1798.] LORD MORNINGTON'S MINUTE. for three consecutive years, despite the loss of the fleet and all the efforts made by Britain, the Turks, and the Mamelukes to drive it out. The earl knew, however, that though the French could not proceed from Egypt to India, or reach the latter round the Cape, they would still derive every advantage from entangling us in a war with Tippoo. Moreover, it could not be known what number of men Malartie, by exerting himself, might send from Mauritius to Seringapatam. The facts which were perfectly well known to the earl were these :- 329 "The Mahrattas were faithless, and eager for conquest or plunder. M. Perron, with his numerous disciplined troops, was every day gaining strength in the Mahratta country, and was looking forward for those chances and combinations which might enable him to re-establish French supremacy in India. Every one felt that with, or without, the arrival of a French armament on the coast, the implacable Mysorean had ample means for making himself dangerous, and would never cease caballing and agitating the country against the British." CHAPTER LXV. PREPARATIONS FOR THE FINAL WAR WITH TIPPO0 -THE BATTLE OF MALAVELLY. The proposed operations were thus enumerated spring of the following year, an opinion in which in his own words : General Harris fully concurred-the mode intended in the minute of the earl was entirely changed. The plan he had first proposed, was simply a military expedition of brief duration, with a resolution to throw the whole expense thereof on the enemy who had caused it. But now it appeared that he could not hope to achieve any of his desired objects without the expense and tedium of a long war; and hence negotiations with the native powers, the Nizam, and the Mahrattas. "1. To seize the whole maritime territory remaining in his possession below the Ghauts on the coast of Malabar, in order to preclude him from all future communication by sea with his French allies. 2. By marching the army from the coast directly upon his capital, to compel him to purchase peace by a formal cession of the territory seized on the coast of Malabar. 3. To compel him to defray our whole expense in the war, and thus to secure the double advantage of indemnifying us for the expense occasioned by his aggression, and of reducing his resources with a view to our future security. 4. To compel him to admit permanent residents at his court from us and our allies; a measure which would enable us at all times to check his operations and treachery. 5. That the expulsion of all the natives of France now in his service, and the perpetual exclusion of all French-be nearer the scene of the forthcoming operations. men, both from his army and dominions, should be made conditions of any treaty of peace with him." With the intention of carrying all this into effect, on the 20th of June, 1798, he gave orders for the army It was not until the beginning of November that the army was concentrated; and till it was ready for the field, it would have been impolitic to threaten Tippoo, or attempt to remonstrate with him. When all was in readiness, explanations were sought of him, as to his purposes; but these he declined to give. Quitting Calcutta, the Governor-General now came to Madras, in order to But then came messengers from Tippoo, asserting that he was anxious for peace, and that he had never entertained intentions hostile to Britain; but he positively declined to receive Major Doveton as an envoy from the earl, who wrote to him, reca- | giving splendour to the universe, the firmament of pitulating all the proceedings of the embassy to glory and power, the sultan of the sea and the the Mauritius, the proclamation of the Count de land, the King of Roum (be his empire perpetual!) Malartie, and the other causes for hostility which addressed to me, which reached you through the the sultan had given to Britain; adding, that British envoy, and which you transmitted, has by his conduct for years past, he had now com- arrived. Being frequently disposed to make expelled her and her allies to seek relief from anxiety cursions and hunt, I am accordingly proceeding on in open war; that they would no longer permit his a hunting excursion. You will be pleased to dispatch constant preparations for it, or those intrigues and Major Doveton (about whose coming your friendly hostile negotiations with their enemies; and, in pen has repeatedly written) slightly attended." conclusion, the earl again besought the sultan to receive Major Doveton. This letter was dispatched on the 9th of January, 1799, and on the 24th of that month it was put into the hands of Tippoo. No reply came from him-as probably he was only seeking to gain time and to prepare-till the 13th of February, when there arrived a short and somewhat insolent letter from him, acknowledging the receipt of his lordship's two friendly letters, and one from the Sultan of Turkey, dissuading him from further connection with France. Tippoo stated that he fully understood their contents. "The letter of the prince, in station like Jeemsheid, with angels as his guards," he wrote, "with troops numerous as the sun illuminating the world, the heaven of empire and dominion, the luminary Ten days before this sneering epistle reached him, the Earl of Mornington had put his troops in motion, as it became but too obvious that Tippoo's design had been to procrastinate, till the favourable season for attacking Seringapatam was past; and in the interval, it was ascertained beyond a doubt that he had dispatched envoys to the French, announcing that he was ready for war, and urging them to hasten the promised armament by sea and land. But misfortune again attended them, as they were captured in La Preneuse, French frigate, on board of which were found the articles ratified between him and the Count de Malartie, and M. de Sercey, commander of the French naval forces, wherein it was agreed that France should send to his assistance officers of the land and sea Adjutant-General's Office, the strength of our troops these forces, which were assembled in the vicinity was as follows: : Cavalry including H.M. 19th and 25th Light Dragoons; the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Native Cavalry-total, 2,635 sabres. Artillery Two companies of the Bengal Artillery; 1st and 2nd Battalions of Artillery, 608. European Infantry: H.M. 12th Foot; 33rd, ditto; 73rd and 74th Highland Regiments; Scots Brigade, 1st Battalion; the Swiss Regiment, 4,381. Native Infantry : Eight battalions, with three regiments of Bengal Volunteers, 10,695. Gun Lascars and Pioneers, 2,483. Grand total, 20,802. of Vellore, General James Stuart was advancing from the Malabar coast with 6,100 fighting men; another force under Colonels Read and Brown was gathering in the pleasant valley of the Baramahal to menace Tippoo's flank, and to push on supplies for the grand army through the Pass of Cauverypooram, while our fleet, under Admiral Rainier, swept the sea-coast. Many officers destined to attain the highest distinction in future wars were at this period serving in the army of Lord Harris. Among these, at the head of the 33rd Regiment, was Arthur Wellesley; The army of the Nizam consisted of about Floyd led the 19th Light Dragoons, and at the head of the 25th rode Stapleton Cotton, the future Lord Combermere, one of the splendid soldiers of the Peninsular war. Alexander Campbell, afterwards a general, and commander-in-chief at Madras, led the 74th Highlanders; and David Baird, the comrade and successor of Moore at Corunna, the old Macleod Highlanders; nor should the brilliant Sir John Malcolm, the conqueror of Holkar, and the victor of Maheidpore, be forgotten. The army of the Nizam was commanded but nominally by Meer Alum; its real leader was Colonel Wellesley, whose regiment was attached to it. Though drilled by the French, this force is described by an officer as being a horde of barbarians, clothed in stuffed cotton jackets, covered with chain armour, capable of resisting a musketball. The horse pranced over the country in every direction, brandishing their long lances, and managing their steeds with dexterity and easesometimes casting their lances, and then, at full gallop, bending so low under the horse as to recover them when lying flat on the sand. They strengthened our numerical force, but in a military point of view, the advantage was dubious; as they frequently disconcerted the movements of the regulars, by dashing between the columns on the line of march, and, being mistaken for Tippoo's horse, were fired on pretty freely at times. Many brave fellows among them perished in this profitless manner; and it was really to protect them from destruction, that Wellesley's 33rd, the famous old 1st Yorkshire, now called "The Duke of Wellington's Own," were attached to them by order of Lord Harris, during the advance upon Seringapatam. The whole of the combined forces began their march south-west of Carimangulum, which was reached on the 28th of February. From thence, they proceeded up the Pass of Palicode, and on the 4th of March were at Rayacottah on the Mysore frontier, which they crossed without opposition, and on the 9th encamped, about eighty miles east of the capital at Kelamungulam. The nearest road to the stronghold of Tippoo lay through a pass that had not yet been examined, so General Harris advanced northwards, past the town of Anicul, which stands about eighteen miles southward of Bangalore. Parties of the Mysorean horse were now seen hovering in all directions, setting the villages in flames, and destroying forage. On the 14th, the main body of our army was encamped at the village of Cullagnapettah within sight of Bangalore. Tippoo was hourly expected to appear in force; but he was employed elsewhere. It chanced that on the 6th of March, when the right brigade of the Bombay army, composed of three sepoy battalions, under Lieutenant-Colonel Montressor, of the 77th Regiment, had reached Sedaseer, the remaining brigades being distant eight and twelve miles respectively, Tippoo suddenly made his appearance, in high hope to destroy the whole Bombay force in detail, and so far as Montressor's column was concerned, he very nearly did so. Moving secretly and expeditiously through the jungles, he attacked the isolated brigade, in front and rear, almost at the same moment, with his infantry. These were clad in a dress of purple woollen stuff, lozenged with white, called a tiger-jacket; with a red muslin turban, and waist-cloth, sandal slippers, with black leather cross-belts. They had French firelocks, with a leather cover for the lock, known then, in our service, as "a hammer-stall." Montressor was, in fact, completely surrounded, and his men were only saved from annihilation by the bravery with which they maintained an unequal struggle, until reinforced by the rest of the division, under the leader of the whole, General James Stuart, who first came on with all the speed he could make, with the flank companies of the 74th Highlanders, and the whole of the 77th Regiment, with whom he opened fire upon the enemy, who had possessed themselves of the great road leading to Sedaseer. In this direction a column, 5,000 strong, under Baber Jung, completely barred the way of Montressor. Ultimately the Mysoreans were driven off with the loss of 1,500 men. Thus were 11,800 of Tippoo's best troops defeated by only 2,000 British soldiers, whose loss, as the "field-state" shows, amounted to, of all ranks, killed, wounded, and missing, 143. Among the first and last, were two officers, Captains Thomson and Shott, of the 2nd Native Infantry.* Quitting Periapatam, Tippoo arrived at Seringapatam on the 14th of March, and at once moved to encounter General Harris, who had continued steadily to advance, and on the 26th had halted five miles east of Malavelly, about thirty from the capital; and Harris's spies reported that he was to be attacked as soon as his troops began to debouch from the jungles, information which was supposed to be correct, for his advanced patrols, with some elephants and fifteen pieces of cannon, could be distinctly discerned on a distant ridge. Despite these arrangements, at three p.m. on the 27th of March, the right wing of our invading army began to move from the camp along a heavy, sandy * General Stuart's despatch, 8th March. 1799.] CAWDER BEG. road, the nature of which seriously impeded the ponderous siege train, each forty-two pounder being drawn by from thirty to fifty bullocks; but so deep was the sand, that in some places the carriages sank to their axles, and then the aid of the elephants became necessary; and we are told, by one who was present, that "these sagacious animals would twine their trunks, or probosces, round the nave, and between the spokes of the wheel, and thus lift gun and carriage from the difficulty, while the bullocks were being goaded and whipped with leather thongs." Clouds of looties, or predatory horsemen, were hovering on the right flank of our line of march, and these incessantly fired as we advanced, and when a stoppage occurred to extricate the guns, they would come swooping down to slay the artillerymen, maim the cattle, and slash through the harness; and all this went on beneath a fierce sun, under which many Europeans fell dead from coups-de-soleil. The advanced guard was formed of five cavalry regiments under General Floyd, who, on nearing the mud-walled fort and village of Malavelly, discovered a numerous body of the enemy's cavalry on their right flank, and the infantry on the heights beyond. This was evidently the army of Tippoo; but as it was at too great a distance to be brought to action, the quartermaster-general was ordered to mark out a new encampment; and some heavy cavalry skirmishing went on the while. 333 to present to me, begging me at the same time to restrain my indignation till I heard his reasons; then speaking to me aside, he said, 'Though the general of the Nizam's army was convinced by your statement of my competence for the high command you have entrusted me with, I observed that the highborn and high-titled leaders of the horse he placed under my orders, looked with contempt at my close jacket, straight pantaloons, and European boots, and thought themselves disgraced by being told to obey me. I was therefore tempted, on seeing a well-mounted horseman of Tippoo's, to challenge their whole line to accept a combat, which they declined. I promised not to use firearms, and succeeded in cutting him down. A relation came to avenge his death; I wounded him, and have brought him prisoner. You will,' he added, 'hear a good account of me at the durbar of Meer Alum; the service will go on the better for what has passed, and I promise most sacredly to fight no more single combats.'"* The new camp was scarcely marked off, when fourteen pieces of cannon opened upon our troops at the distance of nearly 2,000 yards; these were answered by such of our field-guns as could be got up, and, ere long, the action became general along the whole line, and the lascars, who had been pitching the tents for the weary troops, on finding the cannon-balls bounding among them, fled to the rear. A British detachment, led by Captain Macpherson, of the 12th Native Infantry, pushing on towards the enemy's left flank with two twelvepound galloper guns, rendered the action brisk in that quarter, having ensconced themselves in a wood where they were secure from Tippoo's hordes of charging cavalry, whom they dosed repeatedly with showers of grape. In the meantime, the right wing of the British army-Baird's brigade, consisting of the 12th, 74th Highlanders, and the Scots Brigade In this work, the famous native soldier, Cawder Beg, of the 4th Regiment, and then but the orderly soubahdar of General Floyd, who presented him with a sword, greatly distinguished himself, and was the hero of the following episode. "Cawder Beg," says Sir John Malcolm, "with two or three of his relations from the native cavalry, and a select body of infantry, were placed under my orders. I was then political representative with-formed in contiguous close columns of regiments the army of the Soubah of the Deccan, and commanded a considerable body of the troops of that prince. I had applied for Cawder Beg on account of his reputation, and prevailed upon Meer Alum to place a corps of 2,000 of his best regular horse under the soubahdar's orders. Two days after the corps was formed, an orderly came to tell me that Cawder Beg was engaged with some of the enemy's horsemen. I hastened to the spot with some alarm for the result, determined, if Cawder Beg was victor, to reprove him severely for conduct unsuited to the station in which he was placed. The fears I entertained for his safety were soon dispelled, as I saw him advancing on foot with two swords in his hand, which he hastened on the ground of the intended camp near the fort of Malavelly, was cautiously advancing towards an eminence in front, and as they drew near it, fearing nothing so much (from past experience) as the capture of his artillery, Tippoo began to withdraw it, till ultimately the guns disappeared. The moment the crest of the eminence was reached, the columns halted, deployed quickly into line, and then was seen the whole army of Tippoo, in order of battle, on the level ground beyond, with wood covering both flanks, and horsemen by tens of thousands. Some of these falling on our line of skirmishers, drove them back upon their respective regiments. "This body of horse," says an officer of the 12th, "Rise, &c., of the Native Army." |