The left of the right wing was opposed to Tippoo's infantry, and gained a complete victory; between seven and eight thousand Mysoreans being put hors de combat: the loss of the British did not amount to so many hundreds.
In general orders issued on the same evening, it was stated, 'The Commander-in-Chief congratulates the army on the happy result of this day's action, during which he had various opportunities of witnessing its gallantry, coolness, and attention to orders:' and in brigade orders, 'Major-General Baird, with the most heartfelt satisfaction, congratulates the brigade on the victory obtained this day over the enemy; it is sufficient for him to say, that the valour of the corps fully answered his expectation.'
On the following morning, the army continued its advance upon the capital of Mysore, and the enemy used various stratagems to retard the movement until the approach of the rainy season should render the siege of Seringapatam impracticable. The water was found impregnated with poison; many men were taken seriously ill, and several horses fell down dead while in the act of drinking; the smoking ruins of villages, and other scenes of devastation presented themselves; at the same time large bodies of hostile cavalry hovered round the army, and the camp was often annoyed by rockets; but the British forces moved steadily forward, and on the 3rd of April they arrived within four miles of Seringapatam,—a city and fortress, which had attained considerable strength and splendour under Hyder Ali and his son Tippoo Sultan: it is situate at the upper end of an island, four miles long, and a mile and a half broad, in the river Cavery.
About six o'clock on the evening of the 3rd of April, the Twelfth regiment, with the flank companies of the seventy-fourth and Scots brigade, assembled under Major-General Baird, to beat up the enemy's cavalry encampments: they were out all night without effecting the surprise of any of the enemy's detachments; but about three o'clock on the following morning they came suddenly upon a numerous body of Mysorean cavalry, when they rushed forward and bayoneted nearly every man before the Mysoreans could mount their horses, which were led into the British camp at six o'clock, at the moment the army was about to commence its march.
On the 4th of April, the army arrived in sight of Seringapatam; the soldiers had skirmished with the enemy's cavalry and rocket men, during the march, and in the evening a general order was issued, in which it was stated,—'The Commander-in-Chief takes this opportunity of noticing the high sense he has of the general exertion of the troops throughout the long and tedious march, with the largest encampment ever known to move with any army in India; and in congratulating them on a sight of Seringapatam, he has every confidence that a continuance of the same exertions will very shortly put an end to their labours, and place the British colours on its walls!'
The army took up a new position on the 5th of April, and in the evening the Twelfth regiment was ordered to advance, supported by two battalions of Sepoys, and take possession of a nullah, or bed of a river or aqueduct, about a mile and a half in front of the camp. The night was very dark, but the regiment had scarcely cleared the outposts, when the air was illuminated by hundreds of fire-balls thrown up by the enemy, who thus detected the advance of the British troops, and immediately commenced a heavy fire of musketry and rockets, under which the Twelfth continued to advance in open column of companies. Suddenly, regular platoon firing was heard in front, and showers of bullets assailed the regiment on both flanks and in front, when it formed line. The trampling sound of approaching troops occasioned the regiment to prepare to charge with the bayonet, which was about to be executed, when it was discovered that the approaching troops were one of the battalions of Sepoys which had been ordered to support the Twelfth. This battalion had lost its road, moved to the front, and become exposed to the attack of very superior numbers of the enemy, whom it had engaged upwards of an hour, which accounted for the platoon firing heard in front; it was retreating, bringing off its killed and wounded, under Major Colin Campbell, and being pursued, formed in the rear of the Twelfth regiment. When the pursuing Mysoreans discovered, by their fire-balls, the line of Europeans before them, they fell back to a greater distance, but without any relaxation in their fire, and so many spent balls struck the officers and soldiers of the Twelfth, that they were ordered to sit down to await the approach of day for the completion of the enterprise; the nullah was at some distance, and it could only be approached by a road of difficult access. The regiment did not fire a shot, but large quantities of ammunition were sent from the camp; the incessant firing having given rise to the expectation that the soldiers must have expended their cartridges.
About two o'clock on the following morning the enemy's firing ceased, and at four the Twelfth advanced. When the morning light appeared, the regiment found itself in the rear of a long mud wall and fragments of a ruined village, three hundred yards from the nullah, which was occupied by thousands of Mysoreans and French, with large masses of infantry on both flanks. Under these circumstances, the regiment halted, and the pioneers threw up an embankment on both flanks, to preserve it from enfilade. This work was scarcely completed, when day-light enabled the Mysoreans to discover the position and insignificant numbers of the regiment, compared with their host, and they endeavoured to destroy it by a storm of bullets, but the soldiers were sheltered by the mud walls, and very few cannon-balls from the fort took effect, on account of the distance. Lieut.-General Harris, observing the unequal contest, ordered the artillery to fire on the enemy's ranks, the balls passing over the heads of the Twelfth, and the British line advanced. The commanding officer of the detachment, Lieut.-Colonel Shaw, saw the line moving steadily forward to his support, and having entire confidence in the valour of the Twelfth, he resolved to attack the opposing legions with the bayonet; he cautioned the soldiers to prepare, and giving the word 'Charge, Twelfth,' they sprang from behind the mud wall, raised a loud shout, and rushed forward towards the nullah. The Mysoreans were confounded by the suddenness of the attack; they saw the sparkling steel bayonets of the Twelfth approach, and abandoned their post in a panic. As the Twelfth rushed forward, several lines of Mysoreans fired volleys at them, but the balls struck the sand many yards from the regiment, and in five minutes the nullah was captured. The enemy rallied behind a high bank, and made a show of a design to retake the post, but the Twelfth and Sepoys ascended the bank, and kept up a well-directed file firing, which occasioned the Mysoreans to retreat: a party of French were also driven from a post on the left of the regiment. The nullah being thus carried, the artillery of Seringapatam opened a heavy fire, which obliged the soldiers to take shelter in the bed of the river. The post thus captured, was designated 'Shaw's Post,' in honour of the commanding officer of the detachment, Lieut.-Colonel Shaw of the seventy-fourth foot.
When the Twelfth rushed forward to storm the post, the army suspended its advance, awaiting the result, and a brigade afterwards drove a body of the enemy from a wood on the right of Shaw's Post. A breast-work was subsequently made to cover the troops from the guns of Seringapatam, and the Twelfth had the honour to break ground before that important fortress. About seven o'clock in the evening, the regiment was relieved by the seventy-fourth foot: its loss was Lieutenants George Nixon and T. Falla, and ten rank and file killed; Captain Whitler, Lieutenants R. Nixon, Percival, King, and Neville, and a considerable number of non-commissioned officers and soldiers, wounded.
The siege of Seringapatam was prosecuted with vigour; and in the early part of May, a practicable breach was ready, when the Twelfth were selected to take part in storming this important fortress. For this service, the flank companies of the European corps left in the camp, the Twelfth, thirty-third, seventy-third, and seventy-fourth regiments, three corps of grenadier Sepoys, two hundred of the Nizam's troops, a hundred of the artillery, and the corps of pioneers, the whole under the orders of Major-General Baird, took post in the trenches, to make the attack during the heat of the day on the 4th of May, when the Mysoreans were likely to be surprised. At one o'clock the signal was given, when the forlorn hope sprang forward; six flank companies, and the Twelfth regiment, also issued from the trenches at a running pace, and were followed by the remainder of the storming party; they passed the rocky bed of the Cavery river under a heavy fire, crossed the glacis and ditch, ascended the breaches in the fausse braye and rampart in gallant style, and overcame all resistance, with a resolution and valour which proved the innate bravery of the officers and soldiers. The Mysoreans were unable to withstand the prowess of the British troops, and they were overpowered at all points.
During the heat of the conflict, Captain Woodhall was detached with the light company of the Twelfth, and a few men of the battalion companies, to reinforce the troops fighting upon the inner rampart; this party proceeded by a narrow path, passed a deep ditch to the inward wall, and flanked and took in reverse the enemy's traverses, which were defended by the Sultan in person, who was forced to retire. As Tippoo and his suite were passing the small gate on the northern face, into the body of the town, the light infantry of the Twelfth arrived at the inner side of the gate, and fired upon him and his followers with such effect, that the gateway was choked with killed and wounded, and the body of the Sultan was afterwards found among the slain. After the firing had ceased at all other points, resistance continued to be made at the palace; but upon assurance of safety to the sons of Tippoo, the enemy surrendered, and the capture of this important city and fortress was achieved.