Nothing now remained to prevent our reaching the Gauts, which is a range of hills defended by numerous batteries, at the foot of which we encamped, and the next day one of the battalions was sent to reconnoitre; when they opened a fire from several spots at once, but with little execution, being at too great a distance. Our loss was one Sepoy, whose death was so singular that it deserves to be recorded. This poor fellow was struck in the head by a spent shot, a six-pounder, which lodged there. It was seen by me and thousands more before he was interred; and although I have witnessed many strange wounds, this appeared to me the most remarkable, the shot being half in and half out of his temple.
While these preparations were going on, an express came from Lord Cornwallis, who was about commencing the siege of the capital, to hasten our march thither. No time was lost on the part of the Mahrattas; for the next morning, Purso Rhamboo, the chief, ordered the tents to be struck early, and by seven o’clock the whole camp was in motion. We were much elated on this business, under an idea that we should be of great service to his lordship, knowing every creek and crevice of Patam. The first day we passed Ananpour, the spot where so much barbarity had been practised by our troops, as before related; and twelve days brought us within one day’s march of Tippoo’s retreat, and his lordship’s camp. Here we applied to Major Little, to quit his camp for the grand army, assigning as our reasons, the service we might be of, in case of Lord Cornwallis’s storming Seringapatam. Major Little highly approved of our plan, and as there was no necessity for an escort, we departed, and reached his lordship’s camp that evening; but, to our no small mortification, we found that a capitulation had taken place, and that Tippoo’s two sons had been received by Lord Cornwallis the day before our arrival.
The conditions acceded to, on the part of Tippoo, were: to lose half his territories, which were to be given up to the allies, with a vast sum of money to defray the expenses of the war; that all prisoners, from the time of his father to the present period, were to be unconditionally liberated;[[31]] and, lastly, that two of his sons were to be surrendered as hostages,[[32]] for the due performance of this treaty.
After remaining some days in the camp, we understood that the two men, whom I have before mentioned, were on the north side of Seringapatam, with General Abercrombie, who commanded the Bombay army. We repaired thither, and met them as brothers, supposed to be lost; and after a mutual detail of our various trials, and the manner of making our escapes, respectively, &c. &c. we parted, they for Bombay, and ourselves for Madras.
Here were a number of half-starved Europeans, all deserters, who were taken in the pittah or suburbs, when our troops followed Tippoo’s over the Cavery.[[33]] These were all in irons, and what his lordship did with them I know not; but suppose, as mercy was a leading feature in his character, that he did not put them to death. We were now ordered to Madras, having an escort of Sepoys for our safety; and his lordship understanding our wishes were to go to England, very humanely gratified them. With our escort, we quitted the camp at Seringapatam for Madras, which place we reached in twenty-one days.
On the morning when we heard the surf, our joy was inexpressible, not having seen the sea for ten years. A few days after our arrival, we embarked as passengers on board of the Honourable Company’s ship Dutton, East Indiaman; and after encountering some tremendous gales off the Cape of Good Hope, which few ships escape in those latitudes, we, through divine Providence, safely reached the Downs in 1793.
CHAP. VII.
State of Seringapatam prior to the Siege—Fortifications—Natural Advantages—Military Force—Besieged and Captured by the British—Death of Tippoo—General Carnage—Riches found in the City—Many of Tippoo’s Jewels yet concealed—Progressive State of the Arts in his Dominions.
The British troops entered the territories of Tippoo, from Yacotta, on the 5th of March, and encamped before Seringapatam on the 5th of April; and it may be considered as a fortunate circumstance, that the sultan neither employed his whole force against us, nor thought of turning his attention to the Bombay army. The numerous attendants of the Nizam’s forces, as well as those of the European corps; the immense quantity of public stores and provisions; the long train of ordnance; with about 40,000 Bengarries, formed altogether such a host, as not to admit being covered by our army; so that if Tippoo had employed his powers with the military skill which he was supposed to possess, he might, without hazarding an engagement by desultory skirmishes, distant cannonades, and other hostile movements, have so harassed our infantry, and weakened our cavalry, that a great part of the baggage, stores, and ammunition, would probably have fallen into his hands, and the army have been greatly impeded in its march to the place of its destination. And, moreover, as the rainy season was approaching, there is reason to believe, that had the sultan employed his power with equal judgment and activity, the immediate object of the campaign might have been defeated. It had, indeed, been for some time reported, that Tippoo was become subject to fits of mental derangement; and the whole of his conduct seems to justify that opinion. He had dismissed from his councils all his faithful friends, who had served him long, and had served him well, and had called into his service, men of little experience or capacity, who won his favour by flattering his caprices, and practising an unresisting submission to his will. The former had always discouraged their master’s disposition to connect himself with France, as pregnant with the mischief it has since produced; while the latter promoted it, for no other reason, but because it flattered his hopes of gratifying his resentment against the British power in India. His treasures were immense, and his army was not only numerous, but in a high state of discipline and equipment. However, by not employing the one, and misemploying the other, his fall was precipitated, and his country conquered in a manner, and with a rapidity of good fortune, which greatly exceeded the most sanguine expectations.