Tippoo next proceeded to invest Mangalore, on the Malabar coast, and it required all the abilities of Lieut.-Colonel John Campbell, major of the Forty-second, seconded by the well-tried valour of the second battalion of that regiment, and other corps, to supply the defects of the fortifications. The place was invested on the 18th of May by the whole of the enemy’s forces, commanded by Tippoo in person. The garrison under Lieut.-Colonel Campbell (Colonel Macleod being employed as a Brigadier-General), made a most gallant and successful defence, subject to hardships and wants which have seldom been exceeded in the annals of sieges.
In consequence of the General Peace which had been entered into with the European Powers, Tippoo became deprived of his French allies, and the Sultan entered into negociations for terminating the war between Mysore and the British, when an armistice took place.
This event terminated the siege of Mangalore about the end of September, at a time when all the works which defended the garrison were nearly shattered to pieces; all the provisions exhausted, and numbers of the brave soldiers were dying daily, victims of want and disease.[6]
The contest was, however, again renewed, and the garrison was a second time invested by Tippoo.
1784
The fortress of Mangalore was defended until the 25th of February 1784, when sickness, and the want of provisions, compelled Lieut.-Colonel Campbell to evacuate the place, after obtaining the most honorable terms from the enemy. Peace was afterwards concluded with the Sultan of Mysore on the 11th of March following.
The battalion embarked in this year for Calcutta, and was employed on active service in the Upper Provinces of Bengal.
1786
The Seventy-third Highland Regiment, having in the year 1786 been directed to be numbered the Seventy-first Regiment, the Second Battalion of the Forty-second Royal Highland Regiment was constituted a distinct corps, and numbered the SEVENTY-THIRD Highland Regiment, the colonelcy being conferred upon Major-General Sir George Osborn, Bart., (Lieut.-Colonel of the Third Foot Guards), from the 18th of April 1786. The facings were at the same time altered from blue to dark green.