta, how- 
 ever, it eventually turned out that it had been agreed 
 upon by our Ambassador, that it should remain efi- 
 tirely in the possession of the Turks, and accordingly 
 Colonel Lloyd, with his detachment, was withdrawn 
 from the place, and ordered to join the army at 
 
 * Sir James Saumarez was second in command to Lord 
 Nelson in the battle of the Nile, and for his gallantry in the 
 action alluded to by Sir John Hutchinson, received the Order 
 of the Bath. He was born March 11, 1757, and married Octo- 
 ber 27, 1786, Martha, daughter of Thomas le Marchant, of the 
 Island of Guernsey, of which he himself is a native. In 1831, 
 thirty years after this memorable battle, he was created a Peer 
 of the Realm, in Lord Grey's ministry, by the title of Baron de 
 Saumarez, just before the Reform Bill of that year was car- 
 ried up to the Lords — The venerable peer voted for it, and in 
 18.32 was appointed to that lucrative sinecure, a Generalship of 
 Marines.
 
 398 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Rosetta, sending however the four companies of the 
 7th Native Infantry (which formed a part of it) 
 back to Gizeh. 
 
 Colonel Lloyd was further directed, before his 
 departure from Damietta, to urge the Turkish Officer, 
 in command there, to put the forts in a proper con- 
 dition of defence, and also to ascertain the exact 
 state of the works, the number of pieces of cannon, 
 and the amount of military stores in the place. 
 
 General Baird left Rhonda on the 2l7th of August, 
 and arrived at Rosetta on the 30th, where the first 
 division of his army, which had reached it the day 
 before, were already encamped. The moment he 
 found himself so near Alexandria, with his force 
 concentrated, he evinced the greatest anxiety to 
 push forward to that place direct ; but his ardour was 
 checked, and his enthusiasm restrained by a letter 
 from General Hutchinson, announcing that the 
 French had sent a flag of truce to him, to treat for 
 the surrender ; a measure, no doubt, mainly attri- 
 butable (at all events as to time) to the arrival of so 
 large an addition to General Hutchinson's force as 
 the army from India under General Baird, The 
 General received the order to " halt," with inde- 
 scribable dissatisfaction ; and much as he rejoiced at 
 the success of His Majesty's arms, the pleasure he 
 felt at the national triumph was not a little alloyed 
 by the reflection, that after all their exertions and 
 toils, he and his gallant comrades should have ar- 
 rived too late to participate in the honour and glory 
 acquired by their more fortunate countrymen.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 399 
 
 The soldier-like apprehensions to which this first 
 check gave alarm, were soon confirmed, and when 
 General Baird proceeded the next day to Sir John 
 Hutchinson's head quarters, he found that the capi- 
 tulation was actually signed, and that the British 
 troops were to take possession of the outworks on 
 the following morning.* 
 
 The terms granted to the garrison of Alexandria 
 
 * Sir John Hutchinson had just received the Order of the 
 Bath. Sir John Hely Hutchinson was born May 15, 1757; 
 his father was an eminent barrister, and for a long time mem- 
 ber of the Irish House of Commons, and Secretary of State for 
 Ireland. He married 8th June 1751, Christiana, daughter of 
 Lorenzo Nixon, Esq. niece and heiress of Richard Hutchinson, 
 Esq. and she was created Baroness Donoughmore. By her, 
 Mr. Hutchinson had issue Richard, the first Earl of Donough- 
 more, who died unmarried August 22, 1825, Sir John Hely 
 Hutchinson, and the Hon. Mary, who married Thomas Smith, 
 Esq. and is still living. 
 
 Sir John Hutchinson, who at the period to which our narra- 
 tive here refers, had been honoured with the Red Riband, 
 was subsequently created, in the same year, Lord Hutchinson, 
 as a reward for his services in Egypt. In 1825 his Lordship 
 succeeded his brother ; and is now Earl of Donoughmore, Vis- 
 count Suirdale, Viscount and Baron Donoughmore of Knock- 
 lofty, in the Peerage of Ireland, and also Viscount Hutchin- 
 son of Knocklofty, and Baron Hutchinson of Alexandria, and 
 Knocklofty, county of Tipperary, in that of the United Kingdom. 
 
 His Lordship, besides being a Knight of the Bath, (termed 
 since the last extension of that Order, a Grand Cross of the 
 Bath,) is also a Knight of the Turkish Order of the Crescent, a 
 General in the Army, Colonel of the 18th Foot, Governor of 
 Stirling Castle, Lord Lieutenant of the County of Tipperary, 
 and Vice- Admiral of the Province of Munster.
 
 400 THE LIFE OF 
 
 were the same as those granted to that of Cairo, 
 excepting that the latter were allowed to take with 
 them only ten pieces of cannon. 
 
 Sir John Hutchinson had some time prior to the 
 event decided upon quitting Egypt, immediately 
 after the surrender of Alexandria, in consequence 
 of the delicate and precarious state of his health, and 
 had resolved upon leaving the Indian army, with the 
 addition of the 22d light dragoons, under the com- 
 mand of General Baird, directing him at the same 
 time not to quit the country until he received fur- 
 ther commands from His Majesty's ministers ; but 
 on the 18th of September, despatches arrived from 
 England, ordering Sir John to leave six thousand 
 men, exclusive of the Indian troops (the particular 
 regiments to be left being enumerated), with the 
 option of remaining himself in the command, or re- 
 turning to Europe. The latter step, as we have 
 just observed, he had already determined to take, 
 in consequence of the delicate state of his health. 
 
 The despatches from home contained farther in- 
 structions to Sir John Hutchinson, which, as it 
 turned out, very materially changed the position of 
 General Baird. Sir John was directed to retain in 
 the country under his command, if he remained in 
 Egypt, Major-General Moore,* Brigade- General 
 Hope, f Brigadier-General Stuart, and Brigadier- 
 General Oakes;t but in case Major-General Moore 
 
 * Afterwards Sir John Moore, of whom much hereafter. 
 
 f Afterwards Lord Hopetoun. 
 
 ;: Afterwards Sir Hildebrand Oakes. He entered the army
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 401 
 
 should return to Europe, then Lord Cavan was to 
 be placed in his room.* This despatch left no alter- 
 native ; for Sir John Hutchinson, who, as General 
 Moore was gone, was compelled to give the com- 
 mand to Lord Cavan in direct opposition to his 
 lordship's own wishes and inclinations. 
 
 By the proposed arrangement, it certainly seemed 
 that the intention of the Government at home was to 
 blend the Indian and European armies ; for although 
 the Secretary at Wardistinctly stated that in Downing 
 Street they did not know of what troops the Indian 
 force was composed, or by whom it was commanded. 
 His Majesty's orders were, that whatever the force 
 might be, it was at all events to remain in Egypt. 
 
 Genera] Baird saw at once the difficulties likely 
 
 in 1787, and served in the American war; in 1792 he went to 
 the West Indies, and remained two years ; in 1794, he served in 
 Corsica; became Lieutenant Colonel in 1795; in 1796 went to 
 Portugal; in 1798, as Colonel, was at the capture of Minorca. 
 After the Egyptian campaign, he was employed in the Mediter- 
 ranean ; and in 1808 commanding the force at Malta ; and in 
 1810, Civil and Military Commissioner there. He resigned from 
 ill health 1813; was created a Baronet; in 1814 he was ap- 
 pointed Lieutenant General of the Ordnance, and died Sept. 9, 
 1822. 
 
 * Richard William Lambert, Earl of Cavan, Viscount Kil- 
 coursie, and Baron Lambert of the kingdom of Ireland, G.C.B. 
 and K.C. ; born Sept. 10, 1768; married, first, in 1782, Ho- 
 nora, daughter of Judge Gould, by whom he had several chil- 
 dren. Her ladyship died October 1, 1803. His lordship mar- 
 ried in the following August, Miss Arnold, daughter of the 
 Collector of Customs at Cowes, Isle of Wight, by whom he has 
 three children. 
 
 VOL. I. 2d
 
 402 THE LIFE OF 
 
 to arise from this scheme of " brigading" two armies, 
 formed upon totally different principles, receiving 
 different pay and allowances, and whose habits and 
 customs were entirely dissimilar. The East India 
 Company's army, as every body knows, is raised in a 
 perfectly distinct manner from, and regulated (as 
 are indeed even the King's troops serving on the 
 Indian establishments) by arrangements so different 
 from those by which the regular European troops 
 are guided, that as General Baird justly said in his 
 remonstrance against the junction of the forces, it 
 required an internal knowledge of India, of its 
 government, of the many different branches which 
 compose an Indian army, and of the various rules 
 and regulations even of the different Presidencies 
 (no one set of which, is exactly like the other two), 
 to conduct it with anything like propriety or safety. 
 
 It was quite clear, that if the plan of uniting 
 these armies were persisted in, and that the Indian 
 troops were no longer to be a separate force under a 
 distinct commander, all these regulations and ar- 
 rangements would be continually broken in upon, 
 or unattended to, and consequently very serious 
 confusion and inconvenience to the service must 
 occur — great dissatisfaction among the officers would 
 ensue, and the three Presidencies themselves would 
 ultimately be brought into collision. 
 
 But, as General Baird forcibly urged, indepen- 
 dently of all these impediments, one objection on the 
 score of policy presented itself, which ought, un- 
 questionably, to have defeated the intention at once. 
 The flourishing situation of British India is in a
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 403 
 
 considerable degree owing to, and in a still more 
 considerable degree dependent upon, the treatment of 
 the native troops in our service ; by a long course of 
 attention, to their customs and prejudices they had 
 been brought to a state of discipline and confidence 
 in the English, which induced them, contrary to 
 their engagements, and beyond their obligations, to 
 consent to embark on foreign service. To any man 
 at all acquainted with the general character and dis- 
 position of these people, it must be evident, that no- 
 thing could be so difficult as for a stranger, even with 
 the best intentions, to conduct and command them, 
 without at some time or another offending their pre- 
 judices, or outraging those customs which, although 
 to a casual observer apparently trifling, and even 
 ridiculous, are by them considered of the most 
 vital importance. 
 
 Indeed, worse consequences than those which 
 might immediately result from the measure, were to 
 be anticipated by the completion of the proposed 
 arrangement ; for if at a vast distance from their na- 
 tive country, to which they had trusted themselves 
 on the faith of the British character, they were to 
 fall under the command of officers, and serve with 
 corps entirely strangers to them — strange to their 
 language and their habits, the disgust which they 
 must naturally contract, would, on their return to 
 India, spread throughout the whole native service, 
 and unquestionably put an end to the hopes of the 
 Government, of ever inducing them to embark on a 
 foreign expedition again. 
 
 2 D 2
 
 404 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Another very powerful obstacle to this junction 
 presented itself in the difference of pay and allow- 
 ances in the two services — the jealousies which 
 must arise, were the two armies blended, would 
 be extremely unpleasant to both parties ; but as 
 far as the worse paid were concerned, extremely 
 dangerous. The deductions made from the pay 
 of privates on the Indian establishment for ra- 
 tions, is not more than half that which is stopped 
 from the European soldier — a difference so striking 
 would soon have become generally known, and as 
 no ostensible or satisfactory reason could be given to 
 the European soldier for the difference, it might 
 have led to consequences of the most serious nature; 
 while on the other hand, if it were proposed to 
 remedy the inconvenience by equalizing the two 
 establishments, a still greater difference must arise, 
 for, besides the doubt which must naturally exist, 
 that any authority was vested in anybody in Egypt 
 to reduce the pay and allowances of the East India 
 Company's troops, it would have been, supposing it 
 either possible or legal, the severest of all imaginable 
 infractions, the Indian army being always saddled 
 with expenses which European troops — not in India 
 — have no necessity for incurring, and which really 
 consume the allowances made by the Company, in 
 addition to their pay. For instance, the Company's 
 officers were not allowed soldiers to attend upon 
 them, and therefore, according to the custom of 
 the country, and indeed, as a matter of necessity, 
 they had brought with them a number of Indian
 
 SIR DAVID BAIKD. 405 
 
 servants, at high wages, whom, let what might 
 happen, they were bound to support and maintain 
 during the campaign. 
 
 The movements of an army in India vary very 
 greatly from those of troops in Europe, and all ranks 
 are subject to considerable charges in providing and 
 carrying with them European articles absolutely es- 
 sential to comfort, and cleanliness, and health, which, 
 from the uncertainty of supply, it is found necessary 
 to travel with, and which in India, can only be pur- 
 chased in the first instance, at a very high price ; 
 so that it appears certain, that at the end of a 
 campaign, although the amount actually paid to 
 the Indian army, during the service, might be 
 considerably larger than that received by a force 
 coming from England, the Indian army would, in 
 point of fact, derive no greater pecuniary ad- 
 vantage. This, in the present case, will be even 
 more clearly proved, when it is recollected that 
 the European army was paid in dollars, at the 
 rate of 4s. 6d. per dollar, and the Indian army 
 in dollars at the rate of 5s. 5d. In short, as Ge- 
 neral Baird emphatically said, the reduction of 
 the Indian allowances would materially injure the 
 whole body of men, and entirely ruin most of the 
 officers. 
 
 General Baird having strongly remonstrated against 
 this most injudicious measure, and as he thought 
 without success, expressed a desire to Sir John Hut- 
 chinson to be permitted to give up his command ; 
 feeling naturally unwilling to remain in a subordi-
 
 406 THE LIFE OF 
 
 nate position, after having been nominated to the 
 command in chief of a separate army by the Gover- 
 nor-General himself. 
 
 In support of his wish to retire, he urged his dis- 
 belief that the Government at home intended him to 
 remain in Egypt, because he found that all the other 
 general officers to be retained were specifically men- 
 tioned in the despatch to Sir John Hutchinson ; and 
 as to the statement made by Sir John, that the 
 Government were not aware what the officer's name 
 was who commanded the Indian army, the General 
 felt sceptical as to the possibility of that circum- 
 stance, however firmly General Hutchinson himself 
 might have believed it, because he had received a 
 communication from the Duke of York, Commander- 
 in-chief of the army, dated from the Horse Guards 
 the 10th of May, upwards of two months anterior 
 to General Hutchinson's last despatch, in which His 
 Royal Highness conveyed the gratifying intelligence 
 to General Baird, that His Majesty had been 
 pleased to appoint him to the command of the 54th 
 regiment. 
 
 Sir John Hutchinson quite coincided with General 
 Baird, as to tiie difficulty likely to arise from the 
 union of the two armies ; but seemed to think 
 that the stay of the Indian army in Egypt would 
 not be long ; and indeed to imagine, that when it 
 did return, the native troops alone would go back to 
 the Presidencies without the King's regiments, which 
 came from them ; at all events, however, he declar- 
 ed it to be impossible for him to permit General 
 Baird to leave Egypt without further instructions.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 407 
 
 but promised him that he. Sir John Hutchinson, 
 would not of himself think of uniting the force from 
 India with that which came from Europe ; suggest- 
 ing, however, the great probability, that under any 
 circumstances, the King's regiments, if they should 
 remain, would be" deprived of the Indian allowances ; 
 a suggestion which seems to have been founded 
 upon the evident necessity of equalizing the pay of 
 all the Europeans, and the utter impossibility of 
 incurring so enormous an expense, as that which 
 would have arisen from augmenting the allowances 
 of the army fi'om England, to the scale of those 
 which were made to the army from India. 
 
 This suggestion was extremely painful to General 
 Baird, for it involved all the evil consequences to 
 the King's regiments which he had brought with 
 him, which, for their sakes, he so much dreaded, 
 namely, the sudden stoppage to their means of 
 either providing for the followers whom they had 
 brought with them, or of sending them back to their 
 own country, which they were bound to do, as part 
 of the agreement subsisting between them. Ano- 
 ther evil of still more serious inconvenience would 
 have resulted to the officers, because they had, upon 
 quitting India, devoted a certain proportion of their 
 pay and allowances to the maintenance of their wives 
 and families whom they had left behind them ; 
 which proportion they would have been unable to 
 discontinue for some months, until advices could 
 reach the Presidency to which they belonged, and 
 which they would have been wholly Unable to con- 
 tinue to afford to their relations and connexions if
 
 408 THE LIFE OF 
 
 their incomes were so considerably reduced as they 
 must be by the proposed equaUzation. 
 
 General Baird's situation at this period was one 
 of peculiar delicacy and embarrassment. He had ar- 
 rived in Egypt the commander-in-chief of an army 
 which had achieved one of the most wonderful under- 
 takings that can well be imagined, and now found 
 himself not only reduced to a junior command, but 
 even his name omitted in the despatches from Eng- 
 land in the list of officers to be retained on service. 
 
 Other causes than m.ere personal annoyances con- 
 spired to harass and agitate General Baird. Disease 
 to an alarming extent began to show itself in the 
 army, and in the hospital of the 88th regiment at 
 Rosetta several cases of plague had actually occurred. 
 Every precaution which ardour and activity could 
 suggest or enforce was of course adopted, but the 
 badness and scarcity of provisions, and the difficulty 
 with which they were procured, contributed not a 
 little to counteract the best and most assiduous exer- 
 tions which were made for the comfort and security 
 of the men. 
 
 Subsequently to this period, in spite of all the 
 measures which had been adopted to prevent the 
 spread of contagion, the dreadful malady broke out 
 in the camp amongst the Bengal Volunteers. Ge- 
 neral Baird ordered the hospitals to be burned, and 
 again the disease was checked, three sepoys only 
 having fallen victims to its ravages — but at this 
 crisis the appearance was awful and the anticipation 
 terrible !
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 409 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 SOLICITUDE OF THE BEYS THEIR DANGER VISIT OF THE CAPIDAN 
 
 PACHA TO GENERAL HUTCHINSON INVITATION TO CONSTANTINOPLE 
 
 GENERAL HUTCHINSON SENDS TO THE BEYS ARRIVAL OF THE 
 
 MAMELUKES AT GIZEH COLONEL RAMSAY's PRECAUTIONS LETTER 
 
 OF SIR JOHN HUTCHINSON TO THE GRAND VIZIER COLONEL RAM- 
 
 SAY's NEGOCIATIONS THE VIZIER's ANSWER PRESENTS ARRIVE 
 
 FROM CONSTANTINOPLE FOR GENERAL BAIRD DECLINES THEM 
 
 ARRIVAL OF M. ROSETTI GENERAL BAIRD SENDS HIM TO SEE SIR 
 
 JOHN HUTCHINSON SIR JOHN HUTCHINSON's DEPARTURE IN THE 
 
 EGYPTIENNE LORD CAVAN COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF OF THE WHOLE 
 
 ARMY. 
 
 It may be recollected that the Beys of Upper 
 Egypt, who had certainly fulfilled the expectations 
 of General Baird, and most conscientiously per- 
 formed all they had engaged to do for the advan- 
 tage of the English, had more than once repeated 
 their apprehensions that whenever the British forces 
 should be withdrawn from the country, the Grand 
 Vizier would commence a system of persecution 
 against them. They were only wrong in their con- 
 jectures, by flattering themselves that the Vizier 
 would wait for the departure of the Europeans 
 before he began to exhibit his tyranny. 
 
 On the 6th of October General Baird, whose kind
 
 410 THE LIFE OF 
 
 and conscientious watchfulness of the interests of 
 the Beys is above all commendation, wrote the fol- 
 lowing letter to Sir John Hutchinson, and sent it 
 off by express ; the emergency appearing to his 
 anxious mind, one of no trifling character. 
 
 El Hamed, Oct. 6th, 1801. 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I have the honour to address you at the earnest request 
 of Osman Bey Perdicci, who has just arrived from Cairo 
 with Osman Bey Tambourgi, Ibrahim Behar, and several 
 chachifs. They are thus far on their way to Alexandria, 
 at the desire of the Capidan Pacha, and are extremely 
 alarmed on the occasion, as they have no faith in Turkish 
 promises, and are apprehensive of treachery. 
 
 They request your Excellency will have the goodness to 
 give them any information you may be in possession of 
 respecting the object of their being ordered down. I have 
 endeavoured to convince them of the impossibility of the 
 Capidan Pacha entertaining any such idea as they seem to 
 dread ; but they declared to me that they would not have 
 trusted themselves thus far, did they not consider them- 
 selves under the protection of the British, from the assur- 
 ances you were pleased to grant them in your letter to 
 Osman Bey; and they hope that, should your Excellency 
 be unacquainted with their being ordered down, you will 
 have the goodness to mention to his Plighness the Capidan 
 Pacha, in the course of conversation, my having reported 
 to vou their arrival, and endeavour to find out the real 
 object of his sending for them. In short, my dear Sir, 
 they have a perfect reliance on your honour for their 
 safety, and will therefore remain here until they hear 
 farther from your Excellency. 
 
 Nothing but the most earnest entreaties from Osman
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 411 
 
 Bey Perdiccl, whom I in some measure regard as a per- 
 sonal friend, could have induced me to address your Excel- 
 lency on this very delicate subject; and I therefore trust 
 you will pardon my taking the liberty. I assure your 
 Excellency that it is neither my wish nor inclination to 
 interfere in the political matters or arrangements of this 
 country. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, dear Sir, 
 
 Your faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 To this Sir John, on the 7th, returned the follow- 
 ing answer. 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I received your letter, but not till four oVlock this 
 evening, as the bearer was delayed till nine o'clock this 
 morning at the Caravansera. Enire nous, I believe the 
 Beys have ever\' reason to be apprehensive of the designs 
 of the Capidan Pacha. 
 
 His Highness came to me a few days ago, and told me, 
 in tones of honey, and with a most lamb-like simplicity, 
 that the Mamelukes had been very useful to us, and that 
 he was therefore determined to do something to mark his 
 regard for them, for which purpose he meant to invite them 
 to go to Constantinople, where some were to be made Pachas 
 of three tails, others of two tails, and some chamberlains. 
 He did not, however, say a word whether they were to 
 keep their heads upon their shoulders or not ; but he said 
 he was certain that I would be his guarantee to them for 
 their security. I was so shocked and confounded at his 
 impudence and wickedness, that at the time I gave him no 
 answer. However, the day before yesterday I sent Vin- 
 cenzio to communicate to the Beys what had passed, and 
 to warn them of their danger.
 
 412 THE LIFE OF 
 
 In my opinion they had better be very cautious what 
 steps they take. You may assure them of my determina- 
 tion to adhere in the most firm manner to the solemn pro- 
 mises which I originally made them, and which they have 
 rendered still more sacred by the many services they have 
 performed towards the whole of the British troops, but 
 more especially to that part of them which were under 
 your immediate command in Upper Egypt. 
 
 They certainly ought to make a visit of ceremony to the 
 Capidan Pacha. To decline it, as they are so near, would 
 be not only a marked piece of rudeness, but it would have 
 the appearance of timidity, which is the most dangerous 
 weakness you can possibly display to a Turk, whose bold-" 
 ness is always in the direct ratio of the timidity of his 
 enemy. I do not say that it is necessary they should 
 hurry themselves ; they may linger out three or four days, 
 under the pretence of the badness of the roads or the wea- 
 riness of their horses. Afterwards they had better mount, 
 taking all due precautions, for I will not answer for it that 
 they are not in an enemy''s country. 
 
 I shall keep so good a watch, that I think no mischief 
 can befall them ; caution them, however, to beware of all 
 boats, particularly of those which belong to the squadron 
 of Turkish men-of-war. Even in passing the ferries they 
 ought to reconnoitre the ground well before they trust 
 themselves. 
 
 As soon as they arrive in the camp they ought to wait 
 on the Capidan Pacha, and afterwards, with his permis- 
 sion, to pay me a visit. If he should decline his consent, 
 they are to tell him, they are extremely sorry to act con- 
 trary to his opinion, but that they have received the most 
 positive commands from me on that subject, and that I had 
 farther told them, I was determined not to be disobeyed. 
 
 I think it will be right for you to send an officer of your 
 army to accompany them, as it would be a demonstration
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 413 
 
 to the Capidan Pacha that we were serious and determined 
 to protect them to the utmost extent of our power and 
 abiUty. I send Vincenzio back with this letter ; you will 
 of course communicate the contents to the Beys, at least 
 as much of it as you think it right that they should know. 
 I remain, my dear Sir, 
 
 Most faithfully yours, 
 
 J. Hely Hutchinson. 
 
 In the course of the day Captain Vincenzio 
 arrived at General Baird's head quarters, and the 
 General on the evening of the 8th despatched the 
 following reply to Sir John Hutchinson. 
 
 Head Quarters, Indian Army, 8th Oct. 1801, 
 Camp near El Hamed. 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I had the honour to receive yours by Captain Vincenzio, 
 and also the verbal message relative to the Beys not travel- 
 ling at night, and timing their journey to-morrow so as to 
 arrive at the Capidan Pacha's tent before twelve o'clock at 
 noon. I afterwards paid a formal visit to the Beys in 
 Rosetta, on purpose to show the Turks that they were 
 under our protection, and explained to them the contents 
 of your Excellency's letter. 
 
 I assured the Beys of your Excellency's determination 
 to protect them, and of your being their warm friend. 
 Such, however, is their dread of Turkish treachery, that 
 they did not appear satisfied to go till I informed them 
 that an officer of rank of this army should accompany, and 
 remain with them during their visit to the Capidan Pacha, 
 and should also carry them to your Excellency. Upon 
 this they were satisfied, and agreed to go, though they still 
 have their apprehensions that violence may be done them
 
 414 THE LIFE OF 
 
 even in the presence of a British officer. They appear to 
 have a very shocking opinion of the character of the Capi- 
 dan Pacha, and which I fear is too well founded. They 
 are therefore determined to be upon their guard, and they 
 have the fullest reliance upon your Excellency"'s keeping a 
 watchful eye over them, and being ready to afford them 
 your protection. 
 
 After all, my dear Sir, I think they are in a very critical 
 situation, and I really believe it to be impossible to be too 
 cautious. I have offered them (should they wish it) an 
 escort of cavalry ; at all events, I shall send a few dragoons 
 as orderlies to the officer who accompanies them, and I 
 shall give him the strictest orders not to allow the Beys to 
 go out of his sight on any pretext whatever till he brings 
 them to your tent. 
 
 Soon after I left the Beys yesterday the Capidan Pacha's 
 cousin arrived from Aboukir. He waited on the Beys, and 
 said he was sent by the Pacha to congratulate them on 
 their arrival. In the evening three boats full of Turkish 
 soldiers came, and one of the Turkish men-of-war's boats, 
 on board of which was an officer of considerable import- 
 ance. This being reported to me by Colonel Barlow, toge- 
 ther with the suspicions which had been created in his 
 mind by the circumstance, I ordered the guard (of honour) 
 over the Beys to be reinforced for the night, with as little 
 noise or disturbance as possible. This morning I hear that 
 the stranger is from Constantinople, on his way to Cairo, 
 and last from Aboukir. 
 
 The Beys propose leaving this the day after to-morrow, 
 and I shall furnish them with horses and camels. Captain 
 Vincenzio will proceed to-morrow should the Beys main- 
 tain their resolution of going ; and as he has been present 
 at and acted as interpreter during my interview with 
 them, that gentleman will be able to give your Excellency 
 any further information.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 415 
 
 I beg leave to call to your Excellency''s attention, that 
 from the bridge at the Caravansera being broken down, 
 and the pontoon at the Block House being destroyed, the 
 communication between this and Alexandria becomes very 
 uncertain. 
 
 I have the honour to be, dear Sir, 
 Your Excellency's faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 The situation of these Beys was now one of parti- 
 cular interest, and General Baird watched over them 
 with a warmth of friendship, and an anxiety almost 
 parental. On the 10th of October the General ex- 
 presses his feelings towards them plainly and sin- 
 cerely, in the subjoined letter to Sir John. 
 
 Head Quarters^ Indian Army^ 
 10th October, 1801. 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 The Beys have been guilty of very great imprudence ; 
 they have been weak enough to accept of horses and camels 
 from the Turks to carry them to Alexandria, so that they 
 will be completely in their power to halt or march as the 
 Turk pleases. I must acknowledge to your Excellency 
 that I am a little alarmed for the safety of the Beys. Co- 
 lonel Montresor is the officer named to attend them ; a 
 Serjeant, corporal, and twelve, go witli him as orderlies, 
 and the like number of infantry, under the pretence of 
 guarding the Colonel's baggage. 
 
 I think it right to apprise your Excellency of the pre- 
 ceding circumstances, and also, that a party of Turks left 
 Rosetta this morning for Alexandria, with colours, &c. I 
 shall not close this till I hear from the Beys.
 
 416 THE LIFE OF 
 
 11th October, 10 a.m. 
 
 Last night I received intelligence from Colonel Barlow 
 that the Beys propose starting off this morning, but as they 
 did not say to Colonel Barlow whether they wished an 
 officer should accompany them, and as they were by no 
 means explicit, I suspected there might be some under- 
 hand business ; I therefore resolved to call on them early 
 this morning as if hy accident. 
 
 On my waiting on them, they expressed a wish that an 
 officer should accompany them, and also requested forty 
 horses for their attendants. Upon this, I introduced Co- 
 lonel Montresor to them, and ordered the number of horses 
 required, with the addition of twenty accoutred dragoons 
 to take charge of those horses. I now think I may answer 
 for the safe arrival of the Beys in your Excellency's camp. 
 I expect them here every moment in their way to Alex- 
 auJria, and I shall send this off by express the moment 
 they come. 
 
 Believe me, dear Sir, 
 Your Excellency's faithful servant, 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 Having thus far, as he imagined, provided for 
 the safety of his friends, General Baird found his 
 attention claimed by certain alterations, which were 
 proposed in the staff, which too plainly indicated 
 that his efforts and remonstrances with respect 
 to keeping the army from Europe and that from 
 India separate, and, (as far as their internal economy 
 was concerned,) independent of each other, had 
 been unavailing. The following letter from General 
 Baird to Sir John Hutchinson, a copy of which was 
 also transmitted to Lord Cavan, will best explain the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 417 
 
 nature of the changes contemplated, and the feelings 
 and opinions of General Baird respecting them. 
 
 Head Quarters, Indian Army, 
 Oct. ISth, 1801. 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 As I have just learnt that it is in agitation to remove to 
 the head quarters at Alexandria from this army my two 
 principal public staff' officers, one of whom (the Adjutant- 
 General) is in my perfect confidence, I think it absolutely 
 necessary, before I order them to join (or tlie above event 
 take place), to acquaint your Excellency that Colonel Auch- 
 muty is appointed by special order from his Majesty, Ad- 
 jutant-General onli/ to the army from India under my 
 command when joined by the troops from the Cape. I 
 beg leave to transmit for your information a copy of his 
 appointment. 
 
 Colonel Murray is merely acting as Quarter-Master- 
 General, appointed by my authority, derived from the 
 Marquess Wellesle}'^, Governor and Captain-General of 
 India, and that appointment has not even yet been con- 
 firmed by his Excellency. It is also necessary to acquaint 
 your Excellency that Colonel Murray does not belong to 
 any corps serving with this army, and that he holds a civil 
 appointment from the East India Company, as Political 
 resident at Mocha. It is not, therefore, at all improbable 
 that Colonel Murray may be ordered by Lord Wellesley 
 to return to his station at that place. 
 
 Whilst the Indian army remains a separate corps 
 under my immediate command, I cannot see the necessity 
 of removing any of my principal public staff" officers, as it 
 would be of the greatest inconvenience to me to be without 
 them ; and, as I conceive, your Excellency must have a 
 great choice of able and experienced officers fit to hold 
 
 VOL. I. 2 E
 
 418 THE LIFE OF 
 
 those appointments, as indeed any other in his Majesty's 
 service. 
 
 It is also my duty to apprise your Excellency, that I 
 consider it a matter of course, whenever any part of the 
 troops which joined me from the Cape of Good Hope are 
 removed from under my command as Commander-in-chief 
 of the Indian army, they must be struck off the Indian 
 Establishment, as they are ordered by his Majesty's minis- 
 ters only to be paid by the East India Company while 
 attached to this army. 
 
 I have to conclude with assuring your Excellency that I 
 am well aware you will determine as you judge best for 
 the public service ; and I have only to add, that should 
 that decision be contrary to my views and opinions on the 
 subject, and that I am compelled to remain here (until his 
 Majesty's pleasure be known) in an inferior situation to 
 that which I now hold, I shall at all times support your 
 Excellency's measures, or those of the Earl of Cavan, with 
 the utmost zeal for the good of the service. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, dear Sir, 
 Your Excellency's faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 On the following day General Baird received the 
 following answer from Sir John Hutchinson. 
 
 Head Quarters^ October 14<th, 1801. 
 My dear Sir, 
 I am at a loss to imagine whence you derive your infor- 
 mation that it was my intention to remove your two prin- 
 cipal staff officers to Alexandria. Lord Cavan asked my 
 consent to write for Colonel Auchmuty, and I refused it. 
 
 Colonel Murray must also recollect, that I told him that 
 I had no intention to direct him to do duty here, as having
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 419 
 
 no commission of Quartei'-Master-General from the King, 
 I did not know how I could consider him as such. You 
 must be well aware, from the whole of my conduct towards 
 you, that I am little disposed to adopt any improper inter- 
 ference, or to do anything which might give you pain. 
 
 I was perfectly conscious of the inconvenience of mixing 
 corps with different allowances and different habits ; it was 
 therefore my intention to have left you in command. I 
 have been over-ruled by higher authority, and am obliged 
 by the orders of Government to leave the command with 
 Lord Cavan. You know the power will then be in his 
 hands, and he has a right, if he chooses (for the order is in 
 so many words), to bring the sepoys to Alexandria, as 
 they are directed to form part of the garrison ; indeed the 
 same order is given with respect to the whole of the troops 
 from India. 
 
 As for the allowances, I never have, and never meant to 
 interfere with them in the slightest degree. Had I remain- 
 ed in this country, I should have given Government the 
 most decided opinion upon it, on the most mature consi- 
 deration I have formed ; one, which I think no time or 
 circumstance will ever induce me to alter ; but having now 
 done with Egypt for ever, I am determined never to inter- 
 fere again in its affairs, or to give an opinion which my 
 duty does not call upon me to offer. 
 
 I hope to be enabled to pay you a visit by the end of 
 
 the week, and have the honour to be, with much respect 
 
 and regard. 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 Your faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 J. Hely Hutchinson, 
 
 lA.-Gemral. 
 
 While this letter was on its way from Alexandria 
 to General Baird*s head-quarters, much was doing 
 
 2 E 2
 
 420 THE LIFE OF 
 
 with regard to the unhappy Beys, who had quitted 
 Rosetta with Colonel Montresor the day before. In 
 vain did Sir John Hutchinson inquire about them, 
 in vain did he expect their arrival at his quarters : 
 and we find General Baird in the following letter 
 expressing fears for their security, which soon proved 
 to be too well grounded. 
 
 Head Quarters, Indian Army, 
 Oct. \5th, 1801. 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I am highly gratified by your Excellency's very satis- 
 factory, open, and manly letter of yesterday ; believe me, 
 Sir, I feel myself much indebted to you for the truly 
 handsome and delicate manner in which you have all along 
 conducted yourself towards me, and for which I must now^ 
 beg leave to offer you my best and warmest acknowledg- 
 ments. 
 
 It is with extreme concern I feel myself again under the 
 necessity of addressing your Excellency respecting the 
 disagreeable situation of the Beys. By letters I received 
 from Colonel Montresor, dated last night, it appears 
 clearly to me that they have been forced on board some of 
 the Turkish ships, from their not having made their 
 appearance, or having been heard of in your camp. 
 
 They left this with the most solemn assurances from me 
 of protection from you. I read them your Excellency"'s 
 letter on that subject, and they certainly never would have 
 left this had I not sent Colonel Montresor with them. 
 
 On receiving the Capidan Pacha"'s letter on the road, 
 they were extremely alarmed, not understanding its con- 
 tents, and were extremely anxious to return, had not Co- 
 lonel Montresor convinced them of the security and the 
 propriety of their continuing their journey.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 421 
 
 After understanding the purport of that letter, and of 
 two others which they received at the Block-house from 
 the Capidan Pacha, and which imported that " he had 
 learnt that they had placed themselves under the protec- 
 tion of the English ; that it was not becoming to seek 
 protection from Christians, and that it scandalized him and 
 the Turkish Government : that whatever the Enghsh 
 wished, would most certainly be complied with ; but if they 
 meant to come into his camp with the English, they had 
 much better stay away ; at the same time swearing by the 
 Sultaun and the Prophet that no harm should befall them," 
 (These are the terms of the letter, as it was interpreted 
 to Colonel Montresor,) the Beys considered it advisable 
 to go to the Capidan Pacha unattended by the English, 
 and they desired Colonel Montresor to proceed, as they 
 did not wish it to be supposed by the Pacha that they were 
 under his protection, or that of his nation. 
 
 Colonel Montresor told them that it Avas for them to 
 consider what degree of reliance might be placed on the 
 Pacha, but he adds, that it did not appear to him that 
 they considered the question with sufficient care or 
 anxiety. They, however, adhered to their determination 
 to go alone. 
 
 Colonel Montresor also acquaints me, that on his way 
 to Alexandria he met a Mameluke with a letter from the 
 Capidan Pacha to the Beys, desiring them to come over 
 from the Block-house by water, for which purpose he 
 had sent boats for them. I am therefore convinced they 
 have been forced on board some Turkish man-of-war, and 
 as they went entirely upon the faith of English protection, 
 I am convinced your Excellency will take such steps as 
 must ensure their safety. 
 
 I have the honour to be, dear Sir, 
 
 Your Excellency's faithful servant, 
 D. Baird.
 
 422 THE LIFE OF 
 
 It appears that Colonel Montresor was accompa- 
 nied on this march of the Beys by Captain (now 
 Major-General) Middlemore, and that when, after 
 having considered all the circumstances, they had 
 determined to cross the estuary in one of the Capi- 
 dan Pacha's boats, the Colonel resolved to go with 
 them to the other side, for his suspicion was excited 
 as to their real destination by the size of the boat 
 which had been sent for them, and the number of 
 people in her, and he thought it possible the Turks 
 might have had the intention of availing themselves 
 of that opportunity of pulling out to sea with their 
 unhappy victims. 
 
 The sequel proved that Colonel Montresor was in 
 all probability right in his conjecture ; however, be 
 that as it may, he determined not to quit them until 
 they were safely landed ; and accordingly, he desired 
 Captain Middlemore to draw up the twelve grena- 
 diers, with the Serjeant and corporal, close to the 
 water's edge, and if he saw any scuffle in the boat on 
 its passage, instantly to order the soldiers to fire into 
 her, regardless of any consideration for his (Colonel 
 Montresor's) personal safety. Nothing, however, oc- 
 curred at that time, probably because the English 
 troops were there, and the Beys and their attend- 
 ants arrived safely on the opposite shore. Thus 
 General Baird's apprehensions with respect to their 
 fate were, luckily, unfounded at that moment, and 
 in addition to this. Colonel Montresor, who arrived 
 at head quarters on the evening of the 10th, report-
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 423 
 
 ed that he had seen them in the Capidan Pacha's 
 camp that morning. Still, however, their situation 
 was most perilous. 
 
 At this period, intelligence having arrived that 
 General Fox had been appointed Commander-in- 
 chief of all the forces in the Mediterranean and 
 Egypt, General Baird resolved upon making one 
 more effort to prevent the junction of the two armies 
 previous to the departure of Sir John Hutchinson, 
 who had, as it appeared, resolved to let things go 
 on as they were, so long as he remained in the 
 country. As General Baird's letter to General Fox 
 contains a clear recapitulation of all the points of 
 the case, we submit it to the reader. 
 
 Head Quarters^ Indian Arm]/, Oct. 18M, 1801. 
 Sir, 
 
 I take the liberty to address your Excellency on the 
 present occasion, having understood, although not offi- 
 cially, that his Majesty has been pleased to appoint you 
 Commander-in-chief of the forces serving in the Mediter- 
 ranean and Egypt. 
 
 Having been specially appointed to the chief command 
 of the army from India destined to co-operate with that 
 from this side of the Mediterranean, in the expulsion of the 
 French from Egypt, I left Bengal in the month of Febru- 
 ary, and after experiencing considerable fatigues and hard- 
 ships, the army arrived near Rosetta on the 30th of Au- 
 gust, when it was halted by Sir John Hutchinson, in con- 
 sequence of the garrison of Alexandria having agreed to 
 surrender. 
 
 At this period no specific orders respecting the force to
 
 424 THE LIFE OF 
 
 be left in Egypt had arrived from England ; but his Ex- 
 cellency Sir John Hutchinson was pleased to communicate 
 to me his intention of leaving the Indian army (with the 
 addition of the 22nd light dragoons) under my command, 
 in order to garrison Alexandria. 
 
 On the 18th ult. I had the honour to learn from the 
 General, that in consequence of orders just received from 
 home, he was directed to leave in Egypt six thousand men, 
 exclusive of the corps from India. His Excellency was 
 also pleased to acquaint me with his having the option of 
 retaining the command, but which his health would not 
 permit of. That Major-General the Earl of Cavan, in 
 consequence of the arrangements from home, would be left 
 senior officer in Egypt, as Major-General Moore, who also 
 had the option of remaining, had availed himself of per- 
 mission to return to England. 
 
 Sir John Hutchinson farther informed me, that he was 
 directed to retain in Egypt Brigadier Generals Hope, 
 Stuart, and Oakes. 
 
 I did myself the honour to address his Excellency in 
 answer, and stated to him, that as my name did not appear 
 among the General officers to remain in Egypt, and as the 
 corps from India were actually directed to be retained, I 
 was naturally led to conclude that the Indian army was 
 meant to be kept a distinct corps under my immediate 
 command, but subject of course to the orders of the senior 
 officer in Egypt; or that it was intended that I should 
 return to my station in India. 
 
 I have the honour to enclose for your Excellency"'s 
 perusal, the correspondence which has taken place between 
 Sir John Hutchinson and myself, which I have also judged 
 proper to communicate to Lord Cavan, together with a 
 copy of a letter from his Lordship to me, which will point 
 out to your Excellency the measures he intends to adopt 
 on the departure of Sir John Hutchinson.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIKD. 425 
 
 We here insert the letter of Lord Cavan to which 
 General Baird refers as an enclosure, in order to 
 condense and consolidate the correspondence which, 
 as relating to a delicate point of service, is extreme- 
 ly interesting. Lord Cavan's letter is dated, Camp, 
 East of Alexandria, Oct. 15th, 1801. His Lord- 
 ship says — 
 
 My DEAR General, 
 
 I was last night honoured by the receipt of your letter 
 of the 14th, enclosing a copy of your letter to Sir John 
 Hutchinson, and a copy of Colonel Auchmuty's appoint- 
 ment and instructions from his Majesty, to act as Adjutant- 
 General to the forces employed on an expedition to the 
 Red Sea, and I beg leave to thank you for your obliging 
 communication. 
 
 I hope you will pardon me for the liberty I shall take in 
 making any observations at present upon some particular 
 points they allude to, but from my presuming it will soon 
 be a duty incumbent on me to consider the army under 
 your command as under my orders, I feel myself more 
 excusable for thus prematurely saying anything. 
 
 Before Colonel Auchmuty, or any officer, is removed to 
 this army from any situation or employment he holds in 
 the one under your command, I should conceive it indis- 
 pensably necessary that your army should be publicly 
 specified in general orders, as forming part of this army 
 under the command of your senior officer ; and until then 
 I am convinced no removal will take place. 
 
 Colonel Auchmuty ""s authority to be Deputy-Adjutant- 
 General, I am of opinion, under present circumstances, he 
 might claim whenever the armies are united as one, should 
 he think proper so to do. Evidently, the original object of 
 his being sent to the Red Sea with the troops from the
 
 426 THE LIFE OF 
 
 Cape of Good Hope was, to co-operate with other troops 
 sent from Europe by the Mediterranean, for the expulsion 
 of the French from Egypt. That service has been well 
 and effectually accomplished. By subsequent orders from 
 Great Britain, the troops from India, and those he brought 
 with him from the Cape, and which are now under your 
 command, are directed to remain in Egypt to assist in 
 keeping possession of it and repelling any fresh attack the 
 enemy may make to regain it ; and they further specially 
 direct that the sepoys shall form part of the garrison of 
 Alexandria. 
 
 From what you have represented concerning Colonel 
 Murray, I do not see how he can with propriety be much 
 longer detained in Egypt.* 
 
 Respecting the subsistence of his Majesty ""s troops that 
 were brought from India and the Cape, I do not think it 
 necessary at the present moment to discuss that point. It 
 is a difficulty that I think can be removed ; nor shall I at 
 present trouble you with any ideas of how I intend locally 
 to dispose of the troops, as I have really not formed any 
 that are decisive. It is my intention, unless I receive 
 orders from Europe to the contrary, not to consider the 
 troops now under your command as forming a distinct or 
 separate army, but as part of one army under my orders, 
 and with only one military staff establishment. 
 
 I particularly mention my intention, as I much appre- 
 hend our ideas on the subject do not coincide ; should that 
 unfortunately be the case, I am much relieved from my 
 consequent distress by the very handsome manner in which 
 you express, in your letter to Sir John Hutchinson, your 
 readiness and zeal to support and enforce such measures as 
 
 * Colonel Murray resigned the Quarter-Master-Generalship 
 on the 16th of October, and returned to his station at Mocha, 
 where he was Political Resident.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIKD. 427 
 
 I may think best for the present service. These expres- 
 sions tend to confirm more firmly what I was before as- 
 sured of, that whenever in the present instance his Ma- 
 jesty's troops in Egypt are entrusted to my command, I 
 shall derive every assistance from you, that your well- 
 known abilities and experience can afford. 
 
 I will write again to you to-morrow, and beg you will 
 excuse my concluding so suddenly, as I write this very 
 early in the morning, and just before I am to meet the 
 Capidan Pacha. I will write to-morrow to Colonel Mur- 
 ray and Colonel Auchmuty, but on no official business. 
 I remain, my dear General, 
 
 Yours very much obliged, 
 
 Cavan, Maj.-Gen. 
 
 This letter was sufficiently explicit, and rendered 
 General Baird's immediate exertions necessary to 
 counteract the mischief which he anticipated from 
 the union of the armies. Tfie General continues to 
 General Fox as follows : — 
 
 In thus troubling your Excellency, I have to request 
 your favourable indulgence ; and I entertain a confidence 
 that you will see the impropriety of blending the two 
 armies together when there is no necessity for it, who are 
 on different establishments and under different regulations. 
 
 I need not point out to your Excellency the confusion 
 that must arise if Lord Cavan's intentions are carried into 
 execution, which I much fear will be the case before I can 
 receive an answer from your Excellency. 
 
 My own situation is particularly unpleasant, as it is 
 most probable that the treasure which has been entrusted 
 to me by the East India Company for the payment of this 
 army, will be taken from me bv an officer who is neither in
 
 428 THE LIFE OF 
 
 their service nor under their control, and who cannot of 
 course be made responsible for its expenditure. 
 
 Should the Indian army be broken up, and blended 
 with that from England, I must either retire from it, or 
 remain in an inferior situation to that which I now hold. 
 On the above event, therefore, taking place, I shall of 
 course consider myself as exonerated from my responsi- 
 bility and command. It is my intention to return to my 
 station in India, unless positively ordered by Sir John 
 Hutchinson to remain in this country, in which case I 
 hope to be honoured with your Excellency's commands. 
 I have the honour to be. Sir, 
 
 Your Excellency's obedient servant, 
 
 D. Baird. 
 His Excellency, Lt.-Gen. Fox, Malta. 
 
 On the 210th of October, General Baird received a 
 letter from Sir John Hutchinson, stating that he had 
 had a relapse of his complaint, and that it would be 
 impossible to fulfil his intention of visiting him, 
 begging at the same time to see him at Alexandria 
 before his departure. 
 
 In the mean while General Baird's anxiety respect- 
 ing the Beys remained unmitigated, nor was it by 
 any means groundless ; for although Colonel Montre- 
 sor had seen them safe in the Capidan Pacha's camp 
 on his way back to Rosetta, their never having 
 yet visited Sir John Hutchinson, could not fail to 
 cause the most serious apprehensions that, if their 
 lives had been spared, they had been deprived of 
 their liberty. 
 
 The truth at last was ascertained. Two or three 
 days after they had (implicitily relying upon the
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 429 
 
 faith and promises of the Capidan Pacha) surren- 
 dered themselves to his power, the Capidan Pacha 
 proposed to them to accompany him upon a visit of 
 ceremony which he was about to make to one of the 
 Turkish frigates in the roads. The reliance which 
 they placed upon this man, mingled with the awe 
 they felt for his office and character, and which had 
 in the first instance induced them to trust themselves 
 to his power, led them also to agree to this propo- 
 sition ; and they accordingly embarked with the 
 Capidan Pacha in one of his large boats, and 
 pulled out to sea. 
 
 They had not proceeded far, when a lighter 
 and faster vessel, belonging to the Capidan Pacha, 
 was seen coming towards them in the greatest 
 haste ; it soon reached them, and a messenger in it 
 delivered a packet to His Highness, who, upon 
 opening it, uttered some strong expressions of sur- 
 prise, and immediately declared to the Beys, that 
 sorry as he was to do it, he must leave them, and 
 return instantly to the camp ; and for that purpose 
 would avail himself of the swift vessel which had 
 last come off. 
 
 At this time the Beys began to be alarmed ; their 
 suspicions were excited, and they made strong de- 
 monstrations of resistance. The Capidan Pacha 
 quitted them, and a violent scuffle ensued in the 
 boats, in the midst of which one of the frigates open- 
 ed her guns upon it. Solyman Aga, one of the 
 intended victims, and who is described as being of 
 Herculean strength, seized one of the Turkish boat-
 
 430 THE LIFE OF 
 
 men by the collar, and held him forcibly before him, 
 so as to make the struggling wretch a shield from 
 the fire of the ship. 
 
 In this affair three or four of the Mamelukes lost 
 their lives, and several others were wounded : their 
 resistance, however, was vain, and they were event- 
 ually placed in close confinement. 
 
 While this piece of treachery was acting at Alex- 
 andria, the Grand Vizier was pursuing a course 
 equally declaratory of his views and intentions at 
 Cairo. 
 
 On the 23rd of October the Reis Effendi des- 
 patched a messenger from Cairo to Colonel Ram- 
 say, who commanded at Gizeh, desiring that if one 
 of the Beys, Keasif Selim Diap, or any of his Ma- 
 melukes, should go to that place for protection. 
 Colonel Ramsay would give him immediate informa- 
 tion of it. 
 
 The same evening, as the Reis Effendi had truly 
 anticipated, a party of the Bey's Mamelukes arrived 
 at Gizeh, stating that they had been attacked by 
 a party of Turks, and most barbarously treated ; 
 that the Bey himself having fortunately obtained 
 information of their intentions, not more than an 
 hour before they carried them into execution, had 
 made his escape in a boat, directing his followers 
 to hasten to Gizeh to claim the protection of the 
 English ; their families and their property they had 
 been forced to leave at the mercy of their enemies. 
 
 Colonel Ramsay gave them the protection they 
 sought, but in order to maintain a perfect neutrahty
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 431 
 
 with the Turks, sent the Reis Effendi notice of their 
 arrival. The next morning M. Stephano, the prin- 
 cipal interpreter of the Porte, went to Gizeh and 
 endeavoured to persuade the Mamelukes to go over 
 to Cairo, and put themselves under the protection of 
 the Grand Vizier; but this they declined, and ex- 
 pressed their determination of remaining where they 
 were. 
 
 He then proceeded to question them as to the fate 
 and destination of the Bey himself, but they de- 
 clared their entire ignorance of anything concerning 
 him, beyond the fact of his having escaped by water. 
 
 In the evening M. Stephano returned to them 
 from Cairo, with a firman from the Grand Vizier, 
 offering his pardon and protection to the Bey if he 
 would give himself up ; but the Mamelukes con- 
 tinued steadfastly to deny any knowledge of him. 
 Stephano in this visit was accompanied by an officer 
 of the Turkish Government, who was to take charge 
 of the Bey if he should surrender himself, and con- 
 vey him to Cairo. The officer begged to be per- 
 mitted to stay at Gizeh ; and as the Mamelukes 
 evinced no unwillingness, he was allowed to do so. 
 Colonel Ramsay made arrangements for the accom- 
 modation of the Mamelukes, who amounted in num- 
 ber to seventy, exclusive of the Aga and five other 
 officers, all of whom, together with their horses, were 
 provisioned from the garrison ; the Turkish inter- 
 preter having led Colonel Ramsay to believe that his 
 government would be at no expense whatever on 
 their account.
 
 432 THE LIFE OF 
 
 On the 24th of October the Bey himself arrived 
 at Gizeh, and, as he had advised his followers to do 
 before, claimed protection. Colonel Ramsay granted 
 his request, and, as he had done upon the former oc- 
 casion, wrote to apprise the Reis Effendi of the fact. 
 
 In a very short time similar attempts to those 
 which had been made upon the Mamelukes were 
 tried upon the Bey — the interpreter and the officer 
 endeavoured to persuade him to go to Cairo, but he 
 strenuously refused ; indeed his health was so ex- 
 tremely bad, that even if he had wished to avail 
 himself of the clemency of the Grand Vizier, he 
 would not have been able to move. 
 
 At Alexandria, however. Sir John Hutchinson 
 took more decisive measures, — having immediately 
 on hearing of the infamous conduct of the Capidan 
 Pacha, peremptorily demanded and obtained the 
 release of the surviving Beys whom he had impri- 
 soned, he despatched the following letter addressed 
 to the Grand Vizier, which he sent open to General 
 Baird, with instructions to forward it immediately 
 to Colonel Ramsay, at the same time directing that 
 that officer should deliver it personally to the Grand 
 Vizier, and in his interview, use the strongest pos- 
 sible language, and exhibit a firm determination not 
 to be trifled with. 
 
 The following is a copy of the letter. 
 
 Head Quarters, English Armi/, Alexandria, 
 ^Ith October 1801. 
 
 I have just heard with the greatest astonishment, that 
 notwithstanding your most sacred promises, you have
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 433 
 
 caused the Beys to be arrested ; that one of them has been 
 assassinated, and that the others are your prisoners. I 
 have frequently notified to your Highness, that the Ma- 
 melukes are under the protection of the English Govern- 
 ment, and that I had given them the strongest assurances 
 of their property and lives being in safety. You know 
 then, what honour and the right of nations require of me ; 
 you have left me the choice to avenge an assassination or 
 to become an accomplice in it. As I will not dishonour 
 my nation in the face of the universe, nor bathe my 
 hands in the blood of the unfortunate, I have formed 
 my determination. 
 
 I declare to you, then, in the most explicit manner, that 
 you must deliver up all the Beys and Mamelukes, with 
 their baggage, effects, and families, and send them without 
 the least delay to Gizeh, and place them under the orders 
 of Colonel Ramsay, as he will have the disposal of them 
 until he receives farther instructions from me. 
 
 The Capidan Pacha has already given up to me those 
 who were in his possession. But four of the Beys, the 
 Kiage, and two Cachiefs, have perished by the hands of 
 assassins. 
 
 Your Highness, there is not a moment to lose ; I have 
 just reinforced the Governor of Gizeh, and General Baird 
 is charged with the execution of my orders ; be assured 
 that I will never retract them in the smallest degree. You 
 have heaped oaths upon oaths. You have violated them 
 all. I supplicate God to pardon my credulity, but I will 
 not add to it, the baseness of suffering you to enjoy the 
 fruits of your enormous crime, and to say to indignant 
 Europe, that you have deceived the English and mas- 
 sacred the Beys. 
 
 Give me up the Mamelukes — respect the rights of na- 
 tions — adhere faithfully to your promises, or you will be 
 responsible for all the unhappy events which must be the 
 
 VOL. I. 2 F
 
 434 THE LIFE OF 
 
 inevitable result of your obstinately persevering in a system 
 of conduct which has already covered you with shame and 
 opprobrium. 
 
 I have the honour to be, with the highest consideration, 
 your Highnesses most humble and most obedient servant, 
 
 J. Hely Hutchinson, 
 Commander-in-chief. 
 
 P.S. You v/ill also have the goodness to furnish pro- 
 visions and forage necessary for the subsistence of the 
 Mamelukes and their horses. I shall persist in this de- 
 mand ; because it is no more than what justice requires. 
 You have taken everything from them, it is therefore just 
 that you support them.* 
 
 The moment General Baird received this letter 
 he forwarded it to Colonel Ramsay, together with 
 another from himself, highly approving of that 
 officer's conduct under the circumstances. 
 
 General Baird also despatched the following to 
 Sir John Hutchinson. 
 
 Head Quarters^ Indian Arihy^ near El Hamed, 
 
 ^Sth October 1801. 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your 
 
 Excellency's letter to the Grand Vizier, about three o'clock 
 
 * There perhaps never was a more striking exemplification 
 of the absurd formulary with which public and even private 
 letters conclude, than this before us. After having de- 
 nounced the Grand Vizier as a monster capable of every 
 crime, and having told him that his conduct had already 
 covered him with shame and opprobrium, Sir John Hutchinson 
 subscribes himself, with the highest consideration, his High- 
 ness's most humble and most obedient servant.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 4'i5 
 
 yesterday morning, which I immediately forwarded to 
 Colonel Ramsay for his perusal and subsequent delivery. 
 
 Should the Vizier refuse to give up the Beys, I request 
 to know whether it is your intention that I should embark 
 with this army for Gizeh, as it will be requisite to take im- 
 mediate steps to press all boats, in order to be prepared for 
 such an event. Most of the boats that are as yet here, 
 have passes either from the Naval Commissary, or from the 
 Commissariat of your army. 
 
 Application was made to me about an hour ago by the 
 second Turkish Commandant of Rosetta, for permission to 
 take boats sufficient for the conveyance of about 400 or 
 500 Turkish troops to Cairo, which I declined complying 
 with, on account of our own probable necessity for them. 
 I request your Excellency's orders on the subject. 
 
 The 86th Regiment embarked and sailed yesterday. I 
 have given orders to prevent all boats passing up the river, 
 and made a requisition to Lieutenant Smith, of the navy, 
 who is in command of a gun-boat, to take a station in the 
 middle of the river, in order to examine all boats coming 
 down, in case of the Beys and Mamelukes being on board, 
 and to stop all boats going up with troops. 
 
 The soldiers for whom the boats were required, were the 
 same as were mentioned in a letter to me from Colonel 
 Auchmuty, as having arrived from Rahamanie. They 
 now say they came from Cairo to escort Mahomed Pacha 
 thither, in the course of a few days from Alexandria ; and 
 it was but yesterday that the Turkish Commandant told 
 me, that they were on their way to Alexandria from Raha- 
 manie. They made a great variety of pretexts in order to 
 get the boats, which they were most anxious to procure by 
 my consent ; and I conceive that they want the boats for 
 more men whom they expect from Alexandria, for the 
 men who are here, are still in the boats they came in. 
 
 I have manned the gun-boat with seamen from the regi- 
 2 F 2
 
 436 THE LIFE OF 
 
 merits and artillery, Lieut. Smith having represented to 
 me that the Admiral had withdrawn all the sailors, and 
 has ordered the boat to be sold. May I request youjr Ex- 
 cellency to have the goodness to explain this to Sir Richard 
 Bickerton. 
 
 I have the honour to remain, dear Sir, 
 
 Your Excellency's obedient faithful servant, 
 
 D. Baird. 
 
 In reply to this letter, Sir John Hutchinson wrote 
 as follows on the 31st of October. 
 
 My dear Sir, 
 
 I send you a letter under a flying seal to Colonel . 
 
 I have said to that gentleman as much as he deserves.-}- * 
 ****** 
 
 I beg you will express to Colonel Ramsay my strong 
 approbation of his conduct. By his firmness he has saved 
 the British name from indelible disgrace. 
 
 / have received a letter from the Grand Vizier, not at all 
 satisfactory, in which he has the insolence to demand that 
 / should deliver up the Beys now in my possession. I 
 rather think it right that you should take immediate pos- 
 session of Fort St. Julien. I leave this, however, entirely to 
 
 f This passage relates to the conduct of an officer of high 
 rank and previously high character, connected with the nego- 
 ciations between the Grand Vizier and the English Govern- 
 ment on the subject of the Mamelukes, for which it would be 
 almost impossible to account ; — having purposely abstained 
 from any reference to this extraordinary case, lest we might 
 wound the feelings of any of his surviving connexions, we have 
 expunged the passage relative to the letter of Sir John Hut- 
 chinson, which is, perhaps, the severest ever written by a gene- 
 ral, to afield officer under his command.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 437 
 
 your own discretion. You might do so, I suppose, in the 
 quietest manner, and desire the Turks to go about their 
 business. But then I would be at the gates of the fort, 
 and ready to take possession before I took this step, other- 
 wise they might play you a trick. You know what they 
 are capable of as well as I do. Take the government of 
 everything into your own hands : press all the boats you 
 can meet with, to make every show, as if you were pre- 
 paring to march upon Cairo. I fear it is impossible for at 
 least a fortnight, as the country is still so wet. 
 
 I have ordered part of the 79th to be disembarked 
 which were on board the Thetis, and to sail in the morn- 
 ing. I have gone too far to recede. My own and the 
 national honour are committed, and I am determined to 
 persevere. 
 
 I have the honour to be, with great i-egard, my dear Sir, 
 Your very faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 J. Hely Hutchinson. 
 
 Major General Baird, 
 4rc. S^c. S^c. 
 
 In order to exhibit the promptitude and readiness 
 with which General Baird was in the habit of exe- 
 cuting the commands of his superiors, we submit the 
 following. 
 
 Camp near El Hamed, 
 November Qrid, 1801. 
 My dear Sir, 
 I received your Excellency's express at eleven ©''clock 
 A.M. and immediately forwarded by a despatch boat your 
 
 letter to . I enclosed it to Colonel Ramsay for his 
 
 transmission to that officer. 
 
 I had the honour to convey to Colonel Ramsay your 
 Excellency's approbation of his conduct on this critical
 
 438 THE LIFE OF 
 
 occasion, by which he has indeed justly merited the high 
 compliment you have been pleased to pay him. 
 
 According to your Excellency's directions, I have 
 quietly taken full possession of Fort St. Julien. Lieute- 
 nant-Colonel Harness, with a party of the 80th, and a 
 small detachment of artillery, are now there : they march- 
 ed from camp about two o'clock this morning, and met 
 with no opposition on entering the fort. The Turks 
 withdrew shortly afterwards, on Colonel Harness saying he 
 did not think there was room enough for the accommoda- 
 tion of all the troops. 
 
 1 have to report to your Excellency, that the best guns 
 were removed about eight days since, and that three only 
 remain. The Turkish Commander of Rosetta, who has this 
 moment been here, says the guns belonged to a gun-boat 
 which had been stranded, and that he had been ordered by 
 the Capidan Pacha to send them to Alexandria. I, how- 
 ever, informed him, that I understood guns had been 
 removed from the fort which belonged to it, and desired 
 they might be replaced. 
 
 The Commandant informed me yesterday, that the 
 Albanians w^hom I formerly mentioned to your Excellency, 
 had been ordered by the Pacha to proceed immediately to 
 Cairo, and he begged me to allow them to proceed thither 
 in their own boats, which I refused. He has to-day re- 
 newed his request, and I said it was quite impossible to 
 grant it, as I required the whole of the boats at Rosetta 
 for the removal of my army to Cairo ; and I desired him to 
 communicate my answer to the Capidan Pacha, as well as 
 to represent to his Highness, that the orders of the officer 
 at Fort Julien are not to suffer any boats to go up or 
 down the river without passports, and not to permit any of 
 the Turkish gun-boats to pass the fort. The fort is in 
 very bad repair, but I shall put it into as decent a state as 
 possible.
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 439 
 
 I shall take the management of everything within my 
 reach agreeably to your Excellency's instructions, leaving 
 tiie Turks, however, (which I presume is your intention 
 for the present,) nominally in command, and sending my 
 orders through them. They are now as abject and crest- 
 fallen as they were formerly haughty and insolent. 
 Believe me, my dear Sir, 
 
 Your faithful and obedient servant, 
 
 D. Baird. 
 His Excellency Sir J. Hutchinson, K.B. 
 
 While this correspondence was in progress, cir- 
 cumstances had occurred at Gizeh since Colonel 
 Ramsay had received Sir John Hutchinson's letter 
 for the Grand Vizier, which induced him not to 
 deliver it immediately, but to wait the arrival of 
 the '86th regiment, which General Baird had in- 
 formed him was marching to his support; he ac- 
 cordingly watched with great anxiety in the hourly 
 expectation of its appearance. But before it reach- 
 ed Gizeh, he received a message from the Grand 
 Vizier, stating, that his Highness had heard from 
 the Capidan Pacha, that a letter had been sent to 
 him by the Commander-in-chief, and not having 
 received it, he was extremely anxious to know the 
 reason of the delay. 
 
 The Grand Vizier added, that as he had some 
 very important matters to discuss with Colonel 
 Ramsay, he should be glad if he would come over 
 to Cairo in the course of the day, or if that were 
 inconvenient, that he would send over some accre- 
 dited and confidential officer to whom his Highness
 
 440 THE LIFE OF 
 
 might make a communication. Colonel Ramsay, 
 anxious to gain time until the arrival of the troops, 
 promised that he would either wait upon his High- 
 ness, or send such a person as he might safely rely 
 upon. 
 
 In the afternoon. Colonel Ramsay sent over his 
 Brigade-Major, charged with a message to the Vi- 
 zier, stating that he, the Colonel, had in his hands 
 a letter to his Highness from Sir John Hutchinson, 
 and that if he were not prevented by indisposition, 
 he would do himself the honour of waiting upon his 
 Highness the following day, and deliver it in person. 
 The Vizier expressed his entire satisfaction at this 
 announcement, but stated to Brigade-Major Harvey, 
 that he understood the letter contained information, 
 that General Baird or some other British officer of 
 high rank, had been directed by the Commander-in- 
 chief to come at the head of an armed force to 
 Cairo, and demand the Beys and Mamelukes at the 
 very door of his palace — that such a threat, and 
 such conduct, he deprecated in the strongest terms 
 — that he was aware that the alliance between 
 Great Britain and the Sublime Porte was most care- 
 fully and anxiously maintained by both Govern- 
 ments, and that they were naturally extremely 
 desirous to strengthen the amity and good under- 
 standing which had so long subsisted between them 
 by every means in their power. Knowing such to 
 be the sentiments of his own Government, he 
 professed the sincerest desire for pacific measures 
 and amicable discussions, and that he wished
 
 SIR DAVID BAlllD. 441 
 
 Colonel Ramsay to let General Baird understand 
 that he was prepared to treat upon the subject 
 with any person duly authorized. 
 
 He added, that he was led to make these sug- 
 gestions, because some of the people about him 
 were impressed with an idea that he was about to 
 be insulted by the English ; and that if that feeling 
 gained ground, their anger and resentment would 
 be excited to a degree which would place them 
 beyond his power of remonstrance or control — the 
 consequences of a movement of that nature would be 
 such, as he could not endure to anticipate, and for 
 these considerations he requested Colonel Ramsay's 
 mediation on the following day.* 
 
 Colonel Ramsay, however, declined his High- 
 ness's invitation, and sent the letter we have al- 
 ready mentioned by the hands of Brigade-Major 
 Harvey, at the same time directing that officer 
 to inform his Highness, that Colonel Ramsay would 
 not fail to make known his Highness's views and 
 feelings to any officer who might arrive in com- 
 mand of any force such as he anticipated. 
 
 * Major-General Middlemore, in one of his valuable memo- 
 randa, with which we have been favoured, observes upon this 
 conduct of the Grand Vizier : — " The Turks were more parti- 
 cularly alarmed when they heard it reported that Sir John 
 Hutchinson proposed to despatch General Baird against them, 
 unless they came to his terms of liberating the Beys ; and I 
 sincerely think that General Baird's character as a soldier, which 
 they had had so many opportunities of studying, awed them 
 more effectually into submission than anything else could have 
 done."
 
 442 THE LIFE OF 
 
 AVhen the Vizier had heard Sir John Hutchin- 
 son's letter translated to him by the Reis Effendi, 
 he seemed more surprised than hurt by its con- 
 tents — he utterly denied any knowledge of the 
 murders with which he was charged — and said with 
 great emotion, " This letter is exactly what the 
 English General ought to have written to me, under 
 the belief that I had been guilty of the crimes he 
 speaks of — but he has been misinformed." He again 
 entreated that Colonel Ramsay would come to him 
 the next day. 
 
 Colonel Ramsay accordingly visited his Highness, 
 accompanied by Brigade-Major Harvey, and a con- 
 versation of considerable length ensued, in which the 
 Vizier went very minutely into the history of the 
 Mamelukes from the earliest period, arguing forcibly, 
 as he went along, that they, who were originally 
 slaves, had gone on progressively, until they had 
 possessed themselves of the entire revenues of Egypt, 
 which in point of right belonged to the Turks ; and 
 that by the manifestation of feeling conveyed in Sir 
 John Hutchinson's letter, he was placed in a situa- 
 tion of great delicacy and embarrassment. That he 
 was quite of opinion, that the friendship and alli- 
 ance which existed between England and the Porte 
 should not be endangered by a question which he 
 considered of such trifling importance as the sur- 
 render of the Beys and their followers ; but that, in 
 point of fact, their remaining with him and the 
 Capidan Pacha was a matter of choice on their 
 parts ; that he had assembled those who were at
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 443 
 
 Cairo, and told them they were perfectly at liberty 
 to go to Colonel Ramsay at Gizeh, according to 
 the wishes and directions of Sir John Hutchin- 
 son, and to take their families and property with 
 them ; but they had positively declined the offer, and 
 declared their wish to stay where they were. 
 
 In confirmation of this statement, the Vizier 
 offered Colonel Ramsay the opportunity of inter- 
 rogating the Beys themselves, or of deputing his 
 Brigade-Major to do so; Colonel Ramsay, however, 
 having no instructions to take such a step, declined 
 his Highness's offer, but agreed to communicate what 
 the Vizier had said to the Commander-in-chief, and 
 to state that he really had no means of enforcing 
 their departure if they were determined not to quit 
 Cairo, which he again and again repeated they were. 
 
 Whether the Grand Vizier had worked himself 
 up into believing what he told Colonel Ramsay 
 upon this point, it is impossible to say; but it is 
 true that he wrote to the Grand Sultan, in the 
 name of all the Beys at Cairo, expressing their 
 entire satisfaction with his government and regula- 
 tions, and declaring themselves to be in the actual 
 enjoyment of his Highness's protection for their per- 
 sons, families, and property. 
 
 To this general testimonial of their happiness and 
 security, it seems, none of the unfortunate captives 
 ventured to refuse putting their seals, although intel- 
 ligence was conveyed by Ibrahim Bey to the English 
 army, from which it appeared, that upon the occasion 
 of a British officer visiting Cairo, the guards, who
 
 444 THE LIFE OF 
 
 were at all other times placed round the Beys, were 
 removed, in order to make it appear that the move- 
 ments of the prisoners were perfectly unrestrained ; 
 and that after the officer went away, the Vizier sent 
 for him (Ibrahim Bey), and told him that the English 
 wanted him and his Mamelukes at Gizeh, and asked 
 him if he would go ; to which, Ibrahim Bey, under 
 the most serious apprehensions from the anger of the 
 Vizier if he were offended, replied, that he was under 
 the Turkish government, and had no connexion 
 whatever with the English. 
 
 All these facts Ibrahim Bey communicated^ 
 through the Bey Selim Diap, for General Baird's 
 information, and to prove to him that whatever 
 accounts he might receive of the satisfaction which 
 the Beys had expressed at their present situa- 
 tion, their declarations of contentment were only 
 extorted by fear, and were in direct opposition to 
 their real feelings ; that their only trust was in God 
 and the English ; that the English had promised 
 them protection, and that if they would only replace 
 them in the situation in which they had found them 
 in Upper Egypt, and when they came down to assist 
 in driving the French out of the country, they 
 should consider that promise honourably and com- 
 pletely fulfilled; for that once being reinstated in 
 their original position, they would take care that 
 the Turks should never again obtain any advantage 
 over them. 
 
 The Grand Vizier, whose peculiar activity and
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 445 
 
 energy afforded powerful evidence of his anxiety 
 with regard to the Beys, and the importance he 
 attached to the subject of their liberation or subjec- 
 tion, addressed another letter to General Baird, 
 which he sent by M. Rosetti, who, when he delivered 
 it, was accompanied by a Turkish officer of high 
 rank recently arrived from Constantinople. 
 
 This officer was the bearer of a basket of presents, 
 designed for General Baird and the officers of his 
 array, and of a letter from the Grand Vizier, begging 
 the General to accept them. General Baird, how- 
 ever, told the officer that in the present position of 
 affairs it was impossible for him to do so, adding, 
 that it was by no means his wish either intempe- 
 rately or abruptly to refuse the marks of the Grand 
 Seignior's favour and consideration, and that therefore 
 he begged the presents might be left, but under the 
 seal of the officer, until he returned from Alexandria. 
 
 Upon the subject of the Beys, General Baird, (who 
 if not quite so violent in the demonstration of his 
 feelings as Sir John Hutchinson, was at least as fully 
 determined to save them,) told both M. Rosetti and 
 the Turkish officer that it was mere idleness on the 
 part of the Vizier to talk of negociating, until, as 
 the primary step which could alone lead to any dis- 
 cussion upon the subject, the Beys and the Mame- 
 lukes were released. 
 
 To this observation of General Baird the officer 
 answered, that the case was one of peculiar delicacy, 
 because his Britannic Majesty's ambassador at Con- 
 
 /
 
 446 THE LIFE OF 
 
 stantinople had given the sanction of his sovereign 
 to the Grand Seignior to arrange the affair of the 
 Beys exactly as he thought proper. 
 
 General Baird strongly demurred to this supposi- 
 tion ; he told the officer that it was wholly out of the 
 question that such an arrangement could have been 
 sanctioned without either his hearing of it, or its 
 having been communicated to Sir John Hutchinson, 
 whose faith and promise, like his own, were solemnly 
 pledged to these active and useful partizans.* 
 
 After the interview with the Turkish officer, M. 
 
 * Major-General Middlemore, who has previously been men- 
 tioned as having accompanied Colonel Montresor on the march 
 with the Beys, says, in a memorandum connected with these 
 events — " The Mamelukes universally looked up to General 
 Baird as a man upon whom the firmest reliance could be 
 placed. His fine manly figure and dignified manner, were quite 
 in accordance with their tastes and chivalrous character. It 
 is well known how much he was venerated by the noble fellows 
 who were afterwards massacred at Alexandria ; and when the 
 poor mangled Osman Bey first saw his " friend Baird," after his 
 escape from the slaughter of his too-confiding brethren, he held 
 out his arms to him and burst into tears, lamenting his own 
 folly in ever separating from his noble protector. 
 
 " There was," continues General Middlemore, speaking of 
 General Baird, " something about him which gave at once 
 complete confidence in him : his countenance bespoke a mind 
 spotless from guile or subterfuge ; you felt that truth beamed 
 in all his features — it was impossible to doubt him — you might 
 implicitly place your life, and honour, and happiness, on his 
 bare word ; he could not deceive ; and as he was firm and in- 
 flexible upon every point of discipline and duty, so was he 
 incapable of injuring a human being — with the courage of a 
 hero, his heart was as kind and gentle as a woman's."
 
 SIR DAVID BAIRD. 447 
 
 Rosetti informed General Baird, in a private con- 
 ference, that he was the bearer of one of those 
 letters, to which the Vizier contrived to obtain the 
 seals and signatures of the Beys, expressive of their 
 readiness to obey the order of the Grand Seignior and 
 proceed to Constantinople, if they had the permission 
 of the English Commander-in-chief — that they ac- 
 knowledged themselves subjects of the Sublime Porte, 
 and that they only desired to submit themselves to 
 the will of their illustrious master. 
 
 This letter was intended for Sir John Hutchinson, 
 but M. Rosetti told General Baird that the Beys had 
 begged him to explain to the General that in this, 
 as in all the other cases, they had been compelled to 
 sign the letter, and that, so far from acknowledging 
 the government of the Grand Seignior, or wishing to 
 proceed to Constantinople, they still entirely relied 
 upon the English for protection for themselves and 
 their families. Thus enlightened, General Baird 
 sent forward M. Rosetti to Sir John Hutchinson, 
 having previously despatched an express to explain to 
 his Excellency the real nature and value of the 
 testimonial of which M. Rosetti was the bearer, 
 which might reach Alexandria before that gentle- 
 man's arrival there. 
 
 Whatever might have been Sir John Hutchinson's 
 feelings and anxiety with respect to the unhappy 
 objects of General Baird's unceasing solicitude, they 
 were neither likely to be known nor to be produc- 
 tive of any very powerful effect, for in consequence 
 of increasing debility it appeared that Sir John
 
 448 THE LIFE OF SIR DAVID BAIRD. 
 
 Hutchinson had embarked on board His Majesty's 
 ship L'Egyptienne on the morning of the 6th of 
 November, long before the arrival of M. Rosetti or 
 of the letters before him, having the evening before 
 that, resigned the command of the whole army to 
 Lord Cavan. 
 
 END OF VOLUME I. 
 
 LOXDON : 
 PRINTED BY SA3IUEI. BENT LEY, 
 Uorsci Street, Flcit Street. 
 
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