The whole of the hill-forts in the Candeish being reduced, the two companies of the Royal Scots proceeded to Jaulnah, and joined the other three companies of the battalion, with the Hyderabad division at that place. Here the troops expected to take up their monsoon quarters; but, when all who were obliged to live under canvass were busily engaged in making arrangements to mitigate the severity of the approaching rains, the division was ordered to proceed with all possible expedition to Nagpore. Quitting Jaulnah on the 7th of August, the troops commenced the march, and the dreaded rains immediately set in; the roads became almost impassable; the baggage was unable to keep up with the troops, and the tents were consequently in the rear, so that the men were frequently exposed for twenty-four hours to incessant rain; no shelter could be procured in the villages, and every comfort was wanting. Exposed to these calamities, the troops arrived at Ellichpoor on the 3rd of September in such a state as to be totally unfit to proceed any further. Here they halted until the 21st of December, when they were again put in motion, and halted at Walkeira on the 30th, where the five companies of the Royal Scots were, in consequence of their long service in the field, relieved by a division of His Majesty's 30th regiment from Hyderabad. The five companies then returned to Jaulnah, expecting to continue their march to the Deccan, but were ordered to proceed to Boorhaunpoor in charge of a battering train which lay at Jaulnah. On the 1st of March, 1819, they rejoined the Hyderabad division, encamped near the city of Boorhaunpoor, and marched to engage in the siege of the celebrated fortress of Asseerghur, which, on account of its strength, was termed "the Gibraltar of the East." This fortress is situated on a detached hill, not commanded by any other in its neighbourhood. It consists of an upper and lower fort; the upper one, of an irregular form, about 1100 yards from east to west, and about 600 from north to south; it crowns the top of the hill, which is about 750 feet in height; and all round it, with the exception of one place which is strongly fortified, there is a perpendicular precipice from 80 to 120 feet, surmounted with a low wall full of loop-holes. Below this are two lines of works, the outer one forming the lower fort, which rises directly above the pettah, and the entrance to which is protected by strong gateways and flanking works; and immense labour and great skill had been employed in rendering this naturally strong post almost impregnable. Such was the formidable fortress against which the five companies of the Royal Scots were about to be employed.
The Hyderabad division was encamped at Neembolah, about seven miles from this celebrated fortress, belonging to his Highness Doulat Rao Scindia, and, negotiations having failed, about twelve o'clock on the night of the 17th of March, five companies of the Royal Scots,[134] commanded by Captain J. Wetherall, with the flank companies of the 30th, 67th, and Madras European regiments, five companies of native infantry, and a detachment of sappers and miners, the whole commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Fraser, of the Royal Scots, and a reserve, commanded by Major Dalrymple, of the 30th, assembled at the camp for the attack of the pettah of Asseer; another party was also directed to co-operate in this service from Sir J. Malcolm's division.
Between one and two o'clock the column commenced its march; advancing up the bed of a deep nullah, or small river, nearly dry at the time, the assaulting party arrived unobserved within 500 yards of the pettah, then rushed upon the gate with the greatest ardour and steadiness, the five companies of the Royal Scots leading the way. The enemy was surprised, and, after discharging a few rounds of grape, retired without making further opposition. The head of the attacking column forced the gate, and, proceeding up the main street, encountered an advanced piquet of the enemy, which retired to the lower fort, firing occasionally at the head of the column. Major Charles M'Leod, of the East India Company's service, Deputy Quartermaster-General, acted as guide on the occasion, and by his direction the leading files of the Royal Scots pursued the enemy close under the walls of the fortress, from whence an incessant fire of artillery and matchlocks was kept up, and a few ill-directed rockets were also discharged. The leading sections of the Royal Scots, which had pursued the enemy up the hill, were joined by one or two files of the 30th and 67th regiments, the whole amounting to about 25 or 30 men; and as soon as the enemy saw the small force before which they had so precipitately fled, they immediately rallied, and came shouting down the hill with augmented numbers to attack this small party, but were repulsed by a spirited charge with the bayonet, which, with a few rounds of musketry, obliged them to retreat within the works, some of which were within 50 or 60 yards of this handful of men, leaving their chief, who was shot by a soldier of the Royal Scots, and several men, on the ground. Major M'Leod, being wounded, proceeded to the rear; and the enemy having established a cross fire from the walls of the lower fort and from two cavaliers, Captain Wetherall ordered the advanced party to retire a short distance to a post established by Lieut.-Colonel Fraser, where there was some cover for the men. The loss of the leading sections in this affair was 1 private soldier killed; Major M'Leod, Lieutenant Bland, and 11 rank and file, wounded. The remainder of the column did not sustain any loss, the men being protected from the enemy's fire by the houses in which they had established themselves.[135]
The assaulting party maintained its post until night, when it was relieved by fresh troops, and the five companies of the Royal Scots returned to their tents, which had been left standing at Neembolah; but Lieut.-Colonel Fraser remained in command of the troops at the pettah. At day-break on the 19th a heavy gun battery opened against the fort. At dusk in the evening a party of the enemy issued from the lower fort, crept unperceived down a deep ravine to the rear of the pettah, and gained the main street, where they encountered the British troops, and were repulsed and forced to abandon their enterprise. Lieut.-Colonel Fraser, of the Royal Scots, while in the act of gallantly encouraging the soldiers, and directing them to withhold their fire and give the enemy the bayonet, was shot in the head and fell dead on the spot: his body was afterwards conveyed to the camp at Neembolah and interred with military honours.[136]
On the 21st of March the five companies of the Royal Scots took their turn of duty in the pettah, where they arrived a little before day-break. As soon as it was light a heavy gun battery opened on the forts with great effect, but it had only fired about a dozen rounds when, from some accident which could not be explained, the magazine in the rear of it, containing 130 barrels of gunpowder, exploded, killing a conductor of ordnance, a native officer, and 34 non-commissioned officers and rank and file, and wounding another native officer and 65 non-commissioned officers and rank and file. Such was the violence of the explosion that about six inches of the top of a bayonet was blown nearly six hundred yards from the battery. From this period until the 29th new batteries of heavy guns and mortars were erected, and, a breach having been effected in the wall of the lower fort, the enemy abandoned it and retired to the upper one: the lower fort was taken possession of on the morning of the 30th by part of Sir John Malcolm's division.
The Royal Scots, with the remainder of the Hyderabad division, had in the meantime removed from their ground at Neembolah and occupied a position three miles north-east of the fortress. During the progress of constructing the new batteries on elevated and commanding situations, the dragging of ordnance into many of them was performed by the European soldiers, who literally worked like horses; and during the whole of the time they were annoyed by a constant fire of matchlocks from the walls of the upper fort, but which was too distant to prevent the execution of this herculean labour, which was performed with that ardour and cheerfulness so characteristic of British soldiers, when necessity demands any extraordinary exertions from them.
On the 31st of March part of the Bengal army, consisting of 2,200 native troops, with 22 pieces of heavy ordnance, commanded by Brigadier-General Watson, joined the besieging force; and these guns were soon placed in battery, and opened on the fort. The storm of war now raged round Asseerghur with awful fury; the shot and shells from the numerous British batteries flew in showers, a dozen shells sometimes exploding within the area of the upper fort at the same moment, and a breach was soon effected in the outer retaining wall at the only assailable part of the fort; at the same time two batteries of 18 and 24-pounders were directed against the inner wall. This unremitting fire was continued until the 6th of April, when the garrison, apprehending the consequences of having to sustain an attack on the works by storm, forced the Killedar to sue for terms, namely, "liberty to preserve their arms and to depart with their personal property." These conditions being refused, hostilities recommenced; the Killedar, however, accepted the terms offered on the 8th, and agreed on his part to surrender the fort on the morning of the 9th, and the firing ceased; but, as he said he could not answer for the garrison, the control of which he had lost, preparations were made for renewing operations in case of refusal. The garrison, however, submitted; a British guard took possession of the gates at the appointed hour; and a union flag was sent, with an escort of 100 Europeans and the like number of native infantry, to the upper fort, and hoisted under a royal salute from all the batteries. The garrison, amounting to 1200 men, marched out at noon and grounded their arms. Their loss was inconsiderable, from having such good cover from the fire of the British batteries, being only 43 killed, and 95 wounded; and this was chiefly occasioned by the bursting of shells. The loss of the besieging army was 11 European and 4 native officers, and 95 European and 213 native soldiers killed and wounded, including the loss at the explosion of the magazine on the 21st of March. Of this number the Royal Scots had only 7 rank and file killed and wounded in addition to the loss on the 18th of March. The force employed against Asseerghur amounted to about 20,000 men; the ordnance of all calibre to 61 guns and 40 mortars and howitzers: the enemy had 119 guns and mortars mounted on the works, and some of the guns were of immense calibre—one a 384-pounder.[137]
In a general order, dated Madras, 28th April, 1819, the conduct of the five companies of the regiment was spoken of in the following terms:—
"The conduct of the detachment of His Majesty's Royal Scots under the command of Captain Wetherall, and of His Majesty's 30th Foot, under Major Dalrymple, during the siege of Asseer, has been most exemplary, and such as to reflect the most distinguished credit on their several commanding officers, as well as on the whole of the officers and men composing those detachments."