Famous Fights of Indian Native Regiments

by Reginald Hodder

At the time that the Mahratta Dominion was at its zenith in India, it came into clash with the ever-widening rule of the British. In 1803 the Mahratta Dominion extended from Hyderabad to Mysore as far as Delhi. In addition to this its dependencies and territorial possessions in India were far greater than those of the British.

The second Mahratta War was declared in August, 1803, and General Lake marched on Delhi. The British forces consisted of about 22,000 men in two equal divisions, one under Lake and the other under Wellesley, but the Mahrattas outnumbered this little force by seven to one.

The first event of the war was the attack on the fortress of Aligati by Lake. Here our men had a foretaste of the nature of "wild Mahratta battle" and of the terrible valour of the enemy. History records that the Mahrattas "fought like lions," and it was not until 2,000 of their number were slain that they finally surrendered. During the following week came the fall of Delhi, after a most determined conflict raged in sight of its minarets—a conflict in which the enemy lost 3,000 killed and wounded and 68 guns. A month later the famous stronghold of Agra was taken. This was an important victory, as in those days Agra was practically the key to Northern India.

In this campaign it was fully recognised that the Mahrattas were men of good fighting quality. At the battle of Leswarree, when Lake was outnumbered and forced to retire to wait for his infantry and guns to come up, the prowess of the Mahrattas came as a surprise to him. When some reinforcements arrived he attacked again with still greater determination. On this occasion his horse was shot under him, and his son, dismounting to offer his own horse, was severely wounded. At the same moment, Lake, turning as his son fell, felt a shot pass between his arm and his chest, which, if he had not moved, would have found its way through his heart. But Lake was a man of cool judgment and imperturbable courage. Mounting his son's horse, he surveyed the field of battle and quickly made up his mind to decide matters by the bayonet. Our troops greeted the word of command with a hearty cheer, and immediately the 76th, admirably supported by the Native Infantry Corps, swept down upon the enemy in a furious charge. But Lake's generalship was matched by that of the Mahratta Chief, who instantly ordered his cavalry to charge. It was a tense moment, and it was rendered dramatic by the sudden appearance of the British Dragoons galloping to the relief. "Horse and foot," says a historian, "met in one great shock of battle; sabre rang out against bayonet and musket flashed against pistol and carbine. A short period of indescribable mêlée ensued, in which the fate of the day was decided."

The Mahrattas were defeated. They were a foe as worthy in those days of our steel as they are now, our comrades-in-arms, worthy of the Empire they defend.

Meanwhile Wellesley in the south was trying conclusions with Madhi Scindia and the Rajah of Madhpur. In conjunction with Col. Stevenson he had 7,000 men, who chased Scindia for three weeks, the wily chief having decided to fight on chosen ground. At length, on September 23rd, 1803, Wellesley, after a fatiguing march, reached the bank of the Kaitna River. He was waiting for Col. Stevenson, with whom he had prearranged a plan, but when he discovered that the enemy was in camp on the other side of the river, he concluded that his chance of bringing Scindia to action was "now or never." Accordingly he resolved not to wait for Stevenson, but to attack at once. This was a daring decision, for Scindia's forces numbered 17,000 foot, of whom 10,500 were highly disciplined infantry; and his artillery, consisting of the regular equipment supplemented by 115 guns, was far stronger than that of the British. In addition to this his Mahratta Horse numbered about 30,000. The little British army that was getting ready to defeat this gigantic force numbered 4,520 men, of whom 1,170 (74th and 78th Regiments) were British Infantry, 2,000 Native Infantry, 1,200 Cavalry, and 150 Artillery. The Mahrattas saw this piece of audacity and stood awhile in amazement, but, wise in their generation, they forbore to call the force opposing them "contemptible." When the rest of the world came to have something to say about it, Wellesley simply remarked: "But had I not attacked them I must have been surrounded by their superior cavalry, my troops had starved and I had nothing left but to hang myself to my tent-pole." But it may be justly contended that it was not wholly a case of Hobson's choice, for Wellesley, like Nelson, knew when to be rash and how to be rash, and it might have been said of him, in the words of the French Admiral about Nelson, that his genius lay in the fact that he could rightly estimate every weakness of his enemy.

The battle which followed was of a terrible and terrific nature, but it ended eventually in a glorious victory for the British. From first to last, Wellesley, having conspired with the luck of war, left no single point to the luck of chance.

From an elevated plain he could see the whole Mahratta force encamped on the north side of the Kaitna, where the banks of that river were very steep. Their right, consisting of cavalry, extended to Bokerdon; their left, consisting of infantry, with ninety pieces of artillery, lay near the village of Assaye, which has given its name to the memorable battle.

Wellesley resolved to attack the infantry on its left and rear, and for that purpose he moved his little army to a ford beyond the enemy's left, leaving the Mysore and other irregular cavalry to watch the Mahratta cavalry, and crossing the river only with his regular horse and infantry. He passed the ford, ascended the steep bank, and formed his men in three lines—two of infantry, and the third of horse. This was effected under a brisk cannonade from the enemy's artillery. Scindia, or the European officer who directed his movements, promptly made a corresponding change in his line, giving a new front to his infantry, which was now made to rest its right on the river and its left upon the village of Assaye and the Juah stream, which flowed in a parallel direction with the Kaitna. Scindia's numerous and well-served cannon did terrible execution among Wellesley's advancing lines, killing men and bullocks, and drowning the weak sound of his scanty artillery. At one moment such a gap was made by cannon-ball in the English right that some of the Mahratta cavalry attempted to charge through it; but the British cavalry in the third line came up and drove the Mahrattas back with great slaughter. Finding his artillery of little or no use (the guns could not be brought up for lack of bullocks), Wellesley gave orders to leave it in the rear, and bade the infantry charge with the bayonet.

His steady, resolute advance in the teeth of their guns had already awed the Mahrattas, who would not stand to meet the collision of the English steel: their infantry gave way, and abandoned the guns. One body of them formed again, and presented a bold front; but Lieutenant-Colonel Maxwell charged them with the British cavalry, broke and dispersed them, and was killed in the moment of victory. Wellesley's Sepoys having proceeded too far in pursuit, many of Scindia's artillerymen, who had thrown themselves down among the carriages of their guns as though they were dead, got to their feet again, and turned their pieces against the rear of the advancing Sepoys; and at the same time the Mahratta cavalry, which had been hovering round throughout the battle, were still near. But Maxwell's charge soon silenced the desultory artillery fire, and Scindia's disciplined infantry went off and left ninety pieces of cannon, nearly all brass and of the proper calibres, in the hands of the victors. Wellesley led the 78th British infantry in person against the village of Assaye, which was not cleared without a desperate combat.