16 CAMPAIGN OF 1791. [CHAP. announcing this success to Lord Cornwallis, exclaimed, "Oh, to eclipse the brilliant action of Colonel Hartley." Lord Cornwallis Lord Cornwallis, mortified by the futility of the takes the field campaign, resolved to resume his original design in person, 1791. of taking the command of the war in person, and arrived at Madras on the 12th of December, 1790. General Medows returned to the Presidency with his army, without expressing a murmur on the trying occasion of being superseded in the command. Tippoo quitted the neighbourhood of Trichinopoly, and proceeded northward into the heart of the Carnatic, marking his progress by the desolation of the province. He then advanced to Pondicherry, where he wasted several weeks in negotiations with the French governor, through whom he sent a mission to Louis the Sixteenth, then in the vortex of the French revolution. Though the French and English were at the time at peace, he requested that a body of 6,000 troops should be sent to his assistance, for whose conveyance and support he offered to make suitable provision, and with whose aid he engaged to capture the English settlements and transfer them to the French. The unhappy king revolted from the proposal, and remarked: "This resembles the affair of America, of which I never think without regret, my youth was taken advantage of at that time, and we suffer for it now; the lesson is too severe to be forgotten." Meanwhile, Lord Cornwallis was making the greatest efforts to resume operations in the field. It was the first time the British armies in India had been led by a Governor-General in person, who enjoyed the undivided exercise of all the civil and military powers of the state, and commanded the resources of all the Presidencies. His presence was considered by the allies the strongest pledge of sincerity, and gave them every confidence of success. Capture of Bangalore, 21st March, 1791. The British army was concentrated at Vellore on the 11th of February, and Lord Cornwallis made a demonstration of advancing to Seringapatam through the Amboor pass, while his force, with its XVI.] ARRIVAL OF THE NIZAM'S CONTINGENT, 17 convoys, passed undiscovered and unopposed through the more easy pass of Mooglee, and on the 17th of February, stood on the table land of Mysore, only ninety miles from Bangalore, without having fired a shot. Tippoo, who had manifested unaccountable indecision while Lord Cornwallis was organizing his plans, hastened, by forced marches to rescue his seraglio and treasures which had been deposited in that fortress, and was only just in time to save them from capture. Bangalore capitulated on the 21st of March, but the pleasure of success was damped by the loss, during the siege, of Colonel Moorhouse, who, though he had risen from the ranks, exhibited all the characteristics of a gallant and most accomplished soldier. Arrival of the Nizam's contingent, 1791. The Nizam's contingent of 10,000 horse assembled in the neighbourhood of Hyderabad, in May, 1790, in accordance with the conditions of the treaty of alliance; but they never moved beyond their own frontier, till they heard, in September, that Tippoo had gone southward to Coimbetore. When there was no longer any risk of encountering his army, the Nizam's troops entered the Mysore territory, spreading desolation and ruin in their course. But, instead of marching on to join the English army, they sat down before Copaul, a tremendous rock a few miles north of the Toombudra, and twenty miles west of the ancient ruins of Vijuynugur, which detained them nearly six months. As soon, however, as intelligence of the capture of Bangalore reached their camp, they hastened forward, and joined Lord Cornwallis's army on the 13th of April, 1791. They are described as mounted on horses in excellent condition, and clothed in armour of every conceivable variety, including the Parthian bow and arrow, the iron club of Scythia, sabres of every age and nation, lances of every length and description, and matchlocks of every form. But there was neither order, nor discipline, nor valour among them and the gay cavaliers were so utterly unsuited for field work that they were unable to protect their own foragers, and soon ceased to move beyond the English pickets.. 18 Battle of Arikera, BATTLE OF ARIKERA. [CHAP. Lord Cornwallis was now in full march on the and retreat of capital; and Tippoo, yielding to the representaCornwallis, 1791. tions of his officers, and the remonstrances of his women, resolved not to allow it to be invested without a struggle. His father had always advised him to avoid a regular engagement with the English, but he determined on this occasion to disregard this salutary injunction. He drew up his whole army at a short distance from Seringapatam, with the Cavery on his right and a ridge of hills on his left; and there, on the 13th of May, was fought the battle of Arikera. Although Tippoo executed his movements with great promptitude and military judgment, he was entirely discomfited. On the summit of the hill, where the last shot was fired, the island of Seringapatam and the eastern face of the fortress became visible to the victors; but here terminated the triumph of the campaign. For many weeks the British army had been suffering the extremity of want. The scanty stores which accompanied it had been exhausted, and Tippoo's light horse cut off all supplies of provision or forage, and created a desert around it. After the engagement of the 13th, Lord Cornwallis felt, as Sir Eyre Coote had felt ten years before, that he would gladly exchange the trophies of victory for a few days' rice. The Nizam's horse, which was unable to make any effort for its own subsistence, increased the calamity by consuming forage and grain. General Abercromby, with the Bombay army sent to co-operate with Lord Cornwallis, had proceeded down. the Malabar coast, and, passing through the friendly country of Coorg, had arrived at Periapatam, forty miles distant from Seringapatam; and Lord Cornwallis, after the engagement, advanced to Caniambady, with the view of forming a junction with him. But, on the 20th of May, his commissariat officers reported that it was utterly impossible to move his heavy guns a step farther with bullocks reduced to the condition of skeletons. The whole camp was falling a prey to want and disease; and Lord Cornwallis was constrained to accept the conclusion that the object of the campaign was no longer XVI.] RETREAT OF THE ENGLISH ARMY. 19 practicable, and that the salvation of the army depended on an immediate retreat. On the 21st of May instructions were sent to General Abercromby to retrace his steps to the coast, which he reached in safety, after having destroyed a portion of his siege guns, and buried the remainder at the head of the pass. The next day Lord Cornwallis issued a general order, explaining to the soldiers, European and native, the true motives of this measure, in order to avoid misapprehensions, and then destroyed his own battering train and heavy equipments. On the 26th the army began its melancholy march back to Madras. Progress of the tingent, 1790. The dispirited force had scarcely accomplished Mahratta con- half a short march, when a body of about 2,000 horse made its appearance on the left flank. It was supposed at first to be a portion of the enemy's troops advancing to make an attempt on the stores and baggage on the line of retreat, and prompt dispositions were made to frustrate it, but a single horseman soon after galloped up and announced that it was the advanced guard of their Mahratta allies. By the coalition treaty the Mahratta cabinet had engaged to furnish a body 10,000 horse for the prosecution of the war with Tippoo, and the Governor-General had engaged to strengthen their main army with a British detachment. Captain Little accordingly embarked at Bombay, with two battalions of sepoys and one company of European and two of native artillery, with which he reached the rendezvous at Coompta on the 18th of June, but found that not more than 2,000 Mahratta horse had been assembled. This was explained by the fact that, although the treaty, offensive and defensive, had been actually signed by Nana Furnuvese on the 1st of June, the envoys of Tippoo were still entertained at Poona, in the hope, which the ministers did not attempt to conceal, that he might be induced even at the eleventh hour to purchase their neutrality by a concession of territory. This hope was at length dispelled; the vakeels were dismissed on the 5th of August, and Pureshram Bhao, the Mahratta com 20 ARRIVAL OF THE MAHRATTA CONTINGENT. [CHAP. mandant, crossed the Kistna six days after and joined the army. But it soon became evident that his intention was not so much to promote the general object of the confederacy in the humiliation of Tippoo, as to take advantage of the cooperation of the British artillery to recover the fortresses and territories which Tippoo had wrested from the Mahrattas. On the 18th of September, he sat down before Dharwar, a mud fort, but well fortified, and garrisoned by 10,000 Mysore troops, under the command of one of Tippoo's ablest generals. The fort held out till the 30th of March, when the garrison capitulated, on hearing of the fall of Bangalore. On the 1st of January, 1791, a second Mahratta army, consisting of 25,000 horse and 5,000 foot, marched from Poona, under Hurry Punt, the commander-in-chief of the armies of the state, and advanced into Mysore by a more easterly route, capturing a number of forts in its progress. Junction of the These two bodies were united on the 24th of May, 1791, and marched towards Milgota, where two days later they came up with the English army on the first day of its retreat. Great was the astonishment of Lord Cornwallis to find the Mahratta forces, which he supposed to be a hundred and fifty miles distant, in his immediate vicinity. But, his intelligence department, to which only 2,000 rupees a month had been allotted, was wretched beyond example, while the admirable organization of Tippoo's troop of spies intercepted all communication, and kept the allies mutually ignorant of each others movements. Had the approach of the Mahratta armies been announced a week earlier, the campaign would have presented a very different prospect. The provisions which they brought with them, though sold at an exorbitant rate, proved a seasonable relief to Lord Cornwallis's famished soldiers. The bazaar of the Mahratta camp presented the greatest variety of articles; English broadcloths and Birmingham penknives, the richest Cashmere shawls, and the most rare and costly jewellery, together with oxen, and sheep, and poultry, and all that the best |