In spite of the good service done by the galloper guns on many occasions, difficulties as to their control in the field frequently arose, after the formation of a corps of artillery drawn by horses, in 1805, owing to their not having formed an integral part of the Regiment they were attached to.
At first the guns closely attended their regiment, in action, seconding its efforts with their fire when possible. In line of battle they were placed in pairs, in the intervals between different corps. After a time this system was discontinued, and the guns were brigaded together under command of a Cavalry officer, or they were brigaded with Artillery guns, in which case difficulties arose as to their command. In 1815, it was ordered that, whenever galloper guns were brigaded, they should be commanded by an Artillery officer. But complaints were made that the want of uniform training rendered them unfit to be brigaded with Horse Artillery guns, and they were finally abolished in May 1819.
The 19th Light Dragoons, taking their galloper guns with them, as well as those for the 25th Light Dragoons and the 1st Native Cavalry, marched from Madras on 23rd January, to join the army under General Harris, which was assembled at Vellore to the number of nearly 21,000 men. On the 14th February, the whole force moved forward. The Cavalry under Major General Floyd comprised the 19th, 430 strong, the 25th Dragoons, and four Regiments of Native Cavalry: 2635 sabres in all, divided into two Brigades. On the 20th, the army was joined by 16,000 men from Hyderabad, about 10,000 of which were the contingent furnished by the Nizam, who, throughout the campaign, co-operated most heartily with the British Commander. The command of the Nizam’s Contingent was given to Colonel the Honourable Arthur Wellesley,[37] who had with him also his own regiment, the 33rd Foot. Simultaneously, the force from Bombay consisting of 6400 men under Lieutenant General Stuart,[38] advanced from Cannanore, and, on 2nd March, encamped on the Mysore frontier, near Periapatam.
Marching by Rycottah, General Harris crossed the Mysore frontier on 5th, and directed his march northwards, as if for the purpose of attacking Bangalore. When in sight of that place he turned southwards, and encamped five miles from Mallavelly, on the 26th March. Meanwhile, Tippoo had not been idle. On the 6th, he crossed the frontier near Periapatam, and attempted to cut off a detached Brigade of the Bombay force at Sedaseer. In spite of his great numerical superiority, the attack was repulsed with heavy loss, and Tippoo withdrew to Seringapatam. He had between seventy and eighty thousand men, about thirty thousand of which were in or near Seringapatam, the whole in a state of complete efficiency.
As General Harris’ force approached their camping ground, on the 26th, the Cavalry found themselves confronted by a large body of the enemy commanded by Tippoo in person. As the Infantry closed up, the Sultan slowly moved off, and the British force encamped within sight of the enemy, who withdrew towards Mallavelly. At daybreak, on the 27th, the army marched on Mallavelly, while the Nizam’s contingent under Wellesley moved parallel to it, on the left, enclosing the baggage between the two bodies. The front was covered by Major General Floyd with five regiments of Cavalry. On approaching Mallavelly, the heights beyond the village were seen to be occupied by infantry, while a large force of cavalry were on the British right. Wellesley’s division was directed to attack the enemy’s right, supported by Floyd and his cavalry, while the right wing of the army entered Mallavelly, and attacked the enemy’s centre. As the force advanced, the enemy drew back, as though declining an action, and preparations were made by the British troops for marking out a new encampment. While this was in progress, the enemy suddenly opened fire from twelve or fourteen guns, which did some execution. Upon this, the infantry picquets, the 25th Light Dragoons and a Native Cavalry Regiment pushed forward, and occupied a village in front of the enemy’s left, in which was a party of the enemy’s horse and rocket men, while the rest of the army formed line of battle. In the meanwhile, Colonel Wellesley’s division advanced, supported by Major General Floyd, with the 19th Light Dragoons, and 1st and 3rd regiments of Native cavalry. As the British force advanced, nearly simultaneous attacks were made by the enemy on both flanks. On the right a large body of cavalry hovered on the flanks, while a smaller corps charged the 1st Brigade under Major General Baird. The steady fire of the 12th Foot and the Scotch Brigade repulsed them with considerable loss. On the left, a body of men, about 2000 strong, advanced in good order against the 33rd, till it was thrown into confusion by a heavy fire at sixty paces’ distance. Seizing the moment, Floyd charged with his three regiments of Cavalry, and completely routed them, taking six standards and sabreing many men. “Into them, with disciplined impetuosity, dashed General Floyd at the head of the old 19th Light Dragoons and two regiments of Native Cavalry, who in a few minutes sabred nearly the whole of the fugitives.”[39] The retreat of the enemy became general, as the advance of the British continued, and by two o’clock they had completely withdrawn from the field. After the action, the army returned and camped near Mallavelly. This success was purchased with a loss of only seven killed, fifty-three wounded and six missing. The 19th Light Dragoons, which suffered the most among the Cavalry Regiments, had eight wounded, among them Captain Kennedy, three horses killed, twenty-two wounded, and three missing. It is said that, of the column charged by Major General Floyd, all but 230 were put hors de combat.
On the 29th and 30th, the army crossed the Cauvery at Sosilay. This move was entirely unexpected by Tippoo, who had made up his mind that the army would march directly on Seringapatam to attack it, as Cornwallis had attacked it seven years before. In this belief, he had wasted the whole country in the vicinity on the north bank of the river. By this adroit move General Harris was favourably situated to join hands with the Bombay force on its arrival, while he was able to draw abundant supplies from the villages in his neighbourhood, and from the rich country in his rear, which Tippoo had preserved for himself. Continuing his march westward, within five miles of Seringapatam, and watched, but not molested by Tippoo’s cavalry, General Harris took up ground for the siege, on the 5th April, opposite the west face of the fort of Seringapatam, and at a distance of two miles from it. The left of the army rested on the river; the cavalry were encamped in the rear of the army.
On the 6th April at daybreak, Floyd with four regiments of Cavalry, among them the 19th Light Dragoons, six regiments of Infantry, twenty guns, and a corps of the Nizam’s horse, marched westward to join the Bombay force under Major General Stuart. On the 8th, he established communication with Stuart, and on the 10th, the two forces were united at Periapatam. During the whole march, Floyd’s force was closely attended by the enemy’s cavalry, who were however unable to make any impression.
The Rajah of Coorg, our constant and loyal ally, had accompanied Major General Stuart to Periapatam, from which place he was to return to look after his own territories, and to arrange for forwarding supplies to the army.
“His romantic character rendered him an object of peculiar interest to General Floyd and the officers of the division from the eastward; and a squadron of the 19th Dragoons sent as an escort with General Stuart (the first European cavalry the Rajah had ever seen) was a novelty at which he expressed his admiration.... He accepted with enthusiasm the invitation to see the line of the eastern division under arms, and was received with suitable honours. He expressed a just admiration, but continued after his return to General Floyd’s tent, to testify his particular and unwearied admiration of the 19th regiment, intimating a wish to procure at a proper time for his own personal use, one of the dragoon’s swords.... On his rising to take leave General Floyd unclasped his own sword, and in a few words judiciously suited to the occasion, begged that he might be permitted to present it for the Rajah’s use.”[40]