Dictionary of Battles / From the Earliest Date to the Present Time

by Thomas Benfield Harbottle

Sholingur (First Mysore War).

Fought September 27, 1781, between the British, 10,000 strong, under Sir Eyre Coote, and the Mysoris, numbering about 80,000, under Hyder Ali. Hyder was surprised in the act of striking camp, and though a series of cavalry charges enabled him to withdraw his guns in safety, it was at a cost of 5,000 men that he eventually made good his retreat. The British loss did not exceed 100.