Narrative Sketches of the Conquest of the Mysore, Effected -'tlsh Troops and their 'ss UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES NARRATIVE SKETCHES OF THE CONQUEST OF THE MYSORE, EFFECTED BY THE BRITISH TROOPS AND THEIR ALLIES, IN THE CAPTURE OF SERINGAPATAM, AND THE DEATH OF TIPPOO SULTAUN ; MAY 4, 1799. WI TH NOTES, DESCRIPTIVE AND EXPLANATORY. COLLECTED FROM AUTHENTIC MATERIALS. THE SECOND-lLDlTlON. HonBon : Printed by \V. JUSTINS, Pembeiton Row, Gough Squnre, Fleet Street, for the PROPRIETOR ; And Sold by WEST and HUGHES, Paternoster Row ; RICHARDSONS, Royal Exchange; W. CLARKE, New Hond Street; And at the EXHIBITION ROOM of the GREAT HISTORICAL PICTURE, in the LYCEUM, Sti ind. > .< ' ADVERTISEMENT. J \ THE materials from which these Sketches have been produced, were collected to assist the design, and regulate the execution, of an extensive Historical Painting which the artist has recently submitted to the public eye, ,^6n a scale of magnitude hitherto unattempted in this fc country the Storming of Seringapatam y painted by C Mr. R. K. Porter. From the flattering and popular acceptation of the great 1 worfc, it was presumed this lesser one might not be unin- teresting to the public, either as a kind of handy accom- paniment to the picture, in the lounge of the Exhibition Room, or as a comprehensive view of the subject, for \ the loungers of any other place. The rapid sale of the n First edition has fully realized the expectations under ~ which it was first published. o "JThe compiler of the following pages has not attempted to write a book he has only endeavoured to make one, such as he was led to believe would be acceptable to a very numerous class of readers. He has collected facts from all available sources of information ; and the only merit he claims, is that of having connected them into a series of short narratives, unencumbered with much detail, and unmixed with fiction. Many particulars of these Sketches are personal com- munications from gentlemen who were actors in the scenes described. Many others are extracted from original A 2 and 354782 iv ADVERTISEMENT. and unpublished correspondence, of which the compiW has been favoured with a transcript; and a variety of articles are drawn from the Gazettes, public Journals, and other authentic accounts printed in India. But, for the most material part of its contents, this work is indebted to the valuable dispatches of JLord Mornington, trajas- mitted to the Court of Directors of the Honourable East India Company a series of papers which, for perspicuity of arrangement, and manly elegance of language, have been rarely'eqnalled, and never exceeded, by the official productions of any age or country. The notes, it is presumed, will be found to contain, not only a variety of explanatory matter, but many descriptive and interesting articles, either extracted from worlcs of known credit, or furnished from correct information, and w-hich could not be given in any other form, without breaking the narrative interest of the page. The subject having experienced, in this little per- formance, nearly the same encouragement it has been honoured with on the canvas, the collector of the mate- rials for both feels himself amply repaid for his trouble, and presents to the public this Second Edition of his Nar- rative Sketches, under the flattering assurances that it will be honoured with a portion of that popularity so univer- sally attached to the enterprise of the Soldier, and the lubours of the Artist, in THE STORMING OF SERIN- ' GAP AT AM. LYCEUM, STRAND, Allg. 15, 1800. INTRODUCTION. INTRODUCTION. THE ORIGIN OF THE WAR. - OINCE the peace of Seringapatam, concluded *^ with Lord Cornwallis, and more especially since the year 1796, the destruction of the Bri- tish power in India had formed the favourite and unremitting object of Tippoo Sultaun's hopes and exertions. His haughty mind never could be re- conciled to the sacrifices which he was compelled to make for the purchase of the peace in 1792 ; and his increasing eagerness to recover the exten- sive portion of his dominions then ceded to the Allies, urged him to pursue a systematic course of intrigue against the British power among all the Native States, and to revert to his ancient and hereditary connexion with France, as the only effectual means of gratifying either his am- bition or his revenge. The proofs which had been obtained previous to the war, were sufficient to satisfy the judgment of d ORIGIN OF THE WAR. of the Governor-General (Lord Mornington) as to the nature and objects of his machinations : they have since been corroborated by the volu- minous records discovered in the palace at Serin- gapatam, which furnished a clear exposition of his intrigues at Poonah* and Hyderabadf; his embassy to Zemaun Shah J, (to encourage that princc\ * The seat of the Mahratta government, (about one hundred imles eastward' of Bombay) under the Paishwa, or Prime Mi- nister, Row Pundit Purdhan, one of our allies, whose cfilcc is hereditary, and invests him, in fact, with the entire sovereignty of the Mahratta empire, as the Rani Rajah, or hereditary king, is, from a very common policy among the Asiatics, a mere no- minal ruler, kept a prisoner nt large in one of his own forts," and his name seldom heard of, or recognized, except on the great seal of the state, annexed to the arbitrary acts of his Highness the Paishwa! The territories of the MnhraUas are computed to extend about one thousand British miles in length, ajid seven hundred in breadth: they are- governed bv a number of separate Chiefs, or Rajahs, all of whom acknowledge the Ram Rajah as their sovereign, and the Paishwa as his vice 4 - gerent. Sec SKETCHES OF THE HINDOOS. f A citv and fortress of the Deccan, (between three and four hundred miles to the northward of Madras) the court of his Highness iheNabobNizam ud Dowlah A soph Jab, or Nizam Ally, a prince in alliance with the British government. t An ambitious and enterprising prince, whose dominions (Liv> kin;/;dorn of Candahar and Cabul) comprize all the coun- tries that are situated between the rirer Indus and the southern ORIGIN OF THE WAR. 7 prince in the prosecution of his long threatened invasion of Hindostan) ; his correspondence with the Executive Directory at Paris; with the French at Tranqucbar, and the Isle of France ; and with M. Ravmond, the commander of a body of native* troops in the Nizam's service, amounting to four- teen thousand men, disciplined and commanded by French officers. From the evidence of these papers, it is now incontestible that Tippoo Sul- taun's thoughts w r ere perpetually intent upon the ruin of the British power, and the restoration of his own empire to its former splendor and strength ; that he trusted to have accomplished our expulsion, by instigating the French to in- vade India; and that his antipathy to the English southern extremities of the Caspian sea; and between the eastern confines of Persia, and the country of the Usbcck Tartar?, besides Lahore, and the celebrated province of Cash- mire. This prince can bring one hundred and fifty thousand effective fighting men into the field, chiefly cavalry, all excel* k-ntly mounted, and much dreaded by the Aluhrattas, whose united powers suffered a dreadful overthrow from Ahmed Shah, the grandfather of the present monarch, on the plains of Paniput, in the year 1761. So strong is the prevalence of this dread, that a Mahratta is not ashamed, if his horse should happen to start when drinking water, to exclaim " Dost them see Uiq shadow of an Abdalli!" the subjects of Zcasaun Shah being thus distinguished, from the name of the founder of his empire, fee the ASIATIC ANNUM. R s c ; o T t K ,/br 17y9. was 9 ORIGIN OF THE WAR. was the ruling passion of his heart, the main spring of his policy., and the fixed and fundamen- tal principle of his councils and government. The degree of danger wifn which the Nizam and thePaishws. v/ere threatened, by the impend- ing storm, exceeded that which menaced the British possessions. It is true, that Tippoo Sul- taun's views against the courts of Poonah and Hyderabad, were ostensibly limited to the reco- very of the cessions made by him to those powers in 1792; but it cannot be doubted that his am- bition and rapacity would have augmented with the progress of his victories; and that his re- venge was not of a temper to be mitigated by success. The distribution and condition of the British force on the Southern coast, in the month of June 1798, offered but too strong a temptation to the enterprize of a faithless and active enemy; it \vas therefore judged necessary, by the Compa- ny's government, to issue an order for assembling the armies on the coasts of Coromandel and Ma- labar, without delay; and, adverting to the fatal consequences which have formerly been experi- enced in theCarnatic, by neglecting to keep pace with the forwardness of hostile equipments in the Mysore, it was resolved to entrust the pro- tection ' ORIGIN OF THE WAR. 9 tcction of the British possessions to no other security than a complete and early state of pre- paration for war. With this view, while the armies were forming on the two coasts, under circumstances of pecu- liar difficulty and much unavoidable delay, the early attention of the Governor-General was di- rected to strengthen and improve the defensive alliances between the Company and their High- nesses the Nizam and the Paishwa. Both these powers were reduced to the lowest condition of depression and weakness : the latter, by the intrusion of Dowlut Row Scindia*; the former, by the threatened hostilities of the same chieftain, and the establishment of a numerous and active * One of the most, bold und aspiring of die Mahratta chiefs, pretending to be descended .from the ancient kings of Malva: the seat of his government is at Ougein, near the city of Mur.rli!, or.rc the capital of these kings ; and his possessions join the northern boundary of the country immediately subject to the Paishwa, comprehending the greatest part of the exten- sive soubadary, or government of Malva, and part of the pro- vince of Candeish. The intrigues of the late Madajec Scir.dia huJ carried him to Poonah some time before his death, where his unworthy successor, Dowlut Row Scindia, lias since rc- M;.ii)--il, ot( tipiod in general extortion and encroachment on the anii'.ority of the Puishwa. ^ WOOD'S REVIKVV 'OT TJU: WAK. B French JO ORIGIN OF THE WAR. French faction in its army; and while the inter- nal convulsions of each state had diminished tie resources of both, their co-operation against Tippoo Sultaun had become impracticable, by the progress of their mutual animosities and dis- sentions. The intentions of the Governor-General were unfortunately disappointed at the Court of Poo- nah : he had, however, the satisfaction to ascer- tain, that the disposition of the Mahratta go- vernment continued perfectly favourable to the British interests, and that want of power would be the sole cause of its inaction, in the event of a war with Tippoo. At the Court of i iy- clerabad, co-operative measures were adopted with the wished-for alacrity; a new subsidiary treaty was concluded with the Nizam, which had for its objects the admission of an additional British force into his Highness's establishment, and the total expulsion of the French party, then under the command of M. Perron ; and by a fortunate coincidence of events, the pro- posed reduction was effected without blood- shed, and without contest ; the obnoxious ranks of the Nizam's army being surrounded and dis- armed by a detachment of British troops., aided by a body of the native cavalry, and the French officers ORIGIN OF THE WAR. 11 officers put under arrest, in order to their being sent to Europe*. About this time the invasion of Egypt, by the French, and the progress of their arms in that country, were facts fully ascertained in India ; and soon afterwards, intelligence was received of the glorious victory gained by his Majesty's squadron, under the command of Admiral Nelson. But it appearing to Lord Mornington, that the fate of the French army in Egypt was still uncertain, and that an additional force might have been intended to combine operations with it in India, by the ordinary passage round the Cape of Good Hope, his Lordship did not relax any part of the military preparations he had ordered to be com- menced : the Government of Bombay had, with the utmost promptitude, attended to the collec- tion not only of their troops, but. of the largest possible supplies on the coast of Malabar; and * A mutiny having broken out in the French camp, and the Sepoys having imprisoned their officers, the English Resident at Hydrabad, with the consent of the Nizam, so judiciously and opportunely employed a British detachment, under Colonel Roberts, that the greatest difficulty they had to encounter was that of rescuing the imprisoned French from the violence of their own Sepoys. The amount of the force disarmed on this occasion, was ribout eleven thousand men ; a part of the French corps being then absent on detachment. See LORD Mor.N- ING TON'S DISPATCHES. B 2 the 16 ORIGIN OF THE WAR. the Madras army had peremptory orders for com- pleting the equipment of their battering train, and for advancing it with all practicable dispatch to the most eligible station on the frontier of the Car- natic, with a view ot proceeding towards Serin- gapatam ,at the earliest possible period, if such a movement into Mysore should become necessary. The opportunity now appeared favourable for opening a negociation with Tippoo Sultaun, and a correspondence commenced, in which Lord Mornington carefully avoided every hostile ex- pression; merely premising to the Sultaun, that lie was acquainted with the nature of his inter- course with the French nation, and proposing to him to receive Major Doveton, on the part of the Allies, for the purpose of proceeding to an amicable arrangement of all subsisting differences. This was the uniform tenor of several and suc- cessive letters to the Sultaun ; who, on his part, returned a few reluctant communications, con- taining statements full of prevarication and false- hood, and professions made up in terms of the most palpable deceit ; finally informing the Go- vernor-General, that being about to " proceed upon a hunting excursion*," he would receive Major * The hunting party of an Asiatic Prince is in fact, a regular military expedition against the antelopes, elephants, and ligers! accompanied ORIGIN OF THE WAR. 13 Major Doveton, without the retinue, or atten- dants, of a formal embassy* ! The accompanied by all the great officers of the coin t, and an im- mense retinue of soldiery. The movements of such nn army, ostensibly called into the iield for the warfare of the chase, are often made subservient to the more ho;. tile views of its ieader ; but, in this instance, the penetration of the Governor-General was not so easily to be deceived. * The two following letters will give a clear idea of the Sultaun's language, in his correspondence with Lord Morning- ton ; furnishing a curious sample of the pompous duplicity of an Eastern despot From Tippoo Sultann. Received tin \\thofJan. 1799. ' (An official translation. ) " T;:K agreeable arrival of your Lordship's two letters, de- noting your welfare, rejoiced and gratified me. A Khercta, in reply to your Lordship's former friendly letter, has been written and dispatched; it will, no doubt, by this time have been re- ceived, and the sincerity of my friendship and regard will have been made apparent, together with proofs of my solicitude for tranquillity and peace; my friendly heart being bent upon their increase. Continue to rejoice me with happy letters!" It may be necessary to observe, previous to a perusal of the letter which follows that the "King of Room/' i. e. the Grand Seignior, had written a dissuasive letter to Tippoo, on the sub- ject of his anti-anglican connexion with the French, which letter was officially, transmitted to him, with a suitable comment, by the Governor-General ( on the J6th of January From 14 ORIGIN OF THE WAR. The design of this tardy, reluctant, and insi- dious assent to the admission of an official nego- tiator from the British government, could be con- sidered in no other light than that of a new arti- fice, for the purpose of giving time until a change of circumstances and of season might enable the Sultaun to avail himself of the assistance of France ; and this conclusion was confirmed by the actual embarkation of Mr. Dubuc (one of the leaders of the French force recentlv raised in From Tippoo Sultaun, Received the l'3iii Ftb. 170i). (An ojjlcial translation ) " I have been much gratified by the agreeable receipt of your Lordship's two friendly letters; the first brought by a Camel-roar), the last by Hircarrahs, and understood their con- tents. The letter of the Prince, in station, like Tumshiecl with angels .is his guards with troops numerous as the stars the sun illuminating the world the heaven of empire and domi- nion- -the luminary giving splendour to (he universe the fir- mament of glory and power the Sultaun of the rea and land the King of Room be his empire and his power perpetual! addressed to me, which reached you through the British Envoy, and which you transmitted, has arrived. Being fre- quently disposed to make excursions and hunt, I am accord- ingly proceeding upon a hunting excursion. You will pl-a-c to dispatch Major Doveton (about whose coming your friendly pen has repeatedly written) slightly attended. Always conti- nue to gratify me by friendly letter?, notifying ycr.r we ] .:\>.~ JMoNRo's MILITARY OPERATIONS, &c. The Sepoys are all predestinarians (an excellent doctrine for a soldier, and often supplying the place of genuine courage iri the field): three things must be observed to render them service- able ; to pay them regularly, never to infringe on their religious superstitions, and not to interfere with their women. A foolish subaltern officer, during the march of a party in a former war, would touch the pots in which the Sepoys were cooking ; the consequence was, that though they had marched a day and night without halting, they threw away their victuals, and turned out with loaded pieces, and with tears in their eyes threatened to leave their officers in the woods ; nor would any thing but the immediate confinement of the offender appease them ; yet in a quarter of an hour they petitioned for his release. They are passionate, THE ACTION AT SEEDASEER. 25 the only officers who could speak to, or be under- stood by the men) the Sepoy battalions were kept in perfectly good order till the fortunate ar- rival of General Stuart relieved and reinforced them. .Having received intelligence of their si- tuation, he marched up with the flank companies of the 75th Highland regiment, and the whole of the 77th, under Lieutenant-Colonel Dunlop, and after a smart fire of musquetry on both sides, for nearly an hour, the enemy were completely routed, and fled with precipitation through the jungles to regain their column, which still con- tinued the attack in front : in twenty minutes more, Tippoo's troops retreated in all directions*. To passionate, but affectionate : some discontent having been on a particular occasion fomented among them concerning the distri- bution of donation money, the Sepoys turned out to fight the European battalion, and both parties drew up, ready to engage : this however subsided, but the r.ext day they seized a great gar, and marched off; about noon they all sat down and wept, and tired of drawing the gun, peaceably returned into camp. Ssc HADLEY'S VOCABULARY. It *s necessary to observe, that the word Sepoy means lite- rally a sQ.ldier, in the language of the country, and of course applies to any description of troops, though used almost ex- cl iiively, by Europeans, for distinguishing the native infantry in the Company's service. * The situation of Colonel Montresor's brigade in this action GiiW: -in mur.y points so strong a parallel to that of Colon* I D Eaillie's 2S THE ACTION AT SEEDASEER. To the gallant resistance of the advanced bri-. gade at Sedaseer, must the British army stand indebted, not only for its subsequent conquest of the Mysore, but for its very existence in th; t country, as an offensive power. J-Jad the advanced posts been carried, the whole of the Bombay force must have been driven back, and its junc- tion with that under General Harris either tptally prevented, or rendered ineffective -, while the boastful triumph of an inveterate army of Asia- tics, alluring to their standard the inhabitants of Malabar, then ripe for revolt, would have in- creased the resources of the Sultaun in proportion as those of the British army were diminished. The loss sustained by the Bombay army, on this occasion, amounted to twenty-nine killed, ninety- eight wounded, and sixteen missing; a trifling Joss, when we consider the numbers by which it was assailed. That of the enemy is known to have been very heavy, as, in the course of the 1- ail lie's detachment, in the affair of Tricoallum, on the 10th of September 178Q, that it might not be uninterestii.g to trace ihe gallant struggle of that day to its fatal and melancholy ter- mination ; more especially as General Baird, the successful Commander at the assault of Seringapatam, was a captain in the detachment, and shared its misfortunes. The reader will find that eventful business feelingly and elegantly narrated in MONKO'S ACCOUNT OF THE MILITARY OPERATIONS in 1783, p. 154. action^ PROGRESS OF THE MADRAS ARMY. tf action, they were frequently exposed in crowds to the fire of grape-shot and vollies of musquetry: the amount of their loss, in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was near two thousand men, including some officers of considerable distinction. Ma- hommud Rezza, (the Binky Nabob) who led the attack, is mentioned among those who fell. After this signal defeat, Tippoo retreated pre- cipitately to his camp at Periapatam, and re- mained there until the llth of March, without making any farther attempt to molest the army of Bombay. He afterwards retired into Seringa- patam, where he arrived on the 14th; but the circumstances of the opening campaign soon in- duced him again to lead his troops into the field. THE PROGRESS OF THE MADRAS ARMY, AND THE BATTLE OF MALAVELLY. THE operations of the army of Madras had commenced by the reduction of several forts upon the frontier: some of these surrendered without any resistance to a few battalions of Sepoys sent to take possession, and none of them were de- fended with vigour, although the Sultaun, from the improved establishment on which he had placed their garrisons, had apparently pr- ior a different result. D 2 The 28 PROGRESS OF THE MADRAS ARMY. The cumbrous baggage and numerous atten- dants on the Nizam force, as well as those at- tached to the Company's troops and the Euro- pean regiments; the immense quantities of public stores and provisions; and the long train of ord- nance necessary for the siege of Seringapatam, with above forty thousand Benjarries*, rendered the progress of the army unavoidably slowf : its movements * A class of people that do not belong to any cast, or any particular part of Hindostan; they live in tents, and travel in separate bodies, each of which is governed by its own regu- lations. Many of these parties have some thousands of oxen belonging to them, which they frequently drive to the sea-coast towns loaded with rice, wheat, and other articles, for sale or barter. They are rarely otherwise molested, even in war, than by being sometimes pressed into the service of an army to carry baggage or provisions ; but as soon as their services are no longer wanted, they are paid and dismissed. SKETCHES or THE HINDOOS. f The following extracts from the highly-descriptive letters of Capt. Monro, will give a just idea of the usual incumbranccs attached to an eastern army on its march; without some know- ledge of which, it is impossible for any one properly to judge of military operations in India. " Bullocks of the stoutest kind (says the writer) are sub^ti- tuted in the Indian armies instead of horses, to drag the can- non there being allotted to each piece of ordnance, upon an average, one ox to every pound weight of metal in the ball, *ncl a few spare ones to serve upon emergencies, with a proper proportion PROGRESS OF THE MADB.AS ARMY. 23 movements, however, were but little impeded by the enemy: considerable bodies of horse ! about proportion of drivers. Bullocks to the number of some thou- sands, are also used for carrying the immense ammunition stores of an army, such as casks of gunpowder, shot of every descrip- tion, &e. and a few thousands more of these draught cattle are necessary to convey the provisions, rice, grain, and forage of every kind, so essential to the progress of the whole army. " Three bullocks are allowed for the carriage of each marquee,, and one for that of each private tent ; but those of a field officer require a camel or an elephant to convey them. Two lascars are also sent to camp with each marquee, in order to pitch and give it occasional repairs. " There are generally two buccalies attached to encli com- pany: these are large leathern bags for holding water, skuig upon the back of a bullock, (each pair of which have a man to attend them) for the convenience of the soldiers in camp, or upon the line of march. " The surgeon, of an European corps particularly, has a great deal to attend to, if he does his duty. There is delivered into his charge a set of doolies, or sick beds, which are a mean anil scanty representation of a palanquin, about three ieet and a half long by two feet and a half wide: the number attached to a. corps is in the proportion of one to every ten men, vrith four bearers to each ; and in these vehicles every valetudinarian of the regiment is conveyed along with the camp. " A bazar is also an indispensable appendage to an Eastern army : it consists of a whole camp of native sutlers, provide and sell to the best advantage all those necessaries of life, 'which it would be highly LneouvenieJit for the ?oidicr$ to carry 30 PROGRESS OF THE MADRAS ARMY. about its line of march, but without any other effect than that of a few skirmishes with the Nizam's carry about with them ; such as curry-stuffs, tobacco, rice for the superfluities of the army, meat, cotton-cloth, gram for the officers horses in short, they furnish out an excellent market, where one may get any tiling at a certain price. " In addition to the superabundant multitude of attendants already described, every Sepoy in the army carries with him to camp his whole family, be they ever so numerous, who live upon his pay and allowances of rice from the Company. This practice, when properly considered, is really justifiable in them, for an Asiatic must have his wife, whatever may be his cir- cumstances; nor is it customary upon any occasion for man and wife to be separated. The wife shares the hardships of war with her husband in the most chearful manner, let them be ever so perilous, and follows him wheresoever he goes. " The cavalry, especially the native corps, necessarily bring along with them a vast number of attendants : every trooper, besides his family, has a grass-cutter attached to him ; for the grass is in this country dug up by the roots, being washed from the sand and dried in a net; and it is a sufficient day's work for one person to root out twenty-four hours' food for a single horse. Each troop is also furnished with a large copper kettle for boiling the gram or beans for the horses, as it is reckoned unwholesome to let them have it raw. A quantity of thi* grain, sufficient to serve the regiment for a certain time, must also be conveyed upon bullocks, allowing each ox to carry about a month's store for a single horse. " It would be absurd fora captain to think of taking the field without being -attended by the following retinue, viz. a dubash. PROGRESS OF THE MADRAS ARMY. 31 Nizam's contingent, in which his Highness's. ca- * valry conducted themselves with a spirit and regularity which strongly implied an intimacy with the discipline of their European allies. or valet, a cook and boy; and, when bullocks are not to be had, he must assemble fifteen or twenty coolies, or porters, to carry his baggage, who, with an horse-keeper and grass-cutter, and sometimes a dulcinea and her servants, complete his train^-- having occasionally the assistance ei.a barber, wr.sher-man, and ironer, in common with the other officers o. f his reghnent. His tent is furnished with a good large bed, mattress, pillows, &c. a few camp stools or chairs, a folding-table, a pair of shades for his candles, six or seven trunks, with table-equipage; his stock of linens, (at least twenty-four suits) some dozens of wine, brandy, and gin; tea, sugar, and biscuit ; an hamper of live poultry, and his milch-goat : a private's tent, fqr holding his servants and the overplus of his- baggage, is also requisite; but this is not at theCompany's ex pence. Kvc-ry other neces- sary of life may be found in the public baznr." Thus every officer in the line equips himself according to his abilities and rank ; and thus usually accompanied is the march of an army in India ; but it by no means follow, that the cap- tors of Seringapatam attended to all this kind of preparation for personal convenience. Apologies, however, are to be made for carrying such an ample stock into the held : no supplies of any kind are to be found in the country towns through which the army marches, as in Europe ; for. whenever an Indian war breaks out, the villages are instantly desolated, so that there is scarcely a chance of making the smallest acquisition toward -j tbe comforts, or even the necessaries cf life, from ihe begin- r;ir^ to the end of a campaign. In 52 PROGRESS OF THE MADRAS ARMY. In order to keep up the supplies of forage and provisions during the march, General Harris found it necessary to use every precaution which his experience of the enemy's mode of warfare V had furnished him with ; and by frequently and unexpectedly quitting his obvious route for a cir- cuitous one, or by other disguised movements, he often succeeded in deceiving- the Sultaun's ad- vanced parties, and recruited the strength of his srmy by getting possession of every article of \ subsistence the country afforded. By one of these feints General Harris approached Bangalore, and taking up a position between that place and Scvcn>droog, under every appearance of prepa- ration for a vigorous attack on the former, drew a large body of the enemy's troops to a remote line of action, and thereby obtained a rich prize .of forage and grain for the cattle of his army, at -that time half famished and nearly exhausted. Notwithstanding the uncommon attention paid to the supplies for the cattle, their continual fa- tigue so cncrcascti the consumption, that a posi- * live scarcity was often unavoidable, and for a short time without remedy: on those occasions many of the bullocks were obliged to be left to their fate on the road; and when it happened that any part of the ammunition was thereby deprived of conveyance, THE BATTLE OF MALAVELLY. 33 conveyance ; it was blown up, or otherwise de- stroyed, to prevent its falling into the hands of the enemy. These explosions were frequently a source of alarm to the remote columns of our army during its progress, and more than once put to flight par- ties of the enemy's Looties, or irregular cavalry, which continually infested the line of march. As the army approached the village of Mu'u- velly on the morning of the 27th, an unusual number of Tippoo's horse appeared in sight ; and in passing a high ridge of ground, near the fort, an extended line of infantry and artillery were plainly perceived to occupy another height about four miles beyond. General Harris having for some days expected an onset from the enemy, usually marched with one wing of the army ready to move out and attack, whilst the other covered the park of artillery and baggage. About ten o'clock, a cannonade commenced in front from several heavy guns, but so distant, that General Harris ordered the ground to be marked for en- campment, while Tippoo's artillery, encouraged by the circumstance of their not being immedi- ately attacked when first discovered, advanced their guns so near, that several shot fell within our lines: this made it necessary to dispose the troops for an attack, which was effected in a very E masterly 34 THE BATTLE OF MALAVELLY. masterly manner by echellon of corps - } our line gaining the left flank of the enemy, and then closing to the right. An action now commenced, in which the right wing of General Harris's army engaged the whole force of Tippoo Sultaun ; and after a brisk onset, their line of infantry on the right was broken by the thirty-third regiment, and being cut down by our cavalry, they were lite- rally trodden under the horses feet. Their left wing, extending itself among the ruins of an old village, waited only till the Europeans were within twenty yards, and then quitted its ground with precipitation. In the course of the action, a large body of cavalry made an ineffectual attempt upon the advanced picquet of our left wing, with a view of cutting in upon the park of artillery and bag- gage j and a party of horse also charged the first European brigade, some of whom penetrating our line, there paid the forfeit of their temerity ; but most of them were killed or wounded in front of it by a well-directed fire. The loss to the British on this occasion was very inconsiderable, though the two armies were engaged nearly three hours and a half; seven rank and file only being killed, and about fifty men, including three officerSj wounded 3 while the ranks PROGRESS OF THE MADRAS ARMY. 35 ranks of the enemy were considerably thinned*, but to what extent could not then be ascertained. Subsequent statements have made it one thou- sand in killed and wounded. After the affair of Malavelly, General Harris, by one of his happiest manoeuvres, continued to march for two days in a direction to the right, as if he intended to approach Seringapatam on the same side Lord Cornwallis had done in the for- mer war, and on which side all his information stated that Tippoo was making preparations to receive him ; but on the third day the route was suddenly turned to the left, and the army gained a flourishing and highly-cultivated tract of coun- try, which fortunately the destroying hand of the Sultaimhad not touched. After a march of about fourteen miles, General Harris took possession of * It is a religions maxim with all the Hindoos, to carry oil' as many of their wounded and slain as they can : this they think of great importance, being persuaded that after the body h burned, neither the evil principle, or being, nor the daemons of wrath who arc subservient to his will, have any power over the emancipated spirit The Mysorean?, the Mahrattas., the Polygars, and in general all the Gentoo warriors, have their loins begirt with girdles or belts, and the horsemen have a hook which they dart with dexterity between those belts and the dead bodies of their friends, and therewith carry them off from the field of battle. See MEMOIRS OF THE WAR IN ASIA. F. 2 the 36 PROGRESS OF THE MADRAS ARMY. the town and fortress of Soocilly, commanding an excellent ford over the Cavery, which the army with all its equipments passed in one day, to the titter astonishment of the enemy, who far from expecting us there, had driven the inhabitants of the adjoining districts for many miles around to that very place for shelter and security, and had likewise collected, in the fort, large supplies of cattle, grain, and forage, the whole of which fell rnto our hands. A day's halt after crossing the river, enabled our army to advance to its ulti- mate point of action ; and on the 5th of April, General Harris, without interruption, encamped about two miles S. W. of Seringapatam. The progress of a numerous army marching un- der a burning sky, amid suffocating clouds of dust and swarms of noxious insects, must naturally be attended with more obstruction and inconve- nience than what arise from the skirmishings and attacks of the enemy; and still more to increase the fatigues of the march to our troops, they had to encounter the hazard of poison, by the diabo- lical policy of Tippoo's flying detachments, who not being able, from the peculiar construction of the tanks * to drain off the water they contained, had * Tanks are large reservoirs, abounding throughout the country of Hindostan, which being rilled by the periodical rains of PROGRESS OF THE MADRAS ARMY: S? had plentifully seasoned their contents with the bruised branches of the milky hedge-tree :* and although this was generally known, yet so strong a temptation is the sight of water to a weary of the Monsoons, afford a consumt supply of water during true hot season, when all the inferior rivers are exhaled by the sun. When these places are constructed in the neighbourhood of towns and villages to furnish a large district of country with water for agricultural purposes,, they occupy a space of many acres, and are well embanked with earth. When dispersed along the highways for religious or domestic use, or for the refresh- ment of travellers, they form a rectangular figure from twenty tp three hundred yards in length, and are neatly lined with iv,*- spnry, having flights of steps to descend by on each side, and frequently a stone choultry, or covered colonade, in 1 1 jjn/ter which the tutelar deity, on some occasions, is conducte-4 with great pomp. The water in these reservoirs is as freely and frequently used for bathing and washing cloaths in, as for drink- jng and culinary purposes, a custom which seems truly disgusting to an European ; but the natives prefer this troubled composition to clear ; or, as they term it, black water, which in their iiLea is very pernicious. Sec GOLD'S ORIENTAL DRAWINGS. * It was the infused juice of this deadly shrub, called also the Milk Bush,which seventeen British Officers, captured vv HhGen. Matthews, were compelled to swallow, by order of Tippoo SuL- Jaun, and all miserably perished in the prisons of Kavel Droog find Seringapatam. The General himself did not expire by poison, but, horrid Lo related liad lu's head wrung from his body by the tiger fangs of the Jetties, a set of slaves trained up (9 gratify their master whhthis infernal species of dexterity ! soldier. 33 PROGRESS OF THE MADRAS ARMY. soldier, that no prohibition, or bodies of guards, could prevent the men and cattle from slaking their thirst at these reservoirs, Luckily no very dangerous effect was produced from it, as the only sickness that appeared among the troops during their march arose from the heat of the sun, ex- treme fatigue*, irregular refreshment, and espe- cially, * If any European recruits or young corps should happen to do duly in the line, the march hardly commences before they get fatigued and overcome by the intolerable heat ; they soon exhaust all their allowance of arrack, which is too frequently replenished by stagnant water, sometimes so muddy, rotten, rind green, that it cannot possibly be drank without adding at least one half of spirits, and then it must be sucked or strained through a handkerchief; an expedient that in a short time knocks them entirely up. The veteran Europeans also, after a little while, begin to flag upon the march, being miserably scorched by the acute rays of the sun, which first dart upon the -sand, and then revert with accumulated heat upon their faces. Notwithstanding that each soldier carries a small branch in his hand to fan off the myriads of flies by which he is constantly tormented, yet all his exertions yield him but little relief; for the battalion is so much covered by those insects, particu- larly if the weather be at all sultry and close, that at the dis- tance of two hundred vards one would suppose they were ac- tually clothed in black. It is really distressing to witness the severe struggles which the poor men often have, from the op- pression of the weather, and the numerous diseases the Europeans are forced to use the same liquid for drink and other needful purposes, in common with the natives. See MONRO'S MILITARY OPERATIONS IN INDIA. * When the army in its progress above the Ghauts was en- camped under the hill fort of AuchittyJurgum, (after taking possession of it) an officer ascended the summit of the rock from THE MARCH OF THE ARMIES, 4r tracks of devastation, the ultimate end was not: answered, as General Harris by slight deviations from the common road, reached his destination at the time he wished, and without any material opposition or inconvenience. While the Madras army was advancing to- wards Seringapatam, Lieutenant-Colonel Read was employed in reducing the country to the northward of Ryacottah. His operations were intended to have embraced a wide range, and he- had made a considerable progress in them, when the more urgent service of conveying to the troops the large supplies which were colleted in, F the from motives of curiosity, and describes the view of the sur- rounding country then under this destructive visitation, as exhi- biting to the utmost reach of sight, an intermingled blaze of de-' sorted villages, piles of straw and forage, and extensive patches of longgrass, which the fertility of the soil everywhere produces on the face of these plains. Some of the inhabitants of these de- voted districts had courageenough to defend themselves against the Sultaun's depredating parties, and delivering their hamlets up to our troops, were permitted to sell their cattle and dead produce to the bestad vantage; afterwhich they followed the Bri- tish army for supported protection, and as long as they remained \vith it, experienced no want of either. From one of these poor fugitives, the officer above alluded to purchased a cow and calf for three rupees about seven shillings and sixpence ster- ling ! v & THE MARCH OF THE ARMIES. the Barra Mahal * made it necessary for him to change the direction of his march, by drawing together in the vicinity of Coveryporam, the nu- merous and detached convoys of store provisions intended for the army of Seringapatarn: in this srrvice he was joined by the detachment under Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, who had successfully pushed his operations to the southward of the Carnatic and of Mysore. by the reduction of Car- roor, Errode, and Arravacourchy, and whose pro- gress in the Coimbatoor district was only inter- rupted by the necessity of forming with Colonel Read, a force sufficiently strong to protect the supplies abovementioned. The army of Madras having now taken up its position for the siege, Major-General Floyd with a strong detachment, comprehending the greatest part of the left wing, and nearly the whole of the . * The Barra Mahal is a province to the north cast of Dindi- gal; situated between the Carnatic and the Mysore country, and bordering on Coimbeloor : it extends in length north easterly about one hundred and twenty miles, and is a beautiful and ferule tract, more resembling the face of the country in England, than any other part of India. It was ceded to the Company's government at the conclusion of the last war, since which its population and cultivation have been much improved, and the roads made in the English manner, wide and commo- dious, throughout the whole district. cavalry, THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. *3 cavalry, marched on the 6th of April towards Pe"- riapatam to secure the junction of the Bombay army under General Stuart, which was effected without difficulty, and both arrived at the camp before Seringapatam on the 14th instant, having been occasionally harrassed on their march by a large body of the enemy's cavalry under Kuo mer-ud-deen Khan, but without sustaining any determined attr.ck; although it appears that Tip- poo, from a dread of the junction of our armies, had given positive orders to his General to risk: an acnon with the Bombay troops on this part of their march, be the consequence what it might. Kummer-ud-deen had probably foreseen the worst, for he has since acknowledged to our of- ficers and men that he did not like their looks! THE SIEGE OF SERIXGAPATAM. BEFORE the great operations of the siege could commence, it was found necessary to dis- lodge two strong parties of the enemy from an extensive tope, (or grove) and a deep nuilah, (or water course) both in front of the camp, and-pro- tected by a thick hedge* and mud-wall. The thirty-third * In the Indian system of defence, the t-ound-hedge is a fre- quent concomitant, as a kind of advanced 'barrier ; so, . [when, 4* THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. thirty-third regiment commanded by Colonel tVellesly, and the twelfth under Colonel Shaw, were respectively ordered to perform this service, but it proved to be a work of more difficulty than the recollection of former occasions had led our soldiers to expect ; as the enemy had purchased experience in the last war, and rightly judging that our attacks, as usual, would be made at night, were prepared with a mode of defence and counteraction more immediately in our own way. The fact is, that although these two posts were taken possession of, it was not without re- newed and persevering bravery in our troops, and a very discouraging loss of officers and men (when, on a large scale, planted round the fortresses of the woody districts) it is defended at certain intervals, or openings, by small redoubts, to interrupt the pioneers employed in cutting a breach through it, and is always formed of every thorny tree or caustic plant of the climate. Pennant enumerates near twenty different kinds of these, among which he says the milky-hedge, or poison-bush, emits a juice so caustic as to scald not only the human skin, but the hide of a horse, in forcing through this infernal thicket work: several sorts of euphorbia unite their ex- coriating qualities, and the aloe and other spiky shrubs, armed with most dreadful thorns, intermix their annoyance. The rat- tan and the bamboo are interwoven with the rest, and present an entangled and binding mass of branches, equally effective in resisting the edge of the axe,or the subtle fury of /Ire. See PEN- NANT'S VIKW OF HINDOSTAN, and DIROM'S CAMPAIGNS. in THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. 45 in the course of more than one attack, perplexed by a pitchy darkness*, and on ground they were as yet little acquainted with. These hard-earned advantages were however the prelude to others gained with less trouble ; and in the eager prepa- rations for the siege, every advantage was made the most of: a deep water-course, attacked and carried by the twelfth regiment, formed a parallel for the commencement, and the tope supplied abundant materials for making up gabions and fascines, which was a most convenient circum- stance, as the country for miles around had been nearly stripped of all resources of that kind. The Madras army was occupied with these prepara- tory w r orks, (not uninterrupted by the enemy) when the Bombay force arrived. * Six grenadiers of the thirty-third regiment, losing their way in the night, were taken prisoners by the enemy; and on a sub- sequent advantage gained by our troops in the progress of the siege, these poor fellows were sacrificed to the infernal spirit of revenge which had elways actuated the Sultaun's treatment of his English prisoners After the capture of the place, the bo- dies of these men were dug up and inspected by our surgeons, who declared they had all been strangled apparently by the cruel mode of twisting the neck, (see the note at ihc botiomofp. 37) and the fact was confirmed by some of the inhabitants, who stated also, that a number of other prisoners had been murdered during the siege ; even a little drummer boy belonging to the Scotch brigade, who had fallen into the tyrant's hands, \vas made an object of this savage system of retaliation. The 46 THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. The Bazar which accompanied General Stu- art's army being in a starved and impoverished condition, that of the camp before Seringa patam was proportionably affected by it, for the prices of every article of provision were soon raised to an alarming height, and it became necesary to procure temporary supplies without delay. This necessity, combined witli another of some con- sequence, induced the commander in chief to order General Floyd's cetachnleut upon a fo- raging excursion in the neighbourhood of Old Mysore*, nine miles from camp; where having succeeded in procuring a quantity of concealed stores and provisions, they returned in a few days, and encamped over again ,- the Loli-Baug Gardenf, with an obvious design of attacking that * The antient capital of the kingdom, situated about eight miles from Scringapatam. During the war of 1783, the for* tress of this place was the living grave of many an unfor- tunate English officer, and the scene of many a foul and secret sacrifice accomplished by poison, or deliberate abomination, on the prisoners sent thither for the purpose, by the tyrant Sultaun. f The Loll-Bang, or Garden of "Rubies, fills the eastern end of the island of Scringapatam; it was the work of Tippoo Sultaun, and laid out by himself. The t.>sfe was the strait- lined rows of vast cypress trees of most refreshing shade, with parterres filled with fruit irees, flowers and vegetables of every variety. THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM." 4t r- that part of the island of Seringapatam. This feint, for it was nothing more, drew a strong body of Tippoo's troops from the other part of the island, and the Bombay army having crossed over to the north bank of the Cavery, availed themselves of the manoeuvre, by gaining posses- sion, with a very trifling loss, of some strong ad-, vanced posts, on the scite of which their first bat- tery was erected. General Harris thus secured the co-operation of the two armies on two opposite sides of the fortress by a diversion, which at the same time introduced a seasonable supply of provisions into camp, where the foraging detach- ment now took up its proper station in the line. It was however still necessary to obtain without . ^ . variety. Before the war of 1792, -the- whole space between this garden and the fort was covered with .houses, all of which, except the Dowlut Bang, were destroyed by Tippoo, in order to erect batteries to guard against the approaching attack. In this garden stands the magnificent Maus6loum, in which is de- posited the body of Hyder Ally: it is a building indescribably- rich in the Moorish composition of its architecture, with mina- rets and turrets of elegant but fantastic forms. This building, is in the midst of a square, formed of handsome choultries or colonnaded chambers, for the lodging of the faquirs, which, on. the capture of the island by Lord Cornwallis, were converted into hospitals for the European sick. Seethe PUBLICATIONS or MAJOR DIROM, MAJOR AI.LAX, MR. HOWE, &c. delay 48 THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. delay those supplies on which the army chiefly depended, and General Floyd again marched 'with the cavalry, a brigade of native infantry, and the Nizam's horse, to meet the detachment of Colonel Read, with the expected convoy of forage and provisions collecting near Covery- poram. Exertion of every kind was now called into its proper line of action before the walls of Tippoo's capital, as the process of the siege ad- vanced ; the extent of posts we were obliged to occupy on both sides of the river, required the whole force of the coast and Bombay armies ; whilst the troops necessary to dislodge the nu- merous swarms of the enemy from works and entrenchments thrown up for defence without the walls of the fort, were continually on duty; and as their service was entrusted chiefly to Euro- pean officers, who were appointed to the various branches of it, not by selection, but in regular succession, opportunities were given, as they were universally employed, to display the skill and bravery of the British military character. The fire of our batteries, as the)* were succes- sively opened upon the enemy's works, was inces- sant and well directed, enfilading the long face of their ramparts, and dismounting and dis- mantling, THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. 49 mantling their guns and embrazures, while our shot, taking a wide and destructive range rh rough the town, considerably damaged many of the buildings. The enemy during the siege were not inactive, but contrived from their several cavaliers and outworks, to give us gun for gun: they had also large bodies of infantry, (which they relieved every three or four hours) to keep up a constant fire of musquetry and rockets* on all our posts and * A weapon peculiar to the countries of Hindostan, com- bining the missile power of a javelin, with the impulse of gun- powder. From the force and irregularity of their.motion, these flying plaguea are difficult to avoid, and often make considera- ble havock. The rocket consists of a tube of iron, about eight inches long, and an inch and a half in diameter, closed at one end : it is filled in the same manner as an ordinary sky-rocket, and fixed to a piece of stout bamboo, from three to five feet long, the head of which is armed with a heavy iron spike. At that extremity of the tube, which points towards the shaft of the weapon, is the match ; and the man who uses it, placing the butt end of the bamboo upon his foot, points the spiked end in the direction of the object to which he means to throw it, and setting fire to the fuze, pitches it from him, when it flies with great velocity; and on striking the ground, by a bounding horizontal motion, acts with an almost certain effect in frac- turing and breaking the legs of the enemy. It is used frequently against bodies of cavalry, which, mostly acting upon an open plain, a shower of rockets seldom fails to throw into confusion. G See 50 t& SIEGE OF SE&INDAPATAM. and on every battery we had erected, and the rear of the Bombay army, which occupied a po- sition on the northern bank of the Cavery, was continually harrassed in this way from sun-set to sun-rise; some of these midnight attacks were . !j with uncommon and desperate exertion, being led by Frenchmen and Caffries*, and it was remarked as rather a curious circumstance, that while some of the latter met their fate in our trenches, no Frenchman had " bit the dust" within a hundred yards of us. The erecting and completing of the breaching batteries, was a work of continual danger and fa- tigue to the troops, attended with the loss of a number of officers and men, both Europeans and natives. As our battering artillery was advanced nearer to their walls, different entrenchments and zig-zag works of the enemy, were carried with- out mucfh difficulty, but the assailants were con- ; . , , See SKETCHES OF THE HINDOOS, and PENNANT'S VIEW OF HlNDOSTAH. * Bands of negro slaves, procured from the eastern coast of Africa, or from the island of Madagascar, and usually employed on any desperate service, in the manner of our forlorn hope. It seems, as if Tippoo had imagined his Republican French troops to be possessed of the same kind of implicit devotion to dan- gerous enterprizes, by permitting them to act with tins body of fool- hardy savages ! stantly THE SIEGE OF SERINQAPATAM. M stantly exposed to a heavy fire of grape shot from the guns of the fort, before they could effectu- ally cover themselves iri a new position ; and the obscurity of night seldom failed to bring with it the usual harrassing attacks of Tippoo's infantry on our out-posts, and a frequent and perplexing discharge of rockets into our trenches. To prevent the enemy from repairing by night what our breaching batteries demolished by day, it was necessary to bring the Bombay artillery on the north side of the Cnvery, to bear upon the fort, and an additional battery seventy yards in advance, was soon completed and opened with great execution, dismounting every gun it could bear upon laying in ruins a whole bastion, and beating down a very large cavalier and flag-staff on the N. W. angle, of the fort. From this time, the fire on both sides was sent forth in all directions, and the scene became tre- mendously grand : shells and rockets of an un- common weight, were incessantly poured upon us from their high works on the S. W. side, and fourteen-pounders and grape from the north face of the fort, continued theirhavock in the trenches ; while the blaze of our batteries, which frequent?)' caught fire, (to the partial interruption of the cannonade) was the signal for the. ir Tiger .Se- G 2 poys 52 THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. poys* to advance, and pour in galling vollies of musquetry. Our troops performed the duties of this fa- tiguing service f with uncommon spirit and per- severance ; * The grenadier battalions of Tippoo's Sepoys, or regular in- fantry, are composed of Moormen, or Hindoos of large stature, who carry firelocks chiefly of French manufacture, with long and indented bayonets. They are, by our troops, called Tiger Grenadiers, or Tiger Men, from their dress, which is a short bannian of purple woollen stuff, transversely striped, or speckled with white irregular spots of a lozenge form, and thence named the Tiger Jacket. The ferocity of their appearance is height- ened by their thick black beards and whiskers. On the head is worn a muslin turban of a red colour, and round the waist, a cumber-band, or sash of the samej their legs and feet are en- tirely naked, excepting a kind of sandal-slipper worn to protect their soles from the roughness of a march : their pay is about twelve rupees, or thirty shillings per month; being rated equal with the artillery, and rocket men of Tippoo's army. Sse GOLD'S ORIENTAL DRAWINGS, and VIEWS IN THE. MY- SORE, drawn ly MAJOR ALLEN. f- As a striking description of the dangerous and fatiguing nature of this duty, the following extract from the correspon- dence of an officer in the 73d regiment, is offered to the reader. It was written upon the spot, under all those impressions of military ardour, so natural to a soldier in the midst of practical enterprize, and is therefore given in the writer's own words, in order fully to preserve the picturesque and animaied turn of the narration. " On the 25th, (April) it was our turn for the trenches, and on gaining our station, (at sun-set) we found that an approach had THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. 58 severance ; as the reliefs in the trenches, although established into a regular and tolerably secure interchange, had been carried on from the eight-gun battery, and a new pa- rallel finished, about two hundred yards in advance of the other, and about twice that distance from the walls of the garrison. It was found necessary toerect a four-gun battery,of eighteen- pounders, on the right flank of this parallel; accordingly a working party from the 73d regiment, and the Scotch Brigade, with some Sepoys, were employed the whole night ; and the guns being already in the trenches, the battery was opened in the morning with the usual success, and continued to fire the whole of the following day. Jt being intended to erect the breaching battery still closer thin we already \vcre, and the enemy being in possession of a four-gun stockaded redoubt and covered way, which would infallibly enfilade it when fTfttsheo, tiie engineer conceived it necessary to occupy this post, or drive them from It ; accordingly it was settled, that the 73d and Scotch Brigade should perform that service before they were relieved. T*he plan of attack was, for the flank companies of the 73d, supported by two from the battalion, and a pro[x>rtic-a of Sepoys, to advance from the four-gun battery, while the Scotch Brigade and some Sepoys, likewise pushed ou from the other angle of the parallel. " Sun-set was fixed on for the time, and it soon came tco soon for many a brave fellow ! All was bustle and noise ; Ge- neral Stuart's, and our batteries, began a heavy fire of guns and howitzers on the garrison, and the enemy returned it with dou- bie the number, together with showers of rockets At last the signal was given, and on we rushed : scarce had we cleared the battery, when one of our grenadier officers, and a number of the men fell, killed and wounded. I received a smart rap on my left H THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. interchange, bad constantly to take a circuitous route of three or four miles over the broken and interrupted left shoulder, and thinking I was wounded, put up my right hand to fee! ; but, much to my satisfaction, found it was my epau- let only that was shot away. I assure you, I did not stop to look for it, but pushing on, soon got to the contested post, where 1 had the instant mortification to see Captain Hay, of the Scotch Brigade, fall (killed) by my side, and soon afterwards two Lieu- tenants of their grenadiers, and their Adjutant, were wounded. *' I was now the only officer in advance, and perceived the enemy closing in upon us on all sides, and in great numbers; oar men, at the same time, falling very fast. I formed the remnarjt of my party, and some more of our officers coming up, we charged, and drove the enemy from the post; but to our mortifi- cation, found there was not the least cover from the fire of the fort, to which we' were now so near as two or three hundred yards. The enemy likewise perceived the weakness of our num- bers, and again advanced to attack us ; all our ammunition was expended, and we expected nothing less than being entirely cut ofl, when fortunately the flank companies, and part of the battalion of the 74-th regiment, arrived to our assistance. " At first they kept up a smart fire upon the enemy by sub- divisions ; but rinding it was to no purpose, and that our men fell very fast, another charge was determined on. '* Our men and officers being entirely exhausted with fatigue, and having likewise lost their shoes and stockings (in spite of gaiters, which we all had on) in the muddy bed of an aqueduct we had previously drained, the 74-th regiment, fresh and just come to the trenches, undertook this service ; accordingly they advanced, while we kept possession of the post, and with such success, that they drove the enemy with great slaughter to the very THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. 55 interrupted ground between the advanced works and the camp, whither it was also necessary to convey wry gates of the garrison; but with the loss of a number of men killed, and many officers and men wounded. On return-^ ing, they jointly occupied the place with us, and we now be- gan, under cover of night, to ly ourselves in the ground, notwithstanding a very heavy fire of grape, round, and every description of shot the enemy could collect, a;id throw in upon us from the garrison. " It was at this time I lost a good friend, and the service a valuable officer, in the person of Lieutenant Irwin, of the 7-kli regiment, who fell near me .with a grape shot through his head, and another through the body. We remained pretty quiet, and got up a tolerable good covered way, (having only the random fue from the fort to disturb us) till about nine o'clock, when they began to hoist blue lights on the wails of the garrison. These lights are made of the same composition as our port fires, but with this difference, that the people of this country burning it in large quantities, it throws an amazing light around the gar- rison, so that they can discover any thing at a considerable dis- tance : it was awfully grand ! In an instant, every tongue was lm>h ! and instead of the spades and pick- axes resounding with the noise of arduous labour, every man was endeavouring to conceal himself from the penetrating eyes of the enemy. " About ten o'clock, three very strong columns of troops came out of the garrison, apparently determined to drive us off; -one column advanced to our front, and occupied a strong breast- work at about twelve yards distance; another column gained our left flank, and cut off our communication with the trenches ; he third passed 4>v: a -brid^-on *>* right, which we Lai neglected 56 THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. convey the wounded, and from whence the ma- terials, ammunition, and supplies, required for the batteries, had to be daily and hourly brought in. At neglected to take possession of, and gained a position in our rear ; but fortunately there was a river between us. I know not what your idea may be of our situation, but 1 believe there were few of us who expected ever to see the camp again. However, we had orders to defend the post, and were deter- mined to do our best. " Colonel Wallace, of the 74th, commanded, and strictly en- joined the officers not to suffer the men to fire, but to keep as snug as possible, and if the enemy attempted to enter, then to keep them out with the bayonet. A very heavy fire of musquetry and rockets now commenced on us from all sides, and conti- nued the whole night ; but though they frequently threatened, and we invited them to come on, they took care to keep out of the reach of our soldiers' bayonets. In this state we remained during the night, and morning only appeared to shew our situation in a more desperate point of view. The enemy, who had fired at us in the dark indiscriminately, now plainly saw our situation, and taking deliberate aim, the soldiers fell very fast, without the satisfaction of returning a single shot. The enemy finding they could not provoke us to fire again, which they wished to do, in order to expose us to a more superior fire, advanced to the top of the trenches, and lifting up large stones, dropped them in upon us, one of which struck me so forcibly on the right arm, as to raise a doubt in my mind, whether it was not broke. Our brave soldiers at last lost their tempers, and irritated by the repeated blows from tins kind of attack, jumped up, and swore that if they were not THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. 57 At an advanced period of the siege, General Harris received a letter from Tippoo Sultaun, ex- pressive of a desire to open a negociation for peace, not allowed to fire, it could be no harm to throw back the stones, and one and all began to return them as fast as they came. Serious as our situation then was I could not help laughing heartily. " At last the contest ended in the usual way: a plan being previously arranged, about ten o'clock the Scotch brigade which was on the left, charged down the front, at the same time a party from camp attacked those in the rear; and we, ad- vancing from the right, they were compleatly surrounded, and received such a severe check, as deterred them from again ad- vancing to their old ground. In fact, they were well employed the remainder of the day in carrying off the killed and wounded; which last description of our own men now drew our attention, for we had no time to look to them before : my share of dial business rested with my own company, and that of nn - before-mentioned much valued friend; I had two graves dug along-side the river, in one of which I laid him, and in the other, four of the finest soldiers in the light company : they had no parson to read the funeral ceremony, but they had the blessings and sighs of their surviving comrades. On enquiry, I now found that out of fifty men I had at the commencerrent of the attack, I lost four killed, and thirteen wounded, several of the laiter ciesciiption shortly after dying of their wounds ; and the other companies lost some more and some less. " "We now remained unmolested, except by the fire from the garrison; but about four o'clock in the afternoon, a violent storm of thunder, lightning and rain, set in, which filled the H trenches, 53 THE SIEGE OF SERIN GAP AT A%. peace. To this overture the General answered by transmitting a draft of preliminaries founded on the instructions with which he had been fur- nished by the Governor-General,but modified in such a manner as the late change of circum- stances appeared to demand. The leading points of the proposed terms were, that the Sultaun should deliver up all Frenchmen in his service to the disposal of the British army as prisoners of war, and renounce all future connexion with the French nation or its subjects; that one half of his dominions should be ceded to the allies, toge- ther with two crores of sicca rupees, ("'2 50,000 sterling) under particular specifications; that a trenches, so that-we were up to the middle in water, and I w as so eol.l in my wet clothes, after having been scorched to death the whole day previous, that I would hare given the world for a glass of any kind of spirits ; but that was a luxury hardly to be got in cum}), much less in our then situation. " At last the wished-for relief arrived, (ten o'clock at night) and alter being in the trenches for the space of fifty-two hour*, Vvithout the least rest, we had to return to camp, up 10 the mid- dle in mud and water, along so slippery a track, that in some places we could not keep on our feet without 'much difficulty ; and all this while marching without shoes or stockings. About two o'clock the following morning I had the pleasure once again to enter my tent, and, thanks to a good constitution, I do not fe-'S ;:iyself the worse for that or any other fatigue I have experienced during the campaign." mutual THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. 59 mutual and unequivocal release of all prisoners should take place between the powers at war; and that until the due performance of the arti- cles of treaty, four sons of Tippoo Sultaun, and four of his principal officers, (each to be named by General Harris) should be delivered as hos- tages into the hands of the allies, with a moiety of the money above stipulated for. The Sultaun was allowed twenty-four hours to signify his as- sent or rejection of the above terms, and in twenty-four hours more, in case of acceptance, the money and hostages were to be produced in camp : at the same time it was stated by General Harris, that he reserved to himself a discretionary right of extending his demands for security, even to the possession of Seringapatam. The Sultaun, with his usual temporizing policy, acknowledged the receipt of the above proposed articles, at the same time stating that he was about to send two Vakeels to Gen. Harris for personal explanation on the subject ; but the Commander in Chief replied to this evident finesse by a short note, in which he referred to the terms already sent in, as those on which alone he would treat; declining to admit any ambassadors, unless ac- companied by the hostages and specie required, and insisting on an answer within a limjtted time. H 2 This 60 THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. This was written on the 28th of April; no an-- swer was returned, and the active operations of the siege went on with accumulating effect. On the 1st of May it was perceived that a gap was effected on the outer curtain of the fort, and it was considerably enlarged on the two fol- lowing days: both officers and men now re- garded the ruins with anxious and impatient feelings, wound up to a most painful pitch of in- quietude by the growing inconveniences of their situation. A scarcity approaching to famine pre- vailed throughout the camp*; rice was sold at *-From the abundant supplies with which the army began us operations, and the temporary and partial nature of the losses sustained on its march, this scarcity seems somewhat extraordi- nary, and difficult to be accounted for. General Harris, in his letter of the IHth of April, informs Lord Mornington, that on measuring the rice bags in camp, to know what they really con- tained, they were found so much diminished by loss or fraud, that eighteen days provisions for the lighting men, at half allowance, was all that could be produced; and the Governor. General noticing this in his letter to the Court of Directors, dated the Ifith May, says" The cause of so alarming and un- expected a deficiency in the provisions of the army has not yet been satisfactorily explained, and will require future investiga- tion. Every account, public and private, which had reached me previous to Lieutenant-General Harris's note of the 18th of April, had taught me to calculate upon a supply amply suf- ficient to subsist the army for at least forty days from the 7th of April." See LORD MORNINGTON'S DISPATCHES. the THE SIEGE OF SERINGAPATAM. 61 the enormous rate of three rupees, or seven shil* lings and sixpence a pound, wine and spirits at forty pagodas (sixteen pounds sterling) per dozen ; and no accounts of a late date had ar- rived from the southern detachments, on which alone our army now depended for supplies : the public grain, of which the native troops only received half a seer (one pound) per day, was nearly expended; many of the camp followers were perishing ; all the bullocks of the army, public and private, were either dead or worn out by fatigue and the want of food ; and in addition to these discouragements, there was a strong pro- bability, from the appearance of the weather, that the rains which usually commence in the month of May, would swell the river into an in- surmountable obstacle to the operations of the besieging army. Every one was sensible of the critical state of the enterprize, yet this convic- tion, instead of depressing the exertions of our veterans, only served to ca]l forth all their ener- gies ; every man put a willing shoulder to the wheel, and when the breach was declared practi- cable, a general and eager satisfaction among the troops accompanied the dispositions for the assault, which were immediately made by Gene- ral Harris. Ten j 62 THE SIEGE OF SERIN GAPATAM. Ten flank companies of Europeans, taken from those regiments necessarily left to guard the carnp and out-posts, followed by the twelfth, thirty-third, seventy-third, and seventy-fourth re- giments, and three corps of grenadier Sepoys, taken from the troops of the three Presidencies, with two hundred of his Highness the Nizam's troops, formed the party for the assault, accom- panied by one hundred of the artillery and the corps of pioneers, and supported in the trenches by the battalion companies of the regiment of Meuron, and four battalions of Madras Sepoys. Colonel Sherbrooke, and Lieutenant- Colonels Dunlop, Dalrymple, Gardiner, and Mignan, com- manded the several flank corps, and Major-Ge- peral Baird was entrusted with the direction of this important service*. On the 3d of May, at sun-set, the Bombay troops for the attack crossed the river, and form- ing a junction with the main body of the storm- ing party ; the whole, together with the support- ing corps, placed themselves, during the night, * The number of men actually under arms at the assault of Senngapatam, \va.s two thousand, four hundred and ninety-four turopeans and one thousand eight hundred and eighty-two na- tives; in the whole; four thousand three hundred and seventy- six ASIATIC ANNUAL REGISTER. in THE STORMING AND CAPTURE. & in and about the batteries and trenches, as much out of sight and under cover as the nature of tb ground would admit, in order that on the follow- ing morning no extraordinary movement mig-ht lead the cnemv to expect and prepare for t snult ; and under this disposition the troops re- mained till day-light, awaiting their further or- ders, very little inclined to yield the contemplation *of a glorious enterprize to any thoughts of repose; indeed the personal inconveniences of their situ- ation precluded every comfort of that kir. inmfi THE STORMING AND CAPTURE. AT day-break on the 4th of May, the fire from our batteries, and from the guns of the fort was * A tolerably correct idea may be formed of what t (nation was, bv the following extract of a letter from an orlicer, who was of the storming party " While standing in the trenches, a thirteen and half-ir.ch shell full in the centre of my company : we were -o closely crowded together, that it was impossible 'efthel: to get out of the way, or to lay down- T however ordered the men to vjuat as close as possible, which we ail did : the shell burst and co- vered us wilh a cloud of uiuddv earth. I got up, exp< .see one half of my company killed or maimed, but .v, i;i>hed to h'nd that oniy one poor fellow had suffered, who wi> dreadfully rnarg!*\'. that h>: died the following night." commenced 64 THE STORMING AND CAPTURE. commenced and kept up as on the preceding days, but the enemy discharging an increased quantity of rockets into our trenches, it was supposed to be in consequence of their having observed them more crowded than usual. About eleven o'clock, the troops received notice that the grand assault would take place exactly at one, that being the time best calculated to ensure success, as the .habits of Tippoo's soldiery led them to expect some relaxation in the heat of the day, and it was probable they did not suppose Europeans capable of commencing or executing any service of con- sequence under a meridian sun. General Baird having now arrived in the trenches to take the command of the storming party, each European received a cheering dram and a biscuit, and the arrangement and formation of the attack imme- diately commenced. It was determined to make the assault in two places at the same time, viz. on the right and left of the breach : the former point of attack being on the southern rampart, and the latter that on the north. Colonel Sherbrooke, and -Lieutenant-Colonel Duniop were respectively ap- pointed to command the two divisions ; Lieu- tenant Lawler of the seventy-third regiment undertook the guidance of the troops across the Cavery, THE STORMING AND CAPTURE. G5 Gavcry, and a forlorn hope * of twelve men and a serjeant, together with an officer's party, or thirty men, turned out ready to advance to the breach in front of each division. Preceding the hour of attack, the storming party waited with true soldier-like anxiety: cir- * In military entcrprizes depending on a coup-de-main, and more especially in the storming of a fortress, the actual attack is preceded by a small detached party of grenadiers led by a non- commissioned officer, either with a view to mislead the atten- tion of the enemy, or for the purpose of ascertaining in what manner their resistance is likely to operate, and thereby enabling the commander to regulate the onset for the main body of his force. This desperate service is properly termed the forlorn hope, as the advanced party is exposed to almost certain de- struction ; notwithstanding which, it is always composed of volunteers from the ranks, who by military rule are entitled to promotion if they survive. The serjeant, who commands on such occasion?, is in the event of a successful return to his corps, rewarded with a commission; and it is generally con- trived, that some one shall be appointed or accepted as a leader, who is known to be capable of making a good officer. The Serjeant's party of the forlorn hope, is commonly fol- lowed by another advanced detachment of thirty or forty men, under the command of an officer, who also turns out to volun- teer the duty. If a subaltern lays under any imputation inju- rious to his character as a soldier, and has the spirit to exonerate himself as a soldier ought to do, of course he is the first to vo- lunteer the advanced party; but sometimes a motive less ho- nourable, the only object of which is a speedy riddance from private troubles, or public dislike, drives an officer to the almost certain cure of the forlorn hope. I cumstanced .THE STORMING AND CAPTURE. cumstanced as the army then was, their own ex- istence and that of the British interest in India alike depended on the event of the enterprize before them ; but all were confident of success, and every man was prepared to meet dangers and overcome difficulties for the glorious reward tie saw beyond them. All this while, the enemy continued their attacks upon our advanced works ; the rear of the Bombay army appeared to be very seriously menaced, and a brisk though irregular fire was crossing the covert party in all directions ; but nothing could draw the attention of our officers and men from its main object. About a quarter before one o'clock the troops stood up, and closed to the right, when General Baird, after being satisfied that all was ready, drew his sword, and three cheers resounded along the trenches. The forlorn hope, with trailed arms, immediately rushed forward at a smart trot by a communication which had been cut down to the river, and such was their alacrity, that the party \vas only six minutes in fording the Cavery, crossing the glacis and first ditch of the fort, and ascending to the top of the breach. Every one of our batteries now opened its ar- tillery, and at the same time was commenced a heavy fire of grape and musquetry from the ene- my's THE STORMING AND CAPTURE, . 67 my's \vorks; while the guns from a high Cavalier opposite to the breach were excessively galling to our troops in passing the river at this part about two hundred yards broad, and its bed composed of large and rugged rocks which every where formed deep holes, or slippery and deceitful shal- lows. With these difficulties and hazards before them, the whole of the storming party dashed into the Cavcry as fast as they could clear the trenches, frequently one step up to the knee, and the next over the head! The guide being killed early in the passage, the scene was frightful even to a veteran in the service: heavy shot from the fort flying thick along the channel of the river, and bounding from rock to rock, fatally striking the officers and men, or shivering the battered stone in their faces; while the wounded, clinging to the projecting fragments, or struggling against a two- fold death in the water, called upon their brother soldiers for assistance at a time when unfortunate- ly for many, it could neither be given or expected. From the midst of this danger, the forlorn hope was seen planting the British colours on the top of the breach * ; a general shout suc- ceeded, * The circumstance* which involved the fate of Serjeant Graham of theBombfiv European regiment, the leader of this I 2 self- <5* THE STORMING AND CAPTURE. ceeded, and in a very short time the foremost co- lumns of the storming party, by the help of their scaling ladders, descended from the glacis and self-devoted band, were too interesting to escape the notice of the British officers even in the heat of the attack, and there- fore, in justice to a brave so!uier, their mention ought to be an- nexed to this narrative. When his party rushed forward to the breach, Serjeant Gra- ham claimed the pre-eminence of being the first man who stood upon the top ; and after hastily reconnoitring the disposition of the enemy within their works, he made a safe retreat to the co- lumn next in advance, which had then gained the midway as- cent : here, anxious to secure to himself a still more distin- guished honour, he (by a few words of persuasion, spirited and soldier-like) obtained the colours from the officer who bore them, again ascended the ruins, pver the bodies of his fallen comrades, and clambering upon the rampart, planted for the first time the British ensign on the walls of Seringapatam. This act alone, by military usage, entitled him from that instant to rank as a commissioned officer, and justly proud of its accoin- plishment, and burning with all the ardour of heroism, he held the coloiy: staff with one hand, waved his hat with the other, and emphatically raising his voice amid the surrounding confusion, called out, "Huzza for Lieutenant Graham!" flehacl scarcely uttered the words, when a shot mortally struck him to the heart ; and this brave fellow, after having been but one short moment, to his own feelings, a greater man than his General, and an ob- ject of envy for an Alexander ! dropped lifeless into the ditch of the fort. His body was afterwards recognized under a pile of slain, which the avenging "spirit 'of the storm" had, no doubt, raised upon the spot to denote the fall of a hero ! climbed THE STORMING AND CAPTURE. C9 climbed the breaches in the fausse brave and rampart of the fort, surmounting in the most gal- lant manner every obstacle which the difficulty of the passage, and the resistance of the enemy, pre- sented to ^ppose their progress: a few brave fel- lows, with true British impetuosity, sprung at the breach without the assistance of ladders, but the quantity of water which had soaked into their cJoarhs in passing the river, soon rendered the footing so slippery, that those attempts were pro- ductive of more difficulty than dispatch. A busy and destructive conflict now ensued, during which the enfilading batteries of the Bom- bay advanced post, were of signal service, as they deterred numbers of the enemy from disputing the breach, who might otherwise have kept up a galling fire upon it. The left attack, directed on the north ram- parts, had to encounter a steady and obstinate re- sistance from a force headed by Tippoo in per- son : our troops were twice repulsed, and suf- fered a heavy loss of officers in killed and wounded before the enemy gave way, which at length they did ; being drove along the ramparts from bat- tery to battery, and bayonetted from numberless traverses they had thrpwn up to prevent the en- Colonel 70 THE STORMING AND CAPTURE. : Colonel Dunlop, at the onset, received a severe wound, in a personal conflict with one of Tip- poo's Sirdars, who about half way up the breach, made a desperate cut at him with his scimitar ; this blow the Colonel was fortunate enough to parry, and to return with effect by mortally wounding his antagonist ; but the Sirdar collect- ing all his remaining strength as he fell, struck the Colonel across the wrist of the right hand, and nearly cut it through ; he was instantly bayonetted by the grenadiers as they passed, and Colonel Dunlop still endeavouring to head his division, had scarcely gained the summit of the breach ere he sunk from the loss of blood, and was led off to the rear by one of the Serjeants of his party. The attack on the right met with but a short opposition ; for the enemy's Sepoys being soon panic struck, as it were, to avoid the bayonets of our grenadiers, threw themselves from the broken battlements into the ditch in great num- bers, where most of them were shot by the sup- porting party then coming up to the breach. Beyond the ruins of the first wall, the progress of the assailants was unexpectedly checked by a second wet ditch about forty feet in width and proportionally deep, which was intended to break the communication between the outer rampart THE STORMING AND CAPTURE. 71 rampart and the body of the city. This interrup- tion was a critical one, and threw a momentary dampen the spirits of our men j but fortunately it presented no solid obstacle to the rapidity of their movements, for after figh ting their way along the ramparts to the right and left, they found a batard'eau, or causeway, across the ditch, which had recently been used by the coolies, or la- bourers belonging to the fort, in carrying over ma- terials for the construction of some newly-erected works, and by which a ready passage was gained to the opposite side. The scene now exhibited a most animating and unrivalled display of British bravery ; our troops within the works bore down all opposi- tion wherever they met it, and fresh columns pressed on at the breach, where the sight of their fallen comrades, intermixed with heaps of dead and dying Indians, only added the energy of revenge to that of glory. Captain Molle*, com- manding the Grenadier Company of the Scotch Brigade., was very conspicuous; almost singly he piu>.ued the enemy until he came to the mud ca- valier behind the great round tower, on which he planted a Hag and displayed his hat on the point of his sword. Under these banners his men ...*y * Tippoo had nearly suffered a fate, somewhat sin;;!-/ circumstances, daring the Carnal ic. war to surprize a defended (lit- h iu front of (he celebrated Jiues of .Travamore. Bv an unexpected sally vv' -^hi* party was surrounded* and the Suiuiun wiih & ; ;jd under Uie proieci;ii of a jnt-an disguise hastUjc iiiro\vn oyej . dress: the b?ar- : antjiun ^vere cut oown ' - moments ailer he Juiti .deserted it; and that, tog . ! ^reat seal, turban, and several valuable j-ju ;'-, h, ; a:;:c lh;j : of the enemy. Tippoo, under tiio ir; itation of this :a; . an oath, that he never would \\ear i:is turhar, again till he had taken the Rajah's lines, and the f ho v.on.v'enery executed his menaces. Sec BKISTCT.V'^ N.vu.;; AT: VE. . f T'" toilowirg partieithrs respecting the personal orna- ments of ih.e Sultaun, wei-e foiomunicated ta an English oHici-T by one of the sirdars who accompanied the hostage princes to Lord Cornwallis. He constantly wore a ruby ring, whicii was esteemed by him as the most valuable in hi; treasury: Ins 1 urban also \uis always adorned with a je;vel of" great value ; and a pearl rosary was a eontinu.;! ornament of his person; pearls of which it consisted, were of uncommon size and beauty; they hsxl been the collection of many years, and \\ _: the pride of his dress. Whenever he 'could purchase i pearl of extraordinary size, he never omitted the opportunity, and made it supply on his rosary the place of another, of in:'.-, form and beauty Neither of these precious ai - pcared since the Sultaun' 'Cfe THE DEATH OF TIPPOO. whoever he might be that was his conqueror arc too precious to be hastily acknowledged. Not less than three hundred people (some ac~ counts say five hundred) were killed, and more than that number wounded, under the fatal gateway; of course it became impassable, excepting over the bodies of the dead and dying: one of our offi- cers endeavouring to climb this heap of slaughter, in his way to the inner works, was accosted in the most abusive language * by a bleeding wretch * It may be here necessary to inform the European reader, that violent threats, abusive language, and the most horrid exe- crations from a part of the offensive discipline of the Indian sol- diery, who generally rush into action enHamed with bang and Other intoxicating drugs, and meet their enemy with the utmost ferocity of looks, voice and gesture, thereby adding to the force of their weapons every concomitant energy their maddened faculties can supply them with. In proportion as the stimu- lating dose has operated, those who fall in the contest expire in different degrees of encreascd outrage and horrid defiance, as exemplified in the above instance. It has been remarked by a well-informed writer, respecting the general operationsof our forces in the east, that" the num- bers of the Asiatic armies, the ferocity of their manner, and the novelty of their appearance, would unnerve and overcome the hearts of the small European bodies that are opposed to them in the field of battle, if experience had not sufficiently proved how much the silence of discipline, and an uniformity of design and action, excel barbarian noise, and the desultory efforts of brutal force." miserably THE DEATH OF TIPPOO. 89 miserably maimed and almost expiring, who struck nt him with his shattered hand, (the only semblance of a limb which the fate of the day had left him) in all the rage of savage disap- pointment and despair. Among the crowd of domestic -attendants about the Sultaun's person, when he fell, were a number of his women, whose apparent anxiety ; ; :; r i led them to share the perils which every where surrounded him : several of them were shot promiscuously with his guards, and from the general beauty and elegance of their ap- pearance, under all the disfigurements of waunds and death, formed interesting and affecting ob- jects to European feelings. One woman, seem- of superior rank and beauty, was noticed in a situation of peculiar distress, being so covered with dead bodies, although evidently aiivv, that only her head was visible. On clear- ing away the incumbTanccs from around her, the poor creature Was brought forward speech- less, and nearly .insensible j but not having received any wound, she was, by the humanity of an English officer, speedily recovered. From two old women, who assisted in the recovery of this lady, the officer was given to understand thnt Tippoo fell close to the person they had. M released. SO THE DEATH OF TIPPOO. released. Little credit was attached to their in- formation at the time, although it proved after- wards that he was actually one of those who dropt near this unfortunate female, and had been hastily turned aside in order to effect her liberation. The search for the body, by torch-light, under the immediate observation of General Baird, accompanied by the Killedar of the Fort and others, occupied nearly two hours. When found, it was perfectly warm, but quite dead, being wounded in five places : the countenance was no way distorted, but had an expression of stern composure ; his turban, jacket, and sword- belt, were gone, but the body was recognized .by several Hindoos present, to be " Padshaw," i. e. the King; and an English officer, with the leave of General Baird, took from off his right arm the talisman, which contained, sewed up jn pieces of fine flowered siik, an amulet of a brittle metallic substance of the colour of silver, and some manuscripts in magic Arabic and Per- sian characters; the purport of which, had there been any doubt, would have sufficiently esta- blished the identity of the Sultaun's body. One of our officers was fortunate enough to meet with a little Koran also, in a silver case, which THE DEATH OF TIPPOO. 91 xvhich the Sultaun constantly wore round his neck, and which had been detached in the pre- ceding confusion. The two sons of Tippoo were ignorant of their father's death until the body was found ; it being believed by them, as it was suspected by us, that he had escaped. The Sultaun was so infatuated, as not to entertain an apprehen-' sion of the catastrophe which befel him : he considered himself as in a state of perfect security in his capital, where he retained all his family and treasures, instead of sending them off to remote strong holds, where they might at least have been preserved from a vic- torious enemy. His principal people, and all the inhabitants, possessed the same confidence, so that no preparations had been made for concealment, or for flight ; the plunder was consequently very great, and it was fortu- nate for the general interest that the palace was secured, and all the riches it contained reserved for the army at large, as captured property. After all the necessary attentions had been paid to the late Sultaun's remains, which the time would admit of, it was judged expedient to remove the two young princes to the camp M 2 the $0 THE DEATH OF TIPPOO. the same evening-, and they were accordingly entrusted to the care of an officer (Captain Marriott) who spoke the Persian language, and whose conciliating manners particularly quali- fied him for the charge. These youths, though near fifteen years of age, from the usual restric- tions of an eastern education, had never in. their lives walked an hundred yards in one day ; and, as neither horse nor palanquin could be pro- cured, they were obliged to proceed to the camp on foot a distance of four miles at least, in the circuitous track they took. The several gates of the fort being on fire, and no regular path attainable, they were necessitated to climb over the breach, wade the ditches and river, and make their way through our batteries and trenches, which extended nearly the whole of their route clinging so closely to their con- ductor, as they remarked on the shocking spec- tacle of killed and wounded which every where struck their attention, that by the time this inte- resting convoy reached the place of its destina- tion, all were dreadfully fatigued. On collecting the returns of killed and wounded during the siege and storming of the place, it was found that our army had sustained a heavier loss than was at first imagined, amounting to. twenty- THE DEATH OF TIPPOO. 93 twenty-two officers killed, and forty-five wounded, (some of the latter since dead) with about one thousand four hundred and fifty Europeans and natives, under both dei/jripticns. The loss to the encmv, as may be easily imagined, was in nearly a ten-fold proportion to our's ; for, besides the Sultaun, a considerable number of his chiefs and 'confidential officers were slain, and within forty-eight hours after the attack, nearly eleven thousand dead, of various descriptions, were counted and buried by our people, assisted by the natives, many other dead bodies then floating in the ditches of the fort, or remaining concealed among the ruins, not to mention those consumed by the conflagrations under the arch-way of the sally-port and the other gates, after our troops entered. On the 5th instant, the day alter the assault, Abdul Khalic, the elder of the princes formerly hostages with Lord Cornvvallis, surrendered himself at our out-posts, demanding protection; and Ali Rheza, one of the Vakeels from Tippoo Sultaun, who had accompanied the hostage princes to Madras, came in also from the Chief Sirdar, Mecr Rummer ud-deen Khan, with an unconditional tender cf four thousand horse then under the command of tb . relying on the generosity v M THE DEATH OF TIPPOO. generosity of the English for such terms as they might think proper to grant : soon after- wards Kuinmer ud-deen was i received in our camp, as were also the whole of Tippoo's sons, thirteen in number, together with the Brahmin. Purneah, the head Dewan or financial minister of the late Sultaun, and all his Sirdars of any note. The accustomed policy of the Sultaun in se- curing the allegiance of his generals and prin- cipal men, by making them send their families into his capital pending the contest of war, was no. doubt the ultimate cause of this easy surrender of all his chiefs and their troops. The inhabitants of every class, throughout India, are so religiously attached to their families, that they would sooner part with life itself than be separated from them for any length of time ; and the British General profited accordingly, by gaining possession of these living securities along with the other valuables captured in Seringapatam. Towards the close of this day, the Sultaun's body was conveyed to the mausoleum of Hyder Alley, in the Loll-Baug gardens, for interment, with all military honours, and attended by his sons and the chiefs of his household. Scarcely had THE DEATH OF TIPPOO. 95 had his remains been committed to the earth, when a most tremendous storm of thunder, lightning and rain, commenced, such as had hardly ever been before witnessed or remem- bered, and continued its violence for some hours : so fatal was the effect of the lightning, that numbers of lives were lost in our camp and out-posts: Lieutenants Barclay and Grant, of the seventy-seventh regiment, were unfortu- nately killed ; and all the servants horses, and even dogs, of Lieutenant Bellasis, were struck dead, himself being much hurt. Forcibly as the value of our capture was felt on the day of its accomplishment, the British army had now reason to consider it with a still higher degree of self-congratulation, as the torrents which fell during the storm of this evening completely .filled our batteries and trenches with water, and rendered the river, impassable for some time afterwards. The Coorga convoys, collected by Colonels Read and Brown, and covered by the junction of General Floyd's detachment, did not reach the camp till some days after all necessity for .their arrival had ceased: this part of the army, therefore, continually occupied in anxious and harra-;sing duties at a distance from the capital of 96 THE CAPTURED TREASURES. of the Mysore, had no personal share in the glorious assault, but gained sufficient credit on a service of equal exertion and more lengthened fatigue. THE CAPTURED TREASURES. GENERAL Harris having at an early opportu- nity appointed a committee for the arrangement, valuation, and sale of the treasures and stores .of all descriptions found within the royal pa- lace, a most enormous and astonishing mass of wealth was produced, consisting ot lacks of spe- cie, gold and silver plate, jewels, rich and va- luable stuffs, and various other articles of great price and rarity, but appearing to be classed without taste or regularity. All the numerous and extensive buildings, except the zenanah and the state durbars, or audience chambers, had been appropriated for its reception, and a succession of quadrangles formed so many ranges of store- houses, the galleries of which were filled with those articles least susceptible of injury. The jewels were kept in large dark rooms strongly secured, behind one of the durbars, and were deposited THE CAPTURED TREASURES. 97 posited in coffers, closed under the seal of the Sultaun, or that of Hydcr Ally: in the same man- ner was preserved the greater part of the gold plate, both solid and in fillagrecn, of which last manufacture, there appeared an almost endless variety of beautiful articles- The jewelry was set in gold, in the form of bracelets, rings, aigrettes, necklaces, plumes, &c. &c. An upper and very long apartment contained the silver plate, solid and fillagreen, of all dimensions and fashions; -end in one of the galleries, were two elephant Ilowdars * entirely of this metal. Many massive pieces of silver plate were richly inlaid with gold and jewels : the greater part of these treasures must have been the plunder of the unhappy My- sore family, and of many other inferior Rajahs, which Tippoo, and his father Hyder, must have -amassed after the extermination of their respec- tive possessors. The repositories of curious fire-arms and swords were equallv astonishing, and some of the latter most magnificently adorned with gold and jewels. The chief part of these had been presents, and several of them were of English manufacture. * A species of light throne, or frame fixed on the back of a elt-pliant for sitting upon, and generally surrounded will) tu tains, so as to resemble a small tent or pavilion. N Amon 98 THE CAPTURED TREASURES. Among the state palanquins, were found those which had been presented by the Marquis Corn- wallis, to the two hostage Princes; they appeared never to have been unpacked, and a number of other ornamental heavy articles, were apparently in the same state of preservation, particularly several door-posts of ivory of exquisite work- manship. To this accumulation of treasure, may be added various and extensive warehouses filled with the richest furniture^ and the most costly carpets, cloths, and stuffs. The bales of the finest muslins, cambricks, long cloths, silks, and shawls, found in this quarter of the palace, were reckoned at the enormous amount of five hundred camels load. In short, there was every thing that power could command, or money could purchase, in this stupendous collection: telescopes, and op- tical glasses of every size and sight, with looking- glasses, and pictures in unbounded profusion ; while of china and glass ware, there was suffi- cient to form a large mercantile magazine. Jn a room appropriated for musical instru- ments, and thence called the Ragmehal, was found an article which merits particular notice, as another proof of the deep hate, and extreme loathing of Tippoo Saib towards the English : this was THE CAPTURED TREASURES. 99 was a most curious piece of mechanism as large as Jife, representing a Royal Tiger in the act of devouring a prostrate European Officer. Within the body of the animal was a row of keys of na- tural notes, acted upon by the rotation of certain barrels in the manner of a hand-organ, and which produced sounds intended to resemble the cries of a person in distress, intermixed with the hor- rid roar of the Tiger. The machinery was so con- trived, that while this infernal music continued to play, the hand of the European victim was often lifted up, and the head convulsively thrown back, to express the agony of his helpless and deplorable situation*. The whole of this ma- chine, formed of wood, was executed under the * The semblance of torture was not always sufficient for the pampered appetites of the sanguinary tyrant in his amusements; he was usually provided with the ready means of enjoying the reality inflicted on his English prisoners, and had chained to the entrance of his Zenanah, four large and ferocious Royal Tigers, which it is well known, were often indulged with tearing in pieces the unfortunate Europeans, whom he chose to put to death in that manner : others of these favourite savage animal v were kept in large iron cages, in different courts of his palace ; and on particular festivals and religious ceremonies, wer^ brought forth, and employed in a way, no doubt, equally agreeable to the mild spirit of their master, and his religion professions, N 2 immediate J0 THE CAPTURED TREASURES: immediate orders and directions of Tippoo Sul- 'taun, whose custom it was in the afternoon to amuse himself with this miserable emblematical triumph of the Khodadaud, over the English Sircar. Khodadaud signifies, God ivc?i , and the Royal Tiger, as has been before observed, is the usual emblem of the Mysore Government *.. In proceeding through these varied and exten- sive stores -of rare and curious materials, for the gratification of every wish of. eastern luxury, it appeared that Tippoo, with his tyrannic nature, blended the affectation of literary pursuits, an 'I was possessed of a very large and curious librarv. The volumes were kept in chests, each book having a separate wrapper, so that they were mostly in excellent preservation; many of them, when examined, were found to be richly adorned and beautifully illuminated in the manner of tht: Roman missals. This library, containing many thousand volumes will, it is said, be presented by the army to the English nation, and will form the * Tiiis machine has been sent irotn Madras to theChainr.im of the East- India Company, in one of the home ward-bound ships, in ord<$r that it may be presented to his Majesty, who, no doubt, will give this characteristic emblem of the ferocious animosity of the modern Bajazet against the Briti%h nation, a distinguished place among the other curiosities in the tow^r of London i THE CAPTURED TREASURES. 101 curious and valuable collection of Oriental learning and. history, that has yet been intro- duced into Europe. Notwithstanding the contusion that appeared in the general arrangement of this collective mr.s:-, in on<2 particular there was .an unexpected de- gree of regularity, the whole being accurately registered, and every article bearing its. corres- pondent label. Tippoo, whose desire of hoard- ing was insatiable, passed the greatest part of his leisure hours in reviewing this various and splendid assemblage of his riches. But the most pre-eminent acquisition to the captors, among the iloval property found in the palace, was a most superbly decorated throne, the precise value qf which tio person could be found, to immediately ascertain: it was a How- dar supported on the back of a 'Tiger, the solid parts made of a heavy black wood, and entirely covered with a coat of the purest sheet gold, about as thick as a guinea, fastened on with sil- ver nails, and wrought in li;/T stripes, curiously indented, and most beautifully and highly po- iished. The floor of the throne about eight feet in length, by five in width, was rafted four fee; the ground ; and besides the massy Tiger vvhi.ch formed 102 THE CAPTURED TREASURES. formed its central support, stood upon richry ornamented uprights of the same materials, placed at the outer angles; the ascent to- it on each side was by a ladder, in the manner of a coach-step, of solid silver gilt, with silver nails, and all the other fastenings of the same metal. Intermixed with the ornamental workmanship of the How- dar, were hundreds of Arabic sentences chiefly from the Koran, superbly stamped, being raised and polished with the most beautiful effect: the canopy was formed of a lighter wood, entirely cased with sheet gold in the same manner as the body of the throne, and as highly ornamented; with a thick fringe all round it, composed en- tirely of fine pearls strung on threads of gold. The central part of the roof was surmounted by a most curious and costly figure of the Htimmah (the fabulous Royal bird of the east) formed of solid gold nearly the size of a pigeon, and co- vered over with the most valuable jewellery. Its beak being one large and beautiful emerald, with another suspended to it; the eyes two brilliant carbuncles; the breast covered with diamonds, and the wings expanded in a hovering position, completely lined with diamonds. On the back were many large jewels, variously and fancifully disposed; and the tail somewhat resembling that of THE CAPTURED TREASURES. 103 of a peacock., was also studded in the same man- ner; the whole so arranged, as to imitate the most dazzling plumage, and so closely set, that the gold was scarcely visible. This superb throne being too unwieldy to be conveyed from the spot* without damage, and too valuable for any probable purchase entire, * The hall or chamber of the palace in which the throne stood, is a kind of colonnade painted green, with reel ornamental work, forming what is called the Tiger stripe : and this style of decoration, together with the light and iar.ciiul turn of the architecture throughout the palace, gives it much the air of an European Theatre. Round the arched compartments of the roof, or cieling, are disposed a variety of Persian and Arabic verses, applicable to the signs of the Zodiac, and importing the godlike superiority of the Sultaun in his princely character. For instance " The Lion, or Leo, was the type of this Lvrd 4 THE CAPTURED TREASURES. was broken up in the palace, tinder the superin- tenclance of the commissioners and prize-agents ; andihe magnificent bird just described, has since been sent to Europe as a present to her Majesty, from Lord Mornington. . Information having been given, that a quant.il y of jewels were concealed in the seraglio, appli- cation was made to Colonel Wellcsley, as com- mandant, for permission to search, which being granted, and the proper notice given to remove the women from their apartments, the gentlemen deputed on the occasion proceeded to inspect them, but their labour ended in disappointment ; for nothing was found of any value, as it was af- terwards understood thatTippoo never entrusted his women with the keeping of their jewels. The whole of the treasures produced for pub- lic distribution*, amounted by the statements of the committee, to about sixteen Jacks of pago * By letters recently arrived from India, it is understood that some addition;]] chests of specie., and other treasures, liavo been obtained from various concealments in the town and for- tress of Seringapatam as lawful capture; partly by discovery, and partly by voluntary surrender and that a considerable in- crease of captured property was still expcclea. das THE CAPTURED TREASURES. i05 das in specie*, and in jewels; about nine lacks more. The sharing of this large property (the first dividend of which amounted to above a mil- lion sterling) under the management of the prize agents, and the private plunder which had fallen into the hands of the soldiers, possessed many individuals in the ranks f with fortunes far be- yond their power of properly enjoying, which in some few cases, no doubt, were soon squandered away in a blind and ruinous excess. In the higher stations and departments of the army, every one obtained an increase of property com- mensurate with his rank, in many cases subal- terns * A lack of pagodas or other coin is one hundred thousand in number and the Star-pagoda being about eight shillings sterling in value, the amount is of course forty thousand pounds. There are two sorts -of coin under the above denomination, viz. the Star-pagoda as just stated, which is the common medium of calculation witli Europeans, and the Canteria- pagoda, equal to about six shillings and eightpence, mostly used in the revenue and other monied statements of the Mysore government. -f- A grenadier in oneof the European regiments, having the good fortune to pick up a jewel, a? he conceived, of great value, and being anxious to turn it into vorkalle cfish (the first consi- deration of a hard-worked soldier) he offered it for sale to the surgeon of his corps, with a declaration that nothing less than three hundred pounds should be the purchase: with a feu- scruples on the part of the buyer, who was himself by no O means 106 THE CAPTURED TREASURES. terns as we]] as superior officers had more than sufficient to purchase the most enviable compe- tence; and what cold-blooded calculator can say they got more than meritorious exertion had fairly earned ? The disposal of the ordnance, ammunition, and military stores, including grain, was (according to the usual regulation of captures in which the King's troops had assisted) reserved for the deci- sion of his Majesty, and for that purpose it was directed by the Governor-General in Council, that a proper Board of Officers should be chosen and appointed by the Commander in Chief, to value and take an exact inventory of that part of the captured property. Near one thousand pieces of brass and iron .ordnance were found in the fort and island of Se- means a competent judge of the article, the bargain was struck, and the money paid; when, lo! in a very few days the lucky possessor received from the hands of a skilful merchant, as many thousands for his bargain as enabled him not only to pocket^a handsome independence, but to settle an annuity of an hundred pounds for life on the honest grenadier, \vjio having launched the contents of his purse into a thousand chan- nels of expenditure, came to his Doctor with the greatest sang froid imaginable, merely to ask if his honour would be so kind as to allow him another gold fanam (about ten-pence sterling) that he might drink " success to the diamond catchers !" ringapatam. THE CAPTURED TREASURES. 107 ringapatam.. The iron shot, viz. round, grape, and other descriptions, amounted to 508,578, besides 11.660 shells, grenades, and cases filled with grape ; about 60,OOO stand of small arms were found to be in an effective state, and more than that number were reported unserviceable. The numbers and quantity of other descriptions of arms, ammunition, and military stores, were in proportion, and included between four and five thousand draught and carriage bullocks, with their attendant choudries, dufFadars and drivers. In the stables were found only a few fine stalli- ons and brood mares, Tippoo's cavalry being then in the field : the stores of grain for the use of his cattle and for the general supply of his army surpassed all credibility. A great number of the iron ordnance, and nearly all the brass six-pounders, amounting to fifty-one, were found to be of English manufacture 3 the others were in general cast in the Sultaun's own foundery, where a degree of perfection has been attained in every stage of process, truly astonish- ing to those.oi our officers who visited the different work shops : he had even got the late European invention for boring guns perpendicularly, and also had his machinery kept in motion by water. The ornamental finishing of his brass guns ,and O 2 mortars los THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. mortars were equally attended to, and brought to the same perfection it was curious, but uni- formly of one composition, viz. Tiger's heads, and bombastic sentences in the Persian charac- ter. Two of these Tiger guns have been sent over to Europe, and deposited in the East-India House. THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS OF THE CONQUEST. THE grand, and in fact, the primary objects of General Harris's attention, after the fallofSerin- gapatam, were to disband the late Sultaun's army, and to obtain possession of the principal strong holds throughout his dominions. The first of these objects was speedily and effectually accom- plished through the agency of Purneah, who en- tered into the measures of the British govern- ment with a ready co-operation. All the Sircar's horses being delivered up, there was selected a sufficient number of them to complete the Kind's regiments of dragoons serving on the coast, as well as the Company's establishment of native cavalry: upwards of two thousand of an inferior description were transferred to the Nizam. The "draught and carriage bullocks, with the came 'Is and Tflt FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. 1(# Hplifcts, were also surrendered, so that the f i)l mediately furnished with every ne- ^Haoipment, and supplied with provi- rain in abundance from the immense ic fort. The Europeans composing . corps, formerly Lally's, together Bffecently arrived from Mauritius, were * *ind sent prisoners of war into thp Car- Circular ; ^publican auxiliaries of the late Despot of the t arcely borne any noticeable part in the <. . jui > contest, it may not be improper here to dismiss .. notice as they have really descr-ct-d from the mag- ii- conduct, and the sublimity of their triumphs U- i.vucit Ugan! About the commencement of tli : t!ie Frciicli Republicans of India, in the very pre- 11 Pi. nee Tippjo, as they called him, and in die ,iia!, displayed the colours of their Republic on* omc iijformation states, v.'as surmounted witlia iiig a crescent, (the emblem of Mahommedati '.-nifxrantly crowned v\ ith the cap of liberty! 1 Republicans! Bat let Frenchmen speak for . the following translated extract from a part of records found in the palace of the late Suitaim, Proceeding* of the Jacob iu Club at Sertngfcpo* .-tory of which club cuuid not spell, nor Uie meui- '.: ir own natives! Thus says the Journal .., 1797 the fifth year of the French Re- .'. indivisible! A memorable day for all the Ci- tizens 110 THE FINAL ARRANGEMElHM Circular letters were addressed HK" Harris to the Commandants of the p. tresses requiring their surrender \ troops, and giving general assurance tizens forming the French party commands. pard, serving with the Prince Tippoo, the Ally o*tt* "who having obtained his orders, by their joi hoisting the national flag, displayed it according! in the morning, to the sound of all the artillery and ni\] sf ! of the camp.. After this august ceremony, Ci a lieutenant in the Navy of Republican Frar.< tentative of the French people with the Prino tizen Dompard, commandant, and Citizen Vi . cer, with eight Citizens, artillerymen, repaired :- of the city of Seringapatam, where the Citizen for them. On their Arrival, he. ordered a salute o SAND THREE H U N D R K D CanilOP., FIVE HUN, and ALL the musquetry; and the fort of Serin* , , FIVE HUNDRED cannon!!! The. Prince then said tizen Ripaud, 'Behold wy acknowledgment of //, your country, whicit, is dear to me, and to ichich I shall always be supported in t)iy country, as it has i the Republic, my sister! Go, condude your jc^ti Ripaud replied, in stating all that his heart sug gratitude whicli he felt in thus witnessing the Pi shif* Joi the Republic ; and Citizen Dompard also i the scntisients of his heart, and the assurances of fri. \\-iuch all the citizens of the camp bore towards t, Tlioy then ittired, and proceeded to the parade, and the uational guard waited for tlicm. On (!. THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. in and protection, while detachments from the Bombay army moved forward to take possession of those forts, and their progress was almost uni- formly successful. To add to the general satisfac- tion, rival, three standards were brought from the French hotel, under a picket guard; the tree of libejty was planted, surmounted ijy the cap of equality, and a suitable oration was delivered by Citizen Ripaud, (e. g. ' Let the tnftttnaus English tremble at discovering that in India, in the midst of the world, there are Republicans who hare sworn to exterminate them! they will tremble, no doubt, at tlie name alone of Frenchmen ' pale with affright^ when they behold them, they will bt three-fourths beaten.'!" &c. &c.) The orator thqn proceeded to make each Citizen pronounce the oath, as follows ' CITIZEN, DO YOU SWEAR HATRED TO ALL KINGS, EXCEPT TlPPOO SuLTAUN THE VICTORIOUS, THE ALLY OF THE FRENCH REPUBLIC WAR AGAINST ALT. TYRANTS, AND LOVE TOWARDS YOUR COUNTRY AND THAT OF ClTI/.tN TlPPOO?' All exclaimed unanimously ' Yes! we swtarto live free or die!!' During the taking of the oath, a salute of eighty-four cannon was fired ; and when it was finishej, two standards were committed to the care of Sepoys who had taken the oath, and that of the Europeans was sent to the French hotel un- der an honorary guard. The arms were piled and the people repaired to the church, where the proceedings of the 8th of the present month were signed; they then returned to the pa- rade, and sung round the tree and the flag, the hymn to our country; at the passage ' holy patriotic lo-;e,' a safute of the whole artillery wa? fired Tiic day wa; passed in festivity, and the night concluded with a ball. In at'.estatsion of which 112 THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. tion, the dispersed and affrighted villagers re- turned to their occupations in most parts of the country, and the strongest symptoms appeared of a general disposition to submit to the orders of the British government without opposition or reluctance; nor did any subsequent resistance of a serious nature break forth, except from the for- tress of Jemaulabad, in the province of Canary near Mangalore, and from a predatory troop of plunderers, who, taking advantage of a new or- der of things, had begun their depreciations in we have signed these presents, the day and year, before men- tioned " (Signed by twenty-eight members). From the date of this process-verbal, it will be seen that the above grand celebration was by those French troops who had been some time in India, the assistant force which was sent by Generals Malartique, Sercey and Mangalon, from Mauritius, at the requisition of the Sultaun, and which arrived in April 1 798, consisted of the following officers and men, viz. Citizen Chapuy, General of the land service ; Dubuc, General of the marine; Desmoulins, Commandant of the Europeans; two of- ficers of artillery ; six marine officers; four ship-builders, and others; twent-six officer?, captains, Serjeants, and linguist; thirty-six European^oldiers, and twenty-two of the second de- scription, or half cast. The whole of this new-raised troop, with Monsieur De Bay, the watchmaker, who accompanied the deputation from Tippoo, and returned with it, amounted to one hundred persons; the number of French taken in Serin- gapatajn was about three hundred. the if IE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. in the Bednore districts, laying the inhabitants under severe contributions, which were exacted by the; most atrocious acts of rapine and murder*. It appears, however, by some recent accounts from India, that both these hostile attempts have been completely overpowered j so that the fruits of conquest are now, as it were, ripening in the sun? shine of peace, fair to the view of thfe conquerors, and wholly within their reach. * A partizan of the name of Dhoondia, originally in the service of the Patani state of Savonore, having committed various depredations oh (he territories of Tippoo Sultaun, had incurred the resentment of that Prince. Tippoo having coiii- irivcd to secure the person of Dhoondia, compelled him to conform to the Mahommedan faith, and afterwards employed him in military service; but either detecting him in some trv;icherous projects, of suspecting his fidelity, the. Sultaun confined him in irons in 'Seringapatam, some time previous t6 the .commencement of the late war. From this situation he was released, together with several other prisoners, on the capture of the place by General Harris on the 4th of May: he immediately fled from Seringapalam, and being joined by a few of the Silledar cavalry of Tippoo Sultaun's disbanded army', took the direction of Bednore, in his way to which province his force received some augmentation. Some of the Asoplrs r>nd KiHedars in the Bednore country betrayed their trusts to him ; and in this manner many of the principal places of the districts had fallen into his hands, before it was in the po\. or of General Harris to detach from thedrmy a sufficient force to act ,-iguir. ;t him, ASIATIC ANNUAL REGISTER. P Bu* m THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. But the ultimate and most important operations of the conquest were entrusted to five commis- sioners of known ability*, appointed and fully instructed by Lord Mornington to conduct the affairs of the conquered territory, according to a plan of partition he had formed and duly di- gested. Acting, therefore, upon so correct an outline, it w'as almost impossible to err : every measure was adopted which sound policy could supply, or experience suggest, with a view to the relative power and interests of the Nizam, the Mahrattas, and the Company ; to the nature, pro^ duce, and geographical boundaries of the coun- try'^ and to the position and strength of the several fortresses and passes $- the commission exercising its powers equally to the advantage of the Company's claims, and to the honour of the British character. Provision was made for the surviving officers and chiefs of the late Sultaun, and for the families of those who fell during the campaign; and, from considerations of peculiar weight in the balance of the Mysorean conquest, * Viz. Lieuter.ant-Geneial Harris, the Honourable Colonel Wellesley, the Honourable Henry Wellesley, Lieuter.ant-C co- lonel Kirkpatrick, and Lieut-enant-Colonel Close. The Secre- taries to the Comtpission were Captains Malcolm and Munro ; and the Assistant Secretarks, Mr. Gplding and Lieutenant Charles Pasley. the THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. 115 the families of Hyder Ally and of Tippoo Sul- taun were removed from the seat of forty years usurpation, to a domestic establishment at Vel- lore*, where accommodations were prepared for * The four eldest Princes and their suite, attended by Cap- tain Marriott, and escorted by a detachment under Lieutenant- Colonel Coke, quitted Seringapatam on the 18th of June, on their route to Vellore : as they passed through the streets of the capital, (probably for the last time) the procession naturally attracted vast crowds to take a farewell look at th,e sons of their late sovereign ; but, excepting the tribute of some tears from a few old Moor-women nearly related to the mpthers of the young princes, these royal exiles received no popular tokens of sorrow or regret at parting ; and in the course of their journey through certain districts, which had suffered se- verely from the Sultaun's tyrannical government, the inhabi- tants, as they passed, would not even make their salams, al- though repeatedly desired to do so by the escort. Futtali Hyder, the eldest illegitimate son of the late Sultaun. (about twenty-six years of age) had with him his wives aiid children, about whom he seemed to be uncommonly solicitous. Two of his children died upon the road; and it gave him infinite concern that thev were of necessity to be buried in the jungles,, without those fa>ts and ceremonies which would have attended their interment in the tombs of their forefathers. One of these, an infant, was extremely ill at setting out, but Futtah Hyder insisted upon its being brought with him ; and afterwards, in palliation of this act of parental cruelty (as it seemed to be) stated, that " the Faquirs had prepared a number of charms and ? 2 spells HG THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. for them on a scale suitable to their former rani: and expectations, under the direction of Lieute- nant-Colonel Doveton, as resident. As a con- sequence of this measure, and on the same ground o! spells for the preservation of its life, but they had been de- ceived." On (heir entrance Into Vellore, where the Princes were received with every military honour, the behaviour of Futlah Hyder was rather reserved ad sullen ; and by Iris frequent starts, on the' sentries presenting th ir arm* unexpectedly, he did not appear altogether free from 'persona! apprehension, AbdulKhalick, and Moizuddeen, (the two ci-devant hosto-geO more accustomed to European forms and manners, were even ^ay and lively, particularly the latter, who had for some dnys been anxious to reach Vt'Uorc, and often requested the escort (o make longer marches. Surtaun Mowhuddev;i>, though fifteen years old, having just been taken ont of the hand's- of the women, and' entirely unaccustomed to military parade, ap- 'pearcd rather timid though his mind being free from suspi- cion, his behaviour wa's perfectly unaccompanied by any symptoms of personal fear. '"' Captain Nfarriotf, on leaving Vellore, waited- on the Princes "at their separate houses, 'to receive rtny memorandums or re- 'qtiests they might have to lay before the Commissioners. They jlppPared generally satisfied- with their accommodations, but each had some particular wish, or remark, which strongly cha- "racterized the natural dispositions and habits of the royal bro- ther^; Tuttdhjfydcr, restless, and jealous of his family privi- ' leges, 'requested to Travc a village, or joghke> at his disposal, 'from wTuQh'lie' height 'procure his own supplies of straw, tire- THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. lit of political expediency, the young Rajah < ;. sore, whose inheritance had been so tyninnicaliy possessed by the late Sultaun, was raised 1 mean and miserable concealment to the throne of his ancestors*, and placed under the care of the friendly wood, &c. and observed that, as lie had brought his mother puid other female relatives with him, who belonged pro ; his father's establishment, he expected some additior,al allow- ance would be made him for their maintenance. Abdul A /.'/<>.'', careless ofsliew, unpriucely in his ideas, and extremely avari- cious, only begged that the great difference iu the prices of rice "vght be considered, between the Bazars of Seringapa'.; Yel'ore 6 ultannMo-^huddten, amiable, engaging, and atk-utivo. to every thing which constitutes true politeness, begged thai apologies might be made for any apparent negligence, or. his part, in not replying to the complimentary letter lie received from the Governor General, on leavin; 1 ; Seringa pa tarn stating, that as he had, with his brothers been since wholly oc i with the journey, it wa? more owing to the \\i\i\i of opportunity than to any want of respect. MnizudJccn, passionately attached to his amusements (particularly his horses} and to the sociel\ of tlie English, and hcedler.s of every thing cl:c, observed that Captain Marriott \\a-; p.-rfectly acquuint^d with his situaticnj u:id tliat he had no retju-.st of any kind to trouble him \\iiii. * About the year 1756', Nuudy Rr.uze, t!;e Delwy or I''. '.,:. Minister of the kingdom of Mysore, (then under tlie ; government of the Rajah Kislrui Rau?;e, an infant) bt gaged in a dispute with .some of the M.i'iraua Ally had the command of a body 'of horse in Lhe _M< arrr.y, and exhibited the f.r.U tokens of ti:at courage, sk aciivifv, 118 THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. friendly minister Purneah, Lieutenant-Colonel Close, an officer of eminent talents and integrity, being at the same time appointed Resident at the Court of Mysore. The activity, which were the subsequent instruments of his aggran- dizement, enabling him finally to supplant Nundy Rauze. and assume the sovereignty. From this period the Rajahs be- came state prisoners, and Hyder exercised his authority with despotic sway; although he still affected to rule in the name of the Rajah, whom he annually exhibited to the public at the Dussara festival, in the true style of oriental hypocrisy, pre- senting him with a nuzzcr, or tributary gift, and professing himself his slave. This annual mockery was continued by Tippoo Sultaun till the year 1796', when, on the death of the then Rajah, he did not choose to nominate a successor, and ceased to acknowledge or recognize the family. Kistna Rajah Oodiaver, now placed on the throne, is the only child of Chiaum Rauze, (or Raige) who was married to seven wives, of whom five are still living; as is also one of the wives of Chick Kistna Raige, who reigned at the time of Hyder Ally's first usurpation, likewise the paternal grandmother of the present Rajah, and his maternal grandfather. This late unfortunate and persecuted family was found in a state of misery not easy to describe, although they had made every preparation in their power to receive the deputation ap- pohited to inform them of their change of circumstances. A portion of an apartment, in a house obscurely situated, was con- cealed by a curtain, behind which the Rana and the other fe- male members of the family were stationed; and after the inten- tions of the Briti.sh Government had been communicated, the expressions THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. 119 The partition of the Sultaun's territories (wholly in the power, and virtually at the disposal expressions of gratitude to the gentlemen present, and the blessings invoked on the English nation by this interesting groupc, were boundless and reiterated from every tongue. The young Rnjah is about five years old, and of a delicate hnbit: his complexion is rather fair titan otherwise, and hi countenance very expressive. He betrayed some symptoms of alarm on the first appearance of the commissioners, but r .oon recovered his composure. He seemed to be of a tin-id dis- position, and to have suffered considerably from restraint. The ceremony of placing the Rajah on the Musnud (or throne) of his forefathers, took place on the 30th of June, at the old town of Mysore, where his residence is fixed, and was performed by General Harris, as senior member of the British commission, and Alter Alhu-), acting for his Highness the Nizam. The deportment of the young Prince, during this ceremony, was remarkably decorous, considering the untoward circumstances which had preceded his elevation : and the in- auguration having taken place under an open pandal, or tem- porary shade, the spectators were very numerous, among whom, the principal Sirdars of the late Sultaun spontaneously attended in compliment to the conquerors, and seemed disposed to meet this revolution without discontent, if not with cordiality while the marked joy which was visible in the countenances of the Hindoo populace, siiewed how acceptable the change of go- vernment was to them : indeed, many of the respectable inha- bitants of Scringapatam had privately determined to retire into the Carnntic with what property they had been able to conceal before the storm of the fort, in ca-e the British Government liad replaced the family of Tippoo-on the Musnud of Mysore. (tf I.:0 THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. of the British government) was .effected without . material objection or impediment from the allied powers who were interested in it. The sum total of the annual revenues amounted to" abouf forty-eight lacks of Star pagodas, out of xvhich / about seven lacks, annually, were appropriated to the Honourable East-India Company, by the partition treaty: four or five lacks were the pro- duce of the territory ceded to the Nizam ; and the country given up to the young Rajah, is esti- mated at upwards of twenty-five lacks of annual .^ revenue. The Mahr.attas having neither parti- cipated in the dangers or expence of the late war 7 derived no immediate benefit from the terms of this treaty; vet, in order to secure their friend-' .' . f ' ship and political co-operation with the contract- / in,g>. parties, .districts, near their frontiers, pro-, due-ing about three lacks of revenue, were set apart for their conditional acceptance. By the subsidiary treaties entered into at the same time with the above, his Highness the Ni- zam provides for the. support of Mecr Kummer ud-deen Khan, his family and relatives, besides /; that chief lor the maintenance of a certain number of troops to be employed in the service of the allies; and the new government of My- sore is bound to receive and subsidize for its ter- ritorial ,- THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. 121 ritorial defence, a military force under the orders of the East-India Company, who are also at li- berty to garrison the fortresses* with their own * All, or most of these strong holds, arc what our mi::u:y details lean the Hill Forts or Droogs, and are either built upon those insulated and perpendicular rocks, so peculiar to the face of the country, or situated on mountainous heights, inaccessible', except by a narrow pass secured and defended at different ste* tions. On the sides of the mountain above these path-ways, quantities of stones are generally piled up ready to tumble down on the heads of the assailants. MosL of these fortresses are by situation so strong as to baffle all the efforts of art in a regular attack, and are therefore only to be reduced by surprize or famine: they seem to have been originally intended as places of re treat for the natives in case of need, and lor the 5C- curity of the chiefs, with their families and treasures, in the un- expected irruptions of the neighbouring powers. Tippoo Sultaun during his wars with the English and their allies, con- fined many of his European prisoners in the most inaccessible of these places, frequently on the bare surface of the rock, ex- posed to all the severities of the climate; and on any advan- tage being gained over the Sultaun's troops by the British, the unfortunate captives were put to death, and their bodies thrown down the precipice, a prey to the dogs, jackals, and tigers, which instinctively prowled about the spot. &r SKETCHES, OF THE HINDOOS, BRISTOW'S NARRATIVE, &c. For a perfect idea of the Hill Fort', as well as the general scenery of the Mysore, and the Cainatic, it is only necess?ry to apply to those picturesque ENORAVED VIEWS, puWisJ.eJ from the drawings of DANIEL, HODGES, HOML, and MA- JOR ALLAN. Q troops, 122 THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. troops, and to strengthen, dismantle, or destroy such of them, as from time to time they shall think proper. This arrangement includes the entire and perpetual possession of the fortress and island of Seringapatam, (the command of which remains in the hands of Colonel Wellesley) and adds to the annual resources of the Com- pany, about seven lacks of pagodas*. Thus have the wisdom and energy of British councils, and the steady bravery of British sol- diers, united to ovethrow one of the most powerful tyrants of the east ; to accomplish as complete and as just a revolution, as can be found on the records of history ; and to produce such an increase of revenue, resource, commercial advantage, and military strength to the British establishment in India, as must for years to come * The sums here named, are taken at a loose calculation, according to the accounts given by those on the spot during the making out of the official details. Lord Morninglon, in his dispatches to the Court of Directors, has stated the total augmentation of the Company's available annual resources in that quarter of their possessions, since June 1798, to be seven- teen one-eighth lacks of Star pagodas; and if the revenue of the newly acquired territory should be realized according to just expectation, it will amount to near twenty-five lacks and a half of augmented annual resource, arising from the event of the war. ensure THE FINAL ARRANGEMENTS. 123 ensure a prosperous and happy tranquillity, not only to the Company's possessions, but to the native principalities, and to millions of inhabi- tants on the fertile plains of Hindostan *. In short, to adopt the justly-drawn conclusion of Lord Mornington, in his own elegant language, " the balance is now in our own hands; we now possess the irresistible power, either of concen- 1 trating the most efficient part of the resources of Mysore in one mass, for our single defence against any possible combination, or of throwing the same weight into that scale, which shall ap- pear to require such an aid for the preservation of the general tranquillity, on the solid basis of moderation and justice." * According to a representation lately made to the Supreme Government, it appears that there are no less than six millions of people of different descriptions, employed in the manufacture of cotton in India, who require nothing more for their services than food and protection. Q 2 A COMPREHENSIVE 12-t THE MADRAS AN^D BENGAL ARMIES. A COMPREHENSIVE VIEW OF THE ARMY EMPLOYED IN THE CONQUEST OF THE MYSORE. WITH A METHODIZED LIST OF THE EURO- PEANS KILLED AND WOUNDED, DURING THE SIEGE AND STORMING OF SERINGAPATAM ARRANGED FROM THE OFFICIAL RETURNS. MADRAS AND BENGAL FORCES. GENERAL STAFF APPOINTED TO THE ARMY. Commander in Chief Military Secretary to Ditto Private Secretary to Ditto Persian Interpreter to Ditto Aides-de-Camp to Ditto Adjutant- General Deputy Adjutant-General Acting Dap. Adjutant- General Assistant Ditto Quarter- Master General Deputy Ditto Assistant Deputy Ditto Chief Engineer Adjutant of Engineers - Captain of the Guides - Commissary of Stores Deputy Ditto Agent for Bullocks Commissary of Grain Commissary of Provisions Superintendant of Bazars Judge Advocate General Lieutenant-General Harris. Captain Macauley. Lieutenant-Colonel Agnew. Lieutenant-Colonel Close. Lieuts.Marriott,Scott,Harris. Lieutenant- Colonel Close. Lieutenant-Colonel Agnew. Captain Turing. Captain Pierce. Lieut. Col. Richardson. Major Allan. LieutenantB. Sydenham. Colonel G-ent. Lieutenant Fraser. Captain Orr. Lieut. Col Carlisle. Captain J. Prescott. Major Dallas. Major Hart. Major Corner. Captain Macleod. Captain Leith. Muster THE MADRAS AND BOMBAY ARMIES. 1C5 Muster Master of the Army Captain A. Grant. Paymaster of the Army - W. H. Gordon, Esq. Surgeon to Ditto - A. Anderson, Esq. Commander of Pioneers - Captain Drun. PostmasteT - - - Captain Bond. Sub-Aeent for Camp Con f T . [-Lieutenant Berkley. ve\ance J Acting Dep. Adi. Gen. of his) AT l ( , ~ J -Captain K. Young. Majesty s Troops - - I Major of Brigade and Deputy- ) ,, TJ . ,. ^.^ >Coi. C. V. Hart. Paymaster of Ditto - THE BRIGADING OF THE MADRAS ARMY, PREVIOUS TO ITS JUNCTION WITH THAT OF BOMBAY. JV". B. The Rathe T> oops are distinguished by Italics* CAVALRY. COMMANDED BY MAJOR-GENERAL FLOYD. ( H. M. 1 9 thRegt. Light Drag, RIGHT WJNG. \ -, 1st. Re;t. Native Troops. UtBr.ga.k.Col.blcvenson. . ( H. M. WING. 1 -\ 1 2J Rest. Native Troops. 2d Brigade. Colonel Pater. j ( Zd Ditto Ditto. ARTILLERY. ( 2 Companies, Bengal. RIGHT WJNG. Col. Montague J 1st Battalion Madras. LEFTWING. Lieut. Col. Saxon) 2 Ditto Ditto * (ruaLascan and pioneers attached INFANTRY. 12o THE MADRAS AND BOMBAY ARMIES. INFANTRY. RIGHT WING. f H. M. 12th Regt. Major General Bridges, -| H. M. 74-th Ditto. 1st Brigade, Mcj Gen. Baird. (II . M. Scotch Brigade. t 1st Battal. 1st -/. Sef-ys. 3d Brigade, Col. Cowclie. -? 1st Ditto 6th Ditto Ditto. (lx/ Ditto 1 Sth Ditto Ditto, ( 2d Ditto 3d Ditto Ditto 5th Brigade, Col. Sherbrooke. < Iff Ditto %th Ditto Ditto. ( Id Ditto 1 1th Ditto Ditto. LEFT WING. i H. M. 33d Regt. Major- General Popham. 1 H. M. 73d Ditto. 2d Brigade, Hon. Col. Wellesly. ( Swiss Reg. de Meuron. ^ J st Battal. Bengal Volunteers. 4thBrigade,Lieut.Col Gardiner-? Id Ditto Ditto. \^,d Ditto Ditto. ( Id Ditto 5th Regt. Sepoys. 6th Brigade, Lieut. Col. Suff. ,^ ^ Qtk Ditto THE NIZAM's CONTINGENT. ( 1 Company Bengal Artillery. DETACHMENT. } , c Madras Ditto . Colonel Roberts. -\ Gun Lascar \stBat.\OthRt~g. Bengal Sqys. Id Do. lot A Do. Ditto. 'Id Do. Id Do. Madras Sepy*' 'Id Do. th Do. Ditto 1st Do. \lth Do. Ditto. Id Da. 1 \th Do. Ditto. NATIVE TROOPS. ( Cavalry, about 6000. Meer Allum, "^ Infantry, about COOO. BOMBAY THE MADRAS AND BOMBAY ARMIES. 127, BOMBAY FORCES. COMMANDED BY LI E UTEN ANT- GENERAL STUART. ( IstBatt. <2J Re%t. Sepoys. RIGHT BRIGADE. \ 4 1st Ditto Mh Ditto Ditto. Lieutenant- Colonel Montresor. J ( 1st Ditto 3d Ditto Ditto. (H. M.75thRegt. CENTRE DITTO. \ ~ n J Company s European Reg. Lieutenant-Colonel JJun'op. i , R f 2J Banal. SiiReg. Scfojs, with LEFTDITTO. ) detachment of \ st or 9th Butt. Lieutenant-Colonel Wiseman- j IstBatteL 5th Regt. Sf r oys. (*%. 27. Captain Lardy W. Lieutenant Mathey (Dead) W. Assistant Surgeon Glasser K. BOMBAY EUROPEAN REGT. 9 K. 23 W. Serjt. Graham K. Lieut. R. Webbe W. May 1. 4. Ap. 19.. 1 M. Afey 1-. MADRAS ENGINEERS. 2 W. Capt. Lieut. Caldwall W. 'May '1. Capt. Cosby, Staff, K. 4-. One of the breaching batteries having caught fire in the afternoon of that day, the fire from trie fort was immediately directed upon those who were era- ployed in extinguishing the flames, among whom Captain Co*hy had distin- guished himself by the most active and successful exertion ; but s he had descended from the Merlons into the batten-, hv was u:iibriLi:au:y killed by a grape shot. MADRAS PIONEERS. 1 K. W. Capt. Cormick K. May \. 1st REGT. MADRAS NAT. INF. 1 K. W. ls*ott.Maj. Colin Campbell K. Ap. 5. 3d REGT. MADRAS NAT. INF. 1 K. 2 W. QdSatt. Lieut. Mackintosh W. Ap. 17, Lieut. J. Fish K. 20. Lieut. S. Smith *- W. 20. -i 2th REGT. 151. LIST OF KILLED AND WOUNDED. l'2th RKGT. MADRAS NAT. INF. 3 W. Stt BcM. Capt. J- Munro W. Ap. 18. Lieut. Vernon W. IS. Lieut. Moore W. 18. BENGAL VOLUNTEERS. I W. S ailace, and of the Scotch lim^Uc, k-d by iVjajor .^keliy, aie preparing to scale the lamparts, assisted by thfe Mauras Native l-'ioneers with scaling ladders, whose orhcer, Captain Cormkk, being killed, is represented in the act of failing down the steep. IN THE FORE GROUND, at the foot of the left bastion, lies Captain Owen, of the 77th, supported, as he is dying, on one of" the Tiger guns taken from the enemy, He is upheld by an Hrtillery-man, who pouu> ta the Indians fiom whom he received his iieith } while his Grenadiers arc pre.-sing to avenge it at the point of the bayonet. * -O-JT MID-WAY UP THE BREACH, is a sally of Tippoo's Gua."3;, A no are repul-ed by the Grenadiers of the "4th Regiment. l.ieiucnr.su Prcndergast appears mortally struck by a musket-sh .t, and Lieutc:.- lies among the slain. AT THE FOOT or THE BREACH, the fore-ground is occupied by a party of Tippoo's Tiger Grenadiers, advancing along the channel of a \vatcr-c -ur : i connected with the sally-port. They are met by a part of the 7 3d Regiment, led by Captain Macieod, who being wounded through the lungs, is con- ducted ofi by a Soldier j while a severe conflict is maintained \v'::h the Lender of the Tiger-men by a Serjeant of the Highl t.i^eii. UNDER THE RIOHT BASTION, the Light Companies of the 73^ Regi- ment, and the Scotch Brigade, are led up to :he breach by Lieutenant Gawler and Captain Mollr, while the remainJ^r of the 7^0' f liijiiji.iiiuerj) uie s4- vaucing across a branch of the Cavery. FURTHER TO THE RIGHT, in the for^-^round, is the brave ColonrI Duiilop, borne oft" from the breach, wounded, bctv,'r:a two GrenaJier-, ; a:id in front of the Mortar Dattery ij Major .-iii-m, wiih Cotonel D,ilt,i<. jrA Major Beation. Near them stands tiie Ciii.-f' Knuii^vi, giving directions for the removal of a wounds.. >, while Cap cam Caldwell is, with a glass, reconnoitring the e , ir in the bar- tcry ; and Maj.ir Agnsw, immediately behind hiu, appears comma. licjtnig th .- ir.rbrmatiou. IN THE DISTANCE, at the extremity of the Picture, is a view of the British Camp pENERAL HARRIS, with a -ruupe of hi.. Um:crs o- ho 3'.' back, appearing on die intermediate ground. ( 2 ) ON THZ BASTION, to the right of the breach, sand Colonel Sherorookr, directing the right assault along the ramparts, where the British troops are fcayonetting the enemy from their traverse;, and pushing on to gain the inner works. ON THE RAMPART, to the left of the breach, is TIPPOO Sut TAUN, attended by his Chiefs and Standard Bearers. He stands near an open veranda, directly above the gate-way in which he afterwards fell, and ap- pears reconnoitring the attack, in concert with a French Officer, General Chapuy, who is stationed on the battlement, a little further to the left. AT THE SALLY-PORT BRIDGE (accidentally letdown by the fire of our artillery) is a desperate conflict between the Company's Sepoys, and a chosen band of the S.u!t:iun's Guards, known by the name of Hyder's Gre- jiadiers. Lieutenant Luior is mortally wounded on the bridge, and appears Struggling with his assailant as he is failing into the water. IN THE FOREGROUND, is a party of the Madras Artillery, under Lieu- tenant Bell, who having advanced with one of the heavy guns, to force the sally-port, is directing nis men, with the Artillery Lascars, to drag it to the rear. AT TMB I.T.FT EXTR EMIT Y OF THEPicTURF., is Captain Lardy, cf the Regiment De Meuron, assisted by one of the Artillery-men in binding p his wounded left arm, in order that he may rejoin the storming party: and behind the groupe of Artillery are the Native Troopi, with a party of the Nizam's forces, headed by Lieutenant-Colonel Mignan ; while Lieute- nant PiSity, as Major cf Biigade, is animating them on to the attack. <." ,1 <' vails are a number of ruined redoubts, demolis , ur breaching batteries, two of which occupy the two extreme points in the fore-ground of the Picture. THE PAINTING Is executed upon a large scale, comprehending 2,550 square feet of canvas, and contains several hundred figures as Urge as lite, with near twenty Portraits of British Officers. Jdr" The EXHIBITION of the PICTURE is open every day, from Nine o'clock till Dusk. Admittance, One Shilling. 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