UC-NRLF nr\/^/^A', f/!"-^^'. ■" ''"''liliiNHiililillijiliJiJi i/r^ *;A'^^pm ;■-•■;'■ ■ .V University of California. KROM IHK I.IIiKARY OK DR. FRANCIS LIEBER, I'rofossor uf History ami Law in Columbia College, New yi;rk. ^^ THi; GIFT OF MICHAEL REESE, Of San Fraiu'isia. 'lB7 3. m >A^?v MILITARY MEMOIRS FIELD MARSHAL THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON, CAPTAIN MOYLE SHERKR. at TWO VOLUMES. VOL. L ROBERT DESILVER, 110, WALNUT STREET. 1886. d^^ i/^4 $^\ PREFACE. Seventeen years have passed since, upon the plain of Waterloo, the illustrious subject of this memoir crowned his military fame ; and, by one surpassing victory, closed his vast, various, and splendid services in the field. Of all the wars in which he was engaged, peace, " the mother and the nurse of all that is good for man," was the blessed end ! The difficulty of doing any justice in such narrow limits to the development of a military character so emi- nent and unrivalled as that of the Duke of Wellington, has been severely felt by the Author. To produce a closely digested narrative of his achievements, suitable for the general reader, is the object of these volumes. The task has been laborious ; for the Author had to read, compare, and reconcile many and various relations of the events which he describes ; and to extract and con- dense the facts which they contain. He owes full acknow- ledgments to the Histories of Colonel Jones, Mr. Southey, and Colonel Napier ; and especial thanks to some private friends, for the kindness with which they have afforded him information. For the opinions, military or political, which may be expressed or implied in these volumes, as well as for their general style, the Author alone is responsible. The work being of a professional nature, that inter- ference which is generally understood to fall within the province of an Editor, has not, in the present instance, been exercised by Dr. Lardner. London, June 23, 1832. CONTENTS OF VOL. I. CHAP. I. The Duke of Wellington's first Appointments. — His first Service in Flan ders. — The Retreat from HoUancl. — Observations upon that Campaign. — On the British Army. — The Duke sails for India Page 7 CHAP. II. Military Aspect of India. — Political State. — ^The War with Tippoo Sul- tan. — Assembly of the British Army. — Charge of Colonel Weilesley. — March of the Array. — Afiair of Malavelly.— Aflair of Posts on invest- ing Seringapatam 13 CHAP. HI. Siege of Seringapatam.— The Storm and Capture.— Colonel Weilesley appointed Governor ^ CHAP. IV. Colonel Wellesley's Service against Dhoondia, a Leader of Predatory Horse. — Is promoted to the Bank of General. — Takes the Field against the Mahrattas. — Various Operations. — ^The Battle of Assaye. — Peace. — Leaves India '30 CHAP. V. Sir Arthur Weilesley returns to England. — Accompanies the Expedition to Copenhagen. — Napole gnve an elephant, n ba); of oil aeeda (of the sort naiiM tul), and two lmn(trroverty and humiliation. His state excited a most compassionate interest in those first deputed to communicate the intended ele- vation. The commissioners were received by the young rajah in the mean apartment of a mean abode. He was surrounded by his male relations ; while the ranah and the females of his house were only concealed from the visitors by a sorry cloth or curtain : every thing marked tlie extreme of indigence and neglected obscurity. The young prince, a delicate and timid child, about five years old, was at first alarmed ; but the kindness of the commissioners soon reassured him. The brahmins fixed upon the SOtJi of June as an ^auspicious day for the enthronement. The inauguration took place in the old town of Mysore. The ancient Hindoo musnud had been discovered at Seringapatam, and was used upon this occasion. Under a royal salute from the fort, and three volleys from the troops, the young rajah, conducted by general Harris and Meer Allum, took seat upon the throne of his fathers, received their THE DUKE OP WELLINGTON. 29 homage, and was presented in due form with the seal and signet of the rauje. The deportment of the child, throughout this imposing ceremony, was so becoming, so free from all restraint and embarrassment, as to surprise and interest all the British officers who were present. Tippoo had always designated the Btate as Khodadad Sircar, i. e. " The Government, God given ;" or, " The Gift of God." The designation, though Mahometan, and no longer used, struck many as singularly applicable to tlie advancement of the young rajah ; for he had literally lain among the pots,* and was now set up as a prince of the people. The brahmin Pumeah, who had been the finance minister of Tippoo, accepted an offer to become the dewan of the present govern- ment, and was appointed accordingly. Thus happily was this important conquest settlcd.f It is impossible to close the story of tliis war without remark- mg two things : — first, that, contrary to all reasonable expecta- tions, the British army was compelled rather to creep than to march to the scene of its after-triumphs. Next, that, if in con- sequence of this delay Seringapatam had been defended as it might and ought to have l^en, and as there was reason to expect from the character of Tippoo, the number of his troops, and the abundance of its materiel, it would have been, the siege must have been tedious and harassing, and the success doubtful. Nay, had the breach been cut off by a retrenchment, and de- fended with as much spirit as the traverses on the left, it would certainly not have been carried as it was ; because an obstacle would have been presented insurmountable by the brave assail- ant!?. Before and throughout the siege the mind of Tippoo was con- fused, and his heart depressed by the shadow of a coming ca- lamity. On the evening of his funeral the sky gathered black with clouds. There was a great tempest, tliunder and light- ning, and so heavy a rain that the river Cauvery rose greatly in the course of one night ; and this change of weather would, of itself, have greatly interfered with our operations, had we been still in the trenches. In the camp of the Bombay anny two British officers were killed, that evening, by the lightning. All here related, and much more, was witnessed by colonel Wellesley, and forms a part of his military experience as a sol- dier, and his moral experience as a man. • There wa« a pottcr'n heap clo«e ti) liii late wrcltliod abixte ; moreover, ■tntnge as it may Bnunil. the younft prince and liig family were originally of the potter cn»t, which, thoiiKh not vile, is by no nieanaa hiph one. t The (tarrison of Seringapatam during tlie tiiege wag near 22,r00. Two hundred and righty-w'vi'n guns were mounted on tin- fort ificationR, and nearly 7(10 piece* of ordnance were found In the four arfiennlg ; there were also in the city two founderiffl for cannon, and eleven armories for small arms. Tlie British loM during the tkege and in the assault was about i:00 killed an4 wounded, of wtaom 07 were ofBcers. C2 30 MILITARY MEMOIRS OF He now became the permanent commandant of Seringapatam, and in that office was, of necessity, charged with many duties, and various arrangements, of a nature totally distinct from the ordinary routine of mere military service. To these new duties he rose in a manner that gained him much influence and in- creasing respect. It is remembered, that he early prepared a paper upon the state of the coinage in Mysore, in which it was shown that he had studied the subject, and was not less able to project a mea- sure of finance in the closet than to guide a column in the field. To tliis hour, indeed, the memory of all these services, and more particularly of those which he rendered to the terrified and desolate natives in the moment of our triumph, and their distresses, is cherished by the aged inhabitants of Seringapatam with a grateful feeling, with which we are unwilling to discon- nect the after-successes of colonel Wellesley's life. CHAP. IV. COLONEL wellesley's SERVICE AGAINST DHOONDIA, A LEADER OF PRE- DATORY HORSE. IS PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF GENERAL. TAKES THE FIELD AGAINST THE MAHRATTAS. VARIOUS OPERATIONS. THE BATTLE OF ASSAYE. PEACE. LEAVES INDIA. The tranquillity of the new conquests, and the quiet submis- sion of the country, was for a while delayed by the enterprise of an adventurer, named Dhoondia Waugh. This individual, born in the kingdom of Mysore, of Mahratta parents, had been a private horseman in the cavalry of Hyder, and served afterwards in the army of his son with some petty command. Being a restless, ambitious man, and disappointed of promotion to the extent of his hopes, he deserted the sultan's service, during the war with lord Cornwallis, and, putting him- self at the head of a few predatory horse, he plundered the coun- try north of the Toombudra. His maraud, however, was checked and chastised by the court of Poonah, whose troops, under their chief Ghokla, overtook and defeated him. Induced by a fair offer of Tippoo, who promised both forgiveness and employment, he returned to Mysore, at the head of two hundred followers. The treacherous sultan immediately threw him into prison, and invited him to turn mussulman. Whether this was to secure his allegiance, or to increase the number of the faithful, may not be confidently said ; but the tyrant circumcised his Hindoo prisoner by force, and subjected him to very cruel and rigorous treatment throughout a long confinement. At the capture of Seringapatam, amongst the prisoners hastily set at liberty, with- THE DUKE OF WELLINGTOX. 31 out due examination and inquiry, was Dhoondia Waugh. No sooner were his fetters knocked off tlian his feet were again in the stirrups. Many of Tippoo's horsemen, men of desperate fortunes, without a country, a service, or a master, became his willing followers. With these people lie ravaged the rich coun- try of Biddenore ; and it became necessary to send after him two strong detachments of the army, under colonels Stevenson and Dalrymple. Six hundred and fifty of his followers, horse and foot, were cut uj) by lieutonant-colonel Dalrymple; by whom, and by colonel Stevenson, he was soon driven across the Toombudra, into tlie territory of the jieishwah. Here hiis old conqueror Ghokla came upon him, luid being stripped of guns, tents, and baggage, elep'iants and bullocks, he fled north, with the very few horse which, after this Inst dispersion, ren-.ained to him, and for a time totally disappeared. Nothing is more remarkable in India than the magic growth of a predatory force. A single adventurer, with no purse, no possession, but horse and sword, if he has once rode at the head of a body of freebooters, and got a name for activity and for- tune, is sure to be sought out and followed by all whose feet are "swift to shed blood, and to divide the spoil." The speck, scarce visible or noticed in tlie far distance, approaches ; and, behold, a heavy cloud black with the menace of destruction. Thus, in 18(X), Dhoondia rode south again with GOC'O horse, and threatened the frontier of ]\Iysore. Against tliis enemy a force was immediately ordered to take the held, and colonel Welles- ley was appointed to the command. The colonel crossed the Toombudra with his troops on the 24th of June ; anotiier body under colonel Bowser marched upon the same service, to co- operate with and under liim. On the I29th, from intelligence he received, colonel Wellesley found that if he halted for colo- nel Bowser he might lose the chance of striking such a blow at Dhoondia as would cripple him. He tlierefore pressed forward with his cavalry only. At Malovvny on the Malpoorba he found a detached camp of this chieftain ; rode into it ; cut up or drove into tlie river all the combatants he found there ; took animals, baggage, &c., and closed the affair by making a party of his European dragoons swim across the river and seize a boat. By this means he contrived the same evening to possess himself of their guns, which had been safely transjwrted to tlie opposite bank before his arrival. After various tbrce