Our interest is, however, mainly with the forces commanded by Major General Wellesley.
CHAPTER IX
ASSAYE AND ARGAUM
1803–1804
Capture of Ahmednuggur—Battle of Assaye—Death of Lieut. Colonel Maxwell—Honorary Colour granted to 19th—Battle of Argaum—Capture of Gawilghur—Berar Rajah makes peace—Scindia makes peace—March against banditti—Their dispersal—Grant of badges for Assaye.
Wellesley reached Ahmednuggur on the 8th August. The fort was an exceedingly strong one, and the pettah or fortified town was also strongly held. An immediate assault on the pettah was ordered, which was completely successful. The town was taken, at a cost of 27 killed and 92 wounded: the 19th Light Dragoons had one man wounded. This was a brilliant opening to the campaign, which impressed friends and enemies alike. A Mahratta Chief, commanding a body of the Peishwa’s horse in Wellesley’s camp, wrote to his friends in Poona: “These English are a strange people, and their General a wonderful man: they came here in the morning, looked at the pettah wall, walked over it, killed all the garrison and returned to breakfast!” In attacking fortified places that did not require regular siege operations, Wellesley successfully followed the plan, both in 1800 and on this occasion, of attacking by escalade directly he appeared before the place.
At daybreak on the 10th, a battery was opened against the fort, which surrendered on the 12th.
After arranging for the settlement of the Ahmednuggur district, Wellesley crossed the Godavery at Toka, and advanced to Aurungabad, which he reached on the 29th August. The crossing of the Godavery took seven days to complete. Scindia’s force meanwhile had entered the Nizam’s territory by the Ajunta Pass, and had taken Jaulna. The Mahratta army then moved southwards, as if intending to cross the Godavery and attack Hyderabad, but were baffled by Wellesley moving southward along the left bank of the Godavery. They therefore turned northward again, from Partoor, towards the Ajunta Pass, and encamped in the neighbourhood of Bokerdun and Assaye. In the interval, Stevenson, who had been operating to the north-eastward, returned and retook Jaulna on the 2nd September. On the 6th, and again on the 9th, he surprised the camps of two parties of Mahratta horse, after which he halted at Budnapore, near Jalgaum. Wellesley was delayed on the Godavery till the 18th, pending the arrival of a large convoy.
On the 21st, he reached Jalgaum, where he concerted a plan of operation with Stevenson. According to the best information, the enemy was believed to be at Bokerdun and Jaffirabad, about thirty miles distant, but the enormous numbers of the enemy’s cavalry made it impossible to procure trustworthy information by reconnoissance. It was agreed that the two forces should advance next day by separate roads, and fall on the enemy on the 24th. At the end of the first day’s march, on the 22nd, news was brought to Wellesley, at Paugri, that the enemy was moving westward, and was making for the Ajunta Pass. The news was false. Stevenson’s line of march lay about fifteen miles westward of Wellesley’s. On the 23rd, Wellesley made a fourteen-mile march to Naulniah. On arriving there, he found that, instead of being ten or twelve miles from the enemy, as he had anticipated, he was only half that distance from them. He was also told that their cavalry had moved off, and the infantry were about to follow. It was necessary to ascertain the truth at once. The baggage was accordingly left at Naulniah, under charge of a battalion of Native Infantry and the rearguard picquets,[44] and the rest of the force moved forwards. The General, at the same time, pushed on ahead with the Cavalry. Without counting the force detached to guard the baggage in Naulniah, Wellesley’s force consisted of nearly 6000 men (of whom about 1600 were Europeans), and 14 guns, of which eight were the 6 Pr. galloper guns of the Cavalry. There were also contingents of the Mysore and Peishwa’s horsemen. After going about three miles, he suddenly, about one o’clock, came in sight of the enemy’s camp beyond the Kaitna, near the village of Assaye, in a peninsula formed by the junction of the Kaitna and Juah rivers. The Kaitna was only passable at certain points; the Juah had less water in it, but had very steep banks. Along both rivers the ground was much broken by ravines.