This powerful empire, which had been shaken and diminished by the military skill and political sagacity of the Marquis Cornwallis, is now razed, as it were, to its foundations, and the house of Hyder Ali degraded from the usurped power which it had maintained during a period of forty years. The importance of this event, to the power and commerce of Great Britain in the East, is not within the reach of ordinary calculation.
From every appearance of the improving state of Seringapatam, the cultivation of the country, the number of its inhabitants, and the advancing progress of its military establishment, that capital would, in a short time, have been impregnable; and the power of Tippoo Saib would have been at least equal to the combined strength of the European settlements in India. The sultan certainly was not inactive; but his activity was misguided, and became inadequate to its object. He destroyed the villages, and laid waste the country in front of the army; but not sufficiently spreading the tracks of devastation, his purpose for distressing our army was defeated, as General Harris, by a slight deviation from the common road, reached his destination at the time he wished, and without any material interruption.
From the late plentiful rains, and the peculiar construction of the tanks, which could not be entirely drained, there was no deficiency of water; and though the usual attempts had been made to poison it, by steeping in it the bruised branches of the milkhedge tree, no very noxious effect was produced; for though no prohibition, or bodies of guards, could prevent the men or cattle from slaking their thirst at these tanks, very little inconvenience was felt; very few of the people suffered any disorder whatever from the poisonous impregnation. The sickness that at any time appeared among the troops, arose from the heat of the sun, extreme fatigue, or irregular refreshment; and especially among the common men, from an intemperate use of every species of vegetable they could find, and particularly that of the sugarcane.
The action which Tippoo risked on the 27th of March, at Malwilly, with the right wing of our army, was as ill conceived, as it was ill conducted; because, having the choice of his ground, he ought either to have received us with his whole force, or to have avoided every kind of regular engagement. By turning to the left the second day after this action, instead of crossing the river, as Tippoo appeared to have expected, we gained a flourishing and highly cultivated country, which, most fortunately, his destroying hand had not touched. After a march of about fourteen miles, we reached the Cavery, without the least molestation, and took possession of the large fort Soocilly, which was full of cattle, grain, and forage; and commanded an excellent ford, which the army, with all its equipment, passed in one day, without any loss or interruption, even to the vicinity of his capital.
General Harris had the choice of his route, so that he was enabled to sit down before it with all his resources for the siege undiminished. The evil most to be dreaded on this service, and a tremendous evil it is, was famine; and this the sultan had means of producing, if he had been wise enough in employing them. The whole of our draft and carriage bullocks, public and private, died, and rice had risen three rupees the pound, the day the city was stormed. It was not till nine days after that event, that the detachments, commanded by Read and Brown, could arrive with supplies, notwithstanding all the cavalry, and a brigade of native infantry, had been detached, under the command of General Floyd, to favour their junction; so that if we had not succeeded in our attempt, the consequence would have been fatal to the army; and that we were not repulsed, was owing to the incomparable conduct and intrepidity of the troops, as well as the judicious means employed to support and protect their extraordinary efforts.
It is not necessary to enter into the detailed progress of the siege. It may, however, be proper to remark, that notwithstanding the errors committed by the sultan, in defence of the place, nothing less than the vast combined army in our service, could have carried the enterprise into effect. The extent of post we were obliged to occupy on both sides of the river, required the whole force of the coast and Bombay armies; besides the troops necessary to dislodge the numerous swarms of the enemy. As the service was entrusted chiefly to European officers, who were appointed to the various branches of it, not by selection, but in regular succession, opportunities were given, as they were universally employed, to display the skill and military superiority of the British character.
The act of storming was a most animating and unrivalled picture of valour. The columns of grenadiers dashed across the river at noon-day, despising the difficulties of the passage, to mount the breach, which could be practicable alone to their irresistible force and bravery. The impetuous spirit which led them on in the face of a very heavy and continued fire of cannon and musketry, the rapidity with which they ascended the ladders, and the daring courage which drove the affrighted enemy from their walls, soon combined to place the British colours on them. The enfilading batteries of the Bombay advanced post were of signal service, as they deterred numbers from disputing the breach, who might otherwise have kept up a galling fire upon it. The hour of attack was also fortunate, it being one at noon, when numbers of the besieged had retired to take refreshment, though enough still remained to have repelled less daring assailants. The sultan, who had hitherto commanded his troops, was also engaged in another quarter; but on hearing the alarm, he hastened back, when finding our grenadiers had entered the breach, and seeing his people falling all around him, he made for a sally-port, where, amidst a crowd of fugitives, he was overtaken and slain.
Since our arrival in England, we have ofttimes heard him extolled for a brave prince; but those who have thus stated, we presume, know little of him. That he was a coward, we could easily demonstrate, and that he was a tyrant, equal, if not superior, to a Domitian, a Caligula, a Nero, or even Nabis the tyrant of Sparta, is a fact of which we had ocular demonstration. For vigorously defending his country against any power on earth, I give him credit, and for using every exertion in expelling all its invaders; but this should have been done without those unheard-of cruelties, which were interwoven in his very nature;—but he is gone, and I proceed.
It is not yet known by whose hand the tyrant of the East was laid low; and it is supposed, that the jewels which he always wore about his person, and which became the property of some fortunate soldier, whoever he might be, that was his conqueror, are too precious to be hastily acknowledged.
The following particulars were related by Bejeb Saib, one of the sidars who came with the hostage princes to Lord Cornwallis. “He constantly wore a ruby ring, which was esteemed by him as the most valuable in his treasury; his turban also was always adorned with a diamond of great value; and a pearl rosary was continually ornamental of his person. The pearls of which it consisted were of uncommon size and beauty; they had been the collection of many years, and were the pride of his dress. Whenever he could purchase a pearl of extraordinary size, he never omitted the opportunity, making it supply, on his rosary, the place of another inferior in form and beauty.” Neither of these precious articles has appeared since the sultan’s death. His body was found late in the evening, beneath a heap of others, mingled together in one promiscuous slaughter; it had been shot in the temples, and was otherwise wounded, as appeared, by a bayonet. After it had been properly identified, it was delivered to the survivors of his family, and interred in the sepulchre of his father, Hyder Ali, with the solemnities and ceremonials belonging to his exalted rank and station.