Hyder Ali, who, by usurpation, had arisen from being a mere soldier of fortune to be the dreaded tyrant of the Mysore, allied with France and Holland, threatened to expel the British from the Indian continent.
“’Tis true that we are in great danger,
The greater, therefore, should our courage be.”
These words of wisdom, from the glowing pen of Shakspere, worthy his mighty soul, bespeaking in every lineament the true undaunted spirit of a son of Albion, were acted out to the letter in the bold advance of the British against this formidable coalition. Our army, under Major-General Stuart, comprised the Seventy-third (afterwards the Seventy-first), the Seventy-eighth (afterwards the Seventy-second), and the One-hundred-and-first regiments, with a considerable body of native troops and Hanoverians. The strong fortress of Cudalore was the first to challenge the assault. Defended by a veteran garrison of French, under General Bussy, it needed the utmost gallantry of our Highlanders—“the ardour and intrepidity giving presage of the renown they afterwards acquired”—to force the enemy’s lines, and ultimately compel him to relinquish the external defences of the place and retire more immediately within the fortress. Amongst the prisoners was Colonel the Chevalier de Dumas, conspicuous as “the bravest of the brave,” also “a wounded young serjeant of very interesting appearance and manners, who was treated with much kindness by Lieutenant-Colonel Wagenheim, commanding the detachment of Hanoverians. Many years afterwards, when the French army entered Hanover, General Wagenheim attended the levée of General Bernadotte, who referred to the circumstance at Cudalore in 1783, and added—‘I am the individual, who, when a young serjeant, received kindness from you in India.’” The death of Hyder Ali, and the withdrawal of France, occasioned the breaking up of this formidable league against the British power in India, and for a moment the sun of peace smiled upon our war-worn soldiers.
The new Sultan of the Mysore, as capricious as his father and predecessor, broke off the negotiations which had promised a continued and favourable peace. In consequence, the Seventy-eighth (Seventy-second) advanced, with the army under Colonel Fullerton, against the almost impregnable fortress of Palghantcherry, which was won mainly by the daring of the Honourable Captain Maitland and a company of the regiment, who, taking advantage of a violent storm, when the enemy, seeking shelter from the pitiless rain, had left unguarded the covered way, and thereby affording an opportunity which, improved by Captain Maitland and his company, gave such a footing within the walls as terrified the defenders into a speedy surrender. This success was followed by the fall of Coimbatore, and might probably have been crowned in the capture of Seringapatam, had not peace interfered, postponing the fate of the capital for ten years.
In 1790, the unprovoked aggressions of Tippoo Saib, the ambitious Sultan of the Mysore, upon the Rajah of Travancore, an ally of the British, occasioned the renewal of the war. Still associated in a common glory with their brethren of the Seventy-third (Seventy-first) Highlanders, the Seventy-eighth (Seventy-second) advanced with the army under Major-General Medows, which, obtaining possession unopposed of Coimbatore and capturing Dindigal, proceeded against the powerful fortress of Palgkantcherry, which, notwithstanding Tippoo Saib’s utmost efforts to relieve it, was surrendered to the flank companies of the two Highland regiments, under Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart.
Aware of his own inferiority in the field, the Sultan dared not hazard a battle, but omitted no opportunity to harass and annoy our army wherever superior knowledge of the country, position, or overwhelming numbers gave him the advantage. The arrival of Colonel Maxwell’s reinforcements from the Bengal Presidency occasioned the addition of the Seventy-fourth regiment to the Highland brigade; and, on General the Earl Cornwallis assuming the command in 1791, he approved this arrangement by retaining in one brigade the Seventy-first, Seventy-second, and Seventy-fourth Highlanders.
Out-manœuvred by the British commander, an entrance was obtained through an unguarded defile into the enemy’s territory. The siege of Bangalore was the immediate result, which, despite its powerful fortifications and the menacing attitude of the Mysore army, which anxiously strove to relieve it, was gallantly won by storm in March, 1791. Having witnessed the fall of this chief city of his empire, the Sultan precipitately retreated, closely pursued by the Highland brigade. The British army thereafter advanced against Seringapatam. Alarmed for the safety of his capital, Tippoo ventured to try the fate of battle. Defeated, he failed to arrest our progress, all seemed lost, when unfortunate circumstances interposed on his behalf, and a second time rescued the doomed city from our grasp. Several minor enterprises beguiled the time ere the march upon Seringapatam might be resumed. Savendroog was successfully stormed, and the strong fort of Outra-Durgum was captured, chiefly through the heroic ardour of two companies of the Seventy-second, who, having possessed themselves of the town, pursued the fugitives to the rock upon which the fort stood. We quote from Lieutenant Campbell’s Journal:—“Lieutenant MʻInnes, senior officer of the two Seventy-second companies, applied to Captain Scott for liberty to follow the fugitives up the rock, saying he should be in time to enter the first gateway with them. The Captain thought the enterprise impracticable. The soldiers of MʻInnes’s company heard the request made, and not doubting of consent being given, had rushed towards the first wall, and were followed by MʻInnes. The gate was shut: but Lieutenant MʻPherson arrived with the pioneers and ladders, which were instantly applied, and our people were within the wall, as quick as thought, when the gate was unbolted and the two companies entered. The enemy, astonished at so unexpected an attempt, retreated with precipitation. MʻInnes advanced to the second wall, the men forced open the gate with their shoulders, and not a moment was lost in pushing forward for the third wall; but the road, leading between two rocks, was so narrow that only two could advance abreast; the pathway was, in consequence, soon choked up, and those who carried the ladders were unable to proceed; at the same time, the enemy commenced throwing huge stones in numbers upon the assailants, who commenced a sharp fire of musketry, and Lieutenant-Colonel Stuart, who had observed from a distance this astonishing enterprise, sent orders for the grenadiers not to attempt anything further. Lieutenant MʻPherson forced his way through the crowd, causing the ladders to be handed over the soldiers’ heads, from one to another, and before the colonel’s orders could be delivered, the gallant Highlanders were crowding over the third gateway. The enemy fled on all hands; the foremost of our men pursued them closely, and gained the two last walls (there were five walls to escalade) without opposition. The garrison escaped by the south-east side of the fort, over rocks and precipices of immense depth and ruggedness, where many must have lost their lives. By one o’clock, our two companies were in possession of every part of the fort, and MʻInnes had planted the colours on the highest pinnacle, without the loss of a single man. The Kiledar and two of his people were taken alive. Colonel Stuart declared the business to be brilliant and successful, beyond his most sanguine hopes.”
In 1792, the advance upon Seringapatam was renewed. In the glorious events of the siege, the Seventy-second bore a most conspicuous part, and largely contributed to the attainment of the victory which destroyed the power of the Sultan, and made him a suppliant for peace.
Scarcely had one enemy been overcome, ere a new one appeared—the French, hurled into fatal antagonism with us because of the unhappy avowal of sentiments subversive of good order. Accordingly, in 1793, the Seventy-second was engaged in the siege of Pondicherry—the principal Indian colony of France; which fell into our hands rather from a mutiny among its defenders than our own efforts. It is related by Lieutenant Campbell, that “the moment the piper began to play, the fire from the enemy slackened, and soon after almost entirely ceased. The French all got upon the works, and seemed astonished at hearing the bag-pipe.” The Dutch having allied themselves with the French, paid the penalty of their folly in the loss of many of their most valuable colonies, conquered by the British. Ceylon, the principal, perhaps the most valuable of them, was in consequence assailed by our Indian army, including the Seventy-second regiment, which, capturing Trincomalee, Batticaloe, Manaar, and Colombo, reduced the island under British dominion. This was the closing achievement, for the present, of the regiment in India. Returning from Ceylon to Pondicherry, thence removed to Madras in 1798, it was ordered home, and landed at Gravesend. These many and distinguished services are commemorated in the word “Hindoostan,” now borne by Royal authority upon its colours and appointments.