as 
 
 4*5 
 
 m
 
 'VvdD 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 AT LOS ANGELES

 
 REMARKS 
 
 ON THE MOST IMPORTANT 
 
 MILITARY OPERATIONS 
 
 OF THE 
 
 ENGLISH FORCES, 
 
 ON THE WESTERN SIDE OF THE 
 
 PENINSULA OF HINDOOSTAN; 
 IN 1783, AND 1784, 
 
 IN WHICH, 
 
 The Conduit of the ARMY under the Command of BRIGA- 
 DIER GENERAL MATHEWS, is VINDICATED, from the 
 illiberal Mifrepreientations, contained In a late NARRA- 
 TIVE, Signed JOHN CHARLES SHEEN, and publilhed by 
 Orde- of the COURT of DIRECTORS of the EAST INDIA 
 COMPANY. 
 
 IN A SERIES OF LETTERS 
 
 . T O A 
 
 FRIEND IN ENGLAND. 
 
 TO WHICH ARE ANNEXED 
 
 TWO ORIGINAL LETTERS, 
 
 FROM GEN. MATHEWS TO LORD MACARTNEY, 
 AND SIR EYRE CCOTT. 
 
 BY A BRITISH OFFICER. 
 
 y-lrtus rcpulf* ncfda fordid* C 
 Intamiaalis fulget bonoribtu. 
 
 HOR. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED at the ilogogtaplMc 
 FOR MESSRS. ROESON AND CLARKE, NEW BOND-STREET, 
 AND J. SEWELL, CORNHJLL. 
 
 M ; DCC,LXXXV1II.
 
 THE OFFICERS 
 
 I N T H E 
 
 SERVICE OF THE KING, 
 
 AND OF 
 
 THE EAST INDIA COMPANY, 
 
 EMPLOYED DURING THE LATE WAR ON THE WEST- 
 
 
 ERN SIDE OF INDIA. 
 
 GENTLEMEN, 
 
 I PRESUME to dedicate the 
 following pages to you, as the only 
 tribute of gratitude, which I can at 
 prefent offer, in return for that pro- 
 te&ion by which you condefcended to 
 diftinguifti me, while I had the ho- 
 nour, during the moft ative part of 
 my life, to {hare your toils, and to 
 be an eye witnefs of your fervices. 
 
 To 
 
 357203
 
 To vindicate your conduct, which 
 malignancy has endeavoured to mif- 
 reprefent, or rather to excite fome 
 abler pen to do you juftice, is the 
 defign of the following remarks. 
 
 On the public mind, the firft im- 
 preffion is too often the ilrongeit, 
 and the moil lairing. It is, there- 
 fore, neceflary to do away that im- 
 preffion, before it ihall fink too deep ; 
 and to convince every perfon who 
 has been prejudiced againft you, that 
 it is in a great meafure owing to your 
 fpirited exertions, that the Affairs of 
 the Company were preierved from 
 Ruin on the Weftern fide of India, 
 and the Bleffings of Peace at length 
 reitored throughout Hindooflan. 
 
 That the Public may view your con- 
 duQ: in its proper light, and that you 
 
 may
 
 ( vii ) 
 
 may long continue able to aflert the 
 caufe of your Country, and remain lafl- 
 ing ornaments to the military charac- 
 ter, which you have hitherto fupported 
 with fo much honour to yourfelves, 
 and advantage to the Britifh Empire, 
 will, I flatter myfelf, be as much 
 the fincere wifh of every friend to 
 his King and Country, as it is of, 
 
 Gentlemen, 
 your mod faithful 
 and obedient fervant. 
 
 7. M. 
 
 LONDON, 
 May, 1788.
 
 CORRECTIONS &KD,ERRATA. 
 
 Page. Line. 
 
 2 1 8 for has read have. 
 
 j 6 15 for and -were liberated, read who were liberated 
 28 2 dele but 
 
 31 i dele not 
 
 i a dele from them 
 
 32 5 dele/ 
 
 47 23 for #z<ty refute, read can refute 
 
 48 8 for regard the fate of Gen. Mal/iews, read regard Gen. 
 
 Mathewi. 
 Sc 1 8 dele/w.
 
 REMARKS, &c. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 Bombay, May, 1786* 
 
 A Serious and attentive perufal of 
 fome late publications in Europe, relative to 
 th cooperations of the army under the com- 
 mand of Brigadier General Mathews, on the 
 weftern fide of India, has excited my afto- 
 nifhment in a very great degree. And that 
 fuch exaggerated accounts, fuch palpable 
 falfities, as thefe publications contain, mould 
 be furfered to pafs uncontradicled, appears 
 to me {till more furprifing. 
 
 A You
 
 You have frequently heard me fay, that 
 We had many officers among us, who, 
 were not only men of honour, but of true 
 courage, and of fignal military talents ; and 
 were alike efteemed for their good fenfe, 
 fheir tafte, and their love of literature. 
 That their fenfe of honour could, in any 
 one fingle inftance, be more materially in- 
 jured, or their talents have a better oppor- 
 tunity for difplay, than on this fubject, 
 with a well informed and unprejudiced 
 public, I think can hardly ever be difputed. 
 
 I feel, w r ith no fmall concern, that a tafk 
 of defending the conduct of brother officers 
 and foldiers on fuch an occafion, a talk 
 which might come far better from a different 
 quarter, mould be referved for me, who 
 has fo little to boaft of in refpecl: to literary 
 advantages. But as I love my native country, 
 I mail ever be perfuaded, that though the 
 inherent generofity which has always 
 charadterifed Britons, and renders them 
 incapable of fufpicion and diftruft, may 
 now and then be made fubfervient to the 
 purpofes of artful and defigning men; yet 
 
 their
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 their love of juftice, their love of truth, 
 predominating, they will as frequently 
 come to a minute examination of charg- 
 es, regardlefs of the feeming plaufibilky, or 
 the varnim with which they may be em- 
 bellimed,*and be thankful for any materials 
 that may ferve to elucidate their enquiries, 
 under whatever difadvantages they may be 
 procured. 
 
 I am fure my Countrymen, on re- 
 flection, will be fenfible of the abfurdity of 
 being too hafty in their determinations ; 
 when decifions are too precipitately drawn, 
 they are apt to bend under the weight of a 
 juft and well formed fuperftructure. If the 
 eye and the ear were the mere adjuncts of the 
 mind of man, and were not fubject to be 
 corrected by the underflanding, how nearly 
 ihould we border on brutality. If we do 
 not, therefore, fufpend our judgment for 
 awhile, the coloured canvafs will feem to 
 poflefs more charms than nature herfelf, 
 and the fuperficial glare of tinfel, be far more 
 
 * The productions of Mefirs* Oakes and Sheen are not 
 kre mcauf. 
 
 A 2 invit-
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 inviting than the luftre of the mod pre- 
 cious rubies. 
 
 Encouraged from thefe confiderations, 
 I fhall proceed to give you in the courfe of 
 our correfpondence, a faithful and particu- 
 lar detail of the mod interefting part of the 
 military operations, on the weftern fide of 
 India, during the years 1783, and 1784: 
 and this I entreat you, to communicate to 
 as many of your friends as you can ; that 
 it may appear to the world, with what lit- 
 tle reafon the army has been fo fhame- 
 fully ftigmatized. 
 
 It will be unneceflary for me to obferve 
 to you, that my fituation with the army, 
 during the whole period of its fervice on 
 that fide of the Peninfula, was fuch as 
 afforded me the ampleft opportunities of in- 
 formation. 
 
 My intention of writing thefe letters, is 
 not to exculpate General Mathews from 
 imputed guilt, but to clear his officers and 
 foldiers from the imputations with which 
 they have been indiilriminately afperfed, 
 
 as
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 as if it were not poffible for them to be 
 otherwife than guilty under him. Admit- 
 ting him, therefore, in all refpedts to be as / 
 culpable as reprefented, guilty of -cruel- v 
 ties and peculation, it muft be unjuft 
 to make it a necefiary confequence that 
 the officers of the army, under his com- 
 mand, were equally criminal: for in rv 
 direct contradiction of all the malicious re- 
 prefeutations to their prejudice in the pub- 
 lic prints, I can in confcience, pofitively 
 declare, that there never was an army in 
 any quarter of the globe, lefs inclined' to 
 acts of cruelty and oppreffion ; nor one 
 which had exhibited ftronger proofs of un- 
 wearied zeal, honour and humanity, than 
 that employed on the weftern fide of India, 
 during the late war. 
 
 The only inftance in which their con- 
 du6l appeared in any wife repreh'enfible, 
 was their fupinenefs in having fuffered 
 thofe injurious-falfehoods, fo much to their 
 difadvantage, to be diffeminated by un- 
 friendly minds in England ; when by a 
 proper reply, they had every advantage 
 which truth could afford for ample juftifi- 
 A 3 cation;
 
 cation ; and the public,, which ultimately 
 decides with impartiality, rnufl have done 
 them juftice. 
 
 I have now, therefore, on their Behalf 
 and my own, taken upon me to anfwer 
 for the army under General Mathews, and 
 will proceed with calmnefs and candour ; 
 and I hope to refute thofe mifreprefenta- 
 tions, fo far as they concern us, and 
 {lightly to mention fuch other in te reft ing 
 particulars relative to the operations of that 
 army, as my refidence in India has enabled 
 me to notice. 
 
 / . 
 
 The narrative of Captain Oakes, wherein he 
 
 fpeaks of the treatment experienced by the 
 
 Englifh prifoners, comes firft under my ani- 
 
 madverfion. This narrative appears to have 
 
 / been publifhed by order of the Court of Directors 
 
 of the EaJl-India Company ; and in the ap- 
 
 ^ pendix it is obferved, " That the barba- 
 
 " rities exercifed by Tippoo Saheb on 
 
 " General Mathews and his captive army, 
 
 " were evidently in retaliation, for fundry 
 
 " enormities committed by the troops of 
 
 A " the Company." And, in confirmation 
 
 pf this affertion, he gives us, added to his 
 
 own
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 own remarks, a relation by Lieutenant 
 Sheen, written to his father in London, \J 
 dated at Madras, 2d of May, 1784, in matter 
 and ftyle of a iimilar nature. 
 
 Recently, and by accident, I faw this 
 ftriking fpecimen of arrogance and abfurdity, 
 which found its way to the public ; I pe- 
 rufed it with the feelings of a man, and the 
 fenlibility of a foldier, touched and injured 
 in the niceft points his humanity and his 
 honour ; and as foon as the heat of a juft 
 and natural indignation had given way to 
 the cool dictates of reafon, I determined to 
 employ my future profeffional avocations, in 
 becoming the voluntary advocate of my 
 much injured brother officers and foldiers. 
 
 Before I enter on a detail of fr.fts, it 
 is neceflary to make a few remarks upon 
 the fituation of thofe who hold places of 
 eminent truft in the Company's fervice in 
 India, particularly the military eftablim- 
 ment, which is an object requiring the mod 
 vigilant and minute infpection, and an un- 
 remitting and vigorous fuperintendance, or, 
 from the diftance of the fuperior govern- 
 ment in England, confufion and total lofs 
 A 4 of
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 of territory would be die immediate confe- 
 quence. For this reafon, founded in necef- 
 fity, thofe officers, who are intruded with the 
 execution of the Company's orders, whe- 
 ther civil or military, are often authorifed 
 to exercife a diicretionary power in cafes 
 of emergency. Now thefe officers being fu- 
 perior to controul, and free from refponfi- 
 bility, too often yield to thofe temptations 
 of accumulating wealth, which opportunity 
 prefents, which avarice and impunity urge. 
 The truftee of courfe will , fometirnes, ufe 
 that commiffion and authority repofed in 
 him, for the general good of the Company, 
 as a means of promoting the private fortune 
 of the individual, to the fubverfion of pub- 
 lic juftice, and to the difgrace of private 
 principle. 
 
 But though fuch betrayers of public 
 truft, mould be rendered amenable to punim- 
 ment while living, and their names ftigma- 
 tized with ignominy when dead, yet difcri- 
 mination mould attend the fentence, and the 
 innocent be preferved from fuffering with 
 the guilty. Thofe who with courage and 
 honour have reaped the laurel in the field, 
 Ihould not be prevented fro ~\ enjoying their 
 
 fair
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 fair fame, under the {hade of die domeflic- 
 olive. 
 
 Captain Oakes in his Narrative, has ex- 
 hibited a charge of enormities againft the 
 officers who ferved under General Mathews; 
 and though he does not venture to particu- 
 larize either the perfons offending, or the 
 offences committed : he ramly concludes, 
 *' That the misfortunes, which befell the 
 " furvivors, were a juft punimment for 
 " their crimes, and that Tippoo Saheb's 
 " cruelty was, in fome refpeds, rather a 
 " matter of retaliation, than of natural or 
 " habitual inhumanity inherent to his tern* 
 " per." Whatever may have been the 
 motives of Tippoo Saheb whatever cruel- 
 ties he inflicted upon thofe brave men who 
 became his captives by the fortune of war, 
 thofe motives could not have been more un- 
 jufl thofe cruelties could not have been 
 more iphuman, than this unfuppor-ted 
 charge upon the character of the whole 
 army. 
 
 But the enemies of that army, not con- 
 tent with the charge of rapine, have like- 
 
 wife
 
 il 
 
 wife accufed them of committing murder, 
 even the murder of innocent women and 
 children.* This account is faid to be that 
 of an officer, who was prefent at the maf- 
 facre at Annantpore, in the province of 
 Bidnure ; where, he affirms that he favv 
 upwards of four hundred beautiful women, 
 expiring under the wounds of the Sepoys bayonets; 
 and the progrefs of this army has been 
 generally compared to that of Cortez in 
 Mexico, or Pizarro in Peru. 
 
 I mail fpeak mimutely on this particular 
 In its proper place : but does it appear from 
 any authority, refpeftable for veracity, that 
 the Englim, on their march. through Tip- 
 poo Sultan's dominions commited any 
 wanton outrage ? Does it appear, that vil- 
 lages were fet on fire, the inhabitants carried 
 into captivity, or that crops of corn ready 
 for the fickle, were deftroyed ? In fhort, 
 can it be proved, that the natives were in- 
 jured in the leaft degree, either in their 
 perfons or property ? On the contrary, 
 
 * Dodfley's Annual Regifter, for 1783, page 91. 
 
 4 the
 
 V " ) 
 
 the truth is, that Hyder's army, anl after- 
 wards that of his fon and fucceffor Tip- 
 poo Sultan, was guilty of the moft fhock- 
 ng barbarities, fuch as putting tc> death, 
 and inflicYmg amputation of limbs, with- 
 out regard to age or fex, whethe* armed 
 againft him or not, and of laying; wafte 
 every part of the country. 
 
 As it makes no part of my defigt to form 
 details of fuchbarbaroustranfadtiois, I mail 
 touch only for the prefent on themanifeft 
 abfurdities contained in the pamphlets of 
 Meffieurs Oakes and Sheen. Thefe I con- 
 ceive to be the ground work of tin fabrica- 
 ted accounts concerning the Bidiure cam- 
 paign, in Dodfley's Annual Regifler, and 
 fome other European periodical publications. 
 In the Monthly Review for May, -785, *it is 
 remarked, " That fome provccation, no 
 " doubt, had been given by the Britifh army 
 " to that of the adverfary ; for that Lieu- 
 " tenant Sheen in his Narrative, fubjoin- 
 " ed to that of Captain Oakes, fiys,that the 
 *' con duel: of Tippoo Saheb waj founded on 
 
 * Ps 2 e 379- Art. 17. 
 
 :t principles
 
 ** principles of retaliation ; and candour 
 ." mult acknowledge, that the unjuftifiable 
 **' behaviour of the Company's army went 
 "'a codiderible way in juftification of that 
 " of the enemy." 
 
 Again, in a paragraph in Dodfley's An- 
 nual Regifter of the year above fpecified, 
 it is obfeived, " That as (laughter, cruelty, 
 * 4 rapine, and avarice, had difgraced this 
 ** expedition in its commencement at 
 *' Onor^, fb the fame deteftable maxims 
 '** and \ices continued to ftain its whole 
 * c progrdfs, till thefe were, at its fatal con- 
 " cluiioE, moft cruelly requited, when the 
 *' innocejit, indifcriminately with the guil- 
 4< ty, became victims to the rage of an ex- 
 " afperat^d and mercilefs enemy." By 
 merely comparing thefe extracts, it may 
 eafily be ierceived from what fource they 
 originated. 
 
 I would by no means take upon me the 
 vindication of General Mathews in every 
 particular piint through which his conduct 
 might be viewed, except only in that where 
 tyranny and pppreiiion are laid to his charge : 
 i neither
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 neither mall I endeavour to make appear, 
 that in thefe charges the General is perfectly 
 juftifiable, by adducing fuch circumftantial 
 evidence, as fhould put the matter beyond 
 
 all doubt. 
 
 , 
 
 Whatever degree of credit thefe illiberal 
 afperfions may have gained with the unin- 
 formed part of mankind, it is certain 
 no general and impartial hiftory of the mi- 
 litary operations of the Britifh forces in 
 Hindooftan, has been publifhed under the 
 fancYion of any refpectable authority, 
 though the fubject itfelf is of the higheft 
 magnitude, and deferves to.be recorded in 
 the moft circumftantial manner, as nothing 
 can be of greater importance to the charac- 
 ter of the Britim nation in that part of the 
 world. There is indeed an extract of a let- 
 ter,* relative to the military operations on 
 that fide of India, from the Prefident and 
 Select Committee of Bombay, to the Sele& 
 Committee of the Court of Directors of the 
 Baft-India Company, and this is the only 
 account, which may be depended on. And 
 it is there acknowledged, that a want of 
 
 Dated June 27, 1783. 
 
 in for-
 
 ( 14 ) 
 
 information from General Mathews, had 
 put them under the neceffity of applying to 
 Colonel Mac Leod for furnifhing them with 
 a detail of the operations of the army, 
 from its leaving Cundapore till the furren- 
 der of Bidnure, together with any intelli- 
 gence he could give them refpe&ing the 
 treaty with Hyat Saheb, and the Proceedings 
 confequent to it. 
 
 I have the honor to be, 
 
 with the moft perfect refpec% 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your moft faithful and obliged 
 humble Servant. 
 
 LET-
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Calcutta, Oftobcr, 1786. 
 S 1 R, 
 
 THE firft charge brought againft 
 the army, in the earlier period of the cam- 
 paign, is by the compiler of Dodfley's An- 
 nual Regifter, (for 1783, page 88), where 
 he fpeaks thus : " But before the arrival of 
 " the fouthern troops, Onore was taken by 
 " florm, and a cruel (laughter is faid to 
 " have been made of the inhabitants of all 
 " fexes, ages, and orders, as well as of the 
 " garrifon. The official accounts ftate, 
 " that the Killedar, or governor, with 
 " twelve hundred men, were made pri- 
 " foners." 
 
 In direct contradiction to the falfehood of 
 this reprefentation, I mail obferve in as 
 concife a manner as poffible, that the aflault 
 of Onore happened on the 5th of January, 
 1 783, about noon, and at a time when the 
 
 enemy
 
 ( '6 ) 
 
 enemy had juft formed a difpofition for a 
 fally into our camp ; as was evident from 
 the number that, appeared on the out-works 
 and in the covert-ways. This, as imagin* 
 ed, was a circumftance which rendered an 
 attack on the place lefs difficult than it 
 otherwife mufr. have been. In regard to' the 
 cruelty, faid to have been exercifed on the 
 befieged, nothing can be more groundlefs 
 than this affertion ; for on- -the contrary, 
 the enemy were treated with the utmoft 
 tendernefs and- humanity. 
 
 '!<, tjSVlVif, 
 
 The number of prifoners, taken on the 
 furrender of Oiiore, were not trwdve hun- 
 dred, but two thoufand eight hundred, and 
 were liberated immediately after they were 
 captured ; the aflertions therefore of thofe 
 who have traduced the characters of the ar- 
 my under General Mathews, muft, from 
 that circumftance, lofe all authority, and 
 convict of falfehood thofe fcribblers who 
 have fported with the characters of Britim 
 fbldiers. 
 
 The army, on their march towards t the 
 Ghauts, is next accufed by Lieutenant 
 
 Sheen,
 
 ( '7 ) 
 
 Sheen,* of having had feverai fkirmifhes 
 with Hyder's poligars f. In one of thefc, 
 at a breaft>work, " we put, fays he, three 
 " hundred of them to the bayonet." By 
 this mameful, cruel, and daftardly method 
 of fighting, it feems, Mr. Sheen's feelings, 
 as a man, were mockingly hurt. Would to 
 God the good Lieutenant was as remarkable 
 for his veracity, as for his tendernefs ! if he 
 was, we mould have to lament the fate of 
 every objet lying at the mercy of the Bri- 
 tifh troops in the campaign alluded to, be- 
 caufe all indifcriminately muft have excited 
 his fympathy and companion. 
 
 Lieutenant Sheen, however, feems' pret- 
 ty well reconciled to the idea of {tabbing 
 
 * From the illiberal reflexions contained in Mr. Sheen's 
 produftion, one would naturally conclude this gentleman to 
 be a foreign fugitive : but on looking into the Bombay Ca- 
 lendar for 1 786, he there appears in the lower rank of eciigns 
 on that eftabliihment. 
 
 f The death of Hyder Ali Khan happened about the gth 
 of November, 1782; when his fon and fucceffor, Tippoo 
 Sultan, became our future enemy, and promifes to be almoft 
 as formidable a one as his father was ; having hitherto held the 
 reins of government with a fteady hand. He is doubtlefs pof- 
 feffed of eminent abilities ; but he is neither fe great and 
 politic a ftatefman, nor fo brave and fkilful a general ; nor is 
 he upo;x the whole fo great a prince as Hyder. 
 
 B the
 
 the reputation of a foldier, and of a gentle* 
 man, whofe honour muft be dearer to him 
 than life. But the at of ftabbing a 
 Mahommedan Tartar with, a bayonet, who 
 holds a fcymetar or dagger to your bofom, 
 is, with him, aconfcientious Chriftian ve- 
 teran, big with the moftfavage and unheard 
 of barbarity ^ 
 
 Three hundred', however, put to the 
 bayonet, is another of thofe errors in cal- 
 culation, for which Mr. Sheen feems pret- 
 ty famous. But the truth is, there were on- 
 ly in the fum total one hundred and feventy. 
 And now on this occalion I wifli to ask y where 
 the inhumanity could be again ft a nume- 
 rotfs enemy, even if the number exceeded 
 three hundred, that, which he himfelf ima- 
 gined ? Did we act contrary to the rules of 
 war ? We fought with avowed enemies, 
 who by taking the field, armed with their 
 weapons, and in every refpecl prepared 
 equally fop offence and defence, had a fair 
 and equal chance agairrft us, their antago- 
 nifts. Or is not this alfo the practice of 
 modern war amongft civilized nations ? 
 
 That
 
 That Mr. Sheen's chara&er mould not 
 Want any requifite to make it compleat, he 
 feems anxious to convince us, that he is not 
 lefs remarkable for his wdnderful expert - 
 nefs at fabricating, than for his vanity and 
 prefumption. ^A fpecinien of this appears 
 from what was incidental to the juft recit- 
 ed affair of the bayonet bulmefs. " This 
 " execution, he fays, fo terrified thofc 
 " irregulars, that we met with no further 
 lt opposition till we arrived at the Ghauts*, 
 *' a pafs about eight feet wide, and three 
 u miles long, and the fame ftrongly forti- 
 *' fied." Hereupon Mr. Sheen obferves in 
 a fort of aftonimment, " that luckily, as it 
 *' happened, General Mathews knew no- 
 * 6 thing of this defile, otherwife it would 
 " have been madnefs in him to have at- 
 *' tempted it ; for if the enemy had made 
 
 * This vaft chain of mountains extends aloh the coaft of 
 Malabar, at unequal diftances from the fca, and in an almoft 
 xininterrupted direftion nearly as far to the foiithward as Cape 
 Comorin. The cntfance into the My fore and Bidnurc diftrids 
 from the weftern fide of the Peninfula, is rendered extremely 
 di&cult and hazardous, by ftccp and narrow pafles over thefe 
 mountains, commonly called Ghauts, and therefore the crof- 
 iing them with' an army requires the plan of military opera- 
 tions to be conducted on a liberal fcule, as Well in point of 
 lafety as public utility. 
 
 B 2 " any
 
 "any tolerable defence, it was impreg- 
 " nable." 
 
 Whatever opinion the public 'may have 
 formed of the* general character of the com- 
 mander in chief, I fancy no man will pre- 
 fume to call in queftion his military IkilL 
 The animadverfions therefore on it of Lieu- 
 tenant Sheen, whofe judgment had not been 
 ripened either by time or experience, muft 
 be confidered as the very height of prefump- 
 tion. 
 
 But with it, infamous as it will appear, 
 I muft beg leave to mention another paflage 
 in Dodfley's Annual Regifter for the above 
 fpecified year, page 92, which is equally 
 abfurd with the foregoing, and probably, 
 without examination or doubt of its 
 fallacy, borrowed from it. " A fortunate 
 " ignorance, it fays, of the difficulty and 
 " danger of forcing a paffage through the 
 " Ghauts, feemed to be the only apology 
 " that could be made for the attempt, at 
 " leaft for the manner of conducting it, 
 " and the fuccefs feemed to juftify the 
 *' raflmefs of the undertaking. The only 
 " account we have of this tranfaclion, is 
 
 4< from
 
 " from an officer, who was one of the 
 " party engaged in the attack." The Re- 
 gifter's compiler muft furely have had this 
 valuable piece of intelligence from Sheen's 
 pamphlet, and not the identical perfon of the 
 officer. Suppofmg, however, it was from 
 the puiflant officer himfelf, what a pity it 
 is,fo diligent and faithful an hiftorian mould 
 at the fame time forget to acquaint him, that 
 he had then the honour to carry the Eng- 
 lifh colours there as well as at Onore ! 
 
 Does it appear credible to the intelligent 
 and difcerning part of mankind, that the 
 General could be ignorant of the Ghauts, 
 or that pafs through which he muft un- 
 avoidably lead his army before he could 
 reach the city of Bidnure ? Did he not in 
 a letter to the Prefident and Select Com- 
 mittee of Bombay, dated from Cundapore, 
 the 29th of January, 1783, reprefent to 
 them, in the moft forcible language, the 
 great danger and difficulty, if not imprac- 
 ticability, of the enterprize, together with 
 the fatal confequences likely to attend a 
 failure ? The flate and condition of his ar- 
 my, he alfo aflured them, was not fuch as 
 might warrant an attempt upon Bidnure : 
 B 3 {till
 
 flill, HQtwithftanding, a he conceived it 
 to he their defire, he was refolved to make 
 the tryal, in which he fhould proceed with 
 firmnefs, regardlefs of the danger and the 
 hazard to which he was expofed from the. 
 inferiority of his ftrength, and fome other 
 particulars rather to his difadvantage. Hav- 
 ing thus formed his opinion with the ut- 
 moft propriety, in confequence of the in- 
 formation which he had then obtained, of 
 the natural ftrength and fituation of the 
 Ghauts, and the number of the enemy, 
 who were ready to oppofe his operations, 
 it might therefore feem in the General, an 
 intrepidity of foul, that fees aad encounters 
 all dangers and difficulties ; and a fpirit of 
 determinate valour acting by rule, and equal- 
 ly diflant from rafhnefs and timidity. 
 
 In a noble attempt we fall nobly , but the 
 General with his brave army, fucceeded 
 beyond expectation, owing to their ardour 
 for acting in conformity to the inftruc- 
 tions and exprefs orders of their fupe- 
 riors, though at the fame time they had 
 bee.n fully fenfible of the extreme hazard of 
 the entc rprize. How then fhould the Gene- 
 ral be deemed ra(h and headiirong ? The 
 

 
 aiTertion appears to me fo extremely para* 
 doxical, as never -to be fatisfa&orily cleared 
 up ; fo that if any meaning, unlefs he 
 confefles himfelf mif- informed, can be 
 deduced from his tale, few or none will 
 .be inclined to think well of Lieutenant 
 Sheen's ideas of veracity, concerning mat- 
 ters as they really exited and of -courfe 
 -of Lieutenant Sheen himfelf, in the merit 
 of hk military rank, if Lieutenant Sheen 
 is either very likely to continue Lieutenant 
 Sheen, \\\Jlatu quo erat priiis, or to poilefs 
 jiio military rank at all. 
 
 Mr. Sheen then proceeds to acquaint us, 
 *' That arrived at the fecond barrier, we 
 '" were alarmed at the prodigious number, 
 " and ftrong pofition of the enemy, but 
 *' finding it likewife as dangerous to re- 
 -" treat as to advance, we charged home on 
 " all quarters, 'till rbe motley crew gave 
 *' way and fled, leaving about five hundred 
 " men killed and wounded." To this he 
 adds, " That our fmall body, flufhedwith 
 " fuccefs, then proceeded to immediate ex- 
 ecution with the bayonet, yet never 
 halted a moment 'till they had gained 
 66 the fummit of the Ghauts, and all the 
 B 4 4i way 
 
 "
 
 " way under a heavy cannonading from 
 " the enemy." 
 
 We have in this account, (which by the 
 bye I have endeavoured to mend a little,) a 
 charming aflemblage of beautiful meta- 
 phors, and fpecimen of happy diftion, pe- 
 culiar only to the Lieutenant. What can 
 be more admirable than the figurative ex- 
 preffion of charging home in all quarters, 
 unlefs it be exceeded by the illuftration of 
 " our frnall body being flufhed with fuc- 
 " cefs, immediately proceeded to effectual 
 *' bufmefs with the bayonet." 
 
 It is a truth, well known to every one 
 on that fervice, thatthe'lofs of the enemy 
 at the aflault of the Ghauts, did not exceed 
 one hundred and twenty men killed and 
 wounded ; and it is equally certain, that the 
 Englifh troops, which attacked the pafs, 
 were much more considerable in number 
 than Mr. Sheen reprefents them to be : yet 
 on the occafion our lofs was very inconfider- 
 able, being not more than thirty men killed 
 and wounded. 
 
 After
 
 After the furrender of Bldnure, the ca* 
 pital of the province, we are farther told 
 by Lieutenant Sheen, " That though the 
 " Rajah took care to fecure his own pri- 
 *' vate property, he neverthelefs put Ge- 
 " neral Mathews into poffeffion of thirty 
 " lacks of pagodas, with a confiderable 
 " quantity of diamonds and other precious 
 " {tones, part of which (he adds,) himfelf 
 " had feen, and which afterwards the Ge- 
 " neral had fecreted for himfelf, and fent 
 " under his brother's fafeguard to Bom- 
 " bay." It ftands like wife afferted in Dod- 
 {ley's Annual Regifter, of 1783, page 101, 
 that an officer,* fuppofed to be Secretary 
 to the General, who had free accefs to 
 the rooms of the place, where the treafure 
 was depofited, and who was even appoint- 
 ed to take an inventory of parts of it, de* 
 fcribes it as immenfe ; and befides heaps 
 of unvalued riches, fuch as jewels, mafly 
 gold, and filver furniture, eftimates the 
 whole at forty-eight lacks of pagodas. 
 A great part of the treafure, the fame fe- 
 cretary was heard to fay, belonged to the 
 
 * Mr. William Henry Cowan, of the Bombay Civil Efla- 
 blifhmcnt. 
 
 officers ;
 
 ( 26 ) 
 
 officers ; at leaft, there were fome commo- 
 tions and heart-burnings about it; but the 
 General kept it fee-are a long time, and 
 what at laft became of it, no intelligence 
 eould be had; fb that if jirftice was done 
 the officers, the dividend to a fubaltern 
 might amount to about three thoufand 
 pounds fterling-. 
 
 - It refts undoubtedly a matter of great 
 difficulty, to afcertain the exact amount of 
 the treafure found in the opulent city of 
 Bidhure, and as great to reconcile the va- 
 jriaiis and contradictory accounts, which 
 have been given of it by different gentle- 
 men employed in the fame fervice ; iorne of 
 them having affirmed they had ocular proof 
 ef what they related, though their relations 
 in the main were not confident with one 
 another. For -my part, I believe -the truth 
 to be, that none of thefe accounts are well 
 authenticated by facts, as evidently appears 
 fey the oppoiite teftimony of Hyat Saheb, 
 the Jemautdar (or Governor of the Pro- 
 vince,) who certainly ought to have known 
 beft the {rate of the treafure. He afiures 
 os, that it amounted to twenty-four lacks 
 of pagodas, exclufive of a quantity of jew- 
 els
 
 els and other valuable effe&s, which were 
 alib confiderable. We are next informed 
 by Lieutenant Sheen, that "Unfortunately 
 " for the General, his brother foon after 
 " fell into the hands of the Nabob, who 
 " ftruck off his head ; and thus it came to 
 '' pafs, that the army remained ftili un* 
 " informed how this treafure was difpofecj 
 <* of, and whether it ever arrived at Bom- 
 ?' bay. By his calculation, it was a lofsof 
 " above 25,000 rupees to each fubaltern, a 
 {' quaptum making about 3125!. fterling." 
 
 Though the exceptionable and erroneous 
 parts of Mr. Sheen's narrative have been 
 hitherto animadverted upon with freedom, 
 I notwithstanding may here acquiefce in 
 what he fays; and this is a proof, that in 
 my attempt to refute the feveral charges 
 brought againft the army, I have been aclr 
 ing from no other impulfe than that of 
 ftrift juftice and impartiality. Thus far, 
 I am afraid, the charge is true. Wherever, 
 therefore, I mail find reafon to join him in 
 opinion, I will readily acknowledge the 
 fame, but mufl beg leave to quefKon his 
 fair dealing, and contradict him when fen- 
 fible he is wrong in his afTertions. 
 
 It
 
 z 
 
 It is a fact, which cannot be doubted, 
 but that a very confiderable portion of the 
 treafure found in Bid f nure, was fequeftered 
 by the General for his own ufe, and after- 
 wards tranfmitted to Goa' or Bombay, in 
 ^ a veflel of his own. But though this cir- 
 cumftance was generally known to the 
 \vhole army, no enquiry, to clear up the 
 certainty of its being! fo, took place : nor 
 was the amount of what was faid to have 
 been fent by the General to the abovemen- 
 tioned places, ever exactly afcertained, con- 
 jectures varying thereon, notwithftanding 
 it was thought from unqueftionable autho- 
 rity, that this amount could not be lefs 
 than 150,000!. fterling. 
 
 It equally deferves notice, that a confi- 
 derable part of the captured property in the 
 campaign of 1/83, by the forces on the 
 coaft of Malabar, and intruded with Agents, 
 came to no better account : for at the clofe 
 of the war, the army were, and are to this 
 very hour, totally ignorant of what became 
 A, of it. For notwithftanding the moft ear- 
 neft and repeated felicitations of the offi- 
 cers, who were deputed and remained in the 
 country near three years after this war, for 
 i
 
 v 2 9 ) 
 
 the final adjustment of the claims of hisMa- 
 jefty's troops, which had ferved on that fide 
 of India, the juft mentioned agents refufed 
 payment, under the vague pretence of not 
 being authorized to pay any prize money, 
 but to fuch claimants, who mould perfon- 
 ally appear at the Presidency of Bombay. 
 
 f* But to return to the army, in which I was 
 engaged, the diftrefled fituation of its 
 greater part, fhortly after the fignal epoch 
 of the furrender of Bidnure, on account of 
 their long arrears of pay, due from the 
 Company, and the very inadequate mare of 
 the treaiure, which was affigned them, 
 were circumftances that could not make 
 them much affected to the General ; and if 
 w r e here to add the meafures concerted by him 
 to conceal the exact eftimate of the fpoils, 
 and evidently with the view of wrong- 
 ing the army, it would be no wonder if 
 this disaffection had generated extreme dii- 
 guft. 
 
 It appears, however, that notwithftajid- 
 ing the prejudices formed againfl the Gene- 
 ral, the public fervice was in no wife hurt 
 by them. The principal officers of his 
 
 Majefly's
 
 ( 30 ) 
 
 'Majefty's forces, though they feverely Felt 
 the indignity the General had .put upon 
 them, and were determined to do them- 
 felves, as well as thofe under their com- 
 mand juftice, yet they never failed to pay 
 an implicit obedience to his orders and di- 
 rections. In fhort, the army had every 
 reafon to complain of the General's con- 
 duct, and it is with regret I fay, that I can- 
 not throw a veil over its deformity : but 
 as it is a maxim in our laws, that every 
 man is fuppofed innocent till he is fairly 
 and juridically convicted of guilt, let us 
 for a moment fufpend our judgmnt on 
 him, and advert only to the difafters of 
 his fate after the furrender of Bidnure, to- 
 gether with the arbitrary proceeding of the 
 Government of Bombay^ which diverted 
 him of his command without exhibiting 
 a. iingle charge againfl him : whence, if 
 we cannot in our hearts entirely acquit, we 
 may, at leaft, find an inclination to pity 
 him. 
 
 The difaftrous circumftances, which af- 
 terwards the army were involved in, and 
 which feem to have weighed down the 
 General, were not even fo much as fuf- 
 
 peded,
 
 ( 3' ) 
 
 peeled, or not in the leaft dreaded at the 
 time of his fufpeniion, though he was him- 
 ielf very fen fible of his hazardous fituation. 
 We find that he made feveral applications 
 to the Government of Bombay for a rein- 
 forcement, reprefenting its abfolute nece- 
 fit/; but they were deaf to his felicita- 
 tions. He alfo applied to that of .Madras i 
 but alas, too late! For the enemy. were 
 coming upon him with a very formidable 
 army, and he, with lefs than two thou- 
 land brave men, met with from them that 
 difcomfiture, which he rhuft have expect- 
 ed. 
 
 It is matter of great regret to the candid 
 part of mankind, that the commander in 
 chief, in that expedition, did not furvive, 
 that he might have come before the pub- 
 lic, at leaft with an explanation of his con- 
 duel, if not with a full anfwer to the ac- 
 cufations of his enemies. As the deftru&i- 
 on of the principal part of his army in Bid- 
 nure, and afterwards the rigorous treat- 
 ment of the furvivors, when they firfr. be- 
 _came known in England, were circum- 
 flances that deeply interefted the public. 
 I ihall, therefore, in order to elucidate 
 4 your
 
 your further enquiry, relative to that fatal 
 event, as well as for the fake of common 
 juftice to the fame of an unfortunate indi- 
 vidual, who has not been enabled to tell his 
 own ftory, I refer you to the accompany- 
 ing letters* written by the general to Lord 
 Macartney, and Sir Eyre Coote, a fhort 
 time previous to the recapture of Bid- 
 nure. 
 
 In my next, you (hall hear from me of 
 this and other adventures : but in the inte- 
 rim, be affured that I remain, 
 
 With the utmoft attachment 
 and refpect, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your's, &c. 
 
 * Annexed to the end of this work.
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 S I R, 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 Calcutta, Djcemler, 1786, 
 
 Ecee iterum Crifyinus ! Lo ! Lieu- 
 tenant Sheen again makes his entrance on 
 the ftage : he is a principal aftor, and muft 
 be called upon to play his part, in the dif- 
 ferent fcenes of the army's further opera- 
 tions. 
 
 " The fc'cond day, fays he, after our ar- 
 <c rival at Bidnure, the Rajah informed 
 " General Mathews of a fort called Annan t- 
 " pore, that was under his command, and 
 " gave him an order to the Killadhaur, or 
 ** governor, to furrender it to him on his 
 " arrival. This fort was about thirty miles 
 " diftant. The general accordingly dif- 
 " patched Captain M'Culloch with the fif- 
 " tecnth batallion of fepoys, to march and 
 " take poffeffion of the place." So far Mr. 
 C Sheen,
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 Sheen, but upon fecond thought, as this 
 affair is reputed fomething interesting, I 
 mall endeavour, from the beginning, to 
 purfue it in its due length. 
 
 On the i ft of February, 1783, the fif- 
 teenth battalion of Bombay fepoys, com- 
 manded by Captain William M'Culloch, 
 with a few artillery men, two field pieces, 
 and a howitzer, marched from Bidnure, and 
 advanced that day as far as the village of 
 Fattah-Pettah, on the Seringapatnam road, 
 where they encamped, and remained two 
 days. They then proceeded by flow 
 marches to Annantpore, a fmall town and 
 fort, lituated about twenty-four miles eaft 
 of Bidnure, where they arrived on the 5th, 
 and fummoned the garrifon, hoping by a 
 timely furrender of the place, that the 
 erTulioil of blood would be prevented, which 
 a fruitlefs and obftinate defence muft ne- 
 ceflarily occafion. But, to the great fur- 
 prize of Captain M'Culloch, the garrifon, 
 inftead of returning a favourable anfwer, 
 imprudently added infult, by detaining a Su- 
 bahdaur and an orderly Havildar, who carri- 
 ed the flag of truce. After this, another fum- 
 
 mons
 
 ( 35 ) 
 
 mons was fent off, but with as little fuo 
 cefs as the firft, the bearers of it being in 
 like manner detained, and no anfwer lent 
 back. The Englifh troops remained in the 
 town till the evening following. They had 
 no heavy artillery to reduce the place by 
 force, and being withal apprehend ve of a 
 fuperior number of the enemy coming to 
 its relief, it was judged, advifable, for the 
 prefent, to poftpone the enterprize, and on 
 their retreat towards Bidnure, to require a 
 fufficient force. 
 
 The Fort of Annantpore being a place of i 
 confiderable importance to Tippoo, chiefly 
 on account of its being fituated on the Se- 
 ringapatnam road, it may not be amifs here 
 to defcribe it, if for no other reafon, than 
 becaufe it appears to have been little known 
 to Europeans. 
 
 The Fort cannot be prized for an advan- 
 tageous pofition, having the Pettah, or open 
 town at a fmall diftance fouth of it, and 
 built upon much higher ground. The 
 ditch, is broad and deep, but contains no 
 water, except during the rainy feafon. 
 C i The
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 The glacis is naturally fo high as to cover 
 part of the curtain, ;ind it would be difficult 
 for an enemy to gain therein a lodgment, 
 without previous regular approaches. But 
 how unfavourable foever it may be in this 
 refpecl:, batteries cannot only be creeled at 
 the pettah, but mufketry, placed under 
 cover of the walls of the honfes, may di- 
 rect their fire on thofe, placed to work the 
 guns on the ramparts. 
 
 It has three cavalier towers, two of which, 
 when it fell into our pofleffion, were found 
 occupied by a fort of cannon of enormous 
 fize, and their fabric exceeding clumfy. 
 This particular fpecies of ordnance is com- 
 monly framed of feveral pieces of iron fitted 
 together longitudinally, and begirt with 
 iron-rings. The natives imagined them to 
 be a convenient machinery for difcharging 
 ftone bullets of a prodigious magnitude, and 
 indeed when fired, they yield a report like 
 thunder *. Their uie, but probably rather 
 
 * When Mahcmet II. befie^ed Conftantmople in 14? t, 
 be battered the walls with Hone-bullets, und Tome of his 
 pieces were of the calibre of i aoolb. but then they could not be 
 fired oftner than four times a day. See puiceiardint Hift. 
 ad'Iuilin, lib, i. page 24, 410. edit. Veu. 15.62. 
 
 in
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 in the nature of the Roman Ca'apult, ap- 
 pears to be of confiderable antiquity in dif- 
 ferent parts of the world. But fince the 
 invention of gunpowder, the extreme dif- 
 ficulty of pointing and managing fuch vail: 
 ^nd unweildy pieces, which can only be 
 fired in a particular direction, makes them 
 of little fervice, and in faft they feldom do 
 much execution. The defcribed fort, how- 
 ever, notwithftanding all its difadvantages, / 
 ftands higher in the opinion of the natives, 
 than any other in that part of Hindooftan. 
 
 But to return to Captain M'Culloch, 
 whom we left on his retreat, to make a re- 
 port of the difappointment he had met 
 with ; General Mathews having confidered 
 the matter, and the nature of the fervice, 
 detached to join him Major Campbell, who, 
 on the 6th of February, marched from Bid- 
 nure, and that day advanced as far as the 
 village of Fattah-Pettah^ and the next 
 morning left that place with the following 
 reinfo rcement, viz. of the fecsmd batal- 
 lion of the forty- fecond, with fmall detach- 
 ments from the ninty-eighth, hundredth, 
 and hundred and fecond regiments of his 
 C 3 Majefty's 
 
 357203
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 Majefty's troops, amounting in the whole, 
 to upwards of fix hundred Europeans, and 
 the fecond grenadier and fifteenth batallions 
 of Bombay fepoys, with four battering 
 cannon, two field- pieces, and a howitzer. 
 
 Having reached Annantpore on the pth, 
 the following letter of inftrucUons from 
 Brigadier General Mathews, was then re- 
 ceived by Lieutenant Colonel Campbell. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 " I am glad you have marched, 
 " becaufe the battalion, which is now on 
 *' its route back from Annantpore, will 
 " have your afliftance. Doolies fhould have 
 " bee a fent you by the Commiflary. Muf- 
 " kets, ^ammunition, &c. you have enough 
 " for the prefent purpofe ; neverthelefs, for 
 " fear of emergencies more will be fent, 
 " nor will provifions be forgotten. 
 
 " I hope you will not fail to give {Irkl 
 " orders againfl plundering, or deftroying 
 " the camp-cattle ; for Captain Alflon has 
 " given directions for fome of the bullocks 
 
 " to
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 ei to be killed, which were appointed for 
 " carrying provifions for your detachment* 
 
 " Artillery will be fent to-morrow, and 
 *' I hope you will keep the communication 
 " free, for the fecurity of your march. 
 " The guides were delivered to Colonel 
 " M'Leod, who I fuppofe are with you. 
 ' Two others now attend- you. 
 
 " The enemy, fo I underftood by the 
 *' deferters, are Nat Summogah, to the 
 " amount of feven hundred horfe, and 
 " about one thoufand two .hundred fepoys, 
 " befides four thoufand peons, and you 
 " have a fufficient detachment to beat 
 " them ; and if they will not deliver up 
 " Annantpore, you have alfo fufficient ar- 
 ^ tillery to force them. 
 
 " The enemy, being conne<^ed, there 
 44 will be no occalion to advance Captain 
 " M' Culloch's battalion as ordered; but 
 *' on fecuring Annantpore with a proper 
 " garrifon, you may march your party 
 64 to beat up their camp. 
 
 C 4 " Wifh-
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 61 Wiming you to be tender of the pro- 
 ** perty of the inhabitants, I would avoid 
 " taking their cattle : but in cafe you can- 
 " not be otherwife fupplied, I would have 
 ' you fend a regular party, not to {hoot 
 *' the cattle, but to drive them to your 
 " camp for your regular fupplies. The 
 " country about Annantpore and Sum^ 
 " mogah abounds with cattle, and from 
 ** thence the city of Bidnure muft alfo be 
 " ferved, -- . 
 
 " I enclofe you an order, which you 
 * 4 will be pleafed to publish and make 
 *' known to the army, and to all the fol- 
 * fi lowers of the camp. 
 
 " Some Bazar people, who were to ac- 
 <c company, but are now afraid to join you, 
 *' being apprehenfive they may be either 
 " prefled, or their bullocks killed, I mail 
 ** take upon me to quiet their fears, and fb 
 " perfuade them to proceed with you. 
 
 " Pleafe to caution your men againft 
 f * ftraggling from the camp, or entering far 
 
 ' in-
 
 ( 41 ) 
 
 " into the woods ; for the enemy will very 
 ** probably lie in wait to deflroy them. 
 
 Wifhing you fuccefs, 
 
 I am, Sir, 
 your moft obedient Servant, 
 
 RICH. MATHEWS." 
 
 FATTAH*PETTAH, 
 
 February 8/, 1783. 
 
 Without delay, after the communication 
 of thefe inftructionb* to the other adting 
 
 officers, 
 
 * Previous alfo to the attack on the place, there were or- 
 ders of the fame date and place, from the General to the 
 troops, which were publickly read to them, and are as 
 
 follows : 
 
 i 
 
 To all Officers and others, under the command of Brigadier- 
 General Mathews : 
 
 41 You are 'hereby llriftly forbid to moleft the Bazar people, 
 '* or the inhabitants of the country in any manner, or on 
 " any pretence whatfoever, either by preffing them t carry 
 " burdens, or by taking from them their cattle ; or in fliort 
 " by depriving them of their liberty, or property in any 
 *' fhape, as you fhall anfwer the difobedience of thefe orders 
 *' to me. 
 
 (Signed) 
 
 RICHARD MATHEWS." 
 And 
 t
 
 '. 
 
 ( 4* ) 
 
 officers, and army in general, a battery was 
 conilrucl'ed with the utmoft celerity ; and, 
 being finifhed by day-break, was opened on 
 the moFning of the 151!!, againfr, the fort, 
 and with fuch effectual fuccefs, that in a few 
 hours the breach appeared practicable, and 
 preparations were made for a general aflault, 
 
 I rmift here ftop for a moment to premife, 
 that I am now come to that crifis, on which 
 refts the moil material charge brought 
 agamil the army^by Lieutenant Sheen, or 
 more properly by a certain fet of reftlefs 
 a-nd, evil-minded men, who acl: behind the 
 curtain ; and who probably made ufe of 
 'this young Officer, as a tool for accomplifh- 
 ang their b.afe and mifchievous purpofes. 
 
 And thefe orders were further enforced on the nth of Ee- 
 fcruairy, 1783, by Major Campbell at Annantpore, as may 
 appear by the following notice : 
 
 ^Injor Campbell hopes that the above orders will be ft rift ly 
 attended to; and likewile that the repented orders againft 
 plundering, will be implicitly obeyed, as no excufe whntcvcr 
 will juftify fuch an unfoldier-like practice. He therefore is 
 determined to puniih, with the utmoil feverity, the firft offen- 
 der ; and at the Tame rime aflures the troops, that they will be 
 furnifhed with provifions as regularly as circumftances can 
 
 When
 
 43 ) 
 
 << When a. practicable breach," Mr. Sheer* 
 fays, " was effected, orders were iffued foe 
 " ftorming and giving no quarter, which 
 
 ' was immediately executed; and every 
 " man was put to the fword, except one 
 " horfeman, who made his efcape, after 
 *.' being wounded in three different parts." 
 
 To this bold and daring afTertion, Khali 
 give the mcft peremptory denial ; and in, 
 order to enforce the right, I may be fuppof- 
 ed to have to that privilege, I fhall here 
 copy with the utmoft fidelity, the proceed- 
 ings of the troops, who were employed 
 in that fervice, from a Journal of the fcene 
 of aclion ; and do appeal for its accuracy, 
 and my veracity, to thofe gentlemen 
 who w r ere prefent, and whofe rank in all 
 refpects is fuperior to that of Mr. -Sheen, of 
 courfe intitles them to an equal, if not 
 better claim to the public confidence. 
 
 The ftorming party was commanded by 
 Captain Dalyell, of the forty-fecond, and 
 confifted of the Flank companies of that 
 and the hundreth Regiment. The befieged 
 made little refiftance, and, in their panic, 
 4 fled
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 fled with the utmofl precipitation into the 
 inner gateway. Our troops immediately 
 ru filing forwards with bayonets fixed in 
 purfuit of them, forced open the wicket 
 of the gate, and gained entrance; whilft 
 Others, afcending the Breach, efcaladed 
 the walls in different places. A confiderable 
 {laughter foon enfued among thofe of the 
 enemy, who had the temerity to oppofe the 
 fuperior valour of the aflailants. It muft, 
 however, be obferved, that the officers 
 tifed every precaution in their power to pre- 
 vent any acts of cruelty ; but it is very well 
 known, efpecially to military men, how di- 
 ficult it is to reftram the impetuofity of 
 troops at their firft onfet, and particularly 
 when they happen to be compofed of men, 
 who differed as much in fentiments and 
 language, as in drefs and complexion. Ne- 
 verthelefs, it is evident the Englifli troops 
 behaved on the occafion with becoming fpi- 
 rit, difdaining to take any cruel advantage 
 of the enemy's confternation, and confe- 
 quently diforder, in their defeat. 
 
 The garrifon of Annantpore before the 
 fiege, as well, according to the information 
 
 of
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 of the enemy themfelves, as from our own 
 obfervations, confifted of about four hun- 
 dred men, and the number of thofe who fell 
 in the aflault, were about two hundred and 
 twenty. The prifoners amounted to one 
 hundred and eighty, among whom many 
 were wounded; and thefe were received in- \ 
 to our own hofpitals, where they experi- 
 enced the lame care and attention we are 
 wont to give our own countrymen, and iu 
 their convalefcent ftate they were releafedas 
 the reft were. 
 
 From the {lender refinance made by the 
 garrifon in the aflaulf, the lofs of the En- 
 glifh was inconfiderable. I mould have re- 
 marked, that inch of the enemy as were 
 .made prifoners, had been exchanged for the 
 four perfons, who carried our flags of truce 
 to the fort. It appeared after taking of it, 
 that thefe men had been put in irons, and 
 (ent to Summogah, another Fort, upwards 
 of thirty miles diftant from Annan'porc, 
 At firft, it was reported by the enemy, 
 that they had been taken by, them in a 
 fortie, but this falfehood refuted, their ex- 
 change was brought about by t'ue humane 
 
 dif-
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 jdifpofition of Captain M' Culioch, who 
 gave a fum of money to the man, who in- 
 formed him of their fituation, and this was 
 the per Ion , who had chiefly affifted him iii 
 negotiating their exchange. 
 
 But if we give credit to Mr. Sheen, this 
 could not navebeen the realftate of affairs, jon 
 the reduction of Annantpore. He boldly af- 
 
 v fibres us " that a moft mocking fpectacie 
 " then prefented itfelf to. the aflonimed eye ; 
 *' upwards of four hundred beautiful women, 
 " Jlabbed 'with the bayonet, expired, or <were 
 " expiring within each others arms, whilft 
 " the private foldiers continued revelling 
 *' in all manner of excefs, having firiit 
 ** outrageoufly defiled their bodies and 
 " next plundered them of all their jewels." 
 He does not, pofitively, fay that the officers 
 countenanced them in thefeacls of barbarity ; 
 but faintly exprefles himfelf, that they were 
 not able to re (train them, as if tacitly they 
 
 . approved what was done. 
 
 It muft be a fine army indeed ! where 
 there is no fubordination, no refpeft for 
 command, and where the private foldier 
 
 can
 
 47 ; 
 
 can dare to tell his officer, he will obey 
 only when it may he convenient to. hun* 
 But why do nations en acl mutiny laws, and 
 think it rational to enforce them with ri- 
 gour ? In vain they do it, if every foUHer 
 was of the difpofition of thofe, fo prepdf- 
 teroufly reprefented by Mr, Sheen. Stilf, 
 you will fay, that fuch palpable calumny, 
 and wilful mifreprefentatioit of fa 61s, might 
 admit of fome degree of exte'nuation, as 
 coming from fo contemptible a perfon, as 
 the author of fo wicked an afperfion, \vhofe 
 credit, it is to be hoped, can never miilead 
 any reader. The hiftorian, I make no douh?, 
 will never rely on fuch information, efpe- 
 cially if circumfpeft in weighing the merit 
 of his authorities. If otherwife difpoled, 
 he may, indeed, in the fpirit of a partv wri- 
 ter, propagate error for truth, and obtrude 
 upon his readers a ftore of fanciful inveir- 
 tions, which the ignorant and malevolent 
 are always ready to circulate. Acid to tnis, 
 that the mifchief increafes, and few mav 
 refute the miftakes they are led into, when 
 they read of tranfaclions and events in verv 
 
 - ^ 
 
 diftant regions. We may labour alfo under 
 no fmall difficulty to learn the true ftate-of 
 
 thofe
 
 i/ 
 
 thofe occurrences, which daily pafs round 
 us; as it may happen, that the more inti- 
 mately we are concerned in any tranfaction, 
 the more abfurdly we may find it difcufled 
 by mere conjectural knowledge in the pub- 
 lic accounts of it. In the preceding cafe, 
 as matters have been reprefented in England, 
 the Public were taught to regard the fate of 
 General Mathew r s, and the unfortunate gen- 
 tlemen, who were taken prifoners with him 
 at Bidnure, rather as malefactors, condem- 
 ned by the wrath of heaven, than as men, 
 who glorioufly fuffered in the caufe of their 
 country. But can any believe it ? Is it pro- 
 bable ? or, has it been the practice of the 
 Britifh nation in Hindooflan, cruelly to maf- 
 facre innocent women and children ? From 
 my own knowledge of the officers employed 
 on the fervice, I am clear that they were 
 incapable of aflenting to fuch an act. 
 
 That fome few women and children of 
 Annantpore were unfortunately killed du- 
 ring the fevere cannonade, or in the aflault 
 of the place, is a circumftance not to be 
 denied. It was abfolutely unavoidable in 
 fuch a fituation : but that they were rudely 
 
 i put
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 to the bayonet, from the bafe motive of 
 plundering or defiling them, is entirely with- 
 out foundation. From the teftimony of 
 feveral gentlemen, refpedtable for candour 
 and integrity, who were on that feryice, 
 it may be depended on that no more than fix 
 women and children were unfortunately v 
 killed, owing to their having been expofed 
 to our fire promifcuou fly with thegarrifon : 
 And fo far from any kind of violence 
 having been offered to the perfons of the 
 women, on the night after the capture of 
 the place, a houfe was allotted for their re- 
 ception, and a guard of our Sepoys was or- 
 dered for their protection. The next morn- 
 ing, they were conducted by an efcort 
 beyond the limits of the fort, with per- 
 mirlion to proceed from Annantpore where- 
 ever they pleafed. 
 
 Lieutenant Sheen further fays, " I had 
 <c alrnoft forgot to mention, that fome of 
 " the women, rather than be torn from 
 " their relations, threw themfelves into 
 large tanks, where they were drowned." 
 While credulity prevails, there will always 
 be abundance of falmoods propagated by 
 D artful
 
 artful and defigning men; and there is 
 nothing fo improhable as will not be be- 
 lieved by fome. But I am not here oblig- 
 ed to rely on the information of others* 
 as I can, from my own knowledge and 
 obfervation relate facts, which, I truft, 
 muft fpeak to the common fenfe of man* 
 kind, and refute every fyllable that has 
 been published by Mr/ Sheen, relative to 
 the tranfa&ions of the army at Annant- 
 pore. 
 
 Lieutenant Sheen alfo adds : " That the 
 V " troops were afterwards feverely repri- 
 " manded for their licentious behaviour." 
 This too I pronounce to be equally falfe 
 and groundlefs; for, fo far from having been 
 reprimanded for licentioufnefs, the army 
 received the thanks* of their commander, 
 
 for 
 
 * Extra?! from the Central orders, iffued ly Major Campld!, 
 
 at Ann ant pore i February i6/Z> 1783. 
 
 *' MAJOR CAMPBELL returns his thanks to the army, for 
 ' their fpirited conduct, yeftcrday ; and particularly his 
 * acknowledgements to Captain Dalyell, and the Officers and 
 ' non-commifTioncd Officers and Privates of the Flankr 
 ' companies of the foity-fecond R.egimcnt, who headed the 
 ' florm ; but flrongly recommends in future, .when the Buy- 
 " onet muft be made ufe of, that a fl'.ct fliould n^vcr be 
 "' fired'." 
 
 The
 
 ( 5' ) 
 
 for their fpirited exertions and good conduct 
 during the attack. The fabricator of ca- 
 lumnies, fo eafily refuted, is more anobjecl: 
 of pity than of refentment, unlefs we fup- 
 pofe that his affertions are not fo much 
 the refult of ignorance as of a malignant and 
 perverfe difpofition. When a charge, fo fe- 
 fioiis and deliberate, is insinuated againft a 
 body of. men, many of whom were of high 
 rank and character, furely fome more plau- 
 fible reafons mould be afligned than the 
 mere ipfe dlxlt of Lieutenant Sheen. Such 
 dreams of aflafii nation, muft therefore be 
 Confldered as the illufion of a difordered 
 brain, or he muft be held forth to public 
 infamy for having gratified the predominant 
 malignancy of his mind, in wilfully taking 
 occafion to calumniate and vilify his com- 
 mander in chief; and if fo, I cannot help 
 reminding him, that he is amenable to 
 D ^ the 
 
 The ftri(5li"ft orders were alfo at the fume time given for pre- 
 venting difturbances of any fort ; and accordingly the grt-ateft 
 attention was paid by the officers to keep the foidiers from mo- 
 lefting any of the inhabitants, as any four.d fo offending, were 
 to be inflantly pumflicd.
 
 C 5* ) 
 
 the martial law, for the different parts of 
 his conduct, which are come to our know- 
 ledge, and which have been either {lightly 
 mentioned or expofed, in the foregoing pa- 
 ges. For when a perfon, to whatever 
 defcription of men he may belong, whether 
 civil, ecclefiaftical or military, fets himfelf 
 above the laws, and thofe regulations which 
 enjoin a due fubordination, he ought to be 
 difcountenanced by the whole community. 
 And has not the author of this ma- 
 licious defamation, done every thing in his 
 power to annihilate that confidence, which 
 ought to be placed in the commander in 
 chief of an army, by expofing him, and 
 every officer and foldicr under him, to 
 public contempt and hatred ? has he not 
 reprefented them as tyrants ; and in 
 fome refpects, more cruelly oppreflive than 
 the inftruments of Turkifh defpotifm ? has 
 he not accufed them of having violated the 
 law of nations, forgotten their duty, tar- 
 nimed their honour, and proftituted their 
 confciences like venal wretches fully difpofed 
 to opprefs the defencelefs inhabitants of a 
 country? and not only to opprefs, but, for 
 i the
 
 53 ; 
 
 the bafeft lucre, to imbrue their hands In 
 the blood of innocent women and children. 
 
 It is a known and nniverfdlrule of war, 
 amongft civilized nations, that places ta- 
 ken by ftorm, and without any capitulation, 
 are expofed to all the miferies, which the 
 conquerors may choofe to inflict. 
 
 Annantpore was in this horrid fituation ; 
 confequently the lives of the inhabitants, 
 with every thing belonging to them, were 
 entirely at the mercy of the Englifh troops. 
 But chriftianity, humanity, the dignity of 
 the Britim nation, and their own feelings as 
 men, induced them not to exert the right of 
 conqueft in its utmoft rigour ; though two 
 of their Flags of truce fent into the fort 
 at different times, had been detained, the 
 bearers put in irons, and caft into a dun- 
 geon, contrary to the laws of war. 
 
 I do not here pretend to define what is 
 generally understood by the laws of war. 
 Civilized nations ought not to adopt the laws 
 or cuftoms of other countries, which are 
 yet in a flate of barbarity. It will there- 
 D 3 fore
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 fore, be fufficient to obferve, that there are 
 nations whp confider themielves as autho- 
 rized by their own laws, or rather caprices, 
 tp put to death every individual belonging 
 to the enerny, who may fall into their 
 hands, without regard to age orfex, 
 
 But without further obfervation on this 
 matter, we may conclude the conduct of a 
 General to be cruel, when the mifchkf 
 done to the enemy, exceed in a confiderable/ 
 degree, the advantages to be derived from, 
 them. 
 
 Of the many characterises which diftin*- 
 guifh a civilized flate of iociety, the moil 
 endearing is that of humanity, difplayed 
 by nations at war with each other, in the 
 treatment of their captives. To public 
 virtue may be added, the private feelings 
 of the heart, ever melting into companion 
 at fight of another's woe ; men, who fo feel, 
 may be called citizens of the world ! be- 
 caufe pach fellow-creature in diftrefs, be- 
 comes the object pf their pity and regard. 
 Their fentiments, therefore, muft not only 
 be grounded on the principles of morality, 
 
 but
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 but may likewife derive additional force 
 from mnxims of policy and prudential 
 motives, as amid the various and uncer- 
 tain revolutions of human affairs, we may 
 contemplate the misfortunes of others, with 
 the eye of pity to-day, and to-morrow, per- 
 haps, being placed in the fame fituation our- 
 felves, may look for a return of the confo 
 lation we have given, 
 
 In every line and rank of life, that affec- 
 tion of the mind which we denominate fym- 
 pathy, ought to be cherifhed; but by noclafs 
 of men more than thofe who follow the pro- 
 feffion of arms. The fcenes in which foldiers 
 are often unavoidably engaged, tend to deaden, 
 if not wholly to eradicate the fentiments of 
 pity and remorfe. There are, however, fome 
 difpoiitions fo tender and humane, as to 
 reiift the ill effects of the cruel fpectacles 
 which foldiers are fometjmes obliged to 
 witnefs. Sertorius, Brutus, Titus, and many 
 other heroes of antiquity, though they 
 fpent the greater part of their lives in camps, 
 feem never to have loft fight of their natu- 
 rul humanity. But, dqubtlefs, difpofitions 
 naturally cruel are rendered more callous, 
 by fcenes of blood. Caligula, Nero, Domi- 
 P 4
 
 t:an, and many others amongft the anticnts 
 became, by habit, wholly infenfibk to luf- 
 ferings of their fellow-creatures. 
 
 The ferocity of thefe latter, and other- 
 like fcourgers of the human-race, increafed 
 to fuch a degree, that they feemed to have 
 been no lefs delighted with acts of cruelty, 
 than the former with thofc of benevo- 
 lence. Hannibal was naturally cruel ; and 
 the fuperiority of Scifio's character over 
 that of the Carthaginian, was owing more to 
 his, benevolence and humanity, than to his 
 extraordinary fuccefs. in arms, 
 
 I have been led into thefe reflexions by 
 the cruel and iniidious treatment which fo 
 many diftinguimed characters experienced, 
 who unfortunately fell into the hands of 
 that difgrace of the human form, Tippoo 
 Sultan. He, among other moderns of the 
 fame character, may be faid to be a living 
 example of Eaftern barbarity. Even his 
 lather, the implacable Hyder Ali Khan, 
 has been exceeded by him in acts of the 
 moft unparalelled cruelty ; his favage man- 
 ners
 
 V 57 ) 
 
 ncrs yielding only to the bafenefs and ma* 
 ligniry of his heart. 
 
 But humanity, as 'well as political con- 
 federations forbid our attempting to retali- 
 ate his unexampled perfidy and cruelty. 
 We were, therefore, obliged to reft content- 
 ed with the more lenient mode of verbal re- 
 mouftrance to effect the releafe of thofe 
 gentlemen, whom he detained againffc the 
 laws of war, and the dictates of humanity. 
 
 Thefe confiderations, I truft, were pro- 
 perly reprefented to him, and urged with 
 that peculiar fpirit and energy which the 
 nature of the cafe fo ftrongly required. All 
 we have to lament is, that his hardened 
 foul refitted their influence ; and on that 
 account it is that I wifh to exhibit him as 
 truly infamous and deteftable. 
 
 In conjunction with him, our indignation, 
 ihould rife againfl the fhameful conduct of 
 the French Governor of Cuddalore, and 
 of M. Suffrein. Not all the reputation for 
 activity, perfeverance and valour, which 
 the latter acquired in India, will (kreen this 
 
 part
 
 part of his conduct from deteftation. Con- 
 trary to the inftinft of humanity, the fpi- 
 rit ofClmftianity, and the honour of a fol- 
 dier, he gave up to his infidel ally the Bri- 
 tim prifoners, whom the fortune of war 
 had put in his power ; when, acquainted as 
 he was with the difpofition of Tippoo, he 
 muft have known that he was fending them 
 to mifery or death. What can \vipe away 
 the {lain of fo infamous a transaction ? Who 
 that hears the ftory of thofe unhappy men, 
 can refrain from imprecating vengeance on 
 all who were inftrumental to their fuller- 
 ings ? As well on Suffrein and Tippoo, as 
 on thofe among ourfelves, who having had 
 it in their power to relieve them, left them 
 to their fate without fuccouror protection. 
 
 But let us for a moment turn our eyes 
 from fo difagreeable a picture, and com- 
 fort ourfelves with the pleafing retrofpedl: 
 of the genuine Britim character, in which 
 every worthy and generous fentiment, 
 fprings up and flourishes, as in its na- 
 tive foil. Agreeable to your requeft in 
 my next, I promife myfelf the pleafure of 
 being able to furnifh you with a fuccinct 
 
 account
 
 ( 59 ) 
 
 account of the moft remarkable events 
 that happened in the late fiege of Mangu- 
 lore, and 'till then, with the utmoft at- 
 tachment and refpedt, 
 
 J remain, c. 
 
 LET-
 
 ( 61 ) 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 Calcutta, February 20, 1787. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 ACCORDING to my promife, I 
 have here delineated for your inspection, a 
 {ketch of thofe important military opera- 
 tions on the weftern fide of India, which 
 Succeeded the recapture of Bidnure, by 
 Tippo Sultan, and I wifh, for your fake, it 
 had been a fmifhed picture, but then it would 
 have exceeded the limits of thofe ideas I 
 commenced with. However, as I elucidate 
 all the tranfa&ions of the (iege of Mangu- 
 lore, you will have enough, for fuch informa- 
 tion as vou defire to communicate to others. 
 The reiterated proofs of friendfhip with which 
 you have honoured me, encourage me fur- 
 ther to hope, that though at times you muft 
 experience pain, you will feel that pain pal- 
 liated by pleating reflections on thofe re- 
 mark*
 
 C 62 ) 
 
 markable occurrences wherein Great Britain 
 has been fo eflentially interefted in this 
 part of Hindooftan. 
 
 F Mangulore, otherwife called Cortal Bunder? 
 isfituated in about 13. 01' north latitude, 
 and 72. oo'. eaft longitude from London. 
 It is about one hundred miles diftant from Se- 
 * lingapatam, the capital of Tippoo Sultan's 
 dominions. As lying within the tropics,- 
 it may be imagined, that it experiences all 
 the inconveniencies of fultry heat, ufual 
 in thofe latitudes ; but the refreming fea- 
 breeze, which daily cools the air, renders 
 it not only falubrious, but exceedingly plea- 
 fant and agreeable to European conftitutions. 
 The port is commodious, and fufficiently 
 extenfive to contain any number of vef- 
 fels ; the only defect is, that there is not a 
 fufficient depth of water for large mips on 
 the bar. Notwithftanding this difadvantage, 
 there cannot be a better ntuation for trade, 
 being nearly the central part of the coaft 
 of Malabar; for by commanding,- as it 
 does, the greater part of the commerce of 
 the Bidnure and Myfore provinces, it will 
 
 always
 
 always continue to be a place of the ut^ 3 
 importance. 
 
 When the country was governed by the , 
 Kings of Canara, it was the moft charm- / 
 ing, fertile, and opulent of any in Afia. 
 The whole coaft is copioufly watered by a 
 number of rivers, flowing from fources 
 in the Ghaut-Mountains, and emptying 
 themfelves into the fea. It is likewife an 
 almoft inexhauftible granary for rice, with 
 which it fupnlies the coafts of Arabia and 
 Perfia. The trade, however, carried on from 
 Mangulore has been much on the decline, 
 (ince the country fubmitted to the yoke 
 of Hyder Ali Khan. 
 
 The fortrefs of Mangulore, is fituated o-n 
 an eminence, oppofite the entrance of the 
 river, and this appears to be the fpot where 
 the Portugueze Factory formerly flood. 
 Hyder, defirous of conitru<5ting a citadel 
 for the defence of the harbour and city, em- 
 ployed for that purpofe, in the year 1774, 
 M. Catini, a French engineer in his fer- 
 vice. The iituation, neverthelefs, was ill 
 cliofen, and the ftru&ure, which is accord- 
 ing to the Eaflern manner of fortification, 
 
 appears
 
 
 appears by experience to have been extreme* 
 ly injudicious, and but ill calculated to 
 withftand the force of heavy artillery, and 
 the European method of carrying on ap- 
 proaches. 
 
 During the war of 1768, between the 
 Englifh and Hyder, an army was fent 
 from Bombay, to attack his pofleflions on 
 that fide of India. The refiftancethey met 
 with being weak, Mangulore was eafily re- 
 duced. Intelligence of the lofs reaching 
 Hyder, who was at that time with his grand 
 army in the Carnatic, he inftantly difpatch- 
 ed his fon Tippoo Saheb with a conlider- 
 able force to recover the place. Tippoo 
 having with great art concealed his route, 
 he moved along with incredible rapidity 
 towards the coaft of Malabar, and arrived 
 in a fhort time at his place of defoliation. 
 His fudden and unexpected appearance 
 communicated fuch diforder and panic 
 among the Englifh troops, that though en- 
 camped on a very favourable fituation for 
 defence, the ground being high, particu- 
 larly in front, and commanding an exten- 
 
 five
 
 five view of the adjacent country, they not- 
 withfbnding abandoned their pofl, and 
 flying with the utmoft precipitation, were 
 purfued to the gates of Mangulore, by the 
 enemy's cavalry, w r ho entered the placs 
 pell mell, with the fugitives. 
 
 This attack was executed with fo much 
 diligence and addrefs by Tippoo, and pro- 
 duced fuch great diforder among the Eng- 
 lifh troops, that very few had time to make 
 their efcape on board the fhips ; and their 
 mameful flight added to the ardor of the 
 enemy, who immediately embarked and 
 captured three veiTels before they were able 
 to clear the harbour. In this manner the 
 whole of the Englim army were made pri- 
 foners, confiding of the Commander in 
 chief, forty fix officers, about fix 'hundred 
 Europeans, and near five thoufand native 
 troops, together with the artillery and 
 baggage. 
 
 It was not till after the furrender 
 
 of Bidnure in the beginning of 1783, that 
 
 the Englifh became again repofleffed of 
 
 Mangulore. The expedition under Brigadier 
 
 E General
 
 ( 66 ) 
 
 General Mathews* was fo brilliant and fi 
 fuccefsful at this period, and fo rapid 
 the progrefs of the Englifh. arms on that 
 fide of India, that it a-ftonimed and terrified 
 their enemies. For befides the province of 
 Bidnure, a conqueft was made of almofi 
 the whole of the low country, to the weft- 
 ward of the Ghauts, extending from Car- 
 war to near Cochin, in lefs than fix weeks ; 
 the fortrefs of Mangulore, and fome other 
 places on the fea-coaft excepted, which 
 held out till the months of March and 
 April following. 
 
 On the ^ift of January 1783, a detach- 
 ment of the army marched from Bidnure 
 againfr, Mangulore, with an order from. 
 Hyat Saheb, late Jemautdar of the province, 
 to the Killahdaur of that fortrefs, de firing 
 him to furrender it to the En glim army. 
 This detachment having reached that place 
 on the 6th of February, the garrifon 
 was fummonedj but the governor refufed 
 complying with the order, and prepared to 
 ftand on his defence. The Englim not 
 venturing to proceed to an immediate at* 
 tack, encamped about three miles from 
 
 the
 
 the fort, till they were joined by a rein* 
 forcement, with the battering cannon from 
 Cundapore. On their approach to the 
 fort, they met with confiderable oppofi- 
 tion from the enemy, who fprung feveral 
 mines by which we loft upwards of feventy 
 men : but notwithstanding the inferiority 
 of our force, the enemy were driven from 
 theirout-pofts and batteries, and obliged to 
 retire within the fort, 
 
 The operations, however. Went on but 
 flowly, or were rather fufpended, till the 
 sift, when General Mathews arrived from / 
 Bidnure, with a confiderable reinforcement 
 of Europeans and Sepoys. And the Kil- 
 lahdaur mewing an intention to ftand a 
 liege, the place was compleatly invefted. 
 On the 8th of March, a battery of five 
 eighteen pounders was opened on the fouth, 
 with a mortar battery on the north fide, 
 the former at about one hundred and fifty 
 yards diftance from the rampart. About 
 fix o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy be- 
 ing apprehen five that the breach was prac- 
 ticable, and that our troops would attempt 
 to carry the place byaflault at night, Ruf- 
 E a turn
 
 ( 68 ) 
 
 turn Ali Beg, the Killahdaur, fent a flag 
 of truce to the General, with propofals 
 for furrendering on terms of capitulation : 
 which being agreed to, it was ftipulated 
 that the private property of every denomi- 
 nation fhould be fecured to the enemy, with 
 permiffion to depart wherever they thought 
 proper* 
 
 The fort was accordingly fufrendered the 
 next morning, and at this, and other fea- 
 ports of Tippoo Sultan's dominions on the 
 coafl of Malabar, twelve mips of war,* 
 of from 64 to 36 guns, moft of which were 
 on the (locks, and their hulls nearly fmifhed, 
 tinder the direction of European artificers : 
 
 with 
 
 * Docks may be conftrucled on different parts of this coaft, 
 Sufficient not only for repairing, but building (hips of the 
 line. To thefe it is eafy to bring excellent timber from the 
 interior parts of the country, fo that whatever relates to build- 
 ing or repairing may be done as perfectly in as England, The 
 "Teke Ti-ee, called by Fry<r,the Indian oak, grows in moft of theie 
 parts ; and is efteemed better for its durability in water, than the 
 Englifli oak. Ships built of that wood, and ufed in the country 
 trade, laft thirty or forty years, and fome hare been known 
 to laft niuch longer*
 
 \vith thirty other veffels of inferior force, 
 and about one hundred Gallivats. and armed 
 bonts of different denominations, together 
 with immenfe quantities of naval frores, 
 and other valuable articles fell into the 
 hands of the captors. 
 
 On the yth of April following, Deckalor 
 Deckuli, a ftrong fort fituated on the fea- 
 coaft, to the fouthward of Mangulore, was 
 taken by ftorm after a vigorous refinance, 
 and the greater part of the garrifon fell' in 
 the affault. The lofs of the Englifh was 
 very inconfiderable, being only four Euro- 
 pean privates killed, one officer, one fer- 
 jeant, and feven privates wounded. 
 
 General Mathews returned to Bidnure 
 immediately after adjufting the capitula- 
 tion of Mangulore. And about this time 
 intelligence was received from the coaft of 
 Coromandel,that Tippoo Sultan had fentthe 
 greater part of his army out of the^ Carnatiq 
 through the Changama-pafs ; and it was ex^ 
 pedted that he himfelf would foon follow, 
 and ufe,hisutmoft endeavours to recover 
 his valuable pofleffionsin theBidnure coun- 
 B 3 try,
 
 I 7 ) 
 
 try. At this time the Englim army 
 was difperfed in fo many different de- 
 tachments, that the General found him- 
 felf unequal to an enemy of force, either 
 in the held, or in any of his quarters. All 
 his brilliant victories were, therefore, far 
 from being either folid or decifive ; and 
 -ieemed merely calculated to dazzle, or de- 
 ceive thofe wliQ were remote from the fcene 
 pf action, 
 
 ,*>'-"' 
 
 The intelligence of Tippoo's approach, 
 
 proved 'exactly true, for on the 6th of April, 
 the vanguard of his army appeared before 
 Bidnure ; and the place being foon aftey 
 clofely invented, after a fiege 'of feven- 
 teen days, propofals were iriade by the 
 General for a furreader by capitulation. 
 Nothing could have been more acceptable 
 to Tippoo, than this proportion. It accor- 
 ded with all his views, and being complied 
 with, the garrifon marched cut: of the fort 
 with the honors of war, o.n the 28th of 
 April, and piled their arms on the glacis. 
 j The articles particularly fpecified, that the 
 General, when joined by the garrifons of 
 Annautpore and Cowladroog, was to be at 
 
 full
 
 ( 7' ) 
 
 full liberty to march unmolefled, with all 
 private property from Bidnure to Goa, by 
 way of Seda/bagur^ and thence to embark 
 for Bombay. But thefe conditions, were not 
 attended to, the garrifon were efcorted by a 
 ftrong body of the enemy to a tank, a- 
 bout the diftance of half a mile from the 
 city gate, where that brave but unfortunate 
 body of men were furrounded by the ene- 
 my's horfe and foot, fentinels being pott- 
 ed on every {ide, beyond whom no perfon 
 had permiffion to pafs, The regulars after- 
 wards proceeded to difarm, and force them 
 to become prifoners at difcretion. It was in 
 vain to expoftulate on fo bafe a violation of 
 the moft folemn treaty, contrary to the 
 adopted rules of war. The garrifon being 
 difarmed were fent into the interior parts of 
 the country, linked two and two, and con- 
 fined in feparate ftrong forts loaded with 
 fetters. Who, pofleffing humanity or a 
 love of juflice, can withold the tear of fym- 
 pathy, to the memory of thofe brave men, 
 facrificed in the fervice of their country, 
 and claiming all the grateful remembrance, 
 and honourable teftimony, which the living 
 can pay to departed worth ? 
 
 E 4 About
 
 ( 7* ) 
 
 About the latter end of April, the Na- 
 bob fent a detachment of his army amount- 
 ing to about 4000 men horfe and foot, who 
 defcended the Ghauts, under the command 
 ofHuffain Ali Khan, and encamped with- 
 in four miles of Mangulore. Towards 
 midnight on the 6th of May, Colonel Camp- 
 bell with about 1400 regular troops, de 
 termined to fuprize their camp, and having 
 reached them about day break, after an ir- 
 fegular fire which continued for a few mi- 
 nutes, they gave way and fled with preci- 
 pitation, leaving behind them four fix 
 /pounders, field artillery, with the travelling 
 carriages compleat, and 1 80 draught-bul- 
 locks. Their lofs in killed and w r ounded is 
 uncertain, but fuppofed to have 'been iricpn- 
 jlderable. That of the Englifh, was two 
 European privates killed, one Captain, and 
 
 one fubaltern, with one private wounded. 
 
 .. 
 
 This defeat, however, accelerated Tip- 
 poo's march. Having put the garrifon of 
 Bidnure in order, and fettled the affairs of 
 the country, and flufhed with the in- 
 glorious victory he had gained over Ge- 
 neral Mathews, he afiembled the My fere 
 
 army,
 
 ( 73 ) 
 
 army, and with the aid of his allies, the 
 French, he directed his further operations 
 towards the coafl of Malabar, determined 
 to reduce the other garrifons and polls 
 which ftill remained in porTeflion of the Eng- 
 lifh, on that fide of the peninfula. 
 
 Having met with no material oppofition 
 on his march, the vanguard of his army 
 reached the heights of Cuddrie, -within four 
 miles of Mangulore on the ipth of May. V 
 The day following, by intelligence receiv- 
 ed from deferters, the main body of his ar- 
 my was found to amount to upwards of one 
 hundred and thirty thoufand fighting men, 
 fix hundred of whom were French European 
 infantry, under the command of Colonel 
 Coffigny, together with a troop of French ** 
 difmounted cavalry, and a corps confifring 
 partly of natives, and Europeans of different 
 nations, under the command of Col. Lally,* 
 and Monf. Boodena a Captain in the French 
 
 fervice. 
 
 *Col. Lally,is faid to be a native of Rumilly, a town of 
 Savoy. In the war before the laft, he left his native country 
 in cjuefl of better fortune, and entered in the fervice of the 
 
 French
 
 ( 74 ) 
 
 fervice. Tippoo had befides with him a 
 confiderable field train of artillery, and 
 about one hundred and twenty pieces of 
 
 battering 
 
 French Eaft India Company, in which he firft became a fer- 
 jeant. By his activity and induitry, he loon acquired a 
 fmall competency towards his future fupport in life ; but at 
 theclofe of that war, the fliip in which he was returning to 
 Europe, being taken by the Englifti, he loft both his liberty and 
 the fruits of his induftry. On the return of peace, he was ex- 
 changed, and from London he again patted over to India. 
 Sometime after, chagrined by the treatment he had formerly 
 received, he quitted the fervice of the Company, and enter- 
 ed himfelf in a military party called the Swifs, who hired 
 their fervices to the Indian Princes. By his military talents 
 and bravery he focn diftinguiihed himfelf from his comrades ; 
 and in the year 1775, whilft in the ferwice of the Nabob of 
 Adoni, he was honoured by the King of France with the 
 title of Major by brevet. Afterwards he commanded a corps 
 of 4000 men, and received a fecond mark of favour from his 
 moft Chriftian Majefty, who fent him a brevet commiffiou 
 of Colonel of infantry, with the Crofs of St. Louis. 
 
 The Englifli knowing the attachment 'of Colonel Lally to 
 the French, and being perfuaced that he was active in under- 
 mining their intereft with the Nabob of Adoni, intrigued fa 
 fuccefsfullv with that Prince, that he was obliged to quit his 
 'fervice, but in a very honourable manner. He then went 
 with his corps to Nizam Ali, NuLob of the Decan, and bro- 
 ther to the Nabob of Adoni. The Englifh purfued him it ill at 
 this court, and at laft he offered his fervice to Hyder A]!, 
 whofe efteem and confidence he foon gained, by his gallant 
 manner of behaviour at the head of his corps, which confifird. 
 chiefly of Europeans.
 
 ( 75 ) 
 
 battering cannon of different calibers. Tha 
 whole of this formidable force being arrived, 
 they occupied all the heights within three 
 and four miles diftance of the garrifon of 
 Mangulore. A river lay on the right and 
 left, and their encampment extended about 
 four or five miles in a femicircular direc- 
 tion. 
 
 The chief command of the Englifh for- 
 ces on the coaft of Malabar, was at this 
 critical conjuncture provifionally conferred 
 by the Prefident and Select Committee of, 
 Bombay, on Colonel Campbell. As it 
 happened, he was extremely unfortunate 
 refpecting intelligence concerning this ra- 
 pid movement, and unexpected approach 
 of the enemy : for notwithstanding the ful- 
 left information had been obtained from the 
 inhabitants of the country, as well as 
 from deferters, of the furrender of Bidnure, 
 and the captive ft ate of General Mathews 
 and his nrmy,it was hardly believed at Man- 
 gulore, till the place was compleatly inveft- 
 ed. There was another affair of the utmofl 
 confequence, which deferves to be equally 
 lamented, that no attention had been paid 
 
 2 tO
 
 to the means of procuring a proper fupply 
 of provisions and other neeeflaries, both for 
 the fecurity of tlie garri;b:i, and againft the 
 Monfoon, which was juft then fetting in; 
 befides which no care had been taken to 
 repair the defects of the fortifications. In 
 &ort the'wants in every department, were 
 fo ihamefully guarded againft, that the fu- 
 ture profpeft of the troops, now became 
 truly alarming. It is true, this want of 
 fore fight cannot be faid? to have originated 
 fblely with the commander in chief; ftill 
 he might be blamed for confiding too 
 much in the near approach of the heavy 
 rains, and the prefumption he entertained, 
 that the enemy could not think of a ferious 
 attack at fo late a feafon of the year, and 
 under fuch obvious difadvantages. We 
 may, however, to thefe circumdances im- 
 pute the lofs of many brave officers and 
 men. They were too much expoled to tho 
 enemy's fire ; and the want" of a fufficient 
 number of houfes, and the fcarcity of ma- 
 terials for conftrurling fuitable accom- 
 modations for the troops within the walls, 
 were afterwards the caufe of 'great ficknefs 
 and defertion. ; . 
 
 At
 
 ( 77 ') 
 
 At' the commencement of the fiege, the 
 ftrength of the garriibii confided of about 
 five hundred and forty Europeans, and two 
 thoufand eight hundred and fifty Sepoys, ^ 
 About this time an incident happened, that 
 had the enemy been poflTefled of eminent 
 courage, or military talents* the confe- 
 qucnce mud inevitably have proved fatal 
 to the English army, and they would have 
 been rendered incapable of winning thofe 
 laurels, they afterwards fo glorioufly ac- 
 quired. Two battalions of Sepoys, a few 
 pieces of light artillery, with an adequate 
 number of European gunners, were de- 
 tached under Captain Edward Nugent of 
 the Company's fervice, to occupy a ftrong 
 pofition, fituated about twelve hundred 
 ^ards eaflward of the fort. This was a very 
 extenfive hill. When in poffeffion of Hvder, 
 a flight retrenchment had been thrown up 
 to the fouthward of it ; and every other 
 part except to the weftward, was almoft 
 inacceifible. It commanded the two prin- 
 cipal roads leading to the town and fortrefs 
 of Mangulore ; and on that account only it 
 appeared eligible to keep poflcuion of it. 
 But though from natural and acquired ad- 
 vantages
 
 vantages, it might be deemed of equal utility 
 and importance, there were weighty mo- 
 tives for judging it extremely hazardous, at 
 this critical juncture, to retain pofleffion of 
 a pofr fo far di ft a lit from the garrifon, and 
 of fuch great extent, that the whole of 
 our force was not adequate to its defence. 
 Befides it was not furnimed with a (ingle 
 magazine of ammunition or provifions, nor 
 did it afford any water ; and in cafe of an 
 attack, its diftance from the garrifon was 
 fuch, as rendered it impoffible for them to 
 afford it the leaft relief or protection ; and 
 confequently the enemy had it in their 
 power to cut off the whole detachment. 
 But although their different movements 
 evidently indicated a fudden attack in that 
 quarter, and clearly pointed out the nece 
 fity of withdrawing the troops : yet, Co- 
 lonel Campbell, contrary to the general 
 voice of his officers, and at the ri Ik of the 
 lofs of his whole army, founded his hopes 
 of defence, on the confidence he had in the 
 natural ftrength of the place. 
 
 According to what was expected, at day 
 'break on the 23d of May, the enemy open- 
 ed
 
 ( 79 ) 
 
 ed a battery of four guns upon this out-poft, 
 from that part of their encampment which 
 lay neareft on one of the oppofite hills. 1m- 
 mediatelyafter feveral large columns of their 
 troops advanced to a brifk attack, which con- 
 tinued about twenty minutes, under 'an in- 
 cefiant fire of cannon, muiketry, and rock- 
 ets: and fuch was the great fuperiority of the 
 enemy over our troops, that the latter 
 were forced to abandon their {ration, and 
 retreat precipitately towards the fort. Be- 
 fore their defperate fituation was perfectly, 
 known, the 42d regiment, and a corps 
 of Sepoys, were ordered out to fupport 
 them ; but this reinforcement was not able 
 to reach the hill till its defenders had been 
 driven from it in great diforder. The detach- 
 ment, however, having joined them, on 
 their retreat, the fpirited exertions of the of- 
 ficers, by animating the troops, confiderably 
 retarded the progrefs of the enemy, and en- 
 abled a numberof the fugitives toefcape. The 
 behaviour of our Europeans on this occa- 
 fion, was by no means fuch as might have 
 been expected from troops, who had hither- 
 to been particularly diftinguimed for their 
 intrepid conduct, and contempt of danger. 
 
 The
 
 The enemy, thus encouraged by their" fiie- 
 cefs, had the temerity to advance within 
 musket mot of the covert-way. But as 
 foon as the artillery of the garrifon, which 
 was directed upon them with the utmoft 
 precifion, began to take effect, they quickly 
 withdrew to a refpectful diftance. The 
 lofs of the Englifh on this occafion, was one 
 European officer killed, one wounded, and 
 three miffing, with upwards of two hundred 
 and fifty Sepoys killed, wounded, and made 
 prifoners. Immediately after this unfortu- 
 nate bufmefs, all our other ports, except 
 the Caik-battery, were evacuated, and the 
 whole of the troops withdrawn under cover 
 of the cannon of the garrifon. 
 
 It is not furprifmg, that after hazarding 
 fo difagreeable an event* the Commander in 
 Chief mould endeavour to throw the blame 
 from himlelf. The compafs of what was ori- 
 ginally intended to be written on this fub- 
 jedt, will not permit us to examine into a 
 multiplicity of particulars. Still it is but 
 juftice to the character of Captain Nu- 
 gent to remark, that his bravery and pru- 
 dent conduct were equally confpicuous 
 
 on
 
 ( 8' ) 
 
 on this as on every occafion, during the 
 courfe of the fiege ; in which it was evident- 
 ly apparent, that he was poflefled of the 
 greatell profeffional Ikill, as well as the 
 moft perfect courage ; and from affidu- 
 ous attention to his duty, joined to a real 
 knowledge of the fervice, and conftant care 
 and precifion in the difcharge of his fubor- 
 dinate {ration, it may be truly affirmed, 
 that he was not only intitled to every degree 
 of praife,but had alfo the mofl indifputable 
 claim to promotion. 
 
 The enemy having proved thus far fuc- 
 Cefsful in di (lodging our out-poll, it was 
 expected with fome confidence, as already- 
 mentioned, that the approaching Monfoon 
 would oblige them to fufpend their ope- 
 rations till the return of the fair feafon. 
 In this cafe, our little army muit have been 
 perfectly quiet during the continuance of 
 the rains. The proximity of Tellicher- 
 ry made it eafy, on the change of the fea- 
 fon, to tranfmit thence, as well as from 
 Bombay, fuch fupplies and reinforcements as 
 might enable the garrifon to take the field. 
 Thefe were our hopes ; but the enemy, to 
 F make
 
 ( 82 ) 
 
 make the rnoft of their advantages over our 
 weak flare, comparatively to their own, did 
 not remain inactive. The approach of the 
 rainy feafon rather added to their ardour^ 
 The garrifon was fummoned to furreiider. 
 The trenches were opened, and batteries 
 erected, well fupplied with European gun- 
 ners ; and they began their operations by 
 pufhing on the fiege with vigour, under a 
 determination of carrying on approaches, at 
 the fame time, both to the north and fouth 
 of the fort. 
 
 The 4th of June they opened their 
 batteries,'un*ler the powerful fire of twelve 
 twenty-four pounders, and fome of a fmal- 
 ler calibre. Soon after there was an addi- 
 tion of feven brafs mortars, from which , 
 inftead of fhells, they kept up an inceflan t 
 fire, each night from fun-fet to fun-rife, 
 throwing large ftones into the fort and 
 works, fome of which were upwards of fe- 
 venty pounds weight. The damage and 
 execution done by them, were in general 
 confiderable, and greatly annoyed the gar- 
 rifcn. This circumftance likewife enabled 
 the enemy to proceed in their approaches, 
 during the night, with the greater fecurity, 
 
 and
 
 and with little lofs, although at times they 
 met with fome interruption from our (hells. 
 
 f It has already been obferved en 
 that the fortifications of the place, through 
 want of the necelTary repairs, were far from 
 being in a refpedlable condition ; but the 
 deficiency of ftrength was amply fupplie-d by 
 the gallantry of thegarrifon, who, entirely 
 cut off as they were, from every hope of 
 fuccour, nevertheleis perfevered with great 
 bravery and refolution, during the whole of 
 the rainy feafon, in a determined and noble 
 defence. ' The officers and men, when off 
 their tour of duty, were conftantly employ- 
 ed in conftructing various works for the 
 defence of the place ; and all rank?, with 
 the utmoft alacrity, participated in the la- 
 bour. Captain Sartorius, the chief etigi- v 
 neer, with active zeal and diligent affiduity, 
 pointed out the neceffity of fuch exertions, 
 in a manner that did him the highefl ho- 
 nour. This worthy officer, pofleffing the 
 moft confumrnate profeffional (kill, wa$ 
 cool in danger, decided in diftrefs, and ever 
 ready and judicious in his expedients. Such 
 is the character of this gentleman, which 
 F 2 make?
 
 ( 84 ) 
 
 makes him as defervedly confpicaous in his 
 profeffion, as it is [honourable to the indi- 
 vidual, and important to the public. 
 
 The artillery of the befiegers, however, 
 affifted by the military fcience of the French 
 auxiliaries, foon gained an evident fuperio- 
 rity, and they were indefatigable in carry- 
 ing on their operations ; butthe alertnefs and 
 obftinate defence of the garrifon rendered 
 caution an obje<5b of neceffity ; and tbge- 
 ther with the violent rains which then fre- 
 quently fell, could not fail of confiderably 
 retarding their approaches. Notwithftand- 
 ing thefe impediments, matters were fo far 
 advanced, about the beginning of July, as 
 to render an attack on the body of the place 
 practicable. But although the fortifications 
 were reduced to a heap of ruins, yet the 
 enemy was repulfed in every attempt to car- 
 ry the place by aflault. 
 
 J 
 
 On the 2d pf Auguft notification being 
 
 made by M. Piveron de Morlae, a French 
 Envoy with Tippoo Sultan, of the prelimi- 
 nary articles of peace being figned at Ver- 
 faillts on the 2oth of January, i 785, by the 
 
 Plenipoten-
 
 Plenipotentiaries of their Britannic and Moft 
 ChrifHan Majeftiesjin compliance therewith, 
 a ceffation of hoftilities was propofed by 
 the Envoy, and agreed to by the Nabob, and 
 by Colonel Campbell, in behalf of the Eaft 
 India Company's pofleffions on the coaft of 
 Malabar. The conditions in general, on 
 which it was concluded, were, that all 
 things, both within and without the garri-' 
 Ton of Mangulore, mould remain in the 
 fame fituation in which they were then in, 
 for a time particularly fpecified ; and that 
 hoftages mould be exchanged for the mu- 
 tual performance of that ftipulation. The 
 French auxiliaries were therefore obliged 
 to withdraw ; but the Nabob perfifting 
 in the inveftment of Mangulore, convert- 
 ed the fiege into a blockade, and the garri- 
 fon were reduced to the greatest diftrefs 
 through the want of provisions ; and it was 
 evident, though peace was then in agita- 
 tion, that he was refolved to ftarve them 
 into a fur render. 
 
 The Commander in Chief, on this me- 
 lancholy occafion, ufed his utmoft endea- 
 vours for re-animating his troops with a 
 F 3 fpirit
 
 ( 86 ) 
 
 f pint of perfeverance ; and, for that purpofe, 
 he iflued repeated affurances in general or- 
 ders, that fpeedy relief was expected from 
 Bombay. In this ftate, neverthelefs, they 
 remained near four months longer, ^eprefl- 
 ed by fatigue, and emaciated with famine. 
 Their patience was almoft exhaufted by 
 difappointments, and no profped of relief 
 from any quarter appearing to confole 
 them, was the caufe of ficknefs, and defer- 
 tion prevailing in a manner the moft alarm- 
 ing. 
 
 On the morning of the 24th of Novem- 
 ber, two fleets appeared, one from the north- 
 ward, and the other from the fouthward : 
 both flood towards the place, and early in 
 the afternoon, the {hips of war took their 
 ftations, fo as to cover, in the moft efflclual 
 manner, the diiembaikation of the troops. 
 From this fleet was expected the relief 
 and iuccours, fo long wilhed for, and no- 
 thing could equal the pleafure and fpirit 
 which elated the garrifon : Joy and confi- 
 dence was diffufed over every countenance, 
 all bt-ing perfuaded, that their fuffcrings 
 were now come to a termination, and that 
 they (hould have ample fatisfa&ion of thofe 
 
 who
 
 ( 8? ) 
 
 who had been the caufe of them. And this 
 handful of hrave men, whofe noble defence 
 had been feldom equalled, and never fur- 
 pafled, prepared with alacrity to fecond the 
 efforts of their countrymen; even the feeble 
 convalefcent, tottering under the weight of 
 his arms, boldly flepped forward to offer 
 his fervices on this occafion. 
 
 The armament which caufed this infpi- 
 ration, was under the convoy of his Ma- 
 jefty's mip the Sultan, of 74. guns, Cap- 
 tain Mitchel. About five o'clock in the 
 afternoon, the two fleets,, confiding in the- 
 whole of about 53 fail of (hips and vefiels, 
 anchored oppofite the entrance of the har- 
 bour. Brigadier general MacLeod was at 
 the head of the land forces, ftrong in Euro- 
 peans and native troops, with an adequate 
 train of artillery; and he might have 
 been further fupported by the neighbouring 
 Rajahs, who were eager to repel the tyran- 
 ny of Tippoo, to whom the greater part of 
 the Malabar coafl no longer owned fubjec- 
 tion. 
 
 F 4 About
 
 ( 88 ) 
 
 About funfet, the fignal was made that 
 the troops would land to the fbuthward of 
 the harbour ; and foon after they were dif- 
 covered in the boats, and every movement 
 promifed a fpeedy attack. The garriibn, 
 during the night, lay on their arms, and 
 every neceflary arrangement took place to 
 facilitate their landing, which was anxi- 
 oufly expected. But how great was the dif- 
 appointment of the garrifon ! for in the 
 morning no difpofition appeared in their 
 fuppofed deliverers to give them relief; on 
 the contrary, they feemed to have forgotten 
 thofe whom they came to fuccour, and 
 were preparing to abandon them to deftrucYi- 
 on. It isimpoiiibletoexprefa the concern and 
 indignation of the officers and foldiers at a 
 treatment fo cruel and unmerited ! 
 
 In the mean time, it was agreed upon be- 
 tween TTippoo, General MacLeod, and the 
 Commodore, that the garrifon ihould have 
 a fupply of provifions for a month. Thefe 
 proviilons were accordingly landed, but in 
 quantity they were found fcarce fufficient for 
 fifteen days confumption, and the beef, 
 pork, bifcuit and rice, were unfit for ufe, 
 
 bearing
 
 bearing evident marks of provifions which 
 had been condemned fome years before, and 
 fet afide from the life of the King's fquadron. 
 Even a fupply of fire wood was entirely 
 neglected, an article, fo effentially ne- 
 ceiiarv to every befieged place, and of which 
 but very little remained in the fort. Nor 
 was there a fupply of medicines or other ne- 
 cefTaries, though thehofpitals were crowded 
 with the fick and wounded, and the whole 
 of the troops in a weakly ftate It was thus, 
 thofe humane commanders, who had been 
 entrufted with the difcharge of this import- 
 ant duty, exerted themfelves in relieving 
 the garrifon 
 
 The mips of war continued manoeuvering 
 ofFtlie harbour till the iftof December. It 
 was evident that the fudden and unexpected 
 appearance of that fleet, before Mangulore, 
 had occafioned the greatefl confufion and 
 panic among the enemy ; for they were 
 feen withdrawing their heavy artillery from 
 the lines, and a number of their troops filed 
 off to a diftance. If the Englifh had taken 
 advantage of this favourable opportunity, 
 with that vivacity which circumftances de* 
 
 manded,
 
 (. 9 - ) 
 
 manded, the enemy had infallibly been 
 difperfed, or reduced to the neceffity of 
 leaving that part of the coafr. On the con- 
 trary, they were allowed feven days to reco- 
 ver from their confirmation ; and Tippoo 
 knew, that delays, ever favorable, to a na- 
 tive, are ever fatal to a ilranger. This con- 
 viction determined him to reafiemble his 
 forces, and feeing thofe that oppofed him 
 timid and circumfpecl:, he formed an excel- 
 lent difpoiition for repelling any attempt the 
 Englim might make, for the more effectual 
 relief of Mangulore. 
 
 The fame day, the garrifon had the mor- 
 tification to fee the fleet with the land forces 
 on board, fail from the road, and {land to 
 the fouthward for Tellicherry. When they 
 were getting -under way, two guns were 
 fired by the garrifon, and a fignal was dif- 
 played from the moft conspicuous part of 
 the fort, " that they were on bad terms 
 with the Nabob and required immediate 
 fuppo.rt," And fome time after, " that 
 unlefs fpeedily fuccoured they could not 
 hold out any longer." Thefe fignals were 
 made in view of the fleet, which, never- 
 
 thelefs
 
 ( 9* ; 
 
 tlielefs continued its courfe. The ftiip 
 which" had the General on board, however, 
 returned, anchored in the road, and remained 
 there till the 3d of the fame month ; iignaU 
 being again difplayed, and at laft anfwered, 
 when (he was preparing to ftand after the 
 fleet, " that they mould be fpeedily fuc- 
 coured." This promife proved fruitlefs : of 
 a condud fo myfterious, time muft be 
 left to develope the fecret. For the garri- 
 fon were then, and it feems the public are 
 at this day, totally ignorant of the inftruo 
 tions under which thofe officers a&ed. But 
 furely no orders could have reftri&ed them 
 from fupplying the place, conformably 
 to the tenour of the ceflation of hoftilities, 
 with a fufficiency of wholefome provifions 
 for one month ; abundance of which, at that 
 time, might have been procured from any 
 part of India. Whatever might have been. 
 the original deftination of the army under 
 General Mac Leod, yet it was a matter of 
 public notoriety, even in the Nabob's Dur- 
 bar, that it was in reality intended for the 
 reduction of Cannanore. 
 
 This
 
 ( 92 ) 
 
 This fettlement formerly belonged to the 
 crown of Portugal ; in the year 1505, Fran- 
 cis Almeed obtained leave of the king of 
 that country, to build a fort, which was 
 called St. Angelo ; and Lopez Britto, with 
 1 50 -men, was left Governor of it. This 
 was not only intended to defend them a- 
 gaihft the infults of the Arabians, but alio 
 as a bulwark for himfelf and his people 
 againfl the invafion of their neighbouring 
 enemies. 
 
 The Hollanders, on their firft arrival on 
 this coaft, having been joined by the natives, 
 who were become weary of the tyranny of 
 the Portugueze, difpofleffed them of Can- 
 nanore, with very little trouble, about the 
 year 1660. The Dutch fometime after- 
 wards, fold the fort and territory to Ali Ra- 
 jah a Mahommedan partizan. 
 
 The fortrefs of Cannanore is fituated on 
 a point of land clofe to thefea, and together 
 / with its natural and acquired advantages, may 
 be deemed one of the ftrongeft and moft 
 complete belonging to the native powers in 
 that part of India. At a very trifling 
 
 expcnce
 
 ( 93 ) 
 
 expence, it might be finimed agreeable to 
 the rules of modern fortification, and made 
 a military poft of the utmoft confequence. 
 Hence it appears to be a place. of much great* 
 er importance than Tellicherry, which is 
 not tenable, if it were in vetted by a regular 
 force. 
 
 
 
 During the -late war between the Englifh 
 and Hyder Ali, the city of Cannanore be- 
 came the centre, and indeed the only place 
 of trade, belonging to the natives, on that 
 fide of India. It was alfo the depofitory of 
 the moil valuable effects of rich merchants 
 who frequented that place, on account ^of 
 the ready market for goods of all forts; met 
 twith there, from whence they t were di ft ri- 
 buted to the inland provinces ; and af the 
 fame time the manufactures and natural 
 productions of the country form a very coni]- 
 derable part of its commerce. The trade 
 is chiefly carried on by Maplas, a race of 
 -rigid Mahommedan adventurers, who be- 
 gan to efbblifh themfelves on this conti- 
 nent, about the beginning of the eighth cen- 
 tury,and wereA pottles as welt as merchants, 
 They foon became the principal factors of 
 
 Arabia,
 
 ( 94 ) 
 
 Arabia, Perfia and Egypt ; and were treated 
 witji many diftinguifhed marks of refpeft 
 by the Zamorin, at that time the moft pow- 
 erful prince on the coaft of Malabar, who, 
 equally with his fubjects, wimed to keep 
 tip an intercourfe with thofe countries. 
 Here they multiplied to a great degree, and 
 as their religion allows of polygamy, they 
 marry in every place where they make any 
 flay. This nation forming no alliance with 
 ftrangers, has preferved its peculiar man- 
 ners ; but though their religion forbids ufu- 
 ry, they are not fcrupulbus in that refpecl ; 
 and they are a treacherous ally, and a cruel 
 and inveterate foe. 
 
 About the 1 1 th of November, two of 
 the Company's veflels proceeding from 
 Carwar to Tellicherry with troops, happen- 
 ed unfortunately to be wrecked in a gale of 
 wind, on the coaft near Cannanore ; and 
 Lieutenants Whildon and Mathews, the 
 latter, brother to the unfortunate General of 
 that name, with 300 fepoys, were feized 
 and delivered up to Tippoo, by Ali Rajah 
 Bibv, the Queen of that country. Repeat- 
 ed applications and remonftrances were in 
 i vain
 
 ( 95 ) 
 
 vain made for their releafe by the Refident 
 of Tellicherry ; and on refufal, an inten- 
 tion was declared of taking fatis faction, as 
 well for this injury, as forthemimic;-i!d. 
 fition (hewn, in many other refpects, by the' 
 government of Cannanore, to the Englifh. 
 There might be here fomd ground for latis- 
 facYion, but in general it has been obferva- . 
 ble, that avarice has lately made fo great 
 a progrefs in this part of the world, that 
 the commander of a military force, need 
 only create an occafion for plunder; and if 
 the civil government is afiigned a (hare of 
 the fpoil, he thence may be affured, that 
 fb far from apprehending difagreeable con- 
 fequences, his conduct will meet with the *. 
 higheft approbation. Such bufmefs is more 
 aptly carried' on, when the femblance of 
 war may be ftill fuppofed to {ubfift ; but in 
 times of actual peace, the arts of peculation 
 fucceed but (lowly, all being attention to 
 the fame traffic ; whereas the profits by war 
 being of a more rapid acquifition, become 
 of confequence more alluring, as being ia 
 the end more profitable. 
 
 The
 
 The army under General Mac Leod, had 
 no fooner arrived at Tellicherry, than an 
 expedition was formed, in order to chaftife 
 the Biby of Cannanore. On their approach 
 to this town, the fort was fummoned-to 
 furrender, but the Governor fhewing an 
 intention to fland a fiege, batteries were 
 erec~bed, and after a practicable breach had 
 been effected, it was carried by ftorm on 
 the I4th of December, after a gallant and 
 defperate refinance from the garrifon, 
 a number of whom fell in the affault. 
 In the attack and reduction of this place, 
 audits dependencies, the lofs of the Englifh 
 in killed and wounded, amounted to about 
 100 men. 
 
 .nov 
 The troops, on this occasion, -diftinguifhed 
 
 themfelves by every proof of difcipline and 
 humanity, injuring no perfon they found 
 in the place unarmed, and in the fury of 
 the attack, fparing many who laid down 
 their arms and fubmitted. 
 
 On the fall of Cannanore, the Rajah 
 Biby or Princefs,was made prifoner of war, 
 as ibe was an ally of and dependant on Tip- 
 poo-
 
 ( 97 ) 
 
 poo Sultan, that Prince complained loudly 
 of the conduct of the Englifh General, as 
 an infringement of the truce which had 
 b-en concluded at Mangulore. 
 
 I (hall now refume my narrative of the ,y 
 blockade of Mangulore. Duringthe monthof 
 January 1784, the fufFerings of the garrifon 
 daily increafed, and evils which till now 
 they had not experienced, prefented to their 
 minds the mod diimal profpecl of approach- 
 ing deftrucTion. The alternative now left 
 them, was either to perim by famine, or 
 become the victims of an incenfed and cruel 
 enemy. They chofe the former, as moft 
 becoming foldiers and Britifh fubje<ls, and 
 accordingly devifed a variety of expedients 
 for protracting their miferable exiftence : 
 fome employed themfelves, as often as their 
 duty would permit, in fearching for frogs 
 in the wet ditch ; and thofe, whofe duty 
 prevented them from obtaining food in 
 that manner, were under the neceffity 
 of purchafing it, at a high price, of o- 
 thers. In a mort time, the refource of 
 frogs failed. The next was that of killing 
 vultures, crows or any fort of birds, that 
 G came
 
 came within mufquet-fhot. This expedi- 
 ent lafled but for a fbort time, and thofe 
 only who were good marks- men, could 
 avail themfelves of it, for the fagacity of 
 the birds foon informed them of their dan- 
 ger, and they avoided coming near the 
 garrifon. To this fucceeded the moft mi- 
 ferable fcene of diftrefs, which human na- 
 ture, perhaps, ever fufFered. The Euro- 
 pean privates fed upon dogs, which had 
 devoured the dead bodies of their fellow- 
 fufferers ; and many from eating herbs of 
 a. noxious quality, put an end to their fuf- 
 fcrings and their lives. 
 
 It is true, that towards the latter part of 
 the blockade, the enemy fent in fome arti- 
 cles of provilion for fale ; but as this fel- 
 dom happened, as the quantity was but 
 fmall, the quality bad, and the price extra- 
 vagant, the garrifon could not be faid to 
 receive by it any eiTential relief. There 
 was great reafon, befides, to imagine that the 
 .fole intention of fending in this Bazar, was 
 with a view to encourage defertion, and 
 to gain intelligence of the flare of the gar- 
 rifon. At this time, the number of iick in- 
 
 c re a fed
 
 ( 99 ) 
 
 cfeafed daily, and fome of the moft danger- 
 ous dileafes made their appearance, parti- 
 cularly putrid fevers, dyfenteries and the 
 Icurvy. The havock made by the two rlrft, 
 was incredible. By the fcurvy many of the 
 officers, as well as of the privates, were af- 
 fefted in a high degree ; and the wounds of 
 many, which had been healed, broke out a- 
 frefh. The fepoys, who had nothing more 
 to fubfift on but a fcanty allowance of bad 
 rice, or blackgram, fuch as is commonly 
 ufed for feeding horfes, were, in confequence 
 of their low diet, affe&ed with blindnefs, and 
 from fuufet to funrife, incapable of difcen;- 
 ing objects except by the light of the 
 fire; and the miferable fufFerers were ge- 
 nerally led by their comrades, from the 
 evening parade, to their huts. 
 
 Thefufferings of the troops, in the latter 
 part of the blockade, were fo extreme, that 
 it is hardly poffible to conceive a more dif- 
 treffing or more horrid fcene of mifery 
 that a tyrant like Tippoo, mould be void 
 of humanity that he mould delight in cru- 
 elty, and laugh at the furTcrings of thofe 
 whom he facrificed ; that he mould invent 
 G 2 tortures
 
 tortures for the Englifh prifoners, againfl 
 whom he may be faid to have fworn eternal 
 enmity, the world will not be furprized to 
 hear; but that an Englifh garrifon, after 
 exhibiting rare inflances of courage, refolu- 
 tion, and fidelity, mould be fhamefully a- 
 bandoned by their own countrymen, may 
 appear incredible ! They were not indeed 
 merely abandoned, but treated with con- 
 tempt, and even refufed common neceflaries 
 to preferve their exigence. Well might they 
 have exclaimed with the Pfalmift : " // is 
 not an open enemy that has done us this dtfionour, 
 for then could we have borne it, but it was even 
 thou, our companion, our guide, and our fami- 
 liar friend I" 
 
 As a confequence of encreafing hardfhips, 
 defertion among the troops became more 
 frequent, in the month of January, than it 
 
 / had been at any former period of the fiege. 
 From three to five Europeans, and from 
 fifteen to twenty fepoys deferted daily, and 
 fometimes an entire party went oft from 
 fome of the out-pofts, carrying with them 
 
 ^ their arms and accoutrements. 
 
 The
 
 The Europeans afterwards feen in the 
 enemy's lines, were known to have declar- 
 ed, that no 1 other motive, but the love of 
 life had induced them to go over to the ene- 
 my ; that in the garrifon, they faw no 
 hopes of relief, and the fate likely to await 
 them, in common with their fellow-foldiers, 
 was either to perifh by famine or difeafe. 
 Many, however, retained fufficient refolu- 
 tion and fidelity, to enable them to fur- 
 mount every kind of hardship. 
 
 AndrMJtbJlcrn patience^ fcornlng wca& complaint^ 
 Harden their hearts againft availing want. 
 
 THOMSON. 
 
 The 23d of January, feemed to prefent 
 the neceffity of deciding on the future fate 
 of the garrifon. Every kind of provilion 
 was then nearly exhaufted; upwards of 1000 
 men lay fick in the hofpitals, and there 
 were only about 120 Europeans, with 
 250 fepoys, who could be deemed capable 
 of doing duty. A council of war was there- 
 fore affembled at the head-quarters. It con- 
 fifted of the commander in chief, and all 
 G 3 the
 
 the captains in garrifon, who fat this and 
 the three following days in deliberation. 
 
 It appears that the members were not 
 unanimous on the urgent neceility of pro- 
 pofing terms of capitulation to the Nabob, 
 although it was obvious, that there was no 
 alternative, and that they muft furrender 
 on fuch terms as he might be pleafed to 
 grant. For admitting that they might re- 
 ceive further fupplies of bad proviiions, it 
 could not anfwer any falutary purpofe, by 
 reafon cf thediminutionofthe garrifon from 
 mortality, ficknefs and defertion. It further 
 appeared, from the whole of Tippoo's con- 
 duel, that he would liften to no terms of ac- 
 commodation, until Mangulore was either 
 given up to him, or he mould bs compelled, 
 by force of arms, to relinquifh his purpofe 
 of reducing it. 
 
 On the 2 yth of January, the council of 
 war, however, refolved to propofe terms of 
 capitulation. Colonel Campbell, accom- 
 panied by fome of his officers, proceeded 
 with that view to the enemy's camp. When 
 introduced into the Durbar, the Nabob 
 
 fjgnified
 
 (ignified to the Colonel, that he was per- 
 fectly well acquainted with the real fituati- 
 onofthe garrifon, and his motives for ca- 
 pitulating, concerning which, he had been 
 four days deliberating with his officers. 
 The moft urgent he fpecihed, were, the 
 want of provifions, and defpair of receiving 
 any further fupply. He was, therefore, feii- 
 fible they were under the neceffity of accept- 
 ing from him, whatever terms he mould 
 think proper to grant. The Colonel re- 
 plied, that the ftate of the garrifon was 
 nearly as reprefented by his Highnefs, 
 and if the terms he had to propofe mould 
 meet with his Highnefs's approbation, he 
 was ready tofurrender the place to him. The 
 Nabob without infilling on any material al- 
 teration in the articles, feemed inclined to ra- 
 tify them, when the Colonel intimated, that 
 a fupply of provifions for prefent ufe was 
 neceflary ; which Tippoo was pleafed to give 
 orders for being lent early next morn- 
 ing ; and accordingly, at the time appoint- 
 ed, a plentiful Bazar was fent in, with 
 abundance of all kinds of provifions, which 
 were fold to the garrifon at a reafonable rate. 
 In the afternoon, a number of Pattamars, 
 G 4 and
 
 and other vefTels were collected in the har> 
 bour, for the purpofe of tranfporting the 
 garrifon to Teilicherry. 
 
 Atfun rife, onthe29th,an Eaft-Indiaman, 
 with one of the Company's grabs, and five 
 fmail pattarnars, appeared in fight from the 
 fouthward. About nine o'clock, they an- 
 chored in the road, and foon after made fig? 
 pals for a boat, which were not anfwered 
 by the garrifon. At eleven o'clock, the 
 Colonel, attended as before, byfomeofhis 
 officers, went to the Nabob's Durbar, and 
 iigned the articles of capitulation. And in 
 the afternoon, two officers were difpatched 
 on board the Indiaman, to acquaint the mi- 
 litary officers who came from Teilicherry 
 ill that veflel, that the garrifon had furren- 
 dered. During this day, upwards cf 8000 
 of the enemy's coolies were employed in 
 embarking the {lores and baggage of the 
 garrifon. In the evening, orders were iflued 
 for the troops to hold themlelves in readi- 
 nefs to ^mbark. 
 
 Among thefe particulars, it; may not be 
 undeserving of notice, that before the arti- 
 cles
 
 cles of capitulation had received the feal and 
 {ignature of the Nabob, he defired that it 
 might be remembered, and fignified by an 
 inftrument in writing, that he had ufed no 
 indirect means to procure the giving up of 
 the fort, the folecaufeof which, on the 
 part of the befieged,was their beingtotallydef- 
 titute of provifions. He alfo fhewed himfelf 
 extremely felicitous to know, whether the 
 furrender of the place, fo circumfhnced, 
 might, in any refpecl, be injurious to the cha~ 
 racier of Colonel Campbell as an officer, and 
 having been allured that it could not, he im^ 
 mediately figned the capitulation. Suffice it to 
 fay, that on this occafion, he gave the moil ^ 
 ample and honourable teftimony to the V 
 gallantry of this brave garrifon, and that 
 the conditions were fuitable to the genero^ 
 fity of thofe fentiments. For every requi^ 
 fition made by the Colonel was liberally 
 complied with, and in a manner which 
 would do honour to the moil exalted cha- 
 racter among European princes. The gar- 
 rifon was allowed all the honours of war ; 
 cannon, arms and ammunition, with pub- 
 lic fr.ores of every kind, whether belonging 
 f;o the King, or the Eafl India Company, 
 
 as
 
 as well as every article of private property, 
 Were fecured to the owners. 
 
 On the 3oth, about eleven o'clock in the 
 forenoon, the garrifon completely accouter- 
 ed, with their arms mouldered, two field 
 pieces, lighted matches, colours flying and 
 drums beating, marched out at the fea- 
 gate, to the river fide, where they embark- 
 ed. Tippoo's people, on this occafion, be- 
 / haved with the utmoft civility to our men, 
 and mewed a readinefs to afford them every 
 a/liilance in their power. This was not, 
 however, all the refpecl: (hew r ed them, for 
 when the feeble remains of that unfortunate 
 garrifon appeared without the fort, in view 
 of the troops that had affailed them, it ex- 
 cited their aftonifhment and admiration, 
 thatfo fmall a number, mould, for fuch a 
 length of time, have been able to withfhmd 
 the efforts of the mod powerful army ever 
 feen in India, commanded by a Prince of 
 fignal courage, and military talents, and 
 aided by his allies the French, whofe num- 
 ber alone, was more than equal to the Eu- 
 ropean force cf the garrifon. 
 
 On
 
 On the 3 1 ft of January, the garrifon was 
 finally evacuated ; and thus terminated the 
 fiege of Mangulore, after the place had 
 been fhut up eight months and thirteen 
 days. The garrifon, which originally con- 
 fifted of 541 Europeans, and 2850 fepoys, 
 on the day of furrender, was, by various 
 cafualties, reduced to 1235 men 5 f that 
 the total lofs, from the beginning to the end 
 of the fiege, amounted to 1937, which ap- 
 pears to exceed, by 709, the lofs fuftained 
 during the late fiege of Gibraltar. 
 
 Upon the whole, however, it appears 
 doubtful, whether the ignorance of the ene^ 
 my in the fcience of attack, or the fpirit 
 and valour of the befieged in defence, contii- 
 buted moft to the fecurity of the place. Few 
 examples, are to be found in hiftory, of 
 greater bravery exerted by a handful of men. 
 Their protection in many places, depended 
 upon nothing more than mud-walls. That 
 the garrifon w r as fkilfully defended is evi^ 
 dent from this circumftancee, that the taking 
 of the covert-way by the enemy, was but 
 a fmall ftep towards obtaining poflcflion of 
 the place. Indeed the rafhnefs and precipi- 
 tancy
 
 tancy of the befiegers, will often intimi- 
 date a weak and ignorant Governor : but 
 when attacks are thus eagerly hurried on 
 again ft a place, commanded by a brave and 
 intelligent officer, he may, generally, take 
 fuch an advantage of theie incautious pro- 
 ceedings, as ought to deter an enemy from 
 venturing to adopt them, who pofleffes the 
 leaft degree of prudence or regard for the 
 lives of his foldiers. 
 
 The manner of conducting approaches by 
 the native powers in Hindooftan, againffc 
 regular fortifications, efpecially when de- 
 fended by Europeans, is fo extremely in- 
 judicious, that the number of thofe who 
 fall in an affault, is always far fhort of the 
 the multitudes who perifh by unwholefomc 
 provifions, the inclemency of the weather, 
 and the frequent fkirmifhes which happen 
 during a long fiege. Delays alfo ever dif- 
 courage the btfiegers, and give frefh fpi- 
 rit and confidence to the befieged. To 
 thefe confiderations may be added, the riik 
 incurred, from flow approaches, of being ob- 
 liged to raife the fiege ; a neceffity to which 
 the Nabob's army before Mangulore mutt 
 
 have
 
 ( I0 9 ) 
 
 have been reduced, if that garrifon had been 
 relieved. This was certainly practicable, 
 either by allowing the army under Colonel 
 Fullarton to advance from Palghautcherry, 
 or if General MacLeod had thought expe- 
 dient to land his force, which was before 
 the place on the 25th of November. But 
 the government of Madras, who might be / 
 fuppofed to have had many opportunities of 
 being well acquainted with the difpofition 
 and ambition of Tiopoo, made no attempt 
 to relieve Mangulore. On the contrary, 
 impolitic as it muft appear, that govern- 
 ment iffued orders for withdrawing the 
 fcuthcrn army from Palghautcherry, be- 
 fore the fmallefr. advances had been made, on 
 the part of the enemy, towards fettling the 
 preliminaries of peace. Nor was it lels ab- 
 furd and inconfiderare in them, to fend the 
 gentlemen who had been deputed to con- 
 clude a peace in behalf of the Company, 
 into the midft of a country, under the ju- 
 rifdiction of a faithlefs tyrant, who, to fe- 
 cure the object of his ambition, might not 
 fcruple to trample on the laws of nations; 
 and in that fituation, thefe gentlemen re- 
 J m allied
 
 mained, until he had time fully fufficicnt 
 to accomplish his wifhes. 
 
 The defence of Mangulore for fuch a 
 length of time, may be juftly confidered as 
 one of the moft important events of the 
 late ivar in India, for nothing was ever 
 more critical than the fituation of the Bri- 
 tifh affairs in Afia at this period, and few\ 
 things could have been more fortunate in 
 the prefent juncture, than the great effects 
 which it manifeftly produced, by obliging 
 Tippoo to withdraw the greater part of his 
 forces from the Carnatic. Had he remain- 
 ed there to co-operate with the French 
 troops under the Marquis de Bufly, and 
 Monf. Duchemin, confidering, the ruin- 
 ous ftate of the Company's affairs at that 
 time on the coaft of Coromandel, there 
 could fcarcely have been a hope of their 
 poffeffions, on that fide of the peninfula, 
 not falling, almoft a defencelefs prey, into 
 the hands of the enemy. 
 
 r 
 
 It is, therefore, natural, in a country like 
 this, which had long laboured under the 
 calamities of war, to look back upon the 
 
 events
 
 ( 1" ) 
 
 events by which that war was terminated, 
 and to make fome enquiry after thofe to 
 whom we are indebted for the return of 
 peace : and this, not with a view of inform- 
 ing ourielves whether the conditions by 
 which it was qbtained, were or were not 
 adequate to our fituation, but with a grate- 
 ful remembrance of thofe, without whofe 
 fignal courage and vigorous exertions, \ve 
 might not have been able to have infifted 
 on any conditions whatever. 
 
 I have already premifed, that it is not 
 my intention to fwell this narrative, by a 
 minute detail of military operations ; yet 
 it is with no fmall reluctance and regret 
 that I muft, for the prefent, decline a task, 
 which from the various proofs it affords of 
 skilful conduct in the officers, and difci- 
 plined valour in the troops, would fo pleaf- 
 ingly gratify my private feelings. But while. 
 I am celebrating the many ftriking advant- 
 ages derived to the Englifh nation, from 
 the gallant defence made by the garrifon of 
 Mangulore, it might be deemed unjuft topafs 
 unnoticed the able exertions and perfever- 
 ance of Colonel John. Campbell, who com- 
 manded
 
 ( 1*1 ) 
 
 marided in chief, during the fiege of that 
 place. But not being prepared to enter in^ 
 to a detail of his fervices, I fhall content 
 myfelf with briefly obferving, that though 
 he poflefled few of the requifites for con- 
 fiituting the character of a Wolf or a 
 Daun, and did not feem formed for brilli- 
 ant actions ; he was, neverthelefs, endued 
 with courage in an eminent degree ; and 
 during the iiege, attended with unwearied 
 affiduity to the minutiae of his important 
 truft, in which he was well fupported by 
 the indefatigable vigilance and bravery of 
 his officers and men. 
 
 This bright picture, however, was not 
 without its fhades. He had failings, and thefe 
 / chiefly arifing from the impetuonty of his 
 temper, which fometimes carried him lengths 
 not altogether juftifiable. The high opinion he 
 entertained of his rank and abilities mads 
 him often the dupe of interefted and defign- 
 ing men. It appears, indeed, thathe was al- 
 ways inclined to ferve his friends, but this, 
 m many inftances, he did at the expence 
 of more deferv ingcharacters, whom he was, 
 but too often, equally folicitous to injure. 
 
 Henc e
 
 ( "3 ) 
 
 Hence he became felfim in the higheft de- 
 gree, and his refentment, where once he 
 conceived himfelf offended, was rooted and 
 implacable. 
 
 I am far from meaning in triefe remarks 
 to depreciate the merits of Colonel Camp- 
 bell as an officer ; my intention is only to 
 difcountenance that extravagant eulogy, 
 fo frequently and fo blindly beflowed on 
 imagined worth ; and in this I appeal to the 
 teftimony of thofe who knew him perfon- . 
 ally and intimately* 
 
 It was the fincere wifh of thofe who were 
 fufFerers with him, that he might have fur- 
 vived, not only to vindicate his own conduct 
 in the defence of Mangulore, but alfo to 
 bring forward to public view, thofe tyrants y , 
 and their instruments, to whole pernicious 
 counfelsrhe misfortunes of thatgarrifon may 
 be j uftly afcribed. The nation might there- 
 by have had an opportunity of doing juftice 
 on thofe who had wantonly injured its ho- 
 nour and its interefr. It is doubtlefs from . \ 
 fcreening fuch delinquents that the greater >/ 
 part of the evils in this quarter of the globe 
 H have
 
 ( 11+ ) 
 
 have originated, as no check is impofed on 
 the ambition of artful and defigning men. 
 
 Although the Britim character for hu- 
 manity, has in no part of the world been 
 better fuftained than in India ; although 
 there be no State or Prince in that country, 
 who will not acknowledge the juftice of this 
 remark, yet the late war, which was carried 
 on with various fuccefs, and under confider- 
 able difficulties, has been productive of num- 
 berlefs calamities to the natives, many of 
 ./ whom have fuffered grievous oppreffions. 
 Large fums have been violently extorted from 
 fome of their Princes by the contending 
 armies, under pretence of defraying the ex- 
 pences of the war : and many of the in- 
 habitants have been obliged to abandon 
 their native country, by the unrelenting 
 . hand of European rapacity and oppreffion. 
 
 The 'cultivation and commerce of the 
 country likewife fuftained great detriment. 
 A variety of circumftances has fufficiently 
 demonftrated, that fuch wars, and fuch a 
 mode of conduct as has been adopted re- 
 pedting the natives, are totally inconliftent 
 
 with 
 t
 
 ( "5 ) 
 
 with the interefls of a Commercial company, 
 and repugnant to every principle of found 
 policy. Inflead of being fubfervient to the 
 government at home, the ndminiflration in 
 India has ever affected independence, and 
 been actuated by a fpirit of fyftematic dif- 
 obedience. The views and interefls of pri- 
 vate men, not the principles of commerce, 
 or of patriotifm, have been the rules of their 
 conduct. Dominion, power, and wealth, 
 are often acquired by good fortune ; but to 
 preferve them is the province of political 
 iagacity. Greater glory, as well as greater 
 advantage, is, therefore, to be acquired by 
 retaining and improving, than by extending 
 conquefts. 
 
 n 2 TO
 
 TO THE RIGHT HONOURABLE 
 
 GEORGE, LORD MACARTNEY. 
 
 MY LORD, 
 
 My laft was from Mangu- 
 lore, informing you of its furrender, and 
 requefting that you would give fuch affift- 
 ance to the Honourable Company, as lay in 
 your power.- A large body of horfe and 
 foot, under the command of Mahomed Ally, 
 from the Carnatic, has joined the forces 
 that oppofe me : and they now amount to 
 fifty thoufand men, with twenty -five pieces 
 of cannon. From the number that I told you 
 J could colled for the field, your Lordftiip 
 will determine whether I can make head 
 againft the foe, with any probability of fiio* 
 cefs. It mail be my endeavour to preferve 
 what has been gained, and to keep the low 
 country clear of the Nabob's troops. But 
 it has been out of my power to prevent a 
 
 number
 
 number of petty Rajahs feizing their anci- 
 ent inheritance, which was wrefted from 
 them by Hyder; and fome neighbouring 
 Polygars have made encroachments. 
 
 I have not the power of punifhment, and 
 am under the neceffity of taking flight no- 
 tice of their irregularities ; but to check 
 thofe upftarts, it takes me three hundred 
 Europeans, and one thoufand Sepoys, that 
 are wanted to face Mahomed Ally, whofe 
 army, is now only forty miles from Bid- 
 nure. 
 
 I have great hopes that fomething ef- 
 fectual will be done on your fide, by the 
 active exertions of your fouthern army to- 
 wards Coimbettore ; while your grand ar- 
 my is expelling the enemy from the Car- 
 natic, I mall be able to keep rny footing, 
 until reinforced. 
 
 I have the pleafure of informing your 
 Lordfhip, that all the low country, from 
 Carwar to near Cape Comorin, is under our 
 command, excepting the aforementioned 
 impediments from the Rajahs, which com- 
 mence
 
 ( "9 ) 
 
 mence from ten miles fouth of Mangulore 
 to Cannanore, and the Nabob's troops have 
 pofieflion of Decal, and another fort, againft 
 which I have fent a battalion of Sepoys. 
 
 I think it not unlikely that the French 
 will land fome troops at Calicut, after the 
 departure of our fleet from the coaft. Such 
 a meafure might be productive of the moft 
 dangerous confequences, in my prefent di- 
 vided flate. 
 
 I have the honour to' be, 
 
 Your Lordfhip's mofl obedient 
 and mofl: humble fervant, 
 RICHARD MATHEWS. 
 
 Cundapore, 
 March 28th, 1783. 
 
 TO
 
 ( "I ) 
 
 TO SIR EYRE COOTE, K.B. 
 
 Lieutenant General, and Commander in Chief. 
 
 S I R, 
 
 SINCE I did myfelf the ho- 
 Hour of informing you of the furrender of 
 Mangulore, there has arrived from the 
 Carnatic, a conliderable body of horie and 
 foot, under Mahomed Ally, which joined 
 to thofe that now oppofe me, amounts to 
 fifty thoufand men, with twenty pieces of 
 cannon. The extent of country to be pro- 
 tected, with the number of garrifons to 
 be fecured, has entirely broken my force, 
 fo that I cannot collect a party fufficient to 
 aft offensively, nor indeed to defend what 
 has been gained without effeftual affift- 
 ance. 
 
 I have repeatedly written to Bombay, 
 
 for reinforcements, but they are deaf to every 
 
 requisition of fuch a nature fhould any 
 
 I un-
 
 ( "V ) 
 
 unfortunate change happen, I can only la? 
 ment that our endeavours, on this fide, 
 fhould in the end prove fatal to the pub- 
 lic caufe. 
 
 I am forry to be obliged to inform you, 
 that the conduct of fome of the fenior of- 
 ficers of his Majefty's troops,* has been, in 
 the higheft degree, abufive and fcurrilous. 
 Lieutenant Colonels MacLeod and Hum- 
 ber{r.on, and Major Shaw, went to Bom- 
 bay to complain ; the former at a time, 
 when he was ordered to command a detach- 
 ment to march aga'mft the enemy, and 
 Major Campbell has fince their abfence, 
 kept up the ball of diflention. 
 
 It will be impoffible for me to aft with 
 thefe gentlemen, and I requeft that they may 
 be ordered to the coaft of Coromandel, to 
 ferve where my Aiiatic mode of proceeding 
 may not give them offence ; thefe difputes 
 have already injured the fervice, and will 
 more ; for rather than have thefe gentle- 
 men, I will be deprived of the zeal and 
 valour of their regiments. 
 
 The 
 
 *By the publication of thefe Letters, it is not meant to 
 throw the fmalleft degree of reficdUon, upon the conduct of 
 the King's officers alluded to by General Mathcvsrs.
 
 ( I" ) 
 
 The number of papers that have paffed, 
 require much time to copy ; but I muft 
 trouble you with the whole correfpondence 
 that you may judge of the fpirit, which 
 actuated thefe reiblutioners. 
 
 The enemy's collected force is now a- 
 bout forty miles from Bidnure. 1 have two 
 garrifons between them and this city, an4 
 am not, therefore, under any appr nfi- 
 ons for either; but they can pafs them, and 
 invade the low country, and my divided 
 troops can only be fpectators of its defola- 
 tion. 
 
 I have great hopes that the active exer- 
 tions of the armies under your immediate 
 direction, will drive the foe from the Car- 
 natic, and threaten Seringapatam or Coim- 
 bettore, which may enable me to fix myfelf, 
 and by raifing recruits, be at the open- 
 ing of the next campaign, in a fr,ate fit to 
 fecond your views with a degree of certain- 
 ty ; but the rainy feafon is the time that 
 the enemy may be expected in thefe parts, 
 and to oppofe them, I beg that you will 
 let me have as manv troops'as you can fpare, 
 pf thofe now expected from Europe. 
 
 i I re-
 
 I requeft you will let me know, if you 
 think there is any probability of the French 
 landing troops at Calicut, during the ab- 
 fence of our fleet from the coaft of Malabar, 
 forfhould they join the force now there, it 
 might be attended with fatal confequences. 
 
 This blow might in fome meafure be 
 guarded againft, if your fouthern army 
 would move into the Coimbettore country, 
 and they (I mean General Lang,) would be 
 joined by three battalions of Travencores 
 fepoys. 
 
 I have the honor to be, with the greatefl 
 refpecl, 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Your moil: obedient and mofl 
 humble fervant, 
 
 RICHARD MATHEWS. 
 
 Cundaporc, 
 March i3th, 1783. 
 
 FINIS.
 
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