From Dhowd, the Eighty-sixth, and other corps under Lieut.-Colonel Murray, retired to Godera, and from thence to Jerode, in order to obtain supplies, and protect the province of Guzerat. At this period a dreadful famine raged in the Deccan, and other parts of the country hitherto the seat of war.

After three weeks’ repose at Jerode, the Eighty-sixth, Sixty-fifth, Sepoys and native cavalry, advanced once more into the province of Malwa, under Lieut.-Colonel Murray, and arrived at Dhowd on the 12th of June, having lost many men from the excessive heat. On the march Major Stuart, of the Sixty-fifth, died and was buried, (9th June,) under the colours of the Eighty-sixth, on which day twenty-one men of the Sixty-fifth, and eleven of the Eighty-sixth, died from the effects of the hot winds.

From Dhowd, the troops advanced to Ongein, the capital of Scindia, from whence the Eighty-sixth, three battalions of Sepoys, a train of artillery, and a body of Scindia’s cavalry, were immediately pushed on to Indore, the capital of Holkar’s dominions, where they arrived on the 14th of August; the city having been evacuated on the previous evening.

From Indore, the flank companies of the regiment, and a battalion of Sepoys, advanced with scaling ladders, under Captain Richardson, twenty miles, to surprise a fort, which was reported to be full of troops and provisions; but when the soldiers scaled the walls, they found the place empty; the enemy having fled a few hours previously.

Having penetrated so far beyond the boundaries of Guzerat, the troops under Lieut.-Colonel Murray found their communication with that country cut off, and Holkar threatening to enter and lay waste the province; their supplies were nearly exhausted; they were in a territory devastated by famine and disease; the rainy season was approaching, and a small force, under Lieut.-Colonel Monson, sent by General Lord Lake to effect a junction with Lieut.-Col. Murray, was pursued by Holkar’s numerous legions, and forced to make a precipitate flight, abandoning its cannon and baggage. Under these circumstances, a sudden advance was made, of two marches, to deceive the enemy, and on the third march the troops faced about and retreated. The rain set in with such violence as to destroy the tents;—the artillery and baggage oxen and camels died in great numbers;—much of the baggage was abandoned;—the soldiers had to drag the guns through the cotton-grounds waist-deep in water;—no cover or shelter for officers or soldiers;—the inhabitants dying in great numbers from famine;—the European soldiers dying also from excessive fatigue, the inclemency of the weather and privation;—the native troops and followers also perishing in great numbers: such were the distressing circumstances under which this retrograde movement was executed, but, by the perseverance of the Europeans, the guns were preserved, and the troops arrived at Ongein, where the Sixty-fifth, Eighty-sixth, and artillery, were accommodated with a building in the fort. This force had been reduced by its sufferings, from six to three thousand men.

Exertions were made to re-equip this diminished force for the field, and orders being received to advance, it was again in motion in the middle of October, advancing in the direction of Kota and Rhampoorae, and capturing, on the route, the hill fort of Inglehur by escalade, also several other small forts.

The army of Holkar was routed and dispersed by the troops under General Lord Lake; but the war was protracted by the defection of the Rajah of Bhurtpore, and the Eighty-sixth were destined to transfer their services to the rajah’s dominions.

1805

Reinforcements having arrived from Bombay, Major-General Jones assumed the command, and marched towards the city of Bhurtpore, the capital of the hostile rajah’s territory[5]. After a long and harassing march, the troops approached that fortress on the 10th of February, 1805, when a large body of hostile horsemen surrounded the column and impeded its movements across a level country. Half the force was employed in protecting the baggage, and the guns were repeatedly unlimbered, to keep the adverse cavalry at a distance. On the following day, Major-General Jones’s division joined the army before Bhurtpore, and was inspected by Lord Lake, who expressed his satisfaction at the bearing of the troops. The soldiers of the Sixty-fifth and Eighty-sixth presented a motley appearance: their worn-out uniforms were patched with various colours, or replaced by red cotton jackets; many of the men wore sandals in the place of shoes, and turbans instead of hats; but beneath this outward war-worn appearance, the innate courage of Britons still glowed.

The siege of Bhurtpore had unfortunately been undertaken without a battering train of sufficient weight, and necessary to insure the reduction of so strong a fortress; the siege was, however, persevered in. At three o’clock, on the 20th of February, two hundred and fifty men of the Eighty-sixth, and two companies of Sepoys, commanded by Captain Grant, of the Eighty-sixth, stormed an out-work, covering one of the principal gates, with the bayonet, driving the Arabs, who fought with their usual determination, into the city, and capturing eleven brass guns; in which service Lieutenants Lanphier and D’Aguilar distinguished themselves, the former receiving a spear wound in the neck. As the Arabs fled to the gate, Captain Grant followed, in the hope of being able to enter with them, but he found it closed, and, after destroying the fugitives, who were shut out, he retired to the Pettah, to await the result of the other attacks, which did not succeed. While the soldiers of the Eighty-sixth and Sepoys were dragging the captured guns to the camp, they were attacked by a numerous body of the enemy, who issued from the fortress to retake the guns, but were repulsed by the steady valour of the soldiers. Captain Grant formed a square round the guns, and under a heavy fire from the Fort, succeeded in bringing them to camp; this was the only successful part of this attack. The enemy’s numerous cavalry also attacked the British camp, but were defeated by the troops not engaged in the trenches, or in the assault. Lord Lake commended the determined bravery of the storming party of the Eighty-sixth in orders, and directed the captured guns to be placed in front of the camp of the regiment,—a mark of distinction highly prized by the corps, and by the Bombay division of the army to which they belonged.