The loss in private men fell chiefly on the Thirty-sixth, that regiment and the flank companies of the Seventy-sixth being the troops which formed the front division of the column. The grenadiers of the Thirty-sixth, who led, in advancing to the redoubt, had twenty men killed and wounded.[12]
After leaving a sufficient force in this strongwork, including four companies of the Thirty-sixth, under Captain John Austin, who had commanded the leading company of the column, the troops under Major-General Medows moved to the left, intending to fall on the enemy’s left wing, instead of which they came in view of another redoubt of equal strength and magnitude with the former, which it was deemed imprudent to attack. The column then recrossed the bound-hedge, moved to the left of the British army, which it did not find until daybreak, when the action was over.
Lord Cornwallis, on joining Major-General Medows at the Pagoda hill, on the morning of the 7th of February, detached the remaining six companies of the Thirty-sixth regiment and the third battalion of Bengal sepoys towards the Sultan’s redoubt; but they were afterwards ordered to proceed to the island, where the enemy had commenced an attack on the troops, which was gallantly repulsed.
The foregoing details show what an active part the Thirty-sixth sustained in these operations, and testify the share which the regiment deserved of the following general commendation bestowed by the Earl Cornwallis in his orders issued on the evening of the 7th of February.
“The conduct and valour of the officers and soldiers of this army have often merited Lord Cornwallis’s encomiums; but the zeal and gallantry which were so successfully displayed last night in the attack of the enemy’s whole army, in a position that had cost him so much time and labour to fortify, can never be sufficiently praised; and his satisfaction on an occasion, which promises to be attended with the most substantial advantages, has been greatly heightened by learning from the commanding officers of divisions, that this meritorious behaviour was universal through all ranks, to a degree that has rarely been equalled.
“Lord Cornwallis, therefore, requests that the army in general will accept of his most cordial thanks for the noble and gallant manner in which they have executed the plan of the attack. It covers themselves with honour, and will ever command his warmest sentiments of admiration.”
In the assault of Tippoo Sultan’s fortified camp and island of Seringapatam on the 6th and 7th of February 1792, the total loss of the right division, under Major-General Medows, including officers, amounted to twenty-seven killed and sixty-five wounded. Lieutenant Alexander David Robertson, of the Seventy-third, doing duty with the Thirty-sixth, from which he had been promoted, and Ensign Pooley Smith, of the Thirty-sixth, were killed. Lieutenants Thomas Brownrigg, Robert Campbell, and John Campbell,[13] of the Thirty-sixth, were wounded.
The enemy’s loss was very severe, being estimated at 20,000 hors de combat. Eighty pieces of cannon were taken by the British.